Notes: So I should be working on Retrospective Days but my current obsession with aoex won't leave me alone, especially since there's so little material to mindlessly consume and I've already gone through all the fics involving either Amaimon, Mephisto, Rin or any combo thereof (can you tell I have a character type? I have a character type. It's demons).

Well, there's only so many times I can re-read Opalescent by PresidentGuppy on ao3 (actually that's a lie, that fic is the bomb dot com and also definitely makes my top 10 favorite fics of all time in any fandom so, uh, make that infinite times I can read that fic tbqh :P).

So, here's my guilty pleasure one-shot, with a multi-chapter yyh/aoex crossover planned for the future bc when have I ever written for a fandom when I couldn't also cross it over with yyh? lololol

Also, I thought I'd put down some thoughts about the Rin/Amaimon/Mephisto pairing (or any combo thereof). In my head-canon, the demon kings are more like a pantheon of gods a la ancient Egyptian, Roman, Norse and Greek deities and not biological siblings like Rin and Yukio are. So, much like all the Norse gods came from Ymir (or like Odin is the All-father but he's not actually everyone's father) all the demon kings came from Satan but only Rin is the spawn of Satan.

SPOILERS for the newest aoex chapters revealed that the body Amaimon is possessing is literally a clone of Mephisto but that they all started as concepts that gained egos and eventually bodies whereas Rin and Yukio are born from Yuri Egin (human) and Satan (possibly)possessing a clone body (I think, don't quote me on this). So, I don't really consider this a sibling pairing fic like a Rin/Yukio fic would be, more clonecest, if anything lol

And that's my TEDtalk.

Reminder, I run a small, open-ship discord server for aoex anyone is welcome to join! The link is in my Tumblr/ao3 profiles!

Song of the Chapter: Way Down We Go by Kaleo


"Samael."

Mephisto gave no notice that he'd heard the weak voice coming out of the darkness, letting the speaker stew in silence until he'd made his point.

He could practically feel the glare leveled at his back.

"Have you calmed your murderous intent towards Rin Okumura, yet?"

The elder demon finally turned his attention to the body held aloft on cruel spears as he awaited an answer to his question.

Amaimon stared at him with his usual impassive expression, ignoring the rivulets of dried blood that had darkened his green hair into a sticky mat around his face and left flaking trails beneath his bruised eyes.

He'd taken to licking off the blood that he kept coughing up, a poor substitute for the sweet suckers and candies the earth king preferred.

"Yes, Samael. But-"

Brow arched, Mephisto patiently let him make his point. Amaimon wasn't the type to display his inner thoughts for all to see. Not to say that he was shy about stating said thoughts, but he took time to chew things over before speaking his conclusions-at least when he wasn't in a blinding rage.

While Mephisto never relied on anyone, he did enjoy some of the insights his favored brother could come up with.

"I can't understand why you coddle him so much." Amaimon shrugged, a few more drops of fresh blood escaped from the edges of the holes caused by the spears, spilling over the congealed old blood that had sealed them closed.

The few times he'd check in on him Mephisto had noted that Amaimon would occasionally re-open the wounds himself, the pain giving him something to do while he was in his time out.

He was something of a masochist when he was bored.

"And," Amaimon continued, scrunching his brows, the only sign of the confusion he was feeling, "I can't understand why you and Father are so entranced with him. He is so weak and oblivious, especially about his demonic nature, that it hurts to watch him."

A snicker burst out from Mephisto at Amaimon's confusion, not that he would be fully letting on what his plans were for Rin just yet.

"You'll just have to keep watching him then if you don't understand. And refrain from trying to kill him, please."

That brought a scowl from Amaimon and he let out an angry mutter that Mephisto caught but, proper etiquette required he press the impertinent demon to speak up.

"I said," Amaimon pouted, eyes shifting to look away from Mephisto, "I just wanted to play with him, not kill him."

Mephisto outright laughed at that, leave it to the earth king to say something so ridiculous.

"My dear Amaimon, I'm afraid your 'affections' may be a little much for our Rin at the moment."

His statement had Amaimon absently licked at the blood staining his fangs, contemplating his words before he responded, "So, when will Rin be ready for me to play with?"

Mephisto hummed, bringing his hand up to hide his satisfied smile, "Rin may have misunderstood your intentions and certainly isn't ready for your level of play just yet."

"It's as you've said, he is woefully lacking in demon etiquette," Mephisto shrugged, "never mind his atrocious manners as a human."

Amaimon ignored the grumbled last bit from Mephisto, eyes widening in interest at the first half.

"If I teach him etiquette will you let me play with him?" Amaimon looked as if he'd love to be chewing one of his long claws as he mulled over his words. Some new blood welled up along his pinned arm as he tried to move it towards his mouth. "And you'll come home with me to Gehenna then, right?"

"Is that a wager, Amaimon?" Mephisto drawled, watching with acid green eyes and a smirk that pierced Amaimon as surely as the spears did.

Amaimon tilted his head, noticing the rapt attention suddenly paid to him by Mephisto.

A vicious, toothy smile lit up his pale face, gold eyes seeming to glow in their intensity, looking macabre in the darkness of Mephisto's prison.

"Yes."


Mephisto snapped his fingers and Amaimon found himself freed from the spears holding him up.

They were back in Mephisto's office at the True Cross Academy.

"Clean yourself up, it's impossible to get the bloodstains out of this carpet and I have a summons to attend to."

Holes closed that the spears had held open in Amaimon's body for, well, it was always hard to tell how long when Mephisto could mess with time like it was a toy.

Slowly, he hauled his aching body up, still not fully in control of his movements as ligaments and flesh knit back together. Already, a welling energy prickled in his veins at the hunt he was about to begin.

Probably better not to say that last bit out loud, Amaimon reflected. He didn't need Mephisto hearing him think about his task as some sort of target he was chasing down for sport. He was weirdly enamored with the half-breed.

Still, best get this over and done with as soon as he could. Amaimon was growing impatient waiting for Mephisto to tire of Assiah and come home with him to Gehenna.

The fascination Mephisto held with Assiah baffled Amaimon. Some things there offered a temporary relief from the endless boredom he suffered, but not enough to keep him in Assiah, not like it did Mephisto. Despite not understanding, Amaimon observed, learned, attempted to find the secret that kept him entertained because if he could find it, it might ease the pain of endless stagnation they all experienced.

It wouldn't arrive yet, though, but there were some things of Assiah he knew would help in an infinitesimal way.

He stopped at the door, turning back to Mephisto.

"Ah, Samael-"

A mild expression met him as Mephisto looked up from the things he'd already begun gathering to leave with. "Yes?"

He smiled then, realizing what Amaimon wanted.

"Of course, you don't deserve this but you have given me an interesting bet, so-"

Another breath and Mephisto appeared instantly before Amaimon, placing a bag of candies in his hand as he waited for him to get a grip on it before it fell. His arms were still healing, and he didn't need the candy scattered all over the carpet should his limbs give out.

At Amaimon's still anticipatory look-hard to tell apart from his other blank expressions but Mephisto had had a few thousand years to parse those apart by now-he sighed and leaned down, crowding him against the door and pressing a kiss to Amaimon's bruised mouth.

Amaimon eagerly returned the kiss, enjoying the way Mephisto seemed to be searching out the traces of his blood still on his tongue. And, well, a quick nip with sharp fangs to his bottom lip and he hummed in pleasure as he tasted blood other than his own.

His lungs burned when Mephisto pulled away finally, letting Amaimon pant as oxygen returned to them, still not quite up to any strenuous activities just yet while his body was healing.

One of those spears had gotten precariously close to said lungs and breathing was difficult.

Not that he wasn't willing to try, Amaimon licked his lips at the thought, but Mephisto was already returning to his desk to deal with his boring human duties, clearly expecting Amaimon to find his way out on his own.

Later then.

A rare smile tugged at his lips, Amaimon bringing up his clawed thumb to chew at the long black nail in thought.

Maybe after he proved he could play nice with their little Rin, Mephisto would be in a good enough mood.

He could be so fickle sometimes.


Rin sneezed, almost banging his head on the nearby bookshelves in Shima and Konekomaru's dorm where he'd been hanging out since he hadn't wanted to go home just yet. The dinner with Mephisto had rattled him and the thought of being alone in his dorm since Yukio had gone again was a depressing one.

"Hey, you know what they say, someone's thinkin' about you," Shima teased, popping his head up from around the corner of the shelves to Koneko's side of the small room.

Half-a-second passed as Rin gave that all the consideration it deserved. He snorted inelegantly, thinking about the few friends he had, only two of which were girls, the third girl being Shura who was basically like an older sister and didn't even count.

"Yeah, who?"

"Well, hopefully a cute girl you can take with you to the school festival coming up." Shima grinned slyly, elbowing Rin in the side and arching his brows.

"What? Seriously? A festival?"

Excitement had Rin practically vibrating as Konekomaru pulled up the event info and showed him all the cool bands that were going to be playing at the Mephyland amusement park.

And then they got to the part where only students going as couples could get into the last part of the event, the dance, and Rin felt his hopes dashed.

"So Shiemi won't be able to go with me since she's not a student," Rin groaned, tail drooping in his disappointment.

"You think Izumo will?" Shima said, grin becoming mushy at the thought.

Konekomaru sighed at his antics. "It's doubtful, she doesn't seem like the type to go, much less with you, Shima."

They snickered at Shima's exaggerated sounds of offense to the jab.

In the end, though, they would have to wait for classes to resume the next day to ask any of their available classmates-or one of the many poor girls Shima flirted with-to see if they could be convinced to be their plus one.

At least one of them would say 'yes,' Rin figured, and there was still a good amount of time before the deadline, so he put off rushing around to find someone like Shima was planning on to head back to his and Yukio's dorm for the night.

He knew Yukio wouldn't be there, and he'd been given a perfectly verifiable reason as to why. But the fact that it was becoming a recurring trend in their once-close relationship, that Yukio was spending more and more time out busy with seemingly anything he could find, was disheartening, to say the least.

His shoes scuffed along the pavement as he sighed and made his way towards the more secluded road to the dorm. Hanging out with Shima and Koneko had only been able to distract him from his thoughts for so long but now that he was on his own the worries returned.

That brief moment where everything had come together after the fight with the Impure King in Kyoto seemed so far behind already. He had the picture they'd all taken on the top of the Kyoto Tower framed on his desk and it never failed to cheer him up, but it couldn't distract from the increasingly false smiles Yukio was wearing.

Plus, there was the weird way Shura was acting, more and more using her brash actions and drinking as a way to cover up that she was antsy about something.

Izumo and Bon were also so focused on practicing for the upcoming tests they needed to graduate that they were impossible to get out anymore. Really, if he hadn't had Shima and Koneko- and hopefully now Godaiin, since he'd be getting the anti-demon-seeing eye wash for him, still acting normal he would be totally alone.

And Shiemi was hanging out with Yukio. A lot.

In fact, it seemed like, on the few times Yukio was home, he had to leave again to go see or had just been with her. Rin knew Shiemi had known Yukio first before he'd met her, and he saw how well she and Yukio got along, their personalities complimenting each other perfectly.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, he still hoped she might one day see him as more than a friend.

Things still didn't feel right. He felt like the world was holding its breath. Like they were on the brink of something big and there was just a short period of normality before everything imploded.

Mood officially ruined, his tail drooped until it dragged along behind him on the ground. It was bound to get tangled and it would be a total pain, literally, to brush out later. After the day he'd had he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Then his nose picked up the scent of dried blood in the air and Rin looked up at his surroundings, immediately tense.

"Hmm, you're getting better at this, though your awareness is still really pathetic."

"Gah!"

He twisted around like he'd been scalded, recognizing the voice that had come from right behind him without a hint to how it'd got there so silently.

"You! You're that demon, uh," Rin grasped at his memory of the name the demon had shouted at him right before he'd tried to kill him the last time he'd gotten said name wrong, "Amazon!"

That was the wrong thing to say.

Rin found himself flat on his back, air leaving him in a whoosh as he was kneed in the stomach and pinned to the ground with one black clawed hand around his neck and the other holding his tail to the side in a bruising grip.

"First lesson in demon etiquette," he snarled, claws digging into Rin's skin and hand yanking his trapped tail, "my name is Amaimon and I am king of earth, seventh strongest in Gehenna under Satan."

"You will remember it this time."


Gold eyes narrowed at the panic his words and actions had created. He could feel the heartbeat thundering through the artery under his hand and see the pinpricks Rin's pupils had become, totally focused on him after the glaze of shock had worn off.

But, that wasn't going to win him the wager against Mephisto so Amaimon let out a soft huff and loosened his grip on the half-demon underneath him, even being so kind as to release the exposed tail. He was nice like that.

Although he left his claws at Rin's throat as a warning not to move.

"Mephisto thinks you're finally good enough to talk with him," he started, tilting his head to regard Rin. "I don't see why. You don't look any stronger since we first fought."

Amaimon could see Rin gulp, bracing himself before responding. Although he doubted it was with an answer to the question he'd half-rhetorically implied. He already knew nobody really understood the reasons Mephisto did anything and certainly not their youngest brother, but it would be fun to witness the attempt.

"What do you want?"

Disappointing, but Amaimon had been prepared for such a basic question. "Mephisto gave me a task."

Not technically the truth but the little half-demon didn't need to know that.

A frown appeared and Rin scrunched his nose as he processed that, wriggling in discomfort until he must have realized he was still trapped under Amaimon. Not that he knew how it was possible to forget such a thing, but it was oddly endearing in any case, to see Rin so vulnerable.

He watched a blush take over Rin's face and his head tilted, lips twitching in his own frown. Amaimon was pretty sure he remembered Rin reacting a lot more violently the last times they'd interacted, which was always more entertaining but wouldn't really help him win Mephisto's wager.

Where had this sudden change of personality come from?

"Um," Rin stuttered, freezing as if to avoid touching Amaimon any further, not that it helped, trapped as he was, "can you let me up now?"

"Will you run if I do?" Amaimon asked, although from the lack of anger in the expression he didn't think he'd have to worry about that. He wondered what had happened-and how long it had been-since he'd been in Mephisto's pocket of time being punished that had changed Rin's attitude.

Mephisto had a nasty habit of speeding up or slowing time down in his pocket dimensions whenever Amaimon was stuck in them based on whatever he was being punished for at that point.

When Rin's gaze flicked to either side as if considering which way to run, Amaimon began to simply resign himself to having this whole conversation sitting on the foolish demon's stomach before he nodded and finally stopped looking so skittish.

"Okay."


Rin felt his racing heart finally start to calm when those dangerous claws slid away from his vulnerable throat and he was allowed to get out from under Amaimon.

He rose slowly, rubbing at where rocks had been digging into his back and tail twining around his leg as if to hide from being grabbed again.

Slit-pupiled eyes zeroed in on the movement, Amaimon's impassive face still somehow giving him the feeling of being watched by a coiled snake and Rin flinched, waiting for the strike.

But, he needed to find out why Amaimon was even here, released from whatever prison Mephisto had been keeping him in.

"Er, do you want to come back to my dorm so, you know, we're not in the middle of the road?"

Specifically so no one else saw Rin hanging out with one of the demon kings of Gehenna, like he didn't already have enough troubles. Rin grumbled internally, hoping Amaimon would take the bait. He'd just narrowly escaped a pending execution order for being the spawn of Satan and was on thin ice as it was without being associated with another demon like Amaimon.

At Amaimon's assenting shrug Rin steeled his nerves, turned his back to the possibly murderous demon, and led the way.

After the meeting with Mephisto, who was apparently really the immortal demon king of time, Samael, Rin wasn't sure about anything anymore. Nothing in his life made sense, and yet, at the same time, things were falling into place that had been up in the air since the disastrous day he'd discovered his heritage.

The thought of Amaimon being loose in the world was a terrifying one, but it was also an opportunity to get answers to things he was sure the shifty and vague Mephisto knew but was hiding.

Though he doubted that even Amaimon knew every secret Mephisto kept, Rin was betting Amaimon at least knew more than he did, and was much blunter than Mephisto, if also reticent with his words.

Of course, he just had to survive the encounter and whatever task Mephisto had given Amaimon that somehow involved him in it.

When his run-down dorm came into view Rin almost sighed out loud in relief. He'd been fighting with rising hackles and screaming instincts that said to keep him in sight at all times with the way Amaimon had been stalking behind him like a prowling big cat on silent feet.

He walked up to the door shuffling around his pockets for the keys, for once silently happy that Yukio was out because he couldn't imagine his trigger-happy twin would be okay with a demon king in their home no matter that he'd been invited by Rin.

"I thought Mephisto made it clear that a demon's tail should be kept hidden."

Rin yelped at the sudden question-said-as-a-statement that came from way too close over his shoulder.

At the same time he was pushing open the door, he felt his poor abused tail grabbed once again by Amaimon and given a short tug. Thankfully not as painful a tug this time, if only just, but he was getting real tired of people yanking on it like it was a leash.

"Hey! Let go!"

Amaimon ignored him, pulling the furred appendage up between them to fix an analytic look at the longer mussed strands at the end.

His lips pulled up over his fangs in a silent snarl and Rin glared as he prepared to fight Amaimon off his tail.

-and got a dismissive glance turned down at him, Amaimon clearly about as impressed as Mephisto had been when he'd gotten in his face too.

Luckily it didn't come to anything. Amaimon snorted and dropped his tail, pushing past Rin to enter the building like he owned the place.

The rudeness had Rin frowning, but he followed, shutting the door firmly behind him and watching as Amaimon surveyed his surroundings with an impassive face.

Although Rin was beginning to suspect that unimpressed was Amaimon's default expression regardless of what emotion he was actually feeling.

"Over here," Rin said, pointing to the hall that led to one of the many empty dorm rooms, not wanting Amaimon to see his actual room where Kuro was probably napping or intrude on the cafeteria where Ukobach reigned.

He let them into a random room, choosing the first of the larger suite-style dorms he could find. Anything to not be in what amounted to a shoebox with Amaimon like most of the dorms were.

Apprehension shivered through Rin at the click of the door closing behind Amaimon, but he had come this far and knew it was too late to turn back at this point. He'd just have to suck it up and deal.

Amaimon hopped up to sit on one of the built-in window desks, one leg crossed and the other dangling to kick idly against the wooden side, pulling out a bag of hard candies from a hidden pocket in his tattered maroon coat.

The movement of the coat and the enclosed space brought that strange scent of dried blood back to Rin and he took a deeper sniff of the air, realizing with alarm that the smell was coming from Amaimon.

Was it Rin's imagination, or were there suspiciously dark stains on the already dark material?

"Hey uh, are you okay?"

Rin cringed at his own ridiculous question. Of course Amaimon was okay, he'd just shown he was perfectly capable of sneaking up and incapacitating Rin without any trouble at all.

He was proven right when all he got for his question was a curious head tilt and no response.

"I mean, last time we, er, fought, you kinda' collapsed and now I smell blood on you. So, I just thought I'd ask, you know, how you were doing," Rin trailed off, feeling a bright flush take over his face at his sheer embarrassment.

Oh god, kill him now.

"You're very strange," was all he got for his efforts.

"Hey!"

Amaimon ignored his outburst, shrugging and pulling off his coat, much to Rin's bemusement.

What was he-? Rin was about to ask what the hell Amaimon was doing, especially when it looked like he was about to start stripping out of his shirt, too, when he saw what had been making the smell, suddenly stronger without the coat to keep it contained.

"Mephisto was upset at me for ignoring him when he told me to stop playing with you and he was especially mad when I hit him. So I was punished until I promised not to play with you again until he says I can."

"That's punishment?" Rin almost gagged at the ragged holes that had clearly been pierced through various points along Amaimon's entire body straight to the other side. Yeah, they were healing, Amaimon's demonic powers making what would be fatal wounds on a human body into simple hindrances instead, but the appearance was nightmare-inducing.

Instead of treating it like the horror show it was, Amaimon actually smirked at him, reaching down to his stomach with one hand to trail a clawed finger around the outsides of the torn fabric of his shirt and press into the lacerated skin underneath.

The sight made Rin flinch as Amaimon slowly undid his tie, unbuttoned the blood-stained gold vest, and pulled open the equally stained striped button up to reveal the several other deep wounds he had.

"You really were raised as a human," Amaimon mused, ignoring the horror of his own healing body in favor of watching Rin's reaction from beneath lowered lashes.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rin said, still unable to take his eyes off the blood-encrusted torso in front of him.

"I have no idea why he insisted you be raised in ignorance," Amaimon grumbled to himself instead of answering before looking up to frown at Rin, "you're lucky you have me to help you now."

"Exactly, listen," Rin said as he snapped back to himself and quickly averted his eyes from the scene in front of him, "I was raised human. I didn't know demons and stuff like that even existed until this year! And everyone's expecting me to already know everything, but I don't!"

A loud crunch echoed as Amaimon bit down hard on the candy he'd been sucking on, glare over taking his features and causing Rin to shut his mouth because he'd clearly said something to piss him off.

"You are heir to the throne of Gehenna, inheritor of Father's flames, and you've had your mind poisoned against your own kin by those feeble humans," came the snarl, Amaimon turning his head to glare around the room as if cursing the humans and their influence in Rin's life.

"Eh, no, really, it's not that bad," Rin squeaked out, waving his hand in front of him to distract the building ire. "I mean it would have been great to know all this from the start, although life was definitely simpler before I knew I was a demon. But I've made some great friends now! And yeah, things are definitely not good with Yukio but he'll come around, he has to!"

Okay he was rambling, Rin knew, and it was doubtful Amaimon even understood half of what he was talking about, or cared. Somehow, though, his monologue had gotten the pissed-off demon to calm down and return to watching him curiously.

Not that everything he'd babbled wasn't true. For once in his life, he had real friends, something that hadn't seemed like it would ever happen to him when he'd been an outcast of a kid. Really, if there wasn't a suspended execution order over his head, his self-imposed mission to kill Satan for Shiro's death, and Yukio's weird behavior recently, he'd say life was pretty good.

Amaimon seemed to have concluded something while Rin waited with bated breath.

He flinched again as Amaimon slid off the desk and stalked into his personal space to stare down at him, bringing the scent of blood into his nose and causing his pulse to spike in his veins.

"Never bare your fangs, your heart, or your tail to anyone, especially another demon, unless you mean to."

"What?"

The seeming non-sequitur had Rin blinking, still distracted by the physical nearness and his own lack of a quick escape, backed against the wall as he was.

Amaimon sighed.

"You imply three things by revealing those," he continued, bringing up another candy to his mouth as he explained.

"Bared fangs will lead to a fight. It's a display of dominance and a threat rolled into one that lesser demons can't resist reacting to."

"You're lucky," Amaimon said, "I've seen you display them to Mephisto many times and he has been more patient than I've ever seen with anyone else who's threatened him like that before."

"He's killed for that offense in the past, you know." Gold eyes glinted as Amaimon narrowed them, watching to see the effect his words were having on Rin

Thinking back to all the times he had thoughtlessly growled, snarled, or otherwise shown his teeth to Mephisto had Rin gulping.

Granted he'd definitely felt the smarmy bastard deserved it at the time, but now he was rethinking things.

"Hmm, yes, you see now. He really likes you, I suppose."

He sure showed it in weird ways, Rin thought to himself, remembering all the vaguely threatening overtures every conversation with Mephisto tended to carry. Maybe that really was just another demon thing he had yet to understand.

"Your demon heart is equally as dangerous to display but for different reasons," Amaimon said after letting his words sink in, stepping back to examine his claws and allowing Rin to breathe more freely.

"Yeah, I got that after Mephisto let you out to fight me earlier," Rin mumbled, abashed.

That lesson had been learned the hard way. Painfully. Amaimon had almost killed him in one blow. Had he not overtaxed his human host body when he'd revealed his own demon heart and true power Rin knew exactly how that fight would have ended.

"You," Rin hesitated, coming to a realization, eyes widening as he took in Amaimon for what felt like the first time.

"You really were just playing with me when we fought in the amusement park."

Amaimon blinked at him, his turn to be bemused, "of course I was. I thought I told you that?"

The urge to smack himself in the face rose, Rin groaning out loud.

"Is that a demon thing? Just pick fights with people for fun?"

His questions just had Amaimon frowning, crossing his arms as if insulted.

"Well, what do humans do for fun?"

Oh boy, Rin thought, realizing with horror that there was a truly yawning gap in Amaimon's knowledge of humans and his own infinitesimal knowledge of demons had just made itself known for what felt like the millionth time.

They were going to be there awhile.

Amaimon was baffled.

After their first meeting, he'd known it was going to take work, getting their littlest brother up to speed on his demonic heritage, but he hadn't realized just how in the dark Rin was.

He wanted to go back and shake Mephisto for tricking him into doing the brunt of the work he was clearly too lazy to do himself.

As he sucked at the remainder of the latest piece of candy he'd been working on, Amaimon considered the conundrum that he'd just been presented with.

At least a thousand years had gone by since he'd been on Assiah in a human body and yet, as he'd been told by Mephisto, he hadn't even managed the mystery of human facial expressions, let alone their actual emotions and what they meant.

Not that human expressions were worth learning, or so he'd thought, but Amaimon had a sinking suspicion that getting Rin, who was so painfully human in his upbringing, to understand his role in Gehenna, he would have to do more than learn human mannerisms.

He just didn't know what that entailed yet.

"Um, well, we, I mean humans, like to hang out together. Like at the movies or the beach or going to get food or something."

Amaimon blinked, trying to remember what the conversation topic had been for Rin to start talking about human activities.

That's boring," Amaimon grumbled, picking the thread back up. "Where's the competition and how do you test your strength by 'hanging out'?"

"Well," Rin scratched at his dark hair, mouth cocked into a frown, "there's a bunch of fun sports to play, and we do have fighting competitions. But I guess the big difference is both sides know the other one wants to be there, and both already know the risks involved."

"Ah!" Amaimon exclaimed, comprehension dawning on him, "So if I had asked you if you wanted to play beforehand you would have?"

The small grin he got in return for his question was somehow rewarding, though he couldn't place why.

"Well, I mean, I didn't know who you were then-or what you meant by 'play,' so probably not," Rin responded, though seeing Amaimon's pout, quickly added, "But that doesn't mean we can't now, as long as you don't try to kill me."

Amaimon looked up, eyes widening at Rin's words. Did he mean?

"Not right now! I've still got questions and I'm kinda tired from all the crazy revelations I've been having today. But maybe later," Rin amended before Amaimon could take him up on his offer.

But if he wasn't up to that kind of play, and truthfully neither was Amaimon just yet, then he must mean-

A giddy joy welled in his chest and he leaned down to crush a kiss to Rin's mouth when he couldn't contain it anymore. He pressed Rin against the wall behind him, shivering at the heat of his body.

It wasn't often you got an invitation like that from another demon.

And here he didn't think Rin was ever going to agree to play with him so soon! He would have to thank Mephisto for allowing him another chance at Rin when he saw him again. This was turning out to be much more entertaining than he'd expected.

The mouth beneath his was slack but Amaimon smiled into the kiss, licking slightly chapped lips and chasing the taste of fire on Rin's tongue. He brought up his hand to trace over the rapid heartbeat in that chest, feeling the core of warmth the young demon prince exuded and delighting in the fledgling power he knew lay beneath.

Unfortunately, that was as far as he got before he was abruptly shoved back.

"Hey! What the hell?" Rin shouted, bringing a hand up to brush his wet lips and glaring in distrust, all the good humor from earlier vanished.

"I don't understand," Amaimon responded, an odd sense of hurt stinging at him as he held a hand to the wound in his stomach the other had just hit.

"Wuh, you don't understand?" Rin looked flabbergasted. "You can't just go around kissing people like that!"

"But you said we could play now that you knew me." Amaimon said, frowning.

Rin let out a strangled noise at that, much to Amaimon's ever-deepening confusion.

"Is that what you meant by play?" Rin yelped out, voice still choked and face reddening, "I thought you meant you wanted to fight again?"

Amaimon crossed his arms, the move defensive as he tried to understand the breakdown in communication.

"I'm too injured to fight," Amaimon said slowly as he worked out what he thought had been a simple sequence of events. "You said you were tired but still wanted to play with me."

Looking alarmingly red by now, Rin sputtered out, "And you thought that meant you should stick your tongue down my throat?"

In one sense of things. Amaimon chewed at his clawed thumb, the habit coming to him with the unfamiliar territory he had entered. "Actually, I thought we would fuck."

Was that steam coming out of Rin? Amaimon was a bit worried to see he appeared to be suffering some kind of breakdown in the corner of the room he'd suddenly retreated to.

The newest confusing events unfolded before Amaimon's eyes. He watched to see Rin's face now clutched between his legs, and for reasons he couldn't begin to explain, Rin faced the wall, tail lashing erratically behind his back.

If he broke Rin, Mephisto would skewer him again, Amaimon determined, knowing he'd have to fix this mess if he wanted to win the wager.

And, he realized, startled, he wanted to fix Rin because he had grown fond of the little half-demon now that he'd gotten the chance to talk with him and realized he hadn't meant any insult by refusing to play, he'd just been raised by the vapid humans Mephisto stuck him with.

He stepped unnoticed over to the crouched form, bending down to poke the bent shoulder and trying to ignore the incredibly distracting way Rin's tail kept sweeping just under his nose.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

When all he got for his efforts was a low groan, Amaimon sighed and joined Rin on the ground, leaning forward to rest his chin on his shoulder and draping the smaller form with his body.

"This is a human thing Mephisto is always warning me about, isn't it?"

That seemed to have gotten Rin's attention, tail finally slowing its movements except for a twitch of interest at the statement.

Although Amaimon was having problems focusing on what his plan had been up until that point. He was becoming increasingly fixated on nuzzling into Rin's neck and chasing the scent he found in that soft black hair brushing against his cheek.

"Why are you doing this?"

Amaimon let out a huff, delighting in the way it caused Rin to shiver when it went across his neck. Maybe they could get back to the part where they had sex. Amaimon would like that very much.

That was when he noticed the rumbling growl building up in the body beneath his.

He only had a brief moment to realize the hunched shoulders had tensed when he was knocked backwards, teeth clacking against each other painfully as the surprise attack slammed his jaw shut.

In a reverse of the way the encounter with Rin had begun that day, Amaimon found himself on his back.

He grunted as his breath cut off, Rin's hands clamped around his throat, and it wasn't his imagination that things were warmer all of a sudden, flickers of blue flame appearing in patches on the furious demon straddling his body.

"Stop messing with me!"

There wasn't enough oxygen to ask what Rin meant, heartbeat rushing louder in his ears with every passing moment he couldn't breathe.

"Nobody likes me like that!"

Wait. Amaimon blinked past the involuntary tears blurring his vision to realize Rin's eyes were also suspiciously wet. Was he crying?

"They all like Yukio, even Shiemi. I'm just the vicious, stupid demon," Rin delivered with a choked voice, eyes clenching shut and head bowing over Amaimon, repeating, "Nobody likes me like that."

Ah.

Finally, Amaimon understood and he had to wrestle with the urge to go rip that disgusting, condescending human twin to shreds for making Rin feel like he was somehow worth less because of his demonic nature.

Black spots made it hard to see but Amaimon ignored his body's instincts telling him to attack the cause, instead reaching up and placing a gentling hand on Rin's cheek.

"Huh?"

Amaimon traced at the jaw with his claws, brushing the few tears that had escaped away with the pad of his thumb.

The claws released from Amaimon's neck, Rin shocked out of his rage by the unexpected caress. Blue flames disappeared, leaving him looking small and sad, haloed as he was by the dorm's pale fluorescent lighting.

Gasping, Amaimon let out rasping breaths, chest heaving at the sudden return of air to his starved lungs. The hand he wasn't still holding to Rin's face clutched at his own throat as he tried to massage away the finger-shaped bruises that were surely there.

"Why?"

A strange fascination took hold in Amaimon, watching as his hand was gripped between both of Rin's, cupped against his face.

"You have been made to feel ashamed of your very nature," Amaimon croaked out, coughing until he could speak again. "Those simpering, weak-hearted humans have convinced you that you are evil and wrong simply for being who you are."

At the denial in Rin's expression and shaking head, Amaimon pressed on, needing him to understand the conclusion he had come to. "While they hide beneath their façade of vague morals and strangled societies, you, in all your raw power and strength of heart hold up a mirror to everything they refuse to face in themselves."

"I don't-"

Rin cut himself off, starting to shiver as the emotional rollercoaster he'd just been on fully hit him, leaving him stunned over Amaimon.

"In Gehenna, amongst your own kind, you wouldn't be punished for your nature," Amaimon said, firmly, to make sure Rin couldn't mistake his meaning this time. It was the truth of demons, that they were unchanging, but it also meant they were resolute, not lost in the shades of indecision humans operated under.

"They try to contain you, keep you weak and tamable, where you should be wild and confident in your position as heir to the blue flames of our Father."

Did Rin not realize he was set to become the strongest of the demons of Gehenna with power so absolute no other could challenge him if they had the rest of eternity to try? To even be in the same realm of that power was a heady experience and Amaimon remembered getting to feel it when he'd forced Rin to unleash the blue flames in their forest encounter.

"You should have hordes of demons lining up for the chance to be in your presence, let alone have the privilege of your affections."

There, Amaimon thought, he had said his piece. Let Rin do what he would then.

He found that Rin was watching him with wide blue eyes, still holding his hand as if it were a lifeline. He really was going to have to find Mephisto after this and ask what the hell he'd had been thinking when he left Rin to be raised in such a cruel way.

Maybe he would even punch him again. The punishment would be worth it this time.

"You-you really think so?" Rin sniffled when Amaimon just nodded in calm assent, squeezing his hand in silent comfort. It was all too human but he wasn't sure what other way a nephilim like Rin would respond to.

A breath passed before Amaimon had the breath literally and figuratively knocked out of him again when he found himself being kissed by an enthusiastic half-demon.

Not one to pass such an opportunity by, Amaimon pulled Rin more on top of him, coaxing the inexperienced and sloppy kiss into something deeper and wondering if Rin would object much if he brought his teeth and claws into play.

Amaimon didn't think he could handle it if Rin decided he wanted to stop again. He'd probably have to go find Mephisto and beg to be taken if that happened.

Instincts urged him to bring his hands up to card through the inky black hair, trying to map out the inside of Rin's mouth with a fervency that came out of nowhere to surprise him in its intensity.

Now that he'd started, Rin seemed desperate to touch every bit of Amaimon's exposed skin, sending jolts of pain-pleasure through his body every time those hands scraped past the finally almost healed wounds.

Purrs reverberated through his chest as he got the contact he'd been craving ever since he'd been locked away for so long with nothing but Mephisto's spears impaling him.

He felt himself hardening, rubbing up against the hips above his and trying to get more of that delicious friction despite the annoying clothes in the way.

The movement sent Rin gasping, breaking the kiss and arching above Amaimon, panting as if he'd just remembered he needed to breathe.

Amaimon was just about to pull him back down, and possibly tear off his obstructive clothing, when he was suddenly picked up by his neck and yanked back along the floor to smash into the wall behind him, a twin crash sounding from where Rin must have also been tossed.

A ferocious snarl tore out of his mouth at the bastard who'd dared interrupt him when he realized just who it was who'd interrupted.

Before him stood Mephisto, dangerous green eyes narrowed and slit-pupil-focused on Amaimon as if daring him to keep baring his fangs at him so disrespectfully.

Amaimon almost ignored the silent warning anyway when Mephisto began speaking.

"It seems you haven't learned from your punishment, Amaimon. I believe we agreed you would teach Rin demon etiquette, not seduce him."

There wasn't time to come up with a way to appease him as Mephisto began counting.

"Eins, zwei, drei. Kuchen Kuckucksuhr!"

One panicked moment hung in the air as Amaimon searched the room for Rin before he was swallowed up by Mephisto's damned technique and knew no more.


"Now then," Mephisto sighed, turning from where Amaimon had been, "I'm very sorry for his behavior. That was most certainly not what I had intended when I released him this morning. I assure you he will be put back in time out until he understands what he may and may not do without my say."

A crack echoed through the air and Mephisto had a strange moment when he realized it was because he'd been punched across the face.

He turned astonished eyes down to an enraged Rin, finding him wreathed in blue flames despite Kurikara still sheathed by the wall.

"Let him go!"

This was…most unexpected, Mephisto thought just as all higher reasoning began to leave Rin.

Rin hadn't looked this out of control since his last fight with Amaimon, teeth bared in a snarl and eyes appearing like the hottest part of a fire. Incandescent with rage.

"I'm not sure I understand," Mephisto said, knowing it was to an empty audience since the growling nephilim in front of him was hardly lucid, but he felt the surreal situation deserved it.

"Give him back to me!"

That last demand was more roared than spoken and Mephisto felt a sinking apprehension to see that Rin had given into his demonic instincts, no longer capable of conscious reason at all.

It must have happened when Mephisto tossed him into the wall. The surprise attack coupled with the state he'd found Rin and Amaimon in would have been enough to cause the change in the fledgling demon, still too new to his instincts to know how to counter them. It was bringing him back that would be the hardship.

There was only one solution he could see. Rin would have to be snapped out of it because it didn't seem like he'd be able to come back on his own until he eliminated what was causing his anger in the first place. Namely, it seemed, being with Amaimon and exterminating the intruding demon who'd come between them, Mephisto, in this case.

This was not the plan, Mephisto complained to himself inwardly, already summoning Amaimon back from his prison as it would be the quickest way to calm Rin, avoid property damage, and get some answers out of the two troublesome demons.

Not a moment too soon, Amaimon was spat back out from the cuckoo prison, looking exactly as bewildered as Mephisto was feeling.

Rin's focus zeroed in on Amaimon and he made to launch himself towards them as Mephisto went to stand at Amaimon's back, the implied threat halting Rin from advancing.

His appearance had Amaimon immediately going lax against his chest, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do and trying to placate his ire.

Mephisto brought his gloved hand up to Amaimon's neck to hold him in place, keeping his stare fixed on Rin.

"What happened?"

A shift and Amaimon tilted his head to look at him, although Mephisto didn't deign to meet his gaze. To take his eyes off of Rin with the way he currently was would only spur the feral brat into attacking.

He wanted his answers now and not whenever Rin would wake up after being knocked unconscious.

"He wanted to play with me," Amaimon said instead of answering.

Clearly, he wasn't just dealing with the one brat this evening. Mephisto sneered and tightened his grip on Amaimon's neck at the deliberate obtuseness. He had thought the temptation of winning a wager against him, however slim the odds of that were, would have kept the competitive demon in check. Especially knowing how badly he wanted him to come back to Gehenna.

Distracting Amaimon with teaching Rin a bit more about what it meant to be a demon was just the icing on the cake.

He hadn't counted on Amaimon deciding he liked Rin after all.

"We will discuss this later," Mephisto said, the future punishment for disobeying him implied. "Can you calm him enough to be rational if I let you go to him?"

"Yes, Samael."

They would find out. Mephisto shoved Amaimon towards Rin, admitting to himself he was, in truth, a little curious to see how this would all play out.

Rin instantly went from eyeing Mephisto like he'd love to tear his throat out to focusing his attention on the now freed Amaimon.

Amaimon stumbled forward before righting himself and moving the last few feet to curl into Rin's possessive embrace.

His arms wrapped tightly around Amaimon, pulling him back into his grasp in a mirror of the way Mephisto had held him earlier. The blue flames enveloped Amaimon but didn't burn him the way he'd been the first time he'd been introduced to their particular agony.

Clawed fingers ran down Amaimon's chest and under the part of his still open shirt as if seeking out the places Mephisto had been in contact with earlier to burn away the traces of his touch.

It was…a very nice sight, Mephisto decided, tilting his head to appreciate the way Rin tucked his nose into the crook of Amaimon's throat, still watching Mephisto with those dangerous blue eyes as if daring him to try to take Amaimon back from him.

He saw the moment Amaimon realized where his thoughts were heading by the way he made the rather salacious move to bare his throat to Rin, and by proxy to Mephisto as well, angling his head back to stare at Mephisto from beneath his lashes.

"This isn't helping, Amaimon," Mephisto said, hearing the way his voice had gone rough and watching the shiver it sent through Amaimon's body despite the way the flames licked up his skin with interest.

"You interrupted us," the absolute tease responded. A wide smirk formed on his face just before a gasp escaped him and his eyes fluttered closed as Rin ran his fangs over his jugular.

Right, Mephisto decided, snapping his fingers and transporting the three of them to his bedroom in a cloud of pink smoke. He deserved nice things every once in a while, especially after the day he'd had, and this situation had practically gift-wrapped itself for his pleasure.

Amaimon looked like the cat who'd caught several fat canaries as he found himself pushed down to the ground and crouched over once again by Rin, who'd immediately resumed snarling at Mephisto in surprise at the sudden teleportation. Thankfully the flames were gone, but he would have to act fast before they returned and Rin burned his room down in a fit.

That simply wouldn't do. Mephisto grinned, vanishing only to emerge in front of the two and yank Rin up off Amaimon, tossing him on the cushy pink king-sized bed. The shocked look on the little half-demon's face was adorable but he had to set a precedent or things would end up bloody.

Mephisto gave Rin no time to adjust, appearing over him to pull his arms over his head with one hand, holding them in an iron grip and straddling his waist to keep him from kicking.

Rage poured from Rin and he looked like he was about to combust until Mephisto leaned down to lock his fangs around his throat and growled, the sound echoing like a tiger throughout the room.

Immediately, Rin went slack under him, recognizing a bigger threat when he heard one.

His attention diverted as Amaimon chose that moment to climb onto the bed, having made the executive decision to remove the remaining tatters of his clothes. He was now naked except for the slim, lizard-like tail curled around his waist and Mephisto hummed at the sight, tongue laving at the throat still captured in his mouth.

Always the forward demon, Amaimon brought his hand to Rin's scalp, scraping claws delicately through his hair and bringing the trapped demon's attention back to him. Mephisto allowed it, breathing the mingling scents from Rin's throat and Amaimon's wrist before pulling back with a satisfied sigh, knowing Rin was unlikely to be a threat now.

Rin made for a very pretty sight, panting and wary beneath him, holding still in the place Mephisto had left him in as he waited to see what the dominant demon would do now that he'd made their positions clear.

"Well?" He turned to gaze down at Amaimon from where he sat over Rin, gesturing with a nod to both of their still clothed bodies. "You've been begging for this all day, it seems. Get to it."

Amaimon complied, reaching forward to carefully unbutton the suit Mephisto had chosen to wear that day. Mephisto watched with dark eyes as he slowly peeled off the layers of his clothes until all that remained were his gloves and his slacks.

Without warning, Mephisto dragged Amaimon to him, bringing his forehead down so that his hair framed his face and making sure he was looking into his eyes.

"I am going to let Rin take you and then I will take you," he breathed into the mouth under his. "Do you understand?"

He swallowed the involuntary moan that came out of Amaimon in a kiss that was all teeth and heat, crushing their bodies together over the still prone Rin.

Without looking, he snapped his fingers and Rin's clothes and his own vanished to reappear folded neatly in a nearby chair. The move caused Rin to jolt beneath him, hissing at the sudden exposure of his skin to the air and bringing his hands to Mephisto's waist as if to push him off. Mephisto put a stop to that by grinding down onto the bare skin revealed to him now and Rin arched back into the bed, eyes glazing over at the sensation.

For a moment, he allowed himself to revel in the feeling, dragging his hips over Rin's once more in a deliberate movement that sent electricity singing through his nerves before he forced himself off and to the side.

"Prepare him and yourself, Amaimon," Mephisto instructed roughly, realizing his fangs had lengthened and knowing that meant his eyes and ears had taken on their true demonic appearance as well.

Amaimon didn't need to be told twice, moving over to Rin's waist and leaning down to lick a long, slow stripe up his inner thigh while Rin panted helplessly, hair sticking to his forehead and flushed face as his eyes tracked the path Amaimon took.

Then he let out a groan as he was enveloped by Amaimon's warm mouth, thrusting up into the inviting heat.

It was a good thing Amaimon had no gag-reflex to speak of as Rin, out of his mind as he was, brought his hand to the head over him and pushed into it at a merciless pace.

A heated growl reverberated through Mephisto's chest. He knew Amaimon more than had the strength to hold Rin down and go at whatever speed he wanted to. The shameless demon was letting himself be used in such a forceful way.

However, if he let them continue the fun would be finished far too soon so he reached over and dragged a clawed finger down Amaimon's spine to end at the base of his tail, tapping it pointedly to remind him of his other task.

His breath caught and he inhaled sharply as, instead of pulling back from Rin like he'd expected, Amaimon slid his tail from the tight loops around his waist that he'd kept it wound in.

The tail waved in lazy, careless coils behind him, Amaimon knowing the sight would entrance Mephisto. Indeed, he almost moved to grab it as it made a pass near his hand but he managed to restrain himself, knowing his patience would pay off tenfold in the end.

He was rewarded to the sight of that tail skimming up Amaimon's leg before it reached his rim and began to tease at it, causing him to arch his hips back up into the blunt tip.

Amaimon moaned around Rin as he impaled himself on his own tail, pushing back onto it at the same time as Rin pushed his head down.

Long familiarity with Amaimon's ways meant Mephisto knew the masochistic demon wouldn't wait very long to get to the next step and was proven correct when Amaimon only thrust in a few times before finally disengaging from Rin and sitting up, much to his wordless frustration.

Gold gleamed as Amaimon looked down at Rin, eyes heavy with lust and mouth slick with saliva, bruised at the rough treatment he'd been at the mercy of.

Those eyes slid to the side as he looked over at Mephisto and his lips slowly lifted in a sly smile.

Before Mephisto could think of what that look could mean, Amaimon lifted his body over Rin's, bringing hardened length to his entrance and sinking down without warning, both of them shouting at the abrupt feeling.

Amaimon's tail was still in him, right alongside Rin now.

Mephisto hissed out a long breath at the sight, heart thudding in his chest and hands clenching in the sheets until they almost tore and he came back to himself, realizing what Amaimon meant for him to do.

Well.

Well, that was a far better plan than he'd had, and he wasn't too proud to admit it, either.

By then, Amaimon had bowed over Rin, elbows bent until his hair tickled at the chest beneath him when Mephisto finally took pity on him and shifted until he could kneel behind the two.

He dropped his head over Amaimon's spine, placing a scraping kiss onto one of his vertebrae and lined himself up, breath held as he watched Amaimon slowly slide his tail out of his stretched entrance to let it trail along Mephisto's heated skin in a smooth rasp of scales.

That was all the waiting Mephisto could take. He pushed into that tight heat, hearing the twin groans of the two demons beneath him at the added sensation, so much larger than the tail had been.

His hips jerked to seat himself in until he pressed flush to Amaimon's hips, but he didn't give them time to adjust, fucking up into Amaimon alongside Rin, the intensity almost too much to take at once.

For his part, Rin had given up, mind gone to the pleasure he'd never experienced before, hands scrabbling at the bed beneath him and head tossed back in a silent scream.

Amaimon couldn't do much of anything at all except take the punishing thrusts, body shuddering at the force before Mephisto hooked an arm around his waist, adjusting the angle to go deeper and pull him down at the same time.

The changed angle had Amaimon crying out as Mephisto hit that sensitive point inside him, tightening as much as his body could, being filled as it was.

That was when Rin finally gave out, coming in a hot rush that filled Amaimon's insides with a warmth that almost had Mephisto following suit had he not had thousands of years of practice in extending the experience as long as he could.

Without pause, Mephisto pulled Amaimon off Rin and threw him onto his stomach to the side, slamming back into the raised hips as he shouted at the rough handling.

He pressed Amaimon's face further into the mattress, delighting in the expanse of his exposed back as he raked his claws across shoulder blades to leave red trails that he dragged his tongue across making Amaimon howl at the pain mixed with pleasure.

Mephisto could feel himself getting close and decided to up the ante, unwinding his own tail from around his waist and twining it with Amaimon's, gasping at the sparks that danced across his senses as he did.

His mind went hazy as he slid the two lengths against each other, the pleasure from both sources at once overwhelming until it was the only thing he was aware of at all.

Heat coiled tighter in his stomach and his edge approached, movements growing more erratic with every passing moment.

Time to end it, then. He brought both their joined tails up to his mouth and bit down, whiting out and coming with a muffled shout into Amaimon, who didn't last any longer after Mephisto brought the tails into play.

Slowly, he came back to his senses, luxuriating in the afterglow and a rumbling purr coming from his chest as he relaxed down onto the bed on his side.

Amaimon pulled away and slumped to the other side, panting as he, too, came down from the exertion.

The heaving flank invited Mephisto to scratch his claws lightly along Amaimon, enjoying the way his breath shivered through him, slowing down in increments as he relaxed into the covers.

He leant over to grab Amaimon's hair and place a rough, open-mouthed kiss on his lips, ignoring the tired grumble he received in return until he gave in and allowed him to have his way.

That was when a strange squeak sounded from where they'd left Rin.

Wonderful. Mephisto broke the kiss but kept his head where it was to look up at Rin with a smirk, murmuring, "I believe he's come back to his senses, Amaimon."

An acknowledging grunt came from Amaimon as he wiggled further into the covers, draping his tail over his jutting hip.

"Does that mean I have to go back to explaining things now?"

Mephisto scowled down at him, sniffing at the disrespectful tone. "I should make you, for so poorly following my orders. But I believe this time I'll let your punishment slide."

"Did we-did we just, uh," Rin couldn't complete his question, going back to the bashful youth he was instead of the dominant demon his instincts had turned him into. A beautiful sign of things to come, Mephisto was sure.

"Fuck."

"Have sex."

Rin squeaked again at their blunt words, pulling one of the many pillows he'd been laying on against his face as if to suffocate himself to escape the embarrassment he was feeling.

"What is wrong with him?" Amaimon groused, dropping onto his back and tilting his head to the side to consider the strange behavior.

"I believe he's suffering from the human condition. A tragedy but nothing we can fix right now, unfortunately," Mephisto said with a snicker.

At the teasing words, Rin gave a strangled yowl and chucked his pillow at where they lounged. "Don't laugh at me, bastards! This is your fault!"

A good natured sigh left Mephisto, running a hand through his sweat-drenched hair and tugging at the knots he found. He'd have to take a shower later.

"I thought you were supposed to be teaching me how to be a demon, not-not that!" Rin crossed his arms across his chest, hiding his lower half under the blankets.

His tail still waved behind him in his irritation.

Mephisto looked down at Amaimon, seeing that he was sharing the same thought he was.

"Didn't I tell you there were three things a demon must learn to hide?" Amaimon said, face as innocent as it had ever looked, which was to say, not at all. "We covered your fangs and your heart, but I never did tell you about your tail, did I?"

"Wuh?"

They didn't let Rin get a chance to puzzle that one out before he was pounced on and tackled back into the sheets.

"Hey! Ah-!"

Rin's voice trailed off in a shocked moan as Amaimon and Mephisto showed him a totally new way to toy with his tail, forgetting what he was supposed to be protesting as he was pulled into another round of play with the two insatiable demons.

He didn't get many chances to complain about his demonic heritage after that.


End Notes: And Fin!

So what you've just witnessed is my first attempt at writing smut or relationships in general besides that solitary fluffy Yusuke/Hiei one-shot I did that hardly counts lol Getting over that first hurdle of using the word "fuck" as anything but a swear was pretty funny, let me tell you.

I gotta say this was a wild ride and I churned this bad boy out in two-ish days of absolutely inspired writing, which after the year of writer's block was a breath of fresh air. So let's hope I can maintain the enthusiasm and finally update my other poor fics lol

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you guys think!