Chapter Text
Mammon wasn't sick.
He wasn't!
Mammon is a powerful demon! One of the strongest in hell! Demon's rarely get sick- Hell, it'd be an embarrassment if he, of all people, were to get sick!
It'd mean he was weak- And Mammon wasn't weak in the slightest!-- More importantly, it'd also mean it'd be a terrible, terrible sickness.
You see, for one of the most powerful demons in hell to get sick, it had to be a virus on the level of the black plague- Well, it'd seem more like a flu to a demon, but if a human were to get it.. There was no chance of survival. Yes, that's how bad it had to be for a demon like himself to get sick.
That being said- Mammon knew for a fact that he was terribly fucking sick.
It started as a small flu- But because Mammon's an idiot and ignored it for a while.. It's turning into much worse then a flu.
His head had been pounding for days- His stomach wanted to eat itself, his throat was rejecting food- And just about everything else was fucked too!
Now, Mammon knows he should've gone to Lucifer about this- But he couldn't!
At first, he refused because being sick was a clear sign of weakness: Mammon already had a string of bad names, Scummy, Trashy, Greedy, Stupid, Weak.
He didn't want to prove them right.
Besides, Mammon's gotten sick before. His brothers absolutely hate having to take care of him- Who wouldn't? A demon of his stature was supposed to be able to take care of himself.
In any case, getting sick, showing weakness- It's pathetic. There's no wonder as to why Mammon wouldn't want to whine about it.
But now there were other reasons as well, such as.. Mammon did not want to deal with Lucifer nagging him for not admitting something was wrong sooner, and god knows he didn't want any of his brothers to have to take care of him..
But the main reason.. Is because Mammon wanted to prove to himself that he could do this alone- Getting sick was pathetic, even Mammon knew that much: And not only had he gotten sick, but he was doing everything he wasn't supposed to do- Not eating, not resting- This was all Mammon's fault. He needed to endure it himself.
If he didn't, then wouldn't that just be proving his weakness?
I mean- Sure, yeah, he totally felt like he could collapse at any moment-- But it was fine! He could force himself to endure it a bit longer.. He's done it a lot of times before.
The aching, the headaches, the sluggishness- All of these painful problems would go away eventually. It wasn't something to worry over.
Unfortunately.. The physical side of things wasn't the only thing this shitty sickness was effecting.
Mammon's mentality was being torn down as well, it was as if everything he'd ever bottled up or forgot about decided to resurface and fester in his mind- It was corrupting his thoughts and emotions constantly.
He felt like snapping at every little thing, he felt over-emotional, Mammon felt like he was reacting over 10 times more to things then he normally did. A single glance from his classmates would make him want to squirm- A single insult was like a prick to his skin.
It was exhausting, and Mammon didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hold it all in..
Still, there was nothing he could do but persevere.
"Here," Mammon muttered, passing his breakfast over to Beel for the fifth time this week. He couldn't bring himself to eat what was cooked- No matter what it was, Mammon couldn't stomach it. Even just the thought made him shiver.
"..Again?" Beel frowned at him, definitely suspicious about the odd behavior, Mammon just shrugged in return, "M'Not hungry." He smiled- Almost cringing at how fake it must look.
Beel looked at him with an emotion Mammon could easily tell was concern but Mammon paid no mind to it. If Mammon didn't mention the self-starvation first,- which he, of course, wouldn't -he highly doubted Beel would have the balls to bring it up.
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
"Mammon.." Beel tried to speak to him, finally not being swayed by Mammon's indifference, much to Mammon's dismay. "I told you it's nothin' Beel," He scowled, "M'fine." He grit his teeth as his smiled at the 6th born, trying to get the message across.. But, of course, that only drew the attention of the others.
"Stop being mean to Beel you scummy bastard!" Yelled Belphie, scowling.
Mammon just rolled his eyes at the yell- Sigh. His headache was growing again..
"Who shoved a stick up your ass?" Asked Levi sarcastically as well, after seeing Mammon's eye roll- Mammon felt annoyed at the bullying. Of course his brothers needed to say some stupid comment to annoy him- Mammon wants to groan and leave- He could not deal with his brothers being brats today.
"I'm leavin'." He scoffed as he got up, not failing to notice Beel's frown deepen and his brothers' eyebrows raise at the action.
"Mammon-" Beel and Levi both tried to reach out to him, Beel in concern, Levi in confusion.
Mammon pretended he couldn't hear them. He kept walking.
He decided to head to RAD early, it's better to go now rather then having to awkwardly walk with his brothers- Besides, maybe he could even get some more sleep before class started.. Sleep sounded so tempting..
He sped up his pace, yawning.
Mammon got to RAD only a few minutes later- He could feel multiple stares in his direction but paid them no mind. 'Take a picture, it'll last longer..' He wanted to retort, but refrained because it'd take too much effort.
He walked through the halls silently- He headache was pounding and smiling hurt, so he just left his face expressionless. Due to the empty, dull gaze, all of the students didn't say a word to him- In fact, they seemed quieter, as if they knew something was amiss. It made him anxious, but he kept moving forward.
But just because they were quieter, did not mean there weren't words and insults being thrown around in his direction- He ignored it to the best of his ability, but his ears still managed to catch a few.
"He's an idiot, I heard that on his last test he only got an-"
"Scummy loser second born, looks like his brothers aren't here: Have they finally dropped him?"
"Thieving bastard.."
"Ew, it's just the greedy idiot, I thought you said the others usually walked with him--"
"Scamming loser.."
"I bet I could beat him in a fight- Hell, he might even run away! He's a coward."
"I don't know how he's the second born when he's obviously the weakest of them all."
"Weakest of them all."
"Coward."
"Weakest of them all."
"Idiot."
"Weakest of them all."
"Bastard."
"Weak."
Mammon walked into his first class, and closed the door behind him- He grabbed his head and slid down onto the floor. He hugged his knees and stayed there for a few minutes, willing himself not to cry.
It's fine now. He successfully escaped the whispers. It's fine. Don't cry. Crying is weak- Don't cry. Hold it in. You're supposed to be the controlled one, keep it in. You're fine.
"You're just being pathetic." He whispered to himself, rubbing the single stray tear that managed to escape his eyes.
Mammon stood up but lost his balance, falling onto the ground again. "Stupid fuckin' legs.." He swore angrily- before standing up despite the pain throbbing in his legs. He dragged himself to his desk and sat down, he was feeling even worse then before- Great. Just great.
"Fuck.." He whined, he felt angry and upset- His headache was getting worse.. And he's pretty sure his legs just gave out. (Not to mention he didn't know how he even managed to get to class before he was to exhausted to move, honestly he thought he'd collapse in the hallway.)
"S'fine- It's Friday and ya don't even have to move from your seat until lunch.. Just make it until lunch, c'mon Mammon, make it till lunch.." He pleaded, knowing fully well he could just about pass out at any point-
He took a deep breath and shuttered it out- This was fine.
Just a couple more hours and the weekend would begin.. He could definitely get better if he rested on the weekend.. Yeah.. As long as he made it through the day, he'd be perfectly fine.
Okay.. Now that that's sorted.. He slammed his head on the desk-, too tired to even wince at the pain. Sleep sounded like the most beautiful thing in the world right now.
He closed his eyes and finally let sleep take him.
Mammon woke up around 30 minutes to an hour later- Or so he guessed, seeing as class had started.
He was lucky enough for this first class to be one of the few classes without any of his brothers- What a miracle
He looked up to try and remember what class this was.. Curses and hexes. Fucking curses and hexes- Oh, fucking damn it: Nevermind luck, this is his worst subject.
Mammon took a glance at the board where the teacher was writing something.. Was it supposed to seem like gibberish? He couldn't understand what was going on at all..
He felt his headache return and wanted to groan loudly- ..Maybe he should sleep a bit longer.
Mammon's head gently hit the desk, for a second time.
He woke up with a gasp- Ah, the lunch bell..
Mammon took a look around- No one else was in the class anymore.
He smiled to himself tiredly- He still felt like he couldn't stomach food, so.. Maybe he could sleep some more?
God, at this point, what was even the point of coming to school? He felt like the avatar of sloth instead of greed..
No- He should try to force something down. He shouldn't sleep anymore, this is exactly the reason his grades were falling..
Mammon nodded- It would be better to try to eat instead of sitting here pathetically. And so he grabbed his bag and stood up- Unfortunately, it seems he made the wrong choice and lurched forward, with his hand over his mouth- He tried his best to not vomit everywhere- Aw, gross..
Mammon quickly went over to the garbage and let it out. He barfed everything he had eaten in the past week- Which wasn't much, and couldn't help but cry- It fucking hurt. He threw up a few more times, and just when he thought his stomach had no more food to shove up his throat, he started dry heaving.
Nothing was coming out, but Mammon kept gagging- He couldn't help but let out a whine, and then a sob- Fucking Christ.. Being sick is fucking horrible.
By the time he was done, he let like nothing but skin and bones, as if he weighted nothing- And the tears still clouded his eyes- Not to mention he was practically sprawled out on the floor, fortunately something was keeping him up off the dirty ground.
Mammon slowly started to come back down from his panic and took a breath, he coughed a bit before scowling. Ew.. He wanted some water to wash out the still existing taste of vomit in his mouth..
Oh.. Yeah, he should get up, soon. Who knows when someone could walk in?
Mammon wiped his mouth with his sleeve- Gross.. He shook his head and decided to try and stand up, seeing as he was done gagging.
That's when he noticed something he should've realized a long while ago- ..Just what exactly was holding him up, right now?
"..You're sick." A voice suddenly said from beside him, making Mammon jump and almost fall right back onto the floor- They kept a hand on him, keeping him from falling.
Ah, so that's why he hadn't collapsed before- But why did it have to 'him' who found Mammon..?
"Idiot." The person, Satan of all people, scoffed, making Mammon glare.
"Fuck off, Satan.." He huffed, pushing the blonde off him, or.. At least he tried to, unfortunately he was very weak at the moment.
He tried a few more times before ultimately giving up on trying to fight his way out of the 4th born's hold.
"Why are ya even here?" Asked Mammon, pouting. Fucking damn it.. Satan knew he was sick now- And he'd definitely tell everyone else.. God, now all of his brothers were going to make fun of him..
Satan made a clicking sound with his tongue, "Because, I have multiple idiotic brothers who are worried over the biggest dumbass in the family." The blonde replied, making Mammon scowl at the lie. Hah, worried.
"Tell 'em to fuck off too, M'not sick and I don't need your pity." He growled, squirming to get away from Satan again. Satan looked at him in annoyance- But didn't say anything. After a couple seconds of silence, Satan finally let him go. Mammon used the chance to stumble over to the nearest desk so he could keep himself standing.
"..You're such an idiot," Satan just watched him with an judgmental expression. "They're really worried you know, after you snapped this morning they finally realized how weird you had been acting lately." Satan nonchalantly shrugged, his eyes still watching Mammon like a hawk.
"Mm? 'They', huh? Ya sound so sincere.." Mammon blandly rolled his eyes- Feeling both petty and as if he hadn't slept in 3 weeks, even despite having literally just woken up from a nap.
"..Why are you doing this? Not saying anything, getting angry- Deliberately trying to piss me off?" Satan questioned somehow actually sounding more caring- You could even describe it as gentle.
Mammon wished it didn't take him barfing for 10 minutes straight for his younger brother to actually treat him this nicely- He wished they would actually care about his well being without him being on the verge of collapsing- He scoffed at the thought. Mammon was so pathetic..
"So what? M'sick and being dramatic- Ya know I do it a lot." Mammon defended himself with a grumble, Satan rolled his eyes "--You're not being dramatic, though. You're not whining or complaining," The blonde corrected, "Usually you'd try to milk your sicknesses, no? But this time, you're not doing anything of the sort."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Mammon hissed, trying to figure out what his little brother was getting at.
Finally, he could see Satan hesitate- It looks like he's about to get his answer.
"Why did you not say anything? Why aren't you eating?-- How long have you been sick like this?" Satan asked multiple questions in visible annoyance, no longer beating around the bush and no longer acting indifferent to it all.
Weird.. The blonde did actually seem worried. Mammon mentally shrugged, oh well, I guess even the most cold hearted bastards would feel bad if they saw their siblings barfing and on the verge of collapse.
Still, genuine or not, Mammon wasn't nice enough to give in so easily.
"None of ya damn business." He snarled back, even despite feeling bad for continuously pushing away his brothers- But he knew they didn't really care. They were probably trying to save their own reputations by saving his: It would be a big controversy if people were to find out he was sick, after all.
Because Demon's don't get sick.
"It is my business! It's all of our business-! You're fucking sick- Do you see yourself, right now?!" Satan roared back.
"M'not sick." Mammon just weakly fired back, unable to say anything else.
"How long?" Satan asked again- His tone was a clear warning, it was a 'Fucking answer me or I'll get Lucifer to make you' type of warning.
Mammon frowned, knowing he couldn't counter that threat.
"..Monday." Mammon replied looking away, not missing how the blonde crumbled- Was it because he missed the obvious signs despite being a detective lover? Because he felt pity? Because he thought Mammon was pathetic?
"It's been five fucking days?!" Satan finally snapped after a few seconds of silence. He was seething. Mammon couldn't do anything but watch in curious amusement.
"You should've told us! You've been like this for five days!? You're the biggest idiot I know! Get up- I'm taking you home, now!" The 4th born raged.
Mammon just stood still, watching his seemingly conflicted little brother as the boy looked worried over whether he should go get Lucifer and their brothers or stay and keep a watch on Mammon.
Wow, it almost felt like Satan cared.. How nice.
But even if Satan were to actually care and be nice to him while he was sick- It would all end the moment Mammon got better.
"Weakest of them all" The words from earlier rang throughout his head, making him feel worse.
Mammon felt his headache grow- Badly- It hurt..
"M'sorry-" He choked out, everything going hazy and weird- He didn't want Satan to see him pass out..
"H-Huh?! M-Mammon??" Satan froze up, looking over to him at a neck-snapping speed because of Mammon's sudden apology.
"--I don't w-want you to s-see me p-pass out-" He stuttered, looking up and barely being able to see Satan fawning over him- Ah, was he on the floor now? He felt like he was losing his grip on reality.. But he didn't want to worry Satan.. He had to stay awake..
His vision went black.