43 A normal date

The Fenris waitress comes back to their table with a skillet sizzling with meat in one hand and a wide wooden tray with food in it on the other. She's serving them by order so Melissa and Aranea are the first to get their food.

She sets down the hot skillet in front of Aranea who wafts in the savory aroma of her beef and broccoli stir fry. She's trying her best to hold her appetite back since it's rude to eat before everyone got their food.

The same can't be said for Melissa who's already eating her orange chicken as the waitress sets down the spiced hot chocolate and the cheesecake on their table.

 "I'll be back in a moment with the rest of the orders, thank you for waiting!" Cheerily the Fenris waitress says before leaving them.

 "M, -Melly that's-" Aranea wants to scold her friend but at the same time she wants to join her in eating. She glances at Andrew and Lucifia, asking them permission with an almost teary-eyed expression.

 'Why are you asking us for permission, are we your parents?' The two of them thought while they have their elbows on the table and their hands on their chins.

 "Go ahead Aranea, I bet you two are hungry since you two are helping with the festival," Drew says with a smile on his face. He finds the scene in front of him captivating, but also somewhat nostalgic as he sees Erize and Cecil in their place.

 'What're you doing shoving your vegetables on my plate!?'

 'B, -But I'm not a fan of 'em~'

 'It's never just lunch with you two, is it?'

 "Why are you two helping with the festival anyway?" Lu asks which snaps Drew out of his nostalgia.

 "I, -I want to say it's not because I had nothing else to do but that's pretty much the reason besides staying close with Melly," Aranea responds while picking up a piece of beef from her skillet and feeding it towards Hauche.

 "I didn't want to sit all day in that monastery, so I thought I'd take part in helping with the festival while I wait," Melissa gives her reason and at first Lu's a bit confused as to what she meant by it, but then it becomes clear to her.

In the past six days, Melissa has been contemplating and keeping herself busy until Adela shows her face again to her. It doesn't take a creative mind to know what she'll do once she meets the Cerulean Witch again, and they will meet again seeing as the monastery is Adela's home.

Only now does Lu notice the resolve in Melissa's eyes, the conviction she's built up and kept hidden for the past six days. Worry could not begin to describe the unease in Lu seeing Melissa like this, and as much as Lu wants to stop her, she has lost her say in the matter after involving herself with Adela.

She instinctually turns her attention to Drew, hoping that he can say some words that would dissuade Melissa into essentially throwing her life away. However, she quickly looks away just as Drew is about to lock eyes with her.

 "Lu, what's the matter?" Drew asks.

 "Nothing, I was just thinking about how I'm losing my appetite when I see your face." Lu grins at him after hurling that insult which gets a snort out of Melissa.

 "You're the worst date ever, you know that?" Drew says gritting his teeth as his face turns red.

 "And yet~ you're the one who asked me out. That shows a lot about your taste in women~" Lu bites back and snickers.

'I shouldn't rely on him, not in the condition he's in.'

The Fenris waitress returns, this time with Drew and Lu's orders that she sets down in front of them. Just like with Aranea, Lu gets her steak and potatoes served on a hot skillet. Meanwhile, the pizza Drew ordered is on a wooden tray while the salad is on a bowl.

 "Is there anything else you'd like to order?" The waitress asks.

 "I want the same drink she's having." Drew points at Melissa who's enjoying her spiced hot chocolate. "What about you two, do you want to try it as well?"

 "I already ordered the cheesecake s, -so I'm good." Aranea declines the offer.

 "Even if the hot chocolate is sweet, there's no way in the six realms I'll ever drink something spicy." Lu sticks her tongue out as she declines as well.

 "Then, just one spiced hot chocolate." Drew holds up his index finger to the waitress.

 "Understood~" The waitress smiles as her antelope ears flutter in delight.

Drew and Lu start eating as if to catch up on the two who went ahead of them. Drew offers to share his pizza around the table and everyone takes a slice. 

All of them awe at how gooey and stringy the cheese is as they pull their slices away. The sight of these three smiling melts Drew's heart into the same gooey consistency of the cheese on the pizza.

With Drew sharing his pizza, Lu stabs one of the steak slices on her skillet with a fork and holds said fork near Drew's face. He picks up on that and lets Lu feed him the slice.

The sight of the two causes Aranea to throw a little tantrum that Melissa and Lu enjoy since the one who's taking the brunt of it is Drew.

They finish lunch and Drew pays for everything they ate. Before they could leave though, the waitress asks them to fill out a little slip to rate the service and the food.

 "See you again!" The waitress says to them as they leave the café.

 Andrew thought of heading back to the monastery since he wants to rest. Unfortunately for him, the three girls want to continue exploring and so they did with him serving as their pack mule to hold everything they buy.

For once it's not his fault that he's carrying multiple heavy cloth bags in his hands.

 "I, -I just woke up you know! And I'm being put through this backbreaking labor?!" Drew complains and it gets Lu's attention.

She turns around and shows a look of worry to him that it gets a blush out of him.

 "Think of this as your therapy~," Lu says with a gleeful smile.

 "Demon!" Drew shouts exasperatedly.

 "Way to scream the obvious," Melissa joins in grinning as she plays with Hauche by pressing on the paws of the chimeric beast.

"Also, are you guys sure that nobody owns her? She might not have a tag or a collar but still, there's no way that a calibiso like this isn't already a familiar of a witch." Melissa has all the reason to be a bit doubtful that Hauche is just a wild chimeric beast. The fact that she's comfortable around humans and that she's in a town of witches gives Melissa the idea that someone already owns her.

To Lu's dismay, she agrees with her and even suggests that all four of them should look for the owner.

 "Huh? Wait, can we go back to the monastery first so I can put these bags down?!" Drew shouts at the three who are making plans without him. Their smiles and laughter, as sweet as they are back in the café, now look like demonic grins and snickers.

In the end, after hours of searching for Hauche's owner that took them well into the evening, they return to the monastery unsuccessful. As a consolation prize, they did end up exploring most of Haven and enjoying the festival as well as helping around it.

The three girls drag Drew one last time but this time to one of the double-sided park benches that's conveniently placed along the gravel paths that snake all over the field of the monastery.

Drew finally gets to sit down and relax after what seems like hours of carrying seven heavy cloth bags. He might as well not have arms as he can't feel them.

 "I had a lot of fun today. Wh, -What about you two?" Aranea asks turning around to look at the other side of the bench where Lu and Melissa are sitting.

 "Aranea, why aren't you asking me?" Drew says almost feeling like an extra to the three girls.

 "W, -Well it's kinda obvious you didn't." Aranea fiddles with her white locks while smiling awkwardly. "I'm sorry on their behalf."

 "Oh don't apologize, I don't feel a bit sorry about doing that~ And I had a lot of fun, thank you Aranea. You too, Melissa." Lucifia pets the two girls.

 "Where's my thank you?" Drew butts in again with a gruff tone in his voice.

Lu looks over her shoulder and contemplates how she can thank him for being an endless pool of entertainment for her. The scheming archdemon suddenly grins from ear to ear as she figures out the perfect way to show her gratitude to him.

She leans towards Drew and plants her lips softly against his unguarded cheek. Drew immediately jumps out of the bench holding the cheek that was kissed.

 "W, -What was that for?!" He shouts as his face turns bright red.

 "You wanted a thank you right~? Don't tell me you want me to kiss the other side too." Lu snickers.

 "You're torturing Aranea as well here, Lu. Can ya at least hold back?" Melissa asks stifling her snickers using her hand.

 "Melissa your accent," Drew points out to try and piss off Melissa.

 "Ah- thanks," Melissa thanks him and smiles.

 "That's it! I, -I'm not going to let you get further ahead of me!" Aranea finally bursts out as she turns her teary-eyed glare at Lu.

Poor Aranea is flustered as she starts a tirade because of Lu's teasing that finally snapped a nerve in her, turning the usually docile Aranea into the assertive but awkward girl she is right now.

"Drew!" She yells while turning her attention to him.

 "Yes, I'm Drew!" He shouts his name like he's being called in line.

 "Let's go on a date! J, -Just you and me!" The more Aranea shouts the more her face becomes bright red and it reaches the point where there's steam fuming out of her veil.

 "S, -Sure but, wouldn't it be unfair since my date with Lu had you and Melissa? W, -We should at least have them come with us, right?" Drew asks as he looks over Aranea's shoulder to glare at Melissa and Lu.

The two girls look like they were thinking but they already have a response in mind.

 "I can't~ I need to look for Hauche's owner," Lu says as Hauche climbs on top of her head. 

 "I have to pass on that as well. I'll be busy with something tomorrow," Melissa says with an eerie calmness to her voice that she pairs with a gentle smile. She's out of tune with the atmosphere, but only by a bit that nobody except Lu seems to notice.