Lessons [Obey Me! Barbatos/MC]
“Come on, MC! You can do it! Just go and ask him out!” Asmo cheered them on as they both peered down the hallway where Barbatos was conversing with Diavolo and Lucifer. “Just walk up to him and ask Barbatos out on a date, tell him you love him!”
MC’s lips pressed into a tight, thin line as they watched him. Their hands shook at just the idea of confessing. Standing straight behind the safety of the wall, hiding them out of Barbatos’s sight. “I don’t think I can do this, Asmo,” MC whined.
“Sure, you can! Just go out there!” Asmo placed his hands on MC’s shoulders and pushed them out to the hallway. They yelped as they fell forward. Their hands caught them from collapsing fully on their face, but they winced at the pain that shot up their wrists.
“MC?” Their head shot up at Barbatos. He knelt down towards them. “Are you alright?”
“Good luck, MC!” Asmo yelled and ran off.
“Asmodeus!” Lucifer barked and ran after his brother with Diavolo right behind him.
“MC?” Barbatos’s voice forced their attention back to him.
“Let me help you back up.” Barbatos held their hands and gently pulled them back up. He examined them for any injuries with a small frown. He quickly pulled up the sleeves of MC’s jacket and examined the muscles. “Your wrists may be sore for a couple of days,” he spoke with a sigh. “What in the world got into Asmodeus to push you like that?”
“Oh um,” MC laughed nervously. “Never mind him. I was wanting to talk to you about something, actually. I…” MC sealed their lips shut. Their nerves screamed at them to stop.
“Go on,” Barbatos encouraged. He pulled down the sleeve of their jacket but neglected to let go of their hands.
“I was wanting to see if maybe you could teach me about tea?” MC said quickly and not at all what they were originally supposed to say.
“Yes, um…” MC tried to find their words. “You’re so passionate about tea. I love hearing you talk about it, so I was wanting to see if you could teach more about it”
Barbatos’s eyes widened ever so slightly. His cheeks flushed pink at their words. He swallowed down the butterflies that starts to flutter about. “I could do that.” He took a deep breath. “I could schedule a time for daily lessons if you’d like.”
“Daily?” MC squeaked out.
“Oh, is that too often, my apologies. I could do other–.”
"No!” MC squeezed Barbatos’s hands. “Daily would work well!”
Barbatos let out a small happy laugh. “If you’d like, we could go and start the lessons now.” MC nodded eagerly and followed Barbatos as he began to lead the way, their hand in the crook of his elbow.
“That was your brilliant plan to get them to finally confess?” Lucifer sighed once the pair was out of earshot and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"MC tried!” Asmo wailed as Lucifer gripped onto his ear to prevent him from running. “I just had to push them, but maybe I didn’t push hard enough!”
Diavolo chuckled. “I think you pushed them hard enough. It may have been the push that they needed.”
“MC,” Barbatos spoke quietly as he set down two cups of tea. He took a seat next to them. A small frown was on his lips. “I’m afraid that this is the last type of tea we’ll be trying until I can find a new blend.”
MC’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
"It means I’ve taught you everything I know about teas,” Barbatos nearly whispered. “I thought about repeating teas and pretending that they were different, but I didn’t want to lie to you.”
“Oh.” MC looked down at the cup of tea. Their mind raced to try and find more excuses to be with Barbatos every day. “Baking!” MC exclaimed. “You’re passionate about baking, too! Could you teach me more about baking?”
Barbatos nodded as he moved closer to MC and took a sip of his tea. “Yes, I could do that. We could start the new lessons tomorrow. Although, some of them may go longer depending on what we’re baking. Some take the entire day.”
MC hid their grin behind their cup. “That’s fine.”
Diavolo and Lucifer watched from afar. Lucifer glanced at the prince keeping a close eye on them. “It’s been a year, Diavolo. They’re not going to confess.”
“They will,” Diavolo muttered. “They have to.”
“Just because you say they have to from here doesn’t mean they will,” Lucifer reminded. “You could always order Barbatos to confess.”
Diavolo thought it over. “If they don’t, I might just do that.”
“And then you’ll stir it like so,” Barbatos spoke as he held MC’s hands. His body was pressed lightly against their back as he guided them. The more he helped them stir, the more he relaxed. Slowly, he leaned forward and rested his chin against their shoulder. MC leaned back against him, not tensing up anymore.
“Barbatos,” MC whispered. “What are we going to do when you don’t have anymore baking lessons?”
MC swallowed. “I like spending every day with you. I don’t want it to stop when you’re done teaching me. We could go onto something else that you’re passionate about, but…”
Barbatos removed his hand from MC’s. Slowly, his arms wrapped around their waist. “I’m passionate about you,” he murmured into their ear. “Is that enough of a reason to spend these moments with you?”
MC turned in his arms with a shy smile. They nodded. “I think it is, but only because…” Their words got caught. They took a deep breath, not letting the sound of their pounding heart overpower their voice. “Because I love you.”
Barbatos grinned and pressed his lips to their cheek. “I love you, too.”
