Approximately three years ago.

~Lucy

Trony had gifted me a little notepad with skulls and bones all over when she’d returned from a recent book haul, and as I paced in front of my bedroom window in the quiet hours of the morning, I finally figured out a good use for it.

I smiled and teleported to my office where I sank into my desk chair, pulled out a fountain pen, and started writing.

Getting Nelly to go to a cemetery with me hadn’t worked. Getting him to go anywhere with me hadn’t worked, and he had gotten into the nasty habit of running away from me whenever I got too close.

Yet at the same time, I had seen him cast looks at me, his eyes like empty cups, waiting to be filled. I’d read a Chinese novel similar to our situation. Both characters were secretly right for one another, were secretly pining for one another, but the timing needed to be right for them to actually get together. One of them needed to open his heart to the other.

Nelly was going to have to do that, and I was going to have to help him with it. I wrote flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cane sugar, chocolate. The shopping list was going to be my alibi.

#

March hadn’t quite yet realized that it was about time for spring to arrive. The equinox was almost here and with it, the one-year anniversary of our meeting.

It had snowed the day before yesterday, and the roads were a wet mess with some spots frozen over while elsewhere, melting-slick icicles had dropped off houses and street signs. The last time Nelly had gone grocery shopping was over a week ago, nine days to be precise, and he usually didn’t go longer than eight.

My books were in the passenger seat, and I had stolen Trony’s purple shopping basket with the bat-winged cats on it. My shopping list was in my inside pocket. It was eleven o’clock, and after a long case, Nelly finally had a day off. It was only a matter of time until he left his apartment to grudgingly do his shopping.

I watched the entrance of his building, my eyes occasionally drifting to the flower shop on the opposite corner. I’d considered outright buying the place more than once, but flowers were not my thing. I’d need staff or Trony, and both came with their downsides.

“Come on. You need fruit, Nelly. You get scurvy if you don’t eat fruit.”

I’d left an apple on his desk once. I’d written “Scurvy deterrent” on a Post-it and stuck that to it. Then, through the homicide unit’s glass walls, I had watched as he’d picked up the fruit with a frown so sharp I’d have loved nothing better than to cut myself on it.

He’d looked around, all suspicious, but I was hidden, my magic not something he’d have been able to see through. He’d ended up looking guilty. Then he’d eaten the apple. Watching him eat food I’d set out for him, it was…arousing.

So arousing that I was looking forward to doing it again, but for that, I would have to bake, and I would only bake once I could buy the ingredients in front of Nelly’s eyes, a hint, a clue for him to think back on later when he was ready to give me his heart and realize the depths of his desire.

It took another hour before he finally got into his car and went to do his shopping.

I followed at a distance, same as always. The market he usually went to wasn’t terrible. It was his shopping that sucked angel balls. Trony would whip him personally for half the things he bought, but I had shown much restraint, even if he couldn’t not buy a minimum of ten packets of instant ramen every time he went here.

Today, I didn’t hide but went in after him, taking my own shopping cart and putting Trony’s basket inside. I pushed the noisy thing forward and toward the produce section where…Nelly was lingering. He didn’t normally do that.

The necromancer had picked up an apple. He was looking at it thoughtfully, and while I had no proof, I knew that he was thinking of my scurvy deterrent apple.

I smiled and headed toward him. He was so engrossed with the fruit that he didn’t notice me until I was almost next to him.

“Y-you,” he said. It had become his way of greeting me.

“Nelly.” I looked at the apples. “These are good. Did you know sailors would take them on their journeys to prevent scurvy?”

Nelly’s face reddened. It was the most glorious sight. He shoved the apple into his own shopping cart.

“What are you doing here?”

With some satisfaction, I pulled out my shopping list and waved it in the air, close enough for him to notice the cute design and what I had written on there if he really wanted.

“I have some baking to do, and I’m low on a few ingredients.”

“Ah.”

I looked at the lone apple in his cart. It was the only thing in there.

“Are you really just going to get one apple?”

His flush deepened again. “The fuck is wrong with that? There isn’t such a thing as a right amount of apples to get.”

“Hmmm.” I tapped my chin with a finger. “You are supposed to eat one a day. If you go shopping every, say, seven days, seven would be the right amount, maybe eight so you have an emergency apple.”

He huffed. “You buy emergency apples?”

I shrugged. “Oh, I have plenty of apples at home. I need…” I consulted my list. “Cocoa powder. The Dutch stuff. Everyone likes chocolate, right?”

Nelly shrugged. Then he picked six more apples, frowned, put one back. My grin stretched. He was incapable of doing anything I told him to. My mouth watered at the thought of what it would take to get him to do every single thing I wanted.

“Sure. Chocolate. You’re making chocolate cake?”

The wistfulness in his voice was well-hidden, but I heard it. Plus, he seemed less flustered by my presence today. Hmm.

I’d gotten his birthday from the HR department, the most direct route, and it was less than a week away. I knew he wasn’t taking time off, but I’d expected he was going to go and see his family on the weekend or maybe have them come over.

With his love of ramen and that tendency to let himself get riled, I’d assumed he’d been spoiled as a child, and who wouldn’t spoil him? He was beautiful now with his big golden eyes, and as a child, he would have been of the cute variety. Possibly also of the noisy, contrary variety, but those who became parents loved dealing with that type of thing, so naturally, I’d assumed I’d have to charm his parents after I’d charmed him.

Were they too busy to come see him? Was he disappointed about it? I was going to have to bring coffee to the nice head secretary of the HR office again to find out.

“Something like that. It’ll have chocolate in it, lots and lots of chocolate. I’m glad to hear it’s popular.”

Nelly shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Don’t let me keep you.”

With his six apples, he did what he normally did. He ran from me. This time around, he didn’t even buy any ramen.

I got those few ingredients I was sure Trony had at home anyway, but I spent a good five minutes selecting a nice bar of chocolate. I’d cut it into pieces, and the pieces would become the hearts of the muffins. One of those I’d put on his desk on his birthday, and maybe, if I got very lucky, he’d put two and two together and realize I’d done it.

Then he’d come to my door, rain making his clothes stick to his skin. He’d confess his love and ask me to help him out of his wet clothes.

I’m the Devil, I would say, not your manservant. But this once, I will make an exception for you. Only because I can see you are already slick for me.

Sadly, sexual energy didn’t easily translate into baking energy, and with the boner I had from watching Nelly buy six apples, it was a very uncomfortable trip back home.