#starsdevour

“As you know, I usually drink my coffee black, but for today I uh... “ He did bring the exact same excuse last time, to get a milk-coffee. But as if it was anyone’s business that he couldn’t handle the black kind!! “A cappuccino, please. And... whatever beverage you want, it’ll be my treat.” A pause before he added in a quieter voice: “...As thanks since you helped me with my injured ankle last time.” 

But of course, Sou couldn’t do such a nice gesture without distracting from it right after. Which was why he mischievously smiled at her and added:

“Oh and by the way, do I have to pay extra if I want it in cups instead of spilled all over my jacket, or will a tip be enough?”

Now the alchemist lay half on a bench on the outskirts of the farmer’s market in Whisperwood, curled up with her arm dangling to the ground. Passerbys might have wondered: Is she dead? Well, no. Definitely not. When someone got close enough to her, they could hear loud snoring. She was just out cold. Draped across her lap was some dried ivy vines, and a potion vial had fallen to the dirt. Another small burlap sack was nestled behind her on the bench containing more herbs. 

Seiichirou is nose deep into work and though he hears someone enter he barely spares a glance. The pen is gliding on the paper at frightening pace while Seiichirou’s left hand is working on the calculator. Steady pace with little to no stops.

“ The store is closed for today and the owner isn’t here so if you have business you should come tomorrow at opening hours. “

He braces himself for rebuking he expects from a customer that clearly didn’t take a look at the sign but to his surprise no such thing comes. Still, the steps don’t turn towards the door and the persistent lingers still. If it was Mariela she’d certainly at least greet him. 

Seiichirou sighs more audibly than he knows  before putting his most infallible business smile.

“ Um, pardon me but... “

Obviously, Sou wasn’t expecting to walk into anyone familiar, while going out for some grocery shopping for the first time in this world.

But oh, how wrong he could be sometimes. Then when he turned into the aisle that looked like it was the right one for snacks, he noticed how someone was standing almost motionlessly in front of the chocolate shelf.

“Ah hey! That’s Altair, isn’t it?” He remembered that he took a picture with that guy before! Of course, he would recognize an unique guy like him again!

“You’re here as well?” 

Seems like it wasn’t only Mariela, huh. No, it looks like there are even more people he was able to meet here yet again. How ‘lucky’ are you supposed to be, to get sucked from one strange environment into the next one like that?!

Never mind that, thinking about this only would make him feel more nauseous than he did already.

More importantly, he had to stop that, in his opinion, rather naive guy from doing a huge mistake.

“I wouldn’t buy those chocolates right now. It’s right before Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? The prices skyrocket in those times for no good reason. I mean, it’s just normal plain chocolate in some fancy wrapping!”

A little in thoughts, he tugged on his beanie before he continued talking: 

This was kind of exciting! Mariela had never gone to a fancy party before. It’s not like the Labyrinth City had all that many resources or noble population to make big parties a regular occurrence. The people of the city were always too busy just making it through to the next day. The world of the rich and powerful had always eluded her, even though her best friend was an elegant noble she always felt intimidated by her graceful nature. By comparison Mariela was just an unrefined country girl. 

But one thing that would never elude this girl? Free food. She had heard that the gala was going to have free snacks, and she could not have ran down Pearl Street to buy a dress fast enough. She felt strange being all dressed up here, but at work earlier that morning she had managed to wrangle Altair into attending the ball with her. Hopefully, she thought, as a lookout so she could clean off as many plates as possible before catering banned her from the snack table. She was slightly disappointed by the assortment here. Every one of these foods were so small! Like a sample cup at a grocery market! She’d have to spend all night hovering around the table to be full from this...and she’d be tempted to if her companion hadn’t arrived when he did.

This was Mariela’s first visit to the Archimedes Ward, and she’d heard rumors of a strip of open-air stalls lining the street where one could get their hands on food ranging from across the multiverse. Though her earnings peddling her goods were meager, she decided that she’d worked hard enough to treat herself today. She couldn’t resist a nice meal to warm the spirits on a cold winter day.

“No way! No way! They have it here! Yagu cream stew...fried orc king cutlets...and earth dragon steaks? Mariela you’ve hit the jackpot!” she was salivating, staring at a stall with all of her favorite foods from her own world. Despite the fact that all of this food would have cost a fortune back in her own world, the fact that these were monsters made it cheap by Spirale standards. That suited her just fine! That also left her with some leftover money, and what was better than sharing good will with others? She was a solid believer that food brought people together.

How did they get here. Altair had gone out and learned all about Valentines Day, she learned, and he had been excited to engage with the traditions of the holiday himself. He had apparently understood that some people made chocolates themselves, but maybe took it a bit too far. So the two stood in the kitchen, softened chocolate ganache splattered on all the cabinets and on their own outfits, the mixer broken into large plastic bits. Mariela had to imagine he tried speeding up the process by adding some of his own firepower, but the cheap mixer could not hold up to the heat and pressure.