Leraje and i entered the wafflehouse and sat at a table next to an open window. The restaurant's atmosphere was warm and cozy. Parents and their childrens were laughing, eating, talking and so on... I honestly felt a little lonely.

- Your order ?

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at our waitress. I wanted to avoid making any eye contact with people or face someone because of the sheer staring it would cause for the party. I then raised the menu, hiding my face and just chose the foods that were the most obvious.

- Waffles and tea please.

The waitress raised an eyebrow; seeing my strange attitude she started smiling and turned to Leraje who seemed a bit confused about what we were doing.

- And you, lover boy, what'cha want ? I could give you something extra if you lwant ?

She empathized that last part while blinking at him. This kind of behavior seemed quite unfitting with such establishment.

Leraje on the other hand seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the waitress was flirting with him and just said :

- No thanks ! I'll take the same think as is my Lor... i mean my friend over there.

I sighed. The waitress seemed a bit put off. She wrote the order on her paper and left with a huff.

I put the menu down and looked at Leraje. I wondered if he was always like that... In fact i didn't know much about him; might as well ask him.

- Didn't you realize that girl was trying to... you know...

- What ?

He didn't seem to have a clue... Numbskull !

- Forget it so what did you do before you came here ?

Leraje thought for a bit and said :

- I was a commander in the demon realm since i was 18 years old; i fought battles with many companions and friends, protecting my realm from the soldiers of the heaven realm until i made a pact with the great one and got sealed here.

As impressive as it may sound, he wasn't the kind of guy who did small talk, it seemed.

- So, what did you do before you turned 18 ? Did you have a hobby ? Friends to talk with ?

Leraje seemed a bit lost when i asked him about that. It's not like we were that much different : i did't have much friends nor anyone to talk with and my hobbies were generally for my own gain, not something long lasting. I enjoyed reading but it wasn't my interest.

- I... I was born in the earth realm; from here, i studied to become an assassin and shadow mage. Other than practice... no wait.

For a second i thought that his eyes glowed but they were normal the second later.

-I love hunting, yes hunting !

Leraje was starting to space out, reminiscing something from his memory.

I stopped bothering him and looked around us. The waitress was about to come any second and the people surrounding us seemed very comfortable. I looked outside through the window : the hound was long gone. It wasn't the first time this happened. When i first met Sera, she told methat she was using a glamour to hide her horns. Even tough she didn't dispel it, was able to see through it; even the stairs going up to her room, supposedly hidden, were seen through by me. Illusions in general seemed to be ineffective against me. I wondered if it was related to my eye's change of color. Other than night vision i don't know what else i might have gained through that incident.

I pulled out my phone; it had been 20 minutes since we came here and i'd need to go and get my sister and cecilia one hour later. I peeked towards the kitchen, wondering what took them so long. From a open window, i could see two female waitresses talking to each. The second one seemed really excited about something whilethe first waitress, the one who took our orders, seemed a bit uncertain.

I tuned my ears a little and started concentrating on them. I was a bit bored to be honest and i also wanted to see to what extend i could do this.

Slowly, the people next to me started to quiet down a bit the while voice of those waitresses quickly got louder and clearer.

- Oh come on Vick ! Just go ask that guy ! I swear if you aren't going, i will. Such a hotie with blonde hair and green eyes ! Someone is going to take that; i can also see some pretty damn good curves on his bicep girl.

I wasn't staring at them, i pretended to look out of the window.

- Well it's not like i didn't try to hint him but he didn't seem like he wanted any of this.

- Who would take a waitress in a family restaurant seriously ? What did you say to him anyways ?

The waitress who took our order paused a bit.

- I told him he can get something extra if he wanted....

I could hear a clap coming from the other waitress : i assumed she was face palming.

- Vick, you know this is a family restaurant. How would he know what you were hinting at.

- Hehehehe....

She laughed embarrassingly.

- Are you going to ask him or what ?

- What if he says no ?

She asked a bit panic in her voice.

- Who cares its not like you're ever going to meet him again ? If so, the worst that could happen is him eating here regularly and from what i know i never saw him here. If yes, then he must be wearing some big hat to hide himself.

The other waitress sighed.

- Hey, you need to ask him now we can't stall the order forever you know !

The waitress who took our order squealed a bit. She calmed herself and started approaching the kitchen door but suddenly stopped for a second and turned around.

- Wait ! And what about his friend ? What if he doesn't want to go without him ? What if he rejects me and tries to give me a false reason for a no !

The other waitress froze for a bit and looked at our table. I was pretending to look outside the window so i didn't look that suspicious.

The other waitress sighed and said :

- I'll ask him to go with me, that way he can't reject both of us at the same time.

- What if he is a creep...?

She couldn't finish her words. Instead i could hear a clap and a bit of silence.

- Stop with you goddamn "what if" woman ! Even if he is a creep, i could always lose him in the club ! You, on the other hand, absolutely have to get that guy, understand ?! And another thing : i heard that the club was celebrating something and if you come with a couple, the prices will be halved for the night. It is perfect Vick, i tell you.

- Ugh... Okay. And by the way what are they celebrating for, to be such a special night ?

The other waitress thought for a bit.

- I don't know; i just heard that some people from russia came and something happened.

I stopped for a bit... How big of a coincidence was this ? Could this be even true ? Those two kept talking.

- Anyways, lets go over there, no time to lose.

I quickly shut off my hearing and tuned it back to human level. I shook leraje for a bit and woke him up from his dream.

- Leraje, listen here !

He nodded, a bit confused from my sudden burst.

- There will be two girls coming here now and they will ask us something. I want you to agree with them, you understand ?!

He nodded again not sure what he agreed upon.

On the corner of my eyes, i could see both of those females approaching us and finally stopping at our table.

Leraje seemed as passive as ever but when i listened to his heart a bit, i could hear it pounding like a bongo drum. What was up with this guy ?!

The two girls seemed nervous; the girl who was pep talking our waitress nudged her.

- Ehm hi ?

I turned my face to them casually; both of them gasped for a bit while looking at me.

- Eghh...

- Ehmm

-....

Both of these girls stammered. It seems like they forgot what to say but what really surprised me was Leraje : he FROZE like literally; he stopped moving, just facing those two with his stupid smile becoming a statue... I really wanted to sigh. On top of that no one was going to ask anyone...

I stood up from my seat. Both of those girls followed me. Their eyes were really nervous for some. Hey girl, didn't you want all of this in the first place ?!

I made a small smile and asked :

- Hey you two, would you like to come with us to a club ? Both of us were just about to search for one because we are new here and we would like some escorts from here. So, How about it ?

By the way i copied this line from a book so if you're interested its called "sleepless nights""

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