Eventually, the happy couple arrives at their table – a small, rectangular two-seater, practically in the middle of the restaurant. Right as they're sitting down, the waiter arrives, offering menus.
Cara takes the opportunity to study the couple more closely, a strange sense of deja vu settling on her. He eyes narrow, puzzled.
'They look so familiar, but...I'm certain I've never met an elf that looks like the guy. How strange...'
She's jarred from her puzzling thoughts when, after the waiter leaves, the girl suddenly rises from her seat. She lifts her chair effortlessly, drawing the eyes of everyone in the vicinity, then shamelessly moves it around the side of the table, so she's seated right beside her boyfriend. She gracefully seats herself, ignoring the disapproving stares, and once again lays her head against the guy's shoulder affectionately.
Cara raises her eyebrows.
'Wow...okay, maybe I was wrong about who's smitten with who. Is this girl insane?'
The guy, for his part, looks deeply uncomfortable. However, Cara sees the girl grin mischievously at him before whispering in his ear, simultaneously guiding his hand to her knee. The guy stiffens, any thoughts about the girl's chair etiquette clearly evaporating from his mind. The sight causes Cara to clasp her hand over her mouth, stifling laughter.
"Pffffttt...gods, she is insane! But...I kind of respect it..." (Cara)
If there's one thing she's come to believe in the past week, it's that when something is truly important to you, you pursue it, hold onto it. End of story. And, well, on that front, this mystery girl is killing it.
In typical Pointed Ear fashion, it's not long before the couple's food and wine arrives. When it does, the waiter appears to politely comment on the girl's moved chair, perhaps requesting that she return to her appropriate spot. However, the girl frowns disapprovingly, before simply turning an expectant smile to the guy. She says something to him quietly.
Cara watches the exchange with interest, curious what exactly the girl's play is supposed to be.
After a moment, the guy sighs as if regretful, but wears a clearly resigned expression. He smiles apologetically, then inexplicably produces something in his hand, which he gives to the waiter with a few soft, polite words. Cara strains to see, her eyes bulging when she succeeds. She chokes on her wine, coughing quietly for a few seconds.
'Did that guy just give the waiter a platinum coin!?'
Indeed, the waiter seems to pale as he registers what was just handed to him. Then, the waiter begins bowing several times as he backs away from the table. Cara doesn't need to be able to hear to know how effective that blatant bribe was. She shakes her head in disbelief.
'These two...absolutely shameless...'
But the girl in question doesn't seem embarrassed by the exchange at all. Instead, she's directing a smile at the guy that's equal parts bewitching and maniacal, while the guy just smiles back at her helplessly, shaking his head.
The two begin eating, talking, the guy slowly becoming more lively as their conversation clearly transitions to less suggestive wordplay. The girl maintains her chaotic demeanor throughout their stay, but opts for more innocent gestures of affection like nudging the guy's feet under the table, or insisting on trying one another's food.
All the while, Cara is entranced by their dynamic. By the way that, whenever the girl thinks the guy isn't looking, she casts longing glances at him as her expression softens into a sweet smile. And how, when the guy thinks the girl isn't looking, he will throw surprisingly unsettling glares at men that have been staring at her. Before Cara knows it, quite a bit of time has passed.
"Lady Cara, would you like anything else?"
She snaps to attention, realizing that the restaurant's owner has arrived beside her. She's a regular here, and he likes to tend to her personally sometimes. Given how long she's been here tonight, it's not a surprise that he's checking in.
She smiles politely, preparing to shake her head, then something occurs to her. She raises her eyebrows.
"Actually, could you send your best dessert to that couple down there? Fufufu...you can tell them it came from this very jealous young lady. They're lucky to have each other." (Cara)
The owner follows her gaze, his eyes finding the couple in question before flashing with recognition. He nods, an amused smile playing at his lips.
"Of course, Lady Cara. I'll see to it."
The owner departs quietly, and Cara goes back to observing the couples below, finding that none of them are quite as interesting to her. She also can't shake the feeling that she's definitely seen the couple in question somewhere before, but an explanation eludes her.
Eventually, she watches in excitement as the couple's waiter makes his way to their table with a dessert – her little gift. The waiter presents it to them, eliciting puzzled expressions from both the guy and girl. After a moment, Cara sees their waiter point at her, and the couple looks her way.
'Fufufu...that's my cue...'
Cara gives the couple her sweetest smile and waves politely, then lifts her last bit of wine in a little toast. Their reactions are...not what she expects.
The guy goes completely stiff, all the color draining from his face like he's seen a ghost. Weirdly enough, it almost seems like the couple's hair color flickers briefly, but Cara's sure it must just be a trick of the light.
The girl's reaction is somehow both less strange and more unsettling. When she sees Cara, she freezes for the briefest of moments. But then she gives Cara an enthusiastic wave and a big smile. And yet...something about the gesture sends a shiver down Cara's spine.
After a few moments, the girl digs her fork into the dessert, coaxing the guy out of his stupor so that she can feed it to him. As he reluctantly eats the dessert from the girl's fork, Cara almost swears that the girl flashes her the briefest smug grin. However, the girl is soon focused on the guy again, pulling the fork away from his mouth.
Almost inexplicably, she seems to fumble with the motion, and smears some cream from the dessert on the guy's lips. Before he can clean it, though, she grabs his chin and pulls him into a kiss. Deep, passionate, and uncomfortable for anyone who watches, as she practically licks the guy's lips clean. Right then, in the middle of that seriously inappropriate and unnecessary display of affection...
The girl's eyes open casually and lock with hers. And that's when Cara realizes – it's no accident, none of it since the dessert arrived. The girl's eyes are dark, possessive, deeply unsettling, and...full of challenge, intent. Cara can practically hear the girl repeatedly muttering 'mine' into her ear.
Then, just as suddenly as it seemed to appear, the girl's unsettling expression vanishes as she breaks the kiss with her boyfriend. She's back to staring at him with a radiant, loving smile. The boyfriend – deep red from embarrassment – slowly calms down with the girl's coaxing, and the two go about finishing the dessert and laughing, as if they've forgotten all about Cara.
Meanwhile, Cara's mouth is still hanging open from the girl's display.
'What...the actual hell. That girl is deeply, genuinely unstable in the head.'
She's glad her heart is already set on someone else, because that is clearly the kind of crazy she wants no part of.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
I teleport us back into my room at the mansion, and Ilina spins away from me excitedly, her dress hem flashing dangerously high. She laughs almost maniacally, then stops, looking over her shoulder at me with a smile blistering enough to melt the sun. She launches herself into my chest, wrapping her arms around my neck as she giggles excitedly.
"Hehehe...oh my gods, Mizuki! Thank you, thank you, thank you! That was so much fun!" (Ilina)
I force a smile, my heart, already set on edge by the unexpected run-in with Cara, struggling to endure the adorable sight of Ilina acting like this.
"I'm glad you had fun. You really went overboard, though...everyone was glaring at us." (Mizuki)
Ilina smiles, not apologetic, but definitely sympathetic. Appreciative, even. Her voice is soft, filled with a kind of relief, and perhaps something resembling gratitude as well.
"Maybe, but it was exhilarating, Mizuki. I never get to act like that, to just be allowed some inappropriate behavior. My entire life, I've been met with expectations as Princess. Things, favors, behaviors, accomplishments...expectations of every kind. From my parents, the nobility, the commoners – everyone. Alara's abrasive personality and my lack of useful magic only made it that much more important that I be dignified, clever, rational...perfect.
"But I'm not perfect, Mizuki, and it was nice to finally stop pretending. To have the outlet to indulge every little intrusive thought that I spend the rest of my life suppressing. Honestly, this might have been the best night of my life, and you made it possible. I asked you for something stupid, something reckless, something that should have been impossible, and you somehow made it reality anyway. Just...thank you..." (Ilina)
Without even waiting for a response, she pulls me by my neck, pressing her lips into mine. Softly, with a tenderness that makes any lingering irritation from the night melt. She pulls away, her grey eyes studying me, raw with emotion. Her face twisted into an expression of pure gratitude.
And...it makes me cave. I sigh, smiling at her helplessly.
"If that's really how you feel, then it was all worth it. The stress, the almost two hours of tedious magic prep. Worth it." (Mizuki)
Ilina grins, running her hands through my hair affectionately. Her eyes trace to my ears, distinctly elven, and her face lights up with awe and curiosity. She runs her finger along the tip of one of my ears, testing the springy resistance, the texture. She shakes her head, marveling.
"Using your magic to alter our hair, eye, and skin color was impressive, but these ears of yours are something else entirely. I still can't believe you managed it..." (Ilina)
I groan internally, remembering the infuriating process of making these fake ears. Of the almost two hours I spent crafting our disguises, over 90% of that time was spent on these ears. A complex mixture of several light-reflecting forcefields with different reflection properties, textures, 'stretchiness' factors.
It took every little magic trick I've come up with recently to pull off, and I had to painstakingly tune everything in front of a mirror, with Ilina right in front of me as an ear reference. Even then, the actual spells that I had to simultaneously visualize strained my mental limits, and I had to enchant them into a spell ring. There's no way I would have been able to maintain the focus necessary to sustain them manually.
But, thank gods I put in the work and made the ears, instead of just wearing some kind of socially acceptable ear covering, like I was first considering.
"Yeah, me either, but I'm glad I pulled it off. Honestly, are you sure that Cara didn't recognize us? It was crazy enough running into her their, and she even sent us that dessert." (Mizuki)
Personally, I feel like that's pretty damning evidence that she knew it was us. Why would she send a dessert to strangers like that, then wave at us knowingly? Ilina doesn't seem to agree, though.
Ilina smiles at me, her expression an unexpected mixture of smugness and...satisfaction?
"Trust me, Mizuki...she didn't recognize us. She wouldn't have behaved the way she did if she'd known who we were. We were just drawing that much attention as a sickeningly romantic couple. It was a coincidence. Besides, even if I was wrong – which I'm not – she wouldn't tell anyone what she saw." (Ilina)
I purse my lips, thoughtful and conflicted.