Muffin To It

Satan stared down at Luke with a confused expression while the young angel shuffled awkwardly on the doorstep of the House of Lamentation with a pout of his own.

"Did you get lost or something, Fido?" Satan asked as he folded his arms and leant against the doorframe.

"D-don't call me Fido!" Luke burst angrily, balling his hands into fists and stomping his foot on the ground.

A playful smirk spread across Satan's face.

"I'm sorry," Satan said in a teasing voice, "would you rather I called you Max? Or perhaps you prefer Bingo or Buddy?" Or maybe Patches?" Satan surveyed the young angel closely for a moment. "Although, I think Spot would be a rather fitting name for you."

"I'm not a dog, Satan!"

"Don't get your leash in a knot, I'm only kidding," Satan laughed and shook his head, "with a temper like yours, you make it too easy to tease you."

"I don't want to hear that from a demon!" Luke burst again. "Especially from a demon like you, Satan!"

Satan felt his eyebrow twitch and his smile begin to falter at Luke's words.

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

Luke gulped nervously as his courage began to waver under the demon's intense stare and words failed him.

"Luke?" Beelzebub's voice sounded from behind Satan as he appeared at his brother's side, making Satan's intimidating aura disappear within an instant — Satan's expression softened as he turned his gaze towards Beelzebub instead — relief poured through Luke's body at the appearance of the other demon. "What are you doing here?"

"That's a good question," Satan said, turning his attention back towards Luke, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he finally spotted a carrier bag in Luke's hand.

"I wanted to bake some muffins using a new recipe that Barbatos taught me, but Solomon insisted on helping so Simeon asked Lucifer if I could use the kitchen here at the House of Lamentation instead while he keeps Solomon busy at Purgatory Hall." Luke explained, his own anger and fear from before ebbed away too.

Satan and Beelzebub shared a knowing glance.

"That's understandable," Satan nodded, "you'd want the muffins to be edible, after all."

"And Solomon would insist that we all eat the muffins he made," Beelzebub pointed out with a frown as he absently held his stomach, "I don't think even I could handle that."

The three shared uneasy groans.

"I don't get why you came here though, wouldn't it have been better if you asked Barbatos to make the muffins with you?" Satan asked, tilting his head to one side as he regarded Luke with a curious stare. "He would've been able to give you useful tips and advice."

"I did message him earlier, but he said that he wasn't available today." Luke replied.

"Not available today?" Beelzebub blinked in confusion.

"That doesn't sound like Barbatos," Satan mused aloud with a thoughtful expression, "Lucifer's out all day today too, maybe there's something going on at the Demon Lord's Castle?"

"It's not anything that serious, Barbatos just said that he had to get some tea leaves," Luke explained.

"So what kind of recipe did he teach you this time?" Satan asked as he opened the door wider and moved aside with Beelzebub to let Luke step inside.

"White chocolate and devilberry muffins!" Luke chimed with an excitable smile as he crossed over the threshold.

"They sound delicious, I can't wait to try some." Beelzebub grinned and licked his lips.