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Diavolo’s frown turned to a smile the further down the page he read. By the time he was on the last page of the document he was positively beaming.
Handing the paper to Barbatos he leant back in his chair, his hands behind his head.
“What do you think? I think these are excellent ideas,” his cheerful voice turned serious for a moment. “I do want your honest opinion.”
Barbatos took his time reading through the proposal. His expression was unchanging, although his eyes betrayed some uncertainty.
“It’s certainly a novel approach, my Lord,” he started. “And I do agree with the view that appealing to young imps is important . . .”
“However?” prompted the Prince.
“However,” continued the butler, “are we certain the brothers will agree? I’m not sure, for instance, how Lucifer will feel about becoming an action figure in an Akudonald’s harpy meal.”
It had all started with Diavolo’s quite reasonable desire to help the Devildom’s new residents become well established in the realm. This had led to him demanding ideas from the Imperial Marketing Department.
Which in turn led to the paper currently in Barbatos’ hands.
“The Cerberus Adventure Series for Young Readers seems very sweet. A small dog with a ball. A big ball. A big red ball. It would be an excellent teaching aid to assist imps learning to read,” said Barbatos.
Nodding his agreement, Diavolo added “I do like this prototype toy concept too.”
In his large hands he held an extremely cute three-headed puppy. In front of the pup was a big red ball. When you pulled the big red ball, a string extended. Once you let go, everything wound back up, giving the effect of the dog running along the string back to the ball.
Diavolo had been playing with it all morning and had already decided to order another one for Lucifer.
Pulling the string, he lowered his face to the desk, happily watching his cute little pup chase the ball. Barbatos smiled indulgently. Hopefully the Cerberus storybook series would be enough to turn his highness's thoughts away from the Seven Rulers of the Underworld Akudonald’s Harpy Meal Figurines With Movable Parts! (Copyright pending).
Barbatos might not know the new Avatars that well, but he knew enough to be sure this was NOT a conversation he wished to have with Lucifer.
It was while the butler was lost in this slightly grim thought that there came a swift knock on the study door.
It was Lucifer. He was frowning. “Lord Diavolo, Barbatos. So good to see you both. I have a dilemma I’d like to discuss.”
With a heavy presentiment of foreboding Barbatos crept towards the door. Now the voice of the Avatar of Pride was raised in bewildered complaint.
“Somehow - I don’t know how - but somehow Asmodeus has managed to order six crates of action figures of himself! I had to get out of the House - everywhere I looked, little plastic Asmos! How on earth did he get hold of them? What am I supposed to do with them all?”
Diavolo cast a beseeching look at Barbatos who gave him a gentle smile. “I’ll just make some tea for you all, your Highness. In the meantime why not show Lord Lucifer your new toy. I’m sure he’ll be fascinated.”
As the butler rapidly escaped down the hallway, he was quietly thankful for the joys of tea drinking. Teatime really was the perfect escape.