The Witch and the Beast is the property of Kousuke Satake.

1

Misunderstandings

Ashaf arrives early at the apartment the Order has rented for Guideau. He finds her sulking in the living room, her hair a mess. Her bare legs hang languidly on the dining room chair as she stifles an inelegant yawn. It's a beautiful morning, but the disgruntled beast doesn't seem to be enjoying it. She's just woken up, and as usual, she's in an awful mood.

"Did you sleep well?" he teases, noting her dishevelled state.

Guideau glares at him. She can't get used to the mage's bitting comments. It's as if he did it on purpose to irritate her, and she wants to rip his heart out sooner than she promised. Ashaf then takes out a box hidden in his coat, which Guideau immediately notices. Her small nose sniffs the air, following the source of the pleasant scent. She grabs the box just inches from the surface and opens it immediately. Inside were steamed buns filled with meat, eggs, cheese, jam and several aromatic spices. Guideau takes the first one and stuffes most of it into her mouth. The delicious mixture of flavours explode on her tongue, sending a wave of pleasant sensations through her senses. She barely chews a few bites and devours the rest, not caring how hot it is. In the end, she's so overwhelmed by the apetizing flavours that she forgets she's upset, and why.

Ashaf smiles to himself and takes the opposite seat.

"I knew you would like it," he says, and a ring of smoke follows his statement.

Guideau ignores him and devours the buns, sending crumbs all over her mouth. Some land on her chest, piled in small heaps on the bulge of her breasts. The scene makes Ashaf want to chuckle softly, but he chooses not to, and so his pretty smile never reaches his lips.

"You haven't asked me why I'm here," he says after a few minutes.

Guideau stops abruptly, the last bun still resting on her palm. She swallows it in one bite and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. She had been so lost in eating that she hadn't even questioned the reason for his visit, as she usually did (with a few curses in between). She swallows everything and raises her chin defiantly in his direction.

Ashaf doesn't hide his amusement this time. This was the Guideau he knew.

"I have something you might want to see," he began to explain, reaching into his left pocket.

Guideau's eyes widened in anticipation. She had been waiting for this for weeks. Could this be the first witch the Order had given her?

"WHERE IS THE WITCH?"

"All the details are..."

He had no time to react. He was thrown to the ground, his back hitting the floor with a loud thud. The next thing he knew, he was pinned down by the petite but strong body of the beast. Guideau really knew how to restrain an enemy much larger than herself. First, she gripped his torso with her thighs while her hands tightened around his wrists, causing him pain. Then she swiflty shifted her weight and used her right knee to pin his dominant hand, preventing him from using his magic. With her free hand, she began to rifle through his pockets, determined to find the letter.

Ashaf closed his eyes and let out a long, tired sigh.

"My, you really need to improve your manners. You can't just attack people who aren't doing anything to you.

"Where is it, you bastard?"

Ashaf had intended to take the envelope out himself (it couldn't have been done otherwise) and then play with it for a while, holding it in the air and taking advantage of their height difference. However, his plans and the unfolding scene were interrupted by the creaking of the front door and the thud of something hitting the floor.

Ashaf and Guideau turned to the open door at the same time. Misha had the look of someone who wanted the earth to swallow her up. There couldn't have been a more compromising scene.

A half-dressed Guideau sat astride her partner, her face inches from his, her hand riffling through his rumpled clothes.

"I'll be back later!" Misha said hurriedly, and then shut the door behind her, forgetting the shopping.

Ashaf dropped his head and sighed for the third time that morning. He pulled out the pesky envelope himself and, sitting up with difficulty, showed it to Guideau.

"May I open it, please?" he complained, fumbling for something in his breast pocket.

Guideau followed him with her eyes, lips pursed, annoyed by the wait, sitting very unladylike. Ashaf pulled out a ring and put it on, pressing it against the seal.

"You need one of these to open it,"he explained, standing up. "And only the recipient can do it. Even if you'd had your way, you wouldn't have been able to read it."

The ring against the seal made a hissing sound, which quickly died away, and the envelope was opened. Guideau wanted to snatch the papers from his hands, but decided to wait. Ashaf smiled contentedly and smoothed his clothes with his free hand. Then he offered his hand to Guideau, but she rebuffed him with a slap of her hand. She stood up on her own, rather awkwardly, and only then did Ashaf stop playing and hand her the letter.

Her annoyed look changed progresively as she read.

"It's a witch," she said with cruel glee.

Ashaf took a puff on a new cigarette before chiming in.

"We're leaving tonight," he said, picking up the chair that had fallen victim to Guideau's impetuosity. He took another envelope from his pocket and slid it across the table to her. "Give this to Misha when she gets back. If she gets back before it's too late. Quite a scene you've provoked."

Guideau glanced at him without understanding.

Ashaf let out a sight. He felt the urge to get a coffee.

"I'll be back at six. Say hello to Misha for me".

Guideau muttered a curse as she watched him leave. If Ashaf was right and Misha didn't get back in time, she wouldn't get her breakfast.

Hey guys! Here's a collection of Guideau/Ashaf fics so I don't flood my account with Majo to Yajuu stories lol.

I've had this idea running around in my head for weeks, and I finally got to writing it out. When I was translating it, I remembered the scene from Man from U.N.C.L.E. where Gaby and Ilya are wrestling in their hotel room. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and go to Youtube. It gave me such Guideau/Ashaf vibes that I am thinking of writing something like that. I guess in this case Ashaf would be Gaby and Guideau would be Ilya. Roles reversed lol