Page 34 of Hellfire & Tinsel
“Good,” Kassel said again, urging his head back down to his chest, like his admission had settled his discomfort completely. Trusting Beau’s words.
Beau soaked in his trust like a sponge, basking in the hope that Kassel cared about him. Just a little. Just enough.
He curled his hand into Kassel’s leather jacket, lulled to sleep by care and comfort.
7
Kassel
Kassel,
Oren said I should check in as your boss. So…hi…
How are you?
Is all going well?
I heard you’re kissing humans now too.
This is awkward. Who even writes letters anymore?
Don’t cause an apocalypse while I’m not there.
Love, Luc
PS Oren made me write love. Don’t read into it.
PPS Is your summons going to be finished soon? You’re the only person in Hell who seems to do their job on time and your fan club has been causing a ruckus eversince they found out you left. The twins leaked the news. I’m going to put them on hatchling duty again.
PPPS Bring me back some of that cake I like. You know the one.
Kassel let the letter burn up with a press of his lips, not wanting to be reminded about his time limit. It made himwantto cause an apocalypse. He didn’t know why.
He turned back to the mirror he had been in front of when the letter arrived, staring at his unfamiliar reflection.
Apparently the ‘most attractive human male’ changed every single year, and according to the photos in the magazines at the store and the Mr. USA ones he’d treated to a healthy dose of hellfire, the criteria were extensive and strange.
If he were to try to find and apply an average feature of every year’s winner, he’d get nowhere, so he’d opted for the most recent one, figuring that would be wisest. He didn’t want to copy it exactly, so he just went with adopting the correct features.
A dark head of short, tousled hair peppered with some gray, piercing blue eyes with some lines next to them, full lips, and a nice smile. He shrank his body into something taller than Beau but much, much shorter than his own height, gave himself muscles (which could be oiled if necessary and still look better than the original), and dressed it in a soft-looking dark blue sweater and some denim pants.
Deeming himself ready, he turned around and went in search of his lonely little human, only pausing momentarily as his inner monologue registered.
His?
Beauwashis summoner. He had more claim than most on Beau, at least for the time being. His sore mouth certainly bore testament to that fact. And their discussion last nighthad practically been Beau agreeing, settling the sudden, weird feeling that had risen within him.
So it was perfectly reasonable to declare Beau his and offer to shove the faces of anyone who said otherwise into the eternally burning fires of Hell.
Satisfied, he continued walking.
“Will this be okay?” Kassel asked as he entered the living room and stood in front of Beau, who was already dressed up for their outing but was attempting to put even more clothes on.
His hair was freshly washed and curling around his ears and cheeks, streaks of ink against a pale canvas. He had on a blue sweater with stars knitted into the fabric that brought out the vibrance of his eyes. The cuffs had worn holes with stray strings that Beau had stuck his thumbs through and was fiddling with. His black jeans and boots were nothing of note, plain and ordinary, yet Kassel found himself appreciating them anyway.
Which was ridiculous. When had he ever cared about clothing?
Beau’s eyes widened as they ran up and down Kassel’s body in turn, his mouth going slack. “Um…”
