[NEW] Eeveelution Café

[B1] Chapter 3: Sincerity

"'Dew's Brews'? I gotta say, that's the cringiest name you've ever come up with!" Volt commented.
"Hey! I spent a lot of brainpower crafting this title! It's good!" Dewdrop insisted.
"You probably spent all of your brainpower trying to sound 'exquisite'!" the older brother shook his head. "And, matter of fact, you just sound ancient."
"HEY!" the younger sister cried.
"Uh...are you going to let her introduce her drinks?..." Lavender interrupted the argument. 
It was the second "staff" meeting to finalize menus and start making an actual menu layout.
"Just proving a point, nothing else." Volt sighed. "Carry on."
"So...I spent all my brainpower on coming up with this name and didn't plan a lot of drink names last night." Dewdrop admitted. "I knew that the deadline was today, but I was too tired."
"Oh." Willow replied. 
"It's alright," Lavender nodded slowly. "What do you have right now?"
"Ahem...Dew's Brews currently provides two drinks-"
"TWO!?" Lavender cried out, her eyes wide.
The Vaporeon stared at the Espeon blankly. Lavender coughed to avoid the awkward silence in the room.
"Ueugh...dang...that's...ehm...way less than what I expected...carry on?"
Dewdrop continued. "As I was saying, Dew's Brews currently provides two drinks, one being the classic and the base of every drink no matter what...water."
"Wait...wait..." Melody blinked. "So the first drink is just...water. No cool or weird name, just water?" 
"I mean, I can't just name a glass of water...I dunno...Wafer-Tasting Drink, now can I?" Dewdrop shrugged. 
"Wait until they find out that the drink tastes like water, not wafers." Bonfire commented. "Then they ask you what this is, and you tell them it's a special name for a glass of water."
"We're going to get sued for sure," Snowbelle shook her head. "If that ever happens."
Volt narrowed his eyes. "What's up with you jinxing our unopened business?"
The Glaceon remembered what happened last night, but her stomach suddenly got whacked by a big pang of guilt for ignoring him. "Uhhmm...I just don't...Dew, what's your other drink?"
Dewdrop's eyes suddenly started sparkling. "Thought you'd never ask!"
"Wai-"
"Dew's Brews also provides another drink, with a taste similar to lemonade, but even more refreshing with or without extra sugar! Introducing, another classic along with water...iced tea!" Dewdrop announced proudly.
Lavender did a facepalm, while Willow hesitantly wrote down some words. The rest just stared and blinked without doing anything.
"Once again, Dew's Brews is grateful for all of your patronage, and will continue to expand with more drinks in the future! Thank you~" the Vaporeon stood up, did a bow, and sat down again.
"When are you going to come up with more drinks?" Willow inquired.
Dewdrop answered thoughtfully. "Soon. Maybe by the end of the week?"
"Today's a Tuesday. You'd get, like, 5 days to plan your drinks out." Melody pointed out. "What about the pastry menu?"
Snowbelle shrugged. "Still coming up with more stuff, the end of the week would be fine."
"How about no more meetings until Saturday, then?" Moonshade suggested. "There's nothing else to discuss other than menus."
Lavender nodded. "Yeah, Moon's surprisingly right. So...uh...meeting closed?"
"You could just say that the meeting's over." the Umbreon said.
"Oh. Okay...the meeting's over. But wait...do you guys wanna go out to eat today? It'll be on me." 
Volt blinked. "Uh...aren't we going to pay for what we ate like what we used to do?" 
"If you want to, you can just pay for your own. I'm still willing to pay, though." Lavender shrugged. "It's just your choice."
Everybody nodded and thanked the Espeon before leaving, but Snowbelle stayed with Willow and Lavender without saying anything. The room's silence was deafening and also awkward. 
"Uh...Lav? Can we talk to you about something?" Willow finally turned to look Lavender in the eyes.

"Come in. The door's not locked."
Willow trotted in after carefully opening the door and closing it behind her. "Sis?"
"Hi Wills! What happened?" Snowbelle put down her book and sat up from her bed. 
"Can I talk to you about Volt and Lav?" Willow pulled the chair from her older sister's desk and sat on it. 
Snowbelle slid her bookmark into her book and put it on her nightstand. "Yeah, sure. What happened?"
"I don't think Volt's as bad as you said he was." Willow said after a bit of hesitation.
"Say." Snowbelle corrected.
The Leafeon frowned. "You never even gave him a chance, this isn't fair for him."
"I always gave h-..." 
Snowbelle paused and thought about it. She was already being pretty strict about the chances that she gave him...so was that really fair?
"Is he even aware that you're giving him chances?" Willow glanced at the wall for a quick moment. "I mean, if he knows and is still messing up, that's on him. If he has no idea, that's on you."
"I don't need you to tell me." Snowbelle responded coldly, her thoughts still jumbled up into a big random pile. "I know."
"Do you?"
The Glaceon stayed silent, making the night breeze coming through the slightly opened window seem loud. 
"Trust me, Sis, I'm not trying to sound like Mot...you know who."
Snowbelle nodded. "Yup, I get what you mean. Sorry, Wills."
Willow smiled. "It's alright. I didn't come into your room just to try and get you to change your mind about Volt. This was supposed to be more about Lavender instead."
"Lavender? What happened? Did she do something?" Snowbelle blinked.
"Nothing, really. But I can also see how mesmerized she is by Volt. It's brutally painful knowing that he doesn't like her back." the Leafeon admitted. 
"Hm, so, what are you planning to do about it?"
Willow sighed. "Belle, I need you to help me see if this idea would work. I didn't put a lot of thought into it, but I think this might be able to work."
"Okay...go on..."
"I need Volt to not like me and also somehow get him to like Lavender instead, so they can be happy as a couple."
Snowbelle nodded slowly. "Makes sense, how are you planning to do that?"
"That's what I'm mostly stuck on! I mean, I definitely CANNOT go up to Volt and just confront him head-on, he'd just think I'm being polite and giving him to Lavender."
"You could talk to Lavender tomorrow and get her to talk to Volt." Snowbelle suggested thoughtfully. 
"What does she talk to him about?" Willow asked.
"Hmm, she could make small talk with Volt and somehow convince him to confess to you."
Willow froze, her eyes wide. "Wh-what!?"
"Yeah...then you reject him, Lavender becomes his girl best friend, and then Volt gains feelings for her instead so they become a couple." Snowbelle finished her suggestion.
The Leafeon shook her head. "No...I don't want Volt to hate me!"
"Why would he hate you?" 
"Um...because I rejected him?" Willow tilted her head.
Snowbelle shrugged. "Nope, it's not like you're his ex and there's a lot of tension. I think he'd rather you be honest than you forcing yourself to be in a relationship. Don't forget to mention that."
"Seriously?" 
"Mhm. You're polite, so reject him politely." 
Willow sighed. "I really don't know...I don't want to risk anything...but if I don't do anything, Lavender will never have Volt, and I'll always be uncomfortable..."
"Do what you want and what you feel is right, Wills. I'll support every decision you make...unless it's dating Volt. Then I'll question that." Snowbelle promised. 
The Leafeon stared at the ceiling and started organizing her thoughts. Snowbelle also started processing her own after shutting the window completely and closing the curtains. 
"Sis, you're right. I should. But how do we tell Lavender about this?" Willow finally came to a conclusion. 
"You're a pretty close friend of hers, right? Manager and Co-Manager?" Snowbelle suggested. "Just talk to her."
"Can you come with me? Or just be back-up?" Willow asked.
The Glaceon shook her head. "You won't need back-up, Wills. I'm sure you'll do great. You're a very convincing-"
"It's your plan, after all. Besides, don't you want to help out with Volt's partial downfall?" Willow convinced. 
Snowbelle groaned and nodded. "This is what I mean when I say that you're really convincing."
"We have a staff meeting tomorrow for menu finalizing, right? We can just talk to her after it's over!" the Leafeon planned.
"Sounds good."
Willow got up from the chair and tucked it in. "Thanks, Sis!"
"Yeah Wills...don't worry." Snowbelle smiled and closed her nightlight.
The Leafeon smiled back before leaving the room quietly. 

"Are you sure this would work?" Lavender had a hopeful expression.
"It'll work if you're not too urgent about it. Like, progressively be more close to him. Get him to tell you about his crush on Willow. Then, you suggest for him to ask her out. He gets rejected, you be a good friend, and your status will change into girlfriend." Snowbelle explained. "Isn't that what you want?"
"What about Willow? What if Volt hates her because of that?" the Espeon had wide eyes. "I really don't want him to hate you!"
"He won't, I'm sure." Willow smiled. "How he feels about me won't matter on your end. As long as you're happy, it'll all be worth it."
Lavender shook her head. "No. I don't want you to take the risk."
"I mean, so what if he hates me?" the Leafeon shrugged. "He's a good friend, I guess. Besides, it's honestly a waste of effort for him to hate me."
"Geez, Snowbelle's opinion on him really got to you, no?" Lavender laughed. "But sure, I'll do what you two told me. "Last question though."
"Yeah?" Snowbelle nodded. 
"How'd you know I had a crush on Volt? It's pretty embarrassing for me, but I can't really help it...how I feel, I mean."
The Glaceon and the Leafeon glanced at each other. 
"It was...um...kind of obvious, honestly." Snowbelle finally admitted. "You always stayed close to him and spoke to him in a more...loving...way. Compared to how you talk to the rest of us, y'know?"
"Oh. What if Volt already knows that I like him? What if he's just pretending he doesn't know?"
"Does he treat you differently now?" Willow inquired.
Lavender shook her head. "No, not really. But still, he could just be trying to act normal so I don't find anything good about him and stop crushing."
"Wanna ask him?" Snowbelle narrowed her eyes.
"Wha-no, of course not! I can't just go up to him and ask if he likes me!"
Snowbelle shrugged. "Then you'll never know if he's dense, dumb, or trying to be smart."
"Belle!" Willow snapped. "Stop talking bad about Volt for no reason when his #1 fan is h-"
"Hey!" Lavender's face became bright red with embarrassment. "No one was supposed to know I like him!"
"It's fine, we support you." the Leafeon smiled. 
"I still have no idea what you see in him, but agreed." Snowbelle added, getting a look from her sister. 
"Thanks," Lavender bowed her head. "I really appreciate you two helping me."
"It'd be better this way, so don't worry if you feel like this only benefits you." Willow promised.
"Alrighty. So, when do I start my part of the plan? Now?"
Snowbelle nodded. "Yup! Stay close to him, but don't be too suspicious about it."
Lavender's eyes glittered with sincere joy and appreciation. "Okay! If you two need anything, just come talk to me at anytime!"
She dashed out of the room, leaving the two sisters standing there quietly. 
"I honestly still wonder what she sees in him." Snowbelle sighed. 
"As long as he treats her well, that's all that matters, no?" Willow replied quietly. 
"True." Snowbelle agreed. "Oh yeah, we're going out to eat."
Willow nodded. "And Lav's paying for all of us for some reason." 
"Is she trying to impress Volt?" the Glaceon blinked. "Because I'd rather not do anything than go bankrupt just for my crush to notice."
"You have a crush?" Willow suddenly had a mischievous grin on. "Whoo?"
"No one, I'm just saying if I was in Lavender's position, I would just impress my crush in a different way." 
Willow sighed and shook her head. "Sis, you're so boring..."
"Who do you like then?" Snowbelle started grinning this time. 
"Not telling you," the Leafeon rolled her eyes. "Duh."
Snowbelle laughed. "You just gave yourself away! You do like someone here!"
"Uh...not necessarily..." Willow blinked. 
"I know when you're lying, Wills. Come on, who is it?" Snowbelle swallowed back her laugh to calm down. 
Willow shook her head. "I'm not telling you! You can't force me anyway!"
"C'mon, tell meee!" Snowbelle started laughing again.
"Nuh-uh!" Willow pouted.
"You're no fun. I'm gonna go read now, byeee!" 
Huh...when was Belle so energetic?