Secret Santa Event,

Day 10

This little story belongs to my Christmas project, a series of stories leading up to Christmas Eve! Check my Event Masterlist for more information, and have fun!

A/N: might contain interactions with my MCs Cloverand/orViolet(no spoilers ofc), but you don’t have to know them to understand the story!

Content warning: kinda a lot of swearing, idk felt like it’s worth noting

A flash of lightning illuminated his room.

Mammon shrieked up from the sudden clash of thunder. Thunder in broad daylight? That could only mean one thing…

“Mammon…” a female voice croaked.

Fuck.

The demon hurried over the the balcony’s door in the lounge. An old lady was waiting on the other side, clothed in dark gowns, tapping her foot impatiently.

The witches are here.

Nervous, Mammon pulled the door open a slight bit.

“Oh, hey, Linda, long time no see” the demon gave a fake smile. “You look good today…”

“Mammon… You know what I’m here for, don’t you?”

The avatar of Greed did some fake thinking. “Hm… You were missing the great Mammon? Well, can’t blame ya, but I’m busy right now, so come back lat-”

Talking, Mammon had been closing the balcony door again. Or at least, he tried to, but the witch pushed against his motion, with such crazy force that it pushed the door right out of its frame.

As she let go of it, the glass shattered into hundreds of pieces, spreading over the whole carpet.

“O-oh…!” Mammon’s eyes widened at the sight. “Y-You’re really angry, huh-” He got grabbed by his collar the second after.

“You didn’t pay your money this month…” the witch growled. “You know what happens when you don’t pay your fee in time, right…?”

Another squeak, then Mammon tried winding himself out of her grip.

“L-look, I sent you a crow…” Mammon stammered. “You’ll get a double check next month-”

The witch pushed him further into the room, such force in her hand that the hem of Mammon’s shirt was choking him.

“You don’t make the rules, Mammon.”

“Hrrgh…!”

He got thrown onto the ground.

“So?” the witch asked, crossing her arms.

Biting his lip in frustration, Mammon pulled out his wallet.

“… There…”

Stretching out about 50.000 Grimm, he felt how it got snatched out of his hand.

The next second, the witch stood on the balcony again.

“Don’t forget to pay us ever again, scumbag.”

Frowning deeply, Mammon remained sitting on the ground. To think they would actually come up to his house… Let alone use such force on him.

He got pulled out of his thoughts as he registered footsteps coming closer from behind.

And he knew this presence that had stepped into the room, seeing the mess right next to him.

“MAAAAMMMOOOOONNNN…”

“Oh, come on, give me a break…!!”

——————-

Mammon’s mood kept being at a low for the next days.

He needed that money. More than ever, he regretted giving those darn witches even a single Grimm. Because now, he had to… Without…

“Uwaah…!”

A face appeared in front of him.

“Mammon?” Clover cried out. “Why are you standing in front of my door?! You gave me a heart attack…”

So Mammon had to put on a smile.

“Heh, it’s your fault for being such a scaredy cat!” he grinned.

“Eh?!” Clover gave a pout. “No! And what are you doing here anyways?”

The demon gestured at the backpack he wore.

“The two of us are going for a little walk today” he stated. “So put on your hiking shoes, we’re heading off to the forest in three minutes.”

“… What?!”

————-

Clover got ready in five minutes, to Mammon’s luck without asking too many questions.

So they took the path from behind the house to get into the nearby forest.

“What'cha got in that backpack?” Clover asked once having accepted that Mammon had just completely changed her plans for the whole day.

“Stuff.”

“… Ah.”

“We’ll search for a good spot to take a break, then I’ll show you.”

—————–

So they walked, and walked…

Mammon seemed less talkative, much less willing to brabble on about work, the witches, or whatever came to his mind. So it was the girl’s turn to engage in a conversation…

However, Mammon seemed terribly distracted.

He kept inspecting the woods very precisely, as if searching for a particular path to take.

Which, at first, did not seem weird, considering they were wandering through a pretty gloomy forest that even Satan once found himself lost in.

But it was so against Mammon’s carefree nature to be so concentrated, so tense, even.

The girl was unsure whether to mention it or not, and kept it inside her for most of the time.

But as he grew frustrated, she grew worried, not able to hold back anymore.

“Mammon, is there someth-”

“There!”

He dashed forward and was about ten meters away from here in the blink of an eye.

“Mammon?!”

Running after him, Clover saw how he bowed down to inspect a rotting tree trunk.

And just as she reached him…

Mammon yelled out the loudest, most frustrated growl ever.

“GOD DAMNIT!!!” He punched the tree with his fists, with such power that it crushed the wood completely.

Clover stopped immediately.

“… Mammon…?” she called out softly.

“They changed their fucking hideout!!” Standing up, he kicked the trunk away. It fell apart mid air, but Mammon was already releasing his anger on another tree.

The girl couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Mammon transforming into his demon form, continuing to let out his emotions.

He growled, punched, cursed…

Clover felt tears forming in her eyes, not able to bear seeing her dear friend like this. She truly realised just now that she had never seen Mammon angry,

And wished from the bottom of her heart to never see him like that ever again.

“MAMMON!!” she cried out once more, desperately trying to get his attention.

“Those fucking pathetic shitty asshole witches!!” he grunted. “I should rip them all apart, for tormenting me, again and again. Should do to them what they do to me, a DEMON. But NO, I keep being an idiot, letting them get away with stealing money from me, with hurting me countless FUCKING times!!”

He had started using magic, and the trees were continuing to fall apart one after another, thudding on the ground, making everything shake and tremble.

“And you know what, FUCK IT!!” Mammon kept going. “They can have my damn money, laugh at me, call me whatever the heck the want. But that ONE FUCKING TIME I saved my money for someone other than me, they do it again…!!!”

He sliced trough another trunk, panting heavily from getting so worked up.

“And in the end, I remain the stupid, greedy scumbag that can’t get anything done.”

His voice cracked, finishing his sentence.

As his rage left him, his wings as well as his horns disappeared and he sunk down onto his knees.

You could hear him sniff quietly.

It took some seconds until Clover’s brain was able to function again.

“M… Mammo-”

“Don’t.”, Mammon stopped her from coming closer. His tone was cold and truly hurt, keeping his gaze lowered to not have to see Clover’s disappointment.

But the girl was desperate to help him…

Then, she noticed Mammon’s backpack lying on the floor. It must have been ripped off Mammon’s shoulders in his rage, now showing its contents through a huge rip.

Surprised to see colourful wrapping paper inside, she went to grab the bag.

‘for: Clover

from: the great Mammon’

“… Don’t open that” Mammon grumbled. “It’s not what I wanted to give you.”

Biting her lip, Clover crouched down, beginning to unwrap her Christmas gift.

She found a mix of small gifts:

A self made calendar with pictures of sea otters and a box that looked like a kit to make those friendship bracelets everyone made in kindergarten…

And a piece of cloth were someone had, well, tried to stitch an embroidery. It was scuffed, but Clover could make out two faces, one with white hair, one with a bow in their hair. Embroidered rather scuffed, it said 'X-mas’ above their heads.

Clover couldn’t stop staring at it.

“… It’s all I could afford…” Mammon mumbled. “I had to organise something after those fucking… After they took the money I saved. I wanted to buy you a new laptop, since your last one got destroyed in science class… But… Well, you might as well throw away that trash if you don’t-”

He got tackled into a tight hug.

Clover was sobbing next to his ear.

“Mammon…!” she cried. “I love it, thank you so much…!”

“… Huh?”

She squeezed him tighter.

“Just, please… Don’t be so hard on yourself… And… I… I don’t know what to say, or how to help you, but… I don’t want you to be in such rage… I love the cheerful and goofy Mammon, so it pains me to see you like this…” She had to pause as her sobs intensified. “Please, Mammon… I don’t need an expensive gift… That is not what Christmas is about… And this is certainly not what I wanted when we started the secret Santa project, so… Cheer up, please…”

“Wh… Why are you crying, human?”, Mammon asked, however having to hold back tears himself.

“Because I care about you!” Clover pulled back to lock eyes with him.

A gasping breath escaped Mammon’s lips.

“But this stuff…” He gestured towards the presents. “… Have you seen how scuffed it is? I had too little time to actually make the bracelets, also I think I forgot to add November into the calender…and the heck do I know about stitching! Have you SEEN how bad this is?!”

“But I love it!!” she called out.

“… Why, though?”

“Because it’s from you, silly” Clover smiled. “And it’s things that I like! Sea otters, fun accessory… And of course… Just our friendship.”

Mammon’s eyes sparkled.

“… Really?”

So he got pulled into a hug again.

“Yes” Clover mumbled. “From the bottom of my heart.”

She felt his arms taking wrapping around her.

“… Thank you…”, the demon mumbled softly.

So she hugged him back.

“I have to thank you.”

They stayed like this for a little longer, then Clover pulled back.

“What do you say we go home and make each other a bracelet?”

Mammon grinned.

“Yeah” he nodded. “We’ll make the best proofs of friendship ever!”