[NEW] Eeveelution Café

[B2] Chapter 6: Sweetness

"Let me guess, your crew's completely new to this industry?" 
After a few bites of a pastry that he decided to have first, the mayor was clearly impressed with it. He still had a hint of trouble in his voice, but Bonfire and Willow both knew well enough to just brush it off and act clueless.
"Yep." Bonfire nodded and smiled. 
"Any baking experience in the past?" the Gallade asked before taking another bite. 
"We didn't make this," Willow shook her head and admitted quietly. "Two of the others did."
"May I know their names?" the mayor asked. "I wouldn't want to not know your bakers' names when we sign the sponsorship contract."
"Wait...sponsorship?" Bonfire's eyes lit up with both surprise and excitement. 
"If another one of these attacks don't occur again, I suppose I will be willing to." Gladiator had a promising and genuine expression.
"Well, I'd say it was an instinctive act of self-defense, but I'll do my best to tone it down so nothing as brutal would happen again, I promise." the Flareon nodded. 
"Then I'd be happy to progress with my own proposal," Gladiator chuckled. "Would you like to go back and discuss with your roommates before officially agreeing? Would you like to call them right now? You can use the phone here."
"Maybe it's best if we didn't waste too much of your time," Willow glanced at the ground and looked back up with some more confidence than before. "Would you like us to do anything else for you?"
"Oh, right. My daughter Guinevere and my dear sister Tyche. Are you familiar with what they do?" the Gallade took the second-last remaining piece of pastry and bit into it. 
"Kind of." Willow shrugged. "Had a taste of their food a few times when we decided to go out after we opened our business."
"What do you think?"
"It's good." Bonfire replied flatly. "Great service and great food. Chill atmosphere and vibe. Dunno what else to really say. It's really good."
"What was your reaction when she told you that I was her father?"
"Oh. Um...none of us expected it."
"She also told me that despite you all being friends with her, you don't respect her as someone who serves you?"
"Wha-no, that's impossible." Willow spoke up, remembering how close Guinevere was to Dewdrop and Melody. "I think you're mistaken, sir."
"No, I'm pretty sure." Gladiator shook his head. "This is disappointing."
"This isn't the truth, Guinevere's really good friends with two of our crew members!" Willow knew that he was probably testing them, but Bonfire was tense, unsure of the mayor's intentions by saying this.
"Then I think you need to talk to her again and get things straight." Gladiator finished the last pastry, his voice cold. "It was pleasant talking with you two. Thank you for the gift, I really appreciate it."
"It was an honor to be able to talk with you, thanks for accepting your daughter's request and letting us have this opportunity. We'll let you know about the sponsorship contract." Willow got up from her seat first and bowed her head before leaving the room without saying anything else.
Bonfire also got up and just followed the Leafeon without turning around for one last look.

"Waitwaitwait, so Gladiator was lying?" 
After the two officially left the building and was out of any guard's line of sight, Willow told Bonfire about her theory. 
"Yeah. He might just be testing us because he's worried about his daughter." the Leafeon shrugged. "I think we passed."
"You did. I didn't dare to say anything because I didn't want to accidentally ruin what you've planned."
Willow smiled. "Mhm, pretty obvious. Well, do you think he's actually serious about the sponsorship contract?"
"Maybe, if we passed his daughter's-safety test, I think he seems genuine about it. For now, I think we should just go back and talk to the others about this." Bonfire concluded on his end.
"Why wouldn't they agree though? We're getting an opportunity to be sponsored by the town mayor!" Willow looked up and counted the clouds in her head. 
The Flareon glanced at the Leafeon. "Well, just to clarify. Y'know, in case there's downsides that we're missing."
"Sure." Willow nodded. "I get what you mean. Wanna stop somewhere and grab something to eat?"
Bonfire's face went a little red, but Willow didn't notice. "Oh. Uh...where do you want to go?"
The two arrived at Town Square and instantly saw the Legacy Statue standing right in the middle of all of the crowds and Mons that were there. Most of the visitors usually only knew the Statue as a symbol of the town, but nothing else other than that. Willow, however, after being influenced by her sister, took an interest and wished for a board that explained its backstory to be put right in front of it, so people like Snowbelle could read and analyze.
"There's a bunch of different places here, I don't think I can choose!" the Leafeon tilted her head a little, her gaze still lingering on a place where her imaginary "board" could be installed.
"Eh...was Full Moon good?" Bonfire asked, stopping to look around for some possible places that seemed interesting enough. 
"They said they usually serve better at night. Like, late at night." Willow recalled. "Still open but just empty. Really empty."
"Cool. You just wanna eat while telling the others when we go back?" Bonfire suggested.
Willow suddenly spotted a new bubble tea shop in the distance, her eyes glittering with surprise and excitement. "Kinda wanna get boba tea though...it's a new shop! Over there!"
"Never had boba before," Bonfire admitted. "Did you bring money?"
"I...think?" Willow searched for her wallet while Bonfire watched quietly, a paw on his emergency one.
"Shoot. I was going to bring one but I think I left it with Belle..." After a whole minute, Willow gave up and hung her head disappointedly. "You know what, let's just go back and I'll give you one of Snowbelle's baked muffins. They're really good."
"Nono, I can pay for you if you want." Bonfire offered, turning his head away a little in embarrassment. 
Willow fell silent after seeing Bonfire's paw on his wallet. "...No, it's fi-"
"It'll be on me, it's alright." the Flareon insisted. 
The Leafeon was silent with surprise, but suddenly Bonfire gently put his paw on her wrist with a bright smile.
"C'mon, you still wanna go?" 
"I...I'll pay you back. Once we get back. Promise." Willow's face went red, but she didn't withdraw her paw.
Bonfire felt some comfort in his soul just by doing that, and did his best to hold onto that warm feeling. "You don't have to."
Willow was in a mix of surprise and joy at that moment. "I really don't think I should just let you spend your money on m-"
"It'll be fine, promise."
"Alright, sure..."

The door clicked open and Dewdrop immediately straightened up to see. "Hey, you guys are finally b-" 
Bonfire and Willow each held a large cup of boba tea and sipped from it. The Vaporeon glanced at them before squealing.
"Are you guys dating!?" Dewdrop cried out. "Just after a singular partner errand!? Cute!!"
"What!? Bon-" Volt paused the TV show that he was watching with Lavender and Moonshade, and everyone else other than Cinnamon (she's sleeping) heard what Dewdrop said. 
Bonfire froze, not knowing what to do at that moment. Willow did the same coincidentally and the atmosphere was silent with awkwardness and tense with needed answers. 
"Willow, you're dating Bonfire?" Snowbelle asked, breaking the silence. 
"No..." Willow shook her head a little, her face red with embarrassment. 
Bonfire sipped from his boba tea. "Willow saw a new bubble tea shop and wanted to see if it was good, but she left her wallet with you so I paid for both of us."
"Oh." Everyone other than Dewdrop was a bit disappointed, while the Vaporeon was still grinning at the Flareon. 
"How was the talk with the mayor?" Moonshade asked. 
"Pretty chill, he says that he can sponsor us if we don't attack customers like what Bon did." Willow held back a laugh while saying the last phrase. 
"You agreed, right?" Volt blinked. 
Bonfire trotted over and sat down at the edge of the sofa. "No, we're so thoughtful that we decided to come back and see what all of you guys think."
"Wait, so you said no?" the Jolteon frowned.
"No, we obviously said to put it aside." Bonfire rolled his eyes and took a large sip from his tea. "Why would we ever decline such an amazing offer?"
"Dude..." Volt put an arm around the quiet Lavender, getting a look of dismay from Moonshade. "I dunno, maybe because you're questionable?"
Bonfire groaned. "Even if I am, would Willow let me decline?"
"Oh, so you two are dating?" Dewdrop suddenly participated in the conversation again, her eyes bright with anticipation.
"No, we're not." Willow said shortly, her voice surprisingly calm compared to Bonfire's. 
"You guys shoul-"
"Go away." Bonfire shooed the Vaporeon, covering his embarrassment with annoyance. 
"Wow," Dewdrop glanced at Melody and both of them held back laughs. "Gonna spend private quality time with your girl?"
Bonfire lunged at the Vaporeon and a friendly(?) fight broke out while the rest (not Cinnamon she's sleeping) watched. Snowbelle and Willow made eye contact but didn't directly say anything to each other.
"Does she like him!?" Snowbelle, the older sister thought.
"Do I like him?" Willow, the younger sister thought.
"Do I like her?" Bonfire, the one that attacked Dewdrop, thought.
"They should totally date!" Dewdrop, the one that got attacked, thought.
"Why is it so loud downstairs?" Cinnamon, the Eevee that just woke up and heard the chaos downstairs, thought.