He settled himself down and, with little surprise, he watched as Az and Gabe got themselves ready to walk out the door. If frogs could roll their eyes, he would be doing so. He should have known Az would tag along. Those two were practically inseparable. Honestly, it might make things easier with Az there. He could translate for Beel and make sure a fluffy pet wasn’t in the running.
Not that Beel doubted Gabe’s devotion, but fluffy would definitely mean that pet would get more cuddle time along with free range of the house. He supposed he was a bit of a jealous demon, and he didn’t need that kind of aggravation in his life, that was for sure.
They eventually made their way out to the car, and Az drove so Gabe could hold the aquarium on his lap.
By the time they got to Marty’s Pet Store, which Beel had realized was the destination about halfway through the drive, Gabe looked a bit green, and Beel had the urge to hop out and kiss the ground.
Apparently Az didn’t have much practice in driving. There was a reason upper level demons had wings for teleportation (of course Beel could teleport himself, but without wings he had a hard time taking others with him).
Beel ribbitted loudly once they pulled into a parking spot, and he swore he heard Gabe mutter “Thank god” before shooting a guilty look in Az’s direction.
Az just chuckled. “Oh, you two. My driving wasfine. We had tons of inches between us and that other car.”
“You aren’t supposed to be able to see what’s stuck in the other driver’s teeth as they scream in panic when you cut them off, Az!” Gabe chastised, and Beel thought his voice might still have been wavering a bit. “And that light was not orange! It was red! There are no orange lights!”
Az swung open his door, still chuckling. “Yellow and red make orange, and it was totally halfway between the two.”
Beel usually supported demon logic, but being in the car andseeing your little froggy existence flash before your eyes sort of put a damper on the fun. Beel croaked unhappily at Az. Those two had some sort of soul bond that probably protected them from things like car accidents, but Beel did not. He wasn’t sure what would happen to him if his frog form was squished, but he bet it was a one way ticket back to the underworld.
“Oh Beel, you’re fine. No one was in any danger. I have excellent reflexes, I’ll have you know. No one got hurt. No one’s car even got dented!” Az defended.
“I am driving home,” Gabe pronounced, and Beel ribbitted in hearty agreement. Yes, definitely. Gabe was driving home.
Az just chuckled and tossed him the keys before they all got out. It was almost enough to put a damper on Beel’s visit to his favorite pet store, which was usually quite the highlight.
Of course, Beel couldn’t forget that they were there to pick out a new pet, so that was already enough to make him grumpy. Hopefully he’d at least get a few frog treats out of the cute owner for this whole ordeal.
Chapter
Five
MARTY’S PET SHOP, WHICH IS IRONICALLY OWNED BY JONATHAN
The bell jingled as the three of them walked into the shop. Well, Gabe and Az walked in and carried Beel in his travel aquarium. It was dimmer inside than out, but the store was brightly lit and there were colorful aquarium decorations and displays all over the place.
Gabe and Az started walking back toward the live animal area, but Beel’s eyes caught on a lovely tree branch decoration in the aisle they were walking through, and he ribbitted loudly at Gabe.
“You know the rule. One new decoration a month, and you already got that plant this month,” Gabe announced.
“I see you two have a routine down for the pet shop,” Az chuckled. “I don’t even need to translate.”
At that there was the rustle of a curtain from the stockroom area, which happened to be just ahead, and Jonathan came out. He was a slim guy who was a bit on the shorter side, and he had red hair and the most adorable freckles across his face. He was wearing the usual khaki colored jeans (which were deliciously fitted) anda polo, and he brightened up as soon as he saw them.
“Gabe! Mr. Frog! How are you guys? And who is your friend?” Jon asked, walking over toward them.
“Jon! This is Az. He’s my… uh, my boyfriend?” Gabe stuttered. Beel would have chuckled if he could have. No, you could not introduce your demon soulmate as such to the mortals. You’d either end up frightening them or find yourself getting some psychiatric care.
Az glided forward and held out his hand, shaking Jon’s. He thought Jon looked a little awestruck by the lust demon, and he croaked grumpily. Az pulled back at that, looking down and staring amusedly at Beel.
Fuck. You never wanted a lust demon to stare amusedly at you. Nothing good ever came of that.
Well, ok, so maybe some good orgasms usually came of that, but Beel was a frog, and so nothing good could come of it for him. And Az better not be planning any good orgasms for the shop owner cutie.
“You and Gabe don’t do threesomes,” he ribbitted grumpily at the demon. Az laughed at him, which caused Jon to focus on him.
“Ah! The adorable Mr. Frog!” Jon took the travel aquarium from Gabe and set it down, taking off the lid and lifting Beel out into his palm to gently stroke his back. Beel closed his eyes in bliss. “Who is the cutest frog ever? Hmmm? Such a pretty frog!” Jon murmured.
Beel opened one eye to give Az a look. “See? Cutest frog ever,” he croaked out before settling down into Jon’s palm more comfortably.
