There's a small maid cafe at the corner of the street, the Firog maid coffee.
It's a peaceful maid coffee with not so much staff, but four maids and two butlers are already enough for the coffee shop to run smoothly.
A pink, adorable maid with two trays full of food in their hand runs over to serve the guests.
"Please walk slowly, the trays might fall."
Another maid nearby with a calm but motionless look warned them.
"Ah…It's fine, Belen! Cherry does this all the time! No food falling at all…Cherry even plans to ask to use the roller skates, but Fih and the other don't let me…"
"Of course you can't!" A maid with her adorable wolf ear, she looks somewhat uncomfortable: "This dam shop will go down if we actually let you try that thing on…"
"Leonie…I swear this shop might go down at any moment, giving…" A butler staff whisper in her mouth when she hears what the other maid said.
"It's ok…I'm sure we can fix things somehow…" Another butler tries to calm her down.
"Oh hell…Lulu, don't get so positive so soon…"
Lulu hugs his favorite Mr.Purpura cat a bit tighter: "I mean, you're not totally wrong…Toto…"
"Four god dam boms stuff into a small shop, and we have to be their babysitter…!" Toto tries her best to whisper so the others won't hear her.
"Well…it's fun watching them doing things sometimes…" Lulu smiles: "Since all I've ever done is to share my pain with Fih…it's tiring…Fih bullies me a lot, you know…hic!" He looks like he wanted to cry again when he remembers all those things.
"You think you're the only one? I can't take a break from that Froggy either!"
Fih and Froggy are the owner and the chef of this coffee shop. Toto and Lulu were indeed being pulled into this coffee to help babysit the shop, but this is quite a time where they can enjoy actually doing some staff work, more than just having to help Fih and Froggy stop doing strange things that can harm themselves.
"Talk bad about me, I see…"
"Fih?!" Lulu jumped like a cat: "When did you?!"
"Uh?" Froggy also pops her head out at the corner of the kitchen.
"You two…get back to work!" Toto said in displeasure.
"No, no, not now." Fih shook their head and continued to stare at something with Froggy. "Do you think what I'm thinking?" they ask Froggy.
Froggy gave Fih a serious nod: "It is what we think it is."
While the other maids are running around, it seems as if one certain maid isn't feeling very well today…
"What the hell are you two talking about…" Toto looks at them in confusion.
Lulu slowly raised his eyes and looked in the direction that Fih and Froggy were staring at: "Anja?"
"She had been like this since the morning…" Fih whispering.
"It's that day tomorrow…she must be nervous…" Froggy whispers back.
"That day?" Toto asked.
"Today, this February 13, right?" Lulu counted the day before he realised: "Ahh! So tomorrow is…"
"Valentines…" all four of them said in unison.
If anything…this coffee shop has had so much trouble in the past, not because of dealing with the guests but the maids' staff themselves…
All four maids have such unique personalities that even with the help of Toto and Lulu, it's still hard to handle.
Maybe Belen is the calmest…she doesn't talk much and simply does the work she needs to do, but…she has a wonder curousity of a kid and will allow their other maid, Cherry, to do their weird things.
Belen does stop Cherry sometime but the way she acts as if saying that, 'you can do as you want as long as it doesn't affect the customer'. Which Cherry takes this as 'Do as you wish, just don't kill anyone along the way…'
Though…Unfortunately, Cherry is the last one you can ever trust among all of the maids. They don't lie, they don't hurt you, but they will do weird things you can't even understand…
They're a being that is beyond our understanding, or should I slip it out for you? They're not even human, nor any kind belong to Earth. Cherry is an…
A-L-I-E-N.
But they're just a runaway scientist from their planet who ended up on Earth and is now working at this shop for fun…
Their werewolf maid, Leonie, has a short temper and a love life problem…and worst, the one she has a crush on and also the one who has a crush on her is our other member…Anja, the sheep maid.
And yes, the whole shop already knew they had a crush on each other, but they themselves did not know how much the other partner loved them…
This does not cost any temporary problem like Cherry and Belen, but a big one…very big one…
With the introductions out of the way, Valentine's is coming soon, and the problem this coffee shop has to face is…
"I feel like I'll catch a cold soon…" Toto's face turned slightly pale.
"Are you alright?" Lulu asks with a worried face.
"Nah…just feel kinda terrible because I have a feeling we won't be at peace tomorrow."
"Guys…" Fih's face also turned a bit purple: "Quick! Whose night shift is tomorrow…?!"
"Tomorrow is…" Froggy slowly raised her phone up for them to see: "Leo…"
"God dam it!" Toto swore in her mouth: "We'd better run before we get caught up in their love life problem…I can already smell it from here…"
"And Leo is acting strange too…" Froggy can clearly see that the way she walks is like a machine running dry on oil: "Oh my poor Leo.."
"No time to care for your wolf baby!" Toto frowns: "We're all about to die here!"
"Don't be so negative…Toto."
"Shut up, Lulu! Last time Cherry made a bomb from baking powder and almost end the kitchen! You led them the powder yourself!"
"I'm so sorry…I thought Cherry was doing something else that not…a bom…hic…" He hugged Mr.Purpura even tighter.
While the babysitting team is in panic, the two maids working near Anja and Leonie also sense something is about to happen.
"Belen…" Cherry whispers to Belen when they walk near each other: "Do you think Leonii is sick today?"
"Hardly…" Belen calmly shook her head.
"Look!" Cherry points over to Leonie: "She walks so weird…"
"I think I know what's going on."
"Oh?! Tell Cherry, tell Cherry!"
Belen whispers into Cherry's upper ear; she looks like she is talking to Cherry's hair, but it's simply because Cherry's ear is on top of their head, and is covered by their fake horn decoration.
Cherry covered their ear up so the other won't find out about them being an alien, but the longer they work here, they realize it's fine and that the customer will think their fuffy ear is just two decorative poms poms.
Still, Cherry accidentally got used to it, so the horn still stays.
"It's valentines soon, I think Leonie was planning to buy chocolate for Anja." Belen whispered a simple, short message to Cherry.
Belen always talks briefly; she is more of a thinker than talkative.
"Oh…I see…I see!" Cherry nodded their head up and down, and both of them turned away from each other to deliver the food to the customer.
Cherry was planning to meet Belen again after finishing serving two more customers, so it's Valentine's…Cherry thinks to themselves.
On their planet, there is also a day for people who are in love…but they never care about it, no lover, no one to like or care for, Cherry live their life busy with doing the things they love and all that research…
"I remember the only chocolate I got was from…" one of their scientist friend and Cherry's cousin.
Cherry's cousin got so much chocolate that day, he came back with a handful of chocolate boxes and begged Cherry to please have some to help him out.
Maybe, Cherry thinks, maybe Cherry should buy some chocolate and give it to the shop staff too! What chocolate would Belen like? Dark chocolate? Milk chocolate? Wait! Cherry knows! They have pink chocolate, right?! And fish chocolate too!
When Cherry was running off to the kitchen to ask Fih if they should buy some chocolate for the shop staff.
Someone hold on to Cherry's hand and pull them away.
"Wa!!!"
And they push Cherry down to hide under one of the tables at the corner of the shop.
"Lower your voice…"
"Uh? Leonii?"
"Syttt!"
"Ok…" Cherry pulls their hand over their mouth like zipping their mouth off.
"Look, Cherry…I…" Leonie turns away for a moment before looking back at Cherry: "I…need your help…"
"..."
"Can you…help me…"
"..."
"P…Please…?"
"..." Cherry immediately knew this business was related to Anja, because no way this wolf just said 'please', at least not to Cherry. Cherry uses their long-sleeve maid uniform to cover their mouth while opening a big smile without Leonie knowing. "Uhm…"
"Are you busy this afternoon?"
"Uhm…" Cherry can't laugh yet…no! "No…Cherry free."
"That good…" Leonie breathed out a relieved sigh.
Cherry feels a little cold on their back…they think to themselves, if Anja saw or heard this, maybe Cherry will be stared at with those terrifying sheep eyes for a whole week…but hey, this seems fun~! Let's see how things play out tomorrow.
Cherry bet Leonii will look red like a tomato tomorrow, trying to give Anja chocolate, or because Anja gave Leonii her chocolate.
Whatever happens tomorrow, this adorable little wolf will explode for sure!
"What does Cherry need to help you with?" Since she already says the magic world with Cherry, Cherry will play along this time~
"I was planning to buy some chocolate on the way home…can you…"
"Go with Leonii to buy chocolate? Sure!"
"Ahh…" Leonie covers her red-ish face with both of her hands, it is quite dark under the table so Cherry can't see clearly,y but they can guess it out: "T…thank…"
"No problem! Cherry needs to buy some too."
"Yeah…I need to…not for anyone important! I just want to…"
"Alright, alright, Cherry knows! Let's get out of here before Belen and Anja go find us."
"Ah, yes!"
They both try to stand up, and both accidentally hit the table.
"Ow…"
"Uh-!"
Then footsteps came nearby.
"Oh no!" Cherry got a bit panicked, but since Leonie seemed calmer, they sensed that it must be anyone but Anja…
The table cover slowly got pulled up, and a head popped in: "Hi."
"Belen! Sorry! Cherry will go back to work right away!"
"Is everything alright?" Belen asks with a motionless face.
"Everything alright!" Cherry said with a big smile on their face.
'Cherry is planning something again' Belen thinks to herself when she sees that smile.
Leonie quickly jumped out of the table and rushed to the kitchen to get the food, her heart was beating faster than normal, this is not good…
On the other side, Anja is also dealing with her own problem.
"Anja, Anja." Toto snapped her finger for five times now: "Anja, the customer is waiting…!"
Lulu gave Toto a look, saying that 'Toto, don't…'
Toto sends him back another look: 'I won't…not like I can slap her brain back or anything…Froggy will not leave me alone after that…'
Lulu smiled with worry on his face 'Yes…just hold it for today and tomorrow…'
'Uh! fine…'
'You can do it! Me and Mr.Purpura will cheer for you!'
'Uhhhhhhhhh!!!'
"Anja!"
"Uh…?"
"Whatever is in your head, knock it off until work is done." Toto handed her a tray of sweet treats that the customers ordered: "This is for table B3." she reminded Anja, where the customer is in case she accidentally loses it and walks on cloud again.
"I will…" Anja said in a motionless voice, then walked away.
"The hell…!"
"Calm down, Toto…we can do this…!" Lulu comes over and gives Toto some cheer.
"I'm about to quit my work soon…"
"As if we can…"
Both of them breathe out a heavy sigh before going back to their own work.
"Thank you, Anja!" The customer smiled before she asked if Anja could serve for a bit.
"What do you want…?" She said in a weak voice, and her eyes seemed out of focus
"Uh…are you alright, Anja? You seem lost in thought."
"I'm fine." Anja cut her off right away.
"Ok?"
Anja woke up today like every other day, turned her phone on, and realized…it is already February 13…?!
February 14 is just one day away…no…oh no…
Valentine's Day is coming!!!
What should she do…
And so, she got up from bed, brushed her teeth, got ready, and went to work in a state of deep thought.
About just one question: "What should I get for Leonie on Valentine's?"
It had been wrinkling her brain for half a day now.
Chocolate…what kind of chocolate…does Leonie like, white chocolate or black? Or milk? Sweet one? Bitter one?
Should she just drive over to the big mall to get that fancy chocolate, or does Leonie like the small classic type?
She was searching about chocolate on her phone, but after looking at all of them, she was still not satisfied.
I need to give her something good…to make her happy…all Anja needs is for Leonie to be happy on Valentine's…
She won't mind if they tie and burn her on a cross like burning a witch…if Leonie wanted, she would ask Cherry to find a cross and do it right away…! (But of course, everyone will try to stop her.)
Chocolate…Chocolate…
Chocolate…
What should I get for Leonie…
"Anja…we done today…hey." Toto snapped her finger again and again: "Shop close, go back home, little sheep…"
And just like that…a day ended with Anja failing to find a present to give to Leonie.
Anja sighed in dissatisfaction and slowly walked to the back room to change her clothes and get ready to go back home.
Right…maybe she can sneak a peek and hear if Leonie said something about chocolate? Should she ask Cherry to chat with Leonie about the chocolate topic…
"Ah…"
"Good work…" Anja gives her a small nod when she enters the room, then wanders her eyes around.
"You too." Belen also gave her a small nod. She sensed Anja's eyes were searching for something: "If you're looking for Cherry, they gone home early. Same to Leonie." Belen wasn't lying; Cherry and Leonie did end their shift early, she just didn't tell Anja the full story.
That they both going to buy some chocolate together on the way home.
But Belen won't spoil that.
"I see…" Anja looked somewhat disappointed. She quickly turned back and left the room.
"Wait, Anja."
"What…?"
"Your…clothes…" Belen blinked her eyes after she tried to say, 'Are you going to go home wearing that maid outfit?'
"Ah! Yes…apologize…" She took her clothes and walk with a fast speed out of the room.
'I almost laugh…' Belen thinks to herself.
She looked to the door and remembered what Cherry said to her, that it seemed like both Anja and Leonie wanted to buy some chocolate for each other.
But with Leonie's personal, she would try to buy something for Anja…Anja, on the other hand, will book a flight to France just to get her hands on those limited chocolates that only have 3 versions that exist in this world, only if a flight to France took her only an hour, and if she can get back to the shop in time to give it to Leonie.
No, no, if she realizes she doesn't have enough time, she'll just crash the plane into our shop so she can be able to be here on time to give it to Leonii, Cherry whispers.
Yes, but we will all die in that plane crash…Belen said to Cherry with a rather calm face.
Yeah! But knowing Anja, she will at least save just Leonii and let us and the customer die…Cherry said with joy.
Honestly, being around Cherry is quite an enjoyable time for Belen; they keep saying weird things, but it's funny to hear them every time.
All that crazy fantaside that no normal human can think of.
Belen can make a guess that tomorrow, some pink alien maid will give her some pink chocolate. Cherry really likes pink for some reason, and sometimes they ask, 'Do I look cute?' when they have a new hair decoration or just simply a different hairstyle.
Fih and Froggy would clap their hand and praise Cherry. Lulu nodded and said 'You look adorable' with eyes that showed a mix of happiness and sadness.
Toto will simply nod. Leonie will get a bit confused before she finds out that Cherry got something new in their hair, and Anja will just give Cherry a 'Uhm.'
And for the first time in Belen's life, when Cherry first ran over to ask Belen. She doesn't know what to do… should she praise Cherry? Should she just said 'You look adorable'? Give them a nod…?
She didn't know what to do, but in the next moment, she said without thinking: "Yes…you look cute."
She saw as Cherry opened their big marble-like pink eyes, a big smile grow on their face: "Is that so! Thank you!"
For some reason, Belen feels like there flower grown and fish are swimming excitedly in her chest.
It had been a long time since someone smile to her…and said thank you just for a praise…
Maybe working here wasn't so bad after all… It was just a random work she picked because it was easy to apply…now she thinks about it…it was like luck smiled at her.
The owner is nice, her co-worker is a little weird, but they treat her nicely…
She wishes she could work here for all her life. And no need to go back to her parents' house at all…
Here with everyone…
And maybe something about Cherry is so charming…whatever it is, when they make a plan to do weird things, she can't help but get curious and simply wants to watch how it goes instead of stopping it.
Cherry is a smart person, but they love to play tricks. Belen thinks she accidentaly learn how not to tell the truth from them.
"Listen up, Belen." Cherry once told her that, with a cup, Cherry was using that to play the shell game with the customer, and after that Cherry also use it to explain to Belen: "Human…or my kind, as you all call aliens, have sometimes in comment. We can all use our brains…but it's really funny once you understand it! Do you know our brain can recognize patterns? What with that, you think?" Cherry uses their hand to cover the cup handle. "Even if I cover this part, Belen still knows how it looks, right?"
"Yes." Belen nodded.
"When we already know what was there, we can imagine it even if it is not visible to our eyes. But what if Cherry got a cup just like this, but the handle looked different? And then…Cherry also covers the handle, so Belen won't see it. Now, if Cherry asks Belen, Belen will think that this cup has the same handle even if Cherry does not show it to Belen yet. Does Belen get that part?"
"Quite understand…"
"Since Belen is interested in it, so Cherry explains, don't worry…Cherry doesn't like to waste time on those who won't understand…anyway! It's called False pattern recognition! Or Apopenia, Belen, don't need to remember all that!"
Their word so weird…as if fighting with each other…why did they only explain to those who would understand and then tell her not to remember it?
"What is important that Cherry wants to say here is. Once Belen understands how the full picture looks, it is easy to play with the string and control the thoughts of your opponent. Once Belen covers the handle and only lets them see the cup…they will think about how the handle looks in their way." Cherry smiles mischievously: "So now Belen knows how Cherry threatens bad guest sometime…Humans in this world think aliens are those terrified monsters…so Cherry plays into their mind abit, Cherry never said they can do all that…Cherry never lies…Cherry only…not telling them the full story, and they will imagine it themselves."
Belen was impressed…at that moment, she wanted to learn more from Cherry. As if Cherry can help her grow and learn how to stand up for herself…as if Cherry can hand her the weapon she needs.
For all her life, she been a quiet person, everyone dislikes her for that…
Speak more, Belen…
Smile more, Belen…
And Cherry and this maid coffee simply gave her one job: be yourself, Belen.
Your job is to be yourself.
You get to hate others, you get to lie, you don't even need to smile…Just be yourself, Belen.
"Who cares…" Fih said, "Are you truly happy if you learn to smile?"
Maybe this place is full of weirdo, but it suits her well…
"Do as you like." That cold sheep maid was the first.
"Be yourself, that's all you need to do!" The pink, adorable maid's joyful state.
"Just speak things your way, Belen," and the woft maid said with confidence.
If anything, she knew that she was the least weirdo in this place. Everyone is just weird in their own way, unique and colorful…
She raised her mouth a little, wishing that Anja would be able to get what she wanted this Valentine's.
"For now, I can only cheer for you."