Three Times I Brewed Tea and the One Time I Spilled It
“Sorry, sorry,” I said over my shoulder to the sound of approaching footsteps. I brushed the stray tea leaves off the counter and into a waiting palm to dump into the trash. I wet a towel to pick the ones that had fallen to the floor. “I’ve almost got it cleaned up.”
I capped the container of tea before I knocked it over again and made a small noise of surprise when it was taken from my hands.
“Sorry,” I repeated, hunching my shoulders under Barbatos’ even gaze and I hid my hands behind my back in case I ruined something else in the castle. His small smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“Accidents happen. No one was harmed.”
“Yeah, well...” I stepped away from the counters for good measure when he moved to a different shelf to pull out a tea set. “I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”
“You never caused such in the first place.”
I couldn’t see his face with his back turned to me but I didn’t believe him anyway. “I mean, I know what it’s like...I think. I used to...” I trailed off, lamely, realizing I, most likely, had no idea what any of this was like.
Barbatos didn’t pause in his work as he placed the cups and saucers and a small dish of sugar cubes onto a tray. “Used to what?”
My face felt hot. I was being too forward. But he was the one asking. I kept my answers short. “Clean houses. I did customer service for a whole. Worked for rich people for a little bit.”
None of which were likely at all similar to serving under the future Demon King and the seven demon lords under him. There had to have been a difference between running an estate and dealing with a man like Diavolo and listening to old men spit on company policy all day. I grimaced. That wasn’t a fair thought, either.
“It is no wonder, then, how you handle Lucifer and his brothers so well.” Barbatos held the tray out and I felt like, after everything, I had no choice but to take it. It was heavier than I thought and I thought I caught a wider smile on Barbato’s face as I shifted my grip on the tray. “You’ll have to give me some tips.”
There was definitely a smile on his face this time, and I huffed as I followed him out of the kitchen.
__
Administrative duties, I snorted, as I pushed away another stack of papers. What a fancy way to say that Diavolo had lost my report for the month. Lucifer had given me two options: find it or rewrite it. After all the months I’d spent in the Devildom, the time seemed to blur together, and I had enough trouble remembering what I had for breakfast let alone what I wrote down two weeks ago. It seemed an easier to search for it than attempt to copy it from my awful memory, but the amount of effort it took to sort through all the work piled up on Diavolo’s plate was almost the same.
I dropped my head onto the wood of the desk with a groan. Everything I’d looked at so far had been far from school work. Budgets, proposals, and something else with more numbers than I had cared to work through were just some of the forms I’d found, but none were simple summaries of my grades and incidents at R.A.D. I had no idea where to look next. If it wasn’t in Diavolo’s office, would it be in the student council room? Had Lucifer not passed it along to him and it was still waiting for approval in his study? It was too late for the campus to still be open and check and at this hour Lucifer wouldn’t have been pleased if I interrupted him to check his rooms.
Another groan was stifled at the sound of something hitting the desk and I jumped in my seat, legs going tense in case I had to bolt from the room. I relaxed only when the scent of warm tea wafted over me and I lifted my head just enough to give a tired, but thankful look at the demon who’d made it.
“Thank you,” I said, wrapping my hands around the mug. I hummed at the warmth. “It’s looking like it’s going to be a long night.”
He dipped his head. “Lord Diavolo thinks highly of you, and Lucifer has high expectations as well. Neither would be pleased if you don’t produce promising results.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I hid a frown behind a sip of coffee. I tried not to think about the hint of bitterness on my tongue. “You don’t think-”
“I’m afraid even I don’t know the current status of your paperwork,” Barbatos said, and I pretended to ignore the trace of humor in his voice.
I took another drink and willed the Devildom caffeine to give me the burst of energy I needed to keep searching. “Can I get a hint? I’ll dust the whole library or something for you.”
“I would suggest dusting the library first, as proof that you can keep your word.”
I winced. And then I rose to my feet. Maybe that was the hint!
“I will!” I said, halfway out of the chair before remembering the coffee. I grabbed it and rushed out of the room, and tried not to let the size of the castle’s library wear me down.
__
I gripped my phone in my hand tighter as I walked down the halls of the castle to the kitchens, an uncomfortable mix of unease and excitement making my stomach roll. Human food. Real human food awaited me, according to Barbatos’ text, was just an hour of prep and an oven away. It was hard to turn down the hope despite the thought that it was entirely possible there would be Devildom ingredients involved.
But I was so tired of cheeseburgers and pancakes that I couldn’t waste this opportunity. It wasn’t often that Barbatos texted me, either, and I didn’t want to discourage this new habit of his.
I turned a corner and hoped I was headed down the right corridor. I may have been invited over often, but all of the halls and stairwells looked the same. I tightened my hold on my phone and wondered if i should text someone to come find me until something sweet hit my nose. I followed the scent around another corner and through a door to finally end up in the kitchen. The warm, sweet smell of recently baked goods and a spicier warmth of freshly brewed teas mixed together oddly with the growing aroma of tonight’s dinner. I picked out the hint of pepper, chicken, and...
“Lemon chicken?” I asked to the room. Barbatos appeared out from under a serving table arms laden with bowls, and I took a stack from him when he approached. “Don’t tell me you picked this to make just because it doesn’t sound good.”
I sighed at his pause before rolling my eyes when he smiled. “I believe Lucifer had asked your quite recently what you missed from your home.”
“So that was why he asked so out of the blue. I thought his brothers had finally stolen all of his marbles.” I arranged the bowls and helped organize the ingredients. I stared suspiciously at the eggs I was handed.
“I guarantee they’re grade a human world chicken eggs,” Barbatos said, not missing a beat as he filled one bowl up with flour. I cracked the egg and watched the yolk drop. It did look like a regular egg. “I picked them up myself.”
“Oh well, in that case,” I scoffed and cracked the rest of them to scramble them. He dipped a chicken breast into the egg before tossing it into the bowl of flour and I crossed my hands over my chest as he laid it in the shallow dish filled with wine and lemon juice. “Why do I have the feeling you know what you’re doing.”
His smile inched wider. “Human world ingredients may differ from Devildom ones but the procedures remain the same.”
“So you called me all the way over here just to show off?”
“For company. And for a second pair of hands. Lord Diavolo wishes to host dinner tonight and Beelzebub will be coming.”
I rolled up my sleeves. “You should have said that sooner.”
__
The House of Lamentation’s library was a quiet respite in the middle of the dorm’s chaos. Leviathan and Mammon were at each other’s throats, again, and Belphie’s goading of the two wasn’t helping. Satan and his wrath had gotten involved by proxy until Lucifer had stepped in. And that was when I had stepped out, intent on ridding myself of the headache pounding through my skull from all the noise.
I grabbed the first book that caught my eye and collapsed into one of the many chairs, tossing my legs over its arm, and got comfy with... The History of the Great Devildom Forest and Lumber. I groaned and tossed the book to the floor and leaned back. I wasn’t ready to get up to find something better to read just yet.
I heard the door open and I scowled. I wasn’t ready to deal with the aftermath of Lucifer’s lecture, either.
“I’m busy,” I grumbled, at the sound of the door closing shut on whoever had entered.
“I can see that.”
I frowned deeper at the humor in Barbatos’ voice and I busied myself with picking the book back up to avoid looking at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Lord Diavolo has a meeting with Lucifer. I am here to collect reference material.”
“Sounds tedious. But if you need references on the lumber industry I have something for you.” Barbatos shook his head and I slid the book back onto its shelf.
“What are you looking for?” he asked, surprising me with his interest.
“A place to hide from everyone.”
“They are currently quite loud. It’s my assumption that it will be some time before Lucifer will be free to speak with my Lord.”
I snorted. “I guess that gives us a lot of time to look for what you need. Unless you want to talk more about how loud and annoying everyone is.” Barbatos hummed and I tried to hold in a gasp. “You do, don’t you?”
“I’m afraid I don’t harbor any ill intentions towards Lucifer or his brothers.”
“I don’t mean that you have to fight with them.” I paused. “You didn’t say Lord Diavolo.”
“I suppose I didn’t.”
I laughed. “Hold on, I have a bunch of snacks I’ve hidden from Beel. I have to know what you’re thinking because I have a few thoughts of my own.”
