Dolce Kiss

Beaut returned in a huff. The instant he landed at his demesnes the sweet smell of the cupcakes began to dissipate throughout the manor, and in a moment his servants were peering around the doorframe, their huge noses twitching. Even Mephisto arrived, nostrils flared.

"Is that Mayuri-sama's baking?" he asked. Beaut peeled back the foil and tasted the frosting, but it somehow wasn't as sweet as it had been earlier. He retreated to the divan and lied down, answering morosely.

"Yeah. Help yourself."

"Are you sure, Beaut-sama? Mayuri-sama's precious cooking.."

"Go ahead. Whatever."

Mephisto's approaching footsteps were accompanied by the shuffling of the servants, clearly also hoping for a bite. Beaut stared at the ceiling as Mephisto distributed cupcakes to their fins, which were trembling with excitement.

"I take it," Mephisto said, licking his lips after a first bite, "that the kiss didn't go so well," and Beaut glanced at him with furrowed brows.

"What? Kiss?" And when Mephisto didn't respond as fast as he'd like — "What do you mean, kiss?"

"Mayuri-sama was asking me today about whether devils kiss," Mephisto explained, licking one finger and shuddering with delight. "This is delicious. As to be expected of Mayuri-sama."

"Don't take another bite until you explain what you mean!"

"I've explained everything already, Beaut-sama. Mayuri-sama was very interested in kissing you."

"How do you know that? How was I supposed to know that?"

"I believe she got the idea from entertainment that she consumed with Noriko-chan. Humans call this entertainment a movie."

A...movie?

"Ah…AAAAHHHH!"

Beaut paled. The movie Mayuri had wanted him to watch — the way she glanced at him every time the main characters kissed — her being clumsy, putting her face close to his, putting food enticingly close to her mouth — Beaut straightened, hands gripping his face in revelation and horror. So that whole time — she had wanted to kiss him? Or, she had wanted him to kiss her?

"But — but I don't know how to do something like that!" Beaut protested, standing on the divan. "Demons don't just — naturally do those things!"

Mephisto's mouth thinned. He resisted the urge to rub his brow. "Kissing isn't an unnatural thing for demons to do, Beaut-sama, though I will admit it doesn't happen willy-nilly like it might with humans. I think if you were to try it you might even find it enjoyable."

"Enjoyable...!" Beaut spat.

"Yes, enjoyable. Don't tell me you've never wondered about it, Beaut-sama? The way that someone's mouth feels on yours…how warm another body feels, when close to yours…" Mephisto's voice was low and abruptly Mayuri rose up in Beaut's mind, smiling and pressing her body to his, smelling sweet.

"Stop," Beaut said with a shudder, feeling his heart race, probably out of panic. His eyes fell on the servants, most of which were licking their fins delightedly to get the last of the cupcake crumbs. "You! And you!"

As he pointed two of the servants jumped and paled.

"Y-yes, Beaut-sama?"

"Kiss." And when the servants turned their heads toward each other in hesitation, Beaut scowled. "Kiss! Do it!"

The servants looked at him helplessly and then at each other. The one on the left flushed. They took each other's fins and leaned forward, trembling.

"Stop teasing them, Beaut-sama," Mephisto interrupted, and the servants pulled away from each other. The one on the right sighed with relief; the one on the left was blushing and looked a little disappointed.

"I want to see how they do it," Beaut argued, staring at them intently. "Come on, start again."

"Beaut-sama," Mephisto said tiredly, "are you nervous about not being good at it?"

"No! Definitely not!"

"Because if that's the case, I doubt that watching your servants would help. I could help you if you would like. Or I'm sure that you would find good volunteers, such as Uphir —"

"NO." Beaut felt faint at the mere thought of it. He put a hand on his forehead.

"In that case," Mephisto said, procuring a handkerchief and using it to wipe his fingers, "just do your best the next time you see Mayuri. Let me know if you need anything," he concluded, turning and leaving. The servants shuffled out behind him as he threw out his last advice:

"I would advise that you not stress out about it until then."

:::

But two human days passed without word from Mayuri and all Beaut could do was stress out. Why wasn't she calling him? When he closed his eyes all he could hear was the strange, gentle Mayuri that Mephisto had summoned into his brain (her voice abnormally low as she whispered, "Kiss me, Beaut")…and the Mayuri that he had seen last, with a flat voice and hard eyes that made his stomach squirm. By the third day his skin was crawling with impatience and frustration and he stood, grabbed a plump satchel bag hanging nearby, and, with a snap of his wings, was off.

He examined the windows of her house when he arrived, and found them dark and empty. She must have gone out somewhere. Somehow that fact filled him with muddy relief. What would he do when he saw Mayuri, anyway? What could he do? Now that he knew what she really wanted… now that he knew that she had been thinking about kissing the whole time that day, without him knowing…his heart was racing just thinking about it. Out of stress, probably.

How dare she stay away from so long anyway! What was she doing? The satchel shook and he winced, his mood getting fouler as something sharp from it prodded into his clothing. He might as well find Mayuri as soon as possible. He tied thoughts of her into a net of magic and cast it over the town, and its pulse eventually led him...

...to the movie theater.

What? Beaut landed and started to enter the theater in his human disguise, but was promptly restrained and asked to purchase a ticket. He glared, flustered, but before he could magic his way out of the situation the doors began to open. He darted out of the way and hid around the building. He could sense that she was coming out, and waited. There she was — for some reason Beaut ducked behind the wall a little further. And there with her...was Mephisto.

"How did you enjoy it, Mako-chan?" Mayuri asked, and her voice was cheerful — much different than the cold one that she had used to drive him away days ago. She smiled at Mephisto and Beaut ground his teeth together.

"It was very intriguing," Mephisto said, prim and proper as usual. "Thank you very much for inviting me."

Inviting? Mayuri had invited him? Beaut frowned. Why hadn't Mayuri contacted him?

"No problem! Did it meet your expectations? I'm sure devils have their own entertainment..."

"It's not the same at all, Mayuri-chan. And this chocolate is delicious." Mephisto had a partially eaten bar which he place in his jacket pocket. "I'll save some for when I return."

What movie did they watch? Was it the same one? Beaut bit his lip. Was Mayuri now — trying to get Mephisto to —?

No no no. Definitely not. Definitely.

"Mayuri-chan," Mephisto said, "would you maybe like to eat some noodles with me?"

"Ah..." She hesitated, just for an instant. "Sure! I'd love to!"

She looked so happy. Beaut wrapped his magic around himself to deflect the attentions of humans and especially of his servant, and observed them from a safe distance. They walked side-by-side, perfectly; Mephisto remarked on the things they saw, and Mayuri responded, often with laughter, which Beaut could feel piercing his ears. They entered a noodle restaurant, the same that Mayuri had taken Beaut to after they had watched the movie together, the very same type of store that the movie's devil fox and human girl went to together. Beaut nibbled his lip and clenched his fist. What was happening here?

He wove his magic tighter around himself, and entered the restaurant as well. The server glanced toward him and then away, attention deflected. Beaut took a seat at a full table and watched as Mayuri and Mephisto ordered food. Since when did Mephisto like human food so much anyway?

As he watched he felt his ire rising. How dare they? Just look at them, eating together like proper humans — saying that "itadakimasu"word he could never remember, splitting a particularly large fried shrimp animal between them. As he continued watching his bubbling frustration began to calm, and grow heavy. Mayuri looked...really happy. And with her Mephisto looked almost human — or, at least, very comfortable in the role of the human, and more especially, comfortable with Mayuri, whose loud laughs seemed to echo through the restaurant. Had she laughed even once when they had been together that day?

He couldn't remember.

At the end of the meal, Mayuri pulled a plastic bag from her purse and handed it to Mephisto. Even from his distance Beaut could smell that it contained cookies, and his mood darkened. Mayuri paid for the meal and Mephisto said, "Gochisou-sama!" Perfect human gratitude. Beaut couldn't remember if he had said that word himself, though he realized now that Mayuri had used her human money on him then too, and also at the movies.

Well, but she was the one who had wanted to go to the movies herself! And yet...and yet...

"How about ice cream next, Mako-chan?" Mayuri offered, and Mako said, "I would love to, Mayuri-chan," and they stood and left, Beaut following them in one of the sparse summer shadows. Along the way they walked through a park together, walking easily while Beaut followed, wrapped in magic and floating not far behind. Eventually they made it to the very same place where Mayuri had smeared shaved ice on her cheek. Mayuri ordered for both of them and Mephisto said it again: "Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu," Beaut echoed in a mutter.

Mephisto ate too quickly and Mayuri laughed as he clutched his brow in pain. They started making their way toward Mayuri's house, and Beaut followed, flying not far behind. He ignored the restless shaking of his satchel and rested his chin on tented fingers, eyes hooded, bemused. Is this what Mayuri would look like — how she would laugh, and smile, if she were dating a human? Or would she just be this way in general, if she were not daring Beaut? He couldn't even remember the last time that she had been that way with him.

The pair paused at the front gate of her house.

"Mayuri," Mephisto said, and as Mayuri looked up, Beaut did as well. To his horror he saw that she had a little bead of melon syrup in the corner of her lip.

"You have something here," Mephisto said, and Mayuri's eyes widened as he put his hand on her chin. He leaned in — Beaut's heart jumped —

"Stop!" he shouted, and he lunged, the magic shedding from him at the sound of his voice.

"Stop," Mayuri said, simultaneously. Mephisto put his hand down quickly, but too late — Beaut had overreacted and was now completely visible on the path in front of them — flushed and flustered, the human disguise askew. One horn was clearly poking through his dark hair, a sort of ahoge. Mayuri stared.

"Beaut," she said in surprise, and then laughed. "It took you long enough!"

"I told you he was following us this whole time, Mayuri-chan," Mephisto said calmly, finishing dabbing the smear from her mouth with a napkin. Mayuri looked surprised, then took the napkin from him and then began dabbing at her face herself.

"So you knew," Beaut said, and though his voice was shaking with anger, it wasn't a kind that Mayuri recognized; his normal outbursts were usually full of fiery rage, and this one sounded...she considered. It seemed upset — hurt. His face was red. Mephisto cleared his throat.

"Perhaps I should be heading home first," he said, and Beaut glared at him.

"Go if you want!"

"I'll see you later, Mayuri-chan," Mephisto said, giving a little bow, and before Mayuri could protest he vanished, leaving her alone with Beaut, who was clenching and unclenching his fists, and still quite red. Sensing that he was unexpectedly very hurt, Mayuri started first.

"Beaut — let me explain —"

"There's no need to explain, I get it!" Beaut burst out. "I'm not fit to be a boyfriend for you. I don't know all these human words you have or when to say them —"

"Beaut —"

"And I don't like normal human food —"

"Beaut, will you just —"

"And I don't know how to kiss the way you humans do either —"

"Beaut —"

"So yes, I get it! Fine! You don't need to do all this — pretending and — and giving him cookies —"

"Beaut," Mayuri screamed, "shut up!" And Beaut quieted, finally. Both of them were huffing and glaring.

"That's your problem, Beaut!" Mayuri yelled at them. "You never listen! I didn't call Mako-chan here, he came himself — to see how I was, since he knew I hadn't called you in a while — he was checking up on me, like a good friend!"

"Oh, I see, I understand now. Mako-chan is such a better devil for you to hang out with," Beaut growled, "since he can remember all those words you like, and even eat that hideous salty food," and Mayuri grew even redder.

"Beaut, you jerk — I don't care that you have a problem remembering basic language — or that you don't like human food —"

"You don't?" Beaut said, and Mayuri shook her head angrily.

"No! But I do care that you're selfish, and all you think about is yourself!" Mayuri's eyes were filling with tears. "Like — you didn't ask me what I thought after the movie — and you didn't want to hang out afterward — and you didn't even think about — wanting to be close to me — because when we're together all you want from me is sweets. You don't care at all how I feel!"

"I do care! Obviously!"

"It's not obvious!" Mayuri shouted. "You never do anything for me!"

"Well," he shouted back, "I could say the same for you! You only ever make me food whenever you want me to do something for you." His voice lowered with exhaustion and sadness. He realized that what he was saying was the truth. "You drag me left and right doing all these human things and then as soon as I finish you just send me away again, like you did last time."

He said the words with the last bit of breath that he had left, and didn't have any more air or will in him to say anything. He looked down at the ground, unwilling to look at Mayuri's face, though if he had dared he would have seen that what was in her eyes was not irritation or even disgust at his weakness, but a sympathy that smoothed out the jagged edges in the shouts that she had remaining in her throat.

They were silent for a while, though not really: they huffed to catch their breath again. Their fury drained and left them shuffling in the dirt, voices spent, filled more with tiredness than anger. They had fought down a slope and now were a mess at a bottom, no longer sure how to stand again.

Beaut winced suddenly, then sighed and reached into the satchel looped over his shoulder.

"Here," he said, taking it off and holding it out without looking at her. Bewildered, Mayuri reached and took the bag. She didn't need to peer in to see what it was; the plants had chewed a hole through the fabric and one purple, needle-mouthed bud was searching for its next prey with snapping jaws. But when she took the satchel another blossom came nosing out of its top, sniffing cautiously.

"I figured just one would get lonely in the bag," Beaut explained quietly. "And three plants together will probably be less lonely than two. So if that's all that you want from me for now, I'll see you later."

"Wait, Beaut," Mayuri called, and she grabbed his arm as he turned away. When he looked back at her he saw that she was smiling, and his heart fluttered slightly.

"Thank you, Beaut," she said. "And...I'm sorry. For not understanding how you felt."

"It's alright," Beaut said softly, feeling his face warm. He glanced down at her free grin and when she hugged him suddenly he thought that maybe everything was alright, even if the little purple plant was taking the opportunity to nibble at his clothing again. Her face fit against perfectly against his neck and he put his arms around her as she did, feeling the anger-emptied hollow of him filling with warmth. Mayuri tilted her head up.

"This is when you say sorry too," Mayuri whispered, "if you mean it," and Beaut considered.

"I'm sorry," he decided, and Mayuri laughed. The sound was clear in his ear and shook him. He leaned his head against her and closed his eyes. Very quietly he said, "I'll try harder to learn more about those stupid human things if that will make you happy."

Mayuri pressed her face into his chest. Beaut was so warm. She had thought this whole time that she had wanted him to make a move on his own — to hug her like this, kiss her — but maybe that had been too much to ask of someone who she knew could be a pastry-headed devil. She knew what she wanted. Why should she have to wait?

"It's okay. I won't force you to learn that stuff if you don't want to," Mayuri told him. "And I'll do better to give you sweets even without a request. After," she said, "this one," and she stepped back from him and pulled out from her purse a little plastic bag with a gold bow. Through the plastic Beaut could see a stack of cookies, larger than the ones he had seen her give Mephisto, lengths of gingerbread with their ends dipped in chocolate.

Beaut's smile was broad and sudden and bright. He took the bag, already feeling his mouth water. "Alright. What is it you want for this?"

"A kiss."

The smile fell and he scratched behind his horn. "I don't know how to do that," he said quietly. "Choose something else."

"Give me these back then," Mayuri said, and she laughed when Beaut impulsively pulled the cookies closer to his chest. "We'll, alright then! If you want to keep them, kiss me."

"Okay," Beaut decided, "come here." His mind raced as Mayuri came closer and stood straight expectantly, his lips pursed not with preparation but with embarrassment. How was he supposed to do this? How had the devil done it in the movie? Suddenly he was aware of the wetness of his mouth, the weirdness of it. He swallowed and saw that Mayuri was licking her lips and wringing her hands.

"Relax," he snapped, hoping that he would relax too, and Mayuri swallowed visibly, and nodded, and took a deep breath.

"Close your eyes," he instructed next, realizing it would be easier if she wasn't staring him down like a hawk. She did. Safe from scrutiny, Beaut eyed her. He realized for the first time that she was wearing something different today, a pink dress that he'd never seen before, which fit her quite well. When he leaned toward her he noticed too that her lips, normally plain, were different: they glistened and smelled very faintly of vanilla.

His horns, even in his disguise, had mass, and were in the way. He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and guided her carefully between them, towards him, and then — before he could hesitate further — pressed her mouth against his. It was surprisingly soft, and warm, and wet. Their noses brushed. A strange hot chill ran through him. Mayuri's mouth dropped open slightly and he licked her lips, which (despite their alluring vanilla smell) didn't taste like anything.

No, that wasn't quite true. He sucked on her upper lip and she shook slightly and he held her still to keep her from moving into his horns, and also to keep her against him. He closed his eyes and covered his mouth with hers, feeling his face warm. There was a taste there, something that filled him up as easily as if he was eating desserts. Something... He leaned forward to reach it. Who knew that, more than the things she baked, Mayuri herself was so sweet? She sighed into his mouth, a soft and low sound that made him lean in closer, tilt his head —

She yelled and jerked back, holding her right brow. Beaut stared, hazy, not quite able to comprehend as Mayuri looked at her palm and yelled, "I'm bleeding!"

His horn had grazed her. Beaut blinked slowly.

"I need to get a bandage," she announced, pressing her hand against her head and turning towards her house, and Beaut grabbed her arm.

"Wait. Here." He stood and carefully dropped another kiss on her brow. Magic followed and sealed the scratch with a raven-colored glimmer. He discovered that her skin there had that same subtle sweetness as her mouth and he struggled to pull himself away. Her face was flushed as a strawberry.

"Is that enough?" he asked.

She patted her brow with a shaking hand. "Um, it doesn't seem to be bleeding anymore, so, probably."

"I meant, is that enough kissing," Beaut rephrased with irritation, hoping it wasn't, and Mayuri grew even redder.

"Ah…um…" She touched her lips with one finger. Most of the lip gloss she'd put on was gone now, and she put her hands on her warming cheeks. Beaut was staring at her. "Yes," she decided, "that's enough." Any more and her racing heart would probably flee her chest entirely.

Beaut leaned back, reclining in the air, looking thoughtful. "That was pretty enjoyable," he realized. "You taste really good, Mayuri."

"I — I taste —?!"

"Maybe," Beaut said, eyes gleaming, "next time you have a request, you can pay me in kisses instead."

"It would save me a lot of trouble!" Mayuri said, half-laughing in delight and embarrassment.

"You wouldn't like it?"

"Ah, no…I probably would." She grinned up at him, scratching her head, adorable. Beaut glanced down at her and then floated down, pressing his forehead to hers, taking her hands in his. He leaned toward her mouth again, whispering.

"Itadakimasu."