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I knocked on Asmo’s door and I couldn’t help but smile when I heard Asmo’s singsong voice ring out, “Coming!” He opened the door and his bright smile turned to a look of surprise as his eyes met mine.
“Ah, Rin dear, what brings you here?” his look of surprise melted away as a sickly sweet smile tried to hide the mischief hidden behind his eyes. “Were you feeling lonely? Did you come for some special quality time with your favorite demon?”
I looked down at the hand that slid it’s way on to my forearm and then back to the peach eyes that were now inches away from my own. I gave a light smile, “That’s a very sweet offer, but I’m actually here to take you up on a different offer you made me before. You see I ran out of shampoo and forgot to get more on the way home, so-”
“Oh, you’ve come to the right demon!” he lit up with excitement as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his room and toward his bathroom. I giggled a little to myself, noticing that he got so excited that he didn’t even take time to pout about my rejecting his advances.
As we stepped into Asmo’s bathroom I had to stop. I’ve seen it before a few times, but I just have to stop to take in just how beautiful it is each time I come in. I truly am jealous of Asmo’s bathroom, especially that bath. As someone who adores water I know if I had a bath like that I would definitely rival Asmo for most time spent soaking in the tub.
Until he spoke up, I hadn’t even noticed that Asmo was watching me take in the room, “do you want to borrow my bath once we pick out a shampoo?”
YES! “Ah, thanks, but I’m okay,” I would love to borrow the bath, but I know the condition that comes with it…
“Too bad,” he shrugged. “We could have enjoyed a nice bath together.” There it is, I smiled and rolled my eyes at him.
I turned to go meet him over in the corner of the room where he had a large hutch neatly organized with more beauty products than I think I’ve ever seen in one place outside of an actual cosmetics store. As I approached I noticed this time Asmo had stopped to take in the beauty of… himself. Over on the adjacent wall from the hutch in the corner was a mirror. He must use it for applying products he didn’t want to bring all the way to the vanity in his room OR for when he just wants to stare at himself when he’s supposed to be helping me. I let out a small laugh, not at him, but because I actually enjoy seeing him like this.
My laugh must have caught his attention, because he looked away from the mirror and spoke to me, “I was just wondering, do you think it makes the mirror happy to be blessed with the opportunity to reflect an image of beauty as grand as mine?” I shook my head and let out another laugh at his words. In this moment Asmo’s expression lit up as if a brilliant idea crossed his mind.
He grabbed my arm, “Come over here a sec, we can make the mirror twice as happy standing in it together!” before I even had the chance to protest he had already yanked my arm and pulled me in front of the mirror next to him.
As I regained my balance and straightened up and in a moment of confusion I met my own eyes in the mirror. Shoot. I quickly flicked my gaze to Asmo’s reflection, only to see him looking right back at my reflection. Not his own, mine. I was so caught off guard that I let the surprise show on my face. Had he noticed? He let his gaze shift to his own reflection for a moment, silently staring at himself with a gentle smile on his face.
He finally broke the silence saying, “I love you.” He was undoubtedly saying it to himself and I was grateful for the relief of the tension. Had I been holding my breath? Asmo let his line of sight shift again and made eye contact with me in the mirror, keeping the gentle smile on his face.
“What about you?” he asked.
I laughed, “Of course I love you too.”
Asmo’s smile faded. His arm wrapped around my back and he held my forearm opposite of him facing me forward. “No, not me,” he grabbed my chin and faced me toward my own reflection, “you.”
He had noticed. His grip on my chin was gentle and I could have broken free easily, but that would be the same as admitting he was right and that I wasn’t quite the strong minded human I had let everyone believe I was. I looked into my eyes. If I could just smile and say the words, even if they were a lie, then I could lift the tension and avoid being someone who ruined the fun mood we had only a few minutes ago.
I stared into my reflection, but the words just wouldn’t come out. In their place, tears spilled out instead. Why am I like this? As if on cue, I was pulled into Asmo’s chest and I felt his arms envelope around me. I clutched onto his shirt as my knees gave out and he gently lowered us both to the floor without letting go of me. He leaned back against the hutch, letting me sit between his legs sobbing into his chest, never removing his arms from around me.
❂ ❂ ❂
I managed to calm down after what felt like an eternity, “I didn’t realize just how much I needed that, thank you.”
He loosened his hold just enough for me to lift my head to look up at him. “To be honest,” I said, “I’ve always admired the way you look at yourself. I even thought about how much I enjoy watching you look into a mirror when I turned around and saw you doing so earlier. Others may say you’re vain or narcissistic, but I don’t see it that way. Your ability to self love is so beautiful and on a level I could only ever dream of achieving even one percent of.”
His eyes bore into mine, gentle but sad, “Do you really not love yourself at all?”
I turned my face away from him, “does that disappoint you?”
He finally let his arms loose from around me so that he could use his hands to cup my cheeks and face me back toward him. He placed his forehead against mine, “Never. I’ll just have to love you enough for both of us, all while reminding you of all the things there are to love about you. Just you wait, I’ll make you see just why you should love you.”
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes again and just as the first one fell Asmo caught it with a kiss. “‘Things to Love About You’ number one: even when you’re crying you’re beauti-”
I couldn’t wait for him to finish his thought, I pressed my lips against his. When we released he blinked at me a couple times and then the brightest smile graced his lips. All I could think was that I wanted to be near Asmo and that gorgeous smile for a while longer.
“You know,” I said, “I think I’ll take you up on that offer to borrow your bath together after all. I could use a little pampering and I think you deserve some too.”