Clouds. No, not clouds. Pillows. And sheets. Shiro felt his body gain weight as his mind slowly escaped the comfortable numbness of sleep. It somehow felt heavier than normal. Particularly his left shoulder. Something on top of that somehow made the skin on his chest heat up and cool down at a steady rhythm. There was something heavy lying over his abdomen, too. Warm. Actually, his whole left side felt warm. And sort of sticky.
He turned his head and dragged his eyelids up to see what could cause this, only to get blinded by a purple strand of hair.
'Ow! Son of a-' He abruptly stopped in both sentence and motion. Lowering the hand he had raised to protect his eyes from further assault, he stared at the Something snuggled up against his side.
Oh. That's right.
Mephisto had nested himself in the hollow of his arm. Head resting on Shiro's shoulder, one arm flopped across the exorcist's waist, the other lying behind his own back. Fast asleep.
His slow, deep breaths had dampened Shiro's chest overnight.
Overnight...
Shiro felt his cheeks and ears heat up when shards of memory found their way back into his consciousness. Though he didn't quite remember them all in order. It was just a big fuzzy ball of searching, stroking hands, soft, warm skin and hot, wet tongues. Of fangs grazing his neck, claws scratching his back and a tail coiling around his legs. Oh God, that tail...
Shiro lifted the sheets a bit and strained his eyes looking at the furry thing hidden in the darkness, draped over his legs. So sensitive. And soft. Like the rest.
'Weird' he thought. 'I mean, he's a skinny sack of bones, but his skin is like a girl's.'
Shiro stroked the strand of hair out of the way and nuzzled the demon's hair. 'He even smells like one.' He chuckled. Well, no wonder when you have a bathroom full of girly hair products. Oddball.
Oddball? Wasn't he the exorcist lying in bed with a demon? A male demon, at that.
'Idiot...' He snickered at himself.
'Good morning to you too.'
If it weren't for Mephisto's head and arm weighing him down, Shiro's surprise spasm would have made him fall out of bed.
'What the- For how long have you been awake?!'
'Hmm~... About three hours.'
Shiro gawked at the unmoving figure. 'And you just stayed there like that?'
'It's not like I had any place better to go.' Heavy eyelids opened and green, dragon-like eyes shot him a satisfied look.
Shiro let his head drop back in the pillows and snorted.
An annoyed twitch in the curl. 'What?'
'Nothing.'
Mephisto lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at the chuckling exorcist.
'It's just-' Shiro grinned awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. 'I kind of expected you to be up and running by the time I woke up, and apart from some winks and cheeky remarks act like nothing happened. And now it turns out you're the cuddliest thing ever.'
'You have a problem with that?' An affronted gaze was pointed at his face. Oh, he's adorable when he's moping...
Shiro wrapped his arms around the demon and pulled him back to his chest. 'Nah. Not in particular.'
He felt the frowned forehead and tense shoulders relax, a heart beating a little lower than his own. Warm. Why the hell am I okay with this... But holding him feels surprisingly comfortable.
It was nice, in a strange way. -Wait, three hours!?
He jerked his arm from underneath the demon, earning an offended shriek, and grabbed hold of the alarm clock on the night stand. Half past nine. God fucking dammit. Pardon me, Lord. But it's pretty justified.
'Shit-shit-shit-shit-shiiiiiit!' Pants. Pants pants pants -ah there they are. One leg, other leg, what the fuck is in there? Ah, sock. Good. One thing less to find. Other sock? Nowhere to be seen. Crap. Shirt. No, belt first. Come on. Come on come oooon! Arghh, why is that thing always stuck...
Walking goes best when your legs aren't restricted. Therefore, it is advised not to try to run over to grab a shirt while still putting on your pants. Especially when you are looking at your belt buckle instead of where you're going.
If it weren't for years of training, Shiro would have face-planted on the marble tiles. Instead, he instinctively turned his shoulder when he felt himself lose balance and performed an uncoordinated barrel roll, landing him with his ass in the air against the mountain of pillows that occupied the floor in front of the tv... Prompting a maniacal outburst of laughter from Mephisto.
'One comment about "falling for you" and I'll make you eat your own pillows,' Shiro grunted at the giggling demon while gathering himself.
'There's no need to make such a fuss, you know.' Still hiccuping, the lilting voice interrupted Shiro's struggles to get up from the pillows and he turned, as well as he could, to the bed.
'The hell you're going on about?! Mission briefing started half an hour ago and I-'
'Did you forget whose bed you're sharing?'
Pause.
Smugness incarnate eyed him from the tousled sheets, smirk growing wider as the dawning realization began to show on Shiro's face.
'Take a look,' the demon said, with a nudge of his head towards the large windows.
Holding his pants up, Shiro cautiously shuffled over to the wall facing the foot of the bed and wrung himself past the tv until he reached the glass. He looked outside.
True Cross Town in the morning. Everything looked normal, as far as he could tell without glasses. No, hold on, it didn't. The light... The light should be different at this hour. Not this weak. Shadows too long stretched over rooftops that still seemed to have dewdrops on them. Clouds didn't move. Nothing moved. Dude.
'Oh you didn't...'
He did. Of course he did. Shiro covered his eyes, not knowing whether to laugh or not. 'You stopped time?'
'Only outside the mansion. You looked as if you could use the extra sleep.'
'Coming from the guy with dark circles the size of macaroons around his eyes, that means a lot,' he grinned over his shoulder at the principal, who crossed his arms and huffed at that statement.
Head shaking and with one hand still on his belt, Shiro walked back and sat down on the side of the bed.
'I'm not sure I should be grateful or yell at you for unethical behaviour.'
'If I have any say in this, I'd prefer grateful~' Thin arms reached around his waist and snaked up his chest.
Shiro chortled and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Jesus Christ, you're insatiable...'
'I am a demon' the bastard reminded him, happily nibbling on his earlobe. 'And you are a priest. I doubt the Vatican would appreciate you using the Lord's name like that.'
'They probably appreciate the fact that we slept together even less.'
Boom. The reality of the situation hadn't quite hit him just yet, until he heard himself uttering those very words. Slept with. Shiro let himself drop backwards against Mephisto and closed his eyes. Images of all the shit that would down if anybody got to know about this played out on the inside of his eyelids. Slept with.
I am so dead.
'There wasn't that much sleeping involved~' the demon purred into his hair, claws trailing circles around his belly button, sending goosebumps up his arms. '...Want to steal some extra moments, now that we're at it?'
'We're not "at" anything, and I if we keep "stealing moments" I'm gonna age prematurely compared to the rest.'
'I could fix that~'
Shiro froze. Uh-oh. This was dangerous terrain. Tread carefully. He turned around to meet the demon's face, but only saw his throat. Damn he's tall.If I bend any further backwards I'm gonna snap my back. Friggin' beanstalk... Putting one hand on the other's shoulder, he pushed Mephisto down on the bed and kneeled over the skinny figure. 'Samael.' Oh look, that earned him the proper attention... 'Listen closely. You tried that before with someone, remember? Didn't work out too well.'
The pointy ears drooped down a bit. The lecherous grin, stalled by surprise at the hearing of his name, faded into a melancholic smile as he reached out to touch the exorcist's cheek. 'You're not him.'
'No, but I'm just as human. And humans aren't meant to be immortal.' He looked his friend in the eye, red gazing into green. 'Not like you. That's what true immortality means, right? It's not like you don't age... It's that you have no age.'
He sat up and straightened his back, relieved he was wearing pants. 'That's why you're such a grumpy old man and such a little kid at the same time. Me...' he gestured at himself '...I would just turn into a grumpy old man in a young man's body. I don't think I would like that. And neither would you.' He studied the face below him. This was absolutely essential; did he the point across?
The ears reached an all-time low and the eyes avoided his. Finally, Mephisto sighed. 'Fine. If you're really that set on dying.'
'I'm not set on dying and you know it, so quit being a whiny ass. I'm just not keen on being stuck in a world I don't belong to anymore. Besides, don't you think you're being just a liiiittle selfish?' He shot the demon a stern look. 'You don't want to see me die, but you don't give a shit that I would see all my friends die.'
'At least you have other friends.' Ouch. Sparks shot from the corners of heavy-lidded eyes.
Shiro sighed. 'Allright, I admit, I'm being selfish as well. Can I, please? Just this once? Can I have something of my own that I don't need to sacrifice for the greater good? I spend every day chasing monsters, getting ordered around, getting my ass kicked, and even most humans either hate me or fear me or a combination of those once they find out who I am. What I am.'
Stop. Cool off. Calm your heart, calm your voice. Be reasonable. Be neutral. Showing too much emotion will only bring out the worst in him. Words spat out in frustration will get you nowhere. He'll use it, turn it against you. That's his instinct. Especially when driven into a corner like this. He took a deep breath and looked down. Especially when those words also apply to him.
'My mortality is pretty much the only part of me I feel is still human. Could you just let me keep that? After all, you like humanity, don't you.'
Slowly, the piqued frown transformed into an accepting sulk. Shiro held his breath. The sulk held on. Then... the slightest of nods. Just one, but one was enough. Oof.
Shiro felt the weight of the subject leave his shoulders. For now. Surely it would be brought up again sooner or later. Mephisto wasn't the kind to let anything be taken from him. Not even by God.
He lay down on his side, next to the other. The demon turned his back towards him. Jup, back to little kid again. He looked at the skinny, curled-up body. The line of his visible backbone gradually morphing into the short, dark hairs of his tail. One of those little shards of memory of the past night tickled his brain, and Shiro stretched his arm, letting his fingertips dance between the two small dimples on Mephisto's lower back, right above the tail... Earning a quiver and failed attempt to hold back a whinge. Shiro grinned. Without the attitude, the flamboyant clothing, the diva-stroll and the trademark smirk... He looked so different. Tiny, despite his length. Delicate. Both physically and mentally. It brought to mind one word he'd never thought he would use to describe Mephisto... Fragile.
Definitely less fragile when that smirk and attitude were back in place, though.
'Finally giving up pretending?'
'Scuse me?' he muttered while snuggling up to the demon.
'That you're not into men.'
'I'm not.' He re-adjusted his arm. 'You're just the exception to any rule.'
A merry snickering... Followed by a pensive silence.
Shiro kept quiet. Experience had taught him that this kind of silence usually meant the demon was debating with himself whether to be honest or not.
'...I guess if you really wish this to be a one-time exception, I can respect that.'
Wait, what?
'Are you serious?'
'Hm-hm.' Mephisto turned around, lightly bumping his forehead against Shiro's. A warning smile began to form on his lips. 'Don't expect me not to try for seconds, though.'
Shiro couldn't help it. A laughing fit boiled up in his belly, almost blowing up his nose before he could roll over on his back and let it explode through his mouth: 'Pfggrnnahahahahahaa!'
One arm still wrapped around the demon's waist, he laughed until he was out of breath.
'Pfuehehe... Hehehe... No, I'll definitely won't expehehehect you to. Haaahh...'
Grinning like an idiot, he stared at the canopy.
'Nah, I know myself -and you- well enough to know I'll probably end up in your bed someday again anyway.' He turned his head to meet the amused eyes of the demon. 'But we really shouldn't make a habit out of it. People already think our relationship is kinda... Inappropriate.'
'Mmh~ so what do you suppose we call this "relationship" then?'
'Dunno. It may sound weird, after tonight, but... I still see you as a friend.' He shot a sideways glance at his mate. 'Nothing more. Sorry.' No sudden flare in the eyes. Not the slightest tensing of muscles. Mephisto didn't seem too bothered. Oof. For a moment there I thought-
'Friends with occasional benefits it is.' A lazy, fanged smile stretched the demon's features while he seated himself on top of the exorcist, straddling his hips and letting an approving gaze run over the half-dressed body.
'Now just how occasional did you plan these benefits to be?'
Shiro groaned. 'Oh come on...'
'You could have protested or suggest a less vague term if you didn't like it to be something so open to personal interpretation. As long as there is no pattern to it, any recurrent phenomenon can be called "occasional". Even if it's every five to ten minutes.'
'You've got to be kidding me... Wouldn't that make it a habit?'
'While on the subject of time...' Completely ignoring the question, he raised a finger in that instantly irritating display of teacher-like superiority; 'you haven't decided yet on how to interpret my "unethical behaviour", as you put it~'
'Say what now?'
'Like I said, I'd like to suggest "thankful" for that sleep-bonus.' The lecherous grin grew even wider. 'Or I might just conclude it wasn't appreciated and amend that by fast-forwarding a bit.'
Shiro propped himself up on his elbows and scowled at the manipulative bastard he'd just called a friend. 'You're trying to blackmail me now? You said you'd be respecting my wish!'
'I also said that I would be trying for seconds. Now, about that thankfulness...'
'You asshole.'
'Sure, if that's the way you like it~' the shithead purposefully misunderstood while suggestively tracing his lips.
'The way I'd like it is kicked' Shiro snapped, bucking his hips while pulling the demon's elbow, making him fall over to the side. Ignoring the angry noises, he crawled over the demon, swinging his legs over the edge over the bed, with the intention to make his escape (and possibly grab a weapon, just in case)... Forgetting that his belt still wasn't buckled. Which was made clear three steps later when his pants dropped to his knees, suddenly halting his movements... With predictable results.
'Motherfuckin' piece of sh-' he muttered with bits of shirt and sock between his teeth.
Hooting laughter came from the bed behind him. Mephisto, nearly sliding off the mattress, clasping the covers for counter-weight in order not to fall down. 'Iffihihi- if you wanted to be on the bottom that bad you could have just said so fufufu~'
'What did I tell you regarding innuendos about falling?!'
'My my, seems like the little lion is suffering a case of morning moodiness...' the low voice leered sweetly at the infuriated mess of man below him. '...want me to turn that M upside down?'
It took Shiro a while to properly progress that pun through his battered brain.
Oh for the love of- That does it.
An eye for an eye. Or rather, a mouth full of sock for a mouth full of sock. Until he could get hold of a pillow. Forget about the pants. Get up. Grab goatee. Pull down. Enjoy the surprised face for a brief moment. And stuff that pie-hole with a handful of sweaty fabric.
'Mmmmph!'
Oh, outraged didn't even begin to describe the expression... 'Whatever happens next, that face is totally worth it' Shiro grinned as he forcefully held the body down, one knee planted on the hips, avoiding the kicking legs, his hand swatting away the demon's arms, trying to prevent him from removing the smelly gag. Unfortunately, the clawed fingers got away from him, and with a snap Shiro suddenly hovered a few inches under the canopy, before plummeting backwards onto the bed, getting all the air beaten out of his lungs by a hailstorm of what must have been every pillow in the house.
'Unnghhh...'
'You know, we could have made love instead of war~' Mephisto's pestering voice came muffled through the cushions.
Funny. He didn't even sound that mad. Rather, it felt like... A challenge?
'Maybe it's the lack of oxygen, but...'
Shiro felt a sly smile stretching his cheeks. 'I think I'll take both.'
Shaking off the heap of fabric and filling, he crawled out of the fluffy mountain to find the demon with a grin mirroring his own. 'And you call me greedy...'
Without breaking eye contact, both slowly grabbed a pillow. Pick your weapon. Choose position. Brace yourself. Heartbeat pounding in his ears, swallowing the dryness in his throat away, eyes fixed on the other... Eyes that glistened with anticipation, heavy breaths wafting past the fangs... And Shiro remembered how they had ended up in bed in the first place. Oh yes, this was war. But a little bit more than that.
Attack.
He lunged forward, pillow in hand. Miss. The demon had ducked to the side, and the exorcist was greeted with a heavy blow to his ribcage, nearly knocking the air out of him for a second time. Before his enemy could celebrate, he turned around, reached for the weapon, and pulled it towards him while simultaneously swinging his own forwards. Whack. Bullseye. Mephisto sputtered to get his hair out of his nose and mouth, giving Shiro the opportunity to hit him a second time. But as he raised his pillow with both hands to deal the final blow, Mephisto, now disarmed, snatched a heavy velvet cushion from behind and shoved it in his face before vanishing in a cloud of pink smoke. Fuck. Disorientated, he dropped his own pillow to push the lush purple fabric down and looked around. For maybe 2 seconds. Then a charge of tiny decorative pillows hit the back of his head and he landed on his face for the third time that day. A victorious outcry, and a of bunch stick-like things grabbed his wrists and pinned him down on the mattress. A warm weight rested on his buttocks. Shiro managed to turn his head to get a sideways look at his assailant, who carried a sadistic grin and had several pillows hovering around him. 'Oi, no magic! That's cheating!'
'Not at all, I'm merely making use of my resources~' The "resources" re-aligned above him, circling rapidly in a way that eerily resembled the barrels of a Gatling gun pointed at his face.
Oh hell no. Shiro rolled over, trying to force Mephisto out of balance, but the latter latched onto his shoulders; and instead of just falling over received an elbow straight into his ribs. Something cracked.
'Oh shit... I'm sorry man, are you okay?' He turned around to see his friend on all fours, gasping for air. 'I'm fine' he snarled between gritted teeth. 'Give me a minute.'
During the short nervous silence where Mephisto carefully rolled on his back and stretched his torso, Shiro stared as hypnotized at the exposed chest. The large bruise rapidly changed colour and seemed to be absorbed by the skin, and he could actually see the bones settle. It was as mesmerizing as it was creepy. 'Hot damn, regeneration is handy' he thought to himself. 'Imagine how much more I could handle during missions... And I wouldn't have to recover in between.'
Speaking of recovery...
His eyes wandered to a red neck roll pillow lying next to the demon. It would be mean striking him now. On the other hand, Mephisto wasn't exactly fighting fair either. As if to illustrate that point, Shiro was rudely awakened from his musings by a tail hitting his cheek with the force of a whip. 'Auch! You bastard, the hell-'
'That's for breaking my ribs! Now, ready for round tw- yoww!' His scowl ended in a surprised shriek when Shiro grabbed the furry appendix and yanked. Just making use of my resources, your highness.
'That's for being a whiny little bitch about it. I fell down twice and all you did was laugh!'
'Those harmless little tumbles weren't my fault, and hardly comparable to fractures!'
'Well those harmless little tumbles still fuckin' hurt, and I can't repair myself as easily as you!'
Absynthe eyes set ablaze, Mephisto turned around. 'Aww, doesh the little lion need a kissh on hish boo-boo...' he leered.
'Get lost!' Still holding the tail, Shiro grasped the red neck roll and smacked it against the other's jaw.
The demon halted.
Oh shit.
Mephisto calmly raised a hand to inspect the attacked area, slowly turned his head... And positively growled before jumping at the exorcist, fangs bared.
Oh shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shiiiit.
Shiro let go of the tail and held the pillow out front as a shield, but Mephisto didn't even bother avoiding it, simply digging his nails in it and tearing the thing apart. Glimmering eyes and a menacing grin that promised revenge appeared through the fog of flying feathers.
He looks an awful lot like a vampire sometimes. Another pillow he tried to fend the demon off with suffered a tragic fate while he struggled to get away, kicking the demon in the groin to gain some distance. Stupid brain. Thinking of fairytales in the middle of battle. Hold on- fairytales? Shiro looked up and squinted to see through the whirling plumes. There, at the head board, two light blue plushie legs accompanied by a pink tail stuck out of the cushion mountain. Ignoring the nails that dug into his upper leg, quickly clawing their way upwards, piercing his skin, trying to push him down, he reached out, grabbed his stuffed, fluffy saviour, and tossed it over his shoulder towards Mephisto. Who instinctively lashed out but stopped at the last moment: 'Wuh?'
Gotcha.
Never underestimate the element of surprise. Using that moment, the exorcist used all his strength to push the demon off his back, turned around, and pinned the flabbergasted being down on the bed.
'Haahh.. I knhew yhou whouldn't... haahh.. hhurt Unico...hehehe... pfooo...' he panted. Wiping his forehead, Shiro looked down at his attacker, who looked far less demonic (or vampiric, for that matter) now that he was confusedly staring at his beloved unicorn plushie. 'Now, for my grand victory...' he clasped Mephisto by the throat, raising in his other hand one of the torn-up cushions, '...I think I promised you to make you eat your own pillows. And don't you dare poof away. Say ahhhh...'
The sharp pitch of something breaking. Not ribs this time. Porcelain. Both Shiro and Mephisto turned their heads towards the source of the sound.
Belial was standing in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob, one hand holding askew a silver serving tray with teacups. Minus one, which lay on the floor in shards.
Moustache twitching, eyes growing almost the size of the saucers at the sight in front of him.
His master, with his hair tossed in all directions, clutching a unicorn plushie, strangled by Fujimoto-san, who was holding half a pillow in the outstretched arm above his head. Both were butt-naked and covered in feathers.
Pause. The mother of uncomfortable silences creeped into the bedroom, buzzing in their ears.
'Eh...' Shiro looked at Mephisto. The demon looked back. Slowly, a grin began appearing on his face and he raised an eyebrow. Shiro grinned back. He then put down the pillow, straightened his back, turned to Belial and leisurely stated: 'It's exactly what it looks like.'
Under him, he felt Mephisto's abdomen sharply contract and starting to tremble, accompanied by a muted hiccuping noise.
The butler abruptly woke from his trance, hastily making his apologies for barging in, promising to clean up the bits of broken teacup as soon as they were done, bowing way too much, encouraging them to take their time, and apologizing and bowing again before turning on his heel and closing the door just a little bit harder and faster than he normally would have done.
With the sound of the slammed door still resounding through the room, Shiro faced Mephisto, who was biting his lower lip, cheeks a bright pink, muscles still shocking. He felt the same convulsions bubble up in his own stomach, building and building until they both couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing.
Shiro doubled over and let himself break down on the bed next to Mephisto, who had rolled over on his belly, kicking his legs and clutching the sheets and literally crying with laughter. 'Doyouahahehehe -d'you thihihi-think we s-scarred him f-fffuehehe-for life this time?' He chortled, wiping merry tears off his cheeks.
Answering is hard when your entire face is cramped up. 'P-p-possiblihihihi~'
'E-exactly wh-what it l-looks like nggahahahaaa-'
'We-well it was! Fssstop fucking laughing...'
'Kukuku-can't gnnehehehe-'
Every time their hilarity settled down a bit, one of them (usually Mephisto), snorted or started giggling and set them both off again.
Eventually, the bubbling laughter turned into a mere snickering with the occasional hiccup, as they lay next to each other with heaving chests, completely exhausted. Shiro found turning over to his side to be a rather arduous task. He sincerely hoped he would be able to get up later. It kind of felt like he had torn some tendons. Or had had the shit beaten out of him. Which was sort of true. Those scratches stung like a bitch. I wonder what my back looks like.
His look met Mephisto's. He seemed just as tired, even though his eyes still sparkled with mirth.
They spent quite a while just lying there, recovering. No need for talking. They understood each other perfectly well without. Perhaps even better. I was never good with words, anyway. Isn't that the greatest luxury? To have someone you can be comfortable with even in complete silence. Just the other's presence is enough. One thing, though... He had to ask. Just to confirm it. That this was them. The bickering, the reassuring, the teasing, the "benefits", the fighting... The laughing.
He looked at his friend.
'It's always gonna be like this, isn't it.'
Mephisto smiled. 'I certainly hope so.'
Calm washed over them as sunlight peered through the windows, tiny bits of feathers and dust particles danced in the light, and Shiro felt his heart well up. Let it. Any demon trying to overtake him now didn't stand a chance. Save for one, maybe. He looked over. Mephisto was still staring at him. Appearing perfectly happy and perfectly mad, with feathers sticking out of his hair and pulling Unico to his chest. Bright, curious eyes filled with promise and expectation.
Always a challenge. A game, but a little bit more than that.
'Sooo~' Shiro scooted over, plucking the plushie away from Mephisto and wriggling his arm under the other's waist so he could pull him on top of himself. '...How about we kiss and make up?'
The demon smiled at him. Not even smirking. Genuinely smiling. And leaned in to kiss hi-
'Mmmmaybe after you've brushed your teeth.' He pushed himself of the exorcist with a crinkled nose and a crooked smirk, and poofed himself into a yellow yukata before strolling, no, fucking skipping off.
'I'll be in the shower~'
Shiro let his head fall back on the bed.
Yep. It's always gonna be like this.
Author's notes:
First of all... If you notice any grammatical errors or find anything unclear, please tell me! This is the first piece of fiction I've ever written, so there are bound to be mistakes. I'm not a writer. I think in images. So while I can see the whole scene playing out in my head just fine, it might be impossible to follow for a reader...
But any sort of comment/feedback/review is greatly appreciated (unless you're just trying to be a cunt of course).
I assumed Shiro to be in his late twenties or early thirties here, not a Paladin yet, in case any of you were confused that he had to attend a briefing and gets "ordered around".
I'm not sure exactly how fast Mephisto regenerates, and if he even feels pain the same way a human does, but I just went with what felt natural to me.
That little pun regarding morning mood/wood also sort of works in Japanese: The sound "ki" can mean both mood and wood (but is written very differently). So, for the same dialogue in Japanese, Mephisto could say something like "turning Shiro's ki into the other kind". :P
"Unico" is a super cute anime unicorn foal, and Mephisto's current favourite plushie in Dimwit's fic.