Another man with an important title, another unimportant hand shake. However, this time the topic of the short conversation didn't made Jun listen with only half an ear. The chubby man asked him about his future, to which the young heir replied automatically and it was exactly what his father expected to hear - finish the studies, marry, start a family, take over father's company, continue the family business and so on. Jun didn't care about the rest of the conversation, as his mind got stuck on the question and how he really felt about it. Or more like, what would he do now that Juto appeared in his life.
He excused himself and decided to take a breath of fresh air at the terrace. He still felt a little dizzy from the enchanted brooch, and he needed a moment to think. He contacted his demon servant through telepathy while on his way.
"Say... can you humor Amy for me for a bit longer? Or you know what, just keep people away from me for the rest of the party."
"What? But... the food!"
Juto replied with a hint of desperation, which was kind of amusing. He didn't like the idea of juggling responsibilities that would distract him from indulging in the delicious human cuisine. If he wanted to stuff himself, he preferred to do that uninterrupted. There was no joy in it otherwise. But his master had other plans.
"It's an order."
The young man cut off all further arguments, and it was the first time he actually said that complete with a demanding tone. It caught his servant off guard.
"Fine."
The demon confirmed after a short pause and their mental conversation was over.
Jun slipped past the group of snobs that took a smoke outside, and went to the secluded gazebo. He sighed and leaned with his arms crossed on the wooden fence, ignoring the muffled party noises. The air was nicely chilly compared to the stuffy atmosphere inside the ball room. It helped with clearing his senses, but his mind was still clouded with the thoughts about the future. Not the future his father desired, but his own plans and dreams.
And he came to the conclusion that he had none.
Yes, back when he was young he had a lot of dreams of adventures, going places, creating bizarre inventions, everything an ambitious young mind could come up with. But all of it was cut short when his father decided to do "what's best for him", which involved money, power, economy, proper manners, connections and constant care of one's leading position in the world. All the boring things that interested Jun the least. It wasn't his world, despite being born into it. He secretly envied his late grandfather. That man was living the dream of being an inventor, and didn't care what people thought of him, just kept on doing what he liked most.
Jun argued with his father a lot about his future, but in the end he gave up, his old man was more persistent than Jun himself. Of course, he still decided to make father regret what he did by being passive aggressive, but it was just petty child's play. It backfired eventually as the young man was cut off from everyone that mattered to him, trapped in this mansion like a prisoner. Home schooled, attending social meetings only under strict supervision. At least he wasn't kept locked in his room, he was free to move all around the mansion. And then he found that secret room...
A strange room full of books filled with knowledge that he recalled only from fairy tales. Half of them unreadable due to the language, but some still to his comprehension with the right dictionary at hand. And so he tapped into magic, able to summon small, otherworldly creatures to brighten up his day. His only friends, as sad as it sounded. Pranking his mentors with their help was the only exciting thing to do since a long time. And then he decided to kick it up a notch and dare to summon a stronger being. He knew he wasn't cut out for it, but he decided to try anyway. And then things got really bizarre - he accidentally summoned some weird creature that he could only describe as hunched, fully robed man with a beak sticking out of his hood. Could pass as a version of a plague doctor, except the beak was real. He introduced himself as A. Cheron, Guardian of Limbo and took Jun on a tour through his domain. It was an endless sea surrounded by a fog, with corpses beneath the surface, and crosses sticking out here and there. Crucified people were sleeping tied to the crosses. Some of them didn't even look human or only vaguely.
And that's where he found Juto. They're now bound by a contract, that can be only broken by death of one of them.
"Until death do us part." He mumbled, putting a hand to where his pendant was and snickered. "We're basically married..."
His gaze moved up to the night sky. He didn't really give it a thought until now, but he started to realize the weight of the contract. He couldn't keep Juto a secret forever.... Well, now it was probably pointless to do so, as he exposed himself to so many people. Under a fake name, but still. With the demon at his side and all the power he possessed, Jun had a chance to decide the future for himself yet again. And he had to admit that the sudden ability to have the control over his own life overwhelmed him. Where he should start, how far should he go? Abuse the power to the fullest or be reasonable, weigh the pros and cons, consider the consequences?
He wondered what Juto's previous masters were like, what kind of choices they made with the Bone Baron at their side? Did they make it big? Did they die in infamy? Was Juto satisfied with serving them? He had so many questions, it all gave him a headache.
A gentle breeze blew and he realized that he was shivering, his palms clenching hard to his arms and he had no idea how much time did he spend with pondering. He took a deep breath. He decided to leave the heavy thoughts for tomorrow, and headed back to the ball room. The moment he stepped there, the light and warmth calmed him, and he looked around.
"Where are you?"
He reconnected with his demon servant through the mental link.
"Take a guess."
That was all he bothered to reply, and after just a second of wondering what he meant by that Jun went straight to the tables. And there he was, holding a plate in one hand and stuffing his mouth with what he had on it, luckily using cutlery like a civilized being. However, he was alone, there was no sight of the fiancé around.
"Where's Amy?"
"Fhe weft."
Juto turned to him, chewing with his mouth full and a shrimp sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
"Pardon?"
Jun took a step back at that sight. The demon scooped the shrimp with his tongue inside his mouth, chewed again and swallowed everything loudly. He licked his lips before speaking.
"I said that she left. I didn't feel like spending the rest of the night playing a mediator between you two, so I just... gave her a small migraine. That brooch is really something, heh heh." He smirked.
"What? As if! You just wanted to be alone to gobble all this-...!"
"Look, there's two things that I hate being interrupted at, and food is one of them."
The tall demon loomed over his tiny master and pointed at him with the fork, making him lean back.
"And... what's the other one?"
"Sleep."
It was as simple as that, but he was clearly not amused. And after all, he did admit earlier that he was mostly in for the food. Jun was tempted to ask what will happen if he'll keep interrupting him, but he didn't want to make a scene, so he just raised his hands in a calming gesture.
"Alright, suit yourself."
"I'm glad we agree."
Juto smiled and stabbed his fork in the food on the plate he was holding before enjoying more of it.
"Some great moral support you are."
Jun mumbled under his breath, crossed his arms in front of the chest and leaned with the lower back against the table.
"There's no pleasing you, is there? I removed one of the major nuisances, you're not nervous anymore... It's a win-win, so stop complaining."
The demon was too busy chewing so he just replied telepathically.
"Hey, don't demonize Amy like that."
"Was that a word-play?"
The demon interrupted before Jun continued.
"It's not her fault for being so upset. We're both not pleased with the whole arranged marriage thing, you know..."
Juto looked over at his master. For once he was more interested in a conversation than the food in front of him.
"You aren't into each other?"
Jun shook his head and adjusted his glasses, lowering his tone.
"No. To be fair, we agreed that if not for our parents, we'd go for someone else. So I totally understand that she's frustrated. I'm not her dream guy, and I myself prefer... well girls aren't really my thing... I-if you know what I mean."
"Hmmmmmm...?"
Juto drawled and tilted his head. His expression was unfazed but he stared intently at his master. Jun looked up at him and flushed red under his gaze.
"Wh-what?"
He wasn't sure what was going through his mind. The demon smacked with his lips and averted his look back to the table.
"It really sucks to be you. Being forced into things I mean. Come on, cheer up. Have a shrimp."
Juto speared one on his plate with the fork and moved closer to Jun's face. The master slightly leaned away from it though, moving his eyes from the crustacean to the demon.
"No thanks."
"More for me then."
The demon shrugged and put the food in his own mouth.
"You... really like shrimps, do you? What's so great about human food anyway?"
There was a gleam in his demonic eye, as if Jun brought up a very important matter. He put the plate down and made a wide hand gesture towards the table.
"It's so... exotic! Just look at it, the variety! The presentation! It's so pleasant to look at. And the meat is different, it's tender and it can be served in ways I didn't know that are possible."
He was suddenly so happy and enthusiastic, he beamed like a child in a toy shop. Jun couldn't help but smile.
"It's the simple things that make life worthwhile, right?"
"Right." Juto gave him a toothy grin. "I don't even know what this is and what do you call it, but I can already tell it will taste amazing."
Jun turned around and looked to where his servant was pointing at.
"Oh those are lemon meringue tarts, they're sweet. But check out this one, Coq au vin, one of my favorites."
"Cock-o-... v-uh..."
"Nono, kak-ow-vae, it's French. Repeat after me-..."
Jun was completely drawn into the demon's pace and started to teach him about the cuisine around them. Eventually he too started to take a bite out of a few here and there. Though one thing seemed missing and he looked around the table to find it.
"Ah-HA!"
He rushed over to a plate with confections and picked a chocolate from it. He waved with it in his hand in front of Juto who followed suit.
"Look, a french praline! And it's the last one! Sorry, but it's my absolute fave, so I ain't sharing it, buddy!"
Jun was about to triumphantly put it in his mouth, but Juto grabbed his arm, stopping him. The demon lunged and ate the praline straight from Jun's hand, leaving him perplexed.
"He-HEY! I-it was mine!"
He stuttered out once he realized what happened, not without a slight blush. The demonic man smacked with his lips, not impressed by the treat.
"Meh, you can have it back."
Before the master could question what he means by 'back', the demon made a step forward, put his arm around Jun's shoulder and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together. He passed the praline mouth-to-mouth. It lasted just a moment before he released the embrace and licked his lips.
"Too sweet for me. I'm more into sweet and sour."
The demon said as if nothing happened and turned his attention to the table again. His master on the other hand stood there completely petrified and beet red, with the lips shut tight and praline melting in his mouth. He swallowed it slowly, covering his lips with his palm, hoping that nobody saw what just happened. He was too embarrassed to look behind to confirm it.
"Oy, don't space out."
The demon gave him a healthy pat on the back, but the master just responded with a sharp elbow nudge to the side, right under the ribs.
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