Journey Of Fate ~ mayakuro

•Pizza-cular•

The pizzeria was extremely warm, which was a much-needed change from the frigid temperatures the two were facing outside. That said, Claudine had to reluctantly give up holding Maya's hand when they got inside the restaurant. Her disappointment was soon forgotten when she smelled the distinct scent of cooking pizza. While she hadn't been hungry before, she was certainly hungry now. She spared a glance at her partner, whose eyes were practically sparkling in excitement. The brunette all but ran to one of the booths, clearly eager to order the second she got in the door. Claudine took a more leisurely pace, but she was just as excited. Well, maybe not just as. Maya always had an insatiable love for food, after all.

The table was already outfitted with napkins and menus, so by the time the blonde had gotten there, Maya had already placed the napkin on her lap and was perusing the menu. Taking a seat, Claudine picked up a menu herself. The options were diverse to say the least. While deep dish pizza was the main specialty of the restaurant, there were also other kinds of pizzas offered there. The topping list was extensive, offering various strange ingredients that the blonde had never seen before at any of her local pizza joints. One particular topping caught her eye. Anchovy. 

Claudine was a fisher at heart, and even though she didn't have much time to fishing considering she was always putting on a performance or practicing, she still held the hobby dear. The best part about fishing was getting to eat whatever you had worked hard to catch, which helped foster a love for seafood. So, obviously, she was going to get anchovy on her pizza since it was an option. Claudine was about to ask Maya what she was going to get, but the waiter approaching the table beat her to it.

"Hello, are you ready to order?" The man asked, holding his notepad up to scribble down the meals. Maya nodded excitedly.

"Yes, I'd like two large deep-dish pizzas with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, and pineapple," The brunette ordered proudly. The waiter nodded as though this was a normal order while Claudine gaped at her. Firstly, two?! Two larges?! She knew Maya had an appetite, but geez. Also, those toppings were horrendous. How could pineapple go well with three kinds of meat?

"And you, miss?" The waiter turned his attention to her.

"Err, um, yes, I'll just have a medium deep-dish pizza with anchovies. Merci," she responded. The man nodded, wrote down the order, and strode back to the kitchen. Claudine turned her attention back to Maya, who still looked just as elated as when they entered.

"Pineapple with pepperoni, sausage, AND bacon? Really Maya?" She asked incredulously, scrunching up her nose in disgust. Maya merely shrugged at her in response, a sly grin spreading across her features. Claudine tensed upon seeing it. Something bad was coming.

"I can't help what I like," she replied aloofly. "Besides... you may like it if you try some. After all, you did like those Sun Chips quite a bit." There it was. Claudine groaned.

"We are not talking about those damn chips. I already told you that they were mediocre at best. The only reason I ate them was because I was starving and to prove a point," Claudine huffed, crossing her arms.

"You say this, but I seriously doubt you," Maya chirped. "Just so you know, if Sun Chips were an option, I would've put them on my pizza."

"Soyez silencieux!" Claudine grumbled, but couldn't suppress the laugh that had been bubbling up in her chest. This was such a stupid conversation to be having, but she was having fun nonetheless. Maya ended up laughing along with her, which only caused her to laugh more. What was going on with her? She was supposed to be Maya's arch-rival, yet here she was having a grand old time with her like they were some long lost friends. Maybe they were. They did push each other to greater heights, but even during their time at Seisho, they had never acted so close. So why was it now, after being reunited for only a few months, that they had become closer than they had during their whole time at Seisho? And why was it that every time Maya did something, like call herself "ta Maya," or hold her hand, or simply laugh with her, her chest filled with butterflies and suddenly she felt light and carefree? What was this? Before she could get more carried away with her crisis regarding her feelings for Maya, the anchovy pizza she had ordered was suddenly in front of her.

It looked better than she could have ever imagined. The crust was thick and had gently browned edges, indicating that it had been cooked at exactly the right temperature. There was an ample amount of cheese, but not enough to obscure entirely the red sauce underneath. The best part was the gratuitous number of anchovies that covered the entire meal. Clearly this restaurant went all out with their toppings. Claudine's gaze drifted across the table to the two large pizzas. Both of them were also covered with mountains of toppings; the only difference being that Claudine's toppings were actually good, while Maya seemed content to eat just about any combination of foods, no matter how grotesque. Claudine was surprised she hadn't yet suggested dumpster diving outside the pizza joint afterwards. God knows Maya's stomach would probably be up for it. Deciding to stop her judgments in favor of eating, Claudine turned her eyes back to her own pizza and lifted one of the slices.

The taste was divine. The sauce was just the right heat to warm her mouth, but not enough to burn. There was enough cheese to flavor the pizza, but not enough to overwhelm any of the other ingredients. The crust was perfectly cooked, not being too moist or too crunchy. And the anchovies. Oh, the anchovies! She had never tasted such delicious fish in all her life. Never had any of her fishing trips netted her such scrumptious morsels, but somehow this restaurant had found the ultimate sea creatures. Not only had they found the greatest fish to ever grace the planet, they had also prepared them in such a way to make their natural saltiness compliment the sweetness of the pizza sauce. 

Claudine hummed happily. This surely had to be one of the most fantastic meals she had ever eaten. She momentarily looked over at her partner to see what she thought about her dish, only to see two empty plates. She nearly choked.

"Quoi?! You're already done?!"

"Hmm?" Maya responded, somewhat dazed after eating so much. "Ah, yes. The pizza was absolutely wonderful. We'll have to come here again." The blonde gawked at her. Leave it to Tendou Maya to be unfazed by the fact that she ate two large pizzas in under five minutes.

"If you keep staring at me, ma Claudine, your pizza is going to get cold. I'd hate to see that happen to such a... tasty looking meal," Maya remarked, predatorily eyeing the anchovy pizza. Claudine's face went through a whole kaleidoscope of emotions at the comment before finally resting on a scowl. Tendou Maya was not going to eat her pizza!

"Keep away from my pizza, you insatiable woman," she growled, picking up another slice. Maya took the cue and backed off, deciding to peruse the dessert menu instead. When Claudine had finally finished her share, the waiter returned and took the two places, promising to return in a few moments to get their dessert orders.

"Ahh, I don't know if I can have any dessert," Claudine groaned. The medium pizza was filling enough. She had no idea how Maya could stomach two large ones and still have room for dessert.

"I certainly can," Maya responded, eyes glittering again at the prospect of more food. Claudine rolled her eyes.

"Obviously, you could eat an entire horse if you wanted to. Y'know, I bet if that bean statue from earlier was edible, you would've eaten that too."

"Is that a challenge?" Maya asked seriously. Claudine tried to give her an exasperated look, but the barest hint of a smile on her lips betrayed her.

"Je plaisantais. Just choose something off the dessert menu already. I'm sure that'll tide you over."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Maya said, before sliding the menu across the table to the blonde. The red-eyed woman looked down at where Maya was pointing on the menu.

'Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie with Vanilla Ice Cream as a Side.' Claudine would be lying if she said that it didn't sound ridiculously good, but she had already eaten so much.

"Maya, I already told you that I'm kind of full."

"Yes, but surely you can make room for this, right?" Maya began, before trailing off slightly quieter. "Besides, I wanted to split a dessert with you." Claudine didn't respond verbally and instead just continued to stare at the dessert menu. There was a picture of the cookie. It did look quite good.

"Fine, but if I don't eat that much, I don't want to hear any complaining," Claudine relented. She knew she made the right choice when she saw the bright look on Maya's face as she eagerly told the waiter their order, even if her stomach was probably going to be damning her to hell for it later.