“Wow you did anime work, have I seen any of your stuff?” Alburet asked eagerly, putting his menu down to look at her.
Fluff brought her menu up to block his gaze, her cheeks bright red. “I don’t know, it’s not something I talk about normally.”
Pulling back his enthusiasm a little, he recalled her anxiety and felt a little bad for putting her on the spot. “Sorry about that, Fluff. It’s just been rare for me to find someone who likes anime. I won’t ask again, but if you want to talk about it I don’t mind at all.” He paused, then changed the topic, “So you’ve been here before. What do you suggest?”
“They don’t really serve meals so much as snacks. The crepes have been really good, though.”
Alburet got a momentary flash of different animes where the two main characters eat crepes together. He couldn’t help the stupid little smile that crept over his mouth. “Crepes, you say? Does that mean I can sample yours if we both get them?”
Fluff let out a mew behind the menu as it shook slightly in her hands, “Umm… err... yes?”
Alburet immediately felt bad. He had told her not even an hour ago he wasn’t interested in any kind of relationship and now here he was asking for an anime trope that was all about cute couples. He blinked as he realized what he was doing, chewing on his lip. If he tried to back out of it now he would really be an ass. He sighed internally as he glanced at the menu to figure out his order. Fluff set her menu down, her cheeks still red as she looked around the room, Alburet set his down a moment later and caught the eyes of the maid.
“Are you ready, sir?”
“Yes we are, but ladies first,” Alburet said, nodding towards Fluff.
“Um, I’ll take the strawberry crepe and the strawberry milk please,” Fluff said.
“Chocolate crepe and coffee for me, please. Just a splash of cream in the coffee,” Alburet said. The maid collected the menus, thanking them and hurrying away.
“I haven’t been out to food with a friend in years, “Alburet mused. “It’s nice, even here in Alpha World, and at a maid cafe to boot.”
“Oh because of the…” Fluff cut off as she caught herself about to mention his disability.
“Yeah, because of that,” Alburet said calmly, “it’s not a great topic so I thank you for breaking off the sentence.”
“Sorry,” Fluff said looking away. “What about before that?”
“I used to go out once a week with a friend and his daughter. That was about it, really. I was never good at the whole dating thing, it’s hard when the first thing you have to ask a woman you’re interested in is if they’re a felon or currently undergoing criminal charges.”
Fluffball’s eyes went wide, “You had to ask that?”
“Policy for the sheriff’s office, so yeah. Considering the smallish town I lived in had a massive drug issue, it was really hard to find someone so I all but gave up on it. I was happy enough to hang with my friend and his daughter. Those were good days,” he said, the memories causing a sad smile form on his lips.
“You don’t see them anymore?” Fluff asked softly, her hand inching across the table toward his.
“Not since the incident,” Alburet replied, his face becoming a blank mask as he looked away.
Just then the maid came over with the crepes and drinks. The crepes were in stands to hold them upright with the wrapper around them. The maid quickly placed the food before each of them then added a splash of cream to his coffee at the table. “Enjoy the food,” she said, bouncing away.
“At least they got the happy atmosphere of the cafe right,” Alburet said, a smile tugging the corners of his lips up.
Fluff nodded, sipping her milk before taking the crepe out of its holder. “About trying my crepe,” she paused, holding it towards him slightly, “you can if you want.”
Alburet felt a part of him melt at the stereotypical shy anime girl offering a bite of her food. With a nod he leaned over the table and took a small bite from her crepe, the creamy richness combined with strawberry filling his mouth with flavor. He made appreciative noises as he finished the bite, “Delicious. Did you want a bite of mine?” He held out his crepe to her in return.
Her cheeks flaming, she hesitantly leaned to take a bite. As she pulled back a small blob of cream went with her, stuck to her cheek. She purred loudly as she chewed. “So good,” she said after swallowing.
Alburet reached out and wiped the cream from her cheek, which made her stiffen in surprise. “Sorry, you took a touch more than you thought.” He stopped, wondering if he should offer it to her or eat it himself. In the two seconds he paused she leaned forward and lapped dab of cream off his finger. Her tongue was rough, just like a cat, rasping over the end of his finger.
Blinking in shock, he stared at his hand where the cream had just been. His brain stuttered as it processed the unexpected sensation. He was amazed that she’d been ballsy enough to do it. His brain immediately started offering up all sorts of images that would not be fit for polite company and he felt his own cheeks burning as he sat there blinking stupidly. He finally pulled his gaze up to look at Fluff. She was turned partially away, crepe in one hand drink in the other, her entire face red.
“Well. I wasn’t expecting that,” he finally managed to say. “Not that I mind but, please warn me next time.”
“Sorry,” the word was barely audible as Fluff slowly turned back to him. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Alburet took a bite of his crepe, enjoying the way the chocolate mingled with the cream before he said anything else. “Fluff, I really don’t mind. However, if you do more stuff like that I will have to start telling you what I think of when you do.” He said it with a note of humor in his voice so she could clearly understand he was teasing her gently.
Eyes going wide, she looked at him, before quickly taking another bit of her crepe. It left a streak of cream on her nose. She looked down cross eyed at it before she looked up at him with worry.
Alburet chuckled and shook his head, “I’ll leave that one to you.” He quickly shut up when her tongue snaked out and cleaned it off. He blinked as he realized just how long and flexible that tongue might be. Coughing, he looked away and took another bite of his own crepe as he tried to shut off his imagination.
Tilting her head to the side, Fluff watched him. His obvious discomfort seemed to cheer her up some. They ate the rest of the meal mostly in silence, just enjoying the food and drink with no more dashes of cream on cheeks or noses. He did note that the place did steady if slow business, each of the servers each had at least one table by the time they finished.
The maid came back as they finished their food, “Can I get you anything else, master?”
“Just the check, please,” Alburet replied as he finished off his coffee.
She placed the check on the table as she took the empty dishware away, “Please, come again.”
Alburet watched her walk away, noticing this time that her tail came out from under the skirt. His brain again unhelpfully supplied an image of what would happen if she got startled and her tail stood up in fear. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he shook his head. After looking at the bill he dropped two silver onto the table.
“You really don’t mind the way Lunari look?” Fluff asked. She had been watching him as he watched the maid walk away, trying to read his expression.
Blinking, he looked up at her, “No, why would I? As I said earlier I watched anime a lot. A good chunk of them have animal girls, from the normal cat and bunny girls to the more exotic ones. I can honestly say a few adult thoughts have crossed my mind in regard to what that would be like.”
Fluff blushed again, “Oh, er. Okay,” she said, embarrassed again.
“We should go, it’s getting late,” he stood up and held out his arm.
Fluff got to her feet, linking her arm through his, “I guess.”
The maid thanked them again at the door as they left, “Please came home again soon, master.”