Work Text:
Kingsley Dice had just started working for The Devil. The Devil hadn't been completely tolerable with Dice, but his Henchman seemed to really like him. Dice hadn't been doing a whole lot, mainly just washing Hell's many dishes, a task in which he would have to roll up his sleeves for. He did have a life on the side, however. He had a boyfriend, who would occasionally get jealous whenever he went down to Hell. The Devil knew this, but didn't care. He didn't get jealous that Dice had a boyfriend because, again, he didn't care for Dice.
The Devil would sometimes notice that Dice was unsure when he got to Hell, almost like he was rethinking working for The Devil. If he wanted to quit, The Devil wouldn't care, but he would remind him that he came out of his own free will, no contract needed. A few weeks into his job was when Henchman took notice of a few bruises on Dice's arm. He didn't say anything, but as the weeks went by, they increased, and he just had to.
"D'uh, what.. what happened to your arm?" He asked carefully.
"My arm?" He rinsed his hands and looked at his arm. His eyes went wide, and he slapped a hand over it, his expression now worried mixed with angry. He hissed at the pain. "Don't- don't worry about it!" He insisted. Being told not to worry just worried him.
"D'uh, touchy subject?"
"Apparently so.." The Devil chimed in. "I'm getting concerned."
"Oh, hey, that reminds me! I wanted to ask if you both wanted to meet my boyfriend!" Devil and Henchman looked at each other. That reminds him?
"D'uh, sure! I'd love to meet him!"
"Great! Tomorrow, then?"
"Sure, I guess," The Devil agreed.
"I'll tell him." He finished washing dishes and rolled his sleeves back down, flinching a bit at the pain. Devil was still a bit skeptical, but he brushed it off.
Until the next day.
"Alright, let's meet this boyfriend of yours." The Devil was a bit tired, as he had only woken up an hour prior. Dice walked in holding his hand. As soon as he stepped foot inside Hell, Devil instantly had a bad feeling about him. He wore a dark purple and black button up vest with a white shirt with long sleeves. Kinda bland design. His pants were all black, setting the dark and mysterious mood, but what was really unsettling was the bright pink paperboy hat on his head, clashing with the rest of his outfit.
"Guys, this is Dominic," Dice introduced. Dominic slightly tipped his hat as a hello.
"Pleasure is mine, really," he greeted, his deep, British voice almost threatening The Devil's. "You're his employers, I presume?"
"D'uh, yep!" Henchman nodded cheerfully. "I'm–"
"I know who you are," he interrupted. "Kinda hard not to; Dice talks about his job all the time."
"He does?" Devil inquired. "Good things?"
"Eh, mostly just what happens everyday."
"How did you two even meet?" Henchman asked them.
"Well, all of a sudden, he became more popular and noticed. Almost like he didn't exist before, but then he did. People started noticing him and, well, I did too. Luckily for me, he noticed me, and the feelings we felt were mutual." He looked around and made eye contact with The Devil. He narrowed his eyes. Okay, something was up with him.
"Anywho," he took Dice's wrist. "Kingsley. I need you in the other room."
"Okay," he all too easily agreed. Dominic left with him, and The Devil noticed how forcefully he was holding his wrist.
"..."
"Okay, there's something up with him, right?" Devil broke the silence.
"D'uh, I didn't notice anything wrong."
"You just don't get it. There is definitely something up with him, and I know that I'm right."
"Dice.." Dominic sighed. "One rule while I'm here or while you talk about me around them: Just act like nothing's wrong. I don't want them to think I'm a bad boyfriend."
"But nothing is wrong," Dice stated.
"You would think that."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dominic chuckled. He slammed his hand against the wall above Dice's shoulder.
"Just listen to me, got it?" Dice shrunk down.
"O-okay." He took Dice's wrist again and came back out with him. The Devil noted how much more scared he looked versus when he left with him.
"Well, Dice, why don't you show me around?" Dominic suggested.
"What? Oh, yeah!" The request seemed to make him return to his regular self. He took his boyfriend and employers around Hell, where they met Stickler and some other imps. He wasn't too pleased with Stickler to say the least. When they got done, Dominic said his goodbyes.
"Well, it's been fun, but Dice and I should be heading home," he insisted, almost fake sadness in his voice.
"Yeah, sorry, boss, but it's my day off," Dice agreed, scratching the back of his head. "See ya' tomorrow, though?"
"Yep!" The Devil gave him a wink. Dominic narrowed his eyes at him.
"Yeah… Goodbye.." With that, the two left.
"If you're really that worried about it, boss," Henchman started up their previous conversation. "We can always ask Dice about it tomorrow."
"Yeah. I might do that," Devil agreed. "But it's only 10 AM; I'm going back to bed until at least 1:00."
"Your friends were… nice." Dominic sat on the edge of his bed.
"I'm not sure if they consider me their friends, really." Dice sat down next to him.
"Then maybe he's just a toxic person," he scowled.
"He is The Devil."
"Why do you even want to work with him?"
"Because…" Dice couldn't tell him the real reason. He hadn't signed a work contract, but he'd signed one for.. something else. Something personal he didn't want his boyfriend to know yet.
"Because it's good for my work experience," he fibbed. Dominic didn't exactly buy it.
"Alright… Well, I'm going to take a nap. Occupy yourself or whatever." Dice left the room to let him sleep. He wasn't exactly sure how to occupy himself. He decided to write himself a song.
By the time Dominic was up 2 hours later, he was working on the vocals.
"Can you shut up with your annoying singing?" He complained. "I didn't wake up just to go back to sleep." Dice stopped singing. He rubbed his arm, honestly hurt by what he said. He brushed it aside, though, as it was normal for him to say stuff like that to him.
Around 7 PM, Dice was abnormally tired. Despite that, he still wanted to wash dishes. Ever since he started working for The Devil, he'd gotten better at it. Dominic came in while he was washing them. Dice turned around to look at him.
"Wow," he complimented. "You can actually do things right. I'm impressed." The comment caught Dice so off guard that he didn't focus on his grip on the glass he was washing, letting it slip from his hand, shattering into a million pieces on the floor. Dice's attention shifted to glass, then up at Dominic, now completely fearing for his life. He started trembling.
"Dice, I was just complimenting you! What happened?" Dice was on the verge of tears. He rinsed his hands and turned the faucet off.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I-I'll clean it up!" Dominic walked up to Dice.
""Sorry" won't cut it!" He took Dice's arm in one hand and smacked him hard with his other, Dice's head turning on impact. Dice lifted his hand to his cheek to feel if it was okay. It burned and hurt like Hell. "It just had to be one of my best ones, didn't it?" Dominic smacked Dice's other cheek. He took Dice's shoulders and shook him, before tossing him to the ground in the millions of shards of glass, some bigger than others, cutting him deeper. Dice cried in agony at the pain.
"Psh. Fix yourself, Kingsley." He turned away, Dice's cries still painfully loud. "And clean up this mess." He walked away, leaving Dice to clean up, which, despite the sharp pain everywhere in his body and the tears from his eyes, he did.
He still had work the next day, didn't he? Great. Now he'd have to go to work with pain in his… everywhere. Unless, he called in- no! He would never! He didn't know what would happen to him if he did. He left, his boyfriend still sleeping, leaving him without the ability to say goodbye. When he got to work, some of the Imps were whispering amongst themselves. Henchman noticed the small cuts in his clothes, but didn't mention it. The Devil, however, had no problem mentioning it.
"Dice, your arms! Your hands! They're bleeding!"
"They are?" Dice had genuine worry in his voice. "Uhm…" He looked like he was sweating, and not from the heat. The Devil sighed.
"Dice, how would you like to learn how to make contracts?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we're going to give you a shower, bandage your arms, and you won't be washing dishes."
"Wouldn't contract work just further hurt my arms?"
"If you're suggesting the day off, you're not getting it. Now go take a shower while I duplicate your clothing." Dice did as he was told and took a nice, cold shower. It was.. relaxing. He never thought a cold shower could be relaxing.
He got out of the shower to see his clothes laid neatly on The Devil's bed. They were clean. The Devil wasn't lying when he said he'd duplicate them. He got dressed and left the room. The Devil appeared behind him.
"Ah, Dice, I see you're done with your shower," he noted.
"Yep!"
"Good. Henchman!" He clapped twice, and Henchman flew over.
"Yeah, boss?" He asked?
"Help Dice bandage his arms."
"D'uh, okay!" Henchman took Dice's hand as gently as possible. They went into Stickler's room to grab some bandages from him, then went back to Henchman's.
"D'uh, this might hurt," he warned.
"That's fine," Dice assured. Henchman couldn't hide his concern as he wrapped his arms in the bandages.
"You are.. really good at this, Henchman."
"Thank you! Medical care is one of my specialties!" He finished bandaging his arms.
"Well, if I'm going to actually get work done today, I'd better start learning how to make contracts." He went to The Devil and was taught the ropes. He actually got to bond with him, something The Devil didn't think he'd do with a mortal. Dice enjoyed contract work far more than washing dishes, that was for sure. "I.. had a good day today, boss," he told him.
"I'm glad, Dice." He went home, forgetting about the bandages on his arm.
When he got home, Dominic noticed his mood change from the previous nights he'd come home. He then realized he had bandages on his arms. He was getting very suspicious of his boyfriend's boss. They sat on their bed together. He decided to strike up a conversation.
"So, Dice, how was work?" He asked, pretending nothing was wrong.
"Great, actually!" Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah! I learned how to make a contract! I think I got discreetly promoted."
"Anything… else?"
"Yeah! I got my- oh…"
"You thought I didn't notice, huh?" He took Dice's arm. Dice flinched at the pain. "What happened to 'nothing is wrong'?" Dice tried justifying what happened.
"L-look, it's nothing, I swear! They noticed my arms; they forced me to-" Dominic tilted his chin up to look at him, now standing up.
"You're not going to work tomorrow." His voice was cold and dead.
"W-what? No!"
"Afraid so." He shook his head. "You're calling in tomorrow, and then we'll discuss whether you're staying or not." Dice sighed, nodding. "Good…" He had a rather sinister voice. He kissed Dice's cheek. "G'night!" Dice didn't get a good night's sleep that night.
It was a Wednesday; Dice should've been there, but he wasn't. Odd.
"Henchman, why is Dice not here?" He groaned, leaning back on his throne.
"D'uh, how should I know? And why do you care?"
The Devil sat up as quick as possible.
"I-I don't! I just… wish he would do his job." Suddenly, the phone rang. The Devil got up to go get it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, boss? Yeah… I.. won't be in today." His voice was very shaky. "I.. don't know if I'll be back, but it's okay! N-nothing is.. wrong!"
"But why?"
"Just.. had a change of heart, I suppose; working in Hell isn't exactly for me. Goodbye." Devil heard him try to put the phone back, but he must've missed, because the next thing he heard changed his mood completely.
"Gooooood boy, Kingsley. Very, very good boy."
This made The Devil's blood boil. A low growl emitted from his throat, one that you could only hear if you reallllly focused. He crushed the phone in his hand and tried putting it back up, but because of its state, was unsuccessful.
"D'uh, boss?" Henchman was now very worried. Devil shook rapidly, until he turned swiftly on his heel to face Henchman.
"Henchman! I'll be right back, okay?" Suddenly cordial, he acted as if nothing was wrong, but clearly, something was wrong. He slammed his Pitchfork on the ground and disappeared. Stickler entered the room to see what just happened.
"D'aw, jeez. If someone has him this mad, I don't think they're gonna-" he was cut off by a voice that sounded almost like it wasn't there, over and over again repeating 'no' until finally..
In a bright flash of light that made Stickler scramble out of the room covering the whole room in a bright orange tint, came The Devil, pinning Dice's boyfriend to the ground with his foot. He raised his Pitchfork in a threatening manner, like if if he wanted, he could just stab him. Dice was there, too, holding onto The Devil's arm, pleading with him to stop.
"BOSS, NO! PLEASE STOP!" He cried in an attempt to stop this madness.
"NOT UNTIL HE PAYS FOR WHAT HE'S DONE TO YOU!" His eyes were so full of rage. Dominic had his arm held over his face, clear that he didn't want to die.
"PLEASE!" Dice now started actually crying. "YOU'LL BE NO BETTER THAN HIM!"
"I'M THE DEVIL! DO YOU THINK I CARE?"
"BOSS!" His broken voice conflicted him. He thought about his decision, then lowered his pitchfork and took his foot off from Dominic's chest.
"Get lost," he told him. Dominic quickly got up and ran as fast as he could out of Hell.
"Thank you, boss-"
"How long were you intending to keep this from me?" He took Dice's face. "Keep from me that he was the one hurting you?"
"It wasn't important!"
"It is too important! How.. did he hurt you?" He let go of Dice's face.
"More ways than you'd think." The Devil sighed.
"Break up with him, Kingsley."
"I can't do that."
"Why?"
"He's… all I have."
"Then you'll be spending extra time with me, hmm? I'll get you your own room, you'll be comfortable here." Dice could actually live with that. Now that somebody knew what he was going through, he felt a lot better and safer, even if that person was the literal Devil.