#simebatos

“You’re twirling your hair around your finger and spacing out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do that before.” Asmodeus rubbed Satan’s back when he began to whine, and resumed bouncing him on her hip.

Simeon quickly took their hand away from their hair, face growing hot as they began to feel silly about it. “I… haven’t really had my hair this long before, so that’s probably why. Sorry.”

Tilting her head, Asmodeus asked, “Wait, why are you sorry?”

“I… don’t know. I thought maybe you were pointing it out because it was bad.”

“No, of course not.” Asmodeus waved away the thought, then quickly returned her hand to Satan’s back to soothe him. “I thought maybe something was wrong since you are so spacey.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

After a moment of quiet, Asmodeus asked, “Then… what is it?”

Simeon snorted and shook their head. “You’re nosey.” They glanced at the pot on the stove, then added, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you, but you can’t tell Lucifer.”

“Ooh, keeping secrets from Luci?”

Rolling their eyes, Simeon told them, “Sure.” Asmodeus switched the hip Satan was resting on, then leaned against the counter. Suddenly more nervous, Simeon began to fiddle with their hair again. “That wealthy regular brought a friend with him yesterday.”

“Oh…?”

“Yeah. A really… intimidating and pretty goth person. They were really aesthetically pleasing, so I’ve been thinking about them a lot.” Simeon huffed and crossed their arms. “Then he brought them with him again today too. The beautiful goth is just… so polite, too.” They shifted their weight and averted their gaze, realizing how weird it probably sounded when they talked about it. “I dunno why I’m so infatuated. It’s strange.”

Asmodeus giggled and shrugged. “Knowing you, it’s probably not going to become anything romantic. Maybe you just have a squish.”

“Probably.” Simeon sighed and stared off for a moment. “They’re so pretty. I really don’t want to stare at them like some sort of weirdo, but just…”

“Yeah, that’s how I feel about Solomon.” Asmodeus rolled her eyes when Satan screeched with protest at her taking her hand away for a second to push her hair out of her face. “I mean, I doubt you’re being creepy on purpose, if at all, but you tend to be pretty obviously nervous when someone is attractive to you.”

Simeon frowned and turned away to focus on the food they were cooking. "I do not."

“Uh huh. And I don’t go to parties.” Asmodeus walked to the dining table and set Satan in the high chair, sighing when he shrieked and sobbed with displeasure. “I hope you try to befriend this person. They obviously interest you.”

Flustered, Simeon told them, “Th-That’s probably unlikely, since it’s an employee-customer situation.”

“If you say so,” Asmodeus sang out, petting Satan’s hair. The baby simmered down a bit from his fit, crying turning into sniffles. “Do you think Satan will calm down if I give him some crackers?”

“Maybe.” Simeon left the stove for a moment to dig around in the snack cupboard. “Does he still like the strawberry ones?”

“Yeah.”

Simeon passed the crackers over to Asmodeus and returned to their cooking. They couldn’t help wondering if she was right… As they stirred the food and stared into nothing, Simeon thought maybe it wouldn’t hurt to seek friendship from the pretty goth.

Shrugging, Diavolo told him, “You’ll have to try it for yourself.” The two got in line, and Barbatos couldn’t help stealing glances around himself. How had he not been here before? It seemed like the kind of place his father would like.

Once they got to the counter, Barbatos felt his face heat up almost instantly. Fuck, the barista was cute. He glanced at their name tag, then their pronoun pin. The barista finally turned their attention to the two of them and halted their actions with wide eyes. After staring for a moment, they put on a mask-like smile. “H-Hi there, Diavolo. Will you have your usual order today?”

Barbatos looked away, trying to ignore how much his mind was racing. Their black coils pulled into a ponytail, freckles all over their face that could just barely be seen… the kindness in their eyes… a gentle, calm voice accompanying it all… “Barbatos, hey…”

Oh shit.

Fortunately, Barbatos wasn’t staring at them, but spacing out was humiliating anyway. Clearing his throat, he weakly laughed. “Excuse my inattentive behavior. I would like a medium strawberry iced tea, please.”

“O-Of course!” Simeon tilted their head at him. “Anything else?”

“A… slice of the vanilla cake, please…” Barbatos attempted to hide his face in his bangs, “with the strawberries.”

“O-Oh.. that one is good.” Once they finished putting in the order, Simeon asked, “Together or separate bill?”

“Together.” Diavolo paid with his phone before Barbatos could even process what was going on. “Thank you.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course! W-We’ll call it out to you when it’s ready.”

Diavolo lead Barbatos to a booth, chuckling when he exhaled upon sitting down. “You okay?”

Groaning, Barbatos felt his cheeks to reassure himself that he was no longer blushing. “I am just fine. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A loud, joyful laugh escaped Diavolo as he sat across from his best friend. “You only act like that when you find someone attractive.” He watched Barbatos’ face flush bright red once again. “You’re blushing.”

“I most certainly am not.”

They heard the barista call out the order, and Diavolo raised an eyebrow at Barbatos when he didn’t budge. “You’re usually scrambling to get our things.”

“It’s under your name.”

“That hasn’t stopped you before.”

Barbatos squinted at Diavolo for a moment, then sighed and went over to the counter. The barista nervously smiled at Barbatos when they accidentally caught eye contact, but despite themself couldn’t find words. “For Diavolo?”

“Y-Yes…” the barista gestured to the tray, and Barbatos noted the black ring on their finger. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask.”

A bit calmer than before, Barbatos nodded and averted his gaze. “Right.” He grabbed the tray, then gave them a gentle smile. “Thank you very much.” When they beamed back at him, he felt like he was going to explode from attraction panic. He wanted to say more, but — despite the thrumming in his chest — decided against it and returned to Diavolo. After all, it was only physical attraction. There wasn’t much to say.