Okay I'm back! Glad to see reviews for last chapter. I tried to go a little more in depth with Smith and her views on the pair. It'll help shape the future and how close these two will grow and become. Really surprised at how many follows and favorites this stories gotten, actually goes past my first two entirely. As usual drop a review. Let us begin.
Kurusu and Rachnera finished up their shopping at the clothing store, and Smith accompanied them to one of the restaurants the pair had seen on their way there. While walking the tension was easing considerably between the pair and the agent as they began talking about how Rachnera was doing so far in his house, which was positive. Smith was internally glad for the girl, although she did raise a eyebrow when Rachnera mentioned sleeping in his room.
As she began to ask just what that meant she and Krurusu both started reassuring the agent that nothing happened. He told her that she had indeed been sleeping in the same room as him, but above him on a few of her webs. Rachnera blew it off by saying she had just wanted a warmer bigger room, and that it was really nothing.
They'd still been given a chidding look from Smith but otherwise she let it go, after all it was technically fine.
There was no harm in that, though the agent highly doubted Rachnera's reasonings about it being warmer. 'Warmer? Yeah riiiight. I bet she just wanted to get a reaction out of him when he woke up. Then again I guess he does make her feel warm, in that aspect. As long as there's no fooling around, they're fine with me.'
Finally after a good 7 minutes of walking and chatting, the trio finally settled in on a restaurant. Though the place was clearly designed to accompany extraspecies of many sorts, Rachnera still got a few silent stares from liminal and humans alike. Smith saw the girls face grow a bit gloomy but maintain some optimisim after she looked to Kimihito and quietly said "Thank you." Smith was confused, she didn't even hear him say a word, but then she saw as the trio looked for a table near the back, that the pair were holding hands.
That alone was enough to give her hopes for better relations for not only Arachne but Rachnera in particular would be given the proper care she deserved. 'Poor girl. Why the hell do they always stare at Arachne? I mean Tio doesn't even get this many stares for her size and she towers over Rachnera. Are people really that afraid of them? They don't even do anything compared to most species, lamia's are known for kidnapping men for their village orgies. Harpys are scatterbrained and are damn near lolicons.
Monoeyes can get annoyed or emotionally crushed if there's no eye contact between them that isn't staring in shock. But sometimes even receiving the eye contact would make them nervous or shy, Manako was evidence of that. Kobolds like Polt are so damn energetic it's a miracle they don't run their hosts to death from exhaustion. So why are they giving looks at Rachnera like she's dangerous?' Smith thought in disapproval as she saw some of those around them trying to avoid looking at the girl, and also saw that they had found a decent enough area to eat.
Smith took her seat opposite Kurusu's as she sat near Rachnera and opened her menu up. Like the sign said out front, Smith saw a variety of different dishes made specifically for extraspecies. But she did notice there were a few that weren't on the list. Slimes were an obvious because they consumed whatever they want, but she was a bit disappointed to not see many Arachne dishes at all. Subtly looking over to the one she sat next to, Smith wasn't surprised to see a bit of a sour expression on the girls face. All three kept continuing to look at the menus before a waiter finally came by in about 3 minutes. As Smith and Kimihito ordered what they chose, Rachnera seemed to settle on pasta dish consisting of chicken, beef and pork all covered in a rich tomato sauce.
Smith wanted to say something in private to either the manager or someone in the staff about the menu selections, but she wouldn't make a scene with the two of them here. It would only cause embarrassment, and if there was one thing Rachnee San would need less of right now, it would definitely be that. Smith made a note to talk later with the manager once they finished eating. She would leave Kurusu and Rachnera to go home with her new clothes, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that things could get better if they did just that.
Either Kurusu would be trying to comfort the spider woman and reassuring her, the spider woman would probably try to distract herself by playing with her Honey. Or it could even turn out to be both stemming from the other, because that's just what the pair seemed like to her. 'If anyone could reassure her, it's him. Kurusu seems like a decent enough guy for her looks wise, but with that heart of his she'll get what she needs.' Smith smiled faintly to herself as Kurusu and Rachnee were talking about something else on their own, but they hadn't forgotten about Smith being there.
A few minutes later their food came out and was given to the three hungry patrons, much to their eager delights. As Smith and Kurusu began to dig in Kurusu noticed that Rachnera was looking at her plate with something like disappointment, and he asked her "Are you okay? The food wrong? I'll have them send it back and-" but she also quietly cut across his concern.
"No, it's..it's fine. I'm just...disappointed that I couldn't even find anything good that's for my species. I'm eating a Lamia dish and though it looks delicious, it's just the principle behind it, I guess. But it's fine Honey, thank you for noticing." She told him low, not trying to let Smith hear it for fear of making a scene of some sort.
She was glad that the agent seemed to be unaware of the exchange as Smith began to eat away at her steak, and Rachnera began to eat her in dish as well. As she took the first bite she noticed it was actually better than she thought. 'They might not have stuff for my kind, but this tastes pretty damn nice. Definitely will have this again if we come here again. Maybe next time they'll have something for Me.'
What the Arachne didn't know was Smith heard and saw the whole thing from behind the safety of her glasses. She found herself pitying the girl before her, and was glad that Kimihito offered to send the dish back when he saw she wasn't initially happy with it. It was that kind of good heartedness that the liminal girl needed most, as did so many others of her species. Granted all the species that took part in the program faced difficulties but like she had said before, Arachne seem to face it the worst. Smith felt that she made the right decision putting them together under the same roof. She would be taken care of.
For a few minutes it was complete silence, the only sounds coming from those around the three. At least until Kurusu's concern for his charges happiness at her dish if resort got the better of him. "Enjoying your lunch Rachnee San?" Kimihito asked politely as he saw her dish was nearly finished, and she gave a satisfied nod at his question. Wiping her mouth with a napkin she replied with a pleasant tone. "Yes Honey, thank you. It's quite good, though I'm sure you would be better at sauce making. Theirs seems a little...watered down. Would you mind making something like this something this week?"
Hearing the small compliment in her tone Kurusu warmly told the girl "Of course. If you like sauce that much, I'm sure I could whip something up maybe tomorrow for lunch or dinner. I do have a few ideas for tonight's entrees though." Rachnera raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in curiosity at the last words though. Even Smith who was pretending to be oblivious was curious as to what he had in mind. After all he's only had her for a night so far, did he really research what Arachne prefer to eat?
"Oh really? Do tell Honey, you've peaked my interest.." Rachnera urged him lightly, but with a hint of something else in her tone that Smith easily picked up on. But to their surprise he shook his head a little closing his eyes, and told her "Nope, it's a surprise. You'll just have to wait till later, but I promise you'll like it." Pouting a little the Arachne sighed in resignation but gave no resistance, which surprised Smith. But from what she knew of the girl Smith knew Kurusu would be finding himself tied up later when they returned. Her suspicions were confirmed with something the liminal muttered low to herself in private.
"Fiiine. But I'm gonna make sure you get your punishment later, and this time I'm not cutting that line. I hope whatever you have in mind is yummy, or else I'm not letting you down for a few hours."
Though she had said it low to herself, Kurusu had heard every bit of it and found himself blushing hard. The playful but dangerous words had sent a bit of jump through his system, and he was doing his best to not shudder visibly at them. He tried to quietly calm himself to not let it be seen by the other two women, but much to his horror Smith leaned her head forward. She pulled down her sunglasses to smirk at him with her own two eyes, and he found himself getting more chills as he held the government agents gaze.
Much to his relief their waiter arrived with the check and while Smith offered to pay for it all Kurusu insisted he pay. While she let it slide visibly that he payed, she did manage to get word to the cashier to let her pay for it all. Smith pocketed the money and would instead fund it to him through the compensation the program does for it's hosts. After all the program did pick up the bill when it came to food and renovation costs, so while his act was noble Kurusu had no need to pay for all three of them. But still the thought itself was nice, and as she watched the two prepare to leave, Smith found herself more reassured that she'd made the right decision yesterday.
As they departed Smith was glad to see the pair holding hands as they walked, Kurusu taking the clothing bag in his other. The agent stayed behind and watched the two walk away towards his house as if it were out of some movie, before clearing her head. Smith reentered the restaurant and went to the cashier, asking for a manager. After all as a coordinater for the Interspecies Exchange program, it was her job to ensure that places be on par with meeting the needs of extraspecies who now lives in Japan. All species.