His Soul

Sweet (ENDING)

You had a smile on your face the entire ride home - giddy as you practically threw yourself out of your car and jogged to your agency's doorstep. Slipping the key into the lock with ease, you shut the door behind you and shed your outer jacket, calling out as you did so:

"Curioso!"

You jumped the second he was in your sight - grinning down at you with his sharp teeth and tipping his signature top hat. It was the same greeting he always gave you when you returned home, if you hadn't brought him along on your outing. Trips like those were becoming more rare nowadays, as it was incredibly easy to have him tag along on your errands and serve as your partner for your investigations.

He was disappointed when you left today and insisted on going alone. But when you told him the reason why , he understood. You'd made a promise to never bring him onto any carnival grounds if you could help it – though why you wanted to go alone and so early in the day, he couldn't fathom. It only made the grin on your cheeks widen some more, tightening your grip on the bag you carried with you.

"Welcome home, Detective," he placed his hat back on his nonexistent head. "How was it?"

"You were right. The games are rigged and if you go in the middle of the day, all the employees smoke," you sniffed remembering the more dull parts of your trip. "I had fun, though. The shows were okay."

"Did you indulge in some carnival food?" you nodded and you swore his grin grew wider. "What did you have?"

"You're never going to believe this, but I had a deep-fried twinkie this big," you held up your fingers a good distance from each other. "I ate a little bit of funnel cake, and then I had a banana on a stick. Made me kind of sick."

You set your bag on your desk and took a seat, shuffling off your shoes. Your feet were aching from walking around so much. Curioso leaned over to take a peek into the tote bag you set down. He didn't miss the colorful clown on its fabric, with obnoxiously-bright text reading " FUN ". Before he could get a good look at its contents, you swatted him away and dragged it closer to yourself.

"Goodies, I'm guessing?" he tilted his mask.

"The games might be rigged, but I'm still good at a claw machine and throwing rings," you wiggled in your seat excitedly. "I got some stuff for Audrey's grandchildren, and something I think Elise will like."

"What about me ?"

You acted as if it just dawned on you. "Huh, I guess I should've won something for you, too..."

He pouted, sitting on the edge of your desk and turning away from you with his artificial arms crossed. You laughed at the sight before grabbing something and holding it in the edge of his view. It got his attention when he turned and looked at it, his mouth a little more open than usual.

"Cotton candy," you nudged it closer until it bumped his mask's cheek. "I think I've finally found something you can eat!"

He grabbed the paper cone from you, pinching some candy floss in between his fingers and observing it quietly. Then, he brought it closer to his mouth, and you watched with satisfaction as he tossed it in and it dissolved on his tongue.

Oh, yes. Curioso had a tongue. That was a very fun discovery you'd made one night – when you had finally gathered the guts to kiss him, only to run into several predicaments in doing so. A little experimenting made you intimately familiar with his mouth. Avoiding his sharp teeth was a challenge of its own, but ultimately rewarding in that you had the most intense kiss of your life.