The Devil's Playmate

NINETEEN

Benjamin doesn't like it when Eligos isn't with him.

After school, when Eligos dropped him off, he still gave off that friendly smile and told Benjamin to take good care of himself, but he simply drove off without another word. Usually, he'd be all over Benjamin and would beg to spend a bit more time with him. So, seeing him leave like that made the boy slightly curious.

He didn't voice out his worries though, yet when he walked through the mirror to get ready for his first day at his new "job", Benjamin realized just how much he didn't like being by himself. Plus, he always depended on the demon for dressing him up.

Benjamin ended up staring at his clothes full of extravagant and unused clothes, unsure of what to do until Behemoth walked in. The demon had sensed Benjamin entering and just wanted a small peek of the human before seeing him so dejected. It made Behemoth frown and frantically worry, hurriedly trying to ask what was wrong.

There are many things Behemoth doesn't know about when it comes to humans, and he's not very intelligent when it comes to handlings demons either, though he tries his best to cheer Benjamin up even though he doesn't understand what happened.

He's a stupid creature, but he's genuine. It makes Benjamin's eyes soften and smile a little.

Eventually, he tells Behemoth his small predicament and wasn't very surprised to see Behemoth rush to help get him changed.

It's... different, Benjamin guesses. He's not like Eligos, who's very picky about the attire and would spend so long on one thing. Behemoth is clumsier and tries giving him an apologetic grin.

He also looks down at Benjamin with sincere care and devotion, something akin to a guardian perhaps. Being around this demon wasn't awkward at all for him. He feels a lot closer to Behemoth like this, just with the simple moments that make him perceive the demon as a father figure.

When he was finished, Benjamin had to fix his tie a few times because of how crooked it was. He almost missed seeing Behemoth whip out a phone, immediately taking pictures of the boy and looking proud.

Benjamin thinks it's alright to allow it. Behemoth really looked like a satisfied parent.

And because of how much Behemoth thought of Benjamin as his own, he was reluctant to see Benjamin off at the front of Lucifer's palace. As always, he tearfully waves him goodbye and lets out a deep sigh once he can no longer see the carriage. He doesn't really know what happened at Beelzebub's court, but he did hear about Benjamin getting some sort of job.

To which made Benjamin worry relentlessly.

Even though he told himself that this was fine, and it was better than sitting around just doing nothing, it still scares him. Adramelech said it himself that doing most of these tasks would be difficult since Benjamin was human.

As he stepped out of the carriage, grimacing at the sight of Beelzebub's palace, Benjamin really wished Eligos was here with him. It'd be a lot better to have someone he was familiar with.

Though he thinks he wished for it a little too soon when he recognizes Adramelech at the end of the hall, harshly snapping at several demons in front of him who merely cowered and bowed their heads, taking his insults. Adramelech closed the binder he was holding loudly, continuing to berate those around him.

"Are you stupid? How long have we been living that you don't even know how to deal with a mere human? Lord Benjamin can't handle any of these tasks. Do you see him having wings? Since when were all of you blind? He can't travel to any of these domains, especially Mammon's." Adramelech tossed the binder to one of them and hissed, "You know what? Forget it. I'll redo everything. Actually, Phisielle, rearrange my entire schedule. I can't leave this mess to Benjamin."