“And you still managed to get here on time?”
“Oh, shut up,” Raphael calls back, making Leo chuckle.
“This is Damien,” Leo says, pointing at the man in front of him. “The guy who you just heard is Raphael, Damien’s mate.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jin.”
“Welcome in, Jin. Have you been here before?”
“Just once but I already know this is my favorite shop in the whole mall.”
“Good man,” Damien says, squeezing my shoulder. His brothers walk over, one of them waving.
“Nice to see you again!” Oh right. That must be Gadreel. He’s dressed as a lime green gummy bear. His entire face is painted green and his horns aren’t on display, instead replaced by cute little gummy looking bear ears. Where the hell did he even find something like that?
The final brother comes over, grinning from ear to ear at Leo. “Hi, Leo! Is Bren stopping by soon?”
Leo rolls his eyes. “Can’t believe I’m playing messenger boy for you guys. Yes, he says hello and he’ll be by soon.” Leo turns towards me. “This is Andras. He’s Bren’s mate.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say with a little bow to the man who appears to have somehow dyed himself bright pink. He blows a bubble with his gum, showing off that he’s supposed to be bubble gum.
“You too, Jin! How do you know Leo?”
I shrug before I can think to do anything better. “We actually just met.”
“Really?”
I feel far too many sets of eyes on me all at once. I rub the back of my neck. “There may or may not have been a small ceramic assassination that brought the two of us together.”
“We are not doing this,” Leo says, putting his hand on my shoulder and pushing me deeper into the store. “Don’t interrogate the poor man. He just wants some candy!”
Damien chuckles, opening his mouth to say something but one stern look from Leo shuts him up. I have no idea why Leo doesn’t want them to talk but I’m inclined to take his side. Especially because he’s being so cute right now.
We pick out some candy and make our way to the register. Damien is the one behind the counter, his mate sitting in a chair behind the counter, watching me with steady eyes. The flash of wings is back. A demon and an angel together, that’s adorable. Fuck stereotypes and all that!
I swipe my card to pay for my candy while Damien puts everything into a bag. “There’s also a mystery envelope in your bag. You’ll either find yourself the proud owner of a coupon which isnotour sneaky way of getting you back into the storeoryou’ll be the golden ticket holder which means you win a grand prize!”
“Awesome,” I say with a grin. “I hope I get a really good coupon because I know I’ll be back. Probably sooner rather than later. I actually start work next week.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mhmm. I’m gonna be working at the coffee stand in the mall.”
“That’s so awesome,” Damien says. “I’ll be sure to come see you!”
“I would like that,” I tell him with a wide smile.
I like these people a lot. There’s something very cozy about them. They seem like they’re ready to adopt any sort of wayward weirdo whenever they stumble into their candy shop.
The one making me the most cozy though, is the gentle presence beside me. I’m all fire and chaos, but Leo is soft. His very presence is soothing. I feel like I could very easily grow addicted to wanting him beside me.
“Will you come visit me?”
Leo tenses and he almost bumps into someone as we’re walking out of the candy store. “What?”
I ask him again. “Will you visit me? At my new job?”
“Do you want me to?”
