Work Text:
I don't remember when observing them became a habit. At first, it was an order to protect the exchange program for the young master but then as time went by and their power and influence grew, it was my duty to watch over them. And some time afterwards, I found myself looking forward to seeing them, finding any break as an excuse. Exactly as I'm doing right now.
I was in the kitchen watching a little dimensional window while making the arrangements for the tea. At least I could say this time that I had a good reason to keep an eye on them. Thirteen managed to convince them to climb Mt. Imminent Death.
Just in the first 2 days I had seen them almost die more than 7 times, from almost falling from an abyss to finding the griffin’s nest, they appeared to be a magnet to danger. And this was the 4th day. I was close to open a portal to them more than once, but that would be a declaration of distrustfulness -and an admittance that I've been spying monitoring them-, but mostly that would be doubting the judge of the young lord, being him who approved this travel as a "instructive experience". So I just let Solomon know about their plans to go to that mountain so he could conveniently restock his herbs and incidentally take care of any problem they might encounter.
I closed the window and returned to the room with the trail of tea. Once I got there, I began to pour it for the young lord and Lucifer.
"I heard that your brothers caused some trouble last night. Did they try to sneak off to Mt. Imminent Death perhaps?"
"Did they cause too much ruckus? I thought their punishment would be enough to tire them out. Seems I was wrong then"
"Well, that kind of borderline obsessive concern is why I banned them from going in the first place"
"It would do them well to believe in their abilities and quietly wait for their return" I said, trying to convince myself of that in the process.
"Quietly you say?" Lucifer snickered "Because this afternoon I noticed a number of documents that you submitted today that were missing your signature, Diavolo"
"Eh… Really? How odd" he moved uncomfortably in his chair after being reprimanded.
"And I can't stop hearing the rattle of china today. You usually don't make the slightest sound, Barbatos". That remark made me stop in my tracks in that instant. He was right, I was too deep in my thoughts to notice how uncareful I was with the tea's preparation. “Neither of you can stop thinking about them, can you?”
"You say it as if you weren't equally worried for them, Lucifer"
"It was you who pushed for that excursion, having a little faith in them would be the last you could do. I personally have seen them come a long way, and I can honestly say that I trust in their capacities".
"I already told you that I can take care of myself perfectly"
"You know that plant that you are holding has paralyzing venom, right?"
"Of course I do!" I put it quickly in an empty bottle and washed my hands with a neutralizer potion. I should have used gloves but in my defense, that plant looked exactly as a 'carnivore golden moon', a non-venomous plant in the shape of a bell that makes an exquisite tea and only eats flesh in full moon (which wasn't today). But I'm not gonna let him know that.
"Yeah, Sol! They are all grown up and you are not their nanny. They have enough with those brothers. Now help me search for my giant Venus trap"
"Exactly! Thanks, Thirteen. And I think you can find them in caves, they love humidity. I think I saw one a little to the west"
After 4 days, we were finally at the top of the mountain where most of the valuable herbs grow, including the ones I was searching for. The only reason why I was here was to look for 6 specific herbs that were listed in the book "50 most luxurious teas in the three worlds", that would be THE perfect gift for Barbatos. I had already made plans for his surprise party with the others but I couldn't find a gift good enough for him. This was perfect.
"Hey! I think I found them!" Thirteen was in the entry of a cave inspecting some vines.
"Thirteen… don't move" Solomon’s voice had an urgent tone that made all the alarms in my head sound and stopped me in my tracks. Unfortunately, Thirteen didn't hear him, so she turned abruptly and shouted "What?". That's when I saw it, she just bumped into something like a giant serpent. I ran to hold her and bring her back to us just in time to see a claw coming down in the place where she had been a couple seconds ago. A headless dragon came out of the cave… Thirteen had just stepped on a dragon's tail.
"I think we trespassed on its territory"
"Well, I can understand why it's mad… at least it can't eat us" said Thirteen.
"Oh no, it can!"
"Eh? How? It doesn't even have a mouth!"
I remembered the illustrations in the book I read about them. "You don't want to know!"
While having this conversation, we were trying to defend ourselves from the dragon. Solomon and I kept casting protective and explosive spells while Thirteen used her trap 'Strikey-Sharky bazooka n° 3' to throw sharks at the dragon.
"Guys, I'm out of sharks and that shit doesn't seem to fall soon. Can't you summon someone that could help?!"
"I can't summon the brothers! They'll never let me get out of the house again!" I just sent a passive-aggressive crow yesterday! At least avoiding tail swaps wasn't that hard. Good thing about that damn dragon not having eyes: terrible aim.
"Well then… cover me for a while" said Solomon. I was trying to block its attacks with wind and earth magic, but I was beginning to get tired. Maybe that was why the light from the summoning spell took me off guard and blinded me. It was less than 2 seconds, but it was enough to let me be hit by its tail. I was thrown away, almost hitting against the wall of the cave.
I tried to get up but it was too painful. Especially my right arm and left knee. Ahhh, rookie mistake… At least I didn't fall unconscious. I searched in my backpack -properly enchanted so none of its contents could be damaged, really useful in this kind of situation- for healing potions.
While I applied them and casted a healing spell, I could see Barbatos fighting against the dragon. Where my spells had barely made a scratch, he could easily pierce its chest and crush its heart with his bare hands. I couldn't even see most of his movements, and the ones that I could see were like seeing him dancing, without any hesitation, like it was rehearsed beforehand.
After setting the backpack aside, I saw him reaching out to me. He came to help me so fast that he even forgot to clean a little strip of blood in his cheek. Seeing him less than perfect was something new to me, I don't think I have ever seen someone or something so beautiful in my life. How is that seeing him disheveled made him even more breathtaking?
"Are you alright? Were you hurt?" He didn't wait for an answer, he was already searching for injuries and cleaning the blood from my arm.
"I'm ok, I already healed myself. Thank you"
"Have you finished your business here? After this encounter I should advise all of you to return. I could provide-"
"No! No… we just came up. It would be a waste to return now"
"Then I suppose I could help for-
"It isn't necessary, you are already too busy. We wouldn't want to be a burden, right guys? And what would Diavolo do without you for so long? I bet he already escaped from his paperwork" I knew I was speaking too quickly but no matter how much I wanted him to stay, I needed him to go away.
Reluctantly, he opened a portal and returned to the castle after reaffirming a couple times more that we would be fine.
"What was that?" said Thirteen while Solomon was barely covering his laugh. I sighed and quickly returned to where I left the backpack. I took a pocket knife and cut my hand, bleeding in the grass.
"What are you doing?! Did you hit your head when you fell?" Thirteen made a gesture to stop me, but Sol halted her. "Wait, I think my apprentice discovered something"
After a couple of seconds I could see movement. A plant that was green before turned red. I gave it more of my blood and it showed a couple rows of teeth trying to hold onto me. When my blood traveled through the stems, more flowers turned before my eyes.
"Bloody trumpet", I said with a smile of satisfaction on my face. Also known as Sanguinaria, a parasitic plant that feeds on the blood of their victims. Really rare to find, and it was in the top 5 of the book! I won the lottery!
"Wow, that's the 7th rare specimen you spotted today, you are really good at this… You should conserve it in the dragon's blood so the tea would have a more potent scent, Barbatos' will like that"
"Oh thanks! Wait… how did you know?"
"Why else would you wait until he was gone? You really are an open book, you know?" I pouted, something that only made him laugh "don't worry, I'll teach you how to dry it correctly"
I was making a special cup of tea to accompany this quiet night. I inhale the deep and rich aroma that emanated from it, a rare delicacy. I opened a little spatial window, after all, such an exquisite treat deserved the best view as a complement.
And there they were, sleeping in a peaceful demeanor. It was just a day after they gave me such a precious gift. They planned a surprise birthday party for me, even after many others told them that it was futile to take me by surprise -and indeed I already had known almost every detail as they had insisted on managing almost everything by themselves- but I couldn't just throw away those sweet intentions, so I feigned surprise to the best of my ability.
But there was something I didn't expect. As I took a sip of the tea, a full malty body filled my tongue, with a sweet dash at the end. I remembered how lovely they were at the party.
"Here, this is my present." They were too flustered to see me directly, a little brown box decorated with a mint bow presented in their hands. "I found them on my last trip. There are 'bloody trumpets', 'golden moon' and 'fire-mints'. I dried them myself, I even fed the trumpets with the dragon's blood! Ahh… sorry if they taste a little strange, I fed them my blood too before knowing it affected the flavor." I contained my surprise to that fact. "What a charming gift, I will make sure to enjoy it to the fullest."
I concentrate on searching for that sweet note at the end, savoring it. I would never have expected such a delicious sample of you. It intensified my desire to taste you directly, to confirm if you were indeed as sweet as your blood. Sometimes I wonder if your magnetism to find danger includes me, if that is what makes me so prone to desire you. Thanks for the delightful gift my dear, I can’t wait to taste more.