Thursday, February 19, 2015

Cake and Tea

"Xavier?"

 "Uggh, don't call me that! But what?"

 "Could I have that cake?"

 An ethereal arm reached out, pointing to a lovely slice of strawberry shortcake, cut into the perfect size for snacking.

 The demon's antennae twisted themselves into knots over this conundrum. He just cut that cake a minute ago! It was his cake, that he bought with his own money! And it just so happened to be his favorite cake from his favorite bakery in the Baphomet City District! A cake to shame the Baker God himself!

 But... it was her who asked. The girl in the mirror. She meant a lot to him, and kept him company when nobody else would. She was also very good at predicting the weather and the future, too! So sweet, yet he always tended to leave her alone, which she didn't mind, but...

"Fine," Gluttony said with a defeated sigh. "You may have the cake. But only that one slice!"

 "Yaaaaay!"

 Well, at least she was happy now. Her arms were flailing about and she was quite happy to smoosh the cake slice into her face. All that delicious frosting and cake crumbs rolled down the mirror like rain down a window, slowed to a crawl. It wouldn't take long to clean off, but he wondered if she knew that was going to happen.

...How could mirror girls eat, anyway? After all, she was there for at least 2000 years, and she never had a bite! She looked just fine, though. Did she sneak food from the kitchen? Or could she live without eating? Oh, a horrible existance, to live without being able to taste any-

 "Yo, Gluts."

  He turned his head 180 degrees to stare at the maid who was preparing to leave.

 "That's new, Sophie. But you might slip and say 'glutes' if you keep it up! And as you already known, my glutes are prreeeettyy bi-"

 "Whatever," Sophia interrupted, flicking her long, brown hair behind her. "Was just gonna say I'm going out to shop again. We need anything?"

 An indigo apprendage shot out from his back, reaching out towards the fridge and opening it right up. It was packed to the brim with fresh fruits, veggies, milk, and eggs. The freezer was packed with meat and ice cream, too. No surprise; they stocked up a bit too much for the feast.

 "Nothing that I see, dear Sophie," the dullahan replied as he shut both freezer and fridge before digging through the cabinets. His antennae stiffened up for a moment before he added, "Well, uh, I'm out of tea. And not just any tea, either!"

 Sophia frowned. "The Lemon-Ginger one, right? Should I get the bags or the tea leaves?"

 "I prefer the tea leaves, but I don't know if they'll have 'em in today. So get whatever's available!"

 "Alright, I'll remember that. But I'm going out to buy new clothes."

 Gluttony blinked. "New clothes?"

 "Yeah."

 "...Don't the Maid outfits fit well enough, though?"

 "It's boring wearing the same thing day in and day out if it's not for a job, though. Besides, I nearly froze my ass off, wearing this in the winter."

The demon opened his mouth to mention something about said ass, but bit his tongue and said instead, "Well, get something nice, then! Just don't buy those $4,000 dollars sneakers everybody loves! Honestly, I don't understand how those sell so well, and how people bother collecting them!"

 Sophia waved him off before heading out the door, the prinnies closing the door behind her. Gluttony sighed and slumped into a chair before an ethereal hand poked at his shoulder.

 "That was really nice of you to let her shop for new clothes," Elise said, one of her hands wiping away the cake from her face.

 The demon looked out the window, watching the first snowflakes drift down from the skies. "A frozen maid isn't much use to me, is she?" he replied half-heartedly. "So she can get herself something warmer, at least."

 "I know that's not the real reason, Xavier, but whatever you say!"

 Gluttony cringed when she spoke his name. She had always called him that, and every time, it made him surge with anger and hatred. He wasn't exactly sure why, either. After all, he certainly didn't remember getting that name anywhere.

 A sigh escaped his lips as he sat down and cut himself another slice of cake. A fork materialized in his hands as he reached out to eat it all at once. Down the hatch it went, and man, was it good!

 Six slices left.  The urge to devour it all at once was there, but an idea sprang to mind. He hastily grabbed Elise and set her on the other side of the table, then sat back down to wait, humming happily to himself as he did.

 Elise probably knew what he was planning, but she asked anyway, "Aren't you gonna eat the rest of this? You did say it was your cake."

 His lips spread into a sincere smile.

 "Maybe, but cake tastes better shared with others. And with tea! So...

 ...Let's wait for Sophia to get back, and then we can start a little tea party!"

 "Oooh, that sounds splendid! Shall we get the dolls?"

 "Yes, of course! The dolls definitely need to enjoy this, too! Well, they can't eat, but they can at least enjoy the winter scenery!"

 And as the demon rushed up to his room to collect as many hand-made dolls as he could (especially Elise's favorite doll) and set them at the table like honored guests, Sophia returned with tea aplenty.  And as some of it was set to brew, the trio could enjoy the winter day in earnest, talking about the adventures they had and the lazy days.

A simple pleasure it might be. But all three seemed happier, talking over cake and tea.

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