[NEW] Eeveelution Café

[B2] Chapter 4: Backfired

"Dude, there's no way that Guinevere's dad is Mr. Gladiator!" Willow and Snowbelle gasped at the news after the group had came back victorious.
"Yeah, but you need to visit him with me," Bonfire bowed his head, a bit embarrassed. "Tomorrow. Snowbelle's taking my place and Lavender'll have to work by herself."
"Don't think anyone would give any of us a hard time," Snowbelle said with a smile. "All good, have fun."
"I'm freaking out, what do you mean 'have fun'?" Willow turned to her sister. "We're going to see the Mayor!"
"And probably give him an explanation." Bonfire sighed.
"You know what, Sis, just relax and I'm sure you'll be alright! Ooh, should you also bring some food to him? Y'know, get the Mayor's approval?" Snowbelle encouraged.
"Can I just go lie down for a minute?" Willow groaned. "I'm stressed."
"Okay, sure." the Glaceon nodded and Willow dragged herself upstairs.
"About the food thing, Bonfire, do you think I should?" Snowbelle turned to Bonfire.
Bonfire shrugged. "Sure, it'd be nice. What would we bring though? Has to be our best option..."
Volt's eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "No, it doesn't have to be! Something that fits the occasion and would fit the Mayor..."
"How are we supposed to know what the Mayor likes?" Snowbelle snapped at the Jolteon.
"Use your common sense, Snowbelle!" Volt retorted.
"Guys, what if we just did an assortment box?" Lavender suggested. "Like, one or two pieces of everything!"
"Do we even have those?" Moonshade blinked.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we do. Our menu's pretty big though, so what do we do? One piece of everything?"
"Or two. I promise I'll design and arrange everything so once you get there he'll be instantly mesmerized!" Melody offered.
"Same, I'll also help!" Dewdrop added.
Bonfire nodded slowly and sighed. "Yeah, sure. Go for it."

The next morning, Bonfire and Willow were quietly watching as Dewdrop and Melody argued over where to place each pastry to make it look elegant enough, while Lavender and Volt talked to them about having to hurry so the Flareon and the Leafeon wouldn't be late.
"I'm only agreeing because I don't want them to be late, not because I agree with you!" Dewdrop rolled her eyes while Melody triumphantly placed the last piece of pastry down.
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say! Here you guys go!"  Melody sealed the box shut and gave it to Willow and Bonfire. "You guys got this, go impress the Mayor!"
"This is really..." the Leafeon's face was red.
"Thanks, we'll be going now." Bonfire smiled and took the box. "C'mon!"
"Mhm!"
Snowbelle stared dead into her flustered sister's eyes, wondering if she was embarrassed or in love with Bonfire. Too bad he doesn't like anyone, unless I get Lav to get Volt to get Bonfire to...
Yeah, we're not doing that anymore. Wills helping Lav was just beneficial convenience from the golden opportunity that surfaced.
"Y'know, should we send someone to see what happens?" Dewdrop's voice broke Snowbelle's chain of thoughts. "Just in case?"
"Bon's a smooth talker, he'll be fine." Volt shook his head and displayed a confident expression. "If he's able to give me love advice as an extremely single individual, he's able to talk to the Mayor without breaking a sweat!"
"I don't think that's relevant, bro." The Vaporeon narrowed her eyes. "Try again."
Volt side-eyed her sister with annoyance. "What do you mean 'try again'? I'm just saying that he'd be chill and fine under any verbal occasion that he comes across."
Moonshade finally decided to speak up. "I'm not too sure about that..."
"Sure about what?"
"Bonfire being confident talking to the Mayor. I don't think we should send someone in case we get in unnecessary trouble with the guards. Apparently they're known for their security. In a scary way." Moonshade explained with a shrug.
"Frightening."
"Frightening." The Umbreon corrected himself. "Frightening way. It'd be bad if something bad happened."
"Mind-blowing, would've never known that it would be bad if something bad happened." Volt trotted over to Lavender.
"Look, I just want to say that Bonfire wouldn't be completely okay by himself, and maybe neither will Willow, but it's unnecessary to send someone else to spy on them." Moonshade glared at the Jolteon. "And why're you so close to my sister, huh?"
"I'm dating her, obviously I'd stay close to her!" Volt put his arm around Lavender gently, still enraging his girlfriend's brother either way.
"What are you thinking about?" Moonshade's expression darkened almost immediately after Volt said all of that. "Huh? Disrespecting my sister? Forcing her to do something she doesn't want to do 'in the name of our pure and first relationship'? Huh?"
"Moon, Volt's fine!" Lavender finally spoke up after spectating the drama right in front of her. "I'd beat him up if he treated me like those toxic relationships on TV dramas!"
"Yeah! You'd beat me u-...wait...beat me up?"
Lavender's expression also darkened, the siblings' faces being almost the exact same now. "If you treat me badly, I'll throw you up in the air and watch you land on the roof."
"I'm not going to ever mistreat you...but what if I just blitzed you? Y'know, speed? You can't see me, you can't throw me up in the air and slam me back down." Volt blinked.
"Uh-huh."
Dewdrop coughed to get her in a position to speak. "Big bro, you should go see Bonfire and Willow!"
"What? Why are we going back to this topic?" Volt's eyes widened a little.
"I wanna bet with you," Dewdrop beamed, trying to suppress a laugh. "If Bonfire isn't sweating right now, I'll give you 50 Coins."
"Nah, easy win for me, but you want me to speed-rush all the way to the Council Building and come back?" The Jolteon asked.
"Yeah, but be quick! And don't rig it, I'll know if you do." His sister nodded. "I'll be expecting 50 Coins when you come back."
"Really?" Volt groaned before opening the door and staring out for a moment.

Bonfire was tense, still sitting in the waiting room with Willow. Nobody else was here, but Mr. Gladiator was in a meeting at this moment.
"You alright?" Willow turned to the Flareon, who was still holding onto the box as tightly as he could. "Washroom?"
"I'll be fine, thanks." Bonfire responded with a small smile. "What do you think's gonna happen after he's finished with the meeting?"
"He'll...meet up with us?" Willow tilted her head, a bit confused by the question's intention.
"Eh...after that?" The Flareon shrugged and continued.
"We go back home?"
"And then?"
Willow's interest started visibly decaying. "Uh...tell them about what happened?"
"Which is...?" Bonfire's eyes brightened at the sign of some progress,
"Uh...I don't kn-"
"Hey, Miss Willow and Mr. Bonfire, right?" A Braixen came up and greeted the two before placing two cups on the table in front of them.
"Yeah." Bonfire nodded. "What can we do for you?"
"No, I was wondering if you would like some beverages to have while waiting? I saw the appointment sheet, and I gotta say that you two individuals are quite happy to see the Mayor, no?"
"Coffee please, and I really feel honoured to see him in the Building!" Bonfire bowed his head respectfully.
"Alrighty, and you, Miss Willow?"
"Same, please." The Leafeon nodded slowly before the Braixen left.
"Wow, I wonder how long the meeting is for a worker to have to give us something to drink." Bonfire sighed and leaned back on the sofa.
"Yeah..." Willow felt something was wrong, but didn't say anything in case she was wrong.
"Sorry, here are your drinks! Please tell me if anything's wrong and I'll get it fixed for ya!" The Braixen suddenly appeared and poured coffee into both cups on the table.
"Alright, thank you!" Bonfire nodded and reached for the glass,
Suddenly, Willow's eyes widened and she grabbed the Flareon's wrist. The Braixen looked at them before smiling.
"You two look really good together. Well, call me if you need anything!" the fox left, disappearing from sight.
"What?..." Bonfire stared at his locked wrist, Willow holding onto it gently but also firm.
"Are you thirsty?" Willow glanced at a nearby pile of newspapers stacked on a shelf.
"Eh, kinda...could you please let me go?" The Flareon asked.
Willow sighed, but didn't let go. "Bonfire, they're trying to do something. Get our DNA and pawprints or something."
"But we didn't do anything wrong!" Bonfire blinked. "Why would they want to collect that sort of stuff?"
"You attacked a customer, remember?" Willow's eyes widened with horror. "Shoot. We need to get those newspapers if we want to drink out of these and we can't give the box to Mr. Gladiator. Don't touch the glass."
Bonfire nodded and the Leafeon let go, trotting over to the shelf carefully and taking a newspaper. She went back and sat down way closer to Bonfire than before, not realizing it. Willow carefully split the newspaper into two and gave a piece to Bonfire. They wrapped it around their drinks and started drinking from it. The Leafeon put the box on the table and opened it before taking a pastry and slowly starting to eat it. Bonfire hesitated, but Willow offered him a pastry with a smile. He took it and also started eating with her.
"Are we gonna eat everything?" Bonfire stared at the last few pastries in the box.
"Here, let's just have two more and leave the rest. We'll use a plate and give it to him, then get him to eat it somehow." The Leafeon shrugged, giving Bonfire his last piece while holding her own.
Bonfire nodded. "Okay."
After finishing the pastries, the Flareon was curious on how Willow knew about all of this.
"Logic, he wouldn't be seeing a possible future criminal with his precious Mayor time unless he wanted to do something to get you arrested." she shrugged. "But y'know, pretend that there's nothing."
"M'kay, thanks Willow." Bonfire bowed his head, smiling.
Willow's face went a bit red. "Anytime."
"Hey, Mr. Bonfire and Miss Willow! He's ready to see you!" The Braixen popped out and said.
The two glanced at each other before closing the box. "Okay, coming!"