Summary: The Demon Lords have received their 7th member--as an egg. They must now contend with raising him into the Demon Lord of Gluttony.... Canon-compliant AU, Impmon-origin prequel to season 3 Tamers. (With some elements from Adventure 01 and 02.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything related to it.
Notes: I'm gonna aim for roughly an update per week. To my understanding, Belphemon appeared in Digimon Savers/Season 5, which I've never seen, so that won't really be an influence on his characterization in this. Again, thanks for all the comments, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Ch. 3
Belphemon yawned, and continued, "What about Gotsumon and Pumpkinmon--"
"Guarding prisoners," replied Lilithmon impatiently.
The Demon Lord of Sloth arched a brow. "Luce still needs them guarding our guests while he, er, interrogates them?"
"I'm not even going to attempt to fathom how Lucemon's mind works."
"Our brother just wants an audience…anyway, never mind his discretions--"
"If you can even call them that."
"--what about the rest of our fellow Lords?"
Lilithmon gave Belphemon's currently child-like form a flat glare.
"You know very well that you're Yaamon's favorite."
"Seriously, flattery? That's not your style, Lilith."
"You mistake fact for flattery."
"Right…even if that were true, it's only 'cause I'm asleep most of the time and let him take care of himself--"
"Which is why you're always perfect for the job." And with that Lilithmon turned on her heel, calling over her shoulder, "I'll send Yaamon in; I won't be back until late at night, so put him to sleep--you're good at that."
Belphemon shrugged, and simply closed his eyes as Yaamon bounded in and happily jumped on him. He let himself fall over from Yaamon's weight, and the slightly smaller infant Digimon continued to bounce on his stomach, his mouth going on and on about…well, Belphemon felt pretending to listen was sufficient with his youngest kin.
&&&
Belph's quarters were much larger than his. Yaamon remembered that Lilithmon had told him that Belphemon's room was larger to accommodate his more combat-effective form, whenever he deigned to wear it, which she said was always rare, and Yaamon hadn't even seen it yet. For whatever reason, Yaamon had only seen him as a Digimon only slightly larger than himself and always looking so sleepy. Lilith and the other Lords had confirmed that he had been like that long before Yaamon's arrival, and was now typically seen as the second smallest in their group, with the infant taking first place now.
"I'll get my title back though, when you evolve," Belph had teased before, and Yaamon had felt deeply reassured, for a rare moment really believing he could do it someday.
Belphemon's quarters also had more stuff than his--mostly comfortable cushions for his perpetual slumber, but some shelves with scrolls in 'em, and various vases with pictures and glyphs on 'em, and sculptures too, of monstrous-looking Digimon, and some that looked quite innocent, and some that just looked plain weird. Yaamon had asked before for Belph to read those scrolls to him, but he would always choose right then to nod off, which made the infant Digimon consider that was his indirect way of refusing, and that only made him wonder if Belph didn't know how to read either. (Lilith said he would teach him later, but Barb was determined to teach the infant now, so he got lessons from him in between the rigorous combat training.) Yaamon looked through the vases and sculptures himself carefully; again, Belphemon wouldn't answer his questions about them, except to say that some vases bore the Demon Lords' crests, though he hadn't bothered pointing out which ones yet. So that piece of info was rather useless since the infant still had no idea what the crests looked like, and altogether the vases carried over 7 different symbols, so it wasn't like he could easily figure out which was which. In the end, Yaamon just made up stories about Belph getting the vases and sculptures in daring adventures, with Lilithmon and the other Lords sometimes guest starring.
Currently, the infant Digimon was just playing a pretend variation of tag while Belphemon was knocked out like a light, curled on his side and snoring loudly.
"Ha ha ha, I'm fast as Myotismon's prized soldier Gatomon, now the Greatest Demon Lord Ever Lilithmon, faster than dumb ol' data streams--"
Yaamon banged into one of the shelves--which began to tip. His eyes widened, knowing either a sculpture or a vase or all of them would break, knowing very well Belph would be upset and his procreator furious, she had told him to always mind those shelves 'cause they carried fragile stuff--
The infant Digimon completely froze when he saw Belphemon sit straight up from the other side of the room. His eyes were wide open, and it was only then that Yaamon realized they were red, a glowing red, and the infant knew that Belph would definitely be mad over his stuff breaking--
In another second, Belphemon was there in a leap that didn't stop until he had shoved Yaamon out of the way of several vases and sculptures shattering where he had been. Yaamon blinked; looked at Belphemon, whose eyes were drooping again; then to the broken sculptures and vases; finally to the far opposite side of the room where Belph had slept seconds ago.
"You're fast," breathed the infant Digimon, dumbfounded.
"What made you think I wasn't?" Belph asked, and he sounded genuinely curious.
"Because you sleep a lot."
"Yes--but actually, it's because I sleep a lot, that I try to be fast."
"You don't try, you are real fast…but how does sleeping make you faster?"
Belphemon picked up Yaamon, walked away from the mess and set the infant on a cushion, then lied down next to him. "The faster I am, the sooner I can get back to sleep."
Yaamon blinked. "Oh. Well, that makes sense."
"And even if I do like sleeping, I'm still more attentive than some might give me credit for." Yaamon shuffled guiltily at that. "For all their mockery, my brothers and your procreator do know that. Most of the time, they always expect me to have listened to them when they speak…though whether I choose to acknowledge them or feign ignorance is ultimately my choice."
The infant bit his lip, confused.
Belphemon yawned, clarifying, "I either let them know that I heard them, or I pretend that I didn't and ignore them."
"Why would you do that? Why not always let them know you heard ok?"
"Like I said, it's my choice--what I want to do." Belphemon let that sink in for a minute with the infant. Of course, the Demon Lord of Sloth had never spoken this plainly with anyone before, but he figured he had to with someone as young as Yaamon, and so ignorant of life's subtleties. He continued, "Granted, I tend to avoid pretending in regards to important matters, or when I feel that I must say something."
Silence ensued as Belphemon rolled to his side, curling up and yawning, while Yaamon looked at the mess he made and began to fidget in earnest.
Finally, Yaamon muttered, "Sorry."
"Just don't tell Lilithmon. She'll freak, even if I tell her that I can just make more knick knacks...." Almost immediately afterwards, Belphemon began to snore, and wouldn't respond to Yaamon's further apologies, offers to help clean up and maybe try to fix the stuff, or anything else the infant said.
Though when Yaamon began to shuffle back toward the broken pieces, to clear them away and see if they would possibly stick back together by themselves, Belphemon's voice rang out, "Leave it alone." Still, the rest of the older Demon Lord's small body made no movement.
Yaamon quickly hopped back to Belphemon's side and stayed there, trying to nap like his friend until his procreator returned.
Notes: Admittedly, not much plot happened, just some character interaction and the simple fact that despite being the Demon Lord of Sloth, Belphemon's fast—full credit for that idea goes to Hiromu Arakawa's manga "Fullmetal Alchemist," which is actually ending up being a good inspiration in this, since it features an interesting group of villains based on the 7 Sins too. Later chapters may pick up slightly in plot terms, but a lot will be just Yaamon's interacting one-on-one with each of the older Demon Lords at least once before a certain turning point in the fic. Thanks for reading, and I continue to look forward to any comments or questions you have.