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"I don't understand, Lotte."
A few heads on the street turned slightly to look at the two witches who were exiting the coffee shop. Their capes fluttering slightly as the door closed behind them, some snow dancing to enter before being abruptly shut off. Lotte was holding onto a freshly brewed vanilla latte, served on a cheap plastic cup with a blue logo featuring a cartoon bull plastered into the middle of it.
The small, unremarkable cafe slapped in-between two apartment buildings was exactly the same as the three Sucy saw in the way there. She couldn't, for the life of her, understand the appeal of drinking from this specific store brand, but then again she was never much of a coffee person. The concrete floor and brick walls, coupled with the dark wood tables seemed to try to give off a rustic impression. Unfortunately for the people in charge, all Sucy got from it was a sterile, corporate-regulated place that smelt of coal-burnt chocolate.
Luckily for both of them, this particular Starbulls was pretty empty that particular winter evening, so they quickly got their order and left. They couldn't take their sweet time today, they had to regroup with Akko before 5 'o clock at the Blytonbury fountain or else she was going to tease them about "running off" to "make-out" or whatever. Sucy was not in the mood for that today.
As they were walking to the Blytonbury park, the usual spot to hang-out, Lotte became aware that Sucy was worriedly staring into the Starbulls across the street of the one they just left.
"Eh? Is something wrong, Sucy?" Lotte asked her, the redhead's brow furrowing slightly as she wondered what was up with her friend.
"There's another Starbulls right across the street from here," It wasn't normal for the calm girl to become concerned about such a small thing as a coffee shop's placement, but all of a sudden it was bothering her. "I can see it from here. Isn't it kind of impractical to have two shops in front of each other?"
"Well... maybe they need more space?" Lotte answered, suddenly realizing the lack of logic in that as she stared into the slightly-bigger Starbulls located across the street.
"Then wouldn't they just make one big Starbulls?" For once, Sucy was completely stumped. While anyone else would dismiss her stoic figure as usual, Lotte could read the plain confusion on the girl's face. "What's the use of having two Starbulls facing each other? They'd just rival each other in customers and they'd eventually make less profit. It's like using two different kind of flesh-eating fungi, they'd just eat each other."
"...that's a pretty strange metaphor, Sucy." The Finn stated, weirded out.
Cursing under her breath, Sucy realized how awkward that must have sounded. She doesn't normally care about being weird with other people, they were the weird ones for not appreciating the beauty in the slow decomposition of a mountain hare. However, when she was with Lotte, it was as if a rush of weird feelings and ideas popped into her head, and she was more aware than ever of her own quirkiness.
"...I guess they just want to increase sales somehow." Darnit, now she got Lotte thinking about it! "The other Starbulls is practically bursting at the seams with how much customers it has, while this one is near-empty. Why would they..."
"Uh... I don't want to interrupt, but we've arrived." Sucy bluntly stated as she pointed to a large roble park bench. Lotte meekly sat on the right end, the philipinne on the other.
Last Wednesday Society closed on weekends (And wednesdays, ironically enough), so the Seven New Witches (Plus Hannah and Barbara occasionally, no one was happy with this) hung out at the park during the free weekends from Luna Nova. It was decently-kept and the annoying anti-witch kids seemed to stay clear from it, so Akko declared it the "New Cool Hang-Out Spot" (Whatever that means) about two weeks ago, and no one had a better idea. The park itself was snowy around this time of the year, and children were rarely seen around.
Lotte opened her hot drink and delightedly gulped it down, the hot coffee contrasting with the milky goodness for a delicious combination. As she sighed in relief, she felt her temperature raise a bit on the cold climate. She turned her head to find Sucy staring at her with a soft smile, clearly lost in her own thoughts. "Oh, sorry! You want some coffee?" Lotte offered apprehensively. The pale girl had refused to buy anything back at Starbulls, as she said she wasn't thirsty.
"Uh?" Sucy stated blankly, clearly snapping back from whatever trance she was in. 'Nah, I just like watching you be happy.' Was what Sucy would have said, if she hadn't gained a sudden understanding in just how truly disturbing that was. "I... yeah, I'd like a sip, please." She stammered out, trying to salvage the situation.
Lotte snorted lightly, and that was the cutest thing Sucy ever saw. Clearly, she wasn't too impressed at this. "Sucy, I know you. When you want something, you just take it, like how you took Akko's hair that one time to make your shapeshifting potion."
"Well, I'm trying to change myself for the better." Sucy improvised on the spot.
"Oh Sucy, that's nice of you!" The redhead's face brightened up as she handed over the cup to Sucy, who fidgeted with it a bit. "Here, drink up,"
As Sucy raised the plastic, fake cup to her lips, she steeled herself for whatever weird taste this thing would have. It couldn't be that bad, Sucy tolerated sweetness.
It tasted like shit.
Hot, steamy, liquid shit. It was like someone was funneling diarrhea into her mouth and forcing her mouth shut tightly with both hands to close on it with. It was absolutely disgusting to the touch and even worse to swallow. Sucy had never tasted such bullshit, and she had a particularly poisonous fungus for breakfast that morning.
"Do you like it?" Lotte asked, her expectant eyes twinkling like a snowflake.
"Yes." Sucy lied without missing a beat.