Page 26 of Hellfire & Tinsel
Kassel nodded. “I’ve never entered.”
“So you’re the prettiest of all the demons and everyone agrees on that?” Beau asked, and Kassel blinked.
Was that what it meant? He wasn’t entirely sure.
He watched Beau stare at him for what felt like a century, biting his lip and mumbling something like, “That makes sense. You are super handsome. I bet you’ve been on a lot of dates in Hell. You probably have five demon boyfriends, or girlfriends, or bothfriends…”
“Are these questions? Are you asking me?” Kassel checked, even though his prickly insides were a little soothed by Beau acknowledging that he was handsome. More handsome than oiled-up muscles, anyway!
“Huh? What?!” Beau squeaked, seeming to realize he’d said those words out loud. “Nothing! I didn’t say anything! Here, hold this.”
Kassel took the tiny plastic cup Beau shoved into his hand and watched as he fluttered around the kitchen like a startled bird, the red slowly fading from his face.
Eventually he stopped pulling things out of drawers and cupboards and slinked back to Kassel’s side. He glanced up at him nervously before grabbing the paper bag he’d first been reaching for and starting to pour it out into the cup Kassel was still holding out because he hadn’t been instructed to do otherwise.
Kassel didn’t want Beau to be nervous. He wanted him to enjoy himself like the people in that movie Oren had shown him. He wanted to hear the sound of Beau’s laughter again like the bells on the Christmas tree.
He stared at the flour for a second before acting, pelting Beau in the face with a handful of flour and turning him as ghostly white as Zorun.
Beau stood there with his eyes squeezed shut, in stunned stillness and not seeming to breathe. No laughing. No playful yelling. No chasing around the table.
This… wasn’t how it had gone in the movie.
Kassel frowned slightly. “Aren’t you supposed to throw it back?”
Beau wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and looked up at him with white spiked lashes covering a watery gaze and a dusty pout. “Why are you being mean to me?”
“Mean?” All of Kassel’s eyes widened. “Isn’t this what humans consider… fun?”
“Fun?” Beau sneezed suddenly. A small, pathetic sound that sent a small cloud of flour rising. He sniffled and coughed and Kassel rushed to do something urgently.
He cupped Beau’s face and began dusting the flour from his upturned cheeks, being as gentle as he knew how to. He used the very tips of his fingers, keeping his claws away and smoothing over every delicate feature until they were rosy pink again.
“I was misled,” Kassel said. “I apologize.”
Beau stared at him as he was cleaned up, turning his face into every touch. His pout was lessening, which seemed to be the most accurate indicator of how Beau was feeling.
“I don’t like that way of baking,” Beau said.
“Which way would you prefer?” Kassel asked, using his thumb to brush off one last swipe of flour in Beau’s right eyebrow.
Beau chewed on his lips before slipping through Kassel hands and toward his chest. Kassel stared at him curiously as he turned at the last minute, putting them chest to back. He grasped Kassel’s outstretched hands and arms and placed them around himself. He peeked back at Kassel over his shoulder.
“Like this?” he whispered hopefully.
“We can bake like this?” Kassel asked. “Isn’t it more difficult?”
Beau hummed a negative as he shimmied back into his chest like he was settling into bed, sighing in satisfaction once he was done. “This is perfect. Don’t you think it’s nice?”
Kassel contemplated that. The coy question was filled with more meaning than he was capable of grasping. He held Beau’s questing, shimmery blue eyes as he mentally shrugged, admitting that it was nice. Having Beau close and right where he could see him felt the most comfortable, and Beau was warm and smelled like his innocent desires with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.
“It’s nice,” he said. “What should we do next then?”
Beau made a happy noise in the back of his throat, putting his hand on Kassel’s wrist where it was wrapped around Beau’s waist. “Keep this arm here and don’t move it. Then use the other one to hold this bowl and keep it steady.”
Using two of his hands was surely better than one, but Kassel did as he was told, cradling Beau’s hips and holding the bowl while Beau measured and poured various ingredients, humming tunes happily.
The continued screaming outside was almost drowned out, but not quite.
