Chapter 3

Three

Two weeks. He had been Gabe's pet for almost twenty-one years at this point, and he didn't think he'd ever had such an eventful two weeks.

He'd gone to the underworld. It had sucked. Most demons hadn't recognized him, which he supposed was to be expected since he'd stayed in frog form. He thought at one point he'd heard someone calling his name, but he'd hopped off before he could find out. He had, eventually, after a lot of difficulty, found Gabe's parents. They had been happily browsing the libraries of Limbo, and Gabe had been happy to hear it.

Then there'd been the whole thing with the archangel and Lilith and… well, the less said about that, the better. It had all been horribly traumatizing for Beel, and he hadn't even been there.

Everyone always felt bad for the people who faced these momentous fates and crazy quests. Or people were in awe of them. Adventurers, even unwilling ones, were always praised as brave and courageous, and everyone lauded or lamented what the adventurers had gone through.

But what about those who were left behind? It wasn't glorious. There was no adventure or danger to distract you. You just had to sit in your aquarium and hope that your loved one would somehow make it home.

He couldn't do anything. It was horribly stressful, and yes, perhaps it was selfish to worry what would become of him. But what would become of him without Gabe? He wouldn"t be anyone's pet frog anymore, would he? He certainly wouldn't be adopted by Michael, Gabe's brother. Seraphina, his sister, might take him, but she was exactly the sort to forget he existed aside from feeding him. There would be no movie nights with her. Grams was liable to just send him back from whence he came.

Gabe had come back, though, and Az (the nickname he had insisted Beel use for him) had told him that Gabe was living out his life topside with all his family, and that Beel was part of that family.

His little froggy heart had almost burst at that. Gabe considered him family. Gabe loved him. Sure, not like he loved Az, but again, eww, because he'd known Gabe since he was a wee little kid. The last thing he wanted was that kind of relationship with Gabe. He was more like the wiser, older brother. Only smaller. And not the same species. But whatever.

Beel sighed internally (since frogs couldn't sigh out loud). There was a thing about couples in love. Beel had seen it in movies often enough, but he hadn't ever believed that his human would fall to such depths.

Yet here he was, listening to a monologue from Gabe, who was sitting in front of Beel's aquarium, which was now (thankfully) placed in the living room. (Beel did not need to know what those two got up to in the bedroom, thank you very much.)

"If you'd just tell Az what you're interested in, I'm sure we could find you a lovely partner for your aquarium. I know you're not actually a frog, but surely a Mr. or Mrs. Frog to keep you company would be nice. Not that we'd call a boy frog Mr. Frog, of course, because you're already Mr. Frog, but we'd come up with something. There's always the option of asking Grams to summon—" Gabe started, only to be interrupted by both Az, who was in the kitchen, and Beel himself.

Beel gave a loud croak at the same time that Az yelled out, "Absolutely not!"

Gabe did sigh then, but he didn't let it stop him for long. "I just think that maybe another lesser demon would be lovely company. You've enjoyed being a pet, and maybe there's someone from your previous life that you fancy? Someone who you would like to keep you company? Az and I don't want you to be lonely," Gabe assured Beel, even though Az gave a rather loud snort from the kitchen.

"He's fine!" Az shouted, probably louder than necessary. Beel ribbitted his agreement. He wasn't lonely. He had these two to entertain him, and they were quite entertaining most of the time. And he had television shows when they were gone.

Gabe sighed again, and Beel deflated a bit. His human just wasn't going to let this go, and the last thing he needed was some upstart actual frog coming along and acting all froggy-like and stealing his human's affections.

Not that Beel was worried about that or anything. Of course not. Gabe loved Az, and yet he still made time for Beel. They still had horror night after things settled down a bit; they'd only skipped the first week Az had been there.

He didn't want to share his aquarium, and he ribbitted that out quite loudly so Az could hear and translate.

"He doesn't want a roommate, my love. Another frog would steal all the best space on the heated rock," Az chuckled.

Beel hunkered down even more. It wasn't funny; it was true. An actual frog would really need a heated rock. The last thing he needed was to accidentally kill a real frog because he was a bit of a rock hog.

"Well, we'll get a bigger aquarium. And two heated rocks. Or else you guys could have side by side aquariums. I mean, some people do that, right? Like maybe you don't want to cohabitate, but you'd like to hang out with a frog friend on occasion?" Gabe asked.

Az sauntered into the room, coming up behind Gabe and squatting down to nuzzle his neck. "My love, I don't think Beel needs a companion frog. He isn't actually a frog, after all. And calling another lesser demon is probably not a good idea. Beel is sort of on the lam from the underworld. We don't need to go calling attention to him. I think things are fine just as they are," Az argued.

Beel could have told him it was pointless to argue when Gabe got an idea this firmly planted in his head. His human could be quite tenacious. Beel usually respected that quality; after all, Gabe's tenacity had enabled him to have Beel as a dorm room pet in college, which had been quite the feat. Beel hadn't known that frogs could be "emotional support" animals, but apparently Gabe had argued quite convincingly for his presence.

Obviously Gabe's tenacity had never been turned on Beel in quite this manner, however. At this rate, Beel was going to end up with a pet cricket or something equally ridiculous because he didn't eat the thing fast enough and Gabe decided they were "soulmates."

If frogs could roll their eyes, Beel would be rolling his right now. Sometimes not using his demon form was a bit annoying; frogs just didn't have the facial expressions to show the emotions Beel was feeling.

So he did what he could. He turned his back on Gabe and hunched down. He did not need a damned companion.

"Oh, come on Mr. Frog, don't be like that. You know I just don't want you to be lonely," whined Gabe.

Az, the jerk, just laughed at him. "Ah, my love, I think Beel is just making his feelings clear. He does not want a companion. He's just fine with us," Az murmured, and Beel decided maybe he could take back the jerk part. He gave a little ribbit in agreement.

"But what about… you know…" Gabe whispered.

Beel turned around and gave a loud croak in response. That was most definitely Gabe's I just summoned something I wasn't supposed to voice. He'd lived with Gabe since he was a kid, and he knew that guilty voice and look very well. What could these two possibly be up to now?

Az sighed at that point and looked at Beel. "Gabe and I were planning a little weekend getaway, and he's extremely concerned with leaving you home alone," Az explained.

Beel didn't see what the problem was. Michael or Ser or Grams had petsit him once or twice in the past. He got the two of them not bringing him along, really he did, because a hotel meant one room, and he was not rooming with them. Who knew what kind of crazy sex shenanigans they'd be up to.

He could stay in the bathroom… No, he cut that train of thought off. They were a new couple, even if they were soulmates or whatever, and they needed some alone time to cement their relationship. Beel knew that Gabe would bring him along in a heartbeat, because he was Mr. Frog, after all, and Gabe always considered him and his froggy feelings. But he didn't need to be a third wheel, so he wouldn't even broach the subject of going.

He croaked out to Az that a family member could petsit him. Not that he really needed petsitting, mind you. He was a demon, and he did have a demon form. He could easily transform and take care of himself. Still, he didn't like to remind Gabe of that fact. He still felt a bit self-conscious about Gabe knowing who he really was, and he didn't want Gabe to treat him any differently.

Az, rather than translating, sighed. Uh oh.

"Well, Gabe doesn't really feel comfortable asking a family member. Michael has been a bit weird lately, and Gabe thinks that maybe it's best to not remind Grams that you're a demon, and he also thinks Grams might have told Ser about your demonhood. So…" Az sort of trailed off and shrugged.

"I tried explaining you don't need a petsitter," Az continued, "but Gabe insists that if you don't have a petsitter that you at least have a companion."

Well great. Not only was his human going away without him, but now he'd be saddled with taking care of himself and some stupid "pet" that he would end up having to share rock space with.

Beel turned his back in displeasure again, but from the sounds of smooching he heard behind him, he guessed he was at least going to get a short reprieve from this absurd conversation.

Maybe Az could distract Gabe with enough sex that he'd forget about this whole ridiculous plan.

A lesser demon could hope, anyway. Well, not usually. Lesser demons didn't hope for much, but being topside and being Gabe's pet for so long had made him quite the optimist apparently.

Beel hunkered down on his rock, soaking up the warmth while he could. Maybe you couldn't take the pessimist out of the demon after all, because he had the thought that he better enjoy his aquarium all to himself while he could.

Change was coming, and Beel was not looking forward to it.