“Have anything off the menu you want, Melody,” said Beel with a laugh. They were sitting in a restaurant that looked a lot like an old world tavern. Melody liked the rustic charm of the place, though like the House of Lamentation, it seemed to have its fair share of skeletal decorations. “We’re celebrating you getting a clean bill of health. So order whatever you want. Anything at all.”
“Right, don’t mind if I do! Time to order big… real big!” Mammon laughed as well, his face positively lit up with glee. Levi, also sounding thrilled, listed off the human world foods he spotted and the corresponding anime they belonged to, once again impressing Melody with his ability to get so many words out without taking a single breath. His lung capacity must be truly wondrous.
“I said I was taking Melody out to eat, not you guys. So, why are you two here?”
“Hey, come on. What’s the harm in havin’ us tag along, huh? Don’t be such a killjoy!” asked Mammon.
“Order first, we should. Talk later, we can,” Levi insisted. Melody laughed in delight at his syntax, recognizing it almost instantly.
“Just so we’re clear, I’m not paying for either of you guys,” stated Beel firmly, shooting his older brothers a glare.
“Now come on, Beel. Even if there were ten of us here with you, we still wouldn’t be able to eat as much as you do on your own. Payin’ for us won’t set ya back that much,” Mammon tried to reason.
“It’s not about the money. But I’m still not paying.” Beel was looking a bit worried now. Melody just shook her head. She didn’t want to jump into the middle of this, but, she felt that Mammon was going to take advantage of Beel’s better nature. However, she couldn’t entirely fault his reasoning either. In the end, Beel was right: it was his money, regardless of whether he spent more than all of them combined on his meal.
“Begin by ordering drinks, I will,” said Levi, continuing to talk in that iconic way.
“You turnin’ into one of your 2D characters again, Levi?” asked Mammon, his attention temporarily diverted.
“Actually, he was originally a puppet, so, technically, he was 3D,” pointed out Melody, her tone mild. “Though, I guess, any film appears 2D on the screen, so…” She trailed off as she fell into over thinking the matter, but Levi laughed anyhow, the sound happy rather than mocking this time. He was just glad that she spoke up and was giving it a lot of consideration. Mammon just shrugged it off, but Beel caught the relief and amusement in his older brother’s expression.
Melody ordered a lot of appetizers to share with everyone; her appetite hadn’t fully recovered yet from her ordeal, but tonight was the best night to go out since the last touches were being done on the kitchen and her room. It was probably why Mammon and Levi had tagged along. She didn’t mind their company at all; the only drawback was any stress they put on Beel. But, when they saw she was sharing with them, they backed off a bit and paid for their own food and drinks.
Once the details got sorted out, Melody found that the evening was very enjoyable. True, Mammon and Levi took shots at each other, and sometimes at Beel, but it felt somehow more light hearted than most of the arguments she had seen before. Beel, true to nature, was eating quite a bit, and commented on the dishes, but he also seemed really happy to just listen to everyone else talk, and occasionally join the conversation. Usually he seemed almost oblivious to conversations and only interjected with food commentary.
Melody had the most in common with Levi, so they talked a lot to each other, but Melody also made sure to talk to Mammon, asking him things about topics he brought up. She had noticed that all the brothers had a tendency to talk over and around him; he often complained about being ignored. Sometimes he blushed when Melody seemed to take particular notice of him, but he denied it. Always.
It was quite late by the time they made it home. Melody was full, and sleepy, and almost nodded off a few times, even as they were walking, though the cool Devildom air stopped her from being too comfortable. When they actually walked in the front door, Lucifer was there in the foyer, his expression mostly neutral. It had been the first time they had really encountered each other since the conflict in the crypt. Melody trembled a bit, but made herself stay calm on the outside.
“You sure are back late. Did you go out to eat with Beel and the others?” he asked. Melody nodded her head, her eye contact already sliding away from Lucifer’s face. Mammon and Levi, who had started arguing, walked past without paying Lucifer much attention, and he patiently waited for them to be on their way.
“…So Mammon and Leviathan were there too? I was worried whether they’d be able to put their differences aside at first, but it seems like they’re getting along well.” Lucifer smiled at that. Even though they had been arguing, they didn’t say ‘die’ once, which was definitely an improvement from the first time Melody met Levi. “The repairs to the kitchen are finally done. And the wall to your room is fixed, too.” Lucifer’s smile faded back into a neutral expression. “You should move back into your room tomorrow and start sleeping there again.”
“Thank you for letting me know, Lucifer,” Melody said, nodding to show appreciation. Even if she was afraid, she didn’t think it was acceptable for her to be rude. The night had been lovely, but she doubted she would ever have the same level of comfort with Lucifer as Levi and Beel, or even Mammon. He seemed like the distant star he was named for; even when he was calm, he gave a very closed off impression. Not to mention the fact that he had almost killed her as well. Though, that was becoming far too commonplace a thing since she came to the Devildom. How was she still functioning?
If she was honest, Melody was a little sad to be moving back to her room. Sharing a room with her own siblings had been awful, but she found there was something relaxing about hearing Beel’s breathing at night, almost as if it was a promise she wasn’t alone and forgotten. So, she walked up to his room with heavy steps, wondering if Beel was happy to have his room back. Maybe he wouldn’t be, since he was used to sharing space to begin with. Melody could see it going both ways, but was sure that asking wasn’t good manners.
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Despite all this, Melody fell asleep fairly quickly once she had curled up on the couch. It had been a long, difficult day, followed by a late night out, and while Levi and Mammon could be exhausting to listen to normally, they had been well behaved, for them, that evening. So, though it had worn her out, the evening had been one of the more pleasant ones she’d had in her life that involved being in public. Happy thoughts helped her drift into sleep. She was fairly soundly asleep when a voice woke her up.
“…Melody, you awake?” It was Beel’s voice, rumbling softly in the darkness. It wasn’t loud enough to be an alarm, but he sounded hopeful. “Well, either way, it doesn’t matter. I need you to listen to what I’ve got to say.”
“’m here,” Melody murmured sleepily, though she didn’t open her eyes.
“You remember how I told you about Lilith, right? Well, sometimes I dream about her, and they’re not happy dreams. They’re the sort of dreams you don’t want to have.” That Beel had nightmares was no surprise to Melody; not after what he had been through. In fact, she was surprised he slept as peacefully as he did some nights.
“Long ago, back when we were in the Celestial Realm, I asked her a question: ‘Lilith, if you had to choose between saving either me or Belphie, who would it be?’ She just looked at me and said, ‘both of you!’ Now, everything I just told you really did happen.” Except that Melody was not Lilith; she certainly wasn’t an angel, beloved by all her siblings. But she kept these observations to herself and let Beel speak.
“…But when I dream about it, it doesn’t end there. Lilith and Belphie disappear, and I’m left all alone.” Melody stood up and padded over to Beel in the dark. Lilith and Belphie had both left him, it was true, though Lilith had left him for good. Belphie would be back, when the year was up, but Beel must feel so lonely.
“Everything is pitch-black and suddenly I’m falling. Falling down through a void…” Beel looked up, noticing that Melody was there. “Would it be okay if… if I held your hand, Melody? For a little bit. Until I fall asleep,” he asked, his voice sounding so small that Melody’s heart hurt. Melody didn’t answer with words; she slipped her hand into Beel’s much larger one, sitting on the bed beside him. He smiled instantly at the contact. “Thanks.”
Melody sat there quietly and held Beel’s hand. She watched as he eventually closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. And though she was sure that she could slide out of her position and go back to the couch, she found that she couldn’t make herself leave. Quietly she pulled her legs up on the bed and shifted her position, still holding onto Beel’s hand. Soon she fell back asleep as well.
When she woke up the next morning, Melody was feeling quite stiff from her odd position. Usually, she would have been really embarrassed if she had fallen asleep on someone else’s bed while they were still in it, but she knew exactly what had happened the night before, and felt oddly tranquil about it. Beel was already awake; she could hear him brushing his teeth in the bathroom. Quietly she got up and folded the bedding on the couch she had used; she wouldn’t need it anymore.
Beel came out of the bathroom, and Melody took her turn in it to get dressed and freshen up. When she was ready, she gathered up her school things and moved downstairs. Everyone else was already in the dining room, and the atmosphere was tense. No one was saying much of anything. Seeing Melody walk into the room, Asmo spoke up.
“…Aw, normally everyone’s so happy and full of energy at breakfast. But things are sooo tense today!” he pouted.
“After hearing about what happened last night, I’m not surprised,” said Satan with a nod. Of course he’d be the one to respond to Asmo.
“How about you, Levi? You weren’t involved in the drama at all?” Asmo asked. Levi looked up from his game momentarily, fixing his eyes on Asmo.
“I hadn’t left my room for three days before going out to eat last night, and that was after all the chaos,” Levi said with a little shrug. He hadn’t known it had happened until it was all over; if he had, he might have been worried. But Melody had already survived by the time he was even aware her life had been at risk. It was a close call, and it had frightened him after the fact, but he wouldn’t admit to that now.
“I have to admit, sometimes there are advantages to being a shut-in. You avoid getting caught up in unpleasant business, like what happened last night.” Satan’s way of describing the incident was an understatement at best, and a callous dismissal at worst. But, Melody had noticed he tended to be well spoken most of the time, so she tried not to take it to heart.
“Yeah, you can definitely say that. Just look at Beel. He’s on his sixth cup of soup. That’s only half his normal pace.”
“I see that Mammon has the same stupid look on his face as he always does,” said Satan, not wanting to exclude the other member of the pacted trio.
“Hey! What’s that about my face now?!” asked Mammon, who had only been paying half attention. “You all! Stop whisperin’ over there! If you’ve got somethin’ to say, just come out and say it!” He was even more defensive than usual. Yesterday had scared him badly. He had been the one to call Melody down, and she had almost gotten killed. By Lucifer, no less, the one who had directed him to take care of Melody to begin with. No matter what choice he could have made, it would have been the wrong one.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We weren’t whispering. Don’t have a hissy fit, Mammon.” Asmo’s words were chiding.
“You know, we weren’t able to use the kitchen until just now, as someone had destroyed it. So I’d say we’re the victims here.” Now Satan was cross. Melody wasn’t angry, but it was rather uncomfortable realizing that he cared so little about her wellbeing. She hadn’t meant to trigger the chain of events that led to the destruction of the kitchen. And she had almost died recently, but Satan still said victim as though he had been hurt somehow.
This accusation just increased the tension. Beelzebub looked distinctly unhappy; he had been through most of the dangers with Melody, plus he had been the one who ultimately crashed through the wall. Lucifer was looking less than impressed as well. The program had almost failed due to his temper, and it would have compromised their entire household if they had let harm come to Melody. The damage to the kitchen felt like a minor inconvenience in comparison. Unable to stand the tension anymore, Melody slipped out of her seat and moved towards the door.
“…Melody,” said Lucifer, halting Melody in her tracks. His expression gave away nothing. He sighed, neutral expression sliding into a frown. “Would you come see me in the music room before heading to class?”
“Um…okay,” agreed Melody, though it made her more anxious to do so.
“I’ll be there waiting for you,” replied Lucifer, turning on his heels and exiting the room.
“Ooh, Lucifer wants to see Melody? Yikes! Super Scary!” Asmo, of course, was being over dramatic, raising his hands and everything. Satan snickered beside him.
“Pff… Careful Asmodeus. He might hear you.” Satan was smiling as he said that, implying he wasn’t the least bit worried that Lucifer would hear. Mammon, Levi, and Beel all looked at Melody with solemn expressions. Worried, even. Melody offered them all a weak smile.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she assured them, though she wish that she could reassure herself. Her nerves were rather frayed, but she doubted that Lucifer would call her in to finish her off. True, she might make him mad again, but she didn’t suspect him of ill intent. “I’ll see you at school.”
Although they were worried, none of them stopped Melody. If they did, most likely it would make her more nervous, not less, so they saw her off with the best smile each of them could muster. Even so, Melody’s heart, and feet, were heavy as she walked down the halls to the music room. Quietly she tapped on the door.