Luckily for ours and Helen’s time, the store clerk of this shop was a lot less chatty than the previous one, just looking up from the counter to greet us when we entered and then letting us look through the store on our own.

“Okay, Auro, you go in that changing booth over there, Ria and I will give you some clothes to change into.”

“So I’m not getting any say in what I’m going to wear?”

“Hmmm, no.” Em smirked. “But don’t be afraid, I won’t give you any frilly dresses… I don’t think this store has any to begin with.”

“Alright then, but Ria, please do keep her in check, okay?” I asked, fully aware who I was asking.

“Ok!” Ria smiled and then pushed me inside the changing booth.

It didn’t take long for Em to hand me the first set of clothes and accompanying shoes. It was the set of clothes she’d been talking about in front of the store. I performed the duty to my girlfriends and got changed. When I was ready, I shoved the curtain from in front of me to show off. The ankle boots Em had provided actually did feel pretty comfortable. At least my ankles felt sturdy enough in them so that I didn’t fear breaking them.

“Wow! Rora! You look so cool!” Ria exclaimed when she saw me.

“Yes, I’m a big fan of this as well.” Em smiled, clearly happy that her choice had panned out.

“It’s not too bad.” I agreed. “At least I can combine these with some other boots to go completely into the motorcycle aesthetic.”

“As long as you don’t get a motorcycle!” Ria answered. “They are so dangerous.”

“Ria…” Em leaned into Ria a bit so she could whisper. “You know that danger doesn’t really matter anymore, right?”

“Oh! Sorry I forgot.” She started blushing.

That was cute.

“Don’t worry, Ria, I sometimes think I’ve been dreaming as well. It’s understandable.” Em smiled and gave Ria a pat on the head. “Anyhow, Auro, it’s time for some more clothes, don’t you think? I guess we can already keep that set aside to buy, so hang them on that hanger over there.” She pointed at the clothing hanger on my left.

“Aye aye, Miss Meier.” I replied, to which Em rolled her eyes.

I continued fitting clothes for a bit longer, some with more open heels that I personally didn’t really like, but other outfits that didn’t include heels at all.

Em definitely threw me a bone with this one particular outfit she handed over to me. It was a dark-brown leather aviator with this lighter brown wool collar. She threw in some dark brown combat boots and a pair of grayish cargo pants. Finally, she tossed in a pair of leather gloves as well.

I was actually really happy with this. A pair of aviator sunglasses would complete the look entirely.

“Wow, Em, I like this set a lot.” I gushed when I showed off the ensemble.

“I’m happy you do.” She smiled. “I wanted to repay you a little for all the heels you had to fit already… And I didn’t want you to be cold when it really does become more wintry outside.”

“Awh.”

“Em’s so thoughtful!” Ria went in for a hug, Em gladly accepted it.

“I know right.” I just smiled at the sweet sight in front of me. It really looked like they both were enjoying it greatly. So it lasted a minute or two before they separated again.

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“Right, Rora, can you wait here for a second so I can go and pay for that other outfit already so you can start wearing it?”

“Uh, sure.” I admit that I didn’t even know that was possible but as I looked at Ria for confirmation it appeared to be quite a common thing.

Em quickly came back with my clothes so I could change one more time into the first outfit that I’d fitted. When I left with the rest of my clothes, we put the clothes that were my own in one back and the other ones that we’d still need to pay for in the other. Ria helped me carry the bags because I was still a bit wobbly on my legs because of a case of lady stilts, although I was getting better at it.

When we left the shop, Helen was still staring into the crowd that had thickened somewhat but was still nowhere near crowded.

“Oh, that’s a nice outfit, Aurora.” Helen said as she heard the door open.

“Thank you.” I replied. “I still prefer the other one we bought but this one is fine.”

“Hmm?” Helen looked curiously at the other bags but decided not to ask for a peek. “Do you want to do anything else today, ladies?”

“I don’t really need any clothes, and if I put Auro in another changing room, I’m pretty sure she’s going to throw a fit.” Em answered our bodyguard’s question.

Helen cough-chuckled into her fist.

“Hey, what’s that about you not needing any clothes?” I looked at Em. “So you are allowed to torture us while we can’t see you in any new cute outfits?”

“I didn’t think it was torture.” Ria added.

“Ria, play along.” I looked at my girlfriend and gave her a wink.

“Oh! Right! Yes! Why can’t we see you in cute dresses, Emma!?”

-Ria, you are the best.-

Em smirked. “Ria, how about we go for some crêpes instead?”

Ria looked at Em and then at me.

-Gosh darn it, Emma had her, there’s no way Ria could deny the allure of crêpes.-

Ria then looked back at Em. “Uh… Do they have strawberries?”

“We can ask to add as many fruits as you’d like.”

“Deal. Sorry, Rora.” She apologetically smiled at me.

“Don’t worry, Ria. At least you negotiated something out of it. I’m proud of you.” I gently nodded.

Ria smiled even brighter and then gave me a big hug. -Soft Ria cuddles are the best.-

Em led us towards a nearby crêpe shop she said she’d heard about. Apparently it was owned by this famous ice-cream artisan named Jean-Luc. I’d personally never heard of him, but Ria appeared to get even more interested in trying some crêpes, so who was I to doubt her. The doorbell rang when the four of us entered the crêpe shop. It appeared to be relatively busy inside, I got to admit. The smells that were coming from the kitchen and from behind the counter definitely warranted that amount of customers.

The counter had so many different kinds of ice-cream of which I only recognized a tenth, like vanilla and strawberry. But there were green, beige and blue ice-creams too and then several blends.

“Holy shit.” I whispered.

“Auro, please.” Em chuckled, she’d heard me.

“That’s so much ice-cream, Em. What the heck is that blue and red one?”

“Sour-red-berry-blueberry-fusion, I think.” Even Em didn’t seem very sure. “Anyway, let’s get to the restaurant portion of the shop.

She then guided us past the counter and into the area where we could take a seat. It was a bit less busy here, thank the Goddess, so we could find a table pretty easily.

“Let’s take the table in the back.” Em said, matter-of-factly, as she just went on and we followed.

When we got to the table, I decided to take off the outer layer of my clothes because it was pretty warm next to the window. That’s when I heard a bit of commotion from the table next to me.

“Oh, hey, are you alright?” One woman leaned a bit over the table as she was worrying over the woman sitting opposite to her who was coughing a little bit.

“Yeah. I just choked a bit on my milkshake.” The other woman replied but I immediately recognized that voice.

“Holy shit, Aileen.” It just came out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

“Hmm?” Em looked over to the table and looked at our vampiric mercenary friend as well. “Oh.”

Ria just happily waved.

Helen just looked terribly confused, just as the woman, who I presume was Aileen’s date.

“Hey there.” Aileen greeted us. “What a coincidence.” She was being a bit awkward.

“Uh… Nice seeing you here, but don’t mind us, just do your stuff….” I replied, but that came out even more awkwardly.

“Ah, so you are acquaintances?” The other lady asked.

“Something like that, aye.” Aileen nodded.

Helen looked at Em to gauge her reaction. Em just tried to put up a poker face.

“Aileen was our tour guide for one of our extracurricular activities.” Ria lied.

But it was actually pretty convincing, as Helen appeared to be a bit more at ease.

“Oh, you do guided tours?”

“Yes, at a medieval castle. You know how much I like military history.” Aileen picked up the lie incredibly easily, making the story even more convincing.

“You should take me along for one of your guided tours too.” The lady continued on.

“I’ll even give you a private tour if you want. I know a couple of cute castles nearby.”

“Wow!”

We left the couple to their own devices so we didn’t blow any more of our cover. So, I just silently sat down and handed the menu card to Ria. Helen still looked slightly suspicious but after a while she started browsing the menu card as well. -Crisis successfully averted. Good job, Ria-chan.-