As Things Should Be

-2- Doma

Doma didn't enjoy, well, anything. 

Enjoyment was something he had never felt but he could fake it, as with any other emotion, very well. He "enjoyed" the gatherings the temple had every night after dusk when the meager humans would perform for him and each other. He would lounge in his chair and smile when acts were impressive and give a polite nod when they were terrible. 

One night, however, something happened. Something that he had dismissed as impossible until that evening.

A woman had stood up, she was a recent newcomer. Doma recognized her as the woman who had come seeking refuge from her husband a few weeks back. She had been given a new kimono and was now much cleaner than she had been when Doma had first seen her. A human may even call her beautiful. She would probably taste decent for she was surprisingly young.

Her soft green kimono matched her soft eyes that reminded Doma of a summer meadow on a moonlit night. Her smile was sweet and polite when she stood up and bowed to Doma. The strange thing had been that she hadn't put her child down. The boy, who looked identical to his mother, was quiet and looked around the room entranced by the many colors and sounds. He was wrapped in a warm black blanket and sat still in his mother's familiar arms.

"Gracious One," the woman had greeted warmly, smiling to Doma, as all humans did.

"Kotoha," Doma greeted in return. He "knew" all of the human's names but they weren't names to him but rather mere placeholders for the word "human", just as "human" was a placeholder for "food".

"My gift to you tonight is my voice," she had smiled. She looked down at her son and began to sing something like a lullaby as she began to rock him.

Doma listened politely and watched the woman sing as she rocked her child before him. He thought it interesting that she was more entranced with her son than him but that only intrigued him. The look in the woman's eyes was something foreign to Doma. 

She was looking at her son with... adoration?

No, Doma knew what adoration looked like. He was adored every day; waited upon and bowed to. He was reverently respected because he was adored.

The woman, however, was gazing upon her son with an emotion that Doma couldn't quite place. He always considered himself to be bad at placing new emotions, but this time it was bothersome. 

As the woman's voice rang out Doma was torn away from his thoughts. Her voice was clear and seemed to glisten as it rang through the air. It wasn't the typical loud and impressive voices that were usually displayed to Doma, the woman's voice was softer, gentler. It reminded him of the night sky; soft and comforting and yet twinkling with the sincerity of stars... oh he was getting poetic now. Perhaps he should give a hand at poetry one of these days, for the kick of it. 

Sincerity - yes, that described the woman's tone. Every word she sang was full of a strange but very true and pure emotion and every bit of it was aimed for her son who watched her sing to him silently.

The audience saw it clearly; the love that was poured into every word as Kotoha sang the lullaby. They all felt deeply moved by the voice and the emotion in them, all of them smiled and a few even cried silently at the beautiful voice.

As Doma listened, he found he couldn't focus on the words. He tried to understand the point of the song but he was constantly distracted by the sound and trueness of the song. It was strange, he had never been so distracted when it came to a song... what was one to focus on if not the words?

Doma closed his eyes and listened but that only worsened the distraction. Instead of fighting through the tone to find the words, Doma allowed himself to follow the voice of the woman. He listened to the emotions of the woman that was poured into her song and the word came to him.

Love.

She was singing and looking at her son with pure love. Doma's eyes opened and he looked to the woman who was still singing.

Something stirred.

It was so startling to the demon that he almost gasped. He slowly reached to his chest and his eyes widened as something strange and foreign moved within him. It twisted in his chest and began to warm him with every note that the woman sang. He couldn't explain it and for a moment he wondered if he had been poisoned. 

The feeling was too great to be a poison...

The feeling?

Feeling!?

Doma's eyes widened further as he realized what was happening. He was feeling something. The strange sensation was churning in his chest and stomach, filling his head with strange thoughts. 

He wondered what had happened to the woman to make a song so sad.

He wondered what sort of terror the woman and her child had endured.

He wondered if she sang like this all the time.

He tried to shake his head and focus. She was a human. Something to eat later. Something... Someone to eat later. She was a someone... she was Kotoha.

Suddenly, the song came to an end and Doma looked up. Kotoha was smiling down at her son who was asleep and she looked up to meet Doma's gaze.

"I'm sorry Gracious One, that is all I have to offer," she murmured, self-consciously.

"That was beautiful," Doma murmured finally. He had to force the words through the strange sensation in his chest that seemed to be pressing down on him. "I don't think I've ever heard anything more exquisite."

Kotoha seemed even more embarrassed, "It was a... just a lullaby... but thank you."

 And suddenly, something pulled at Doma's cheeks and he found himself smiling at the woman. That was something so strange and wonderful that Doma almost reached up and touched his face to see if it was true. He was smiling, he wasn't forcing it or plastering an emotion of his face, he was actually feeling.

He wasn't sure what to think of it but for the moment there was no harm in it and so he didn't fight it.

"Please," he told Kotoha, "Sing again for me some time."

Kotoha beamed and bowed to Doma.

"Whenever you wish, Gracious One!" she agreed.

With that, she retreated to the sidelines again where a woman began applauding her in a whisper, all of them adoring her for her voice. Kotoha only blushed and smiled down at her sleeping baby. When she looked back she found Doma's eyes fixed on her, their hypnotic rainbow colors dancing in the fire's light as they watched her. There was something both strange and wonderful about those eyes.

(Doma: *feels literally anything*

Also Doma: Am I dying??? 

Thanks so much for reading <3, have a great day/night!)