[Name] huffed, being a businessman as well as a part-time teacher was making his head pound, to say the least; Mammon and Levi were not helping either, escalating from little spats in the hallways to full-on prank wars.
Going on in school. The fucking school.
[Name] wearily made his way to the staff room, in a slight rut, he was tired, listening to his co-workers complaining about their students or the upcoming assignments. [Name] walked over to Isabella, a fellow teacher whose face was also hollow with fatigue, he collapsed onto the sofa next to her before letting his eyes rest. Gently resting his head on her shoulder. They both sat there, comfortable yet tired, silent.
The only reason he was still here so late was because of the papers that he had to look through for the upcoming RAD assessment which was a big deal to the older demons. He calls out to Lucian in his mind.
'Hey, Lucian?'
'Yes?'
'Can you tell me what Desmond is doing now?'
'He is currently scolding Mammon for his shenanigans and is thinking of scolding you when you get home.'
'How long do I have left until I can leave?'
'You have another 45 minutes and 46 seconds.'
'Can you send a text message to Isabella for me?'
'What will the message entail?'
'Just tell him that I'm leaving at roughly the same time as her and ask her if she will let me hitch a ride.'
'Alright, [Name].'
[Name] sighed, he knows that he shouldn't be too reckless, he needs to be more careful, he knows that his presence alone draws unwanted attention to the brothers. He doesn't want to burden them, especially the oldest. Desmond is already dealing with a lot.
"See you on Wednesday," said one of the history teachers as [Name] was packing his stuff up.
"Yeah, see you."
[Name] nodded, grabbed his bag with his class papers, and walked out of the staff room, where he saw Satan standing there waiting for him.
Satan raised an eyebrow, eying the other. [Name] smiled, "You don't need to wait for me on Tuesday now. Isabella is giving me a ride."
Satan nodded, "Alright, I will relay this to Desmond. I wasn't waiting for you; Desmond was worried and told me to check up on you. Also, he's waiting to tell you off as he did to Mammon."
"Oh, God. Thanks for the heads up. Welp, I have to go now! See you later~"
[Name] followed Lucian's directions to the car park and saw that Isabella was already by her car, he walked over to Isabella who greeted him with a beaming smile and a hug.
"Get in! It's not as luxurious as your normal ride but it's cosy."
"I don't mind at all, Bella," [Name] said with a small chuckle.
They were in the middle of small talk when [Name] was cut off by his phone ringing, his eyes widened when he looked at his screen and there were 5 missed calls. He received a look of sympathy from Isabella.
They stayed in comfortable silence on the way back, [Name] felt that the ride ended too quickly, he did not want to face Desmond's anger.
"Well, we're here."
"Thank you for the ride."
Isabella got out with [Name] and gave him a parting hug, shouting as she drove away, "See you tomorrow!"
"I see you've decided to come back."
"H-hi, Desmond. How are you?"
Desmond sneered. He was livid with [Name]. Mammon also. He had noticed how [Name] had changed recently, been happier, made new friends, talked to other demons, and conversed more freely with strangers.
"I'm sorry."
"Do you think that is going to cut it?" said Desmond whilst yanking on [Name]'s ear.
"No-! Hey! Stop! Don't pull my ear!"
"Why are you not like yourself?! Before you were - "
"Is that what this is?" [Name] questioned in a low voice, a voice different to the ones Desmond had heard before, yanking himself out of Desmond's grip with surprising strength. Desmond's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing dangerously at the sudden strength [Name] had just shown him.
"What do you mean?" Desmond hissed.
"Do you only love the 'old' me?"
Desmond stopped, eyes shooting wide open, "No! You've just changed so much ever since the-the-!"
"What? What were you going to say?"
"..."
"Not even a response?" [Name] snorted, voice dripping with derision, "I'm going to my room."
"Are you not hungry?"
"No. I am not. "
Desmond watched [Name] walk up the stairs, his back looked so alone, so solemn and hung down like he was carrying some unknown weight. Desmond sighed; he was probably reading too much into it.
'Lucian, how am I going to raise the intimacy level?'
'I'm not sure, but I think you should maybe leave a note and make his favourite food?'
'Can you help me find his favourite food?'
'Yes [Name].'
[Name] sighed, he stripped, grabbed his towel and got into the shower, he got out and changed into a [Favourite Colour] t-shirt and grey sweatpants. He made his way quietly downstairs with his laptop and made a cup of coffee, [Name] had contacted his secretary to email him the work, contracts, clients and plans etc, so he could do some of the work at home. He looked through it again, rubbed the side of his face, he sighed. He was going to look at the school papers some other time.
Typing away at his laptop, looking at his plans, recommending other places, advertising different companies and managing his team; he smiled, his team was so on board with everything they were doing, and they were doing it to the best of their abilities, as always.
He was halfway through a sentence when he heard a notification from his System ding, notifying him that Lucian has either an update, information, or a message for him.
'Do you have the information I asked for?'
'Yes. It is one of those poisoned apples or coffee of the melancholy.'
'Oh okay, so how do I make them?'
'You get the ingredients from Majolish.'
'Lucian, do you have a real-life form?'
'Yes, why do you ask sir?'
'Can you manifest in front of me?'
[Name] was answered by seeing a tall, although just a little shorter than him, pale guy with a fair complexion sitting across the table from him.