Chapter Text
Adam
Yeah, Adam was talking out of his ass when he offered Mammon something, he at least managed to gain a day to figure out what he’s giving Mammon. He knows it can't be something simply bought, especially when he doesn't have money to begin with, or really understand the concept in the first place. More equals better is the extent of money knowledge he knows. He could try making something… food maybe? Or a toy, he used to make them for his kids all the time. His craftsmanship is pretty shotty since he hasn’t practiced since he’s been dead. He hyped this gift of his up so knowing Mammon those probably wouldn't satisfy him. At least not alone, so what else could he do?
Maybe he could prepare an event or take Mammon out to an amusement park. Did they have those in hell? Not that he had the mind to think of anything at the moment, still reeling from the reactions from his kids or the fact that his blood changed colors. An angry Mammon is only going to make things far worse if he doesn’t come up with something. He could ask the glam sisters for ideas but they are really cagey about things, thinking Adam wants to steal their act.
He doesn’t know what demons like, he barely remembers what Mammon liked back in Eden and that was mostly caves and precious metals. Being cooped up in only a few places is really starting to affect Adam, some fresh air might actually help him think of something. Leaving his room Adam walks down to Mammon’s office, peering into his office he sees the sin suffering with paperwork.
With a sigh he puts up his best smile hoping he can push for some more freedom to roam around greed. “Mon is it alright if I explore greed, I want to see if I can get a few things.”
Mammon looks up slightly before waving his hand like he doesn’t even care. “Huh? Oh yeah sure, just bring your ax with ya.”
Adam blinks then narrows his eyes at the sin. “Was I allowed to do that this entire time?”
“Yep, it's my ring, you have free reign. Oh, wear this if you need to buy something.” Mammon digs something out of his pocket, tossing it to Adam before waving his hand to dismiss the man.
Catching the item he is met with a green diamond encrusted collar having Mammon's sigil as a tag. Adam glares at the spider mumbling to himself as he leaves the room. “ That would have been nice to know a month ago… ”
Finding his mask and something close to his old holy garb or at least nothing too clowny to wear he readies himself to leave. Snatching his guitar and turning it into its ax form, he heads out the front door. Taking to the skies to get a lay of the land he sees the revolting byproducts of capitalism. Toxic waste pouring into the water, constant fighting and robbing everywhere, the smog clouding the air, not to mention how extremely dirty everything is. It's not all that different from pride in all honesty just devoid of his descendants and any semblance of pity he could fake with it.
Squinting at the buildings he finds what he assumes is the shopping district, which is oddly the least rundown outside of Mammon’s circus. Lowering to see what shops are available he notices how unreasonably small some of the doorways are, he’ll have to bend down or crawl just to enter. Being that close to the grimy ground unsettles him, so if he decided to go into those shops he won't stay long. He doesn’t pay much attention to the demons watching him, some are terrified and hesitantly backing away, others confused, but he can feel hungry eyes on him as if he’s an easy payday.
Most of the shops are either necessities, home appliances, or fashion none of which appeal to him much less make a suitable gift for Mammon. Hovering slightly above the ground he continues down the street hoping something will catch his eye. Seedy tattoo shops, an old laundromat, a mattress shop not even hiding being a front for money laundering, Hairdresser/nail salon, day spa, food truck… wait spa? Adam stops setting his feet down and peering into the store. He can see demons bathing in floral baths having their horns and nails filed, others getting massages, all while sipping drinks and eating sweet food.
Adam can do that, and if he plays his cards right he can enjoy some part of a spa day as well. He does need a break, and Mammon probably thinks he deserves one as well, making the idea perfect. Still he feels he’s missing something, leaning against the wall he ponders why it feels like he’s forgetting something. An itch in his nails make him start nibbling at them absentmindedly.
One demon walks by tapping away at their phone, an image on it catches Adam’s eye. The angel yanks the screen from the imp’s grasp hearing the boy yelp, which is quickly shushed by an icy glare. The teen holds up his hands to cover his face, stepping back as the first man inspects his phone. The image that caught Adam’s interest was one of Mammon but not how he normally is in the photo. He looks larger, with more legs, far more imposing than his regular form. It looked familiar at first but now he recognizes it as the one he first met the sin in, just instead of a holy robe he is in his new clown get up.
Looking at the familiar figure an odd sense of ambivalence hits him. This powerful form he remembers as a friend who always had his back. It was easy to forget that the one in the photo and the one who now holds possessive power over him were the same person. A bittersweet smile creeps on his face, at least now he can factor that form into his plan. He turns back to the cowering imp and holds out the phone for him to take back. The imp watches him for a moment tentatively reaching for his phone, quickly snatching it before Adam could change his mind and take the object. Adam pats the kid’s head, as a thank you for letting him borrow the phone.
Adam returns to Mammon’s mansion trying to find a good location to set up his surprise, especially since he’s planning to for the more monstrous version of Mammon. He finds two places that could work one being an underused indoor pool the glam sisters and a few other demons practice some moves in, the other being the outdoor pool he didn’t know existed until now. The outdoor pool he chooses for the ambiance and it's more curvy shape, it also has a few statues that make little islands in the pool.
Now all he needs is supplies… which he doesn't know where to get. Going inside he grabs a servant. “You! Where would I find stuff like candles, masseuse oil, floral-bath-uh-soap, and other shit to make a spa experience?”
The imp woman searches his face for a punch line or something being used to the clowns saying weird things, finding none she straightens up. “Well, it depends on the type of spa you want to make. Is it just for yourself or for lord Mammon?”
“Bit of both I guess but don’t tell him, it’s a surprise.” Adam shrugs.
“Ah, well then if you want quality then go to lust, for the food however go to gluttony. I can make you a list of the things you’ll need so you can just hand it to the store clerks. I assume you were checking out the pools for this reason?” She perks up as if excited by the prospect of helping him do this.
“Uh, yeah wanted to spoil him in his true form so a bathtub won’t cut it.” He explains.
Her eyes go wide and he can literally see her pupils turn into hearts as they dilate. “Oh, that’s so sweet! No wonder you're his boyfriend! Here, I’ll prepare the pool, you get the supplies, and when you get back I’ll teach you anything you don’t know.”
Adam gawks at the imp's misinterpretation on his and Mammon’s relationship. “No I’m not-!” She scribbles down something on paper, shoving it into his hands, and hurries off before he can correct her.
Glancing down at the list it’s surprisingly detailed for a quick scribble, it even has a crude map to help him find his way. A few things are set in greed at least so he starts his shopping in the closest stores. The store he’s led to is a kind of a hole in the wall store, he wouldn’t have noticed it if not for the imp’s directions. He has to crouch to fit through the entrance, he has no idea why these doors are so small. He can feel the door frame scratch his shoulders and hips making him shift uncomfortably to squeeze in the cramped space. Losing a few pounds obviously won’t reduce his bone structure but he wishes he wasn’t so big at times, or could shift size like the sins.
Inside he sees a shark like demon and what he thinks is a hellhound, both watch him with terror as if he’s here to kill them or something. “Is this the, uh, Horns, fur, & hair supply shop ?”
The hound slowly nods, posture relaxing slightly. The shark guy lets out a sigh of relief.
“Great, I need these.” Adam hands the shark the list pointing to the items marked under the shop's name.
The shark guy takes the list squinting at the paper then looking back at Adam looking him up and down. “Uh yeah we have these, but what are you paying with, cash, card?”
Adam pats his pockets finding the collar Mammon gave him and tossing it at the shark. The demon’s eyes grow wide, sink going from a sickly green to a stark white. A quick glance at the hellhound he nods towards Adam who’s wondering why they seem so shocked by something like this. The hellhound shoves its head under his hand like a dog begging for attention, tongue lolling out and tail wagging. So much for the intelligence he thought they had, but he can’t deny an animal begging for attention so he scratches around its ears and face as the shark get’s his items.
“Here you are, come back whenever you want.” The shark says handing him a bag with a range of different grit files, brushes, and combs.
Adam maneuvers through the door again, looking for the next shop after taking back the collar. The other shops have similar reactions when he shows off the payment, no questions, and quick to get him out with odd sweetness. He sees one shop put up a sign after they hurry him out, it said “Mammon Approved Business!”
Not that it matters to him, the rest of the items on his list are in the other rings. Following the map on the paper he is led to what looks like a large elevator with many different demons. He goes to the counter growing accustomed to the looks he draws from demons with his mere presence.
He leans over the counter. “Does this go to gluttony or lust?”
“Y-your Adam!” The receptionist says instead of answering him.
“Yeah, I’m Adam, first man, original dick, father of every sad sinner in existence, now answer my fucking question!” He glares at the woman tired of shopping already.
“Huh, oh yes, this elevator goes to gluttony. I’m a big fan Mr. Adam, you wouldn’t be going to one of Lord Beelzebub’s parties would you?” She coyly plays with her hair obviously attracted to the angel.
“Bee, is throwing a party?” He tries to remember how the sin used to be and if that sounds like something she would do, not really noticing the demon’s movements.
“You're close enough to call her Bee but didn’t know she’s throwing a party? It’s something about an imp not dying, if I recall right. If you need a plus one I’d be happy to be the lucky girl.” She gently ghosts her fingers over his.
He ponders, a moment finally noticing the succubus's attempts. He knows what he does next is foolish, but if he can deny the storm of emotions and thoughts in his mind just a little longer than he will. “Sure babe, why not?”
She smiles brightly almost enough for him to forget he’s a vile demon he’s using to forget the negative thoughts fighting in the back of his mind. “Oh wonderful, just sit anywhere and in a moment we’ll arrive, then we can go party.”
Adam waves, sitting away from the rabble as much as he can. The elevator shakes a bit before lifting. A second later Adam feels the webs he’d forgotten Mammon placed around his neck, wrist, ankles, and wings pull him down to the floor. It’s trying to prevent him from leaving the ring and the further away from greed the tighter the strings get, digging deep into his skin enough to make him bleed. It feels like the strings are going to cut off his limbs until they seemingly snap, letting Adam jolt up lightly panting as he struggles not to scream.
The rosy gold blood oozes out of his new wounds, mocking him. He knows Mammon knows something happened, and that thought sends a shiver up his spine. He rubs at his tender wrists still feeling web wrapped around the area. Pulling at the web he sees the contract still intact, with his signature shining brightly. He’s fucked, plain and simple. He doesn’t know how mad Mammon’s gonna get but it won't be pretty. Just when he got an ounce of freedom he blew it… He sits back down in the small uncomfortable plastic chair, lightly banging his head into the wall attempting to make his mind not dread too much over what's already done.
The elevator dings as the large shutter doors open for everyone to leave. Adam lets the demons rush out before he even gets up. Walking out he spots the succubus he was talking to earlier, she changed into something far more revealing and is fixing her makeup in the small mirror of her compact. She jumps when she spots him pushing her stuff into her purse and rushing to wrap herself around his arm, like one of his exterminators used to do. He clicks his tongue at the memory, hating how he compared his girls to a filthy demon. The girl’s smile falters and she self-consciously fiddles with the edge of her skimpy dress at the sound he makes.
“Got to do a bit of shopping ‘fore we go party alright babe?” Adam says walking off as the girl struggles to keep up with his pace.
“Oh that’s fine. Em, could you slow down or- ah!” Adam grabs around her waist, easily lifting her to sit on his shoulder so her complaints don’t become too annoying.
“Happy? Now shut up, for now.” She politely crosses her legs so the demons they pass by don’t see up her dress, but a naughty blush dusts her cheeks.
The shops he goes to in gluttony are mainly food, oddly they seem more at ease when he has a demon on his shoulder then if he’s alone. He tells the worker to send the food directly to Mammon’s place rather than carry it around in a party, handing the imps and hellhounds the supplies he’s already gathered. Lacing a threat that either he or Mammon will hurt them for failing to deliver the items in perfect condition. He was worried that Mammon’s collar might not work in another ring but it surprisingly does.
The succubus leads him to the party giddily bouncing on his shoulder. There is no security or anything outside except for a few party goers spilling out to avoid the blasting music or throw up their guts in peace. The building looks like a giant beehive mixed with a lava lamp. For once he doesn't have to bend to fit in the door, which is probably the first blessing he’s had in a while, at least for his back. Stepping inside he sees hounds of every shape and size, a good handful of imps, succubus, and some fish demons.
He stands taller than everyone, his wings drawing attention as people part to let him pass. Now he feels self-conscious but doesn’t let it show as he peers at the giant cocktails, and food the demons are eating. The food makes his mouth water, everything looks absolutely delicious and overly surgery. All he needs is to find where to get some for himself. He looks to the succubus on his shoulder whose basking is the looks that they draw, and kicking her legs and she draped over him.
“Hey, where do I get the food?” He asks a little louder than normal to be heard over the music.
The demon shrugs, sliding down to be back on the ground. Looking around she spots someone she knows grabbing Adams arm and leading him through the crowd. She drags him to a group with another succubi, and four hellhounds, one of which is probably the biggest hellhound he’s seen so far. The group grows even stranger as he realizes one of the dog-like demons isn’t even a hound but instead Beelzebub herself. Adam stiffens a bit not quite recalling if the last time he saw the sin was positive or negative.
“Hey, Beelzebub, Tex, guess who I found.” The succubus announces earning attention and intrigue.
Bee smiles confused but happy at her patrons excitement. “Oh, is the big guy behind ya your special someone?”
Adam yanks his arm out of the demon’s grasp at the mere implication he would date her. The only thing he and the demon may have is a one night stand and even then the prospect is losing its appeal by the minute. Bee’s ears flatten in worry nervously chuckling as Adam’s mask extenuates his irritation. Slowly he’s starting to remember why he didn’t hang out with her back in Eden, sure she’s sweet but way too presumptuous, often hitting sore spots on accident. She usually worsened any fight he and Lilith had and on top of that always took Lilith’s side.
The big hound, Tex he assumes, has been intently looking at him for more moments than he’s comfortable with. Just when Adam’s about to snap at the dog he steps forward holding out his hand with a large smile of recognition. “Oh I know, you’re Adam, the new talent for Mammon. Nice to meet you I’m Vortex”
Adam looks at the demon’s paw for a long enough time to make the mutt nervous before shaking it with a hatful grin. “That’s Adam the first man, not Mammon’s new talent. He doesn’t own me.”
Bee glows finally understanding who he is. “No way, really you're Adam, the same little guy I used to play with back in Eden?!”
Adam unclips his mask, pulling it off before tucking it under his arm. “Yep, same one who bet you couldn’t make a watermelon I couldn’t break with my bare hands no matter how big, and guess what I still haven't lost that bet.”
“It is you!” Bee yanks him into a crushing hug. “I couldn’t even recognize you with a silly mask on, and the clothes are new too. They look good on you babe, but I did kinda dig the nude look if you want to do it again.”
“I’ll keep that in mind but not tonight, kay Belzy.” Adam will certainly not do that.
“Aw, alright.” She pouts a second then notices his empty hands, and manifests a delectable kabob. “Here, you look hungry.”
That one snack is what starts the party to him, the rest of the night mixes together as a wash of mouth foaming sweetness. He remembers constant gulps of this odd drink he thinks was call Beezle-Juice, jaw numbing amounts of food, half finished conversations, sloppy make out sessions with who knows how many people, all culminating in him waking up in some stranger house covered in the sleeping bodies of seven different demons all ranging in species. Peeling himself out from under the mass without waking the people, thankful he heads towards the kitchen.
He finds the succubus who got him into the party to begin with making coffee, she smiles at him offering a cup. “Great party huh?”
“Would be, if I could remember it…” Adam says taking the mug offered.
He replies he is only wearing a black skin suit he normally wears under his clothes but not his robe or his mask, before he freaks out the demon points to a pile of clothes. “Don’t worry big guy, you definitely performed better than any other black outs I know, I mean you tired out three succubus and still wanted more.”
Adam smirks to himself a tad proud that he has more stamina than a literal sex demon then notices the sun. “Shit! What time is it?!”
She watches him toss on his clothes that smell freshly washed. “About six in the morning, do you need a ride somewhere?”
“I need to get to Lust, I have to finish my shopping, then leg it to greed. Hopefully the surprise I’m making will sooth the giant baby I’m making for enough so he doesn’t kill me for breaking the rules.” He explains double checking he has everything he had before.
She scrunches her face as if pained. “Ugh yeah, greed’s a wreck right now apparently Mammon went crazy and doesn’t seem like he’ll stop soon so most are avoiding the ring altogether.”
“ That’s probably my fault… ” Adam mumbles to himself, finding nothing missing which is more amazing than he’ll ever admit he turns back to the woman. “Can you get me to Lust at least?”
“Huh, oh yeah sure just let me get dressed.” He steps into a room taking a few minutes and returns, jingling her keys and leading him out of the apartment.
Adam is driven to another lift, he parts ways with the demon woman and finds a seat. This time the elevator is going down, the wait is far longer too. He rubs his temples to ease his hangover but from the bits he remembers he had a great time, challenged Bee to a keg stand and matched the time for the only other guy to beat Bee at her own game. The sound signaling they’ve hit lust grates on his ears and wakes him up more than he already was.
Stepping into the ring he’s met with what he can only describe as kink, each and every type he’s ever known. Greed is corporate sludge, Gluttony is a ring of constant partying, and Lust is just pure sex culture, all rings showing the fun and the the fucked up of their sin. Greed is unapologetic in its exploitation showing off its problems and blaming the masses for the faults of profit. Gluttony is in denial of its issues with a drunken haze forgetting what excessive indulgence can create. He already knows the worst sides of Lust without even needing to look.
Looking at the list he has oils, candles, and the scent based stuff left it seems. He heads to the candle shop first trying to not let the eyes watching him with hungry looks make his skin crawl. Walking in he sees a slightly bored demon with a candle melting in his head, who brightens when the man walks in. Looking he sees a host of different types of candles, some with low melting points others with high, he doesn’t really understand the difference but the shop seems intent on the difference considering the large signs.
“Welcome, is there anything I can help you with?” The demon smiles sweetly.
“Trying to make a spa experience, I need something to set the mood.” Adam answers, already placing his payment on the counter.
“Oh that sounds lovely we have a few choices here, any specific scent the recipient likes? To narrow it down.” The demon is grabbing a few different candles from the shelves.
Adam thinks, not really knowing what smells Mammon likes in the slightest. “Money? Gold maybe?”
The shopkeeper searches the shelves pulling three candles out, placing them in front of the man to smell. One had a musty metallic smell like an ore deposit in a wet cave. The second was smoky nicotine, like cigars at a billiard table with a subtle floral scent underneath like a woman's perfume. The last smelled like a fruity bubble bath just made with higher quality ingredients somehow, and an almost milky rose petal undertone. He pushes the middle away not interested in it but the first and last were a toss up, apart they felt like they were missing something but together they oddly made a pleasant combination.
“Is ten of each doable?” Adam holds the two candles he likes as he asks.
“Perfect, I'll wrap them up for you.” The demon cheers as he neatly wraps up each item with good padding.
The other shops are similar in pleasantness, before he notices he has just about everything he needs. The thought of returning to greed isn’t one he wants to do, knowing the sin is enraged already. He reasons that stalling a bit longer won’t hurt, but he needs to find something to keep his attention or he’ll focus on the demon he has to return to. He decides to take a birds eye view of Lust to see if there’s anything that seems fun. The view is nothing like the stuff in heaven. All the depravity would scare the purehearted angels that don’t understand how anyone would derive pleasure from such acts.
Flying around he doesn't find much of interest, which is honestly surprising, he would have thought the place would be more fun. Maybe he’s just not in the mood to have fun… Spotting a tower that’s taller than any other building he suspects that’s Asmodeus’ home. With nothing better to keep his mind off things he flies up to the windows finding an already broken one in the kitchen. Fiddling with the latch, careful not to cut himself on the broken glass, he sneaks his way into the penthouse.
Everything being dark probably means Ozzie isn’t even awake yet, for a rooster he sure wasn’t an early riser. The clock shows seven-o-eight with hearts where circles should be. Adam skims through the food he can find deciding to make breakfast for him and the sin, he also remembers an imp that seemed attached to the bird so three people he’s making food for. There isn't a lot he can make with the stuff he found but he settles for French toast, drizzled in syrup, a dusting of powdered sugar, topped with a scoop of ice cream. It takes him about half an hour, he makes sure to make the ice cream resemble a heart for the sin.
He leaves his mask on the counter munching on his food as he pours a few glasses of coffee. Since Ozzie still isn't up he sets the food on a tray and begins exploring. Finding the bedroom he sees the imp he remembers mischievously about to blow an air horn in the sins sleeping ears. The Imp pauses, shocked to see him. The imp glances at the food in his hand then back at the angel tilting his head, Adam lifts the food showing that a palate is for him. The jester makes a quiet “Oh” then holds his finger up to tell Adam to wait.
The man covers his ears with his shoulder and free hand, nodding for the prankster to continue. The imp drapes his arm over his ears before blasting the horn. Asmodeus' jolts up then falls back down with a moan of tiredness. Complaining about the imps' antics in his grogginess. The imp laughs slipping away from the sin to grab a long list of things and happily taking the coffee offer on the tray. The rooster however just rolls over pulling the pillow over his face.
Adam steps up nudging the giant bird and holding the tray around his face to coax the sin from his silk cocoon. “Wake up Ozzie, I made ya breakfast.”
Asmodeus' drags the pillow down his face looking at Adam baffled about what he’s doing in his house but the sweet smell of food does the work of making the chicken sit up. “How are you here?”
The bird pecks at his food, savoring the flavor. "Window was broken, ya might want to get it fixed.”
The imp looks guilty about something, stuffing his face to cover up whatever he did. “Okayyyy, but how are you in Lust?” Ozzie asks, ignoring the imps' odd actions.
“Elevators are all over the place, Oz, not hard to use ‘em.” Adam avoids the details hinting that he doesn’t want to talk about it.
They start talking as they finish their breakfast. Adam briefing Ozzie on what he’s been up to minus the bad parts, as the man asks what Ozzie’s been up to since Eden. He doesn’t understand a lot of it but the imp making crude jokes rip laughs for him no matter how much he tries not to. Ozzie asks how he and Lucifer have been, which makes Adam pause. He really hasn’t figured out if he and Lucifer are alright. It's hard to forget the betrayal, years of resentment, and especially the fact that Lucifer did almost kill him before his daughter stopped the assault. Not that she stopped the fucking maid of hers who nearly did him in.
“Don’t really know, we aren't trying to kill each other at least.” Adam answers.
Ozzie’s brows crease. “Are you sure? When he came here asking for advice it seemed like he was going to ask for your hand in marriage.”
Adam snorts, his old hate filled emotions rear their head at such a sacred union being defiled by his own prejudice. “Me, marry the same fucker that ruined my last two marriages? Fuck that, bitch better be happy I can stand him enough to rail his pathetic ass. Besides marriage is for a man and a woman, it’s fucking biblical law.”
Ozzie and the imp share an absolutely bewildered look. “Wait, what?” The imp asks.
“You’ve already slept with Luci?!” Ozzie continues.
Adam curses himself for the slip, trying to find some sort of defense he shrugs like it’s not important. “Wanted to see what my wives left me for, and frankly he’s nothing special.”
Oz pinches his nose. “I swear to Satan if you wore socks to try and say you didn’t have gay sex…”
Adam yanks Ozzie by his shirt collar fast as lightning so he can snarl directly into the sin’s face. “Don’t. Ever. Call. Me. Gay. You. Revolting. Demon. Scum! ”
Oz glares, his fiery mane flaring for a second but then it dies down. Oz sighs like he’s dealing with a stubborn child rather than a grown man. “If you say so.”
Adam holds his stare slowly releasing Ozzie’s clothes, an odd ache pierces his nails as they refuse to unlatch from the sins garments. Adam yanks his arm away not wanting to look at the sin anymore, the ache turns from a minor annoyance to agony in an instant. Adam screeches in pain holding his left hand wondering what happened. His fingernails or rather the nail bed is leaking rosy gold the nails themselves are now gone. Ozzie and Fizz lean over to check on the angel, grimacing at the wound. Adam sees caught on the clothes of the sin are his nails, so brittle that a single tug removed them from his body.
The imp disappears for a second and returns with a first aid kit. Adam tries to shove the two away but Ozzie easily maneuvers his arm to begin checking and cleaning the injury. Adam fights for a moment then just gives up and allows them to treat him. The two quickly clean the wound, wrapping the individual fingers gently. When done Adam is released, with two worried demons who have know idea how he hurt himself that badly that fast. Adam hates their pity, so he gets up heading for the exit he knows. The two follow after him.
“Wait, Adam where are you going?” He hears the imp call after him.
“Greed, I’m late already, might as well not piss Mammon off any more than I already have.” Adam grunts, grabbing his things and shoving his mask over his face.
“What are you talking about?” Ozzie questions as Adam opens the window.
“None of your fucking business, great time talking and all but bye.” Adam sounds more sarcastic then he means but leaves before either can stop him.
He’s in pain, feeling his pulse in his fingertips with a lingering sting. Not that it slows him down, he does need to return to greed. Mammon will hunt him down otherwise and then things will only get worse for him. The transport to greed is near empty, only the operators of the machine are there. The annoying ding goes off and Adam drags himself out into the ring. Instantly he notices the city is half destroyed with large puncture marks in the rubble almost as if a giant centipede ran through smashing buildings, dead bodies of unlucky imps and other demons lay in the rubble.
Adam winces at the scene not boding well for his return. Hastily he heads to the mansion nervous of what awaits him. Landing in the backyard where he found the pool, he sees the imp that had sent him out for supplies. The pool looks far better than it did the other day, almost sparkling with how clean it is. The imp looks proud of herself fixing a few flowers and sweeping away at the path around the pool.
She looks at him with a smile that doesn't belong in this hellscape. “You’re back! Finally, Lord Mammon has been really worried about you, he thinks someone kidnapped you or something since you’ve been gone so long.”
“Nope just got sidetracked, here’s the last of the stuff.” Adam hands her the things he got in lust.
She looks into the bag. “Perfect, I’ll finish up here but you really need to go see the boss or I’m afraid he might kill some of the clowns.
Adam doesn't initially move until the imp lightly pats his hip, the highest spot she can reach, in a show of sympathy. The walk to Mammon’s office is slow, he can feel his heartbeat quicken, and hands sweating the closer he gets. The sound of the circus is eerily quiet like the type before a tornado, the only sound he hears are his own footsteps. The door handle is carefully turned, pushing just so a crack of the room can be seen but it's enough for Mammon to notice the creak of the hinges.
A vase is smashed at the wall not far from where an imps head may peek out from the door. “YOU BETTER HAVE NEWS ABOUT MY ADAM OR YOUR FUCKING DEAD!!!”
Adam waves his hand to hopefully dissuade the sin from tossing more things at him. When nothing is tossed he pokes his head into the room, hoping the fact he left his mask in his room will make the demon go easy on him. “I’m back.”
Mammon’s livid expression vanishes in an instant, all eight of his eyes going wide. His arms holding a jar filled with who knows what go slack, dropping the object that shatters on the floor. The sin steps toward the angel eyes weirdly watering, looking more like a heartbroken puppy that hasn’t seen their owner in a month than the imposing sin Adam knows. His arms tremble as they reach toward the first man as if scared he’s a mirage of some kind. His emotions continue to fluctuate, evident by his teeth grinding into a snarl, it’s as if Mammon doesn’t even know his own feelings at the moment.
“Where the bloody FUCK have you been!” Mammon’s hands squeeze into fists trying to restrain themselves from touching the angel, as he grunts out the words.
“Out getting things for the gift I’m making, though you wanted the most luxurious version of the surprise.” Adam dodges the question a bit, telling a half truth instead.
Mammon’s eyes twitch in irritation, not believing the angel or missing his attempt to hide something. “ Adam , my webs snapped, which means you left the ring.”
Adam looks away from the demon rubbing the still sore wrists. He doesn’t know how to weasel his way out of this. If he admits that he went to gluttony he can't tell how the sin may react, Lust on the other hand is definitely going to further the foul mood. Mammon scrutinizes the man, eyes landing on the bandages around his hand going from anger to worry. Two of his arms jut out to grab but stop just before touching as the sin clicks his tongue in annoyance having to adhere to the angel’s earlier orders of not touching without consent. The hands soften their posture silently asking to see what happened to his hand.
“You managed to fuck up your hand too?” Mammon asks, losing the harshness of his voice a bit.
Adam lowers the tender hand into the spider’s grasp, allowing him to look over the wound. With surprising care he unwraps the bandages to see the damage. It gives Adam some time to contemplate a cover story. Maybe he went to Pride to gather supplies, but that may set off Mammon for his closeness to Lucifer. Besides he doesn’t know if Mammon would ask the king to corroborate the validity of his story, the likelihood of Lucifer backing him up is good but not one hundred percent.
Mammon’s grip tightening on his wrist makes Adam wince, now noticing the intense focus the spider has on his missing nails. “...who did this?” His voice is eerily clear, and calm
“What?” Adam doesn’t understand why the Spider is so interested in the injury.
Mammon's eyes look squarely into his. “I asked, what fucker did this to you?”
No one did this to him, why would the sin think someone would? On the other hand he honestly has no idea why his body is changing, or why it’s rejecting parts of itself. He most definitely doesn’t trust Mammon enough to inform him of his blood color changing, even if he may notice by the scabs. Still if he says the truth, it probably won’t be believed.
Adam flounders a bit trying to come up with the words. “It just happened okay, it’ll heal.”
“Just happened? You expect me to believe that bullshit?! Nails don’t just come off so tell me what fucker-” Mammon cuts himself off a hand not touching Adam covers his mouth as he has an epiphany. “You were kidnapped weren't you?”
The angel is getting whiplash from the unpredictability of the spider's mood, barely able to understand one before another takes its place. For once the sin jumping to conclusions actually benefits Adam giving him a much needed cover story. “I’m not anymore at least, they jumped me by surprise but when I came to they weren’t a match for me.”
Mammon’s eyes soften as a worried frown appears on his face, looking unnatural. “They’re dead?”
“Killed them myself, nothing left of the bastards.” Adam confirms.
“That's it I’m getting you a hellhound, we’ll go pick one out tomorrow. I don’t need a kidnapping scare every time you step outside.” Mammon lowers his head slightly, rewrapping Adam’s hand. The sin interweaves his own silk webs with the bandages tightly securing them, before lightly pulling away returning to his usually annoyed happyish expression.
The idea of a pet guard dog that reports to Mammon isn’t all that appealing but he’s already pushing it as it is so he keeps his mouth shut. He’s just happy Mammon bought that story, and the sin’s anger is no longer directed at him. “Anyway… I did finish up the surprise I was making.”
Adams words draw the demon in as if the last few minutes didn’t just happen. “You did?”
Adam nods. “Mhm hmm, it's more of an experience than a thing. Follow me.”
Mammon excitedly follows, annoyingly rambling off questions like a kid trying to find out what their birthday presents are before they tear the wrapping to shreds. Adam just stays silent, not giving anything away as he walks through the winding hallways. When Adam opens the door to the backyard he’s even slightly taken aback by how detailed the imp got in preparing the pool and around it. The candles he bought are delicately illuminating the water, flowers strategically placed to not be in the way but adding to the atmosphere, and the water itself is steaming mild heat as it emits a deliciously sweet aroma. A mobile trolley with all the equipment he gathered beautifully arranged upon it with their uses and the order to use them meticulously labeled to streamlining the process. The food he bought is set on a small table at the edge of the pool stairs with a small bell to signal for more.
Mammon tilts his head mildly disappointed. “You cleaned my pool?”
Adam rubs his temples praying to whoever's still listening to give him the strength not to strangle the sin. “No you f-, well, yeah partly I guess, but no. I thought I’d give you a spa day, letting you have a taste of my angel fingers grooming you, like I used to.”
“You mean when you’d pick all that annoying dirt out of my fur?” Mammon scratches the back of his neck at the memory remembering how annoying the stuff was when he couldn't reach it.
Adam nods. “Exactly.”
“Okay… why do you need a pool for that? I'm only a foot or so taller than you.” Adam glares at the reminder, he’s ten feet tall and still the sin is taller than him.
“ Even my youngest is smarter than you. ” Adam mumbles under his breath. “It’s for your true form, figured you don't get to stretch your real legs a lot, and get pampered in it even less.”
Mammon laughs holding his stomach like Adam just told the funniest joke in existence, he heaves for a second calming down as he notices Adam is laughing. “You're serious?”
“Call me nostalgic.” Adam shrugs, he partly wants to gauge the weakness of the sin’s true form, but he does miss seeing what he actually recognizes the demon as rather than this more manageable size.
Briefly Mammon looks uncomfortable, sighing he relents to Adam’s will. “Fine, but you asked for this, don’t get scared and piss your pants.”
Adam rolls his eyes. The sin hesitates, then slowly starts removing his clothes, oddly nervous under Adam’s watchful eyes. It’s now that Adam realizes hasn’t ever actually seen Mammon nude, not in Eden and not in hell. This new near docile Mammon might be born from a similar dislike of his body that Adam has, but the contrast of Mammon's normally loud self-assured personality makes that hard to believe. The clothes hide bone white fur, that has no reason to look so soft. His hands look like a mix of spider paws and humanoid hands, the skin or exoskeleton of which is striped alternating at the joints, with gold knife-like nails.
The fur makes it hard to see anything it may be hiding even without clothes, Adam has no idea how he wears so much in the heat of hell if he has so much fur. Mammon curls up, at first Adam thinks he suddenly got sick but a cocoon quickly wraps around the sin. Adam sees it morph and moves as if Mammon's fighting to get out, boy, he wishes the sin would suffocate himself in there. The angel would be so lucky but no, a hand stabs through the substance, ripping and tearing until it's freed. Quick as lightning a mass shoots out diving into the water, but the monster appears endless only allowing the man to make out a blur of black, light green and sharp gold legs stamping into the ground. The shadow in the water weaves around the edges and little islands in the pool.
Finally he sees the last of the sin crawl out of the destroyed cocoon, from the water he sees the shadow near him before it jumps out of the water splashing him with the fragrant liquid. Startled, he jumps back, feathers puffing up and moving to make him appear bigger on instinct. Mammon laughs, his chelicerae make his jaw look wider as they poke out the sides of his mouth and almost look like he’s able to eat the angel, not helped by the mobility of the fang.
“You're such a dick.” Adam says shaking off some of the water.
“Hey, you're the one that wanted to see the true me again, not my fault you can't take a joke.” His upper body leans down, to be at eye level with Adam which is easy for the demon since his face is only a little smaller than Adam's body now.
Above what is his waist Mammon’s fluffy wet fur remains white with minor black marks, but he now looks annoyingly thin almost like Asmodeus’s build. His face is sharper with three large horns that used to be hidden in his hat now looking like some false crown protruding from his skin. His hips are wide being the transition to the long segmented body, he counts about twenty-five sets of legs one on each segment. Each segment is about a meter in length looking like a centipede with a flattish back. The photo that reminded him of this form only had about eight legs and Mammon remained rather thick; he also didn’t have these mobile fangs hanging out of his mouth.
“Why the fuck did you get skinny, and where did those come from?” Adam complains pointing at the fangs.
Mammon chuckles pointing at his pincers. “These? I’ve always had them. They just stay in my mouth when I talk sorta like a second cheek, harder to keep them in when I'm big since they grow too.”
Adam can hear a small lisp hiss out in the sin’s Australian accent, seeing a weakness he goes for it. “You sure you're not hiding them to keep the rumors away from that speech impediment of yours?”
“Oh fuck you.” Mammon snickers good naturedly, not bothered by the angel's attack at his way of talking. “As for why you get to see my finely crafted figure better now, a little thing called conservation of mass, ya daft cunt.”
“What?” Adam doesn't understand what the demon means by that.
Mammon motions to the whole of his body with all of his arms. “You think all of this can fit in a small body like yours easily? No, and the more power I get the bigger I get so to compensate I store the stuff I can't suck in, in my size and height, all of the sins do.”
“If you say so. Does that mean you are able to condense this body as well?” Adam wonders how much work this is going to be, he hadn’t realized how big the demon actually was.
“Yeah, I’m already doing that, but I figured this was good enough for the real me you wanted to see.” Mammon places his bottom two arms on his hips and crosses the other two over his chest. “What? Still not good enough for you?”
“Nah it’s fine.” Adam grabs a brush. “Let’s get started.”
Adam flies up grinding a decent place to start brushing through Mammon’s fur, using the soapy water to root out tangles. Mammon is at first extremely tense, apparently not used to someone directly touching his fur or his true body possibly. Thoroughly brushing through the fur is a tad tedious but it makes the combing process far easier, Mammon grunts and complains like his daughters used to when he had to fight through whatever rats nest they made in their hair. Thankfully Mammon's body is mainly exoskeleton rather than fur or else he’d be brushing for days instead of a few hours.
After the fur is finished he grabs a brush to scrub at the rest of the body putting extra emphasis where the segments of Mammon's body meet. Mammon relaxes as Adam continues. At times Adam notices he’s found an itchy spot when he sees the sharp legs of the demon kick like a dog, stabbing into the ground enough to leave punctures in the cement. Mammon is surprisingly cooperative, raising his body out of the water for the angel to get at without getting too wet. Adam’s only about halfway done and is already tired, panting in exhaustion and minor pain from his recent injuries.
Mammon reaches back offering some food for the angel to snack on. “Want me to return the favor after you're done?”
Adam lets the sin feed him as he continues to work. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you just want to put your hands all over me.”
“Me? Never!” Mammon chuckles, failing to be scandalized like he’s trying to pretend. “I just feel so bad watching you toil away that I feel it’s only fair that I grope around your body for a few hours as well.”
Adam snorts. “If you hate it that much I can stop~”
Mammon shakes his head. “No no no, you put so much time into this already, I'd be rude to make you quit now.”
They banter back and forth as Adam finishes the cleaning. Next he gets a file running down the edges of Mammon's gold legs effectively making them even more lethal and shining the legs until they sparkle. Mammon happily admires how they reflect his face back at him when he inspects each limb. This takes the longest by far, but his wings help him reach odd angles. The finest grit file he saves for Mammon's horns. By now the demon has fallen into a comfortable nap, softly snoring. Adam wishes he could do the same, his arms, legs, wings and neck aching with use.
Finishing up with the files, he looks at what’s left to do as he washes his hands to remove the gold shavings. Fangs care and other dental hygiene is all that remains on the tray, he doesn't know what Spa cleaned patron’s teeth but for all he knows it's common for demons. Tapping at Mammon face, he wakes groggily yawning. Adam uses his wings to push the pincers away, his non-injured hand to hold the upper jaw and stomps on the lower one to keep Mammon’s mouth open for him to work on. The sin chokes a bit startled by not being able to jaw easily.
Adam summons the last bit of his energy, willing himself to finish what he promised before he passes out. Mammon doesn't fight or clothes his mouth when Adam lets go, making Adam absently remember the relationship some birds have with alligators, cleaning the reptile's teeth in a symbiotic benefit for both animals. Adam sharpens and cleans each tooth, stepping back he double checks his work.
He sighs in relief laying down on the ground, satisfied that he did a noticeably good job. “Alright, done, I’m dead now. Thank you for visiting Spa Adam our opening and closing day, never come back you spoiled bitch.”
Mammon smiles crawling out of the water, shaking it off and fluffing his fur a bit. “Don’t expect a tip then.”
“Like you ever tip.” Adam deadpans
“Got me there, here let me treat you.” Mammon offers an oversized hand to Adam.
Adam looks at the hand, after all that work he does want a spa day of his own. “How do I know you won’t turn this into a sex thing?”
“I promised I wouldn’t do that anymore, I haven't broken my word and I don’t plan to.” Mammon reasons.
Adam takes his hand being yanked up but the sin baffles him. “Fine, don’t make me regret this.”
Mammon picks him up, gently removing his clothes and unraveling his bandages carefully he lays the angel into the pool with him the water is still as clean, warm and fragrant as before. Using the surplus of scrubs and lathers mammon diligently cleans every inch of Adam’s skin, he only needs his thumbs to massage Adam’s tired muscles, where Adam needs his whole body to attempt the same for the demon. Mammon uses his extra arms expertly, attacking multiple areas at once. The sin is extremely careful of the scabbed areas, attempting to not accidentally open them.
A single hour passes, all the time and effort he put into Mammon is done in a fraction of the time for him. Adam is a living puddle in his hands, Mammon decides they’ve done enough soaking and gets out again violently shaking the water of himself and wrapping a towel around before walking back into the mansion telling the imps to go clean the pool, grabbing snacks, and finding medical supplies. He is taken to Mammon’s room, the demon's lower half curling around him as the upper part goes into the bathroom, returning with a hair dryer.
The many hands towel the rest of the water off, then one blasts hot air at him first at his hair then his wings as the others apply ointment to his wounds and wrap them. The demon has been subtly condensing, most likely returning to his normal state as time passes. When Adam is dry, and bandaged up Mammon turns the hair dryer to himself. Adam tries to move, wanting to return to his room to sleep, Mammon's lower half stops him curling tighter around the angel. Adam relents, too tired to fight, mammon pulls at a string in his web of a room producing a pair of pajamas for both of them.
Both of them get ready to sleep, Mammon snuggling close to Adam. “Don’t think I didn’t see what Luci did to those piercings I gave you.” Mammon whispers as the lights go out making Adam’ hair stand on end until he eventually falls into an uneasy slumber.