[Alice]

"Thank you very much!"

Alice was now up stairs going through the assortment of dresses, but she wondered why Mr. Hare would wear them as adorable as they were she didn't think he would be the type to wear them because he wanted to. She picked a dress and decided to take some striped stockings  that matched and went about her business.

[Maou]

Their host just nodded absently and traveled over to the other kitchen. Following quietly, Maou watched as the redhead dug through this other kitchen that seemed to fit in quite well with the rest of the shop in decoration. Nothing matched anything at all in here, while the other kitchen seemed to have a sort of theme.

He couldn't help but notice that Sato was having better luck in here than he had in the other kitchen.

[Blood Brothers]

"I hope you don't mind sandwiches," Sato said idly, pulling out all the necessary ingredients. "That's about all she has in here, except for a few odd things."

There wasn't much to do just yet. As Ayaka explained, this shop goes through phases and right now they were in the waiting phase. He, of course, existed outside the routine, but tourist season hadn't started up in earnest yet, so most of the people here were just the townspeople. The only one who visited on a semi-regular basis was that pesky Pecan.

Most recently, he had been working on an assistant. The Hare was mostly Ayaka's pet project (or just pet) and, on the odd occasion when Sato needed to pick something up, it was more of a hassle to get someone else to do it than to take care of it himself, even when he was smack dab in the middle of creating something.

[Alice]

Alice pulled her dress over her head and straitened out the skirt,  she wondered how long they would be welcome here as she pulled up her stockings and slipped on her shoes. Sato didnt seem to be too phased by them but what about this Ayaka Lady, how would she take to strangers? she straitened the bow in her her hair and headed down stairs to Maou and Sato.

"Well, how do you like it?"

she held out her skirt and swished from side to side

[Maou]

Turning to look when Alice spoke, Maou was rather surprised how much nicer the girl looked now that she wasn't clothed in dirty rags. His job of ensuring that Sato wasn't slipping them something had gone well, he thought, but there was no guarantee until they had already consumed the food.

"It looks good on you," Maou murmured just before he turned back to Sato. The vampire looked as nonplussed as he had upon meeting them.

[Blood Brothers]

"Welcome to the world of cleanliness, Cinderella," Sato stated flatly, taking a step toward her and handing her a sandwich on a plate. "What would you like to drink?" Handing the other filled plate to Maou, he stalked across the room to the fridge.

It wasn't his type of thing, making normal food and serving others. His preference, his skill, was making sweets. No matter what it was, as long as it was sweet, he did well with it. He didn't even have to taste it.

This talent was what he would use in the next few months. For him, there would be no sugar intake and very little feeding on blood. Undoubtedly, it would be torture for him, but he knew that he could manage it.

He would be strong.

[Alice]

Alice smiled softly, but before she could thank Maou for the compliment she was handed a plate of food. She didn't even have time to respond to the Cinderella comment, not that she minded.

"U-um water please?"

She turned back to Maou and set her plate on the table to sit adjacent to him. She eagerly took a bite of her sandwich, It had been such a long time since she actually had anything to eat, still no matter how hungry she was, she would remain a lady and was careful not to inhale her food.

[Maou]

"The same for me," Maou murmured, mildly amused by Alice's reaction when she was bombarded with dialogue. Eying his sandwich, the demon visually picked it apart. The only things there were typical sandwich ingredients.

His imps were staring at it hungrily.

With a sigh, he picked out the meat and split it into three portions. Offering a portion to each of his imps, the white-haired male was mildly amused to watch the three devour the meat. Once they were done, he started nibbling at it.

[Blood Brothers]

"Of course," Sato muttered, pulling a jug of water out of the fridge. Returning to the cabinets with it, he retrieved two glasses and filled them with water. A short turn later and he was handing his guests their drinks.

So far, the two seemed to be pretty happy with their food, which was good.

There was definitely a feeling he had with them that one would be very useful soon. At this point, he couldn't tell which one it was, but he would find out. The first step to take now was to introduce them both to his creations and see how they responded.

"I have some tasty sweets for dessert, if you're interested."

[Alice]

Alice continued eating her rather tasty sandwich, watching Maou feed the little creatures that always surrounded him for some reason unbeknown to her, although they were rather cute. She took a sip of water that Sato so graciously brought to them, it soothed her dry throat like the first rains after a drought. She sighed in delight, could it get any better than this? And now there was talk of dessert, this place was like paradise!

"That would be wonderful! Don't you think Maou!?"

Alice could hardly contain her excitement.

[Maou]

Glancing at the redhead, Maou wondered if he had been cautious for no reason. The sandwich fixings came from Miss Ayaka's kitchen, not Sato's, which meant that if he was up to something, then it would be the sweets that he offered and not the sandwiches that he made under Maou's watchful eye.

"I think I'll pass on that, but thank you for offering," he stated calmly, consuming his sandwich with more vigor. "The sandwich is good." Taking a sip of the water, Maou repressed a sigh. Why is it that something so tasteless and basic could be so delicious?

[Blood Brothers]

"As you wish," Sato commented as he padded across the kitchen and into the other. His chibi clone stood in the corner, unfinished. He needed to get a hold of Tenshi and acquire a little assistance, but the creation of his servant was coming along well, otherwise.

Poking his head into Ayaka's kitchen, he focused on the dark-haired girl. She rather did look good in that pink dress, but Sato was amused to note that the Hare had looked better. The silly, little thing was too feminine for his own good.

"Would you like a cupcake or candy?"

[Alice]

"Hmmm, a cupcake please?"

Yes that would complete her meal very nicely. She wondered why Maou didn't partake, perhaps he didn't like sweets? Sato was such a good host, Maou and herself must have gotten lucky to be taken in by someone so nice, perhaps that's why the Hare was staying here for a while, but she still couldn't figure out why he was wearing dresses. She took another drink of water and it was still as satisfying as the first sip.

[Maou]

Really, there was nothing that he could do about her - Alice - though he sort of wished he could. It would make him feel so much better if he could just nudge her and shake his head slightly so signal for her to decline or not do something.

For now, she was on her own.

It didn't take long to finish the sandwich and the imps were long done with their portions. All that was left was the water - sweet, sweet water - which he enjoyed very much.

[Blood Brothers]

Plucking the cover off a cake platter, Sato selected a cupcake and brought it to Alice after replacing the cover. The white-haired boy might be a bit more clever than he seemed at first, though there was always the possibility that he really just wasn't that fond of sweet things.

Sato just had this feeling that he was being cautious, which was rather disappointing. The girl was probably dim enough to be his guinea pig as long as he played his cards just right.

At least, if he used her instead of the Hare, Ayaka wouldn't probably meddle as much.

[Q_Q]

Acid blinked, his eyes looked up at the sky and some leaves before he took a wrong step and fell off a rather large tree with a few pecans on it, well that was until his body hit the ground with a large thud. Rubbing his head he sighted, the the hell was he now?

"Damn~! this silly world I live in!!!"

He cursed aloud, standing up slowly still rubbing at his head. Well the place looked like a back yard, that was good enough. He began to walk towards the door, no harm done if he asked to go through.

[Pecan]

Hearing something strange, Pecan looked out the kitchen window as she finished washing the dirty dishes. Her mother's pecan-crusted chicken had been spectacular, but since she had been playing with Pumpkin when the meal had been fixed that meant that she had to take care of clean-up.

Not seeing anything strange out in the backyard, she went back to wiping down the counters. Because of the way the house was designed, her visitor that she wasn't aware of was hidden by part of the house.

The brunette planned to skip down to Ayaka's for a short while after this, having already gotten her plan of action approved by her parents. Maybe that redhead would have a tasty treat for her.

Humming a cheerful ditty, she squeezed her rag out over the sink and rinsed it again. This would be done in no time.

[Q_Q]

Acid was prepared for 1) a scream, 2) a pan over his head, and 3) cops called on him. Regardless he moved his hand up and knocked upon the door slow.

~knock, knock, knock~

"Excuse-me!~"

[Pecan]

Surprised, Pecan looked in the direction of their back door. She could have sworn that there was someone at their back door. Walking passed the fridge, she peeked around the corner and found that she had heard correctly.

There was someone knocking at the back door.

Drying her hands on a dish towel that she had snagged from the handle of the refrigerator, Pecan walked closer and opened the back door, looking up at the stranger with no fear. Something about his crazy, bright hair made her think of Ayaka and Sato.

"Can I help you, sir?"

[Alice]

"Wow, this looks so tasty thank you."

Alice inspected the cupcake, It seemed to be strawberry from what she could gather it looked so delicious it was almost too pretty to eat, almost. she pealed the wrapping off of the edge of the cupcake carefully its smelled even better now, she could feel her mouth water with anticipation of the sweet cake hitting her taste buds. Alice closed her eyes and took a small bite.

[Q_Q]

He blinked down at the young girl, she looked CUTE~ with all the meanings of the word, almost as cute as Sashi. If Kanashi saw her Sashi was bound to feel a jealousy build by just how Kanashi would probably more then likely grab her.

"Uh, yes...um...where am I? and May I go out of your home through the front door?"

Manners that's right Quatre had always preached about having manners with ladies even if they were young. Maybe this manners would help him here.

[Maou]

"I suppose it is time for me to cleanse myself," Maou stated, picking a leaf off his shirt and depositing it in the nearby trashcan. While he was not the ragamuffin that Alice seemed to be, it would be good to bath in something other than an ice cold stream.

"Thank you for the meal," he directed at Sato before turning and heading upstairs. The girl would learn or she wouldn't, but that was no real concern of his. He escorted her safely to Hopeless and so the challenge was completed.

If she so wished to stick around him, that was her choice.

[Blood Brothers]

Putting the dirty dishes in the sink, Sato held back a smirk. The white-haired boy - Maou, if he overheard correctly - was going to be in a completely different part of the building.

"Do you enjoy sweets, Miss Alice?" The redhead was still facing the sink as he asked, his voice smooth and low. Unfortunately, he couldn't jump straight into the candies that had violent and/or obviously abnormal side effects, but at least he could ensure that she would come back.

Her addiction was set with the first bite.

[Alice]

Alice's face flushed, she had never tasted something so delicious. It was like a strawberry symphony and it played the most beautiful melody. She took another bite. Alice had hardly noticed Maou get up and leave the room. All she could think about was this perfect piece of perfection.

"Mmmm..."

[Pecan]

"Huh? You're in Hopeless and how did you get into my backyard? Are you a pervert?" Pecan asked all this very quickly and in a 'no nonsense' tone while staring at the tall man flatly. The girl was smart, but she had obviously never met a pervert (or at least been aware of a pervert beyond the dirty, little boys she went to school with).

Her mom was upstairs, taking a shower, and her dad was in his study, working on his book. Neither seemed to have noticed the weirdo in the backyard for obvious reasons, but she knew that they'd come running if she screamed.