"May I have this dance?" || SkepHalo (Royal AU)

Chapter 4 - Baking

"Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot-"

Bad looked to the source of the sound, wondering if Juliet's okay.

"Juli- Oh my goodness, are you okay?"

Juliet was frantically trying to remove something from the oven. Bad quickly walked over and lightly pushed Juliet away. He then quickly removed the burnt food inside.

He looked to the younger woman, who looked mortified. She was shaking.

"Are you alright? Are you hur-"

"I'm sorry I burnt the treats, I know that I already failed and it's only my first week." She was looking on her shoes, flinching when Bad put a hand on her shoulder and then bringing her into a hug, before hugging back.

"That is not what I care about. I care about your well-being more than some silly treats. Don't be so cruel to yourself, silly." He said, before ruffling her hair and leaving to throw out the burnt treats.

She stood there, motionless, before running to Bad to see if she could help in any way she can.

"Hey, Juliet." Bad smiled at her.

"Maybe you can go in the counter and be the one that gets the customers orders, ey?"

"Yes! That I can do!" She scurried off to the front room, but Bad could hear her mumble something along the lines of 'I hope I don't mess this up.'

After what felt like centuries, someone finally entered, making Juliet escape from whatever trance she was trapped in.

"Hello! Uh- what can I get 'ya?" She stammered.

"Hey, uh, may I request some muffins?" She didn't know why, but the small 'uh' reminded Juliet that she was just talking to a human. That make her feel a little bit better.

"Sure can do." She put on some gloves and prepared a paper baggy for the muffins.

"How many d'ya want?"

"Just five please."

"Okay."

She handed the bag over to the customer, who in return, nodded in gratitude. The short brunette then went to leave the store, happy with what she got. Maybe she'll come again.

Juliet sighed in relief. She was glad nothing went wrong, other than what she saw as an awkward atmosphere. Although it was a small thing, she was still regretful that 'it didn't go smoothly'.

She shook her head, dismissing the self-loathing thoughts that visited her way too often. She turned around, hearing something clapping.

It was Bad.

He was smiling, slightly jumping up and down. "You did great, muffinhead!"

That small statement made Juliet smile. She already loved her new job.

~

Zak was panting, it was a rough session.

He already drank millions of glasses of water, and was still going for more. Meanwhile, Techno was just watching, amused. He didn't struggle with the session. In fact, if someone told him to repeat that practice again, he would happily do it a million times. Of course, that would be if he wasn't so stubborn when other people ordered him to do something.

"How are you..I.." Zak was trying to form coherent sentences, but as you can see, he was failing miserably and just gave up.

"Take your time. Speaking for the first time can be hard, especially for a baby like you." Techno teased, an annoying grin on his face. Zak would gladly wipe it off if he could, but for now he can only roll his eyes, knowing that the only time Techno smiles is when teasing him.

"You're annoying." Zak somehow managed to say. What a suprise that the only thing he can say is childish-snarky-remarks, ey?

"Good to know that I'm doing my job properly then."

"Shut up." Zak said, causing Techno to just stare at him.

"Oh wow, you actually shut up?" Zak felt proud of himself, before the discomfort from Techno's hard glare stopped that.

"Okay, this is getting uncomfortable." He laughed, but Techno stayed still. That finally broke the boy.

"Okay, fine! I give up! Speak!" He crossed his arms and looked away, already knowing Techno's reaction.

"Heh." Techno's big smirk was a beautiful sight, shame Zak chose to look away.

"It's getting dark." Zak tried to change the topic, but realized something.

"Wait, crap, I'm late." This made Techno raise a brow.

"Ehem." Techno said, grabbing Zak's attention.

"This is familiar, isn't it, your majesty?"

"Okay, okay, I was late for about an hour to you training, can I go now?" Zak begrudgingly mutter.

"I am satisfied. You can now leave."

"Thanks Tech!" He said, now running to his room.

"Oh gods, my name is getting shorter. First Technoblade, then Techno, and now Tech. What's next? He's gonna call me 'No'?" He muttered to himself.

"That kid's really something ey?"

~

After rushingly putting on his disguise, Zak rushed to the Luna tree.

He saw Bad sitting there. He looked peaceful. He excitedly joined him in the bench. The bench was rough and hard, the village was loud, but somehow, he wouldn't mind staying here.

"Hello." Zak sheepishly gave a small wave.

"Oh! Hi Skeppy!" The boy said, his attention now directed to Zak, instead of the view in front of them.

The sky boomed with colours, and the stars only made it prettier. He can still hear the chatter of the townfolks, but couldn't comprehend what they were saying--but then again, he didn't try.

"Oh- and, uh, why did you want to meet me again?" The boy was curious. He met many people in his life, all of them he treated with kindness, but someone asking for his time so that they can hang out, it was new. He wasn't complaining though.

"I just wanted to give you.." Skeppy was trying to get something from his pocket, but was visibly struggling. Bad waited patiently.

"Here!" Skeppy bought out a small black case. It was one of his cheap ones, or at least in his perspective, it was cheap. It looked about a year old.

"I would like to...marry you." He said, holding in laughter.

"No you don't." Bad called him out, slightly annoyed.

"No I don't." He quickly agreed.

"But still! I wanna repay you for the book, so here." He now opened the case, showing gold. "It's 75 gold!" He offered it to the man.

"Skeppy! This is too much, you muffinhead! This is a half a week's worth of food." Bad was wondering why he'd give someone that much money just because he paid for a book. He was mildly confused.

"Eh, just take it! Last person who touched it gets it!" Skeppy immediately shoved the money into his arms, taking the demon-hybrid in surprise.

"I..hey! Not fair." He childishly crossed his arms and pouted, making Skeppy giggle silently. "Thank you though. This really helps." Bad said, making Skeppy have a huge dorky grin. He couldn't help but return the same grin.

7/11/21