Work Text:
“Barbatos! Hey, Barbatos!”
Barbatos stopped in his tracks at hearing his name being called out and turned behind him to locate the source, who turned out to be (Y/N) running down the hall towards him. He gives them a small smile as he says, “Why, hello (Y/N). How may I help you?”, placing a hand on his chin.
Sliding into a stop before they collided with the butler, (Y/N) panted out, “Barbatos!” They paused for a moment to take in a breath. “Do you think I can go visit Lord Diavolo right now? Like, he isn’t busy or anything, right?” A nervous expression crosses their face, twiddling their thumbs together and shifting from side to side. “I really need to talk to him about something before today ends.”
Barbatos thinks for a moment, his face twisted into one of pondering, and then says, “He is terribly busy today, unfortunately. Lord Diavolo has a lot of work to do that he has actually told me to oversee his school duties for today.” He takes a step closer towards (Y/N). “Is the issue you have something I can help with?”
(Y/N) lets out a sigh of frustration and curses under their breath, brows furrowed and a hand clenched into a fist. “Ah, it’s fine Barbatos. Thank you for your offer, though. See you around!” (Y/N) turned around to leave back down the hall, until Barbatos spoke up.
“Wait, hold on,” he states as he places a hand on their shoulder to stop them from leaving. (Y/N) turns back around to face him with a curious look on their face. “He could potentially be taking a break right now, so you might have a chance of being able to talk to him. It wouldn’t hurt to check if it’s a really urgent matter.”
Their face brightened with hope and let out a big grin. “Aw, sweet! I’ll go check right now!” They placed a thankful hand on his shoulder before saying goodbye to the butler and started their trip to Diavolo’s office.
When (Y/N) finally reached the decorated wooden doors, they rapped their knuckles against the hard surface, eliciting a “Come in.” from inside the room.
Carefully opening the door, they peeked in to see Diavolo sitting at his desk, looking tired and bored with a large pile of paperwork positioned on the left of his desk and an even greater amount to his right. Diavolo spoke again, “Please make this quick, as I have a lot of-“ but paused when he looked up to see (Y/N) standing at the door. “Oh, (Y/N)! It’s you!” His face brightened significantly as he beckoned them closer to his desk. “Come on in! Have a seat if you want.”
“Hello, and are you sure? I could come back at a better time when you’re less busy,” (Y/N) let out, yet still walking closer towards him.
“Nonsense, you’re a welcome distraction!” He let out a grateful chuckle as he stood up from his chair and walked closer towards (Y/N), pulling them into a crushing hug as their face smushed into his chest. They were bewildered for a moment before grinning and reciprocating the hug with their own enthusiasm.
A few more seconds pass before Diavolo finally lets go and asks, “So, what do you need?” He stares down at (Y/N) to see them look flustered, but didn’t think much of it.
(Y/N) straightened up, waving off their emotions, and started, “I wanted to talk to you about this project…”
~~
Their conversation about (Y/N)’s progress at RAD and the exchange program had finally ended after almost half an hour, and (Y/N) had finally started to prepare to go home by putting their work back into their satchel bag. As they both said their goodbyes, (Y/N) noticed that Diavolo’s attitude seemed to dampen as he sat back down to continue working on his paperwork. Feeling bad for no, they paused before the door and turned around to face him.
“Hey, Lord Diavolo.”
“Yes, (Y/N)? I thought you were leaving.”
“You should call it a day and rest from all that paperwork. I think you deserve a break.”
(Y/N) walks back over to his desk staring at him with pleading eyes and clasped their hands together in a begging motion.
“Hmm, this work is important, but I have been working all day…” Diavolo trailed off as he contemplated the decision. He knew his work as RAD’s headmaster was necessary, but he had barely taken any breaks through most of the day, with his conversation with (Y/N) being the only time he has truly focused on something else besides work. Besides, the puppy eyes of (Y/N) were finally getting to him. “...Alright, I’ll stop for today.” (Y/N) gave a small cheer as Diavolo organized the contents on his desk to leave alongside the human and locked the doors once they exit.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you around, (Y/N)!” Thank you for convincing me to rest for today, I really appreciate it!” Diavolo exclaims cheerfully. He flashes a brilliant smile towards them.
(Y/N) lets out a sigh of relief and replies, “I’m glad you did. Even the most powerful of rulers like you need to have breaks.” She smiles back at him, but appears to look troubled. “Anyway, see you tomorrow, Lord Diavolo. Goodbye!” Standing on their tiptoes for a brief moment, (Y/N) planted a quick kiss onto Diavolo’s cheek, and then spun around on their heels to speed walk away so he can’t see their face burning red.
Diavolo stood there in shock, even seconds after (Y/N) vanished from his sight around the corner of the hall, as his hand reached to gently touch the spot where they had kissed him. His cheeks were painted with his own matching shade of red. He then let out a small celebratory “Yes!!” as he raised a fist to cheer as well, not caring if (Y/N) might have heard them from the distance.