Sweet as Sugar

Mu raced all the way back to the bakery happily. He ordered what the other two wanted before picking something for himself. He had just enough money to cover it himself.

Melly was afraid this would happen. Mu hadn't been keeping up his charade very well, and Steven wasn't stupid.

"He's not a demon, silly," she countered cheerfully. "He's got a heart. I checked."

"I don't think you should trust someone like that," said Steven firmly.

"I think you should be more trusting yourself," replied Melly. "You box yourself up and then wonder why you can't get close to anyone."

"That's not the same as-"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Melly assured. "I consider myself a good judge of character. And Mu's good."

Steven still seemed unconvinced. Being able to sense other's hearts made such judgments easy for Melly, but she knew Steven, and most other humans, had no such power.

Mu chose that moment to walk back in. "I got it" he announced cheerfully.

"Thanks Mu," Melly replied, coming over to get her food and Steven's. Steven simply nodded as he took his sandwich.

Mu smiled at him cheerfully. "I got the right thing didn't I?"

"Yeah," Steven replied, taking a bit of out his sandwich. "Hits the spot."

Melly wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to leave Steven or have him worried about her, but she wasn't about to boot Mu out either. She munched on her cinnamon bun thoughtfully.

Mu looked between the two of them. "Oh, I interrupted something, didn't I?" He asked "I'm sorry, I'll go back outside" He smiled and stepped back out to eat his sweet bun.

"Be nice," said Melly, giving Steven a bat on the head with her beret. "Or at least act nice."

"No. I don't trust him," Steven growled back.

"He could have just run off and eaten all the food," Melly pointed out.

Steven grunted. Melly sighed. Steven was so stubborn sometimes.

Mu sat outside the door and ate his bun thoughtfully. Steven didn't seem to like him.

(Can Mu hear what they're saying? Or does he just know through Steven's behavior?)

"Well if you're going to be that way I'll just leave," said Melly, standing up. She knew this move was manipulative and felt bad about it.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you," Steven replied. "Not something I can prevent."

Melly paused, before smiling again.

"Don't worry, he's a red panda. They're not carnivorous or anything."

(behavior)

Mu looked up as Melly walked out. "Done already?" He asked

"Yeah," Melly replied. "Steven has a lot of stuff to do, so it's keeping him from being too social right now."

She waited to Steven before closing the door. "We'll be back later!"

Steven silently wove back, before turning to one of his paintings.

Mu stood up and dusted his pants off. "He doesn't like me much" He stated. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's not your fault. Steven is Steven," Melly replied as they walked on. "It takes him a while to trust others. Don't take it personally."

"Are you sure?" Mu asked. "People almost always like me, unless I do something wrong"

"The thing with Steven is...well, he's gotten backstabbed by human and demon and demon-pretending-to-be-human alike. A lot," Melly explained. "That makes him automatically wary of people, even when there's no reason to be suspicious. He used to be a lot worse about it, but I guess it'll never go completely away."

"Oh" Mu murmured. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. No wonder why he was so wary of me"

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Melly answered. "You can't really help what happened to people before you met them. You can help them cope once you know about it, but you don't know that stuff when you first meet a person."

Mu nodded. "Alright. I'll try and be extra nice to him"

"Yeah, that's probably the best way to handle things for now," said Melly. "I mean, he'll probably still be all grouchy and stuff around you for a while anyway, but once he gets used to you then he'll warm up some. But for now we'll give him some space."

Mu nodded. "That's how it was with Gao."

"Um, which one was Gao?" asked Melly sheepishly. "I know there was Hao and Gao, but I can't keep them straight. Sorry."

"Gao was the big strong one that loves Summer. He and Summer left the cirque first." Mu stated.

"Oh okay," Melly replied. "Why did they leave the cirque though? I mean, weren't they in charge of it?"

"No, Edwin was in charge. Summer and Gao left because Summer and Edwin got into a fight when he found out she was gunna have a baby" Mu stated.