Title: Beware the Pink Hair
Summary: Chloe happens to meet a certain pair of pink-haired girls~
AN: This might not be exactly as you requested right now, but believe me, it's the lead up to some fun shenanigans I have in store for everyone~ Also, I just want to add that I'm not entirely sure how to write from Chloe's pov so she could be insanely out of character ^^; so do forgive me for that. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading~
Though Chloe herself was neither considered a morning person or a night person, she did enjoy lying in bed and reading whenever she could, be whatever time of day or night. Bertrand, however, liked his sleep. He could nap anytime, anywhere.
So she had to admit that she was suspicious when she heard the sound of Bertrand's door open and close at an unreasonable hour by his standards. The first time it happened, she figured that he couldn't sleep for whatever reason and felt like going for a walk. No big deal.
But it happened for the next couple of mornings, too.
She was rightly concerned and wondered if he was having trouble sleeping, which was indeed troubling. But he never seemed out of sorts or disgruntled during the day, no matter where they were. He was the way he had always been.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. He seemed more…she couldn't use the word 'happier' but he did seem more at ease. She honestly wasn't sure how to describe it. He was just acting a little un-Trand like.
So, naturally, she had to know more.
Upon the sound of Bertrand's bedroom door opening and closing at pretty much the same time as the last few mornings, Chloe slipped on her hat and waited by her own door. She pressed her ear against it and listened as Bertrand's footsteps moved away, toward the foyer of the inn.
When she could no longer hear him, she slipped from her room and quietly followed in his steps. She reached the stone staircase leading to the reception and peered down from the top step.
The foyer was filled with the usual coming and goings of explorers and visitors. She immediately spied Flavio lingering a few feet away, speaking with both Hrothgar and the orange-haired medic she knew mostly as the Miracle Medic. They were chatting easily with each other, none of them dressed for exploration yet.
Chloe couldn't help but notice how different Hrothgar looked without his armour.
She also couldn't help but notice that Bertrand seemed to be heading in their direction. Maybe he was just passing by, heading to the dining room for some coffee or tea?
As he silently drew closer, Hrothgar suddenly made the motion as if he had forgotten something. And as he turned around to most likely head to his room, he bumped straight into Bertrand's chest as if he hadn't realised he had been there. He immediately jumped back with a squeak and a red tinge to his cheeks. Bertrand, for his part, looked amused by his reaction as he folded his arms casually over his chest. The slight upturn of his lips gave the indication that he had purposely placed himself in Hrothgar's path.
…Curious.
Even more intriguing was the fact that he stayed there, speaking with Hrothgar, and occasionally with Flavio and Mr Miracle Medic.
Still, while Bertrand didn't immediately brush them off and continue to where he was heading, as he usually did, he still was purposely holding himself back from fully engaging in conversation with Hrothgar and the others. He appeared as if he wanted to, but something…something was holding him back.
For as long as Chloe had known him, he had always done that. She didn't understand why. She couldn't understand why. And that saddened her, to be truthful.
Chloe was pulled from her thoughts and observations when something pink appeared from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see the inn-keeper's daughter walk toward the reception desk. And with her was another, slightly older than her but with similar pink hair and dressed in the garbs of a troubadour.
Quinoa stopped walking and glanced up at the stairs, as if expecting someone and was mildly surprised to see Chloe there instead. "Ah, g-good morning," she greeted nonetheless.
Chloe straightened her postured and causally walked down the rest of the steps. "Morning."
The troubadour perched herself atop of the reception desk and swung her legs in a childish manner. "Hey," she suddenly said with her attention on Chloe.
Chloe glanced over at her as she pushed up her glasses. "Hm?"
"Your guildmate?" she asked as she motioned with her head toward Bertrand's direction, who of which was now speaking to Hrothgar alone. "The one with the blond hair?"
Chloe felt slightly suspicious and protective, but nodded her head nonetheless. "Yeah."
"Looks kinda cosy with Hrothgar, doesn't he?" she unexpectedly asked with a…peculiar grin on her face.
Chloe turned to look once more and found that, yes, he did look comfortable with him actually.
"Hrothgar looks flustered," Quinoa added, with was also unexpected and surprising.
And that was true, too.
Was Hrothgar the reason Bertrand had been getting earlier than he usually did?
Though, honestly, she was more curious as to why these two girls seemed so interested in Bertrand and Hrothgar.
"You may have heard of me," the troubadour said in a somewhat haughty manner as she flicked on of her pigtails over her shoulder. "The name's Binah, Matchmaker Extraordinaire."
Oh, she had heard of her alright.
The corner of Chloe's mouth twitched into a half smirk. "Your name is synonymous with fear."
Binah laughed and smiled widely. "I know, right?"
From the stories she had overheard, Chloe wasn't all that surprised by her response. "Matchmaker, huh? What is it that you do?"
"The usual cliché stuff," Binah answered easily as she began to count off of her fingers. "Locked them in a closet together, send flowers under to one with the other's name, cover one of their beds with rose petals and have them both walk into the room at the same time. The usual."
The usual, huh? Chloe couldn't quite see how they would work, though. "Clichés don't work for a reason."
Binah made a sound that was a mixture of a scoff and a laugh. "Oh, we're not using them because they might work. We know they don't."
That answer was a little surprising. "So why?"
Surprisingly, it was Quinoa who answered. And she did so with a small smile. "To scare them."
Chloe blinked at her in confusion. "Hm?"
Quinoa giggled cutely as she idly swung her arms at her sides and rocked back and forth on her feet. "They're clichés because everyone knows them. So they know what we're trying to do."
"Exactly," Binah cut in before Chloe had to chance to fully process Quinoa's words and she turned to look over at the pink haired troubadour to find her waving her finger smugly.
"Put the fear of god into them," she continued. "Make them realise that there are scarier and more humiliating things to experience other than confessing their feelings to their crush."
Chloe felt the corner of her mouth twitch in a half smirk once more. "…Heh," she uttered as she turned to look over in Bertrand's direction to see that he was still speaking with Hrothgar. It was surprisingly, but reassuring in a way. And kinda suspicious.
"You know…" Binah suddenly drawled which prompted Chloe to turn her attention back to her once more. "I've heard a few things about your guild. And a certain restaurant."
Chloe arched an eyebrow at her. "Hm?"
The expression on Binah's face was nothing short of mischievous. "You need customers for your restaurant, right? I could…arrange something."
Chloe immediately noticed the subtle undertone of her words. "Arrange as in deceiving a few certain potential couples into visiting?"
Binah stuck out her tongue at her before cheekily winking. "I prefer giving them a much needed push," she said before she hopped down from the reception counter and twirled in a carefree manner into the centre of the inn's foyer, completely at ease with everyone and everything around her. "A candlelight dinner, a table set for two; could anything be more romantic? So what if they don't know it's a couple's only thing? What they don't know won't hurt them."
Chloe snorted lightly to cover up a chuckle. Well, one couldn't really argue with that logic, could they?
"So what do you say?" Binah asked as she planted her hands on her hips.
Hmm…well, the café did indeed need paying customers. So what if most of them don't know the true reason of their visit? Food would be cooked and paid for, people see explorers entering and leaving, word spreads, more customers visit. And, if they were lucky, get an adorable spectacle of the potential couples freaking out at all the romantic atmosphere. It was a win-win situation really.
"Sounds fun," Chloe replied to the grinning troubadour.
… … … … …
After a quick visit to the labyrinth to retrieve some ingredients for Regina, they had returned to the restaurant to relax for lunch before heading out again. And Chloe had perched herself on a stool near the breakfast counter and waited. Her insistence on returning just before lunch and to park herself alone at the counter drew her many confused and concerned looks from her guildmates. Justified, really.
She didn't explain anything to them, though. No, she wanted them to see what she was up too.
She was waiting for certain pair of pink-haired girls to visit.
From where she was sitting, she had a good view of Regina working in the kitchen. At first the chef was ignoring her, no doubt assuming she was impatiently waiting for her to cook something with lots of meat. But as minutes ticked by and Chloe didn't order anything, she was starting to get suspicious and prickly.
Soon enough, she paused in what she was cooking and confronted her. "Are you going to sit there staring at me all day?" she finally asked.
"No," Chloe replied casually. To be honest, it was cute how she was unnerved by her presence and silence.
Regina didn't believe her and gave her a sideways glance. "Then what are you doing?"
"Waiting."
"For who?"
"You'll see soon enough."
That resulted in Regina looking even more unnerved.
Chloe felt herself smirk when the bell above the door of the café chimed and the sound of two pairs of feet making their way over to her. She casually pushed up her glasses as the stools on either side of her were pulled out and promptly occupied.
Her smirk widened just a fraction when she heard Flavio squeak something from the corner of the café, no doubt recognising the notorious Matchmaker Extraordinaire.
Whether Regina knew of her was unclear, but she did seem taken aback by the abrupt appearance of the Pinkettes, her gaze darting between the three of them. She wasn't exactly unnerved, but definitely highly suspicious.
"Can…I help you three?" Regina seemed unable to stop herself from asking.
"H-hello," Quinoa squeaked in response but held the chef's gaze nonetheless.
"The name's Binah," the young troubadour introduced without a hint of trepidation. "And this is Quinoa, nice to meetcha."
"Ah, you too…?" Regina muttered in response, sounding as confused as she looked as she quickly turned her attention to Chloe directly.
"They're friends," Chloe said simply, her amusement growing when she heard Flavio splutter something in the distance.
"So I heard you need customers," Binah abruptly stated as she leaned her elbows casually on top of the bar.
Regina blinked. "Y-yeah, well-"
"I might be able to help with that," Binah interrupted with a mischievous grin.
Regina immediately looked suspicious and sceptical. "Oh, really? How so?"
"Uh ah. Not telling," Binah said as she wagged her finger in Regina's face, surprising the chef immensely. "I just need a bit of cooperation from you."
Regina flushed as she huffed with indignation. "Excuse me? I'm not taking orders from you."
Binah wasn't remotely frightened by the prickly cook. "You will if you want paying customers~" she stated in a singsong voice.
Regina was shocked into silence and her gaze abruptly turned back to Chloe, to look at her in completely bewilderment.
"It should be fun," Chloe said simply as Quinoa giggled cutely and Binah sniggered mischievously.
"…I'm a little worried about what you three would find fun," Regina muttered as a subtle expression of unease and maybe even fear appeared on her face.
"Oh, don't worry," Binah said in a not all that comforting way. "You'll find out."
Chloe wasn't entirely sure, but it was almost as if Regina was starting to break out into a cold sweat. "Er…I've got a kitchen to run," she muttered before she turned around and all but fled into her kitchen.
So, seemed that even Regina had heard of the Pinkettes. Chloe couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble and mayhem they had already caused. Oh, she'd probably find out one day. Onto more pressing matters though.
"So," Binah started as she rested her elbow on the counter and turned her attention toward both Chloe and Quinoa. "Who should our first victim be?"
Quinoa reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was surprisingly large as she unfolded it. "U-um, maybe we should start with Axel and Lynus?" she suggested.
Binah huffed slightly and batted as a strand of her hair. "No good, they're romantic wherever they are and if we send the others to the same restaurant, they might get suspicious."
Chloe thought back to what she had witnessed that morning and her glasses glinted under the subtle lighting of the café. It was really the only way. Trand was going to find someone that makes him truly happy. Whether he wanted it or not.
"I have an idea…" Chloe murmured.
"Go on," Binah quickly encouraged.
"Well…"
