Hello, everyone! This will be my first Tales of Vesperia fic. It's also my very first one-shot. The idea for this popped into my head the other day, and I just had to try writing about it. Enjoy!

Simple Tastes

"We'll have two Amango teas, and 2 mabo curries."
A pair of girls sat down at a table in the noisy tavern. They handed the menu back to the young waitress.
"Alright, coming right up!"

The genius mage took the orders of three more customers before making her way to the bar, translating her cryptic coding system for orders.
"...6 spicy shrimp at table C, and 4 Earth spirit parfaits, 2 for table B and 2 for table D..."
The list went on and on as the kitchen scrambled to keep up.

The group had decided to rest for a few days in Dahngrest to regroup before the final battle against Duke at Tarqaron. In order to raise funds, Rita was drafted to work as a waitress in one of the taverns.

Rita rather enjoyed the time she was working, despite chewing out Yuri for choosing her to help out at first.
'I-I can't do this!'
She had said,
'I don't know the first thing about being a waitress!'

At that, Yuri had chuckled.
'Oh come on Rita, something like this should be a piece of cake for our genius mage.'
He said with a smile.
'We'll be at the inn, but we'll pick you up after your shift. It'll be fun, I promise.'
Rita half hated how Yuri always seemed to be right, no matter what logic dictated. What could be fun about taking orders from drunken, smelly guild members? He gave her an irresistible wink, causing her to look away with a slight blush.
'Grr... You owe me one, Yuri!'

She soon found out that the people of Dahngrest had their own share of interesting people. Sure it was noisy, with crude language being spoken left and right, sure there was the odd idiot or two that had a few too many to drink, but inside the tavern, everyone was there for a common purpose: to relax. She realized that this made people quite friendly towards one another, and especially to her: the person that brought them their food and drink. Some were a little 'too' friendly. She frequently found the men to be perverts, before she realized that she was very easily teased.

Two regular customers arrived, settling down at one of the tables. They propped their huge weapons up against the table, talking loudly. Noticing the waitress approaching, one of them called out to her.
"Hey little missy, would you like to have a drink with me after you're finished working?"
Here was the funny thing Rita just couldn't understand: no matter how angry she got during her shift, nobody cared. Her habit of being blunt about everything didn't always sit well with her friends, but nobody seemed to mind here. In fact, the majority of the customers seemed to enjoy the verbal abuse she was so adept at dealing. They all laughed at her, calling her 'adorable'; something that made her want to burn the place down at times.

With a sigh, she responded,
"Seeing the way you drink, there's no way either of you will last until I'm finished."
The man roared with laughter.
"Haha! I guess you're right, there's no way I can say no to my drinks when they're in front of me! We'll just have to find another day when you're not working."
Another sigh escaped Rita,
"Whatever, now just tell me what you want, old man!"
With more laughter, the two men finally ordered their Don's specials and of course, their alcohol.

Hours whizzed by as Rita worked. Her system was flawless, there was not a single mistake in any of her orders.
"We'll have 2 tomato soups."
This seemed like the last of the customers. The tavern had calmed down considerably.
"Alright, it'll be ready in just a moment."

Exhausted as she was, there was a smile on her face. After watching the destruction of her hometown of Aspio, Rita found it strange that she wasn't as distressed as she should have been. It was indeed where she had grown up, surrounded by books about her beloved blastia, yet, along the journey, she began to realize just how empty her life was. Before this whole thing began, she had no real friends, nor did she have a desire to make any. Through Estelle, Yuri and the others, however, she began to desire a different life. She couldn't deny that the replacement for aer, mana was incredibly interesting, and that she knew she wouldn't be able to help herself from researching it. Though this was the case, this time, she wanted to have her friends around.

'Maybe I can live with Yuri in Dahngrest and join his guild...'
She immediately shook the thought out of her head as she served the two final customers. What was she thinking? If anything, she would have go to Zaphias with Estelle in order to discuss establishing a new imperial research academy. Besides, the guild officially belonged to Karol, the annoying brat, and there was no way she could live with his stupidity nearby. Approaching the bar, she wiped the sweat off her brow.

"Phew, Well, that about does it."

"Great work Rita, I knew you could pull it off."
A familiar voice behind her said, causing her to jump.
"Ah! Yuri! How long have you been here? Where's everyone else?"
She asked.
"Repede's here too, but they wouldn't let dogs into the tavern. Everyone else seems to have fallen asleep waiting, so it's just me, sorry."
He replied with a smile. The owner of the tavern noticed the two from behind the bar. She was quite exhausted from keeping up with Rita.
"Amazing! You handled so many customers with such finesse..."
She huffed, as Yuri proudly gave Rita's head a pat, which she quickly brushed off. She hated it when he did that out of the blue.
"Well, she is a genius mage, after all.
He said.

The owner then asked if Rita could stay full time in the tavern, an offer she flatly declined. Though she looked slightly disappointed, the owner handed Rita the gald with a smile.
"In any case, we really appreciate your help. Oh! I almost forgot! Just in case you change your mind, we had a uniform made for you! Please wear it, won't you?"
She pleaded,
"Right now?"
Rita said, looking over at Yuri nodding to say he didn't mind the wait.
"Sure, throw it on and see how it fits."
He said. As Rita went with the owner to the back to change, Yuri couldn't help but wonder. What kind of uniform did they make for Rita? Maybe it was just a simple hat and apron? Maybe a dress shirt or something? He really began to smile as his imagination ran off with his thoughts, inwardly laughing at himself when he imagined her wearing some kind of cosplay uniform. Rita was quite fashion conscious, usually opting to wear elaborate clothing with accessories. Yuri knew Rita's no-nonsense nature would get in the way of wearing anything like that. He remembered the fuss she made when a man from the bunny guild simply tried to have Rita advertise his guild by having her wear a pair of bunny ears. Boy was the owner in for some disappointment if she made a uniform with anything like that for Rita.

"Mmm, very nice! With a personality like yours, and cute cat ears like that, you'll be a hit!"

'Cat ears?'
Yuri thought as he spun around to see Rita in her new clothes. Boy was he surprised. Her 'uniform' seemed to be cat themed, as she wore a paw-print apron along with a pair of black cat ears along with a dress shirt, a skirt, a tie and knee high boots that all seemed to be of very high quality. There was a blush on her face.

"W-what do you mean I'll be a hit?!"

The owner merely smiled,
"A hit with the customers, of course. You look purrrrfect!"

Nights in Dahngrest were usually quiet in contrast to the daytime. Members in guilds (Raven being the exception of course) tended to be on the hard working side, and they required good rest for good work. Yuri respected this kind of work life, as he himself aspired to help captain Karol lead Brave Vesperia to the top through honest labour.

The two walked through the empty streets, Repede joining them with a yawn. Yuri couldn't take his eyes off her uniform.
"So I'm guessing you don't have anything against cats?"
Yuri said, repressing a laugh.
"S-shut up... I don't mind cats. You got a problem with that?"
"No, I don't. I just think those clothes are pretty different from what you usually wear. You look kinda cute."
He replied. Blushing, Rita said,
"H-hey, are you saying I don't normally look cute?"
He laughed this time. She turned her head away from him.
"Whatever, it's not like I care what you think, anyways."

"Hey, come on. I'm not that mean. That's not what I was saying at all. I do like the cat ears."
He said. After a long pause, she replied,
"Just the ears?"
At this, Yuri finally burst out laughing.
"W-what's the matter with you? Why are you laughing"
Through his laughter, he said,
"The ears... The ears are the problem."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
She was getting quite frustrated at this point.
Yuri didn't exactly know why he was laughing; something about seeing the Rita he knew wearing something so cute made him smile. And laugh. The fit finally died down.
"It's nothing, really."
He said.
"The owner of that tavern sure is nice though. Now you have a place to go if that whole blastia research thing doesn't work out."
Yuri teased with a chuckle.

"Oh please. You know that's not my style."
She replied, with her 'oh please' look she usually gave to Estelle. Yuri seemed to be finished with his jokes now.
"Hmm, but really, what are you going to be doing after we take down the adephagos? There'll be no more blastia, so you'll have to start your research from scratch, right?"
With a sigh, Rita diverted from their route, sitting at the edge of a large fountain in the middle of the main square. Yuri took a seat next to her, as repede curled up near their feet with another yawn. He soon fell asleep.

"Well, with Aspio gone, I've been doing some thinking, but honestly, I don't really know. What I do know is that I'll be researching this new mana development. You saw it's power, right? Meteor storm is just a basic spell I came up with using basic formulas. Imagine what could be possible if we develop it further.
"Yeah, it does seem quite powerful, but don't you think it may be dangerous if the research fell into the wrong hands?"
Rita sighed, looking up into the moonless sky.
"I guess it's a risk we'll have to take. Mana has the power to make people's lives better or worse; it all depends on how humanity uses this power."
"So you'll be taking your leave after we defeat the adephagos then?"
Yuri suddenly asked, startled, Rita looked at Yuri, and then down behind her into the clear water, illuminated by a blastia core in the center of the fountain.

"I... I don't want to lose anyone..."
She said softly. Too softly.
"What was that?"
Yuri asked, tilting his head.
"N-nothing! We'll see how I feel after all of this is done."
She said quickly. Yuri nodded, adding a smile,
"Well, you know you'll always be welcome in Brave Vesperia. If you ever need anything, captain Karol and I will be happy to help."
Rita's eyes met Yuri's again. Her usually stern expression softened.
"I'll... I'll think about it."

Her eyes fell to her belt where a pouch was hanging.
"Oh! Right! Here's what I earned today. We can put this towards our final pieces of equipment before we enter tarqaron. We should have enough now."
Opening the pouch, Yuri nodded.
"Wow Rita, you sure did earn a lot. Looks like you're actually good at a lot of things besides blastia research."
He said,
"H-hey, what's that supposed to mean? I can do anything I put my mind to, and I can do it well!"
She said, crossing her arms.

"Haha, alright, alright."
Yuri replied, giving her another quick pat on the head, mostly to feel the cat ears. They were soft. She brushed his hand off quickly again.
"Stop doing that! I'm not Karol, you know! Stop treating me like a kid!"
She said, annoyed. Yuri laughed again.
"Hey, you still are just a kid, aren't you? You're really only 15 despite the way you act."
"Ugh, who cares about how old I am?! Haven't you heard the saying, age just a number?! Just treat me like an adult, okay?! You do it fine for Estelle."
"Huh? For Estelle? Really?"
Yuri rubbed his chin in thought. He'd never thought that his treatment of Estelle qualified as 'treatment of an adult.' With a shrug, Yuri finally said,
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Here let me make it up to you. I guess this is also your reward for doing a good job today."
Rita turned to face him again.
"Huh? What is it?"
She asked. She found that her anger was always fleeting when she was with Yuri. He stood up now, walking directly in front of Rita. He crouched down to her level. Finding what he was doing strange, Rita couldn't help but look away.
"W-what?"

"Close your eyes."
He suddenly said, the smile still on his face.
"What?"
"Just close 'em. It's a surprise. No peeking, it'll ruin it."

Rita must have been bright red at this point as her eyes reluctantly shut. She was getting quite hot despite being in the uniform which was quite thin. Suddenly, she could feel his hand under her chin, causing her to recoil.

"Hey, don't move, now."

She heard, as she nervously tried to keep as still as possible. The hand under her chin caused her to tilt her head upwards. Was this really happening? It felt like Yuri was going to kiss her or something.

"W-what're you doing, Yuri?"

She asked softly, as she felt something soft on her lips. Her eyes remained shut, and she was unable to move.
'Oh my god, t-this is so sudden!'
She thought, unable to react. This would be her first kiss! Normally, she wouldn't care about something so trivial, yet her heart raced at thought of Yuri. Long had she admired the strong, kind leader of their little group, but she never imagined something like this would happen. She could feel the softness pushing past her lips into her mouth. She was probably as red as a beet now. She knew she had just asked Yuri to treat her like an adult, but he was going so far!
She could feel it reaching her tongue, and she instantly found the sensation very familiar. It was sort of sweet, yet sour. She couldn't quite pinpoint the taste...

"Hey! Are you going to eat my finger too?"
Her eyes shot open at his voice. What just happened? Her emerald eyes first looked into his, and then down.

"Gah! What the hell are you doing?!"
She shouted. She realized that indeed, his finger had been in her mouth, but there was something else lingering inside; something soft full of flavour. It really was different from anything she had ever tasted before, and it felt blissful. Her eyes closed by themselves again as she rolled the soft substance in her mouth. She could feel the aches in her small body melt away to be replaced by energy. The taste was indescribable; it tasted like apple, orange, lemon and pineapple, but not like a mixture of the four.
"W-what was that? That was wonderful!"
She finally asked, the as the last of the gel dissolved. The flavour still lingered. With a chuckle, Yuri replied, taking a seat next to her again.
"It's a rare type of gel I bought at Yumanju. How was it?"
Rita's hands came up to her cheeks. They were still burning.
"That was incredible! The taste was just... Awesome!"
She said, a glimmer in her eyes. When she noticed Yuri's smug smile, she straightened herself out, taking back control of her facial expression.

"What?"
She said, as angrily as she could.
"Nothing... You just looked kind of funny when I was giving you the gel, that's all."
He replied, causing her to blush again.

"H-hey, I told you to stop treating me like Karol, didn't I? I don't need you to buy me things like this!"
She tried changing the subject as quickly as she could. Yuri shook his head finally.
"Come on, Rita, you know I see you on a different level from Karol. I was just kidding earlier, and just consider the gel a gift. I know you like them for their simple taste, not because you're a child."

His smile won her over again.
"F-fine. Thanks."
She finally said.

"So you're sure you see me as an adult?"
She asked.
"Of course. You're our genius mage. You said it yourself, didn't you? 'Age is just a number!'"
He gave her a wink that deepened her blush.
"T-then... Do you see me as a woman?"
She suddenly asked, to her own surprise. Yuri's poker face failed, and he looked genuinely surprised. What exactly was in that gel?

"What do you mean, Rita?"
"I-I'm saying I want a different reward!"
She said, then looking into his eyes. Yuri had finally caught on to what she was saying, and couldn't resist teasing her further. She was just too adorable.
"Huh? Like what?"
He asked.

"I-I don't know. Just forget it!"
She said, frustrated, and extremely embarrassed. What was she thinking? Why was she acting like this? She never in her life cared about anyone's opinion of her, yet Yuri's opinion seemed to matter greatly. Her eyes made their way to his again, and then it hit her.
"Yuri, I... I think I lov--"

Her words were silenced by something soft on her lips again. This time, she quickly realized it was the real thing, causing her to blush again. Her eyes closed on their own accord, as her hands found their way to his chest as she leaned on him for support. As they deepened the kiss, Yuri's arms eventually wrapped around her small form. He could soon taste the gel she had moments ago. He was never a fan of the taste of gels, but this one, he couldn't get enough of. After what seemed like ages, their parted their lips, their eyes locked on each other.
"There. Was that good enough for you?"
Yuri said through his pants. Rita was still speechless. Her face was still a deep shade of red, as she looked away. Yuri couldn't help but smile. He brought her in closer, embracing her.
"Haha, you really are adorable, Rita."
He said. Closing her eyes, Rita simply enjoyed the warmth. She didn't hate the word 'adorable' being used to describe her when Yuri said it.

"So what were you going to say before?"
He asked after a long while. He was playing with Rita's cat ears. Eyes widening, Rita buried her face into his chest.

"N-nothing!"
"See? I guess you really are just a kid. You weren't ready for this."
Yuri said with a grin.
"M-maybe I'm wasn't... But it's already done! I got what I wanted."
Yuri laughed. She was finally loosening up.
"Yeah, yeah, okay. Let me be the grown up one, then. Rita, I want you to join Karol and I in Brave Vesperia after we deal with the adephagos."

"Why?"

"Because we could really use a person like you in the guild."
"So you only want me for my abilities?"

Yuri realized she was the one teasing him now.
"Oh come on, you really want me to say this?"
"Yep. Every word."
With a sigh, Yuri continued.

"I want you to come with us because I don't want to be separated from you. I guess I've grown pretty fond of your bad temper and childish antics."
He smirked, he just couldn't stay serious enough for this; it was actually pretty embarrassing.
"Now why'd you have to go and ruin it? You were doing so well."
"Well, I guess seeing in these cat ears make up for all of your bad habits."
He replied, stroking them once more. She looked up at him now.

"What's with you? You going to forget about all of this when I take these cat ears off?"
She asked with her usual sarcastic tone returning.
"Maybe."
Yuri said hugging her tightly again.
"But then again, I guess the only thing I find cuter than cat ears is you."
Rita blushed again.

"Yuri?"
She said after some time of recovery.
"Hm?"
"I'll wear these cat ears whenever you'd like, so... Just don't ever leave me, okay?"
He chuckled.
"Not a bad offer, but Rita, as long as you're you, cat ears aren't going to sweeten the deal that much. Don't worry, I'll always be with you."
"...Idiot..."

And there you have it. My first Yurita fic. I actually lean more towards JudithxYuri, but I also find this pairing quite cute. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave a review of what you thought! Thanks for reading!