A New Ind of Love

An hour went by and Stoph looked at the clock. It was already 7:00. Steve should be getting home soon. But he hated to wake him. He looked so peaceful when he slept. Stoph began to kiss his throat and ear. Nuzzling him with his neck, trying to wake him up gently.

"Meh," Steve muttered groggily.

"Wake up, love," Stoph whispered into his ear. "Its 7:00, your parents will worry." He nuzzled his neck more.

"Fuck 'em," Steve groaned and hugged Stoph closer.

"You don't mean that. Come on wake up and I'll walk home with you," Stoph bargained. Steve stretched and looked at the young man.

"Do I get a good morning kiss?" Steve asked with a smile.

"Its not morning," Stoph reasoned, giving a smug smile.

"Do I get a good 7pm kiss?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Stoph said and planted a kiss on Steve's lips.

"Yay!" Steve said and sat up. They both sat up and put their clothes back on, trying to find them in the darkness in the room. Stoph accidentally pulled on Steve's shirt and slipped it off handing it to him. Finding his shirt on the desk chair, he pulled it on. Followed by his jeans.

"Hey I meant to ask you. What are the tattoos?" Steve asked nodding his head towards Stoph's arms.

He had almost forgot about them. There's usually no one to ever notice. There were inscriptions on his arms, around his shoulders, and then down his spine. They were written in Arabic. They told of Mephistopheles loyalty to Lucifer and described his powers over dark magics and the dead.

"They're, uh, Arabic. I got them a few years ago," Stoph lied about the second part.

"What do they say?" Steve asked.

"Its a long story. You will find out soon enough," Stoph said.

"One of the secrets you can't tell me?" Steve asked. Stoph stayed silent but nodded. Steve looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding and finished tying his shoe. He stood up from the bed and headed for the door. Stoph followed close behind him.

They began walking down the street towards Steve's house. And Stoph wondered for the 80th time that day what would happen to Steve if The Deal didn't go the way Stoph hoped. He was so nice. Innocent. He didn't deserve anything Lucifer would dish out. For once in his long life Mephistopheles prayed to God.

'Please. I know I'm probably not your favorite person. But Steve is a good person. Please don't let Lucifer have him,' he swallowed and stopped at the door to Steve's house.

"Thank you for tonight. I'll see you at school tomorrow?" he asked Steve.

"Of course. I'll talk to you then." Steve gave him a peck on the lips, nd then another, and another.

Stoph started walking away when Steve said quietly, "I love you."

Mephistopheles paused. Maybe he had heard wrong.

"You don't have to answer now. But I know how I feel. And I love you," Steve said before turning and going inside.

Stoph began walking again thinking about what that meant.

'Does this mean that he won't reject me? At least this improves our odds,' Stoph thought to himself as he walked up his driveway.

'I don't appreciate being called a bastard by my own servants, Mephistopheles."

"Jesus Christ!" Stoph jumped. "Do you ever you know, knock? Or something? A puff of smoke even would be better than just being there all of a sudden. Holy Hell," Stoph held his hand to his racing heart.

"Do not use that name around me Mephistopheles!" Lucifer shouted. Stoph winced as he realized what he said and how he reacted. He was spending way too much time with mortals.

"Yes, you are. I should cancel The Deal now but its very amusing to see you two together," Satan laughed. He wore no glasses this time and his deathly black eyes focused on Mephistopheles.

"I knew you would hear me think that. How long did you watch for?" Stoph asked. Still awkwardly standing in the doorway. As long as Lucifer was here he felt this was his house. As long as you were in the presence of him, you acted as though wherever you are its his house.

"Up until about 40 seconds ago," Lucifer said with a smirk. Stoph gasped.

"You watched us..." Stoph trailed off and began blushing.

"Yes, I've got to say that boy is beautiful when he cums. I wouldn't mind having him for myself," Lucifer said. Stoph felt himself getting angry. He couldn't talk about his man like that.

'But he can,' he reminded himself. 'He can do whatever he likes.'

"Yes, I can," Satan agreed. Stoph sighed. That was getting really annoying.

"When will you tell him," The Devil asked picking at an invisible piece of lint on his suit.

"I don't know, otherwise you would know... since you refuse to stay out of my head," Mephistopheles muttered.

"Don't get snippy, Mephistopheles. Your over, what is it, oh I don't know... you where several thousand years old during the bubonic plague, how am I supposed to keep track. I just want to know when I get your boy's pretty little soul to add to my collection. I bet he's a screamer." Mephistopheles let out a low growl. His eyes turned bright red, his skin paled to a dark gray, his lips began to form into a row of very large, black fangs.

"Now, now. You don't want to be starting that Stophy, you know I always win a fight," Lucifer growled. Mephistopheles got his anger under control and quickly reverted to his weaker human form.

One of the few things Stoph and Lucifer had in common. Both were shape shifters. And though they had natural forms, they often took the form of a human to fool people into selling their souls.

He heard the clock in the dining room strike midnight.

"Four more days, Mephistopheles. Don't cut it too close," Lucifer vanished with a puff of smoke. Mephistopheles rolled his eyes.

"I was kidding, asshole," Stoph began walking upstairs.

'I heard that,' he heard in his mind. He paused and frowned at Lucifer's arrogance before walking up to his room to do his math homework.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday ~ 3 days until The Deal expires.

Steve and Stoph hadn't seen much of each other Thursday. Steve went to his church to help with the soup kitchen and Stoph sat home alone and read. And thought. There was always lots of thinking since The Deal had been made.

He hadn't seen or heard from Lucifer all of Thursday and was hoping for a repeat today. No such luck.

"Mephistopheles. Where's your lover boy. I thought you two would be fucking like bunnies right about now," Lucifer said sitting on the couch across from the recliner Stoph was reading in. Without raising his eyes from his book Stoph answered.

"He's at school. I decided to play hooky and catch up on my reading," Stoph only said the first part of what he was thinking.

"And think about The Deal," it was a statement, not a question. Stoph glanced up at Lucifer. He was startlingly handsome with black hair slicked back and in a nice expensive looking suit. He had beautiful olive skin. He wasn't overly muscular but wasn't as small as Mephistopheles either. He would have been very attractive if not for the soulless, unblinking, black eyes.

"When are you going to tell him?" the Devil asked.

"I thought you were known for being patient and sly. Not nosy and obnoxious," Stoph smirked. Lucifer frowned and disappeared. Mephistopheles smiled at his small victory against Satan.

'Won the battle, but you haven't won the war yet Mephistopheles,' he heard in his voice. His brow furrowed and he set down his book. He would never be able to focus now that The Deal was nagging at his mind.

Mephistopheles stood up from the chair and stepped outside. He figured he would go for a walk to clear his head. If it was at all possible. He walked towards a park he had passed several times to get to school. Even as a Demon he still appreciated the small things.

He sat on a bench in the middle of the park and gazed at a bunch of small children playing with a ball in a field.

"Come here to pray on the innocent?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see a boy about Steve's age with light blonde hair and dark brown eyes. They reminded Mephistopheles of melted chocolate.

He recognized Michael immediately. He felt a twisting knot in his stomach.

"Michael," he spit the name.

" Mephistopheles," Michael Sighed the name with as much contempt as an Archangel could have.

" I... I request your help," Mephistopheles sighed waiting for laughter or disbelief. Neither happened and it was he was shocked when Michael sat down next to him on the bench.

"No Demon has ever asked for an Angel's help," Michael stated.

"Yes, well, there's a first time for everything no?" Mephistopheles sighed.

"What kind of help do you request?" Michael asked.

"I have gotten into a bit of a mess," Mephistopheles admitted.

"Go on," Michael nodded.

"I... I have fallen in love. With a human. A human man." Mephistopheles almost whispered

"I see..." Michael seemed thoughtful.

"Does He know this?" Mephistopheles knew the 'He' Michael was referring too. Angels refuse to speak his name.

"Yes, and he made a deal with me. If I told Steven who and what I was, and what my job is... and he still says he loves me, then we can be together. But if he rejects me. Lucifer gets to do what he wants to both of us," Mephistopheles sighed.

"You accepted this deal?" Michael said with surprise.

"Yes," Mephistopheles whispered.

"You of all people should know better to make a deal with Him," Michael said.

"I know. But... I love him. More than anything, I do. At least this way we have a chance," Mephistopheles put his head in his hands. He fought back the tears that threatened to flow. He felt a gentle hand on his back and realized Michael was comforting him.

"When... when I... fell," Mephistopheles started, using the term used by angels and demons alike to refer to a fallen angel who then serves Lucifer. "I told myself it was for the better. Here I would have power, free rule of my own personal army. Be able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But now I realize, I can't have what I want most," Mephistopheles admitted to the angel before him.

"I'm afraid I don't understand Mephistopheles. What do you want my advice on?" Michael asked gently.

"What do I do? I'm sure if I admitted to Lucifer that I was wrong, then he will revoke our Deal and things will go on as they should. But I couldn't have Steve. He would be safe, though. But would the pain I caused him be any better than what Lucifer had planned? Or should I have faith in him that he will love me for who and what I am? Is his soul mine to bet?" Mephistopheles let out a large sigh.

Michael paused for a moment.

"I have not the slightest clue about how He would react to you admitting defeat. He would most likely revoke The Deal since he had won anyways. But you would no doubt lose all respect he has for you. As much respect as someone like Him can have anyways. You need to think of how this will affect your human lover. If you leave, yes it will cause him great pain. But, is that pain better than the worst thing Lucifer can do to him?" Michael asked.

"Ugh. I don't know. I have until 12am Monday morning to decide what to do," Mephistopheles told the Archangel sitting beside him.

"I have a question of my own Mephistopheles," Michael said calmly.

"Yes?"

"Will He not be mad at you for speaking with me?" Michael asked.

"...I'm not sure. Seems I'm not sure of anything these days. Hell, I'm talking to one of my greatest enemies about my love life. Things used to be so....'hit bad thing with big rock make go boom.' When did they get so complicated?" Mephistopheles asked with a shake of his head.

"I have no clue. But I wish you luck on your problem, Mephistopheles," Michael said before rising and walking down the same path he came. Mephistopheles followed him with his eyes until he was gone from sight.

Talking to the Angel had not helped his problem at all. Though it did make him feel better. He looked at his watch and saw school was about to get out. He stood and walked towards the campus hoping to catch Steve before he headed home.