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Mephistopheles was trying to keep it secret how badly he wanted to check out this new game that Leviathan had been beta-testing. When he’d discovered Diavolo and Barbatos laid out on the floor of the Student Council Chambers alongside the demon brothers, the angels, the sorcerer, and that stupid human exchange student, he felt a pang of jealousy that Diavolo hadn’t thought to include him, but he’d never tell that to anyone else.
He’d decided to see what the fuss was about, since Diavolo had seemed completely captivated by his experience. An article in the RAD newspaper telling how much he enjoyed his own might make Diavolo consider inviting him next time he went on some kind of adventure. All he needed to do was remind himself not to show too much enthusiasm and make his companions think he was enjoying himself - or their company.
Once he was inside the game with Levi and that other, he found it more of a challenge than he’d thought. The realism of the game environment was astounding. Even a simple game of tag turned out to be more difficult than he’d anticipated. The human stuck by his side and helped him, surprisingly, because it led to both of them being tagged by Levi. The game was over embarrassingly quickly. His ego was slightly restored when he managed to tag them both after Levi overestimated his ability to do tricks on his jet board, and the human rushed over to help. They lost with dignity, even laughing and hyping up the next game Levi had chosen.
Jumping on trampoline shoes to catch floating coins was like a simple arcade game, but somehow being the one jumping instead of controlling a jumping character made it so much fun that Mephistopheles didn’t realize he was just as openly amused as the others until it was too late…and decided to give up the ruse and just have fun.
The three-hour day in the game was nearing its end. He distracted the others by chatting about the realism of the game environment, but he wasn’t done competing.
“See ya, suckers,” he cried as he leaped to the next roof where he’d seen a coin appear.
Levi, of course, complained that it wasn’t fair, but joined right back in. There was much shouting and hurling of mock insults as they finished the game.
_________
You were all laughing and joking with each other once you’d logged out and removed your headsets. Mephistopheles seemed to have had a great time. You’d rarely seen him smile, and certainly not as much as you had in the past few hours.
“You should definitely get one of these when they come out for your brother. I think the two of you would have a great time playing together,” you suggested.
Levi immediately began selling the idea to Mephisto.
“It’s early, but if you pre-order, you get the console and two headsets with the game pre-installed…”
You interrupted to lean in and joke, “If you don’t buy it, your brother would be in-console-able…”
Levi glared at you and went on.
“The first 100 orders also get a year’s worth of DLC for free, which should be pretty cool…”
“Nice console-ation prize,” you shot off.
“Will you stop that? I hate those jokes!”
Levi might have hated them, but Mephisto was laughing his ass off.
“I hope they add some kind of pet upgrade. Digital dogs are the best, because their barks are always worse than their bytes.”
You had taught Levi early on about facepalms, and then proceeded to give him as many opportunities to practice them as you could. It gave him a cover for when he inadvertently laughed at one of your stupid puns and he didn’t want you to know.
Mephisto wasn’t holding back, though. Apparently, he was of the same mind as you, that puns were actually the highest form of humor. So of course, you were eager to test some out on a new victim…errr…audience. But for now you waited until he’d started breathing again and wiped the tears from his eyes.
“Hey, guys…want to go out and get something to eat? I’ve been jonesing for a Tart of Darkness from Madame Scream’s all week.”
Levi protested that you were always forcing him to go out in public, and you already took him out last week, but Mephisto talked right over him.
“I’ll be happy to accompany you, but only if you allow me to treat.”
You whooped and forcibly pulled Levi up by his wrists. You declined Mephisto’s offer to call his driver, because it really was such a short walk.
Along the way, of course, you told him some of your old shaggy dog story jokes while Levi tried to pretend he wasn’t with you. It wasn’t often that you could say “Oppornockity tunes but once,” and have someone roar with delight.
At Madame Scream’s, the three of you got a corner table out of the way. It was an odd hour, so there wasn’t much of a crowd, which made Levi happy. And, of course, despite his continuous, predictable complaints, he ended up having a really good time. He always did when he was with you. He even sometimes admitted it.
Mephistopheles attempted some plays on words himself. As a writer, he was able to pick up on how to do it pretty quickly, and let loose some groaners. You bombarded each other back and forth, until eventually even Levi snuck in one or two of his own. Fortunately, you had a wealth of these from years of practice and some human world websites that were rich with puns and dad jokes.
A couple of times, Mephistopheles had had to cover his face with a napkin, and that was when you decided to make it a life goal to make him laugh so hard that his bufo toad egg tea came out his nose. Maybe not today, but if today were any indication, you’d hang out again and your chance would eventually present itself. Inwardly you were chortling with gleeful anticipation.
Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, so Meph called for the check and paid. Once again, you and Levi politely declined his offer to have his driver take you home, so you waved him off as he got in the car and set off towards the House of Lamentation.
“I hate you, you know,” Levi muttered as you began walking.
“No you don’t. You love me. I’m your best friend in the universe.”
“Yeah, but right now I hate you.”
You gave him an elbow in the ribs and made a goofy face until he laughed and elbowed you back. Now that nobody else was around, it was OK to start talking about how much fun he’d had. He might put his pouty face back on once you got home, but right now he showed the same enthusiasm he might have exhibited talking about a Sucre Frenzy concert.
_________
In the back seat of the Limo, Mephistopheles composed himself. This had been a far cry from the hijinks of his friends at the Country Club. He’d surprised himself by delighting in such crude entertainment. It felt somehow liberating to unapologetically indulge in unsophisticated behavior for a few hours.
He watched your retreating backs, seeing you and Levi poking each other and laughing, and he thought that perhaps he could understand now why Diavolo and the others were universally enchanted by a mere human. He would need to be careful about not being seen socially with you, but was already plotting ways he could have more of these unpretentious and exuberant experiences without damaging his reputation.
His driver pulled onto the main road, and Mephistopheles opened up the site address Levi had given him, and placed his advance order for the game system. His brother would be overjoyed. He’d never have to tell him it was someone else’s suggestion, either. While he was at it, he added on another couple of headsets. One never knew when one might be inclined to have friends over for a night of gaming.