Belphegor strolled the streets of the city he found himself in. He found himself visiting Earth much more often these days. He kept his hands in his pockets just in case, and Hypnos was tucked in his shadow like always. Humans had perplexed him for as long as he could remember. How they changed so much over thousands of years was truly intriguing. Would anyone even believe him if he said he was actually a demon, much less the Prince of Sloth? Heck, he once lived three months among mortals without letting anyone in on who he really was. Needless to say this would make taking advantage of a few things easy. As he walked along, he found himself coming across a house. It was relatively small in size and made entirely of red brick. A single wooden door sealed the front entrance. "May as well explore a bit," Belphegor said with a shrug. Without much thought, he opened the door that was surprisingly unlocked and walked inside.
"Hello?" someone called from further in the house, "France, is that you? You're early…"
"Who's there?" Belphegor asked as he walked further into the house.
"That doesn't sound like France…" Belphegor soon heard another pair of feet walking until he sees another door open and someone walk out. Almost in an instant, Belphegor recognized the person in front of him. A tall figure stood by the door. From the bottom up, he recognized a pair of brown boots and greyish pants. Over them was a long white coat with a matching and equally long scarf. A pair of brown gloves covered the person's hands. Finally, the demon's eyes went up to the person's face; a large nose, small mouth, white hair, and a pair of violet eyes looked at him. "Who are you?" the man asks in a Russian accent.
"Ah, it's you!" Belphegor exclaimed, recognizing the personification of the nation of Russia, "I thought your voice was familiar."
Russia raised an eyebrow at the strange boy that entered his house. He wasn't sure what to make of the boy's appearance. His clothes consisted of a long and cozy looking blue and white sweatshirt, a pair of baggy blue jeans, and a pair of white socks in place of shoes. The stranger was slightly hunched over in his stance. On his head was a messy mop of blue hair, and his eyes were a soft lavender color. To say he appeared strange would be an understatement. "Do I know you…?" Russia asked.
"Perhaps not," the demon replied, "but I know you, Russia…" On his cue, Russia watched as the shadow on the wall behind Belphegor start to move and change. It grew until its head was on the ceiling, and showed off a scary face to Russia.
"You're not human, are you…" Russia said as he stepped back a bit and eyed the stranger closely.
"Well, you're correct on that…" Belphegor turned to his shadow, "You can stop now, Hypnos." On his command, the shadow returned to normal.
"Is there a reason you came in…?" Russia asked as his eyes found their way back to the paper in his hand to read it.
"Not really, just looking around," Belphegor shrugged again and leaned against the wall behind him, "What about you?"
"I'm… busy," Russia said as he stepped back into the room, still looking at the paper in his hand.
Belphegor curiously followed the tall Russian into the room and found himself in a small office. On the desk in the center of the room, Belphegor saw a few stacks of papers, some small and some big. He walked over to the desk as Russia made his way to the desk chair and sat down, looking at the papers on the desk. "What are these for?"
"Is my work. For my boss. That I have to do," Russia was starting to get annoyed by this nosy stranger, "Is due by the end of the week, but is being a lot of work."
"You don't seem to like it much," Belphegor brought his hands behind his head, "So why are you doing it if you don't like it?"
Now Russia was getting angry. He slammed his paper down on the desk and stood back up, staring angrily at the man. "Because is being a responsibility as a personification of a nation!"
Belphegor simply smiled at the man, not intimidated in the slightest. "Responsibility, of course…" he let out a soft chuckle, "Why don't you put those down for a while? Come with me for a bit…"
Russia huffed a bit as he sat back down, trying to get back to work. "You're making me lose my concentration…" He hoped that the man would understand the message and go away.
However, Belphegor didn't leave. He walked a little closer to the man, bringing out a hand that was now glowing a soft blue color. "Maybe this will help…" he brought his hand to the Russian's head.
"What are you…" Russia attempted to ask what the mystery man was doing, but as he felt his fingers go through his white hair and massage his scalp, a strange wave of relaxation came over him. The feeling of his hand rubbing his head so slowly and softly felt strangely good to the nation. "Mmm…" he let out a sot content sigh, no longer as annoyed with Belphegor's presence and instead enjoying his company. He started to feel the need to continue working slip away from him and replaced with the urge to simply relax as Belphegor moved behind him and started to massage his shoulders.
"That's better…" Belphegor said with a smile, happy to see his magic doing its work on the nation.
"That… feels nice…" Russia sighed, a relaxed smile spreading on his face.
"There… now, why don't you take a little break from this? You've worked hard enough…"
Russia nodded his head in agreement. "Da… a break… sounds nice…"
"Good…" Belphegor stopped his massage and brought a hand out to Russia to help him to his feet.
Russia looked at the hand that was offered to him curiously before looking up at this stranger like a child. "Where are we going?" he asks, still in his relaxed state, his eyes half-lidded.
"Someplace a little quieter," Belphegor continued to speak in his alluring voice, "Don't worry, it's really nice. You'll like it there."
"Okay~" Russia sighed blissfully, taking Belphegor's hand as he was helped onto his feet. Belphegor had a smile on his face as he led the oblivious nation out of his house. Making sure no one would see them leave, and keeping Russia complacent with a continuous flow of magic, the two of them walked to the forest outside of town.
"So… much… walking…" Russia grumbled a bit.
Belphegor couldn't help but smirk a bit at Russia's childlike state right now. This was starting to become almost too easy! Soon, the two of them stopped walking. "Here we are," Belphegor announced as they arrived at a forest clearing. Trees surrounded their every direction. The sun shone down on them gently from between the branches that swayed in the gentle breeze. It was almost as if they had stepped into a painting.
"Yay," Russia sighed, smiling dopily, his voice quiet and relaxed.
Belphegor smiled back at Russia, enjoying his sleepy enthusiasm. "You seem tired…" Belphegor let go of his hand and sat down, his back against one of the trees, "Here, lay down for a while…" Slowly, Russia sat down beside Belphegor before gently laying himself on the ground, giving a soft sigh of relief and smiling sleepily. The demon smiled and gently stroked Russia's hair. "Now… isn't this better than being stud in that office with all that meaningless paperwork?"
"Yeeeaaaahhh…" Russia replied, giving a slight nod.
"Yes…" Belphegor spoke softly and soothingly to the sleepy Russian as he sighed contently, his eyes slowly closing, "Doesn't this feel nice, Russia?... No need to think, either… just lay back and relax… yes, no need to work, no need to even think… just letting every little thought in your head that has nothing to do with now drain away…" he laid himself beside Russia, whispering in his ear and bring him closer, "Yes… so peaceful and empty… just so unbelievably relaxed… happy knowing I'm here to help you let go… You feel good knowing that no matter how tough life can get, you can always find me… just let go…" he looked down at the hypnotized Russian and asked, "How do you feel?"
"Relaxed… Peaceful~ Mmmmm~" Russia replied in his adorably sleepy tone. Indeed he felt relaxed and peaceful, more so than he had felt in a long time. His softened mind was like a sponge now, absorbing every word that Belphegor spoke to him in his wonderful voice, happy to have Belphegor beside him to help him relax. It was as if he was sinking into the ground, drifting into a soft, cozy respite unlike anything on Earth.
Belphegor smiled a bit with glee and snuggled closer to Russia, resting his head on his chest. "That's good… I'm your friend… I want you to feel peaceful…" Russia's already wide smile seemed to grow even wider as he let out a soft moan, happy to hear Belphegor say they were friends. Indeed, he felt as if he had just found his best friend in the entire world. "You seem tired…" he heard his friend say, "Are you tired?" He nodded lethargically in response. Belphegor grinned a bit. It was time to go in for the kill. He lifted himself off Belphegor's chest and whispered to him. "Why don't you rest then? … Sleep… dream sweet little dreams for me… I'm always here… sleep…" he leaned in closer to his ear, speaking much slower and letting the words sink into Russia's head, "sleep… dream… sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…"
Finally, the smile on Russia's face faded as his empty mind melted into blissful slumber. His mouth opened slightly as he fell peacefully asleep, letting out slight, quiet snores. Belphegor grinned widely to have seen his plan work so perfectly. "Perfect…" the prince of sloth laid his head back down on Russia's chest, letting the sound of his snoring and the feeling of his chest bobbing up and down lull him to sleep as well.
He had Russia right where he wanted him… now it was time for phase 2…