Fixing my clothes, I placate Vanye by patting her shoulder before shifting my gaze to Momo, who was glaring at the two of us, though just as I was about to try and explain, the rest of the 'The Beasts' approached us, causing me to inwardly sigh since every single one of them was giving me an unfriendly gaze, which honestly was a bit annoying. 'This isn't my fault. I told Lulu in advance; I didn't just quietly leave for two months.' Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I was prepared to apologize to Lulu even though I didn't feel like I needed to do so.
However, as I gazed at Lulu, I noticed she wasn't paying me any attention; tilting my head, I followed her gaze until I was looking at Vanimo, who flashed a smile, and although I wasn't interested in men, I couldn't deny that he was a beautiful man, I was even a bit jealous. 'Wait! Attractive… Could Lulu be interested in Vanimo!?' With wide eyes, I glanced at Vanimo before shifting my gaze to Lulu, who had a faint blush, causing me to smirk as a plan was already forming.
"Listen, Momo, as an apology, let me buy a meal for you guys. I know it's probably nothing, but let me start from somewhere." Faintly smiling, I gestured toward an empty table, causing Momo to scoff, though, in the end, he and the rest of 'The Beasts' approached the table along with Vanimo, Vanye, and I. "Waitress! I want three of everything on the breakfast menu!" Waving and yelling at the waitress, who was an Orc, she nodded and jotted down on her notepad before entering the back of the guild.
While she left to get our food, I glanced at Lulu, who was still mindlessly staring at Vanimo, prompting me to whisper into his ear. "Vanimo, do me a favor and flirt with Lulu." Wrapping my arm around his shoulder, I gestured at Lulu, prompting him to look at her before shaking his head. "Flirt? I-I can't do that, Alex. I-I don't know how to flirt… Also, if Talis finds out I was flirting, she'd kill Lulu!" Said Vanimo quietly as he looked at me as if I were crazy, though I just rolled my eyes and gently hit the back of his head, causing him to pout. "Relax, Lulu is strong; Talis won't be able to kill her. Also, just act yourself." Motivating and reassuring Vanimo, who didn't seem to believe my words, I took the lead and introduced him to everyone, though mainly Lulu.
"This man is a good friend of mine, Vanimo. He came all the way here from Asckbon in hopes of finding a wife since apparently all the Elves were hideous." Playfully roughing Vanimo up, I spoke every word, staring at Lulu, whose cheeks flushed bright red, causing me to smile as I elbowed him. "H-Hello, everyone; um, I don't know what happened, but I hope everything can be peacefully settled. Also, I already have a–" Before Vanimo could reveal Talis, I fell out of my seat while pushing him into Lulu, who was sitting to the left of him, and causing his face to land directly onto her lap. "A-Ah, s-sorry!" "N-No, d-don't be."
Watching as Vanimo and Lulu conversed, I sat back in my seat just in time for the waitress to arrive with our food, which was a massive amount; none of us needed to eat as we had breakfast, but that wasn't the same for the others. As if they'd been starved, they quickly began to devour the food, well, except for Lulu, who was once again looking at Vanimo, causing me to roll my eyes as I pinched his stomach. "What are you doing!? Talk to her!" Narrowing my eyes at Vanimo, who was rubbing his side, he sighed and reluctantly nodded before scotting a little closer to Lulu. "So, um, w-what are the bunny ears about?" Asked Vanimo awkwardly as he pointed at Lulu's bunny ears, causing my face to twitch at how terrible he was at making conversation, though seeing how enthusiastic Lulu was, I just ignored it.
'Haa, whatever, if it works, it works.' With everyone's attention drawn away from me, I placed ten silver on the table, paying for the food before grabbing Vanye's hand and quietly leaving the table; once we exited the guild, I leaned against the pillar, sighing in relief. "Ha, this is so much better." Rubbing my face, I looked up at the sky before shaking my head and walking down the street while Vanye followed beside me. "Didn't we come here so I could get my license and so you could become a B-Class adventure?" Asked Vanye curiously as she gazed at me, causing me to nod with a yawn while I wrapped an arm around her shoulder before bringing her into my embrace, causing her to blush underneath her helmet.
"Yeah, but we can do that later; I don't want to be anywhere near 'The Beasts' right now. Besides, I wouldn't want to get in the way of your brother flirting his heart out." Lifting Vanye's helmet just enough to see her pink lips, I stole a kiss from her while affectionately rubbing her shoulder, causing her cheeks to flush until they mimicked the color of her hair. "I-I don't know if I would call that flirting his heart out; also, what you did wasn't that nice." "Hmm, maybe so, but if Vanimo and Lulu get together, it would have been a good thing, right?" Although my way of handling Lulu wasn't the best, my logic was sound, so Vanye could do nothing but reluctantly nod. "Anyway, ever been to a park? Don't worry, kids frequent it a lot, so I won't do anything; well, I'll still steal a few kisses, but nothing more."
With a smirk, I gently grabbed Vany's chin and rubbed my thumb across her supple lips, causing her to squirm within my grasp since she felt uncomfortable at my intimate actions in public; chuckling, I retracted my hand and led Vanye to the park, where we sat until noon, and while it was unfortunate, I wasn't able to persuade her to sit on my lap.
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Watching Vanye grab her adventure license, she inspected it before showing me, causing me to give her a double thumbs-up. "Look at you, your first license, and you're already a B-class, something that took me 8 years to achieve." Playfully shaking Vanye, I backed away, grabbing my license, which had also been upgraded to B-Class, which came with a much fancier design and better-quality material. "8 years is still very fast, Sir. Even adventurers who have gone to A-class needed at least 14 years to become a B-Class… Well, at least within this Kingdom." Said the receptionist with a faint smile as she gazed at me, causing me to give her an appreciative nod at her comforting words.
"Also, I'm 50, more than double your age, Alex." "Eh, yeah, well, I suppose that's true." Nodding at Vanye, I said farewell to the receptionist before we left the guild; as we walked through the streets of Cassandra, I couldn't help but rub my chin. "Now that I think about it, all lovers are older than me. Lavender was in her 2000s, Michelle is in her 200s, Yuki is in her mid-40s, Lazuli is mentally the same age as me, but she was born around the same time as Yuki, and you're 50… Do I have a fetish for older women?" I was genuinely curious if I had a hidden desire for older women, though I didn't think too much about it and just shrugged my shoulders; it was a bit off-putting when I thought about it, but I also didn't care. 'You also said you'd make Zartha your lover, and she's even older than Lavender!' Said Trina with a faint smile as I saw a mental image of her swimming within her personal dimension, causing me to nod in agreement, only for me to be hit.
"Hmph, I'm not your lover." Said Vanye with a grunt as she folded her arms, causing me to chuckle since, despite her words, I could tell she wasn't the least bit upset at my statement. The two of us silently walked beside each other until we arrived back home, and surprisingly, Vanimo was nowhere to be seen. "Huh, I would've thought Vanimo would be home by now. Is he still with Lulu?" Scratching my head with a raised eyebrow in surprise, I wasn't able to take another step into my house as two massive talons grabbed my shoulders and pushed me onto the ground. "WHAT!? Vanimo is with a woman!?" Asked Talis furiously as she stood atop me, causing me to wryly smile before nodding. "Tsk, I'll kill that thief! Vanimo is my mate! He's my husband!"
With a flap of her wings, Talis shot out of the doorway and into the sky, causing me to rub my head. "Oh, I hope nothing happens." "Something is going to happen, Alex; this is Talis we're talking about." Said Chloe as she looked at me while walking down the stairs, causing me to groan as I knew she was right.