𝐴 𝑇𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑦 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒...~

Fonta gone sour...

Arlecchino took a second to process the after-mentioned fact.
A God being forgetful? How adorably comical.
"You... Forgot your purse?" She queried with a light laugh.
Furina looked away, trying to hide her evergrowing blush.

"H-hush it! I was... I was just in a rush, ok??" Furina attempted to defend herself from further embarrassment, however, it was really unsuccessful.

"It's fine, My Lady, it happens to the best of us. Just... Pick what you would like and I'll pay the tab. It shouldn't be too much I'm sure..." Arlecchino spoke, trying to ease Furina's involuntary blush.

But unbeknownst to her, her words had made Furina's heart skip a beat. Furina thought;
"Arlecchino wanted to pay for the first date?? What a gentleman... Wait- uh.. gentlelady?.. Whatever!"

"Well, if you'd like, I have no objections for you to pay for our things. Let me just see the menu..." She spoke as her hand reached for the paper menu, quickly flicking through and reading the words inside.
Coffee.. Fonta... Various snacks... Too many words and so many options for Furina to choose from! In the end, she gave up, turning to Arlecchino instead.

"Uh.. Ms Arlecchino, what are you ordering?" Furina asked, seeing if at least Arlecchino had her wits together.
Arlecchino also skimmed the menu, eyeing the words but nothing caught any immediate interest.
"Hm... I'm not particularly hungry so I won't get any food... Perhaps I'll go for a coffee? I think an espresso will do.. oh, and maybe a- never mind..."
Arlecchino gave a light smile,
"What will you be having then, Furina?"

Furina's already indecisive gaze flitted back to the menu, skimming it from a slight distance... But she couldn't focus, her attention remained on trying to look composed.

"Ah.. How about.. a Fonta? Yeah.. one of those, please.."
Furina sighed, it was the first thing to come to mind anyway.
Arlecchino nodded, still keeping an overall happy expression.

"Of course, I'll go up an order. Please wait here, My-.. I mean, Lady Furina..."
She averted her gaze from the little God as if trying to hide something... Perhaps a blush from the odd stutter? Furina wondered.
She then nodded, smiling, as Arlecchino started to make her way to the inner café counter.

In the short time, Ms Arlecchino was gone, Furina regained her ability to feel the pain from the hangover. She groaned, burying her face in her arms to drown out everything else, to no avail.
Ugh... God, the pain is unbearable! But, I suppose it's all gonna be worth it... Again..

Furina was so deep and lost in her thoughts, that she didn't see Arlecchino return with a tray of their orders. One steaming cup of coffee, and a bottle of Fonta.
Furina sat straight up, although a little on the less straight side, as she grabbed the ice-cold bottle from the tray.
Furina tried to pull out the cork from the glass bottle but struggled to remove it. A light chuckle was all Arlecchino responded with until she took the bottle from Furina's hands, their skin softly touching for a fleeting moment...
Even that was enough to spiral the poor god into yet another panic, her face a fluster of blush as she quickly pulled back.
Yet wished for it again...

So anyways, Arlecchino opened the bottle in 2 seconds, passing it back to Furina with a confused look,
"Uhm, Lady Furina.. You're blushing... again..."
Furina took a swig from the Fonta bottle, wiping her lips with her sleeve afterwards with a defensive tone.
"No, I'm not! Why would I be?? Hush it, Arley!"

To this, Arlecchino was a little surprised. 'Arley'? She'd never been called it before...
Perhaps Furina was getting a little too friendly for the moment.

"Lady Furina... We are merely business partners, are we not? What's with such a nickname..." Arlecchino sipped her drink, not noticing the shift in atmosphere in time...

"We... We are 'merely business partners'..?"

Furina looked to Arlecchino, her usual positive demeanour and arrogant tone gone as if stripped away from her own personality.
Her eyes drained from the positivity Arlecchino was used to from her. She stood up as if something in her head had just...

Snapped.

"You treat what we have here as a business thing? What business even is there?? We kissed for God's sake!"
Her voice cracked, with such sudden emotion that could rival an actor in a tragedy, such raw emotion which could take the audience aback with pure surprise.
Arlecchino noticed some of the local people's gaze turn quickly towards them in confusion...
Crap,
Arlecchino thought to herself.
"L-Lady Furina, that... That wasn't planned now, was it? You had had a lot of alcohol, so I took no notice of I-"
Furina slammed her hand against the wood of the table, silencing Arlecchino as she moved back in turn.

"Was everything you did just out of selfishness? Have you not a care in the world for how I feel?? Do you even want to love?? Am I just some... some pawn to you??"

Furina cried, spouting every conclusion she'd never want to hear, tears falling down her usually composed face with a bit of her mascara as per usual. It was nonsense, Arlecchino prayed.
A crowd of locals observed them, whispering amongst themselves at the sight of the little God and Arlecchino.

-I wonder what's the deal...
                          What's going on?-

          -Is that Lady Furina!?
      -So much drama!
                    What about a kiss??-
-Is there a scandal, a crime, or something bigger going on??
             -Why is our Archon here?
  -Isn't that a Harbinger??

Furina slowly put the pieces together. The whispers of the gossiping strangers revealed a truth she'd never even considered.
She wiped her tears, staring up at Arlecchino with newfound yet burning anger. Arlecchino had no idea how to respond or console the god... And before she could even try, Furina spoke softly.

"...You're a harbinger..?"

Furina's voice was breaking despite the line being so short. This was no mere act, and she'd made it crystal clear.
Arlecchino stepped forward, reaching a comforting hand to Furina but was soon met with a cold slap. It stung. Arlecchino lost composure,
"Agh.. Lady Furina, please.. please listen to me, I can explain I swe-"

-"S-SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"

Furina screamed, an emotional scream, one of a heartbroken soul. The emotions seemed pent up, and this was the small thing that would trigger everything she kept behind that mask of perfection... The crowd was stunned to silence at the sudden shift in... Well, everything.
Arlecchino's hand stung with the pain of the hit, but also the twang of guilt she couldn't possibly rid of.
"I-"
Furina gave her no moment to finish, running through the crowd, crying as she ran.
"Furina, wait!!"
Arlecchino called out, desperate to apologise or give anything to take it all back.. she gave chase, trying to catch up but ended up twisting her ankle on a stuck-out brick in the road. Dammit!!
She looked around, trying to see where Furina went but it was too late...

"Oh... Oh god, what have I done??"

She defeatedly walked back to the café, picking up her coffee cup as she'd barely taken any sips.
...It was cold.
She sighed, and put it back on the tray, unable to cope with her current flood of thoughts...

Then, a voice snapped her back to reality,
"Ma'am, here's your order."
The waiter put a tray on the table, taking the first one back...
The La Lettre a Focalors she had ordered had arrived a bit too late.
Besides, it wasn't for Arlecchino herself... Rather for Furina.

As a sort of gift, but why? She thought it... Felt right. But there was no Furina here to receive the gift, so who would eat it? Arlecchino stared at it, why did she feel so guilty?.. Did she truly care for- no, love Furina? It was completely out of character for her. But there were feelings there, and Arlecchino couldn't deny it. She stared at the cake, the guilt tightening around her throat like a rope...

Seems she'd lost her own appetite...