Study Cuddles

Study Cuddles

  First post! I don’t know what to say so just read this fluffy interaction with Belphie.

   You had exams coming up. Not only did you have your daily tasks from being an exchange student, now you had exams on subjects vastly different from the university courses in the human world. Spellcasting was difficult, Soul-taking was unsettling, and even PE was way more extreme than you had hoped it to be. At least your culinary classes had helped you cook things not especially harmful to humans, or feed Beel when it turned out they were more harmful than you’d like. Math was at easier than all your other classes, as you had a few years to learn algebra before you even got to this hellish college. But this algebra question on your study guide had you stumped. You had been sitting at a table in the cafeteria for hours doing your assignments, studying for the exams only a few days away. Lucifer had been pestering you about it until you gave in. Your room would have felt too cramped with all the textbooks everywhere, so you moved to the cafeteria. You began to regret it, however, as your back began aching a few hours into the study spree. You had been so focused on your work and your pained back that you hadn’t noticed the footsteps behind you.

“What are you doing here?” You jumped ever so slightly at the sleepy voice and turned around to face violet eyes brimming with curiosity under a fringe of black and white. “You should be sleeping.”

 “Why? What time is it?” You replied as you turned back around to check your D.D.D. It was 11:00 at night. So you had been studying for 9 hours straight. “Oh. I-i hadn’t realized-” You cut yourself off, flustered that Belphegor, of all people, had caught you this late studying. “Wait, why aren’t you asleep? You’re always sleepy, so why are you awake?

Your question had visibly caught him off guard, and he stumbled over his words while responding with “I...I couldn’t sleep.” Couldn’t sleep?! You’re the Avatar of Sloth, how can you not sleep? Your head was full of questions and claims contradicting his answer. Just as you were about to ask them, however, you noticed his puffy eyes and hesistated. He had been crying. That’s why he wasn’t asleep.

“What’s wrong?” You weren’t sure how else to ask him; you weren’t sure what else to ask him. All you knew in that moment was that he needed comfort. He stayed silent at your question and sat down to your left on the uncomfortable bench. He looked incredibly sad in that moment, and your heart ached for you to do something about it. It pained you to see him that way and not know what to do to help him. He leaned forward onto the table, crossing his arms and laying his head down. You could definetly see him shaking slightly, and your heart shattered.

“Well, I’m going to keep studying. You can stay with me if you want.” Belphie didn’t make any move to acknowledge you. He just sat there, unmoving and silent. You tried to direct your attention back to your textbook, but hadn’t even gotten through a few sentences before you glanced back at Belphie. He hadn’t moved a muscle. You reached up with your left hand and stroked his back, feeling him shake beneath your touch. His breathing evened out slightly, and he slowly calmed himself down as you tried to focus on your textbook.

“MC?” His voice was somewhat calm now, and you hummed in responce. “Can I stay here? Just for a while?” He turned his head to face you now, and you could see the pink on his cheeks. Giving him a warm smile, you nodded. He sat up suddenly and wrapped his arms around you, holding you close as if he never wanted to let go. You hesitated before returning it, and there you stayed for what must have been a solid 3 minutes. He finally released you and you could feel tingling where he had hugged you. He sat silent for a bit, his face a bright red for a few seconds. You couldn’t help but giggle at how flustered he was in that very moment. He stood up from his place at your side. “Scoot forward, I have an idea.” He said, facing away from you to hide his still pink cheeks. You raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and did as he asked. He sat behind you  with his legs outside yours and wrapped his arms around your torso, leaning on your back and placing his head on your shoulder.

“There, now I can sleep comfortably and you can study.” He said, smiling widely. You could feel your cheeks flush at his touch and leaned forward. You mind was racing, and you desperately tried to distract yourself with the textbook in front of you. He turned his head to the side and lay still as your mind raced. Your heart was thumping so loud you thought it might burst. How could he sleep so peacefully with your heart this loud? Surely he could hear it. Yet he still lay perfectly still, softly breathing. You could feel his chest rising and falling against your back, and before long your eyelids felt very heavy. It wasn’t long before you found yourself laying down on top of the textbook you needed to study, on the cusps of sleep.

Studying for that exam will have to wait until tomorrow.