#pactology

[bright-red-sunsets]

new OC reference sheet just dropped. look at my guyses

[pactology]

From left to right:

Fernand (Fern) Gardner, 19 - he/him - troll (cynanthrope)

Born in Thornweave, abandoned by his original parents and adopted by Gladiolus Gardner, Fern was raised in the family's namesake profession. He always had a strong connection to nature, something that felt like it parted him from other's -- that and his social awkwardness. Once, that connection meant long walks in the woods and hours reading about bugs and looking for them. Nowadays, it has become an increasing concern, as overwhelming feelings trigger transformations into an animal shape Fern hides as much as he can.

Nathaniel (Nathan) Campbell, 19 - he/him - human

Nathan has always been resourceful and quick to pick up the quirks of magic and understand the complex systems that rule it, all the makings of a caster. His family gave him support and fueled Nathan's interest in the occult in his teen years. Over time, he came to realize that he wanted to pursue magic further than as a hobby. That, paired with a growing need to find out who he is away from his family, made him leave Brazil and move to Thornweave to open up business for magical services as a witch.

Lucas Carpenter, 19 - he/him - troll/therian

One of the middle children of the Carpenters, Lucas spent much of his life mediating and living in accordance to what he needed to be -- dutiful and reliable. All his virtues, however, did not change the fact he was not his parents' daughter. Things went sour when he came out. He left home and found himself staying in Thornweave's temple to Saint Rosaire. The priestess offered to let him stay there officially, if he agreed to help with her duties. Already adept to the faith's traditions since childhood, he made for a perfect candidate.

Ego, 18 - it/any - human (demon)

Ego has come to Thornweave to run away from all that its life was. Former bad religious experiences and a depressive period left it vulnerable to demonic influence that has been slowly taken its humanity away. Meeting Nathan helped it get back on its feet in every way. Given mental illness left it quite disillusioned with life and the idea of college, Ego jumped at the opportunity when its boyfriend wanted to move away. Every witch needs a demon familiar, and Ego loves the theatrics.

[sunset-unbound]

had some fun in the discord whiteboard

[zeke-in-devildom]

Dissonance - Chapter 16: Lilith and Twins

As it turned out, he had started on a Tuesday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he had Arithmancy, Pactology, Potions, and Devildom Law. He only had the last class on those days with Simeon and Luke. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday however, he had Devildom History, Curses and Hexes, Seductive Speechcraft, Devildom Botany, Art, and Divination - the only one of those classes that he didn’t share with Simeon and Luke was Seductive Speechcraft. He supposed it made sense the angels wouldn’t be in that class, but was really cursing his luck at having so many classes with the criminally beautiful angel.

Thankfully he was able to control his reaction much better the second time they met, and it got easier by the day. Yes, he still found Simeon stupidly, sinfully attractive, but he could ignore it for the most part. He even decided that the angel was nice, but he sensed a lot of sadness, regret, and anger in him. That was surprising to him, but maybe it shouldn’t have been. It seemed even angels weren’t immune to misfortune.

Overall Zeke was amazed at how easily he settled into his new life. 

Classes were interesting, his classmates became marginally less hostile, there were no further attempts to attack him, and getting to know the brothers, angels, and Solomon was fun. Mammon was in more of his classes than most of the other brothers, and while he was definitely a slacker and could be distracting, class with Mammon was never boring. Curses and Hexes with Satan, Simeon, and Luke actually became his fast favorite class. Luke was apprehensive at first, but once he offered to work with him the little angel came around surprisingly quickly. It was obvious that Luke was extremely prejudiced against demons, but he knew demons and angels used to be mortal enemies, so he kind of understood.

Divination seemed like it was going to be stupidly easy for him. He had the class with Satan, Simeon, Luke, and Solomon. His mentor marveled at how quickly he picked up the various tools and techniques. It wasn’t as if Zeke was even trying. His psychic abilities were simply well suited to the art of divination. Simeon also seemed quite adept. Zeke wasn’t sure why he was so surprised that his psychic intuition made this easy. He had prophetic dreams sometimes, divination was already a talent of his apparently - reading tea leaves or tarot cards came naturally to him.

Homework was a breeze with Satan’s assistance, which he always readily gave, and when not doing homework together they often would read in each other’s company, then discuss their respective books. They traded book recommendations, Satan introduced him to all the local stray cats around both the House of Lamentation and RAD, and went to various cafés together - usually ones with cats much to Zeke’s delight.

When he wasn’t with Satan after school, he was taking magic lessons with Solomon, which was usually at Purgatory Hall. Simeon and Luke always made tea and snacks for them to share while they studied and practiced. After the first few lessons he noticed that Simeon would make him vanilla, caramel, or mocha lattes - depending on the accompanying dessert - instead of tea. It seemed very on brand for an angel to be so sweet and considerate. Although the brothers seemed just as eager to do things to make him happy or cater to his tastes. It was probably sad that he found it so strange for other people to want to make him happy.

Late in the evenings he would often find himself in Lucifer’s study, simply reading while the eldest did paperwork, or often bringing him coffee, tea, or snacks. Zeke watched Lucifer take care of everyone else, and it made him want to look out for the demon, even if only in small, insignificant ways and even if he didn’t really need it. His pride demon didn’t say it outright, but he could tell that his company and care were appreciated. 

His nights and wee hours of the morning were mostly spent studying, writing, or in Levi’s room watching anime or playing video games. Sometimes Beel and Belphie would drag him to bed and the Avatar of Sloth would force him to sleep, but Zeke couldn’t really be too annoyed about it. He never dreamed when Belphie cuddled up to him in his sleep. 

The weekends were full of shopping with Asmo and Mammon, who both insisted on buying him far too much of everything. Zeke had never owned so many clothes, accessories, or beauty products before. When the shopping was done, there was plenty of sight-seeing. Satan liked taking him to museums and art galleries, Levi took him to the aquarium, he got to see a Devildom movie with Beel and Belphie, and Lucifer even took him to the theater to see a live play, followed by dinner at Ristorante Six, which was apparently a very fancy and expensive upscale restaurant.

Before he even knew it, Zeke had been in the Devildom for almost four weeks. It was a jarring revelation. He felt more at home and more content with each passing day. That worried him. He was becoming complacent. This was a passing daydream that he would eventually have to wake up from, it was something he needed to remember. It was already too late for him. Just the thought of going back to the human world, back to being alone and empty and bitter, made his heart squeeze painfully. 

He liked it here. No, he loved it here. Sure, he still didn’t quite fit in, but only because he was human, not because people thought he was crazy. Everything was new and exciting, his classes interested him, living with the brothers was doing wonders for his health overall - between being forced to eat and sleep semi-regularly instead of neglecting himself completely in favor of work. Most of all, he never felt truly alone in the House of Lamentation. Even when one of the brother’s wasn’t by his side, he could feel the house’s presence surrounding him in a comforting feeling of belonging.

It was one of those odd moments where none of the brothers was with him that he found himself passing by a place in the upper hallway that always felt just a little strange to him. He was reminded of Lucifer’s secret study whenever he passed that section of wall. There was a decorative pattern, but when his curiosity had him looking closer Zeke realized there were words written there.

When the morning star dwelt in the heavens, 

its light show down upon this on, 

sparkling brilliantly, 

the eighth of the eight.

Well if years of writing mystery novels had taught him anything, it was that he was definitely looking at a riddle, and not a particularly difficult one at that. The morning star was obviously Lucifer. The eighth of eight? Well there were seven brothers, but Zeke knew that there was also a sister, he had felt her death in one of his nightmares. 

There could be only one answer.

“Lilith.” Zeke breathed the word in a quiet whisper, uncertain what exactly was about to happen. Bright light blinded him, forcing him to shield his eyes. When the light faded, he was no longer in the hallway. It didn’t even look like he was still in the Devildom. Gentle sunlight streamed in through large, arched windows lined with sheer white curtains. The walls were a soft green, the picture frames a gilded gold.

Although he knew for a fact that he had never actually stood in that room before, Zeke instinctively knew exactly where he was. This was Lilith’s room in the Celestial Realm. Well, a replica of it hidden magically hidden within the House of Lamentation, at any rate. Who knew about it? Lucifer, obviously, but what of the others? None of them had ever mentioned it before, and he was sure he wasn’t supposed to be there.

When he turned to leave a wave of dizziness hit him and he reached up to clutch his head as it throbbed sharply. His vision blurred as he struggled to keep his feet, but the pain was so intense and he couldn’t see. It felt like he was plunged underwater, unable to breathe, his ears full of a rushing sound.

Suddenly he felt that familiar sensation of falling, and the phantom pain that seared through a wing he didn’t have. It was her again. Why would he be shown this? He didn’t want to feel her die again! He couldn’t watch her die again.

Zeke forced his eyes open and suddenly he was no longer falling, but his eyes widened in horror. There was twisted wreckage all around him. He recognized the car. It used to be his father’s SUV, now little more than mangled metal. There were tiny cries coming from inside. He was rooted to the spot, he squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see this. The cries didn’t stop. He covered his ears, but he could still here his own tiny voice begging for his parents to help him because it hurt and he was so, so scared and Eliza wasn’t answering him - pleas that would never be answered.

Sensing light behind his eyelids he forced them open. He still couldn’t move, but he saw her kneeling there beside the remains of the vehicle. Lilith had her wings outstretched to shield him, as she reached into the car and gently pulled him from his booster seat, shushing him soothingly. Zeke didn’t remember this, didn’t remember her being there that day, but he also had no doubt that this wasn’t some twisted imagination of his. Why did she only help him? Eliza needed her too!

Rescue crews arrived, they took his tiny, broken body away, off to the hospital that would save his life. They rushed Eliza away too, but he knew she would not make it. His chest ached with something hollow and cold, something only anger at the world and the unfairness of it all had ever eased - if only slightly. Why did she die when he got to live? He was her big brother, damnit! It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair!

Why did his parents leave him alone? 

Zeke knew it wasn’t their fault, but of all the spirits that had caused him grief over his life, theirs had never once come. They moved on and left him all alone in the world without so much as a goodbye. Eliza had never come either, but he could hardly blame her. He never could be angry with her, not even for a second. She was the other half of his soul, after all. 

His twin.

“ELIZA! ELIZA! ELIZA!” He screamed her name until he was hoarse, until he felt hands grabbing at him and concerned voices calling his name as they shook him. Zeke thrashed in their hold, fighting to move, to do something, anything to change what he knew could not be undone.

[obey-me-rot]

You're Mine

A/N: I guess as a writing blog I should be doing some writing right? Honestly this has just been the biggest headcanon I've had in a while since I started playing Obey Me of the brothers just...like Devildom culture must be so different! And then the whole pact thing with human masters must be so different as well! I just view them as big animals just wanting to get your attention u wu. Warnings: Jealous boys, public shows of dominance and a lot of biting.

It's almost painful being in the Devildom sometimes.

A cultural exchange program amped up to 100 %.

As much as you loved the brothers, you also were meeting some pretty cool demons in RAD. Surely you were the human student everyone was so excited to meet, but none of them really talked to you, you know? But there were some that were brave enough to overlook your pact marks and dive into a conversation.

Even some were bold enough to talk to you out of school!

Making so many friends was so exciting, especially since you still thought of yourself as new! Wait till the brothers see how many new demons you have met!

Problem is you forgot how weird demon culture is, especially when it has to do with a demon and their master.

"MC?"

Lucifer blinks as he notices the demon approaching the two of you, pausing your daily walk with him as confusion turns to familiarity and you run up to greet your friend.

The first thing he notices is how they are a low ranking demon, so there’s no need to be hyper aware of any sort of threat. In this instance he doesn’t need to look to make sure his pact mark is visible to the demon.

His mark was embedded right in your iris, so anyone could see whose protection you were under.

He smiles politely as you turn around to introduce them, the demon waving at him shyly as if remembering that, yes, this human made a pact with Lucifer and therefore should not be messed with in any way. Yet there was no sort of violent tendencies coming from this demon, which put him at somewhat of an ease.

That is, until the demon takes a hold of your hand.

It’s a simple touch, one that a human would mistaken for a sign of friendship and camaraderie. The demon was speaking excitedly about a new flower they had seen over at the Botanical gardens and how much they wanted to show it off to you.They tighten their hold and Lucifer has to dig his fingernails into his palm from ripping their hand off.

You had no idea what it meant and the action would most likely scare you.

And Lucifer wanted you to trust him as much as possible.

“Would it be okay if Lucifer comes along?”

“...y--yeah! I don’t mind!”

Hesitation mixed with fake happiness, this demon really thought that he would get some time alone with you, didn’t they? They probably planned this whole thing out and whatever excitement they were showing you was just a front to hide their true intentions. Besides, look how they are hanging off of you, they want to make a pact with you so badly it’s almost disgusting.

Might as well get rid of the pest now.

“Come on MC, I want to show you the huge petals--!”

“OW!”

You and the demon look back to see Lucifer biting down on one of your fingers, your ring finger to be exact, while making eye contact with the pest. His teeth are not necessarily breaking skin but the pain of the bite made all your attention go back on him, turning around to tug your finger away and cradle it close. “Lucifer what the hell!”

He smiles and tells you not to worry about it, your retort falling on deaf ears as Lucifer’s eyes fall on the demon one more time. Their eyes are wide and they have immediately taken two steps back, their back as straight as a needle as Lucifer sends them one last look that lets them know of his intentions.

Leave now or I will gut you in front of my human.

You turn to apologize to your friend for putting them in such a weird situation but the demon is already long gone, no sign of them ever being in your presence as you look around aimlessly.

“They left...” you frown and look at Lucifer, “Next time at least warn me.”

“If I did then you would have probably forbidden me from doing so.”

The Avatar of Pride smiles as he takes your hand, interlacing his fingers with yours as you kept talking about how you would apologize the next day. But Lucifer wasn’t listening, he just kept staring at you as you talked, happy that his master wasn’t particularly mad.

That demon would have to learn to get his own, this human was already his.

He had finally gotten you all to himself.

Mammon had a photoshoot today, making you tag along so he could finally show off his modeling skills. And it would help him out as well. The product they were trying to sell did not appeal to him one bit and he just really needed you as inspiration.

And inspiration did you give.

“Oh gorgeous Mammon gorgeous! Lean back and close your eyes.”

The cameraman was giving him compliment after compliment, excellent after excellent, it was as if all eyes were on him at that exact moment. He smiled as he thought about how you must be looking at him. His shirt was open, letting the cloth hang off the side of the couch as the camera focused primarily on the low riding jeans that showed off the boxers he was promoting.

“Perfect! Perfect!! Now turn around and stare into the camera!”

His eyes opened and his head turned expertly, Mammon smiling as he tried to make eye contact with you--

Only to see that you were gone.

Camera flashes stop as he bolts up, turning to look for you before his eyes focused on your form.

There you were...talking with someone else.

“Mammon?”

He doesn’t stare at the cameraman, only gets up and stalks towards you and the demon currently holding up the lights. Both of you turn to face him, a voice speaking loudly about a five minute break as Mammon stands behind you and hugs you from behind, placing his chin right on your shoulder as he looks at the interloper.

“Are you taking a break?”

Mammon smiles as he buries his face in your shoulder, hugging you tight as the demon tells him he did a wonderful job. Without raising his head, Mammon speaks up.

“MC, who is this?”

“Oh right! Haven’t introduced you. He is a friend from RAD! We sit together in Pactology 101.”

“Well we used to sit together...”

“We talked way too much in class, didn’t we?”

It’s like nails on a chalkboard when he laughs, Mammon feeling glad that he was closer to you so he could hear the sound of your laughter instead of the ugly screeching of the intruder taking up your attention. Did this guy think he was stupid? That he couldn’t notice all the goddamn pheromones he was releasing? Mammon shakes his head back and forth, breathing in your scent heavily as he tries to leave his own behind.

This guy was embarrassing himself with how badly he wanted to form a pact with you.

“MC.”

“Oh oh, remember when the teacher caught us texting in class?”

“I think he might want to just put us back together cause we are still causing trouble!”

The Avatar of Greed frowns, did you not hear him?

“MC…”

“Well the teacher knows we are a good match, doesn’t he?”

“A match made in hell, I would say.”

Why was this guy still talking? Why were you still listening to him?

“MC….”

“Hey after this...would you want to go get some coffee, MC? If you’re not busy.”

“Nah, I only have this toda---FUCK!”

A pair of teeth tug at your earlobe, Mammon growling in your ear as he makes eye contact with the annoyance in front of him. He should be counting his lucky stars that you were still in the room, if Mammon found him anywhere else this demon would be nothing more than a meal for his familiars.

“MC, you have to stare at me or else I’m going to take longer.”

You rub at your ear as Mammon lets go of you, breaking eye contact with the other demon as he gives you his signature pout. He didn’t want you to see him be all scary, Mammon wanted you to see him like the number one demon he always tried to be for you.

“And you had to bite me because of that!?”

“Because you weren’t paying attention! You have to keep your eyes on me or else I’m not going to sell this stupid product. In fact--”

He drags you back to the couch, yelling at the cameraman that he would be posing with you so he could actually get through this photoshoot instead of doing a solo shoot. The man sighs but calls makeup to get you ready, Mammon smiling as he sits down right next to you.

The farther you were from that guy the better, all of his master’s attention needed to be on him after all.

Of course something like this would happen. Bad luck seemed to follow Leviathan wherever he went.

"Did you see the finale of it live?"

"I did!!! My movie theatre put it on the big screen and everything!"

Levi was glad that you were a nerd just like him. It was refreshing and probably one of the biggest reasons he had decided to make a pact with you.

Well, he had tried to kill you first and then make a pact with you but it was still a special story! Who would have thought that he would land himself a human master with his own interests!

Though he guessed that was a bad thing now.

He couldn't keep his thoughts in check as the clerk of the comic store kept talking to you, Levi annoyed that he couldn't keep up with the conversation you two had. It was about some comic cinematic universe that had been adapted in the human world and he honestly didn’t want to put anymore thought into it because of how close the clerk was getting.

Dammit he should have bought the new manga volume in Akuzon...but you had been so cute irl asking him to get the manga in this comic store you found,and if his master was begging him so cutely then what else could he do?

“I actually got the limited edition of this one movie--”

Nobody cared.

“It was up for a lot in Akuzon but I’m glad I got my hands on it--”

Stop talking!

“And I have a pretty cool viewing set up in the back--!”

Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking to MC!

Levi frowns as you gush about the movie some more, glaring down at you for letting your attention stray from him. But why should he be surprised, of course your attention would stray. Him being the yucky otaku that he is, of course you would go with the demon who took his interest and actually turned it into a profit--

No.

No! It wasn’t your fault! It wasn’t even his fault! It was this demon’s fault!

Thinking they looked so cool with their most basic of interests. If Levi could expose them for the fraud that they were, MC would be able to see the absolute fool that this demon was making themselves out to be. Smiling a lot more, inching closer as they talked, even offering to take you to the back of the store--!

People may say what they want about Levi but at least he wasn’t this desperate to get on the good side of a human...at least the first time he met you.

His eyes fall on the back of your neck, hair conveniently placed out of the way as he remembered something Lucifer had discussed with him and Mammon after they had made their pact.

You will not think rationally when you are with them, make sure to monitor your actions so you don’t embarrass yourself.

That’s what he said but…

Surely Levi wasn’t going to embarrass himself more than this demon already has.

“This is the one with the symbiote creature, right? And you got the bonus deleted scenes! Honestly I would be so down with watching it right--EEP!”

Levi made sure to let his tongue lick the back of your neck first before biting down, wanting to make the bite as painless as possible. Although he guessed that not making you feel pain was out of the question as he felt you tense up, his tongue swiping against your nape one last time as he pulled back and tugged on the back of your shirt.

“MC let’s go. They don’t have it.”

You turn to look at Levi, hand on the back of your neck as you tell him that he could have gotten your attention in any other way, but he knew for a fact that he had made his point across with the demon in front of him.

Summoning Lotan in his own home was one thing, summoning Lotan in a store would probably cost a lot…

Even if he knew brothers wouldn’t blame him with how nauseatingly this demon was trying to approach their master.

“MC, here.”

Satan breaks his pencil, but it seems the two other people don’t seem to notice.

“And it's the first edition too, but I took it out just for you.”

You smile and mention about how you didn’t need anything fancy for the assignment, just a simple book that talked about Devildom history. Which Satan agreed, this bug was acting like he owned the entire Royal Library. A pass to get a first edition title wasn’t that rare of a fucking find--if he wanted, Satan could call up any of his connections and get about 16 copies of different first edition titles that spoke not just about the Devildom history but about whatever the hell topic he could get his hands on.

This guy wasn’t that special yet he was acting like he had just given you the world on a silver platter.

The demon sat down at the table you and Satan were studying at, looking at you the entire time he explained how to open the book and how to make sure it stays in its pristine condition.

Which made Satan break another pencil.

From what you had mentioned, this guy was just someone you knew from RAD. You labeled him as the ‘smartest person in the class’. Which was a bit of an insult on his part but he guessed that as long as he wasn’t the one in your class it didn’t count as an insult towards his person.

He, of course, being the smartest demon you know.

But Satan didn’t have to be the smartest demon in RAD to know what this nuisance was doing.

If he were to read you any book on Devildom demonology, certain demons needed a human master. This insect in front of you would count as one of them. Lower demons usually tend to be without guidance and need a soul to feed from. In comes a human master, being able to fulfill that need with a pure soul of their own. The demon feeds and in return, develops a sort of ‘affection’ towards their master since they are now the hand that feeds them.

The same couldn’t be applied to Satan or his brothers, however. As the seven demon lords, they are able to gain the sustenance they need from the feed of other lower demons under the sin they were made in.

They are free to form pacts, but it’s not like they need it.

A good metaphor would be that they are essentially ‘picking off the plate’ of the lower demons, making the lower demons only cause minimal casualties up in the human world as they feed and keeping the seven lords from going feral with hunger.

Of course, things were different now. Satan had you now, a human all of his own.

Essentially, someone was trying to ‘take a bite’ of his favourite food, and Satan hated sharing.

Friends be damned, politeness be damned, he needed to show this demon his place.

“Isn’t it fascinating? The cover was made with a demon’s skin.”

“....really?”

“Yes. I believe it was from recently dead demon’s during the first Celestial War. Do you want to feel?”

You nod, curious about the black and shiny cover as the demon holds out his hand for you to take--

Only for you to yelp as Satan takes it first, dragging your hand back so it would be close to his lips as the Avatar of Wrath’s teeth bite at the skin near your wrist. You hiss in pain at the sudden sharpness, quickly pulling your hand back and staring at your demon as he gives the annoyance one last pointed stare.

“That is how demons started their pacts before we arrived in the Devildom, wasn’t it?”

The demon nodded slowly, his eyes darting to the mark on your wrist and then back at Satan. He opened his mouth to try and speak up but seemed to decide better against it, giving you one last smile as he stood up. “...I’ll...I’ll go get you the second volume. That one might include more accurate and updated information on pact markings.”

Satan smiles and nods as he scoots his chair close to you, looking back at you tracing the mark on your wrist with a frown before putting all your attention back on him.

“Did demons really used to form pact marks like this?”

The Avatar of Wrath shrugs.

“I was only guessing, he was the one who left thinking it was the truth. Here, let’s go look for a book on our own.”

Asmo would like to think that he had perfected the fake smile to the point he could keep it up for an indeterminate amount of time.

“MC! Try this!”

Yet the corners of his mouth twitched as he watched one of your friends, who happened to be a store clerk at Majolish, open the door to your dressing room to hand you another outfit they had picked out. And it wasn’t a bad outfit--!

Just...did they have to keep opening the door every single time?

Granted, he shouldn’t be in your dressing room in the first place but he insisted he would stay since you were only trying some shirts on! It wasn’t like he was seeing anything inappropriate and your pants were staying on the entire time.

This sight was okay for him because he was your demon and you were his master.

So it wasn’t right that some random nobody kept coming in to hand you shirts that they thought looked cute on you! That’s what you had Asmo for!

Yet here he was, secluded to sit down on the little chairs that someone would usually toss the unwanted clothes they wouldn’t buy. Which was already doing horrible things for his self-esteem.

“I learned a couple of things by working here. See? The color really matches your hair.”

The Avatar of Lust scoffs when he hears that. What exactly did the demon learn? How to match colors? Oh look, someone learned the basics of the color wheel, someone give them a medal.

“And since you are wearing something long at the bottom, it’s only fair that you go with something short on top.”

This demon is going to win an award for making basic observations, Asmo could already see it. What a future they had ahead of them.

“These colors are summery too so...it goes great with the weather!”

Oh he wants to gag, Asmo’s heard enough.

“You don’t think it’s too revealing? I do like the color though…”

Before the demon can answer, Asmo grabs your shoulders and pulls you back to him with a smile as he makes you look in the mirror.

“I think it’s revealing enough for the summer look you are going for...except can you maybe get it in a light pastel? Any color would do it just needs to be a pastel color if we want it to go with the light color of your bottoms.”

The demon deflates at the sudden lack of contact with you but nods as they step out, waving goodbye and stating once again how ‘gorgeous’ you looked. Which Asmo guessed was the only compliment they had in their arsenal.

Gorgeous didn’t even begin to describe you.

“I did like this color, Asmo. Does it not look good?”

“No it looks perfect on you! But--”

He tugs on the floral print top and smiles as he wraps his arms around your shoulders.

“Floral prints are extremely last season and I want you to be on a more neutral type of clothing. Just simple colors. This way we can add some jewelry--some of my own creation of course.”

Asmo smiles when you giggle, fixing your top and looking at yourself in the mirror a couple more times as you mumble to yourself about how Devildom summers seem rather temperate compared to the ones you were used to and how you wouldn’t need anything sleeveless.

Damn the Devildom summers, if they could even be called that at all.

His ears twitch as he hears the pest start to make their way back, Asmo’s smile dropping slowly as he looks down at your neck. This was the spot they kept staring at, wasn’t it? Shame it wasn’t decorated--

But he could fix that~ “I found some other colors that would go well with you MC, do you want to--”

“OW OW OW!”

Asmo’s teeth are right on your neck, turning to look back at the clerk with a smile and a little wave as he hums at the way you clench and unclench your fingers while looking at him through the mirror, wanting to ask just why he was doing this but the pain keeping you quiet. It was cute how much you were hurting but how you were doing absolutely nothing to stop him. This could technically mean that you approved of what he was doing, correct?

He lets go as the clerk immediately closes the door, you calling out for your friend but Asmo brings you back and makes you look at the mirror one more time.

“There we go. That’s a pretty mark, right MC? An Asmodeus Limited Edition item, just for you~”

If this kept happening, Beel was going to eat this demon.

“You need to try some Devildom food, MC! I promise it's good!”

Beel stomach growls again as you laugh, ignoring the parfait in front of you. He gives you a tap on the shoulder and your attention is right back to him. “Oh sorry, Beel. Here!” You scoop up the delicious frozen treat and feed it to him, Beel smiling as he takes another two bites of his hamburger and watches you and your friend talk. He actually had no idea that you had any friends in RAD and was happy to see that at least some demons were treating you nicely, compared to theo ones who had teased you when you first arrived.

Well he said teased, more like threatened to eat you.

He figured you would make friends fast though, you were nice and all the demons here were already attracted to human souls so it was bound to happen that one of them would have the courage to talk to you.

Yet this one seemed rather...eager.

“How about this. Hell’s Kitchen serves good food but I know this awesome corner in the wall place we can get some grilled bat sandwiches. Guts and everything.”

His stomach growls again, he knew of the place this demon was talking about and would most likely want to take you there himself if you ever asked.

Beel takes another two bites before waiting for you to feed him the parfait.

Nothing.

He frowns and stares at you again, the demon keeping your attention all to himself as you spoke about how you didn’t necessarily want to eat anything with guts in it. His eyes went to the parfait, watching some of the perfectly placed scoops slowly melt and droop down on the plate.

MC, pay attention to him!

This was his time with you! He didn’t mind if someone else stepped in and he was glad you were making friends but this demon was interrupting his mealtime!

He ate his burger, you fed him ice-cream, this is how it had always worked!

People could say what they wanted but Beel was a creature of habit, and he was in the habit of having you feed him.

Not just that, he was in the habit of having your attention all on him when it was his time to hang out with you.

Wasn’t this demon just being a bother? Didn’t you also want them gone?

They kept talking about all the stuff that clearly grossed you out, seemingly delighted with your reactions as they kept trying to egg you on to say yes to an outing. If it wasn’t for the fact that you were smiling the entire time, Beel would have already made the move to unhinging his jaw and--

“I promise I’ll treat you to the best ghost pepper pizza you’ve ever had. You’re free after this, right?”

Beel’s stomach growls, whether in hunger or anger Beel wouldn’t be able to say. All he knows is that this demon is bad news for both him and you.

So what would be the quickest way to make him back off?

“I’m not but I can take a raincheck--!”

You drop the spoon you were holding as Beel bites your cheek, throwing the demon one quick glimpse before letting out a few sounds that seemed to make up your name. The demon stares at you and Beel as the Avatar of Gluttony pulls away from you, licking his lips as you slowly put a hand on your cheek and turn to look at him.

“The parfait is gonna melt. I want another bite.”

“Beel…”

Eyes turn to the demon once again, Beel frowning as he takes a hold of your hand underneath the table.

“Please leave. If MC is going to eat Devildom food then they’ll eat it with me. The only thing you are going to do is gross them out.”

“So what did you want to talk about?”

Belphie frowned as your fingers gently played with his hair. That is not what he had asked for when he asked to lay on your lap. Belphegor wanted the usual way you would comb through his hair, both of you gently whispering to each other as the planetarium ambience lulled him to sleep.

“Well...uhm...I wanted to ask something important.”

And who the hell was this person? He peeked up to look at you smiling at the screen, frowning that you still didn’t seem to notice you were doing a shit job at giving him the attention he needed. Whoever this was had been on the line with you for a good solid ten minutes, talking about useless subjects such as their day and what they had for lunch. If anything, Belphegor had no idea how this thing was taking your attention. You were doing most of the talking anyway, they should just hang up and leave you alone to pay attention to your demon.

“We’ve known each other for a while.”

Belphegor most likely knew MC for longer...maybe.

“And honestly I haven’t met a human like you before. You just...I just expected humans to be something and you aren’t that so it threw me off.”

The Avatar of Sloth yawns as he buries his head in your lap, smiling at the darkness he found in the small crook of your thighs. He yawns again and closes his eyes to try and fall asleep but the grating voice of the demon on the phone was sending nothing but warning signals to his brain.

“So I wanted to ask something I didn’t think I would ask a human before.”

He really wanted to yell ‘get to the point’ or ‘hang up the phone’ but he knew that you would most likely shush him and tell him to be patient, which would then result in you gently pushing him away so you could talk somewhere more private. And he wasn’t ready to lose his favourite pillow just yet.

So he continued listening, tracing random shapes on your thighs as he felt his eyelids start to droop.

“I know you have seven pacts already…”

Damn straight.

“But would an eight be too much for you?”

That wakes Belphegor right up, eyes wide open and head turned to face up at you to see your reaction. Of course you would be surprised, this demon really had the guts to ask the current master of the Seven deadliest demons in the Devildom for a pact?

You better be grateful that Belphegor found comfort in your lap and would prefer to stay here, rather than go break the neck of the demon insolent enough to try to take his master away.

So go ahead, reject him.

“A pact? With me?”

What were you doing?

Don’t give him such a hopeful answer! Belphegor had to share you with six other demons constantly and those demons were his siblings! He was okay sharing with Beel but he drew the line at anyone else! Adding an eighth demon to that would be like asking for a bloodbath, a bloodbath with only one target.

Belphegor frowned as the demon started talking again, stuttering and jumping over his words like he was a dog who asked to eat their masters table. Which essentially he was, not like there was room for him anyway.

“I know I’m not like those brothers--”

Damn straight.

“But making a pact with you would make me really happy...is what I am trying to say.”

He wants to gag.

A part of him couldn’t blame the demon, you were perhaps the best master a demon could ask for, but you were already t a k e n.

And you were to blame too, you know?

You weren’t rejecting him like you should. The face you were making was far too surprised and flattered at the proposition given to you. Were you that greedy? Had Mammon rubbed off on you? You had seven of the most powerful demons under your command, what more could you possibly want?

As a master, you were doing a bad job at rejecting this insect and an even more horrible job at not paying attention to the actual demon you were tied to.

He turns his head back to the darkness of your thighs, feeling you shift as you also struggle to find an answer. This was becoming too much, if Belphegor didn’t act fast you were most likely going to say yes, just because you didn’t know any better!

Fuck it, you could try to push him off but Belphegor would hold on tightly, he had to save you from your mistake.

“Uhm. Well that is honestly really flattering. And eight pacts wouldn’t be so bad--”

You slap a hand over your mouth, your teeth biting into your tongue as you look down at the demon nipping at the inside of your thigh. Belphie looks up innocently, batting his eyelashes at you as he bites down a little harder--

“I’ll-try-to-have-an-answer-for-you-later-got-to-go-bye!”

Fingers hurry to end the call as Belphegor quickly lets go, smiling as you gape down at him.

“I was in the middle of a call!”

“I know.”

“Then what was that about!?”

The Avatar of Sloth shrugs as he closes his eyes.

“You weren’t paying attention to me. It made me mad.”

You sigh and lean back, Belphegor waiting for a few moments before smiling as he feels your fingers combing through his hair.

“Next time,just talk to me, Belphegor.”

He would have answered, but that would make him promise something he most likely was not going to do.

[mammonsbby]

To Calm a Storm

This is the fourth part of my “when he knew he loved you” series.

Lucifer | Mammon | Levi | Satan | Asmo | Beel | Belphie Diavolo | Barbatos | Solomon | Simeon | Luke

✨My Masterlist✨

Warnings: None Pairing: Satan x GN!MC Words: 1080

2:56PM

Satan resists a growl as he paces in a small, tight circle in the corner of the RAD library. His fingernails, which are on the verge of becoming claws, are biting into his palms. He hopes he’s not bleeding. He’s planning on meeting you, as he often does between classes, and that would be embarrassing.

Fuck, he thinks, as he wrenches his hands apart to see angry, red crescents on his palms. But no blood, that’s good. Either way, he can’t let you see him in this state. The very idea is enough to make him feel sick. Satan sinks into a chair at your regular table in the corner and takes a deep, deep, breath, trying to steady his nerves. Trying to forget the argument he’d just had with the professor of Pactology.

You’d once mentioned that slowly counting to ten was a human method of controlling one’s anger.

So, he gives it a try, and he can almost feel it working. Then he hears your voice as you say goodbye to some of your friends outside the library’s entrance. His eyes snap open and he puts on a pleasant smile just as you appear from behind one of the tall shelves. As you approach him, your own bright smile falters.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” you ask, giving him a once over. Satan’s eyes widen briefly and he closes his hands.

“What? I’m fine,” he says slowly, carefully. To avoid it coming out from gritted teeth.

Your eyes search his face as you drag a chair over to sit next to him. After a quick inspection, you determine that something is wrong. “No, really, what happened?” you ask, placing your hand on his shoulder.

His eyebrows bunch up, “you can tell I’m upset?”

You nod, “you’re a good actor, Satan, but I can tell when something’s bothering you.”

Since the metaphorical cat is out of the bag, he sighs and starts to tell you about the argument he’d just had with his idiot professor. How she’d been giving the class the wrong information.

And when he raised his hand to correct her, she had to gall to scold and belittle him, as if there were no possible way a student could know more than her. Then ended her barrage against him by calling him the wrong name.

“She called you Lucifer?!” you screech, mortified. This earns you a glare from one of the librarians. You shrink into your seat until they pass by. Once the coast is clear, you ask again, in a more appropriate tone, “she called you Lucifer?”

“Yes.” he grits out, knuckles turning white as he grips the armrests. They’re probably moments away from being ripped off the chair.

“I’m sorry, Satan.” You rub at his arm in an attempt to sooth him. The two of you sit quietly for a few minutes. Your hand moves to his back, rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades. His eyes are closed and he subconsciously leans back against your hand.

You can feel the tension leaving him with every circle you make.

“I apologize.” he mutters, under his breath.

“For what?” you ask, hand temporarily stilling. He opens his eyes to look into yours.

“That you found me in such a bad mood. I was trying very hard to get myself under control.” he whispers. You smile softly and continue to massage his back.

“Satan, you’re allowed to get upset, ya know? That’s part of being... alive.” (You were about to say human, but that isn’t exactly applicable is it?)

“Yes, but—”

“No," you interrupt, “she was being unfair. She didn’t hear you out and she was being horrendously disrespectful. You had every right to be angry. As long as you don’t act on it, it’s okay.”

“Do you really feel that way?” he questions, with a head tilt.

“Of course I do. You didn’t destroy the classroom or threaten to disembowel her or something. You’re just irritated. Ya know, I’m surprised she started a fight with you anyway—”

“Because I’m Wrath?” he guesses, hurt written on his face.

“Because you’re very smart. And you’re the only one who gives half a fuck in that class.”

He blinks in surprise, then groans softly, “everyone thinks I’m just a copy of him. It makes me so…”

“I know, I know,” you whisper, moving to sit on the arm of his chair. He looks up at you. “You’re not a copy of anyone. You’re Satan. You’re the most intelligent, most well-read, kind, witty, handsome—” you slam your free hand over your mouth.

He smiles again, it’s genuine this time. You look away, face turning red.

“Um, I’m gonna go find a book on ancient pactology and we’ll show that old hag!” you say, standing abruptly before wandering off in the completely wrong direction. Satan laughs softly, then touches the back of his shoulder where your hand had just been.

He watches you stumble over your feet, then realize you’re going the wrong way. As you turn towards the correct section, you nearly walk into a bookcase. He chuckles again. His anger dissipated.

Something else flutters in his chest, he puts his hand over his heart. It’s not anger, or fury, or rage. It’s something much… softer. Lighter. Unfamiliar.

Once you return with a book, several hundred years older than you, you carefully set it down before opening it to the back. And as you run your finger down its index, Satan only looks at you.

If the books he reads are accurate, this feeling could only mean one thing. His eyes scan your face.

“Here we go,” you say, pulling the book towards him. Then you start to read a passage which probably proves his point, but the words aren’t quite registering. “See, you were right!” you exclaim, pointing to the words.

“Uh,” he glances down to read the details of how pacts were formed in the days long before your birth. “Of course.”

“Didn’t doubt you for a second,” you smile before looking up at the clock behind you. “Uh oh, my next class is in four minutes! I’ll see you later.” you say as you get up. You pat his head softly before exiting the library.

And suddenly his cheeks are on fire.

(He totally doesn’t sit there for the next fifteen minutes, imagining your hand on his back. And he certainly wasn’t late to class for the first time because of it. No sir.)

–

Thank you for reading! Please reblog!

If you enjoyed this fic, please consider buying me a coffee.

<3 Aerie

[sunset-unbound]

Demons in Pactology are a whole category of spirits. they aren't necessarily bad nor actually intrinsically tied to christianity (though they do have a shared history).

For now, what's important to know is that their defining characteristic is that they sustain themselves by corrupting the power of others.

Ego is a fairly straightforward example of this corruption. They used to be human, but during a period of depression - and thus loss of mental fortitude - they were attacked and injured by a demon.

A wound caused by a demon, however, isn't simply damage to the flesh. It is more like a living curse– which uses the victim to find ways to feed it spiritual energy. The carrier of such a curse is said to be an "Injury" themselves.

The exact process and ensuing transformation varies with the type of demon responsible for laying the curse. For Ego, it was a slow transformation paired with an increase in irritability, allowed to flourish as they actively hid it.

Ego's hair thickened and spread like fur, hands and feet became akin to paws. Teeth became fangs and nails became claws. They were to become a living image of Wrath, draining others' energy by inciting their ire.

The only reason Ego didn't fully become a demonic spirit was because they met Nathan, a witch who they'd later be the familiar of. Nathan helped them both through proper treatment to slow and minimize the curse's damage and by being a close friend in a time when Ego needed it.

[sunset-unbound]

pactology is my original setting. it's an urban/modern fantasy type world built around the idea of trade holding up society.

magic affects everything, but at the same time it always manifests itself in very niche ways, and its nature is hardly ever easy to change. even if you're born with some sort of inherent magic, you're gonna have a limited scope. so the engine that moves the world is that you give what you can offer and take what you need, so there can always be variety.

this give-and-take is manifest in the most important and common tradition in the realms – pacts. any sort of trade that is sealed with magic. they can be detailed and specific, accounting for every kind of loophole; or they can be simple, spoken promises closed in a handshake. it's not uncommon for a pact to be sealed under the threat of a curse– or simply contain clauses for instant reparations.

[sunset-unbound]

hey 👀 i saw that post you reblogged abt wanting asks about your ocs! i've been seeing you tag stuff with 'pactology' (i think that's what it was? correct me if i'm wrong!), that's one of your original stories, right?

if so: i would love to hear about it! based on the posts you tag for it, it seems really interesting!! i love supernatural stories :D ps.

a lot of the posts you tag for that story i tag for mine aksdjnjaksd

hehe that's a fun coincidence :]

and yes! pactology is one of my stories – sort of. it's less of a story im developing and more of a setting im worldbuilding/creating ocs in! it's basically urban fantasy, in which i adapt various common magic creatures and such to fit the magic system i made + make a fun and (hopefully) refreshing take on them

There's PLENTY i could say about different species and how i classify them + their connections to magic, but explaining how the whole magic stuff works is a bit of a boring intro to it, so i might as well introduce the OCs i focus the most in!

Sun, Nathan, Fern and Lucas! they're a gay friend group/polycule/figuring it out who all live in a coastal town Sun and Nathan recently moved into. (Sun uses it/any, the others use he/him)

Sun is (sort of) a half-demon & Nathan's boyfriend/witch familiar. they run a lil shop with Nathan in the front of their house. he became part-demon rather than being born as such, and is currently trying to get used to life like this, especially because he isn't exactly stable yet

Nathan is a witch who moved away to live alone w Sun to find himself. He opened up a shop for magic herbs and charms to work with what he knows and loves. his studies of magic focus on trying to synthesize different kinds of it based on older, less studied forms of magic.

Fern lives in their neighborhood with his aunt, Lucas and 4 dogs. he does odd jobs around town to help his aunt pay for stuff and is a sweetheart. also he's packing massive amounts of raw magic he never learned to really control and he's one meltdown away from collapsing a house :]

Lucas is a hyena/maned wolf kobold (which in this world means furry), he's been living with Fern ever since he got in bad terms with his family (he's trans. the rest is history). he's a good cook, loves hiking, and helps Nathan with his research

[bright-red-sunsets]

sona time

[sunset-unbound]

this is probably the best ive managed to describe my ocs' relationships with each other

[sunset-unbound]

goblins are pretty much breaking the barriers of language and gender by incorporating non-standard methods of communication to their speech like instruments and programming languages but its not like you even care

[bright-red-sunsets]

did an oc q&a with friends to practice making comics

[bright-red-sunsets]

Ryota & Kengo but make it fantasy

[sunset-unbound]

girl help i wanna post about ocs but idk what do say

[sunset-unbound]

You can call me Ego, Mango or Sunset and use any pronouns. This is my main, where I reblog whatever I think is fun.

feel free to send me asks or dm me :]

» My art blog is @bright-red-sunsets

» I reblog art I like to @artisticthaumaturge

» Fandom focused blog @sunset-bound

» I post about OCs in @pactology

I also have a Cohost @ sunbound