“You’ll be protected just fine,” Az assured him, but Beel did not trust the lust demon on that one. He was up to something, and hopefully it was just an early start on sexy times with Gabe. Beel would have sighed if he could have.
“You ok with that, Mr. Frog?” Gabe asked.
Aww, he loved his human so much. Gabe always thought of him. He ribbitted in assent, knowing Gabe could tell. Yes, he would be just fine. He could let the new couple go have their sexy fun times. He knew Jon would take good care of him.
“See, my love? It’s the perfect solution. Thank you so much, Jonathan, for watching our Beel. He really is a very special frog,” he reiterated. With that, he reached out and shook hands with Jon, who looked a little bemused at the action. Beel noticed that Az used the same hand that had made the rune.
He hoped Az hadn’t just put some lusty thoughts in Jon. He did think the shop owner was cuter than hell (and hell had some very cute demons), but he didn’t know how he’d feel about the guy having random hook ups in front of him.
Now, some self-pleasuring… Beel would not complain a bit if he got to watch that.
Az winked at him, Gabe gave him a goodbye back pet, and then Az put a hand on Gabe’s back and led him from the store. Gabe hesitantly walked out, calling out instructions to Jon the whole way, with both Jon and Az reassuring him.
After Gabe’s last comment about Beel’s favorite snacks and a parting farewell from Az, the shop door jingled at their departure. Jon leaned down, eye to eye with Beel.
The man sighed. “You really are the cutest frog ever. And it will be lovely to have someone to talk to who can’t yell at me.”
Beel croaked grumpily at that. Who on topside was yelling at his favorite shop owner?
“Now let’s get you set up with a nice aquarium and heated rock,” Jon finished, holding out his hand so Beel could hop into it.
Beel had to admit that he was kind of looking forward to this weekend now. Oh, he loved his human, but this would be like a little vacation from the apartment. Beel was sure they would have a nice, calm, uneventful weekend while Gabe and Az were away.
Chapter
Six
JON’S APARTMENT, WHICH IS ABOVE THE (STILL) IRONICALLY NAMED MARTY’S PET SHOP
Jon’s apartment was adorable. It was bright and colorful, with throw pillows and blankets piled all over the place, yet it was organized. There was an eat-in kitchen attached to a living room, a small but neat bathroom, and a cozy bedroom with more colorful throw blankets and photos of sunsets and beautiful scenery all over the walls. Jon had adorably given him a tour, just like Beel was a person. He had then debated with himself on where to set up the aquarium and had decided on the low, long dresser in the bedroom.
“But,” Jon added, “you can hang out in the living room with me in the travel aquarium to watch movies and stuff. Or just loose, as long as you don’t hop off. You really are the most well behaved frog ever. I wish I had one like you. I like to travel when I can, so a cat or a dog isn’t practical, and Marcus didn’t really like animals…” Jon trailed off, looking sort of sad.
Who the hell was Marcus? Beel croaked grumpily, dragging Jon out of whatever distracted space his head had been stuck in.
“Yes, exactly,” Jon agreed, although Beel had said nothing to agree with. That was the thing about humans—they acted like petswere carrying on a conversation with them and just filled in the blanks. Humans were so weird sometimes.
“Marcus isn’t in the picture anymore, so I suppose I can get a pet now if I want to. Not that he lived here with me anyway, or even liked hanging out here, so really a pet shouldn’t have even mattered to him. But then I had to shower after work so I didn’t smell like animals. I mean, I don’t think the pet store really smells, and I don’t think I smelled after work, but… well, anyways, he’s gone,” Jon finished, setting Beel down back in his travel aquarium on the end table in the living room.
Marcus sounded like a total asshole, and Jon was obviously better off without the jerk. Beel ribbitted that sentiment, which Jon obviously couldn’t understand.
“Alright, I’m gonna go get the aquarium set up. You hang here, and I’ll be right back. Ribbit if you need me!” he hollered as he went out the door and back downstairs.
Beel felt a little bad that the guy was clearly going to use his own stock to set Beel up, and he made himself a mental note to tell Az to reimburse Jon. They really should have thought of these things ahead of time, but he figured the two lovebirds were already off doing things he would rather not imagine.
He watched from his travel aquarium as Jon lugged up a decent sized aquarium, a heated rock, some food, and even some decorations.
“I know, I know,” Jon mumbled when Beel croaked as Jon made another trip for more stuff. “But hey, maybe I’ll actually get my own pet that needs an aquarium after this. I mean, there’s no reason not to. Sure, the store has pets up for adoption and I take care of them, but they’re notmine, you know?”
Jon disappeared in the bedroom, and Beel heard stuff being moved around before Jon came back out and grabbed Beel’s travel aquarium, bringing it in and setting it on the bed.
Jon started opening boxes and setting up the aquarium. The dresser was against the wall facing the bedroom door, and thebed was in the center of the room. Beel tried not to imagine the prime view of Jon in bed that he would have.
“Yup, this will be perfect, don’t you think?” Jon asked, and Beel ribbitted agreement as Jon got all the basics into the tank.
“I know it’s a lot,” Jon defended as he added decorations. “But like I said, I can always get my own pet now. It would be nice to have some company. The store’s pets are nice, but they end up finding homes so fast, and I hate getting attached when I’ll just need to say goodbye. I’m not very good with goodbyes.”
Jon finished setting the last few decorations in the aquarium, then he sighed, mumbling, “Which is probably why I let Marcus hang around for as long as I did.”
