I Can't Babysit and Pet-sit
It was the summer of 1999, in the month of August to be specific. The weather forecast predicted for warm weather throughout the week with a chance of showers on the weekend.
It was a time for kids on summer break to play outside in their front yards with all sorts of toys and games. School was a hectic place where they worked hard all year round, save on the weekends when they had some leisure time available to do whatever they wanted. Summer was the best time of the year in that regard since school was out for a few months, leaving them free to have as much fun as they wanted.
Although Belphegor understood the reasoning behind that, she still wished kids would take school seriously and study over the summer instead of playing. After all, children would grow up eventually and find careers for themselves, so it was better they use the extra time wisely to prepare for their futures and the careers they would find themselves in one day.
But a shy, timid girl like her couldn't change the schooling system, nor could she even make suggestions since she wasn't involved in it either. Belphegor didn't go to school partly because she was a magical being, but also because she acquired much of her knowledge from observing others along with a bit of it from the few books she was able to read with Ange's help.
Another reason why was because there wasn't a formal school in Purgatory. Witches and sorcerers had no reason to establish an academic center because their method of teaching involved taking on pupils who would later succeed them. Sometimes Belphegor wished the same could be said for Furniture like her, but it wouldn't really do much good because there was no real need for them to learn unless their masters either allowed or required it. Without a school to teach Furniture how to be effective, her education, along with that of most Furniture, was a matter only for the beings they served to consider.
Belphegor never really understood that, which was why she never worked up the courage to ask Beatrice what any of that meant and if she could apply for an education. To her, knowledge was only as good as work; nothing else mattered if it was towards something useful that would benefit her master. That was why she felt it wasn't her place to make such a request; it would only embarrass her, leading to uncomfortable situations that put her on the spot when her knowledge was required. The Stake of Sloth wanted to avoid that entirely, though Ange was very patient with her when she taught the poor girl reading comprehension skills and writing skills. Ange's explanations always made everything easier and comfortable, so now Belphegor felt confident about what she knew even if her knowledge was still limited.
Perhaps this was what it was like in schools, though on a different level since there was usually one teacher and a class full of students. But those classes were empty now because of summer break, and all those kids outside meant one thing to Belphegor: she had to stay inside to avoid them out of fear because they were all strangers to her. She didn't like strangers because they terrified her since she didn't know who they were, and she was way too shy and timid to even speak with them, let alone be around them.
It didn't really matter too much since she was inside working and the kids were all outside in their yards playing.
"S-slow down! P-Please s-stop!"
It shouldn't have mattered because those kids were supposed to be outside, except for the three little girls who lived next door who were apparently staying over for the day since their parents went out of the city for the day on an important errand. They were a rowdy trio, that was for sure, and it made no sense why they had to say indoors when there was a perfectly big front yard with an equally big backyard for them to play in.
Belphegor would never understand children or the mechanics behind them; all she knew was that they got in the way whenever somebody like her was working. She didn't have time for play—she never did, really—though it wasn't an excuse for them to hang around her especially when she was boring. Although Belphegor didn't like to admit it since it only belittled herself, she had to agree with the label nonetheless regardless of whether she liked it or not.
"C-calm down! I-indoor voices, p-please!"
Though now was a good time for her to actually admit it. Maybe it would make the girls leave her alone and let her go back to work in peace rather than chase them all over the living room where she was busy ironing the tablecloth—which the girls stained with grape juice a few hours ago. Perhaps it would've been better if she ironed it up in her room to avoid unwanted distractions.
One of the girls laughed as she played with the new lamp Ange bought two days ago. "Oooh…this is so cool! I want one of these! Can I have it, Miss Belphe?! Can I, can I, can I?!" she pestered until the Stake pulled her away from the lamp.
"N-no, we just got it ourselves! And you can't play with it either!"
The second girl had climbed to the top of the couch and saw Belphegor's side ponytail. "Why do you only have one pigtail, Miss Belphe?!" she squealed while yanking on it, causing Belphegor to squeal too—in pain as a matter of fact. "Where's the other one?!"
"I-I don't know! I-I don't know!" the poor Stake cried as she pulled the little girl off the couch, coincidently causing the ponytail to come undone. "Just d-don't touch it! T-that hurts!"
"Can we help you iron Miss Belphe?" the third girl inquired calmly as she attempted to reach for the iron.
The moment the Stake of Sloth noticed what she was doing, she made a mad dash for the iron and immediately seized it so the thing wouldn't fall and burn the child. "A-absolutely not! You s-shouldn't touch this; it's too hot!" she shouted in a panicked state after taking it away…before realizing a moment after yelling that it was a completely stupid move on her part to grab the scalding hot side with both hands.
Belphegor screamed in pain and accidently dropped the iron…which landed hard on her foot, causing the poor Stake to cry out again as she raised her leg to hold her sore foot while hopping uncontrollably before losing her balance and falling backwards into the iron.
Both hit the floor with a loud thud, but only one suffered a blow to the head. That was obviously Belphegor since she lost consciousness for a few moments before opening her eyes to find the girls all staring at down at her in concerned confusion. The timid Stake squeaked fearfully and pushed herself away until she bumped into something behind her. She looked up to find her younger sister, Beelzebub, clad in jeans and a blouse, looking down at her.
"Hey, Belphe, you okay?" the Stake of Gluttony inquired, "I heard a commotion from the kitchen and came in to see what happened." She gazed at the damage around the room and crossed her arms, somewhat surprised to find the place in disarray. Some of the strings in the piano were sticking up, a portrait was crooked, wood for the fireplace was in a mess, one of the curtains had been pulled down, and now the ironing board was on the floor. It was as if a small tornado ransacked the room without taking anything.
One would think the little girls had caused all that destruction, but nobody could really believe it especially when the truth just so happened to be at Beelzebub's feet.
First, the girls playfully tossed a ring around until it ended up in the piano when Belphegor tripped over her own feet while attempting to get the ring back. That ring had belonged to Ange's mother, so they shouldn't have been throwing it around in the first place. When it landed inside the piano, Belphegor's hair got caught in the strings while trying to pull it out and she fell into it. That was how her hair got disheveled as she became tangled in the strings; while trying to get untangled after managing to get out of the piano, Belphegor was yanked by them so hard that her face smashed into the side of the instrument. That explained the black eye she got along with the swollen bump on her forehead.
The green bows in her hair had fallen to the floor in the process and she had slipped on them while trying to get up. Belphegor tried to break her fall at the expense of the curtains she seized to keep her balance without realizing it, but failed and fell anyway.
Then the girls were checking out the fireplace and she rushed to keep them from turning the flames on even though there was a cage separating them from the fire. She tripped over her feet again and stumbled into the portrait before falling after tripping over the firewood.
Next came the lamp before the second girl undid Belphegor's side ponytail when she pulled on it. Finally the ironing board fell over after the Stake of Sloth severely burned both of her hands.
To make a long story short, Belphegor was now a total mess from chasing the girls to prevent them from getting into trouble. She was wounded and sweaty, her hair was disheveled along with the outfit she was wearing—the same clothes she wore when Okonogi visited the one time—and the poor girl was under a lot of stress which nearly caused another panic attack. Belphegor couldn't take much more of this because she was an injured wreck out of breath.
Beelzebub liked poking a bit of lighthearted fun at her older sister, but to do so now would just kick the poor Stake after she'd been dropped down. Ange and Lucifer would certainly be upset at her if she tried.
So she decided to help Belphegor by using the one thing she knew best: food.
"Alright, girls," she announced while clapping her hands together, "lunch is just about ready! Where would you like to eat: the dining room, or the gazebo in the backyard?"
"Dining room, dining room, dining room!" the girls chirped happily as they all rushed into their chosen venue for lunch, leaving the two Stakes in the now messy living room.
Belphegor just stared after them in horror, baffled that just three little girls could cause so much trouble and worried they would probably wreck the dining room too, especially after they spilled grape juice on the tablecloth which she'd been trying to iron as they played around her. She didn't know if she should've been grateful her younger sisters weren't like that or fearful that they might become like those children one day. The Stake of Sloth prayed for the former since it was polite to her family and wouldn't get her in trouble—hopefully the latter wouldn't come true.
"Geez, Belphe," the Stake of Gluttony got her older sister's attention when she spoke up after surveying the damage once the girls left, "it sure looks like a gorilla came in here. What on earth happened? Did the girls do this?"
Her inquiry went unanswered as Belphegor tried to stand, but the poor Stake was wobbly because the blow to her head earlier made her somewhat dizzy. She looked less like the noble Stake of Purgatory she was known as—even if Belphegor didn't believe it herself—and more like a punching bag for somebody with huge fists. Every blow left sizable dents in her self-confidence and self-esteem, both of which happened to be quite brittle anyway. Her eyes were watery and her face was flustered, evidently from all the stress placed onto her during the morning when the girls were brought over with their pets: two dogs, two cats, and a litter of kittens.
"Wow, they must've done a number on you," Beelzebub commented, which apparently got a response out of her disheveled sister.
"O-Oh, no," she replied somewhat sarcastically while stuttering—which was unusual for her since she never took that kind of tone with anyone before, but also understandable due to the pressure on her. "I-it was all me, and M-miss Ange's going to be very upset with me! S-so don't try to m-make m-me feel better about this because I sure as hell d-don't want to infuriate her!"
"Okay, okay…" Beelzebub held her hands up defensively and took a step back to give her older sister some space. "You're obviously under a lot of stress right now."
"You t-think?!" Belphegor retorted, momentarily forgetting that her behavior right now might get her into even more trouble if she was punished for what happened to the living room. "I-I've had to put up with t-these, t-these, t-these m-monsters since this m-morning! N-nobody has even t-taken them off my hands s-so I-I can work in p-peace!" She would've complained further if her younger sister hadn't seized her shoulders and shook her.
"Calm down, Belphe, calm down now," she commanded despite being the younger of the two. "I understand what you're going through, but behaving this way is unlike you. You're just making yourself more upset by not giving yourself a chance to settle your nerves."
Belphegor's eyes widened slightly and she tipped her head down in shame since Beelzebub was right; she was getting too worked up. "S-s-sorry…" she apologized shyly.
"It's fine," her younger sister sighed. "Just come into the dining room, I made you something too since you're busy right now to prepare something for yourself."
"B-b-but t-t-those m-m-monsters will be there!" Belphegor protested fearfully. She sort of had every right to, especially after what happened to her even if it wasn't the girls' fault. The Stake of Sloth opened her mouth again, but was cut off when Beelzebub wagged a finger in front of her.
"Don't call them that! That's mean!" the younger stake scolded her for the insult. "They're just around seven years old, and yes, I'm well aware they can be a handful, but that doesn't provide you with justification for unintentionally causing trouble. Besides, you've had to deal with this from Mammon and I in the past, so it shouldn't be that different from back then."
"U-uh, it kind of is…I-I t-think?" Belphegor stuttered timidly, looking up her sister through her bangs while sounding unsure of herself. "I-I m-mean, it's one more p-person t-to look after."
Beelzebub sighed again. "So? Just because it's a little bit more work than what you're used to doesn't mean you can't handle it." Belphegor knew she was correct and attempted to speak up again, but the other Stake just placed a hand on her shoulder and ushered her out of the room. "Just come inside, I'll put you down at the other end of the table and make sure they won't bother you."
"O-okay, t-thank you…" Belphegor shyly showed her appreciation. "A-and I-I'm s-sorry."
"It's alright," Beelzebub simply replied as they sauntered to the dining room.
As they walked, Belphegor couldn't help but feel that she was pretty insignificant to the Stake of Gluttony. Her younger sister used to act very immature and would constantly get in trouble when she stole food and played mean pranks on her and the others. Now she no longer had midnight snacks, she didn't eat everyone else's food, and she prevented herself from making pranks; though she did engage in a bit of light hearted teasing sometimes. It was likely thanks to the discipline she went through under Ange's guidance. Their current master didn't like how Beelzebub devoured everything in front of her so long as it was edible and made cruel fun of others, so she used some strict reinforcement to teach her how to stop and act proper. Ange's methodology was surprisingly effective as the young Stake's behavior changed dramatically; not even Beatrice—or even Eva-Beatrice—could accomplish such a task even with Ronove to help.
Such improvement in her behavior made Belphegor feel upset about herself since she knew there was no way for her to catch up to the others. She was always lagging behind them because her own insecurities and terrors prevented her from joining them as an individual of society. Although everyone encouraged her to participate while helping her become active, the Stake of Sloth knew it was a losing battle since she was only just upsetting others because she was weak. Her shyness and timidity always drove her back into a protective shell, but even that was crippled since her defenses against social customs was brittle. Sometimes Belphegor wondered whether she should be replaced by somebody more courageous than her, a frightened girl with no self-esteem.
But she had to push such thoughts out of her mind. That train of thought only worried Ange and her sisters since they knew she was beating herself up like always when there was no reason to. They didn't want Belphegor to feel bad for herself since a lot of stuff wasn't her fault.
In any case, they finally came to the dining room where the girls were already seated at the far end of the table, chatting happily about how much fun they were having. Belphegor's eyes widened slightly and she swallowed heavily at the sight of them while beginning to tremble. Fortunately, Beelzebub immediately noticed her older sister's discomfort and quickly put her in the seat nearest to where they came in.
"Just sit here, okay? I'll be back with yours and an icepack as soon as I give them theirs."
"A-alright, t-thank you, Beelzebub."
"No problem," the Stake of Gluttony replied as she went across the room into the kitchen and came back out with a few bowls of macaroni for the girls which they thanked her for. She then returned to get a simple sandwich and the icepack she prepared for her sister and brought it out to the Stake of Sloth, briefly stopping by the girls for a moment to let them know that Belphegor wanted personal space to eat. They merely saluted her before continuing their own meal.
"Here you go, Belphe," she said, placing the sandwich in front of the Stake of Sloth. "I didn't know if you wanted something different, but this should suffice, yes?"
"Y-yes," Belphegor nodded as confirmation, "it will be enough, t-thank you."
"You're welcome," Beelzebub smiled and turned to head back into the kitchen. "I'll just be cleaning up in there, so come in in case you need anything else."
"O-okay," Belphegor replied softly while getting a napkin for herself. She looked down at the sandwich and closed her eyes, bringing her hands together to give her younger sister silent thanks for the meal. Her palms still hurt, but at least the ice pack soothed the pain somewhat.
Belphegor was about to pick it up and start eating, but a sudden, loud bark gave her a terrible fright. She shrieked in terror and fell out of the chair before backing up against the wall upon seeing two huge dogs towering above her. Their presence was such a frightening imposition that they made Belphegor's heart skip several beats as her trembling became uncontrollable while she turned very pale. They slowly approached to sniff her, but the timid Stake thought they wanted to devour her until there was nothing left except a skeletal form the dogs could play with.
Just as Belphegor couldn't handle children, she couldn't handle pets as well—especially dogs as large as the two before her. She'd seen all kinds of terrifying animals at the zoo Ange and her sisters dragged her to a week ago, but those creatures were in caged environments where they couldn't get out. Although Belphegor felt sorry for them because they were held in captivity for the enjoyment of visitors and tourists, having them out and about only caused chaos which she was made all too aware of from watching movies and animals in real life—particularly dogs.
Dogs were domesticated critters, yet the excitable nature present in most of the ones she encountered while out with the others only scared her because they would be drawn to anyone. That wasn't due to aggressive characteristics, but rather a sense of friendly curiosity they showed when seeing new, interesting people. Perhaps that was why Belphegor feared dogs; their behavior around others in that manner made her think they were out for blood even though she knew they only wanted to meet new people like her. It wasn't rational on her part, but she couldn't help it.
In any case, Belphegor was fortunately saved by her other younger sister, Mammon, who miraculously came in the nick of time to pull the dogs towards her. "There, you guys are!" she cooed as the dogs pranced around her while barking excitedly. "Now, now, boys, you shouldn't scare Belphe like that, okay? Settle down now." She lifted her head up and grinned at her older sister while petting them. "See, Belphe, they're not so bad. They just wanted to say hello."
But Belphegor was already too upset and frightened to listen. She quickly stood up and stormed into the kitchen, every footstep plagued with irritated terror that became clear to Beelzebub. "I can't take this anymore! Those children have been a nuisance and those big things they brought with them have just ruined the only moment of peace I've had this whole day!" she shouted loud enough for the girls to hear from the other side of the door, all three of whom exchanged worried glances and got out of the chairs to see what was wrong.
"Lower your voice, Belphegor," Beelzebub calmly told the Stake of Sloth, "they'll hear you." Out of the corner of her eye she saw the girls peering in and smiled sweetly at them. "Go back to your meals, dearies, and I'll be out with some dessert in a bit."
The girls looked at one another again, but Mammon came over to usher the three of them back to their seats. "Don't worry, Miss Belphe is just having a rough day today. We'll make sure she gets better soon, alright?" She came in alone without the dogs as they stayed behind in the dining room to lay down by their owners and approached Belphegor. "What is wrong with you, Belphe? They're just having fun," she scolded the Stake of Sloth in a growling tone. "You shouldn't yell like that about them; it'll scare them."
"I don't care anymore!" Belphegor cried out, obviously getting stressed out because her hands were full of too much stuff she had to do—namely productive tasks that constituted work. Throwing babysitting and pet-sitting into the mix was overkill for the system she had in place and struggled to keep intact. It gave her too much to juggle, and she was not happy about it. "All I wanted was some time alone, time to myself so I could get some work done around here! There's too much to do and I can't handle so many things at once! Is that not too much to ask?!"
"Then go get some work done and leave the children with us," Beelzebub suggested. "Go do something or get some rest, just stop yelling about what's keeping you from enjoying the day."
"I can't do that now, can I?!" Belphegor retorted. "Not when they're here to prevent me from getting anything done!"
"It's not their fault, Belphe," Mammon stepped towards her older sister and crossed her arms. "You can't deny them any kind of fun because you can't do anything. Besides, we've already done enough work yesterday so we can enjoy ourselves for a while. Take advantage of this instead of rejecting it with your excuse of 'oh, I have to work because I need to earn my keep' or whatever it is. You're only making it harder by beating yourself up over nothing."
"Does this look like nothing to you?!" Belphegor shouted as she pointed to the destruction of her person. "Look at me! Do you see this?! This is what happens when you let children into your home and give them free reign over anything and everything!"
Suddenly there were small chirps of "Miss Ange!" mixed into the fray which the three Stakes only began to hear after Belphegor's outburst evaporated into nothing. She didn't dare continue lest her master discover what was going on. Hopefully she didn't see what happened to the living room since it would only infuriate her and put poor Belphegor in a lot of trouble. The Stake of Sloth would likely be severely punished if Ange learned that she was responsible for it, but she had no choice but to tell the truth and accept the consequences of her actions. Hopefully Ange would understand why the living room was in a state of disarray, that the ones who started it were those three little princesses of destruction out in the dining room.
"Why, hello children," the Stakes heard her say, "what seems to be the matter?"
"Miss Belphe's yelling!" The girls cried. "She's yelling about us, Miss Ange! What did we do?! Did we do something wrong?! We're sorry!"
Belphegor would only believe their apology if they truly meant it. As it stood, she couldn't tell if they were just saying that to get her in trouble.
In any case, their crying seemed to have an effect on Ange…and it didn't appear to sound good since her master was calm and polite in her response to them. "That's mean of her. Don't you worry, girls, I'll make sure she apologizes later, okay? Just let me handle Miss Belphe while you go outside and play with Miss Luci, Miss Satan, and Miss Levia, alright?"
And she apparently believed their story and was going to take action in their favor.
"O-Okay…" The girls responded.
The Stakes could hear them walk into the hallway, but Belphegor knew what was coming. Her master sided with the very monsters who caused the Stake of Sloth no end of painful trouble before, and now she was going to find her in here trying to justify how she felt by complaining about the girls and how horrible they were. Belphegor knew what she did was wrong, but she couldn't resist unleashing her anger any longer. The others always told her to express how she felt and not to hold in so much anger whenever she was mad. That was fine so long as she didn't try to harm others' feelings, but there were plenty of occasions when Belphegor didn't know she was coming across that way or sounded like it. And this just so happened to be one of those times when she lost her temper, causing the situation to blow out of proportion.
Ange watched the girls head out before sauntering into the kitchen to face the Stake of Sloth as the girls pointed to the room as where Belphegor currently was. She was dressed in her usual attire, but her clothes were completely covered in cat hair since she and Asmodeus had been upstairs in their room playing with the litter of kittens and the two cats. Belphegor never really figured her master for a cat person—her younger sister, Asmodeus, certainly was—so picturing her as one was somewhat difficult because Ange usually had a stoic look to her. That demeanor wasn't present whenever she and Asmodeus were having fun as sisters and when something scary gave the two of them a horrible fright, but usually it was stoic if somewhat concerned sometimes.
She turned her attention to Belphegor and stepped closer to her when the Stake of Sloth turned away. "Belphegor, what's this I'm hearing about you being mean to our guests?"
Belphegor swallowed heavily, afraid of facing her master and telling her the truth behind what was going on since it would only make Ange mad and get her in trouble.
"Belphegor," Ange said a little more sternly, "I'm talking to you. Why am I hearing that you've been hurting the children's feelings? Why has the living room become a mess?"
So she did see the destruction that the Stake of Sloth accidently caused. She didn't do it on purpose; it was an accident, yet Belphegor still felt very guilty about causing it even though it was completely unintentional on her part. She hadn't meant for it to happen, but it just did.
"Turn around, Belphegor," Ange told her, Mammon and Beelzebub standing back to let the witch handle the issue. "I want you to explain this to me." A soft sob that was obviously choked out from the flustered Stake made Ange relent and she immediately became concerned, wondering if something had happened to upset Belphegor.
It wouldn't be the first time as Ange and the other Stakes clearly knew the poor girl could receive a lot of stress from things that didn't go as Belphegor expected them to. Belphegor was certainly aware of this weakness, yet her other fallacies prevented her from improving it and vice versa. She just couldn't handle too much on her own, having to constantly rely on others for support even though it was another weakness of hers since she was too scared to ask for help and timidly shy around others even when she knew them well.
The Stakes of Greed and Gluttony looked at one another and took a step towards their older sister, but Ange halted them simply by holding her hand up to gesture that she would handle this. She got closer to Belphegor and placed a hand on her shoulder to see if she was alright, and quickly received a response from her—one she was certainly accustomed to because she'd been helping the Stake of Sloth in any tight situation she found herself in.
"I'm sorry!" Belphegor cried as she whirled around just as Ange stepped back in time to avoid being knocked over. "I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Tears poured down her face as she began to cry, falling to her hands and knees to beg for forgiveness even though she had no more words to express how apologetic she was.
Ange knelt down to her level and looked at Belphegor, noting the condition she was in and deducing that what happened in the living room wasn't the poor Stake's fault. She then stood up, pulling Belphegor with her and embracing her in a hug while leading the poor girl over to the table. "There, there, Belphegor…" she whispered soothingly with a warm smile as she sat her down, "it's alright; I'm not mad." She turned to Beelzebub and pointed towards the freezer. "Bring over an ice pack for her," she said as the Stake of Gluttony retrieved the one in the dining room with the dishes she also collected for the washing machine.
As Ange pressed the ice pack to Belphegor's forehead, Beelzebub set the sandwich she made for her down in front of the Stake of Sloth so she could eat undisturbed. It took a few minutes for its presence to register in Belphegor's mind, but she gradually calmed down a little and ate the sandwich. She didn't finish it, however, for it felt as if her stomach were in a knot from too much stress. She feared it might very well burst had she consumed the entire thing. Ange noticed the burns on the Stake's hands while she ate, so she applied a healing spell she knew to cure the pain.
In any case, Mammon took the sandwich away once it became apparent her older sister wasn't going to have the rest of it. She threw what was left of the sandwich in the garbage and put the plate in the sink for Beelzebub to take care of.
Ange just continued to watch Belphegor as the flustered Stake slowly settled down even if she was still trembling softly. "All better?" she asked out of concern with a warm smile.
Belphegor didn't respond. She just folded her hands across her lap and tipped her head down, blushing in embarrassment over how she behaved in front of Ange and her sisters. Yet she started to calm down for better or worse.
Ange knew the shy, timid Stake found it a little difficult to voice her gratitude, so she decided not to press for an answer. Belphegor's current demeanor now was all she needed to know that she was okay—at least for the moment. "Tell you what, Belphegor; why don't you find something else to do and get some rest for today. Sound good?"
Belphegor tried to resist swallowing a lump in her throat because it would only make them worry more. However, she couldn't help but feel there was a catch to this idea her master proposed. It couldn't possibly be that simple, right? There wasn't more to it, right? Regardless, Belphegor was aware of how impolite it was to trust Ange's judgment—or her sisters' for that matter—so she worked up the courage to produce a couple words in the form of a stuttered inquiry. "L-like w-what?" she asked, trying to mentally prepare herself for what Ange had in mind.
"Anything you believe would make you feel comfortable and give you some space."
So she was given permission to do whatever she wanted, which wasn't all that surprising or rewarding as Ange didn't enforce a strict work ethic on the Stakes. She did request they contribute to the household in some way, but never stated what they should do or give. There wasn't a lot to do actually since eight people—Ange and the Stakes—in one house meant all the work usually got done fairly quickly. It was often done in less than a day or a little over that, but it hardly extended to a second day of work which left six days of the week for leisure unless some tasks took over a day or two to complete.
Belphegor breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she wouldn't have to deal with more stress…
"You could help walk the dogs if you need a break from the children," Mammon suggested.
…and then immediately squeaked at the thought of having to be near those creatures.
"Come on, Belphe, it'll be fine," the Stake of Greed said as she ushered the dogs into the kitchen—why they hadn't followed their owners outside was a reason Belphegor didn't want to know—and put leashes on them. "It's just a short walk around the block; nothing can go wrong."
"I-I b-beg t-to d-differ!" the timid Stake protested fearfully, stuttering her words. "I-I don't want t-to even go near t-those—t-those…"
"German Shepherds?" Mammon finished for her. "Look, Belphe, I know you don't really like big dogs, but these guys are friendly," she explained and knelt down to pet them. "Aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." she cooed playfully as they barked happily and wagged their tails.
But Belphegor didn't agree with her younger sister. She immediately got to her feet and began to back away from the dogs, fearing they would break away from the Stake of Greed and come after her. The timid Stake swallowed heavily and trembled, sweat slowly trickling down her face. Belphegor was so terrified she didn't notice Ange place a hand on her shoulder and shrieked when her master made her jump.
"Whoa, sorry about that," Ange apologized as her friend started breathing heavily, trying to calm down after the witch gave her a bad fright. "Look, Belphegor, it'll be fine. Just hold your hand down so they can smell you."
"B-b-but they'll b-b-bite me!" Belphegor protested fearfully, stuttering her words. "T-they might give me s-something like a d-disease or some kind of v-v-virus o-o-or—."
"No they won't," Mammon reassured her. "They're friendly. Just trust us, okay?"
As much as Belphegor didn't want to do it, she had to admit the Stake of Greed had a point about trust. The other Stakes might've been her sisters and Ange may have been her friend, but she knew her own insecurities prevented her from truly seeing them as such. They really did care for her, but Belphegor had trouble believing it which was why she found it difficult to trust them. She was scared they would lead her astray, but she didn't know that for sure since she hardly felt courageous enough to believe them. Perhaps it was time to place her trust in them so she could finally become a part of the family and a good friend to Ange.
"Go ahead, Belphegor," Ange encouraged her. "Hold your hand down. Kneel down if you want to get at their level."
Belphegor swallowed again and slowly did as she was told. She got down on her knees just as the dogs noticed her and raised a trembling hand up to them. They panted and sniffed her hand for a few moments. All was going well until…
"K-k-kyaaa! Get them off me! Get them off me!"
…the dogs suddenly barked and jumped on top of her. Belphegor screamed as she lost her balance and fell back against the floor as they started licking her face.
By the time Mammon and Beelzebub pulled the dogs away from her while Ange got down to lift the upper half of the poor Stake's body off the floor, Belphegor was already in a dazed stupor. Her face was very sticky since the dogs licked her so much, but she was perfectly alright.
Ange, Mammon, and Beelzebub all looked at one another, aware that things might've gone a bit too far for the Stake of Sloth to handle all at once.
Even so, it was Mammon who tried to lighten the mood. "That didn't go as expected, but I think they like her."
Though Belphegor didn't like the sound of that. She wasn't entirely unconscious so she could still hear what they were saying, and was greatly relieved when Ange said she'd get one of her other sisters to walk the dogs with Mammon. She would finally get the peace she and quiet she was looking for throughout the day, and those girls and their dogs wouldn't ruin it for her.
…
Later that night Belphegor was lying in bed, trying to get some sleep after a long day of work, torture, and much needed rest. It had been quite nerve wracking to have three children come over with their dogs for the day while their parents were out. Yet she was relieved when she heard a conversation between their parents and Ange and Asmodeus earlier that evening after dinner.
She had gone upstairs to finish what remained of the book she practiced reading to improve her comprehension skills and overheard them talking about how the girls behaved during their stay. Hearing them get scolded relieved Belphegor because they were finally going to get punished for what they did to her, but she knew that feeling was wrong regarding the context behind it. She didn't like it when others got in trouble and usually preferred to handle any situation appropriately, unless she was incapable of that—which was often a common occurrence. However, those girls did torment her even if it was unintentionally, so she figured it was time for them to learn never to bother others when they were busy. Besides, it was no longer her problem to deal with anyway.
She had breathed a sigh of relief and returned to her bedroom for some more rest, forgetting the rest of that conversation because she wasn't interested in hearing anymore of it. Eavesdropping was impolite, so Belphegor didn't want to be rude and continue it further.
Now the Stake of Sloth was finding it hard to sleep, most likely because she feared having nightmares about the girls and their dogs. She sighed and was about to get the book she was reading before just to kill time and hopefully continue learning how to read better, but a sudden knock at the door startled her.
"Belphegor," she heard Ange call from out in the hall, "may I come in?"
"U-uh, o-okay," the shy Stake responded nervously, wondering what her master wanted at this hour. It was odd that Ange would come to her for something at this hour since she never did, but Belphegor didn't want to keep her waiting and she was curious why the witch wanted her.
"Hey there, Belphegor," Ange asked as she opened the door and stepped in. "Do you feel okay? Is everything alright?"
Belphegor sighed and nodded to confirm she was fine. "Y-yes, w-why do you ask?" she inquired as Ange handed her a slip of paper. "W-what's this?"
"It's a drawing the girls made together," Ange explained. "They were sorry about what happened today and wanted to give you that as an apology."
"Apology?" Belphegor asked rhetorically, looking at the drawing her master gave her. It was a depiction of her and the girls as stick figures, including the dogs as well; they were smiling happily and holding hands together. Their names as well as Belphegor's were written above them.
"You know, Belphegor," Ange said with a small smile as she looked down at the Stake, "they may have inadvertently caused you trouble today, but they meant well. They only wanted to be friends and play with you."
Belphegor looked to her master and the drawing again. Perhaps she misjudged the girls.
"I-I s-see…" she responded shyly, but not without regret for how she acted and what she said about them. "I-I s-suppose it would be best if I-I apologize to them as well."
"Does that mean you'll be going next door tomorrow to see them?" Ange asked.
"W-well, I'd have to," Belphegor answered, looking back up at Ange. "I-I don't think they would c-come back after my…u-um, m-my c-conduct today."
Ange smiled. "Good, I'm glad you're making the right decision. You'll need to be a proper role model for them."
"E-excuse me?" Belphegor looked surprised, unsure of what her master meant by that.
"Ah, yes," Ange said as if she had forgotten something she was going to tell the Stake of Sloth. "I had spoken with the girls and their parents before about how they behaved around you. The children were wondering if you would go next door to see them tomorrow. They wanted to start over with you and try to become friends, so I thought it would be a good idea for you to spend the day with them if that's okay with you. They didn't want to force you to go, so they would understand if you don't want to go."
Belphegor shook her head. "N-no, t-that wouldn't be right," she said while turning her attention back to the picture. "I-I s-should at least speak with them for a while to make things right." She looked at Ange. "T-that's what you believe I-I s-should do, r-right?"
Ange nodded. "I do think it is right, but you don't have to force yourself to do it. Are you sure you can handle it? I can go with you if you'd like?"
"N-no, that's quite alright, Miss Ange," Belphegor responded nervously, "I-I d-don't want to pull you away from s-something else you might be doing tomorrow."
"I don't have any plans tomorrow aside from writing another short story for the magazine I contribute to," Ange said, "but I could make time to go with you tomorrow."
Belphegor sensed her master was being insistent however subtle she was, so she figured she might as well allow her to tag along since it appeared she had the option to take her. "I-I'd like to spend a bit of t-time alone with them, i-if that's o-okay, b-but you can come too i-if you want," she said and then suddenly found herself embraced in a tight hug from Ange.
"Oh, thank you very much, Belphegor!" she beamed happily. "Now Asmodeus and I can play with the kittens again! I'll go let her know that the three of us will go next door tomorrow!" she said as she went out into the hall.
Belphegor should've expected there was also an ulterior motive behind Ange's subtle insistence, but knowing that she and Asmodeus wanted to see the kittens and play with them again didn't surprise her. She just raised the drawing up and smiled as she looked at it one more time. If those two were going to get the kittens and the cats, she'd be going to the dogs since they would likely be with the girls, but Belphegor didn't mind since she could give them all another shot.
Perhaps going over to see the girls and their dogs wouldn't be a bad idea after all.
…
Alright, I've finally found time to finish this one-shot; but unfortunately, there are a few things I need to bring up.
First, this is the second to last one-shot for I Can't. This collection was up for a while, but I've not received any suggestions, save for one I've provided to Fukuji Mihoko for her popular one-shot collection Being Dysfunctional Has Never Been So Much Fun. The suggestion in question was to do one about Belphegor wearing glasses, but Fukuji has already finished it a while back (I think about a couple or so years ago), so I can't do it myself. No one else gave me suggestions, aside from that one which was provided by Moon-sama.
Also, I've got a lot of ideas that are much longer than this collection as they are all chapter stories except for one or two Ange & Asmodeus one-shots I want to write. I'm truly sorry for not accepting anymore suggestions past this point, but I want to get to those ideas, a few of which I've already started and would like to continue. I'll get started on the final one-shot for this collection as soon as possible so I can wrap it up before moving onto those other projects. A couple of them are Umineko projects, so you'll still have something to look forward to in that regard in addition to the final one-shot of I Can't along with another one-shot for Ange and Asmodeus.
A few stories have been removed a while before this one-shot was uploaded and posted for I Can't. Those stories are Roots of Corruption (my Skyrim crossover project), and two of my Umineko stories, Mental Trauma and Amnesia: Fever Pitch. Roots of Corruption has nothing to do with Umineko, so I won't bore any of you with the details of that unless you'd like to know. Mental Trauma was taken down because I didn't like how it ended and I was becoming unsatisfied with the story in general. I removed Amnesia: Fever Pitch because the series it would've been a part of wasn't really going anywhere anymore and I lost interest in the whole project altogether. I apologize for pulling those stories down, but I'll have new, better projects ready that shall replace them at some point.
This should answer any questions any of you might have regarding my work and what you are looking forward to. I know FFReader17 reviewed Corvus no Naku Koro ni a while ago asking if the story took place while Belphegor was having mental problems. To answer that particular question, Belphegor doesn't have any mental problems in that story because both it and Mental Trauma are separate side stories unrelated to each other. Your review for that story is welcome, and I understand that everyone doesn't really like the same character pairings I do, so it's quite alright if you're not fond of the pairing in that story. I apologize for responding to you in a different story, but Corvus no Naku Koro ni isn't getting an update for a while, so I decided to answer your inquiry here if that's alright with you.
So that's pretty much it for now. Like I said before, look forward to the completion of I Can't and an Ange & Asmodeus one-shot to follow it at some point. Your reviews are appreciated and I take the time to answer any questions I can get to. I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoy writing them.
