The Minotaur and the Mephist

Matthieu rubbed his forehead between the two horns jutting out and let out a deep sigh that rumbled in his chest. He stared at the crowded tea shop. He knew he would have problems getting in, around, or through the different patrons. The low ceiling promised him that his horns would be scraping along the wood beams as soon as he set foot in the door. In fact, his heavy footsteps on the walkway outside had already caused some of the patrons to turn and glare at him.

He fingered the mating talisman he wore around his neck. The smooth silkiness of the unicorn hair slipped through his finger. He had been trapped by his own…well, he didn’t want to call it kindness. He had told his neighbor that love was possible for everyone, even a stone giant. Then the damn fool had actually found true love, bringing his demoness mate to live on the mountain top. She had gifted him the talisman and this ridiculous blind date.

He rolled his eyes, turning to scan the street. Just like every other creature he had ever met who had found love or their true mate or their match or whatever they called it, they had insisted that he go along with it. 

Clearly, none of his friends truly understood his situation—a Minotaur who had taken vows of peace and now worshiped the Mother Goddess. None of them understood how mating for his people worked. The female challenged the male in a frenzied mating battle. The male had to win. The challenge couldn’t be refused. It was fierce, bloody, and totally against what the peaceful order taught.

He had been left a bloody mess on the mating arena floor too many times because he refused to fight back. Disgraced and a laughingstock, he had retreated to a solitary life in the mountains.

He had never intended to make friends with the people whom he lived beside, let alone get to know them. Except one by one they had introduced themselves to him. Ogres, Giants, Elementals. Creatures like him who didn’t fit the mold, who were judged by their appearances. He hadn’t wanted a group of friends who cared about him, that he cared for.

He ran his hands down his face, searching the crowded street for someone who seemed to be searching as he was. His friends had insisted that he meet this person. This blind date.

Every one of them had refused to tell him who the creature was.

Someone bumped into him and then skittered away in fear when he looked down to apologize. 

He fingered the talisman again. deciding that he would give it another five minutes. That was probably how long it would take before someone called the guards to have him removed as a public nuisance. He scanned the creatures around him, trying to figure out who might want to meet him. Whoever it was, they must be desperate.

He crossed his arms and noticed a disruption up the street.

”Excuse me. Pardon me. Excuse me.” 

Matthieu frowned at the sight of two wingtips peeking through a cloud of smoke. Whenever someone brushed up against the creature, they would jerk away with a pained exclamation. 

“Pardon me. Just coming through. Sorry.”

Matthieu narrowed his eyes as the creature came into view. Skinny, angular, pale white features surrounded by a wavering cloud of heated air jutted above the crowd that was now actively trying to get out of its way. The creature was flaming, literal flames rising out the center of its chest, creating steam that rose to shroud the rest of them. The only things Matthieu could see through the haze were unusually rounded cheeks, pouty lips, grey eyes, and a soggy pink bow resting on their steamy head. A matching talisman sat inches from the fiery center of the creature, lighting on fire and going out repeatedly. 

Of course. Of course, his friends would think that a steam mephist would be a perfect match for him since he was mostly immune to flames. He lifted his eyes to the sky, beseeching the goddess for patience. When he looked back down, the tiny mephist was standing directly in front of him. People were literally crossing the street in order to avoid the both of them.

“Matt-yoo?”

Matthieu eyed the steamy creature, noticing the angular body was covered in a gray material that blended into its own steam. ”I am Matthieu. And you are?”

“Felicity.”

Matthieu’s eyebrows rose. “Felicity? As in unbridled happiness?”

The laugh that rose from the cloud of steam was as soggy sounding as her bow. She seemed to shrink. “I chose that name instead of Antigone. I hate that name.”

Matthieu squatted down in front of her. Even at that level, he towered over her. “Why are you here, little mephist?”

Her eyes met his without flinching and she didn’t back away from him as others did. “Oh! I just…I thought.” Her eyes filmed over as more steam rose around her. “Never mind. I knew this would be a bad idea.”

”It is a terrible idea.” Matthieu glanced at the larger space that was growing around them and then up at the steam that was pouring off of her. He let the sorrow pouring out of her gaze wash over him. She hunched her shoulders and he scowled at the action, pity rising in his chest. “We can’t talk in this crowded place. There’s a park. Wide open spaces so that others won’t…” He motioned at the space around them.

A corner of her rosebud lips lifted. “I like parks.”

He stood, gesturing to his right. “Shall we?”

With a searching look, she walked ahead of him, surrounded by swirling, steamy clouds. He followed, the ferocious scowl on his face parting the crowds and allowing them to walk unimpeded. 

A mephist who had renamed herself to mean joy. And him, a minotaur who had retreated from his old violent life. This would never work.