"All the dormitories are fully furnished and ready for the students," Lhori finished her presentation. They were gathered in the student council room and were discussing the latest progress on the exchange program. "We are still a few weeks from students' arrival, so if there are any concerns, we can address them in time. Are there any questions regarding logistics so far?" she asked, looking around the room.
"I'd say it all looks brilliant. You've done an amazing job, Lhori," said Diavolo smiling, clearly pleased with what he's seen.
"Thank you," Lhori nodded with a smile. She looked at Lucifer. He was smiling, his crimson eyes shining with pride. She was very nervous about this presentation. Lucifer was helping with all the preparation, encouraging her along the way.
Suddenly a loud and miserable sigh sounded in the room. Everyone looked at Ariel. A beautiful angel has a depressed expression plastered to her face, her perfect lips puffed out with evident displeasure.
"I apologize, Lhori, but I'm afraid this simply won't do," she said once she got all the attention.
"I beg your pardon?" Lhori asked not sure what the angel was referring to.
"This... accommodation you showed us... This is preposterous! No angel would agree to live in such dreadful conditions!"
"Dreadful? What's wrong with them? I can assure you that room looks the same as dorms for students from Devildom. And like every other dormitory I've seen in the human world," Lhori said, feeling her anger flares inside and threatening to spill out.
"Oh, I see, darling. That is probably, because you, humans, have incredibly low standards. Don't get me wrong; no one can blame you. You never knew any better, anyway. But I can assure you, that if you offer those rooms to the students from the Celestial Realm, they will refuse right away."
"Ariel, what exactly is wrong with those rooms?" asked Lucifer, annoyance clear in his voice.
"They are far too simple. The beds are too small, and there is no furniture besides a desk, wardrobe, and cabinets, there are no decorations. You could say they are quite ugly."
"Oh, and here I thought this is supposed to be a student dormitory, and not a luxury retreat," Lhori said sarcastically, but the angel just ignored her.
"And who thought about cramming two or even three students into one room? That's unacceptable. Everyone needs at least little privacy, don't you think?"
"Ariel," Lhori said through gritted teeth, she felt her face was getting flushed from anger. "We've been discussing the dormitories for weeks now. You had all the plans on your desk, with all the inventory details. How come now, when all is prepared and ready to use, you suddenly have concerns?"
"Oh, don't be angry at me, Lhori," the angel said, pure innocence all over her beautiful face. "I am only doing my job as an ambassador of the Celestial Realm. You may not care for your human students, but I care very much. That's why I must challenge the standards you want to impose on poor angels so carelessly. Those unlucky souls would be sent to this frightening kingdom, surrounded by countless demons. At least we could do is providing them with comfortable and safe accommodations."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Lhori groaned before she could stop herself.
"I'd say it is very convenient for you to raise all the concerns at this stage," said Satan looking at Ariel with his piercing green eyes. "It may delay things quite a bit. Someone could say you are trying to sabotage the whole project."
"Don't be ridiculous, Satan," she replied, looking at him as he was something hideous and disgusting. "I am here to make sure our students are treated with proper respect. I am aware that you all are very proud of your pet human here, but I won't be clapping for the half-assed job she did on those dormitories."
"You forget yourself, Ariel," Lucifer growled, his crimson eyes shining with fury.
"Oh, please, Lucifer. Like you could be objective in anything concerning her," she looked at Lhori with indisputable contempt. "Everyone knows you are sleeping together, so you'll do anything she says."
"That's quite enough," sounded a cold and commanding voice. Diavolo stood up from his chair, his expression gloomy. "I shall remind you all that we are working here toward peaceful cooperation for all three realms; for equal treatment of all representants. So please, keep your tempers at bay and refrain from insulting each other. Is that clear?"
Everyone got back to their seats and nodded reluctantly. Diavolo very rarely resorted to showing off his authority, but when he did, you could sense the power sizzling in the air around him. Only a fool would openly oppose him.
"I'm glad we get that cleared. Now, the matter of accommodation. Ariel, I want you to prepare me a detailed report with your insight on what would you like to improve in the dormitories. And I don't mean the vague comments you just told us. Give me specifics, the more detailed, the better. We will discuss it at our next meeting on Monday and see if it's feasible to do. That's all for today, the meeting adjourned."
Lhori grabbed her things and got out of the room quickly. She was afraid that if Ariel says another word to her, she will just smack her in this stupid, beautiful face. Her hands were itching just to plug some of the feathers from those perfect white wings.
"Lhori, wait!" She heard Lucifer running after her. She didn't react. She was too angry for everyday conversation. "Hey!" He caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"What?" she growled.
"Easy! You must be very angry right now."
"No shit! How did you guess that?" she hissed, annoyed with the whole world. He pulled a face and massaged his temple.
"Because my head is pounding."
"What?" she asked, surprised. "Why is your head pounding?"
"Because of you. We have a pact; I can sense when you are very emotional."
"You can?"
"Of course, I can. And now you are so furious, and I feel like someone is hammering my brain constantly. So, can you please breathe and try to relax a bit," Lucifer said, rubbing gently on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," she said, closed her eyes, and took a couple of deep breaths. "I just can't stand her. Who does she think she is? She called me a pet human."
"I know, she's a bitch. I don't know what's she's scheming, but it can't be anything good. But don't worry about it. Today she clearly lost it, and Diavolo saw that too so that he will be observing her closely for sure. And you did a marvelous job out there. You saw even Diavolo was impressed."
"Yeah, right before she tossed all this hard work to trash," she said bitterly.
"Don't worry about it, love. Come here," he said and pulled her into a hug. "You are doing great. We are almost there. It will all be worth it, you'll see."
"I hope so," she murmured into his chest. "But if she calls me pet-human one more time, I sear, I will smack her!"
"And I'll be cheering for you, love."