Casey really knows how to make herself at home. The Imp seems to leave a trail of destruction in her wake wherever she goes, and it often falls to either you or one of the other lodgers to clean up after her. She drinks straight from the cartons in the fridge, leaves cupboards open whenever she's raiding the kitchen, and seems to almost take a sick kind of pleasure in snooping through other people's things. Already you've caught her at least once in each of the other girls' rooms, rummaging through their laundry or poking around their personal belongings for anything of value.
Lilith certainly wasn't kidding when she said she was a troublemaker. This dour thought runs through your head as you stand outside the house's far wall, spraying the hose at the graffiti scrawled upon it. You don't know how Casey managed to secure spray-paints without setting off her ankle monitor, and in all honesty, you don't want to know.
You stifle a yawn as you increase the hose's pressure. This job was really starting to take its toll on you.
"How's it going out here, honey?" chimes the voice of Natasha.
You glance over to the Succubus round the corner, carrying a crate of empty bottles beneath one arm. Thankfully, you weren't alone in that regard; your other, more conscientious lodgers had opted in to help take some of the workload off your shoulders, but it was evident that they were also growing tired of Casey's boundless energy.
"Who knew someone so small could fit so much booze inside them?" Natasha sighs as she tips the bottles into a glass waste bin.
You honestly have no idea. That Imp is full of all sorts of surprises.
"Mm, you can say that again. Looking at her, I wouldn't have figured her to be a 'whips and leather' kinda gal."
You freeze up. How the Hell did she...?!
The Succubus flips her raven hair over her shoulder and gives you a wink.
"Whatever she collared you with left marks on your neck, honey. You might wanna button up your collar before Lilith gets here."
Wait, Lilith was coming today?!
"Didn't you get the memo? Damn, you've really been out of it."
No kidding; you feel as though you're stressed up to the eyeballs with all this extra work.
"Well, I'll see about getting the house in order. And don't worry; I won't tell her about your little affairs if you won't~!"
You can only grit your teeth and watch helplessly as the Succubus giggles and skips off. Swallowing hard, you turn off the hose and stare down at the puddle of water at your feet.
You feel like you're in over your head. Muu and Yyvnn have been almost no trouble at all, eating habits and standoffish behaviour aside. Natasha, though devious, seems to genuinely have good intentions, and she's been a great help around the house. Casey, however... She's got you at the end of your tether, and if what Lilith told you rang true, then the rest of your lodgers are only going to be worse. You feel less like a manager and more like some kind of test rat for the EHI, to see if one human could possibly survive in a household full of demons.
And why were you chosen for this job, anyway? You dimly remember being recruited out of some lousy, downtown bar. If the employment criteria were that low, then surely anybody could fill this position, right?
You wince and clutch your head, already feeling a headache coming on. You've been getting them more and more frequently. Between household chores, domestic expenses, dealing with EHI paperwork and keeping your charges from killing each other when tempers flared...
You're exhausted.
"S- Sir! Come quick!"
Eyes widening, you look to see Muu trotting towards you, gasping for breath as she frantically waves you down. The Glutton is wearing her cooking apron and is still holding a spatula.
Muu? What's wrong?
"They're fighting again!"
You bare your teeth.
Not again...!
You push past the pudgy demon and break into a run, almost tripping over the garden hose as you do so. Rounding the perimeter of the house, you burst in through the front hall and skid to a halt just outside the living room.
Yyvnn, eyes glowing a putrid green, is hovering a foot off the ground, her mighty grey wings scattering papers all around the room with every beat. She is clutching a glassy black longbow - from where she got it, you have no idea - and is currently aiming a jagged arrow directly across the room at Casey. The Imp in kind stands at the ready as dozens of thorny creepers worm their way through the floorboards around her. You see that in one hand she is clutching some kind of magical revolver - this alarms you even more - and is preparing herself to fire. Between them, sitting upon a footrest, is the TV remote.
What the fuck is going on here?!
"Just a little friendly spat, chief! I wanna watch some action, but tight lips over here just wants to rewatch the same borin' crime drama shit she's always gawkin' at!" Casey spits, twirling the magical pistol around in her hands.
All this over a disagreement about television?! And where the Hell did they both get weapons?!
"Demons can summon their own arms. Didn't anybody teach you that?"
Across the room, the wind from Yyvnn's wings intensifies as her bowstring creaks. By the look in her eyes and the rigidity of her body, you know for a fact that she's not going to back down on this issue.
Both of them had to calm down! This is ridiculous!
"Is it? This is how you solve arguments back in Hell," Casey replies, taking aim.
Yyvnn nods solemnly and follows suit.
Put the weapons down!
"Sorry chief, but I ain't one for backin' down...!"
For the love of-!
Everyone jumps as a deafening whipcrack tears through the room. You whirl around to see Natasha standing in the doorway, gripping a mop in one hand as she clutches a fearsome-looking whip in the other.
"Hey! Will both of you settle the fuck down already?! Can't you see you're causing trouble for our host here?!" she announces, gesturing to you.
Casey snorts.
"Nat, I dunno about you, but if I have to watch one more fuckin' crime scene reconstruction, I'm turnin' this house into a fuckin' crime scene."
Upon hearing her precious crime dramas getting insulted, Yyvnn spreads her wings wide, causing her cartilage feathers to rattle threateningly.
"How about this, Casey; rather than sit on your ass watching TV all day, how about you pick up some of the slack and help out for once?! This is your home too!"
"Oh, you gonna fuckin' make me?!"
"Don't think I won't!"
Natasha cracks her whip once more, causing shadows to start swirling around her feet.
Caught between the three enraged demons, the hairs on the back of your necks stand up as a wave of fear rocks through you. In that moment, you briefly feel as though your life is in actual, mortal peril. Demons are violent; you learned as much from the material the EHI provided you with. If this argument devolves into an all-out brawl, it's not certain whether the house would survive. If you got hurt, then this entire scheme would go up in smoke. The girls would be sent back to Hell, the EHI's whole goal would be thrown into question, and human-demons relations would only grow more sour. But what are you supposed to do? You can't lay a finger on them, and even if you did, would you even be able to quell a single magically-enhanced demon, let alone three? And if anyone found out a human attacked a demon, or vice-versa...!
No! It was all too much!
Taking a deep breath, you raise your hands and draw their attention to you.
Fuck it.
"Huh? What was that, chief?"
You glare at each of them in question.
They may sort this out between themselves; you're going for a walk.
"Honey, what are you-?"
Waving Natasha's question away, you march back out the front door of the house, passing by a concerned Muu on the way.
"Sir?"
"Honey?"
"Chief?"
Jamming your hands in your pockets, you continue down the garden path with no destination in mind. You're not sure why you're doing this, but with all the stress weighing down upon you, dealing with a fight between your lodgers is just... too much.
You need to clear your head.
-----
When was the last time you took a moment to relax by yourself? It seems ever since getting recruited by the EHI, you've spent every waking hour surrounded by other people. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it was tiring.
You muse to yourself as you amble around the park, letting the sun wash over your face as you take in the crisp smell of nature. Despite the lovely weather, you haven't come across anyone else, but if anything that's a bonus. You're not in much of a mood to be dealing with the public right now.
It was nice to be alone every now and then.
"Snrrk... Hmm... Hah..."
Not that you'd know what that felt like.
With a deep and meaningful sigh, you glance over at the source of the sound that had just disrupted your peaceful reverie.
There's someone sleeping on a shaded park bench, dressed from head to toe in simple sackcloth robes. Soft snores rumble from their throat, and though you want nothing more than to just leave them to their slumber, equal parts curiosity and concern spur you to walk up to the stranger and gently shake them awake.
"Hmm... Hah? Wh- What? Who's that?" yawns a sleepy, feminine voice as you pull your hand away.
As they sit up, you swiftly realise two things. Number one, she is not human.
Number two... well, there's no real polite way of putting it.
Her tits are fucking outrageous.
The woman sitting before you, dressed in the austere getup of a monk, is clearly a demon. Though her blotchy brown skin appears normal at first, your attention is soon grabbed by the two rocky horns jutting from her forehead, amidst a tangle of silvery hair. She has a kind, matronly face, and as she glances up at you over the rims of her half-moon spectacles, you feel oddly at ease.
However, once you look down again, that sense of comfort becomes a different sense entirely. The woman's breasts are stretching the front of her robes to their absolute limit, and though you're no expert in eyeballing these things, you wager that they're well in excess of any kind of cup size that you're familiar.
She doesn't seem to notice you staring at either her forehead or her chest. In fact, this clearly-demonic woman just gives you a gentle smile.
"Ah... I must have dozed off. Thank you for waking me, sweetie," she sighs in a soft voice.
She exudes a mature, almost-motherly charm that causes your stress to just melt away.
"I never knew Earth had such serene places. My, I imagine I could achieve enlightenment in a matter of minutes here."
You cock your head, prompting her to giggle.
"Oh, forgive me. Rambling on like an old lady while I haven't even gotten your name. I'm Bessa. And you are...?"
You give her your name, prompting the brown-skinned demon to nod and pat the seat next to her.
"It's nice to meet my first human. Care to sit with an old woman for a spell?"
You stepped into this park with no intention of conversing with anyone, but there's something about Bessa that just sets your mind at ease. Accepting her offer, you sit next to her and take a deep breath.
"It seems silly, to want to travel to worlds beyond at my age," she says aloud, crossing her hands in her lap.
She doesn't seem that old to you.
"Oh, you flatterer!"
No, seriously. She looks to be in her early to mid-forties, at a guess.
"Well, maybe I just feel older than I am. It comes with the territory of an empty house, I suppose."
Does she have no family back in Hell?
"Oh, quite the opposite. I live in a monastery as a part of an ascetic order atop a mountain. The Sunmos Sect, we're called, and I suppose you could call us one big extended family!"
She laughs at this, but her smile slowly fades as she turns her gaze down to the ground, hazel eyes glimmering behind her glasses.
"But... my son left to travel the world as a journalist, and my husband found better companionship in another woman, leaving me to tend to cattle alone..."
You frown and stare at the ground alongside her for a few sombre moments, before Bessa suddenly gasps and holds a hand to her mouth.
"Oh, what am I saying?! I'm so sorry, sweetie; I didn't mean to dump all that on you!"
You shake your head.
No, it's quite alright. If anything, it's reassuring to hear that there's someone else with a stressful situation at home.
Bessa gives you a sympathetic smile and pats your knee.
"Life is rarely a smooth path of untarnished marble. It winds through jagged stones and coarse scree, and it'll trip you up time and time again. But such treks are made easier with firm friends to lift you back to your feet," she recites with a wistful look in her eye.
You both return to staring out at the park before you in comfortable silence. Despite having literally just met this woman, you feel more than comfortable being around her. Your entire body is relaxed, to the point where it takes you a few minutes to realise that Bessa has dozed off again. It's only when her head slumps over onto your shoulder that your body tenses up once more.
Okay, now you're beginning to feel a little awkward.
You hear someone clear their throat behind you.
"Well well. Seems you're making a habit of making introductions without me," chides a familiarly brusque voice.
The intimidating form of Lilith steps into view, arms crossed as her one good eye glares at you. You swallow hard and give her a wave.
She glances over at your new friend.
"I see you've already met Bessa."
Is she by any chance your new lodger?
"You catch on quick. Yep, she's gonna be under your care. I was just taking her out to see the town before I brought her to yours."
She was sightseeing? She wasn't seeing much, sleeping in public like that.
"Well, what can you expect from a Golem?" Lilith sighs, leaning against the bench.
A Golem?
"Demons of Sloth. Is it not obvious?"
She lightly prods Bessa's cheek with a gloved finger, prompting the demon to mumble something in her sleep before nuzzling deeper into your shoulder.
"Seems she's taken a liking to you. That certainly helps matters."
You smile. Honestly, you like her too. Out of all the demons you've met thus far, she appears to be the most... normal.
"Tch. That's because you haven't seen these."
Reaching down, she lifts up the bottom of the Golem's robes. Rather than a pair of feet like you expected, however, you see a pair of cloven hooves at the end of Bessa's legs, like those of a cow's.
Her eyes snap open and she yawns once again, rubbing her eyes as she looks up at Lilith.
"Oh, Miss Lilith, you're back! This is my new friend, his name is-!" she begins excitedly, pulling your arm close.
"I know who he is, Bessa. He's the guy I was telling you about."
Her eyes widen as she turns to face you.
"You're my host?! Oh my goodness gracious!"
She totters off the bench and falls to her knees, pressing her forehead to the ground in a reverent bow. You can see her breasts bulging outwards as she squishes them against the floor.
"Thank you ever so kindly for taking me into your care! I hope to be of service to you and my fellow lodgers from here on!" she announces.
Lilith growls irritably and prods the Golem with her boot.
"Quit prostrating yourself. I told you not to do that."
Lifting her head, Bessa fixes you with an earnest gaze.
"I know little of this world and its customs, but I hope my few skills can be of use to you, sweetie! Let's see... I've tended to my family's cattle for decades, and I've learned how to fire clay in my spare time! I also have limited experience in bricklaying, and-!"
"Bessa! Cool it!" Lilith interrupts, grabbing the Golem's robe and hoisting her to her feet.
"A- Ah, sorry Miss Lilith... I just wish to be of some use, is all..."
You laugh, feeling yourself smile for the first time in a while.
She's plenty useful just being herself, you find.
Your handler gives you a strange look before shaking her head.
"Ugh, never mind; you're both clearly touched in the head. Look, let's just get her over to your place so you can get back to managing and I can get back to interrogating that trafficker. I'm a few broken fingers away from a confession, I can feel it."
Ignoring the more macabre parts of what she just said, you agree with Lilith and offer Bessa your hand. With a brilliant smile, she pushes it away and wraps you up in a warm, buxom hug. She has a calming, earthy smell, and for a brief moment, you find yourself growing drowsier.
"Thank you for having me, sweetie! I can't wait to meet the others!
-----
You finally figured it out. All that your chaotic household needs is a mother's touch. Once you arrive back at the house with Bessa in tow, you're dimly surprised to find that the mess had been cleared up, and your charges are all sitting calmly at the kitchen table. Their eyes light up upon seeing you walk in. For a second, they all try to speak at once - with Yyvnn wildly gesticulating in place of words - before Natasha raises her hand and elects herself spokeswoman.
"Ah, honey, you're back! We, um... We'd like to apologise for our behaviour earlier. Things just got too heated, and-"
You raise your own hand and wave her away with a smile.
It's alright. Everyone's stressed, and you're not so naïve to believe a house full of demons could last for any length of time without an argument breaking out eventually.
They all look visibly relieved at your words, and with a reassuring hand on the shoulder of your new charge, you introduce her to the rest of the lodgers.
Everyone, this is Bessa.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you all! Oh, you all look so lovely!" the Golem chimes, her hooves clacking against the floor as you both approach the table.
Right away you notice that they're all staring directly at her prodigious bust.
"S- So do you..." Natasha murmurs, looking as though she's making a dozen calculations in the back of her mind.
"Thank you, miss," Muu replies, trying to hide her staring eyes behind a veneer of gratitude.
"Nice to meet you boob- too! Nice to meet you too!" Casey suddenly cries, almost biting her tongue in an effort to correct herself.
Yyvnn slowly looks over to you and makes a simple curved hand motion over her own chest, one eyebrow raised with incredulity.
Deciding to play the good host as best you can, you sit Bessa down at the table and introduce her to everyone individually as Muu goes to check on dinner. Despite the flared tempers that threatened to decimate the house just an hour or so earlier, the girls immediately ease up around the Golem, speaking to her as though she were their best friend in a matter of minutes. Casey shifts her chair closer to Bessa as she cracks off a series of inappropriate jokes, all while the normally-cold Yyvnn stares at the newcomer with wide, entranced eyes.
The Golem herself looks as though she's in her element, gazing at all of your lodgers how a proud mother looks at her kids. Once dinner is served - a herby pasta dish derived from Muu's research into Italian cuisine - she divulges her life story to the girls, similarly to how she did to you on the park bench.
Though you notice that she avoids the subject of her ex-husband. Hmm.
"So you're a monk? Didn't know we had religion down Hellside," Casey comments, twirling her pasta around her fork.
With a gentle laugh, Bessa tousles the Imp's hair like a child. Surprisingly, she just accepts it.
"It's not so much a religion as a way of life, if that makes sense. We seek enlightenment and personal wellbeing through sleep, and derive meaning from the dreams we have in the lands betwixt the conscious and the unconscious."
Natasha perks up at this.
"Oh, I know a thing or two about dreams. That being said, the only dreams I have are of a... certain nature," the Succubus states in a husky tone.
She winks at you as she says this. Bessa, however, just nods understandingly.
"At a guess, I'd say that means you're a healthy young woman, Miss Natasha. And by the looks of it, a charming one too."
The Succubus' eyes widen as her cheeks redden, taken off-guard by the sudden compliment.
Muu raises her right hand as she uses the left to serve herself another helping of pasta.
"What about my dreams, Bessa?" she asks.
"Well, what are they about?"
"Um..."
The Glutton glances at you for the briefest of moments.
"F- Food...?"
"You clearly care deeply about your craft if it permeates your dreams, Miss Mucsibi. That's a good sign; it tells me you have the drive to push yourself to ever greater heights."
As this talk of dreams and their meanings carries on throughout the whole meal, you find yourself gazing at Bessa. She looks truly happy to be sitting at the table with you all, and this in turn makes you feel warm inside.
Yes, you think she'll fit in just nicely.
-----
Night falls, and after an evening spent adjusting your new charge to the house, you feel strangely refreshed. Bessa's kindly words and gentle pace are a breath of fresh air, and once you got her settled in her new room, you return to your own bedroom feeling as though a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
Of course, this was never going to be easy, you realise that. A single human in charge of a whole host of demons? Tensions were bound to flare up at some point. But something about the way the easy-going Golem spoke really resonated with you, easing your anxiety and settling your nerves.
You change into your nightclothes and step outside to brush your teeth, only to wind up nearly bumping into the woman you were just thinking about.
"A- Ah, sweetie! I'm so sorry!"
Bessa staggers back onto one hoof, trying not to topple into you as she carries a plastic basin beneath one of her arms.
It's quite alright. What's she doing with that?
"With what, sweetie?"
That. The basin. That she's holding.
"Oh, this? N- Nothing important! Just a silly little ritual I like to do before bed, aha! Is it okay if I borrow this?"
A little put off by the Golem's sudden coyness, you just nod and bid her a good night.
You think nothing of it as you brush your teeth and give your face a wash for good measure, but on your return trip, you're suddenly alerted to the sound of Bessa's voice eking from beneath her bedroom door.
"Oh, no no no... this was my last one..."
You raise an eyebrow and creep closer to the door, against your better judgement.
"Nngh... come on...! Please, come on...!"
Concerned, you knock on her door.
Bessa? Is she okay?
"A- Ah! Sweetie, don't come in!" the Golem yelps.
Why, what's wrong? She sounds like she's in trouble.
"N- No, it's nothing! I, um..."
She goes quiet for a moment.
... Bessa?
"... a- actually, sweetie, could you help me with something?"
Of course, that's what you're here for.
You push her door open and step inside, making sure to shut it behind you.
What seems to be the-?
"P- Please don't stare, sweetie..." Bessa breathes abashedly as she kneels on the bed.
In your defence, it's a little hard not to.
The Golem's sackcloth robes are lying open, revealing the simple cloth brassiere that she was wearing underneath. It looks handmade, but judging by the way the material was straining and how bent out of shape the front clasp was, it's far too small for Bessa. Not only that, but it was soaked through.
She gives you a pleading look.
"I can't get it off, sweetie," she whispers.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, you swallow hard and nod solemnly. Despite the erotic display before you, now was not the time for being horny; this woman really helped you out of a bind today, so it was only fair if you did the same!
You step closer to Bessa and give her a nod.
You're going to start now, alright? She should say something if it hurts.
"A- Alright, sweetie."
Hunkering down, you carefully place your hands against the strained cloth before you, growing a little warmer as your fingers make contact. Even through the damp fabric, you can feel just how soft they are...
No, stop that! Focus! Bessa is counting on you!
You bite your lip and inspect the clasp. You figure that Bessa probably went with the front closure bra for ease of use, but the sheer magnitude of her bust had ruined this particular article. The clasp is made of iron, but each hook is bent back on itself, making it almost impossible to open without assistance.
But after several weeks of fiddling with small washing machine parts, tiny screws and signing the small print on EHI documents, you've come to grow confident in your fine motor skills. One by one, you disentangle each of the broken hooks while making sure you aren't causing Bessa too much discomfort. Once the final one comes free, however, the entire brassiere pings open with alarming speed, lashing you across the face with the clasp and knocking you onto your back.