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Normally, whenever someone gave Aster a direct order, he’d ignore them (or give them a good smack with his wings if the order come from an incubus). Except for his sorcerers, because Aster was nothing if not a perfect familiar, he would never sit quietly and wait for a so-called surprise.
What good were those!
The best present was money. Jewelry? Acceptable. And before he’d been committed to a single human, Aster had rarely turned down blood. So why was he sitting in the parlor by himself in his own mansion, and on his birthday of all days!
He’d never been good at saying “no” to a certain Sun Lord, that’s why. Especially after that Sun Lord slid an impressive ring onto Aster’s finger and promised him the rest of his life. When that person expected something of him, Aster was generally happy to agree, but in all their years as business partners, Dante had never forbidden him to leave a room.
Who did the little punk think he was!
(Aster’s husband, that’s who.)
He swatted at unwanted, rational thoughts and exhaled his boredom. He should’ve asked for some contracts to go over, some money to count—anything to help pass the time. Dante had banished him to this room an hour ago.
What about a quick flight over the gardens? If Aster changed into his bat form, he could sneak out a window and into his own office. But what if he timed it wrong and Dante come back before Aster did? He grimaced picturing the disappointed look on Dante’s face. No. If Dante was preparing something special, Aster would sit still even if it meant a lost business opportunity—that’s how gracious a partner he was!
If Dante only knew what Aster was giving up for him.
He could hurry up about it, though.
A nap, then. Aster rested his head against the back of the chair and had just closed his eyes when he heard a noise through the door. A moment later, it opened and Dante wheeled in a two-tiered tray, the kind Aster had purchased for his maid cafes.
He raised a perfect eyebrow. “Am I permitted to ask?”
“No.”
Aster politely folded his hands on his knees and watched as Dante wheeled the cart next to his chair. He’d heard, belatedly, about the Sun Lord’s illustrious but short-lived career as a maid, but Dante had refused to say anything about it and had apparently sworn Eiden and Rei to silence about the matter. Aster had failed to tease a single detail out on them!
Was this a private performance from the elusive Dan-dan?
If it was, Dante hadn’t put much care into his outfit. It was one he wore regularly: a white shirt trimmed with sunset colors, and fitted pants. He hadn’t even pulled back his hair.
Aster sucked on his lower lip as Dante removed a tea towel from the top tray, revealing an assortment of petite pastries. Each had a unique design (flowers, a paw print, a bat) drawn in simple pink icing and was nestled in a fluted paper cup.
“For me?” Aster said and fluttered his eyelashes. “They’re so cute. Are they from a nearby shop?”
He maintained his smile against Dante’s withering gaze and said, with as much flattery as he could muster, “You made these?”
“The snake assisted. Apparently the sorcerer was adamant you have a cake.”
That was just like Eiden to insist on cake for a vampire. So Aster actually had his beloved master to thank for today’s boredom!
Dante cleared his throat. “However, I knew you would not want it overly sweet.”
Aster waited for Dante to say something else, maybe a phrase he’d picked up from the maid cafe, and when he didn’t, Aster sat forward and selected the pastry he’d try first.
“May I?” he asked.
Dante nodded. In their time together, Aster had never heard Dante mention an interest in baking. Neither of them prepared their own meals. They had chefs for that. Aster wasn’t even certain where the palace kitchen was located. But if Yakumo had supervised things here in the mansion, this cake couldn’t taste that bad, and Aster would chase any unpleasantness with blood.
He smiled as he brought the cake to his lips. As soon as his fangs sunk though the icing, his eyes opened wide. Was he imagining things, or was this flavor…
Dante’s expression had turned smug. “I knew you would prefer this.”
Aster licked his fangs, his temperature already rising. He fanned himself with a hand. “Yours?”
“As if you cannot tell.”
Biting down again, Aster indeed tasted Dante’s blood and closed his eyes. It had been baked into the batter, mixed fresh into the icing, and the depth of flavor had Aster’s heart racing.
“You’re right. I don’t know how I could have thought otherwise. Forgive me?”
Dante laughed. “They’re to your satisfaction?”
“l’ve never had better. I’d invite you to eat half, but I suppose that would be a little strange.” Aster opened one eye. “Sit with me?”
Dante did and stretched an arm behind Aster’s back.
“Isn’t there a spell you’re supposed to recite?” Aster said, motioning to the tray. “Something to make it even tastier?”
“If you wanted to hear it, why did you not come to the cafe yourself?”
“Would you have wanted me to?” Aster smiled and added, “I’m not sure I’d like to see you treating other people as sweetly as you treat me.”
“That was a job.”
“Job or not, I’m allowed to be jealous. You’d never put on a maid costume if I asked. Why should those yokai get to see it?”
“I was not there by choice,” Dante reminded him.
Aster finished the pastry and selected another—the one with the bat. “And they didn’t get this part of you.”
“It was not a vampire cafe.”
Aster shuddered. “The idea of another vampire touching you...promise me you’ll never enter a shop like that!”
“Do they even exist?”
“Reassure me; it’s my birthday.”
Dante clucked his tongue and sighed. “What should we do for the day?”
“Hm? I assumed you had meetings.”
“Only one.” Dante looked at him pointedly and Aster’s face flushed again for a different reason. He licked icing from his fingers.
“In that case, indulge me. I’d like to see this cafe of yours.”
Dante frowned slightly. “I won’t be serving you.”
“That’s alright. It’ll be enough to see where you worked. Maybe I’ll get an idea or two for my own cafes.”
With another sigh, this one somewhat resigned, Dante leaned over to kiss the corner of Aster’s lips. “If that would make you happy, I’ll ask Ludwig for the carriage. Will you invite the sorcerer?”
Aster thought for a moment. “No, I think I’d like it to be the two of us. He can join us for dinner.”
That put a slight smile on the Sun Lord’s lips.
He was still wearing it as he left the room to order the carriage. Aster helped himself to another cake. The ride would take an hour; he’d be hungry again when they arrived, and he wasn’t about to allow this gift to go to waste!
As he was finishing the last one, savoring the way the icing melted on his tongue, he noticed, on the cart’s lower tray, a brown envelope bearing his name. The handwriting was unfamiliar. Assuming it was a birthday card, he opened it with zeal, hoping it might contain money, but what slipped out was a color photograph of his husband in a black maid outfit, muscular arms folded over his chest. Inexplicably, he had cat’s ears and an orange tail, and was blushing in a way Aster knew all too well.
The picture was signed Dan-dan.
Aster flushed with amused pleasure. Tipping the envelope to the side in case it contained anything else, he produced a small owl feather. He tapped it against his chin as he studied the picture. A shame he couldn’t display it properly, but Dante would likely burn it...and Aster wasn’t all too keen on sharing him more than he had to. He tucked the photograph and feather back into the envelope as Dante returned to the room, and placed it safely in his bag.
“We can leave when you’re ready,” Dante said.
Aster brandished a hand over the now-empty tray and hopped up to hook his arm through one of Dante’s. “I couldn’t help myself,” he said and made a show of licking his fangs. “You’re too delicious. Dan-dan.”
His laughter drowned out Dante’s groaning, and he made a mental note to send a certain scientist a generous thank you.