Admittedly, I am not the best at putting two and two together. Perhaps that is why I struggled so much with math? No, that seems quite unrelated, but the fact of the matter was it had taken me far longer to realize the connection between Isabel and Isaiah than it should have. Of course Isaiah was Isabel, it only made sense, how I did not immediately recognize her was honestly embarrassing, and something I just knew she would tease me about for a long time to come. 

“Honestly, I’m just happy figured it out on your own,” she chuckled as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, “though I also kinda kept thinkin you already knew and were just teasin me.”

“What? No, I would not have teased you at all, I really was clueless,” I admitted, shamefully.

She kissed my forehead, “aww my clueless little cutie.”

I buried my face in her chest to hide my blushing cheeks, “why did you not tell me it was you that first day though?”

“I was nervous, and like also didn’t think you’d believe me. We’re goin to an all-boys school so like you’d have known that I’m not a girl,” she held my head and I nuzzled my face in her, “well I am a girl, just not accordin to the shepherds.”

“I understand, still, I wish you would have let me know,” I huffed, “though I suppose in the end the result was most likely the same. I am going out with the girl I had a crush on.”

“Aw, you had a crush on me for that long huh? My little cutie,” she squeezed me into an even tighter embrace, “couldn’t resist my charm, could ya?”

Even though she was teasing me, I still rather enjoyed being held by her, my mind intoxicated by Isabel's loving embrace. Genuinely, I had never expected that our first quarter would end with me being in a loving relationship with my roommate, and I honestly could not be happier. It truly felt a bit cliche in a way, like it was the plot of one of the cute girls-love novels I enjoyed, but perhaps it was that cheesiness that made it all the more wonderful to me. Regardless of knowing it was her or not, I really wish I had been kinder to her from the start. Sometimes I felt surprised she grew to like me at all.

“Hey, Bonbon,” she said, releasing her hold of me, “now that you know, could you call me Isabel? At least when we’re not in front of people at school,” she looked nervous, like it took all her courage to ask me.

“Of course, Isabel,” her name felt sweet on my tongue, as if just saying it was a tasty treat for me to enjoy. It was the name of my girlfriend, so yes, it was in fact a treat. 

She smiled and kissed my head again, “Thanks, I love you Bonbon.”

“I love you too, Isabel,” it felt sweeter every time I said it. 

 ***

“Alright, off with it,” Notalie tapped the coffee table as we sat in the living room a while later, “we’re all demons here so no need to hide those beautiful eyes.” I had grown so accustomed to wearing my eyepatch around others that being told I could remove it always felt odd. I complied of course, as no matter how used to an eyepatch you get, it never stops feeling uncomfortable wearing it over a perfectly functional eye. She smiled as I revealed my light pink eye, “very pretty, I always love to see it.”

“What about you?” I asked without thinking. Though it did only seem to make sense that if I removed mine that she would remove hers.

“Sadly, my eye was taken from me when I was a child,” she frowned, and I felt so stupid for asking, “I am probably the only one here who wears an eyepatch over an actual missing eye,” her laughing did not ease the tension that I accidently created, though I suppose it was a good thing that she was not sensitive about it.

“I am sorry,” I apologize regardless, “I did not mean to touch on a sensitive topic,” while I had not known how she lost her eye, my mind could imagine a few different scenarios and none of them seemed at all pleasant.

She shook her head and laughed some more, “it was a long time ago, sweetie, you don’t have to feel bad,”   

“It sucks, but my mah’s pretty over it, ya know?” Isabel said, slipping her own patch off and setting it on the table next to mine.

“Perhaps over it is not quite the right phrase, though I am done crying about it,” she sipped from a cup of tea between sentences, as if she were punctuating each thought with a piping hot sip, “it is honestly wonderful meeting demons who have not met the same fate as I.”

“So then, it is not uncommon for demons to lose an eye?”

“Perhaps, I know my first demon friend had also sustained an injury to her own eye,” she sipped more tea, “speaking of which, how is Arasa doing?”

“Arasa? She is well, as far as I know, why do you ask?” it seemed like a rather impertinent question all things considered. Though it only took Notally glancing at me from over her tea cup for me to realize what she was implying, “Arasa too? But her hair is not silver.”

“A wig, sweetie, it is a wig,” Notalie placed her cup down and folded her hands beneath her chin, “had you ever considered that it was kinship as a fellow demon that made her care for you so much closer than she did for your sisters?” 

I had not considered that, largely because wigs were outlawed by the Shepherds a long time ago, though in hindsight it made sense. As far back as I could remember she was the one who helped guard my secret, keeping the other maids away whenever I was put in a position that might expose me. I also never questioned her about wearing an eyepatch, honestly it had just been so normalized in my own mind after years of wearing one. My maid was a mystery to me, and I became increasingly interested in learning about her, “how long have you and Arasa been friends?”

“Since childhood, my dear, though we briefly grew apart after breaking up for the second time,” she sighed, “I was overjoyed when she came waltzing through the doors to my little boutique for the first time in nearly six years,” a tiny little tear began to gather up in the corner of her eye, “and then I saw you with her and my joy had doubled.”

“So that was a sort of reunion for you?”

She nodded and lifted her teacup to her lips once more, speaking before taking a sip, “my little menace of a daughter had crafted quite a plan.”

Isabel sat beside me beaming with pride, a wide smile fixed on her adorable face, “I can’t take all the credit, like Arasa was really helpful, ya know?”

“Then the two of you were in league with eachohter? Arranging their reunion?”

“And our meetin~” she kissed my head, “I had heard some rumors and I just had to know if they were true, ya know?” Her grin grew wider and prouder, “I started usin some keywords that I figured would get your attention in our advertisin. Guess that v-space algorithm really works.” 

“You baited the hook that I then bit?”

“Yep, and it totally worked like a charm,” her cockiness would have been irritating had it been any other person, but with her it was charming and cute, “it’s like I got a knack for gettin demon-girls attention.”

“While I can not speak for other demons, you have certainly gotten my attention,” I almost felt a tad foolish for having fallen for her set up, but I was far too happy with the results to be upset.

“Rather risky though, the wording of the advertisements came all too close to revealing the demon origin of the fashion,” Notalie took another sip before sitting her empty cup down.

The ‘princely’ outfits from long ago, cute clothes with a hint of femininity all meant to be worn by boys, it made sense that they were of demon origin, “so that was what demon nobles wore?”

 “There were no royals among demons, or more accurately all were as royalty, so yes, but also no,” as she mentioned before, class did not exist for demon kind, an intentional design by Isarael.

“In the end, Arasa wanted to see my mah anyways, so she was able to help in convincin you to come to the shop,” Isabel finished up her own little story.

“I see, that explains why she was so adamant that I not shop online,” I would have to thank Arasa later.

A little notification chimed and Notalie glanced at her phone for a moment. Whatever she read must have been good, eliciting an unexpectedly cute giggle from her, before she stood up and cleared her throat, "Izzy sweetie, I'll transfer you some money if you'd like to take Bonbon on a little date."

Isabel started rocking back and forth like an excited little puppy, "wait really?" Her mother nodded and she turned to me with her wide adorable eyes shining brightly, "so do you wanna go on a date?"

"Of course," the words barely left my mouth before Isabel gave me a big smooch on the forehead then leapt up and tugged my sleeve.

"Alright, lemme get changed real quick and we'll go!" She leaned back over, kissed my forehead again and skittered off to her room.

"Enjoy yourself love," Notalie winked, "take good care of my daughter."

I'd say I blushed, but my face had already been dyed red by the multiple kisses from my girlfriend. Still, warm and bubbly, I simply nodded my head and whimpered, "okay."

"Good girl," the woman laughed sweetly and left the room, leaving me flustered beyond comprehension. Perhaps eventually I might muster the courage to ask Isabel to call me a good girl too.

Bobbing side to side, I waited patiently on the couch for my girlfriend to return, while everything I had learned swirled inside my brain. This day was so very full of surprises for me all coming so very fast, Isabel and I had only confessed the night before, and now I had learned she was just like me in so many different ways. All this began to feel like a torrent of emotions and information that began to occupy every corner of my mind. I had to compartmentalize it all, unpack every little thing one piece at a time, but I was too excited, and perhaps just a tad too overwhelmed, to do that. Though I tried anyway. Firstly, my boyfriend is my girlfriend, the very same girl I had met when I bought my dress and instantly had a crush on. It may sound cliche but that was most certainly a dream come true for me. Then came the fact we were demons, something she told me before, but now I knew what that meant, and in many ways that knowledge brought comfort to me. I was born a boy by human standards, but as a demon, I was very much a girl, or both, that was something I still had to figure out. We were not alone either, my maid, her mother, both demons just like us. I began to wonder how many more of us were hiding in plain sight. In order for the demon story to be true, that also meant the gods were very likely real, another possibility I had to consider, and as a side to that it meant I was technically friends with a goddess, though it had been a long time since I talked to Electrael, so more accurately we were mutuals on v-space networks.   

Amidst my breakdown of all this information, I felt a soft hand pat my head, “whatcha thinkin about cutie?” Isabel asked before leaning her chin down on my shoulder.

“Everything,” I sighed and she laughed, “today has been quite the day for discovery, I suppose I just need some time to understand it all.”

“Do you wanna just stay here instead?” Her voice had a slight quiver of disappointment.

I turned to my girlfriend, and upon seeing her rather bombastic, and dare I say hot, outfit, I immediately replied, “no, I want to go out with you!”

Her face beamed from ear to ear with a big bright smile as she corrected her posture, “sweet, I got a place I really wanna take you!”

I returned her smile with a shy little smile of my own as I stood to look at her, taking a moment to drink in the sight of seeing my adorable girlfriend wearing what I was certain was her true style. She had on a dark gray dress that was missing the front half of the skirt, with a pair of torn jeans underneath. Atop the dress she wore a belt of black ribbons that wrapped around her chest and connected to a garter. The sleeves were mismatched pink and blue, and the skirt had a checkered pattern that mirrored the colors. All in all, it was an outfit that truly suited her off beat style. “Isabel, you are so pretty!”

Hey cheeks grew red as she dismissed my praise, “wha? Nah, this is a pretty simple outfit for me, it’s nothin.”

“The outfit is cute, but I just think you are pretty,” I attempted to say it with a straight face, but found it incredibly impossible to maintain my composure as I said something so unabashedly gay to my girlfriend. I do not think the words came out quite as I had intended, but her reaction was sweet all the same. 

She kissed my head and booped my nose while calling me, “cutie,” before taking me by the hand and walking me to the door, “come on, we gotta get there before they close for the day!” I nodded and we left.

The chills of the winter air were particularly bitter that time of day, but I was far too distracted by Isabel holding my hand to even notice. We were so visible, perhaps twice as visible now that she donned such a unique outfit, but she did not care who was watching, she held my hand tight, and pulled me close to her side as we strolled the city streets. It was a quaint little city, but it was not small, and it certainly was not underpopulated. Perhaps the volume of people traveling down the streets was enough to make us seem like just a drop in the bucket, invisible to the average pedestrian. Honestly, it did not really matter in the grand scheme of things what people thought, and eventually I stopped worrying who saw us together and instead enjoyed being so openly gay with her. Focusing on her, on how warm and soft her hand was, and on how incredibly happy being with her made me, caused all other thoughts and worries to melt away like the snow in springtime. Perhaps I should have taken in the sights of the city a little more, after all I did not get to see them very often, but honestly Isabel’s visage was the far more important sight for me.

“Aight, here we are,” she said as we arrived at a cute little coffee shop some several blocks from her home, “Commie Cafe, a bit of an offshoot of the Anarchist Bakery.”

“Anarchist Bakery? Why does that sound so… familiar?” The name resonated in me, as though I held some personal connection to it, but honestly, I had never been to any sort of place. It almost felt as deeply tied to me as the nickname Isabel gave me.

She held the white lacquered door open and gestured for me to enter, “come on cutie,” I stepped inside per her request and was shaken by a wave of misplaced nostalgia. 

The pink and blue retro diner decor immediately made me feel as though I stepped into my home, though visiting it was indeed a new experience for me. The lo fi music that played gently in the background filled me with a sense of ease, while the accented lights gave a cool calmness to the atmosphere. Everything from the layout, to the treats on display felt like it was intentionally placed to draw me in, personally, and no matter how my mind tried to rationalize it I could not explain why it felt as such. What kind of spell had this establishment upon it? Honestly, it was baffling, inexplicable even.

Sensing my confuzzlement, Isabel squeezed my hand and whispered softly in my ear, “hey, you okay sweetie?”

“Mhm,” I nodded, “it is hard to explain, but I am feeling something strange,” 

“Like you been here before?”

“Or someplace like it, yes, how did you know?”

She smirked and pulled me into a half hug as she wrapped one arm around my waist, “I felt that way my first time too, maybe that’s why I love it here so much,” she urged me forward, “come on, I’ll buy you something sweet, not that you need any help bein sweet,” her attempted flirt was too adorable, so silly and charming that it stuck the landing despite its clumsy approach.

“Okie,” I chirped and she led me to the counter.

“Welcome to the Commie Cafe, Nya, how can I help you meowster?” a pink haired girl wearing a kitty ear headband greeted us as we approached, “oh meow, Izzy you got a partner?”

“Heya Delli,” Isabel pressed her cheek to mine, “yea, aren’t they a cutie?”

“Hmph, I thought you said you weren’t looking to date anyone?” The kitty eared barista huffed.

“Wha, hey don’t be like that!”

Delli stuck out her tongue and winked, “I’m just kitten, nya~”

“Pfft, had me worried for a second there,” Isabel sighed, “so yeah, Delli, this is Bonbon,” she introduced me.

“Mice to meet you, I’m Delli, nyaa~” she bent her wrists imitating a cat-like pose. She was peculiar, for sure, but perhaps a little endearing. I even envied her being able to be so unabashedly cute as part of her job. She seemed so in place within that little cafe, her vibrant pink hair and shimmering blue eyes a perfect match for the decor.

“Oh hey,” Isabel whispered to me, “she’s a demon too, if it wasn’t obvious, so like you don’t gotta worry ‘round her.” And it made perfect sense, of course she was a demon. “Oh that bein said, still should keep it all on the down low, ya know?” For a group of people who are rare, I was surprisingly meeting more than I had expected.

“So, what can I get you?” she tilted her head and gave a wide toothy grin.

I looked at the many treats they had within a big glass display case, all of them looking quite yummy. I had honestly considered the chocolate bonbons, given they were sort of my namesake, but my eye kept darting back to the cupcakes, a particular cupcake speaking loudest to my tummy. It was a simple white cupcake, in a blue wrapper with pink frosting. All together it was a rather unassuming little confection, yet it had a nearly mystical allure, it was like a dear friend, though that certainly made no sense. I tried to consider the other sweats, but in the end I could not resist the cute little cupcake.

"Nyokie, so the Cupcake rebel for you, and how about you Issy?" I felt as though the name were some inside joke I was not aware of.

"I'll take a Bonbon," the fire that burned in my cheeks was intense, "I mean the chocolate ones, silly," she said, then leaned in and whispered, "though I'd love to have a bite of you too."

"Nya, you always get the same thing, dontcha wanna try something else? We got some tasty redvelvet cupcakes, I even made a Trutton Creampie," Deli suggested.

"Nah, I like what I like, ya know?"

"Nyokie, but one of these days I'm gonna get you to try something new," she rung us out and handed us our confections in a small paper bag.

I contemplated what warranted such an odd quirky name for a cupcake as we found a seat at a window side table. Isabel gave me a silly little cheesy smile as she passed me my treat, "careful, this one's a little messy," an odd thing to say about a cupcake, but I suppose there was a decent amount of frosting on top. Normally I would rip the bottom half of a cupcake off and sandwich the frosting between the two halves, but Isabel must have figured I would try that because she added to her warning, "don't rip it, ok?" So instead I began to tentatively lick the frosting from the top, Isabel watching me with a little smirk.

"What is it?" 

"You got frosting on your nose, silly," she said, wiping a small bit of the icing from my face before licking it from the tip of her finger.

To hide my blushing face I simply continued to eat my cupcake, pretending I was not insanely flustered at all. With the frosting thoroughly licked clean, I took my first bite, the meaning of Isabel's warning making itself quite clear. A saccharine white chocolate sauce began to flow out from the hole I had bitten into the cake, making a mess of my fingers and mouth. My girlfriend chuckled and fetched some napkins that had been provided for us, to help clean me. 

"Told ya it was messy," she dabbled the napkin on my chin, "that one's Delli's favorite, she wanted to call it the ‘Cupkakke Rebel' but the lady in charge said no," she explained.. 

I stopped her from cleaning the last bit of sauce from my mouth, "no, not with the napkin," I whispered, fidgeting as I worked myself up for what I'd say next, "could you," I glanced away, "use your lips?" I had inadvertently asked her to kiss me, though I was not wholly certain I was ready for such a direct kiss.

"Okie," without a fuss, she leaned in, kissed me and sucked my bottom lip gently, licking away the mess. Her lips were warm, wet and soft and I was a puddle of mush, unrecognizable as a person. 

As she pulled away, I held her chin gently looking deep into her beautiful eye, "more, please?"

With a loving smile she gave in to my request, locking her lips to mine once again. Heart galloping like a racehorse, I wrapped my hands around her head and gripped her hair as she nearly pushed me down on the booth where we sat. Our kiss felt like it lasted forever, while also feeling like it was over too fast, ended by my own paranoia when I was reminded of our very public setting. I lowered my head, full of shame and excitement, and she pulled me closer to her whispering in my ear, "I love you."

"I love you too," I blushed then nuzzled my face into the nape of her neck. Our relationship was new, and I did not want to move too fast, but I'd be lying if I said I said it was not enjoyable. It was a warm, tender moment, and I felt so fuzzy inside. 

I would have loved for it to last longer, too bad for me, we were interrupted by a chirpy voice, "oh, you boys are students at the Shepherds academy, right?"