This day couldn't get any better.

Not only did Mairi crash the party despite having no recollections of his friends, but now she was casually cramming dumplings down her throat. Beside her, sat the blue-haired man, who could do nothing but munch on his food as he-not intentionally- stared at the supposed newcomer. Thankfully, he had learned to avert his gaze before she could catch him red-handed.

Nope. Not today, Mairi.

However, that didn't flush those stupid butterflies off his stomach. In fact, it seemed to have worsened when he felt a pair of eyes intensely zooming through him and confining him in his spot. Just keep eating. Don't mind her. Don't even bother acknowledging he-

"Dish ish rully gut."

What?

For heaven's sake, Mairi had the gall to speak with such a stuffed mouth. She was the shining example of a chipmunk storing their food on their cheeks. Her voice was way too muffled. I don't speak Minion language.

Abel swallowed - the appropriate manner - his own food before he spoke, "Don't talk with your mouth full."

Almost immediately, Mairi gulped every single thing in one go and licked her lips. "This is really good," She remarked properly this time. "I never knew they served these delicacies before."

"Right?!" Charlotte enthused before Abel could answer, butting her way in. "I'm not lying when I say their dumplings literally melt in your tongue. It's a total paradise. Glad we dragged you here or you're gonna miss out a lot!"

"Damn girl, I can see how massive your drool is." Adrian joined in. "God, your foodgasm sometimes..."

Without a word, Mairi bobbed her head before she shoved another dumpling right into her mouth, shutting her eyes as if she was taking her time to ravish the delicious treat. Wait, wasn't this woman supposed to be running errands? Guess she prioritized eating dumplings over those. Can't say I blame her though.

"Is this restaurant one of your hidden gems?" she asked, turning towards Abel.

"Hell yeah, I'm the one who found it first," he crowed, pointing to himself. "It's just that Lotte and Adrian have been dragging everyone here since I introduced them." He lifted his head. "You should be thanking me for these delicious dumplings."

"Yeah sure. Thanks, Abel," said Mairi without even giving herself a minute or two to contemplate. And at that moment, her outstanding gratitude should have had him smirking and shimmering with pride, so why the fuck was he massaging the back of his warm neck and pressing his lips together?

Maybe it's because she straight up thanked me and didn't ridicule me like Lotte would do. Surely that question was meant to be rhetorical, but it looked like his brain wouldn't mind answering it. No pun intended. It could be insincere for all you know, but whatever... I don't even care at this point.

Or did he?

***

Not even an hour had passed, every single plate of dumplings had been obliterated to oblivion, leaving no trace of evidence. Mairi - this woman had been awfully dead silent for the rest of the course - was nibbling on hers, while the trio sighed in satisfaction and rubbed their bulging bellies. What a wonderful way to clear my head.

"Gosh, it's been a while since I ate this much..." Charlotte moaned. "Now I'm struggling just to stand up."

"Me too... I'm practically pregnant with baby dumplings." Adrian tapped his abdomen. "Ah, now I feel like I'm about to give birth... " he groaned. "Ey Abs, help carry me to the toilet."

"You got legs for a reason," Abel sneered.

"That's what you gonna say to your lovely wife?!" Adrian loudly gasped with nothing but genuine horror as he smacked his fragile chest. "What a wonderful husband you are... Surely I had chosen the perfect one."

"Bruh." Maybe Charlotte should consider applying lessons on how to stifle her laughs, because she was clearly wheezing despite her efforts.

"You're not my wife though. That's the difference."

"But I can be." His friend threw one of the most nauseous winks he had ever witnessed in his entire lifetime. Even the cheesiness reeking from those anime dudes paled in comparison to the immeasurable amount of chills he had running in his spine right now.

Meanwhile, his other friend threw her head back, her poor facade cracking apart. Great. I got another one descending into madness. He inwardly grunted. Adrian, you're gonna be responsible for her imminent death.

"Too bad I have high standards." He snorted.

"For sure you do, man..." Adrian hummed while that smug smile of his grew even larger than before. It looked as though he was... trying to hide something beneath all of that guise. "I ain't denying that..."

This dude's high on dumplings or something?

"So Abel..." Mairi began, her meal now devoured clean. "When did you start watching anime?"

At long last, she found her lost voice. As much as Abel struggled to give credit, that was also an insanely perfect timing to switch subjects, especially when two of his spectacular friends had been giggling and fluttering their eyelashes. They certainly have some dumb insinuations he would rather not piece together. Mairi's dense attitude can be such an advantage.

"That? Don't remember myself honestly." Abel shrugged. "But I do remember watching Naruto and posing all of his stupid ninja moves. Hell, I was dressed up as him for trick-or-treating, but that..." He glanced up to the ceiling. "That felt like centuries ago."

Merely talking about the past triggered ghostly echoes of a little boy's piping laughter. That cheery voice morphed itself into a knife, its blade effortlessly skewering him apart. Fuck, was this really the moment to get all sentimental? Get over that shit, Abel. You're an adult now.

"Oh God, that takes me back!" Charlotte exclaimed, nearly slamming the table. "We haven't even met Adrian yet. Abel and I were literally baby potatoes. I remember we were fighting over who gets the most candy, but unfortunately..."

"Fortunately, I won." He properly completed her sentence, simpering and crossing his arms. "No one could ever defeat my costumes and cute poses." Now this was the Abel Eastwood everyone recognized, including himself. Where the fuck did that part of him go when he needed it the most?

"Ah, you used past tense." Mairi interjected, resting her chin on both of her hands. "I wonder why."

And he also wondered why the hell this purple-eyed demon went to exceptional lengths to punch all of his buttons while wearing a straight face. Yeah, he had already professed his terrible loss at her grubby hands, what else from him did she need? Bow down and kiss her feet?

"Well, how about you? When did you start?" Abel huffed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Calm down, dude. The more flustered you are, the more she's gonna tease you.

"Been a while too, just like you," she replied. "I've watched a lot of animation since I was a young, so I've seen plenty of anime, both the new and the old."

"I've also watched countless titles and also read a lot of manga and novels." A grin flashed across his face.

"Yeah, your cosplays told me just that. I know all of the characters you've cosplayed, even the obscure ones." Mairi claimed. What an extremely bold statement.

"Reeeally?" Abel drawled. He might be spreading his legs with ease, but loosening the rest of his body seemed... much more demanding. "What do you know about them? Tell me more, Mairi."

"Challenge accepted." She took a deep breath. "Remember the small con a few months ago? You were cosplaying Kazuya from The Prince of Blades. It's a new anime based on an old manga. The winter con last year, you were Zen from Snow White with the Red Hair. I like that show. On another small con, you were Ryouta from Soulless. In the summer con, you were Ares from Black Paradise and people were swarming you."

Holy mother of...

Momentarily, Abel was sure he was clinically dead; his uncanny heart didn't just skip a beat, but leaped several miles ahead. Despite everything, he somehow gained control of his jaw, preventing it from plunging open like some numbskull. With his cold hands suddenly sticky all over, he rammed his nails into his palms. He might have his tongue tied, but forced snickers slipped off his vocal chords as his signature smirk - the failed version - made its swift return.

"Y-You were observing me the whole time, huh? K-Kinda creepy don't you think?" Abel scorned. As if you don't, you hypocrite. Also, don't even stutter.

"Hmm... I thought you're gonna love all the attention I gave you," said Mairi as his other friends simply watched the ordeal like bystanders. The bestest of friends indeed.

"Yeah well, I'm deeply honored..." Abel turned away. "But-"

"But your face's looking bright pink." She cut him off. "What happened?"

He instinctively caressed his cheeks, baked fresh from the oven. Fuck. "I-It's hot today," he murmured. "Don't you see outside?"

"I'm not wrong when I say you're cute." Not only did she straight up neglect his question, but now she was spitting out that same compliment every single time. However, no matter how redundant it was, he couldn't stop his own self from tensing up.

Adrian better not pull out his stupid phone... Lo and behold, he already had the camera prepared, because then he wouldn't be the Adrian Gardner. Mairi first. I'll seriously deal with that dude later.

"I-I also know all the characters you've cosplayed!" He faltered. "That Kageyama guy from Haikyuu, you were cosplaying him back in that con months ago! And during winter con, you were cosplaying... uh... that cold ass guy from... the Elite?"

"Classroom of the Elite," corrected Mairi. "His name was Ayanokouji."

"Y-Yeah, I was about to say that. You don't have to fill me in! I read the manga," complained Abel, consulting all the flashbacks of their encounters. "In the small con, you cosplayed as Akio from Night Sailors. And then... in the summer con, you were a butler... uh, was that Sebastian guy?" He smacked his fist into his hand. "Yeah, Sebby from Black Butler! Lotte always talked about him."

Mairi stared at him, her expression unchanged.

Are you dumbstruck now, huh? Abel had his chest puffed out as he bared his teeth. I simply know all of the shows you wa-

"Louvre," she mouthed.

His grin abruptly shrank. "Huh?"

"Louvre was the butler I cosplayed. He's from a game called Myth." Mairi blinked, placing her hair behind her ear. "Well, Sebastian was much hotter though. I cosplayed him back in the early days and people were constantly swarming me."

"Can't blame them, he's the beast!" Charlotte fanned herself.

Abel slumped to the back of his seat, now the most dumbstruck of the bunch. He had tried his hardest, but nothing he could say would help his cause. The only thing he could do was to slide his fingers through his hair and inwardly grunted. So much for claiming to know every one of her characters.

Ugh... why do I feel like I lost another challenge? Now I feel like a complete loser.

Well, at least the quartet declared victory against their over-ordered dumplings. Adrian, though, took a detour to the bathroom as he had been clenching on his stomach, while Charlotte waited for him inside the restaurant. Whoever was cleaning the toilet, may their souls be blessed profusely.

The weather wasn't helping either. Forget the desert; this all felt like Abel was stranded in the deepest parts of hell. All streams of clouds retreated from the horizon, fearing the yellow barbarian. Why anyone would bask themselves in this killer heat, was something he could never wrap his head around.

"I had a lot of fun today," called Mairi as she walked up to him. "It's interesting to see you in a casual setting."

"Thank Lotte for that," Abel mumbled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Don't forget about my other friends, yeah?"

"Can't promise you." She looked into the whizzing cars in the distance. "I tend to forget people easily unless they leave some sort of an impact."

"So you admit I left an impact on you?" He simpered. "That's pleasing to hear."

"Yeah. Like I said, you're interesting." Regardless of how much she tried convincing him of her genuine praises, that nonchalant tone of hers shouted nothing but mockery.

"O-Of course I am! That should be obvious." Looks like she does have a different one besides cute. Before that, please quit stuttering like you just learned how to speak for the first time.

"Also, let's get each other's numbers," she suggested, extracting her phone from her bag. "We can hang out somewhere later and discuss future cons and shows."

Exchanging phone numbers... truly the first step of how all friendships are established.

"Heh, fine. Since I lost today, this is gonna be your reward." And just like that, the two teenagers - Mairi looked the same age as him - swapped their contacts without second thoughts.

"I'm gonna run my errands now. Thanks for today, Abel."

The corners of her lips slightly stretched once again, just like that scene on the train. That light expression of hers... it stirred something in his chest as his fluttering guts sparked him to respond.

"...yeah," he enunciated. "You're welcome."

***

A/N: Late update due to uni as usual... Thank you for reading :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter as it further explores Abel and Mairi! Stay safe and have a great and awesome day!

- Tara