Before she could finish the thought, Kabe smacked the back of her head lightly, cutting her off.
"Don't be ridiculous. Even if the First Master does have a ghost, she'd never do anything to hurt us."
Up in the treetop, hearing Kabe defend her so readily, Mavis's little feet swung even faster with delight.
But his very next words made her whole tiny face fall in embarrassment instead.
"Besides, someone as kind, upright, and heroic as the First Master would never lurk around in some corner secretly spying on people. Say anything to slander my beloved First Master again and I really will get upset."
Kabe delivered this little lecture to Ultear with complete conviction, earning himself a series of suspicious glances from her.
'I never realized he respected the First Master this much. Who knew.'
Up in the tree, Mavis was completely at a loss for what to do. She'd actually planned on floating down in a bit to say hello to the two of them, but Kabe's little speech had thoroughly killed that idea on the spot.
'No, absolutely not, I cannot let him find out that the First Master he worships so much is actually a peeping tom who likes hiding in the shadows spying on people!!'
Even as a ghost with no need to breathe, Mavis clapped both hands over her mouth, not daring to make a sound, terrified of being discovered by the two below.
Sensing the faint ripple of presence overhead flicker for a moment, Kabe grinned wickedly to himself inside. He decided not to dig any further into the topic and instead had Ultear help him pull out the desserts they'd brought along, laying them out one by one. As he arranged them, he kept up a running commentary to himself.
"First Master, I honestly have no idea which of these you'd actually like, so just try whatever looks good. If you've got a preference, send me a message in a dream sometime, and I'll bring you something new next time."
The moment Mavis had spotted the mouthwatering desserts coming out, her eyes had already lit up and she'd started drooling. Hearing that they'd been brought specifically for her only made her nod along even more enthusiastically.
'What a good child, such a good child, as long as it's sweet I'll eat any... eh, wait, what's he doing, no, don't burn it!!!'
Watching Kabe start a small fire right there and toss an entire box of donuts straight into the flames, Mavis shot up off the tree branch in a panic. She'd been hoping to sneak down and get a taste after the two of them left. If everything got burned up, what was there left for her to eat? But not daring to reveal herself, all she could do was fret helplessly from up in the branches, watching him work.
Down below, in front of the gravestone, after paying her respects to the First Master, Ultear turned and watched Kabe methodically feeding the elaborate desserts into the fire one after another, thoroughly confused.
"Where exactly did you even learn this custom of burning food as an offering? Does it, um, actually work?"
"I've never died before, how would I know if it works. Either way, it's a custom from back home. Where I'm from, it's tradition to burn paper money, paper clothes, paper houses, basically anything a departed loved one or friend might want or need, for them in the afterlife."
Poking at the fire, Kabe found himself recalling a few particularly committed people from his past life who'd burned actual toy cars and inflatable dolls for the dead, and he nearly burst out laughing on the spot.
"If the old Master ever passes, remind me to pick up a couple of magazines to burn for him too, so he can enjoy some steamy photo collections in the afterlife as well."