Chapter 7

Seven

It was the banging that woke him up.

Beel took a minute to figure out where he was, but the moonlight coming in through the bedroom curtains oriented Beel to his surroundings pretty quickly. He was in Jon's apartment, and they had just had a lovely evening of home-cooked food (which was delicious), snacks, and a classic horror movie.

Beel had gotten some good pets, and he didn't mind at all that Jon talked through most of the movie. He'd seen it before, and it was kind of cute that Jon got so invested in the characters. It was also super cute that the guy had literally watched part of it between his fingers.

Beel didn't often have the urge to take his demonic form, but he'd have loved to have been able to cuddle Jon during the scary parts. He probably needed a good cuddling, and he was the perfect size for cuddles as well; he wasn't too tall or built or anything. He was kind of similar to Beel's demonic form, actually.

Beel was a lesser demon, so he wasn't nearly as large as some of the other demons. He supposed he looked like a short, kind of skinny guy when it came to humans. Maybe that's why he didn't mind the frog form so much, although he did usually like to spice up his demonic and human forms with some piercings and tattoos; he liked being decorated.

Huh. Maybe that was why he'd been summoned as a colorful, unique frog.

But that train of thought could wait, because Jon was stumbling out of bed and throwing sweatpants and a T-shirt on (he regrettably had not slept naked; he was wearing boxers). Someone was banging away at the front door, and it was definitely the middle of the night.

What on topside was going on?

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Jon mumbled, rushing out of the room, and Beel had a moment of concern.

The guy watched horror movies, for demon's sake. You didn't rush out unarmed in the middle of the night to answer your door. Chances were good it was going to be a serial killer or an escaped convict.

Beel mentally rolled his eyes before he transported himself into the doorway to the living room. It definitely wouldn't do to have his favorite pet shop owner killed while he was frogsitting Beel.

He stayed out of the way and didn't make a peep, because he definitely didn't need Jon asking questions. It helped that the living room was dark, as well. He watched as Jon stumbled over to the door and looked through the peephole.

At least the human had some sense.

"What the fuck?" he whispered.

"I can hear you. Let me in," a voice yelled from the other side. "Open the door, Jonathan."

What the fuck indeed. Beel did not like the sound of that voice. It was condescending and just screamed asshole.

Jon sighed, however, and unlocked the door, opening it partway but not inviting the owner of the voice inside.

"What are you doing here, Marcus? It's the middle of the night," Jon grumped.

Ah, the asshole Marcus. With that thought, the asshole pushed the door open, causing Jon to stumble a bit, and made his way into the apartment.

"Get out of my apartment, Marcus," Jon demanded.

"What, you got someone pathetic enough to fuck you hiding in here?" Marcus sneered. He obviously didn't believe it, though, because he sat down on the couch and made himself comfortable.

He was a big guy, both taller and far more built than Jon. He looked a bit like a gym rat, and Beel could just imagine him flexing his muscles in front of the mirror and winking at himself.

"Marcus, I'm serious. Get out," Jon demanded. He stood near the door, looking unsure of himself.

Marcus sneered at him. "Seriously, is that it? Because I know it wouldn't occur to you to end things on your own. You find someone else to fuck you? Did they give you the idea of breaking it off with me? Were they so insecure about themselves they made you leave me?"

"What the hell, Marcus. No. You're an asshole. You made me feel like shit about myself all the time. I don't even think you really like who I am as a person. You certainly had enough complaints about everything. So why the hell are you here?" Jon challenged.

Good for him. Beel was proud of Jon. He looked nervous as hell, but he was standing his ground.

"You don't even like who I am," Marcus mocked, and Beel literally had to stop himself from going over there and peeling the guy's flesh from his body. What an asshole. "I like you fine when you aren't being a whiny bitch," Marcus finished.

Jon just pursed his lips, crossed his arms, and shook his head.

"You are being such a fucking child!" Marcus yelled. "I said I was sorry! What the fuck more do you want, Jonathan?"

Jon looked like he was gonna cry, and Beel was getting more than a little fired up. Marcus got up off the couch and walked over to Jon, towering over the guy and talking down to him. Jon just looked frozen.

"You gonna be a crybaby? Did I not buy you enough flowers? You always want so fucking much. You're so damn needy," Marcus yelled, pushing with his body so that Jon was forced backwards into the wall by the door.

And that was it. Beel had definitely had enough. His Jon was not dealing with this shit alone.

He transported into Jon's room, took his human form, complete with the usual piercings and tattoos, and pulled on a pair of Jon's boxers before strolling out into the living room.

Marcus was still leaning over Jon, Jon still looked angry and upset and a little scared, and Beel used his voice for something other than croaking and ribbitting for the first time in over 7,602 days.

"Looks like we forgot to take out the trash last night, Jon," he snarled.

Jon just stared at him, mouth partway open, utter shock on his face.

Marcus, however, gave Jon a little shove aside and placed all his attention on Beel, starting to saunter over in a threatening manner.

Beel almost laughed out loud. Perfect. It was about time someone taught this asshole a lesson, and he was just the demon to do it.