He kept his eyes on the screen as footsteps echoed around him, the café staff flitting around to wait on their customers. The room was large yet he felt a little claustrophobic, a feeling he got often yet seemed to be cast away by the presence of his best friend. Niko never usually went to cafes without Ace for that reason, the chit-chat too loud and the air too stifling for him to put up with alone. So he wondered why Callixtus thought this was a good idea.

“Why the hell do you think I’ll agree to this?!” He had snapped at his close friend, drawing the attention of the patients in the waiting room where his doctor friend decided to spout this stupid plan of his.

The older birdman had given a mischievous grin that could only belong to Cal, a glint in his golden eyes. “Why not? Come on Nick, when was the last time?”

“Never and I plan to keep it that way, thank you!” He did not know what irritated him more, his friend setting him up on a blind date knowing he was solely interested in one person, or that he had to announce this idea around the other quickly fascinated birdfolk.

He sighed, looking at the phone in his hands. He didn’t understand this technology, he didn’t like it. But Cal had told him this device would keep him in contact with his unwanted date if things were late.

And it seemed that way.

Why did he agree to this? Oh wait, he didn’t. Cal had blackmailed him, threatening to send some rather compromising images of him to their devil friend Emmett. Images he wouldn’t care if any of his other friends saw, but Emmett had a habit of sharing everything he saw and he didn’t fancy Emmett’s staff seeing them.

He glared at the numbers on the scene. He knew nothing about his date either, the only thing on the screen was his phone number. Niko was relieved Callixtus didn’t forget his strict preferences and try to set him up with a woman, but he prayed this person wasn’t a dickhead.

Taking a second to put the phone down and take a sip of his coffee, his eyes flew to the door as he heard the bell. Walking in he could see his best friend, glancing around looking lost. “Ace? Fancy seeing you here.”

His fellow sunbird met his eyes, a bright smile coming to his face as he strolled over. “Hey Nick, didn’t think I’d see you here either. You don’t usually go to cafes alone.”

“I don’t, no,” he mumbled as he thought about why he was there. He wouldn’t tell Ace why, not when he was the reason he really didn’t want to be on this stupid date. “What are you doing here?”

Ace took a glance around, a frown on his face. “Amara’s trying to hook me up with someone again. She’ll never learn, eh?”

Niko gave a quiet laugh, glancing at the phone. The last message he had received was maybe 20 minutes ago, saying his apparent match was on the way. He got here 10 minutes ago himself and he didn’t think this would go through. Hopefully if his date ditched, Callixtus would give up on this stupid plan. “I remember the last girl she tried to get you with, that was 10 years ago right?”

“15 actually,” Ace grumbled, rolling his mismatched eyes. Those pretty blue and violet irises of his made Niko curse Callixtus again. If Ace ever got the impression he was ‘with’ someone, his already dead love life would just grow worse. What a pain it was to be into the same person for several centuries and have zero courage to do fuck all about it. “Nice girl, but nothing clicked as usual. You haven’t seen a ‘cute’ girl with a hoodie and plait have you? That’s all Amara gave me to go off.”

Niko shook his head, giving a quick scan of the area for his friend. “I don’t see anyone like that…” His own set-up date wasn’t here yet, he might as well go for it. “Do you wanna sit and chat whilst you wait?” His stomach rumbled and he added with a sheepish blush, “And maybe eat something too.”

The blond birdman nodded, sitting down across from him with a grin. “Of course!”

5 minutes later, two plates of cake sat on the table and Niko had a spoon in his mouth as Ace told him about work. Seeing as they lived in Paradise and Inferno respectively, they always had to be careful about their conversations lest the humans around them learnt about fiends, birds and the fact there was an underworld prison they would go to for killing someone with a dictionary.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I’m telling you Niko, it was completely black. It was so badly burned, I thought one of my servants had put a piece of charcoal on a plate. I was actually impressed.”

“I’m impressed too, looks like you finally met someone who’s a worse cook than you,” Niko remarked, speech muffled by the spoon as he shoved more cake in his mouth. Seeing Ace glare at him, he chuckled. “You should hire a human, this cake is better than anything in Paradise.”

“Right, because I can bring a living human into the underworld,” Ace responded dryly, an exasperated smile on his face. Watching his friend flash a cheeky grin, he rolled his eyes yet he couldn’t frown. “It’s a good thing neither of us need to cook for ourselves, eh? Unless your ice cream no longer tastes like salt.”

Niko sheepishly scratched his cheek. “Funny thing about that… It was salt. It looks exactly the same as sugar.” It was Ace’s turn to smirk at him and he just huffed, muffling his words with more icing in his mouth. “Never mind our craptastic life skills, why was Amara trying to hook you up anyway?”

A faint flush came to his friend’s cheeks as he averted his eyes. “She said I was ‘pining’ too much. I don’t know what the hell that means but she didn’t seem to like it.”

“Alexia said it means when you’re hopelessly in love with someone who doesn’t reciprocate,” Niko murmured, feeling his stomach suddenly give an unpleasant twist. Maybe he had swallowed without chewing enough, maybe he was eating too much at once. He didn’t want to acknowledge the painful reality. How many mixed messages did he get from his best friend? Did he send them himself? Alexia was certain his own ‘pining’ was requited, however he couldn’t help but question. “You’ve had your eye on someone?”

Ace stared down at his mug, a crooked smile on his face. “I uh… I guess you could say that. I’ve been watching someone for a while. But whenever I think it’ll be okay, something happens and I question all over again.” He gave a quiet laugh. “His dad hates me so I can’t even ask how he feels, I’ve just been hoping I’ve been reading it right…” The younger birdman gazed at him. He wished he could ignore this pain in his stomach, the uncertainty as he tried to analyse his words. “What about you, Niko?”

“Wha- What? Me?” Dragged out of his self-pity, he fought for his sense back. “What are you asking?”

The king of Inferno rested his arms on the table, glancing him over. His gaze felt warm, as if his skin was being caressed by a sun ray that was gentle yet just as dangerous as the real thing. “I’ve never seen you chase anyone, but you’ve felt that kind of thing right? You told me you’re not into women like that, but you never cut out anything else.”

The plate of cake was pushed to the side, Niko leaning on the table and burying his face in his arms. “Well… Ah… Guys are cute. But I’ve only imagined myself with one person. Lex and Ike are sure he likes me back, Amara and Art say they know but you know they love teasing me. Besides, Father wouldn’t approve.”

“Your father has no say in your love life though,” Ace murmured, gently patting his friend’s hair in a manner he knew he found comforting, even in front of others. His fingers lightly twirled his braid. “Your father can’t stop you being with someone that makes you happy, even if he thinks he can.” He gave a quiet chuckle. “Just threaten never to speak to him again, you know he’ll be begging for mercy in a few days.”

Niko glanced up at him. He was certain his face was as red as it felt, yet he felt oddly at peace now. “I guess you’re right. He doesn’t like us hanging out but he doesn’t have a choice, does he?” He sighed. “I’m sorry, you probably just wanted some cake and you had to go and cheer me up again. She’s still not here, is she?”

“She?” The blond man shook his head, a faint smile on his face. “Ah right, I almost forgot. Don’t be silly Nick, I just want to see you happy. I’m still probably having a way better time than I would have had with her…” He twirled his friend’s braid again, his train of thought err-ing. His eyes absent-mindedly glanced over his pretty face then his outfit. He vaguely recognised it, a hoodie Niko had borrowed from Ikarus that day he had gone to the arcade with him. Amara had teasingly called that outing a date and Ace had fervently denied it.

How funny it was, Amara knew exactly how he felt for Niko and had teased him so recently yet tried to get him with someone else.

His mind skipped and he looked at the hoodie again. “Hey Nick, can I ask you something?”

“Huh?” Niko’s cyan eyes blinked. “Sure, what is it?”

Ace gently tapped his shoulder. “Are you still wearing Ike’s clothes? I thought you would have gotten yourself some new clothes by now.”

The prince blushed and nervously chuckled. “Yeah… It slipped my mind.”

What did Amara tell him about that girl? She was cute, wore a hoodie and had a plait. What was another word for plait? A strange mix of emotions flooded through him, embarrassment, annoyance and faint fury. That sneaky vampire. However, looking at his friend’s worried face, his anger died. Slightly. Making a note to playfully tug Niko’s braid again, he whispered to him. “When we’re done eating, I’ll have to go find Amara and have a talk with her, hm? But how about when we’re next free I take you clothes-shopping?”

Niko’s eyes lit up and he nodded, a bright grin on his face. “That would be great, thank you!”

“Good, then it’s a date.”