Chapter 10

Ten

The last two days had not gone according to plan.

Not that things were all bad. Yes, there had been another horror night. Yes, Beel had gone everywhere with Jon, including to work in the pet store. He had thoroughly enjoyed his treats and his time with Jonathan, and he loved hanging out in the pet store and watching Jon's passion. He really did know a lot about animals, and he loved sharing that knowledge with his customers. He got so passionate about little things, like proper care of a cockatiel, and he was ferociously protective of animals. It was super sweet.

Beel ribbitted and croaked in all the right places, and he enjoyed lots of gentle back rubs, and Jon did plenty of talking to him.

Most of the talking he did was about the strange guy who had invaded Jon's apartment. Beel was almost a little jealous of himself. Jon went on about the "super cute" and "insanely sexy" guy and asked Beel, "Did you see those tattoos? And the piercings?" (Jon had actually blushed and fanned himself at that.) He talked a lot about the kiss, and Beel was quite proud of the fact that he had made such an impact on his cute shop owner, and perhaps he'd puffed up a little at the praise. Certainly he'd ribbitted plenty of encouragement at Jon.

Yesterday had gone smoothly, but today things had started to go a little wonky. Maybe it was the good night's sleep, or just a day to think, but Jon had started looking at him… funny.

Like, really looking at him. Every once in a while, he'd glance at the window, or the hamper, where he had found his boxer shorts. (Beel reasoned that surely humans might own the same boxer shorts, so it couldn't be that big of a deal.)

Then this afternoon the subtle prodding had started. Beel had to admit he'd sensed something, but he hadn't caught on at first. Jon asked questions and stared at Beel until he answered. He said things that were clearly not true just to get a grumpy croak in response. Yes, Beel knew he shouldn't rise to the bait. He knew he should play dumb and ignore Jon, but that was easier said than done.

After all, when Jon asked, "Who is the prettiest frog in the whole world?" and stared at him, Beel just couldn't stay silent.

Then later in the afternoon Jon had come out with, "You'd look way better in plain green, you know?"

And how on topside was Beel supposed to let that comment go? So of course some extremely grumpy croaking had been the response, and Jon had just sort of smiled at him and reassured him that of course Jon loved his orange and blue coloring and he was only kidding.

Now Jon just kept staring over at him. They were up in Jon's apartment, and Jon had grabbed some leftovers for dinner, giving some to Beel as well, because of course he shared. Beel sat perched on the arm of the couch where Jon had put him, all ready for another movie night. Instead, though, Jon sat on the couch, television off, occasionally glancing over at the bedroom before going back to staring at Beel.

This couldn't be good.

Beel was getting nervous about the whole thing. Not that Jon could do anything to him, or that he would even if he could, but still… he liked Jon. This whole petsitting thing had worked out perfectly. If Jon suddenly got all weird on him, then who would petsit him? Because he really did not want to share his rock with some other animal to keep him company. Mike and Ser were fine, he supposed, but they weren't Jon, and he didn't trust Grams—he figured it was best to steer clear of the person who had originally summoned him, especially since the summoning was technically long over and she could probably send him back if she wanted to.

So he had sort of been counting on Jon being a regular petsitter, and now he didn't know if the guy would be too freaked out. Never mind that Beel loved coming to visit the pet store with Gabe; what would he do if he couldn't visit anymore? Would he never get to see the cute shop owner ever again? Would he be relegated to staying at home when Gabe went out from now on after this?

Beel felt a finger stroke across his back and looked over at Jon, who was staring at him. Beel might've accidentally been quietly and grumpily croaking; he was spiraling into anxiety thinking how it could all go wrong. Why couldn't Jon just forget the whole thing?

"I think you're more than you appear," Jon prodded.

Beel stubbornly refused to make a sound in reply.

"I think… Well, what I think is kind of crazy, but you're just a frog, so I'm sure I can share my crazy thoughts with you, yeah?" Jon asked.

Beel ribbitted in response, and he realized his error in doing so the moment he saw the smirk on Jon's face.

Well, at least the guy wasn't looking freaked out. Hopefully that was a good sign, right?

Only Jon didn't explain anything, he just kept staring at Beel, gently rubbing his back.

Beel was almost lulled into a light snooze when the finger came off his back, and he opened his eyes to see Jon looking like he'd had an idea.

Ideas were not good right now.

Jon just pulled out his cell phone, though, and Beel thought perhaps some research was going to occur—and that was one thing he wasn't worried about; he didn't think demon-turned-frog was a thing, even on the internet. Jon ended up pressing a few buttons and then putting the phone to his ear, though.

He didn't have to wait long in suspense before the ringing was interrupted by a voice he could hear clearly through the line.

"Hey, this is Gabe's phone, but it's Az! I bet you have some questions!" Az boomed out.

Beel croaked grumpily, and Jon just smirked. Well, shit.