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Barbatos stared down at the small angel in front of him, feeling at a loss for just a moment.. Simeon had gone back to the Celestial Realm and left Luke down here for unknown reasons. Barbatos knew that it was because Michael was preparing a surprise for Luke's birthday, but he wasn't supposed to know that. Thus he was left to take care of a grumpy, lonely Luke. And baking a very messy cake.
Luke pouted over his batter, stirring with a listless fervor, not bothering to be careful when it spilled over or onto his hands. At one point, he reached up to scratch his head and got cake in his hair. Feeling a twitch of amusement, Barbatos took swift strides forward and cradled Luke's head in his arms. At Luke's concerned look, Barbatos smiled disarmingly, and wiped the batter away. Luke touched the place where it was and offered a quiet thanks, right before bursting into tears.
"Master Luke? What's wrong?" Barbatos hugged Luke closer, and the young angel curled into the demon's touch. He recounted his woes through sobs.
"Michael and Simeon have been avoiding me! I-I've tried to make them both cakes since my birthday is coming up and both refused! Waah, I just wanted to eat cake with them, and then Simeon left the Devildom! I tried asking Lucifer of all people if he knew why they wouldn't talk to me and he ignored me. " Luke sobbed into the demon's stomach, and mumbled an apology for wetting his shirt. It took a large amount of effort to keep from laughing, Barbatos having got over such things a long time ago.
"Hey Luke, let's think for a moment. Simeon always stays with you, no matter what. Michael has always been kind and supportive. Even Lucifer doesn't mind making conversation with you. All of a sudden they start avoiding you, and near your birthday too! Perhaps they are planning something they don't want you to know about?" Luke scrunched his face adorably, and then perked up.
"Oh! They're planning a surprise party for me!" Luke's eyes sparkled as he came to his realization, and something warmed in Barbatos' heart. He remembered a similar situation, a long time ago, with a certain fallen angel. Diavolo, Mammon, Asmodeus, and Belphegor had gotten together to plan Lucifer's birthday party, and in the process had neglected Lucifer. Barbatos had given his little walk-through when the morning star came for help, and then rather than jump to Luke's conclusion, had thought everyone he loved had grown out of him. Barbatos was glad that Luke seemed to have a more stable and loving support system than Lucifer had.
To say nothing of how the very same people had driven Lucifer to fall… perhaps I should prepare another room in the House of Lamentation, just in case. What Avatar would Luke be?
Barbatos broke out of his musings to pat Luke's head.
"Now," he said, affection lining his voice, "let's bake a bunch of cakes so they have no choice but to apologize." Barbatos didn't follow his own reasoning, but Luke seemed to so it was fine.
Barbatos was going to have to give a stern lecture on the stress of setting up a surprise party, if only to avoid having many more of these encounters in the future.