Midnight Snack

Hell's Kitchen was packed on a Friday night. The aroma of greasy fries and fatty burgers greeted one's nose at the door, and the clamouring sounds of clinking cutlery and crashing plates was drowned out by the sea of conversations.  

Belphegor and Matilda sat side by side at the bar, watching the chefs skillfully prepare each dish before their eyes. The youngest brother leaned on his elbows, sliding to the side to rest his head against her shoulder. She rolled her eyes, not necessarily hating the close contact but not approving of it either.  

"I can't believe you made us exercise today," he yawned. "I'm so sleepy." 

"But you didn't do anything. You just lay there." 

"Looking at you jumping around was tiring enough." 

"Well," she huffed, "you could be resting at home right now, but someone was hungry for a midnight snack." 

"You could have brought me takeout," he said simply, a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. 

"Belphegor, I am not your servant! Ugh." 

Matilda had lived in the Devildom for just over three months, but she swore she would never get used to his complaining. She was grateful when the waitress finally came to take their order: the usual plate of fried quetzalcoatl brains for him, and a chocolate wirry-cow milkshake for her. 

"So," Belphegor said, between a mouthful of his favourite food, "did you hear about the concert yet?" 

"Please don't talk with your mouth full." 

He pouted. "So did you, or did you not? Lucifer was talking about it during the student council meeting today." 

"I may have overheard him mention something. Diavolo... I mean, Lord Diavolo," she hastily added, "wants a special year-end celebration, doesn't he?" 

"Yeah. Isn't that stupid?"  

Belphegor never did like Diavolo much, but Matilda shrugged.  

"I don't know. Could be fun. I like celebrations." 

"Do you?" That piqued his interest. "Well, did you want to go together?" 

"Maybe," she mused, fiddling with the straw of her milkshake. His forward advances unnerved her, but that was just the way he was. "I'll think about it."

They finished their meal and left Hell's Kitchen. It had started to rain in the time they'd been inside. Belphegor flipped his hood over his head and glanced over to the brunette expectantly.

"What?" Matilda stared vacantly at him for several seconds before realization dawned on her. "Oh, no. No, you're not." 

"It's raining pretty hard, and your place is closer."

"No!"

He flashed her a disarming smile, the most endearing smile he could manage, tilting his head to the side like a hopeful puppy.

"I'm not looking!" Matilda covered her eyes, but the head tilt reminded her of her little brother and she knew he had her wrapped around his finger. 

"Besides, if I get sick, how will I study for exams?"

"Oh, all right. But once the rain lets up, you're heading straight home. Understand?"

"Hehehe. I'm so happy!" Belphegor hugged her, a darker thought crossing his mind as he held her close. Scummy demon, shamelessly playing with her emotions like that. 

Not that he felt bad about it at all.

Solitary Dream

A dream I had last night.

She moved into a strange town up north - a secluded community that barely got any sun. The huge mansion was on an estate so large, they even hired a groundskeeper with a big black dog. 

Seven brothers lived here, although she barely saw some of them. The only time they were all together was in the evenings, over dinnertime. The family was strict on this rule, and insisted upon it. Anyone not joining for dinner that day must have announced this beforehand, otherwise it would be considered rude and breaking the house rules.

Lucifer, the eldest, was always busy. All she knew was that his wing of the house was off-limits, but sometimes she would head out to the grounds in the hopes that she would bump into him. He sometimes ate lunch in the statue garden, enjoying the little sunlight they had. The groundskeeper was kind enough to inform her if he'd seen Lucifer outside that day.

The brother that amused her the most was Asmodeus. He was flirtatious, cheery, and receptive of everything from her outfit choices, to her ideas of taking dance lessons together. It was Asmo that made her feel the most welcome, and made the house feel more like a home.

--

The school was having a concert to celebrate the end of the year. A famous singer was to perform live in the gymnasium. A classmate that fancied her asked her to be his date. He looked so nervous, dressed in a grey hoodie and glasses. She said yes, giving him a tentative hug, and he was over-the-moon ecstatic. She picked out a frilly black dress, and earrings that had cats on them.

--

During the concert, as everyone was enjoying the singer's lovely voice, she left her date and went to find Lucifer. It wasn't hard, as he was sitting in the back corner away from everyone else. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her chin against his head. He stiffened, but took one of her hands and laced their fingers together. He felt so warm. In that moment, she felt sorry for him, because she knew he would never place anything before his duty or work.

She tries to kiss him, but he shies away and tells her not to act so irrational. Hurt, she retorts that she likes Asmo better than him anyway, because at least Asmo never leaves her feeling rejected. Lucifer seems to resent that comment, but there wasn't anything he could do, as he was already promised to someone else, even if he wanted to be with her.

Asmodeus was in a dress, and people who asked him to dance thought he was a girl at first until he spoke. When the concert ended, the brothers - sans Lucifer - gather together to take her home. 

About Belphie

☆Planetarium Belphie☆

Many Obey Me! fans dislike Belphie because in the main story arc, he does something unforgivable that gets brushed over by either messy writing/translation or a lack of further plot development. I was shocked and also thought the devs should have wrapped things up better, but keep in mind this is a mobile game and not a full-fledged RPG. Mind you, I know that isn't much of an excuse, but think of it like comparing FE Heroes to an actual FE RPG installment. It's like comparing ants to elephants! Anyway, I'm writing this because I read a post asking why Belphie stans like him, and well, let me count the ways, lol!

Firstly, I preface this by saying that Belphie is not my fav akuma boi, my fav is PROBABLY Stan. (Yes, Stan.) But there are moments where Belphie outshines Stan for me, and this post isn't really about Stan.

My Reasons!!!

• He's a cute baby boi, the youngest brother. Everyone babies him, and I'm no exception.

• He actually gets character development and a backstory, which is more than most of the other brothers get.

• After the incident, and in all side stories, he's an openly affectionate character that communicates what he wants. Like wanting to cuddle and nap together, visiting events together, telling you when something feels good, etc. He is very sweet and direct. For me, I find that incredibly endearing. No, I don't want Mammon to wait for me to ask him to the dance (although I do like Mammon), I want a boi who asks me to the dance and says how happy he is that I said yes, then asks me if he can sleep in my bed and stroke my head until I fall asleep... which perfectly segues to my next point 

• I LOVE sleeping. My bed is probably my fav place to be, and I love relaxing on the couch and being lazy. I often think about how nice it would be to cuddle Belphie and, since I get cold easily, he would double as a body pillow and heater! Taking naps with him is probably a huge selling point for many fans.

• He's bratty, but he's also clever and intelligent. Not only is he capable of planning and executing long-term evil plots, but he does well in school. His good grades seem effortless, since he's always sleeping (LOL)

• He seems so comfy... I just wanna curl up and take a catnap... maybe sleep the whole day away... yawn, I feel his lifestyle calls out to me.

• I love his horns, they're my fav design even though I don't particularly like his demon form design in general. Hey, he's a cow and I'm a sheep--we might be compatible!

Those are the majority of my reasons. Meh, I forgive him for what he's done. It isn't his fault he's an akuma!


Tl;dr I like Belphie because he's cute, affectionate, and perfect for taking naps with.

Dog Days Are Over

I'm back, and I hate the new Blogger interface -- it totally sucks! There's no contrast at all, just all white, and you know how that hurts my eyes D;

Anyway, work today has been... bleh. It's been normal. The usual. I'm trying to stay focused and positive. Goodness & love and all that shite. Right? Yeah, I know, I've always considered myself the jaded and cynical type, but I feel ~forces~ in the universe striving to change that. And, I do want to change that for myself as well.

All I know is, I feel like at my age, I should be saving up and being responsible and... and all that jazz, but a part of me just wants to play games and buy trinkets and travel and live life freely. Even if that's not supported by the society we live in, lol. But that's life, innit? 

It's been a while since I've felt motivated to write an actual post on how I've been feeling. Mostly because lately, I would rather fester in my own emotions than acknowledge them. Do you have any idea how hard that is to change? In my younger years, writing was therapeutic and I had tons of things that I wanted to discuss. Now, I look back at my younger self with a great displeasure, and embarrassment, haha. But why? Little Baby K did her best, even if it wasn't good enough, and it's because of L'il K that Big K exists today. So, I shouldn't be so hard on myself there.

I'm thinking of more I wanna say, but I can't. So I'll just leave it at this, until I feel motivated to churn out more fanservice.

Icebreaker

Adult content from my Devildom AU, please read with caution lol.

It was late one night when Belphegor received the call, and a most surprising one at that; it was a call from a certain exchange student that he was fond of stalking.

“Where are you?” Matilda’s voice sounded shaky over the phone. “I came by your room, but Beel said you were out.”

“Oh, you’re looking for me?” Belphegor asked casually, deciding to play it cool. He wasn’t doing anything in particular, just hanging out in the attic as he usually did to hide away from the ruckus his brothers made.

“Are you dense?" she snapped. "Why would I ask if I wasn’t?”

“Short, are we?” Belphegor loved when the human was mad. Riling her up was one of his favourite pastimes. “What do you need?”

She hesitated before responding. “I just need to talk. I can come to you, so… please. Are you at home?”

Musings

SFW writing scraps from my Devildom AU.

The Fall Ball was one of the hottest annual events at RAD, and recently the dance was all that the students could talk about. Giggles filled the hallways, as girls and boys alike whispered to each other on who they were planning to ask as their date - or who they were hoping would ask them.

Even Matilda found herself conversing about the dance, when Kathryn arrived at their lockers and immediately stated that she wasn’t sure that her and Nathaniel should attend.

“Mattie, he only came out of his cursed coma, like, two day ago. He needs time to recover,” Kathryn fretted, brushing a curly lock of hair out of her eyes. “The dance is tomorrow night. It’s too soon.”

“I understand how you feel, but Nathaniel is strong," Matilda said matter-of-factly. "He’s already healed a considerable amount of life energy since you’ve been tending to him. I can feel it.”

Kathryn still shook her head, gathering her textbooks and slamming the locker shut. “I don’t know, Mattie. He needs to rest.”

“Well, why don’t we ask him how he’s feeling tonight, over dinner?” Matilda suggested, knowing how stubborn her cousin could be once she made up her mind on something. “He’s old enough to make decisions for himself. Let’s do that, okay?”

“Okay. I guess.” Kathryn leaned in to give her cousin a peck on the cheek. “All right, I’ll see you after class. I can’t wait for this day to be over!”

As if on cue, Mammon appeared to walk Kathryn to her next class. The silver-haired demon greeted the girls with a casual ‘Yo!’ before grabbing Kathryn’s books, mumbling something about how weak humans were, and that she’d be better off if he carried them for her.

For a scummy demon, he sure was attentive, Matilda thought. Her opinions of demons had changed since arriving in the Devildom, and that scared her a little. Even Professor Dirk, who was the most pious of them all, spent all his time with the strikingly beautiful demon law professor, or Lord Diavolo.

Matilda also knew that she was no exception - she did the same with all the time spent with Satan. They were surrounded by demons, and that was the point, wasn’t it? To forge those connections and understand each other – that was why the exchange program existed. Wasn’t it?

Matilda couldn’t be sure. Each day spent in the Devildom was challenging her beliefs. Unraveling the hatred she had for the dark spirits, unraveling the old teachings passed down in her family for generations. She never expected to feel empathy for demons, let alone fall in love with one. 

Love?

She didn’t allow herself to think any further about the intelligent blond man with the perfect demeanor that had infiltrated her heart. There was a class to attend, and she focused her attention once again to her studies.

--

“Who are you asking to the dance?”

A soft voice broke the silence in the planetarium. Matilda looked up from the jewelry box in her hands. She had been working on her latest assignment, which was to enchant the lock to open with a spoken word rather than a key. Belphegor stood by the door, pillow in hand, a tired expression on his face.

She stiffened as he approached, frowning as he chose to sit next to her on the wicker bench instead of the other chairs.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she replied curtly, shuffling to increase the space between them. 

“Oh, I see. You’re still mad about the hotel incident.” He yawned, rubbing at his eyes. “It really wasn’t a big deal. You all got out of it, and besides, it wasn’t really /my/ fault, was it? I didn’t do anything, really.”

Matilda bit her tongue to stop the harsh words from flowing forth. Lord Diavolo had already addressed the issue with Belphegor personally, and Lucifer had since put him on house arrest. 

“Kathryn already forgave me,” Belphegor continued. “She said something about how having hatred is too taxing. So, why don’t you do the same?”

“We are not the same. Kathryn is too kind for her own good.”

“That may be so. But all humans are… soft, aren’t they?” The youngest brother eyed her curiously. “You look soft. It would be delightful to take a nap on you.”

“As if I’d ever agree to such a ridiculous act. Don’t even think about—” Matilda started to say, when Belphegor tossed his pillow onto her lap, knocking the jewelry box to the ground. He stretched out like a cat, reclining back and resting his head on the pillow.

“We might be compatible. I know your astrological sign.” Belphegor pointed up at the night sky. “Scorpios have such an absolutist view of life. Everything is either golden or tarnished to you, isn’t it? But I could show you that life isn’t always that black and white.”

 

Matilda dug her fingernails into her palms so hard that there were sure to be marks. “Belphegor, you have five seconds to get off of me.”

He ignored her remark, closing his eyes. “You’re missing a crucial spell component for your assignment, aren’t you? In order for the enchantment to work, you’ll need a hair from the jewelry box’s owner placed inside. You can… thank me later…”

With that, he made himself comfortable and proceeded to doze off with his head on Matilda’s lap. The brunette sat there frozen, unsure whether to actually thank him or shove him to the floor and smother him with his own pillow.

It wasn't known how long Belphegor had been asleep on Matilda's lap when Satan walked into the planetarium. Something about Belphegor made time seem to tick by slower, maybe it was his natural lethargic aura. 

"What am I looking at?" Satan asked, though he hardly waited for an answer, putting down a small tray that had two steaming mugs of liquid and some pastries. He muttered under his breath before he hoisted his sleeping brother into his arms and walking out of the room. 

Satan was gone for a while before coming back, unable to look Matilda in the eye before sitting down next to her, his arms moving around her waist to tug her into his lap. He buried his face into the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath as he held her firmly. 

"No," he finally muttered. "No more of that, please." 

His ears burned red, but the idea of any of his brothers being so close to her made his blood boil in his veins. Wasn't she his? Didn't being with him mean something to her? 

Satan knew rationally that his brother and her being so close just then had probably meant nothing, but he still couldn't help the way he clung tightly to her.

--

Matilda stifled a yawn as she walked up the stone steps leading into the royal library, straightening out her coat in an attempt to look more presentable. She managed to land the position as a library assistant because Satan recommended her, and Professor Amari was kind enough to write her a referral letter due to her exemplary grades. She couldn't afford to disgrace them by doing a poor job, and she was also determined to pay back Kathryn for the restaurant damages (which she found out about thanks to Mammon).

The afternoon was spent helping students check materials out and in, collecting fines and fees, and answering questions over the phone. Matilda was in the middle of putting returned books in their proper places on the shelves when footsteps alerted her to someone approaching from behind.

"Why is it," Matilda began, after seeing a cow print pillow out of the corner of her eye, "that you must insist on bothering me so?"

Belphegor saw her irritation and smiled. "I'm writing a report on a human world book. Professor Dirk's orders. Surely you would be most equipped to lend me a hand?"

Matilda stood, placing her hands on her hips. "You upset Satan the other night with your little show. If I were you, I'd show your older brother more respect."

"Is this really about Satan, or is it about you?" The sleepy demon grinned. "Are you incapable of admitting to yourself that you enjoyed it?"

"Enjoyed it?" Matilda echoed in disbelief. "Enjoyed what? Your inconsiderate attitude towards my personal space and belongings? Or your utter lack of respect for my boundaries?"

Belphegor shrugged. "You weren't exactly eager to shove me off, now were you?"

"Some of us have manners!"

"I'm a demon. That's what we do. Or have you forgotten that, spending so much time with the Lord of Masks?"

"Look, I don't have time for this," Matilda sighed. "If you haven't noticed, I'm working. Just... tell me which book you need, and I'll get it for you."

Belphegor handed her a piece of paper with a book title scribbled on it, adding that he also had quite a few questions regarding the text.

Matilda narrowed her eyes at him, scrunching the paper into a ball as she left to find him the book.

--

“Professor Dirk, do you have a minute?”

Dirk paused from grading papers and saw Matilda shyly peeking into his office.

“Of course.” He motioned for her to come in and she did so, taking a seat in a chair opposite him. “How can I help you, Mattie?”

She fumbled with the hem of her skirt, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I haven’t been feeling good lately. I’m not sure how to describe it, but let’s just say I haven’t been making friends with everyone.”

“That’s completely normal,” Dirk spoke reassuringly. “We /are/ in a realm completely different from our own! Why, we’re not even among other mortals here, are we? It’s normal to feel a bit unbalanced.”

“I understand. But Kathryn and Nate are adjusting well. So I feel a little… Odd, in comparison, you know?”

“You mustn’t compare yourself with others. Nathaniel has experienced his fair share of loss, so he has likely learned to adapt quicker than most. And Kathryn has never had trouble making friends, has she?” Dirk chuckled, sliding off his glasses and placing them neatly onto the desk. “Besides, what about that blond student council member you’re so fond of? What was his name again – Stan? You seem to have made friends with him.”

“Satan, yes. We… could be called friends, I suppose.”

Dirk crinkled his nose at the name, but if Matilda noticed, she didn’t show it.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Mattie. This is supposed to be a cultural exchange. Shall we say a prayer together to calm your nerves?”

With outstretched arms, Dirk took Matilda’s hands in his and the two of them bowed their heads to offer up a prayer, hoping that it would reach the Celestial Realm even from the depths of the Devildom.