Spellbound

"Thought I would come to help out," he smiled and kicked the portal below his feet lazily, looking at the ground. The red 'portal' was obviously fake, otherwise he would have fallen back into the fourth circle of hell.

"The portal?" he asked.

"Hex said something about a spell she uses to cook hot dogs? I don't know..." he shrugged innocently. A booming voice carried over the crowd and the smoke began to clear.

"They're clearing the smoke..." Zelion explained. Without another word, Debell opened his mouth and roared, stomping his hooves and tossing his head. Zelion blinked and conjured a chain and collar made of shadow, solidifying the darkness into a magical metal. "A Demon!" He smiled at the council, whose eyebrows were raised and a few sat with a smile on their faces. Debell continued to roar and stomp and make a fuss. Zelion smiled, he was surprisingly good at acting. A few members of the council muttered something to each other before the one in front smiled.

"Pass. Return next week for exam two... Destruction." The man stamped a paper, and then passed it around so every council member could stamp it before it was given to Zelion.

"I passed... I passed!" He cheered and clapped, ignoring the comical looks from the council, and the adoring look from the demon he held on a chain.

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

"Thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you!" The words spewed out of Zelion's mouth as he hugged and kissed Hex, and then Debell (now in his 'human' form). His eyes fell into Debell's yellow ones, they smiled at each other for a moment, their cheeks going pink.

"Congrats, hooker." Hex nudged his shoulder, snapping them out of his trance. He hugged her again.

"You guys are lifesavers. Did I say thank you?" he asked.

"Yes!" they both laughed.

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

"Thanks again for helping me, D," he smiled, as he fell onto his bed.

"No problem." Debell waved his hand, as he sat down after Zelion patted the spot next to him.

"I know you did it mostly for you but-"

"For me? I-I didn't do it for... for me... uh..." Debell blushed, running his fingers on the bed.

"You didn't?" Zelion sat up.

"N-no... I mean... how could I do it for me?" he asked. "There's nothing in it for me." He shrugged and laughed uncomfortably.

"Well... I mean, I got the feeling you didn't really want to go back to hell..." he said.

"Well... no... but what does that have to do with anything?" Debell asked.

"Hex didn't tell you? If I fail, they erase my memory and my powers," he said.

"I don't understand..."

"They take my powers and my memory, and you're... uh... 'disposed' of..." he swallowed.

"...D-d-disposed?" Debell choked on the word.

"Uh, yeah... how do I put this gently..." Zel bit his lip.

"They kill me!?" Debell stood up.

"It's not like that... well... actually it is..." Zelion frowned. "Wow that's kind of messed up..." he mumbled.

"Ya think?" Debell shouted.

"It's just that once you fail, they take your powers on the spot. Any of your current spells are..."

"Disposed of?" Debell snapped.

"Well... yeah..." Zelion bit his lip again.

"Can't someone else just put me back?" he pouted, his bottom lip poking out like a sad kid. It almost made Zelion laugh.

"Well... no. Not exactly. See, we're bound together. Summoner and Summoney." Zelion pulled off his glove, revealing red lava-like marks in his hand, following the natural creases in his palms and knuckles. They matched Debells.

"Bound?" Debell stared at his hand.

"Yeah... I'm the only one who can put you back. No one else can. Not even members of the council, and unfortunately for you, I'm probably the worst Warlock on the planet. So there's that..." he mumbled.

"You're not the worst Warlock on the planet." Debell smiled. "I don't even want to go back to Hell... it's not exactly easy for someone like me you know," he mumbled, kicking at the floor.

"Can I ask you something?" Zel asked.

"Yeah, sure," Debell smiled. His eyes held so much sweetness.

"What did you do to get sent to hell?" he asked.

"Oh no, I was never human," he shook his head. "I'm one of the Devil's children. A guard on the fourth circle," he shrugged.

"Oh..." Zelion nibbled his lip. "What's it like?"

"It sucks," he frowned. "I used to be on circle 9-D, that's where the Devil is, but I kept getting demoted." He wrinkled his nose.

"Why?" Zelion asked, falling back onto the bed to rest on the pillows.

"Really?" Debell fell back onto the cushiony pillows too, looking at Zel with a raised eyebrow.

"Right..." Zelion laughed. Debell giggled. "Anyways, thank you again for helping me. You put on your grr face really well," he smiled.

"It's no problem... and thanks." Debell yawned and blinked his eyes lazily.

"Now, I just have to pass my other tests," he frowned, and let his eyes shut.

"Well... I could help you with those, too. They said destruction is next?" he asked.

"Yeah. They have one of the witches on the magic council construct a magical item, usual a book or something, and you have to destroy it," he mumbled.

"That doesn't sound so hard. A book?" Debell rolled onto his side so he could look at Zelion better.

"Correction, magical book. Those things are hardy as fuck. If they weren't, how many times do you think I would have burned up my spell books when trying something?" he laughed sadly.

"We can do it. Hex and I will help you." Zelion smiled at Debell, as the demon's eyes began to glaze over with sleep.

"Thank you.." he whispered.

"I told you... it's no problem." Before the sentence even left his mouth he was asleep.

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

"Well I'll be damned. Literally, if I find boys like that in hell..." Hex's voice woke Zelion from his deep sleep.

"Hm?" He opened his eyes and only saw a blurred patch of red. He blinked a few times and realized he was staring at Debell's sleeping face. The red skin around his yellow eyes was only slightly darker than the red lava-like cracks in his skin. His breath was washing over Zel in soft waves. He wondered if demons ever got bad breath, Debell's smelled sweet, almost like honey. He thought that was unusual too.

"You two are cute," Hex whispered.

"What? We just fell asleep it's nothing," Zel said, not looking away from Debells face. His delicate features were so attractive he didn't want to look away.

"Nothing? I could accept that... except for the fact that you're holding him like he's a life jacket and you're stranded in the middle of the ocean," she smiled slyly. Zel finally realized that she was right. He was clutching D close to his chest, their noses almost touching. His right hand had snaked it's way up Debells side, cradling his soft silky black hair. His left hand was pinned under Debells body, resting just above his ass. D's own left hand was resting on his chest and his right was holding onto the back of Zel's neck. He sighed and buried his face in the pillow, trying to get comfortable, before grunting angrily and wiggling closer to Zelion, resting his head in the hollow of Zel's neck. "He is beautiful. I'll give you that." Hex smiled.

"It's more than just his looks... he's so sweet and..." Zelion sighed, "and he's an outcast like me," he whispered.

"You're not an outcast. You have me," Hex looked a little hurt.

"Come on, Hex. We both know you're probably the best Wizard in the school," Zelion said, looking a little hurt at the truth.

"Not true, there's... uh..." Hex bit her lip, frantically trying to think of someone. "It doesn't matter that you're not some wicked Warlock. You're a good guy and that's why we're friends," Hex said. "Go back to sleep, hon. I'll see you guys later." She smiled, and left. Zelion thought about waking up Debell, but then the small demon yawned and turned his head, pushing a soft and sleepy kiss into his jaw, not even really awake. His heart fluttered, before he shut his eyes and went back to sleep.

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

"Here, look what I got for you." Hex set the book down on the pedestal.

"Your polymorphing book? But this is your favorite," he frowned.

"Well, magic books are expensive, and I passed my test yesterday so. You know, I don't really need it anymore. I'll donate it to the cause." She smiled and winked.

"Congratulations on passing your test, Hex," Debell chirped up from the back of the room.

"Thanks, D honey," she smiled and winked at the cute demon.

"Grats, Hex. Sorry I couldn't make it... I feel bad..." Zelion frowned.

"It's fine. You need all the practice you can get and I knew I would pass," she smiled.

"Still... I should have been there." He smiled sadly at her.

"Oh stop your whining, and get to work." She patted the book and stood behind the red line that marked the 'safe' zone in the Destruction Room. "What spell were you thinking?"

"Rain of fire. It's easy enough," he shrugged.

"Okay... go for it sweetums." She smiled and crossed her arms.

"Okay. I got this," he whispered to himself, as Hex and Debell rolled their eyes. He focused on the purple book on the pedestal in front of him. His hands itched and glowed red, even the lava marks on his hands glowed brighter. They sparked into flames, but the orange fire didn't burn him. A dark cloud appeared above the pedestal and the sound of lightning and thunder rolled through the room, though the lightening was red instead of blue. He focused hard, sweat dripping down his face as the clouds opened up, and poured down rain.

"What the fuck?!" he swore, looking at his fiery hands, and black and red smoke. "It's fire... Warlocks aren't even good with water!" he shouted, waving his hands at the clouds. "How is it I suck so bad I'm completely out of my school of magic!?" he shouted.

"This is pretty sad..." she whispered to Debell.

"I feel kinda bad for him..." Debell bit his lip.

"Yeah... I once had a puppy who couldn't go to the bathroom outside. He kept peeing inside the house and I wanted to get mad at him... but he just looked so sorry for himself," she said sadly.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Sold the puppy." She wrinkled her nose as Debell swallowed.

"Fire!" Zelion shouted at the clouds. They continued to chat while he shouted and jumped around the room trying to get it to rain fire, not water.

"So, how have things been at his place?" she asked.

"Pretty much the same. I know it seems like he doesn't practice, but I swear he does! He tries to use his magic every chance he gets. He tried to get the shadows to sweep the kitchen yesterday," Debell mumbled.

"Light you stupid piece of shit," he screamed at the cover of the book, as rain poured down on top of him.

"Well... the floor was clean..." Debell smiled.

"He did it?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, no not exactly. I mean... he did sweep the floor. But he broke the microwave and a window in the process... the table too," he whispered as Zelion continued to shout and kick at the pedestal and swear at the clouds.

"I love Zel but... he's just not very magically-inclined. I heard his birthday was at 3:01, on the night of Halloween... so technically he wasn't born at the right time. He was a minute late. Maybe it was close enough that he did get some magical powers, but not really?" she frowned. "I met him our freshmen year. No one wanted to hang out with him since he was so..."

"Fuck you, you stupid clouds!" he swore.

"Sad?" Debell wrinkled his nose.

"Yeah..." Hex whispered. "We were friends out of pity at first, but it was so much more than that. He's the best friend I've ever had." Hex smiled at him, as his hands glowed red and he tried the spell again, only succeeding in making it snow.

"How is this even possible?" D asked.

"I honestly have no clue," she sighed. "Zel... honey... maybe you should try a different-"

"RAIN FIRE YOU PIECE OF-" Before Zel could even finish the swear, a single bolt of fire rained down and landed, right on his coat. The flames spread quickly, lighting the bottom half of his cloak on fire, and began to climb up his legs.

"Oh shit!" Hex swore, and darted forward.

"Zel!" Debell followed her quickly. As Zelion screamed and flailed, trying madly to pull off the burning coat, he missed the three steps that led up to the destruction room's platform and fell. Hex quickly caught him, and put the fire out with her own cloak.

"Jesus, are you okay?" she asked.

"My ankle... fuck," he swore and let his head fall back on the hard ground.

"Let me see," Debell said, and carefully rolled up Zelion's black pants. The ankle was already red, and looked as if it was beginning to swell. "Does this hurt?" he asked as he poked, prodded, bent, and pushed the ankle around. After Zelion finally told him he was going to murder him if he touched his ankle one more time, Debell decided on a diagnosis. "I think it's sprained," he announced. "We should get you back home."

"I'll go get the-" Hex stopped when Debell bent, and shifted into what Zel called his 'grr face'. He lifted the Warlock effortlessly, and headed for the door, hooves clopping on the stone floor. "Oh, that works too." She laughed, as Zelion stared into the bright yellow eyes of his Demon friend.

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

"It huuuuuurts," Zelion whined again.

"I know, I know. Maybe if you hadn't set yourself on fire..." Debell chuckled.

"Shut up," Zelion snapped. Debell smiled and laughed to himself.

"As you wish, Master." Debell bowed his head and rolled his eyes.

"If only it was bad enough to keep me from my test next week," he sighed.

"You'll be fine. Hex and I won't let you fail," Debell smiled. "I'm not the best caster out there, but I'm sure I can manage a few fire spells. Being a magma-demon and all," he shrugged.

"I didn't know there were different types of demons," Zelion said. Debell smiled up at him.

"You would if you passed with anything higher than a C- in your 'Demonology and Other Magical Beings' class.

"They call that class 'Domb' for a reason." Zelion crossed his arms, purposely making the word sound like 'dumb'.

"Don't be a little bitch," Hex slapped the ice pack onto his ankle, making him wince.

"Hey!" he whined.

"Hex," Debell smiled, but scolded her nonetheless.

"He just needs to grow a pair. I'm sure you can help him with that, D." She winked and walked back into the kitchen. "Or at least help SOMETHING grow," she mumbled. Debell blushed and bowed his head. When he finally glanced up at Zelion, he was blushing too.

"I don't know what she's talking about..." Zelion laughed nervously.

"Yeah she thinks we're...?" He gestured between the two, rolling his yellow eyes.

"Ha, yeah like that could ever..." Zelion still laughed nervously.

"Right? Like we could be a thing..." Debell smiled and bit his lip.

"Yeah, I definitely don't like you!" he laughed harder.

"Yeah you- wait what?" Debell said quickly.

"What?" Zelion blinked innocently.

"You don't like..."

"Well I mean... not like that..."

"Of course, not like that..." Debell mumbled.

"That would be just..." Zelion grumbled even lower than Debell.

"just weird I mean..."

"Demon..."

"Human..."

"Weird, right?"

"RIght." They finished talking at the same time, talking over each other awkwardly through the entire conversation. The silence was deafening, the only noise in the room was the clicking of the clock in the small living room.

"I like you."

"I like you, too," Debell spouted, hardly giving Zelion time to finish his sentence.

"This is awkward now, isn't it?" Zel nibbled his lip.

"Oh yeah." D chuckled awkwardly, biting his lip too.

"You two are going to need plastic surgery if you keep chewing on your lips, Jesus. You're like that dog I used to have that chewed on everything, had to take him to the vet cuz he kept chewing on his own leg," she mumbled, as she walked back into the room.

"What is up with her and dogs?" Debell turned to Zelion.

"Don't let her practice polymorphing on you," he whispered, before smiling politely at Hex, who handed him a steaming coffee cup.

"Noted," he whispered.

"Oh come on, I'm better now! My first couple of years weren't so great. I could change people into something, but not back... hmmm, weird," she mumbled before sipping her tea.

"She once changed somebody back but she forgot their nose," he whispered.

"I can hear you," Hex said. Debell and Zelion giggled, before making eye contact with each other and smiling. "Jesus, I'm going to go. You two need some space to get it on. I would love to watch, boys, but... yeah there really is no 'but'. Can I stay and watch?" she said, cheerily.

"No," they both said at once, before blinking and looking at each other. They both turned four shades of red at the same time.

"Ah, so cute!" she chimed, before shutting the door behind her.

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

"This is nice," Zelion mumbled.

"Yeah it is... is your ankle okay?" Debell looked up at Zelion, his head resting on his chest.

"Yeah, I think the pain meds are kicking in," he smiled, eyes a little glossy.

"You should get some sleep, I'll go sleep on the couch..." Debell sat up.

"Don't you dare..." Zelion pulled him back down, and back close to his chest. "I'm comfy," he whispered.

"Me too," Debell smiled softly.

"Hey, D?" Zelion bit his lip, Debell could hear the soft sucking sound next to his ear as Zel chewed on it, it made him shiver.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Have you ever... you know... had sex?" Zelion asked. Debell swallowed.

"No," he admitted.

"Me either." Zelion sighed, almost relieved.

"Really?" Debell sat up.

"Yeah. No one really wants to sleep with the class reject," he chuckled sadly, Debell could see that it obviously hurt him. "Hex always threatened to turn them into a cow if they talked about me, so it was pretty quiet, but I know they did," he added. "Kind of pathetic right?" he whispered even quieter, his eyes brimming with tears.

"At least you want to. I've always... been kind of nervous. I mean, Hell is just like what you would think. Demons date each other even, and have one night stands... and even... uh... bigger stuff..." His eyes went wide as he pictured the naughty things that went on in the underworld. "But I... I don't know, I always wanted to find love, and didn't think I would. Relationships in Hell aren't exactly about commitment and trust and all that Jazz. More like whips and chains," he chuckled nervously. "I was never into all of that," he said. "It didn't help my social status," he whispered.

"Why does Hell sound like one giant version of high school?" Zelion laughed.

"Well, everyone says high school was Hell, right? I guess there's more truth behind that than it seems." He smiled and laughed softly.

"I like the way you laugh," Zelion said, suddenly serious.

"Oh... I didn't realize it was anything special." He laughed again, but covered his mouth as he blushed.

"It is special, you're special. Everything about you is..." Zelion realized he was rambling and blushing.

"Special?" Debell asked.

"Yes," Zelion replied. Though there was no one else in the house, and they weren't really trying to sleep, they were whispering. Just loud enough for the other to hear.

"I heard..." Debell hesitated.

"What?" Zelion asked.

"I heard Hex say I was beautiful... d-do you think I'm... beautiful?" he asked.

"No," Zelion whispered. Debells face fell as he turned his head away to hide the tears that began to brim his eyes. "You're more than beautiful," he said, so quiet now that Debell could hardly hear him. His eyes went wide and his mouth opened in a silent gasp and Zelion took the chance, pushing his lips to Debells in a soft but passionate kiss. The Demon whimpered in his arms as Zelion pulled him closer. A warm tongue pushed its way into his mouth and danced with his own, causing him to shiver and hold onto Zelion tighter. As they finally pulled away for air, Debell ran his tongue over his kiss-swollen lips, tasting Zelion on them still. He looked up with wide yellow eyes and saw Zelion looking just how he imagined he looked right now. Cheeks red, eyes wide, and mouth still open slightly, savoring their kiss. Even their chests still heaved together as they panted, before smiling at each other. "Good night, D," Zelion said.