Side story: cake
Noah's Bookman Side Story: A Tale of Cake
Slender fingers wrapped around the redhead's face, covering his eye, and strangely enough, the eyepatch, too. “Guess who!” she said playfully.
Lavi set the book down on the table, grinning. It was really obvious by the voice and the smell of fresh nail polish. Only one of the Noah ever wore nail polish, and it was usually black. “Yo, Rhode ♥.”
“Oh you're so good at this!” she mused, withdrawing her hands then proceeding to ruffle his red hair. Rhode ruffled his hair quite a bit. In fact, it was something many of the Noah seemed to do. At first Lavi thought it was something about the way he kept it, but he soon changed his mind when he saw Tyki ruffle Rhode's, reasoning it was something the family just did. However, Lavi had never really done it to anyone, despite now being considered family.
“I thought you were out with Cyril or somethin',” Lavi noted.
“Cyril's taking me out for cake!” Rhode exclaimed, hanging over his shoulders, playing with the cross around his neck. It really was pretty. “Join me, Lavi!”
In the two years he'd been with the Noah, he'd not once had cake with Rhode. Tyki seemed to dread it, and Lavi had no idea why. Yes, Rhode was possessive and demanding at times, but it couldn't be that bad, right?
However, objecting to Rhode never worked for Lavi anyway, as at times, she seemed to think he was her pet and not a Bookman. She had developed somewhat of a possessiveness over him during his stay here, and Lavi had simply come to accept it. As a result, the redhead simply surrendered and decided to join her. He did like cake, after all.
When Rhode had asked Lavi to join her for cake, he hadn't expected to be shoved into formal clothes to do it.
The redhead adjusted the tie in the mirror, pulling it farther away from his neck. He preferred it to be further out, much less restricting that way. He'd grown more accustomed to the formal attire after several parties with the Noah family, masquerading as the foreign cousin from Edo. But he still looked awkward in it. Tyki looked formal all the time, top hat and all, but Lavi wasn't quite sure how he did it. He could even fight in it.
“Come on, Lavi!” Rhode tugged on his arm, yanking him away from the mirror. “You look fine!”
Rhode skipped along in front of Cyril and Lavi. Until today, Lavi had never been out in public in formal attire. He'd only been dressed up for formal parties the Earl held. Normally, when Lavi went out to uproot information, he wore something middle-class for whatever area he was in, simply to blend in with his surroundings, allowing him to slip into pretty much anywhere where gossip was easy to find and more people gathered.
But this situation was different. Lavi was here as a member of the Noah family. That was his current mask, although it was more of a reality than a facade. Only recently had the Earl officially accepted Lavi into the family, gifting him a white cross reminiscent of the stigmata the Noah had on their foreheads.
Sweet smelling air poured out of the bakery as Rhode pulled open the door.
“Pick whatever you want, you two~♥” Cyril offered as they entered the bakery.
Rhode immediately glued herself to the cake display. Lavi wasn't too far behind.
“We have quite the selection, my lord, all are freshly baked this morning.”
Lavi whipped around to find a curious baker. Lavi looked at him curiously for a brief moment.
“Do you have a favorite type of cake, Lavi-pon?” Cyril added, coming up behind the baker.
Lavi thought for a moment. He really hadn't eaten much cake, save whatever the Earl put in front of him. The Bookman never had the luxury of being picky. Moving about all the time, he simply ate whatever was put in front of him. “Chocolate,” he guessed.
“Oh we have so many different types of chocolate, my lord,” the baker offered, intent on finding Lavi the perfect slice of cake.
Lavi walked over the counter to find Rhode still staring at all the cakes. This baker was brown-nosing him and it was incredibly obvious. Was this a normal mannerism for storefolk when nobility came through? Lavi sure had a new entry for his record.
“Do you have any recommendations for chocolate, Rhode?” Lavi asked her, ignoring the baker.
“That one,” she tapped on the glass. It was a multi-layer cake with a cherry on top. “I've had it before. It's really good.” She latched herself onto his waist. “Is that what you're getting, Lavi?”
The Bookman nodded. “One slice of that, please.” He feigned a more formal speak to keep up the impression of being a nobleman. He offered the stressed baker a pleasant smile as he spoke.
The baker nodded, getting a younger boy to retrieve a rather large piece of cake. “And for the lady?”
“I'll take that, that, and that,” Rhode pointed out. The boy behind the counter seemed to know exactly which cakes she had pointed at. Lavi carefully watched the kid bustle around behind the counter, then noticed the boy wasn't cutting what she had requested.
However before he was able to inquire about it, Rhode yanked him towards a table where Cyril had already situated himself. Rhode sat herself down delicately like a lady would before curling her feet underneath her. Lavi sat down as well, faking formal mannerisms. He'd watched enough of the other Noah in formal situations to be able to mimic them believably well. Lavi watched the people within the bakery, both customers and bakers, bustle about. He soon noticed the boy approach them, setting the cake down in front of Lavi. Cyril handed him some money before the boy skittered off back behind the counter. What Lavi saw next made his jaw drop.
The bakers placed three whole cakes in front of Rhode.
“Are you really gonna eat all'a that, Rhode?” Lavi blinked. There was no way.
She nodded. “Of course, Lavi! I love sweets!”
“Oh she's so cute~♥!” Cyril fawned over her.
Sure enough, Rhode did finish off all three cakes.
“Shall we go, Rhode dear~♥? Lavi-pon~♥?” Cyril asked, standing up.
“Yup, let's go!” Rhode replied, dragging Lavi behind her. He was incredibly tolerant of her, allowing himself to be dragged about. “Oh Lavi! I have something for us to do when we get back!”
Lavi looked down at her, wondering how she was even able to move after consuming three multi-layer cakes.
“Help me with my homework!”
Lavi ruffled her hair. “Sure.”