Author's Note:
If anyone wonders what I look like, I can easily describe myself as an introvert who rarely smiles and laughs. To be clear, I smile about once a week, and laugh even less frequently.
However, this week I smiled and laughed like few other times.
I am watching Lamù (2022), better known as Urusei Yatsura (2022 TV series): that series is working miracles on my heart and spirit.
On a minor note, Batman and Harley Quinn (2017) is one of the funniest and most beautiful movies I have ever seen. Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019) isn't bad either; I love seeing the classic Justice League in action.
PS: I finished reading the Lord of the Rings book trilogy and I also watched the film trilogy. I prefer the books, but the films are still very good. However, I prefer The Hobbit film trilogy.
XXX
Story Arc: Out-of-Town Visitors
Episode 3: A day full of date and surprises
Chapter 9: A heart overflowing with love
Plot: Welt prepares for his busy day, but Lola is an unpredictable woman.
XXX
POV Narrator
It is six o'clock on a Sunday morning and, inside Welt Blight's house, an organized chaos rules.
Inside the house, there is no trace of Welt. In his place is Warlock, barefoot on the floor and wearing only his pajama pants, as he grips a magic wand between his fingers. The off-duty hero is in the center of his kitchen, transformed into the conductor of a multitude of inanimate objects that move on their own, floating in mid-air. Knives, spoons, bowls, and steel whisks dart through the air, crossing each other at a breakneck speed, resembling three distinct armies engaged in complex war games.
Warlock woke up much earlier than expected. Having decided that he will not show up at Lola's house empty-handed, he used the extra time not only to make himself breakfast, but also to bake some spiral-shaped cheese and ham savory snacks and a whole Tiramisù.
Making one last, wide theatrical gesture with his hand, the air fills with the metallic rustle of the coordinating objects: the tray with twenty-four savory snacks slides smoothly into the mouth of the oven, the Tiramisù flies straight into the refrigerator, while the steaming omelet and the fruit juice land with pinpoint accuracy on the table. In an instant, with a clinking sound, all the dirty cutlery dives into the sink and the scraps float directly into the trash can.
Warlock approaches the table, crosses his arms, and observes the work with a proud smile.
"Magic makes everything more convenient, hours of work in less than twenty minutes," Warlock commented, agilely spinning the wand between his fingers.
"The life of a scholar of magic involves countless sleepless nights studying, but you save a huge amount of time on chores and other things," Sora commented, knowing the advantages of that art well.
"I completely agree. Prestidigitation!" Warlock cast one last spell in the direction of the sink. A visible flash of silver light enveloped the dirty items, which cleaned themselves instantly without needing a drop of water; then, with another sharp flick of the wand, plates and glasses flew neatly into the cupboard.
Placing the wooden tool on the counter, Warlock sat down at the table, where a book stand and a smartphone holder were already set up. With a fluid movement of his fingers, he made his Magic Diary materialize directly on the stand in a shimmer of sparks, while for the phone he chose a decidedly more manual approach, the Muggle way.
"You don't like downtime," Sora commented. She knew very well that her Master, when eating alone, loved to watch the latest updates from his favorite channels, just as he listened to audiobooks while cleaning or traveling by bus.
"I'm a nerd subscribed to InnTaleNF which provides me with RPG Series to watch, and to The Figure Hideout which shows me the quality of luxury Action Figures," Warlock said, as his thumb quickly scrolled through the list of channels he subscribed to. "But I'm also a person subscribed to NerdHistory, NerdScience, The Infographics Show, InfoJL, InfoAvengers, InfoHeroNYC, and other channels that showcase interesting things like Rust Valley Restorers."
He chose an old episode of InfoHeroNYC dedicated to Spider-Man and the possible variants of his web-shooters.
"Mage Hand," Warlock pronounced.
A translucent, bluish smoke took the form of a spectral hand that hovered in mid-air above the Magic Diary. In this way, while he ate, the ethereal hand held a pen, ready to take notes from the video. The night before he had laid the groundwork for obtaining the chemical formula of Spider-Man's fluid, but today he would focus on the mechanical design of the wrist devices.
Warlock began to enjoy his omelet. But after just three bites, a sharp, crystalline sound, like a bell, resonated in his mind.
It was the alarm of the Bounded Field placed to protect the house: the barrier warned him that someone was approaching the perimeter with the explicit intention of entering.
Springing to his feet, Warlock clapped his hands loudly. At the sound of palm against palm, all the magical objects and the spectral hand vanished into thin air. Immediately after, he stamped his foot on the floor with vigor and redoubled intent, releasing a burst of magical sparks that raced along the walls.
In the blink of an eye, the house reacted: doors and windows locked with sharp, violent metallic clicks, activating an invisible protective barrier that made them completely impenetrable to anyone who was not an expert in Magecraft (or did not possess missiles or a chainsaw with diamond teeth). Some secondary passages, instead, vanished completely from view, blending into the plaster of the walls like chameleons.
Finally, Warlock's body was shaken by a lightning-fast transformation sequence. His features and aura shifted rapidly until nothing remained in his place but Welt, dressed simply in loose gray shorts and a black short-sleeved t-shirt.
"Teddy bear, please open up!" Lola's voice echoed all the way into the kitchen, clear, even though the girl was still outside, in front of the front door.
Welt walked straight toward the entrance to open it.
XXX
Lola's flaming yellow sports car is parked right in front of Welt's house, while the multi-award-winning Olympic champion is knocking loudly against the wood of the door, calling out for her teddy bear. If this neighborhood weren't already full of crazy, eccentric, and noisy people, the neighbors would have woken up with a start because of Lola's shouts; but having lived through worse—like when the James-Jennings family bought a talkative and troublesome parrot—everyone continued to sleep undisturbed.
'Maybe he didn't hear me, or is he still sleeping?' Lola thought, continuing to strike the surface of the door with her knuckles, having no idea that Welt is actually an early bird like few others.
Lost in her thoughts, Lola didn't realize that the door had suddenly swung open, and she found herself knocking directly against Welt's solid chest.
"Lola, what are you doing in front of my door? It's 6:00 AM, weren't you supposed to come at 7:00 AM?" the owner of the Owl House asked, omitting to mention the athletic woman's eccentricities.
"I know, but I was so full of energy and I wanted to see you so much that I couldn't wait an hour longer and came early," Lola confessed. Her entire body radiated a vibrant vitality, even though eight out of ten people in the city were still fast asleep in their beds.
Welt looked down, noticing Lola's outfit only at that moment. The girl was wearing white summer pajamas, consisting of a short-sleeved button-up blouse with four buttons—which showed a hint of her flat stomach and a bit more of her voluptuous chest—and a pair of short shorts that barely covered a quarter of her thigh, leaving her toned and slender legs entirely exposed.
"You forgot to get dressed too, you're in your pajamas," Welt observed, raising his eyes again to meet the woman's magnetic blue eyes. His words sounded calm; after all, he had witnessed far more bizarre and scandalous situations under both of his identities.
Lola assumed a confused expression, typical of someone who doesn't remember if they left their wallet at home, then lowered her eyes to her own body, realizing the nature of the garment.
"You're right, Teddy Bear, I'm in my pajamas. Well, it's not the first time it's happened," Lola said with a hint of amusement in her voice, without the slightest trace of shame or embarrassment, assuming such emotions were even compatible with the athletic woman's brain circuits.
"I'll take your word for it. Just out of curiosity, how many times has it already happened?" Welt asked, accepting the situation, having by now learned that Lola was a completely impulsive and spontaneous person.
"I've lost count, but it happened when I was taking my final exams in middle school, on high school graduation day, and during my driving test," Lola replied with a radiant smile, recalling those memories of which she even possessed photographic proof at home.
"You've definitely had the life of a sitcom protagonist," Welt commented, cracking a small, amused smile of his own.
He might be a man with a double life, split between the role of a Saturday morning cartoon superhero and that of a protagonist in a niche Slice of Life anime. But Lola, without a shadow of a doubt, possessed the overwhelming existence of a prime-time sitcom star.
"You're cute when you smile," Lola declared with sincere joy, widening her smile. For her, every minimal crack in Welt's seriousness represented an absolute victory.
At those words, the bookseller felt warmth rushing to his cheeks. He blushed and remained silent for a few seconds, a span of time that was more than enough for Lola's impulsiveness to take the initiative.
"Do you like my pajamas?" Lola asked in a seductive tone, placing her hands on her hips and accentuating the curve of her pelvis.
"They seem okay to me," Welt replied, forcing himself to keep his gaze rigidly anchored to hers.
"Silly boy, you have to look before you judge," Lola giggled. Before he could take a step back, the girl grabbed his face with both hands, forcing him gently but firmly to bow his head to look her over from top to bottom.
Perhaps because of the sudden contact of her warm hands, her fragrant proximity, or her unquestionable charm, Welt couldn't help but blush visibly.
"The pajamas themselves are just normal pajamas, nothing special, but they are beautiful only because you are wearing them," Welt replied with absolute seriousness, before locking his eyes back onto hers.
Lola loosened her grip and let her hands slide away from his face.
"So, am I beautiful?" Lola asked, flashing a big, hopeful smile, eager to wring some more compliments out of him.
The bookseller raised an eyebrow, looking at her with suspicion. "Is this a trap question or one of those little games I read about in my books?"
Now it was Lola's turn to show a bewildered expression; clearly, the idea of engineering verbal traps was not part of her nature.
"No tricks, Teddy Bear, just tell me what you think," Lola said, softening her features into a slightly more serious expression.
"You asked me if you are beautiful. Here is my answer: it's a stupid question. You are beautiful, anyone with two eyes can tell. Honestly, I'm surprised you aren't Miss Nightfall City," Welt declared, fully aware that Lola belonged to a true Class A in terms of beauty.
'I'll definitely sign up for the next beauty pageant,' Lola thought immediately, setting her sights on the title of Miss Nightfall City from that exact moment.
'I have a feeling Master is digging himself a grave of trouble, embarrassment, and pleasure,' Sora thought, enjoying the entire scene as an invisible spectator.
"Will you give me a minute to think and answer in my own way?" Welt finally asked. He was not at all satisfied with his previous response, judging it too generic, cliché, and superficial for his standards.
"I'll grant you a thousand minutes if you ask me to," Lola replied with passion, willing to stand still on the driveway in front of the door for hours if he asked her to.
After all, Origami wasn't the only woman madly in love in Welt's life.
The bookseller assumed a thoughtful, concentrated expression, as if he were looking for the solution to an intricate puzzle or the right inspiration to compose a poem.
"A treasure has two types of beauty: the external one, which everyone sees, and the internal one, which only experts can understand," Welt began, instantly capturing all of Lola's attention, as she literally hung on his every word.
"Your shell is beautiful, a stunning physique and shape, like an Amazon warrior. Golden-blonde hair and a healthy tanned skin, a wonderful combination. And white suits you. If instead of being a sweet and warm creature you were a cold and stoic beauty, you would do a divine cosplay of Tier Harribel," Welt explained, actively forcing himself not to let his imagination take over.
At those words, a sudden blush crimsoned Lola's cheeks. Until that day, she had received an incalculable amount of compliments from many men, but Welt's phrases sounded different: they were authentic, heartfelt, and adorably nerdy.
"Your inside is even more radiant than your golden hair. You are a free spirit, full of energy, sincere feelings, and pure genuineness. You only want to be happy and for the people around you to be as happy as you are. A textbook Genki Girl, but with a tone of authenticity that makes you a treasure," Welt continued, speaking with the delicacy and depth that only a true artist can touch.
Lola remained completely speechless. Her face suddenly turned bright red and her heart began to beat with such violence in her chest that it made her believe she had just crossed the finish line of the hardest and most exhausting race of her entire life.
"I admit that sometimes you are too bright; some would run away because of your light, fearing to be blinded. But I am already nearsighted, I am not afraid to look at the sun. Better to have you and go blind, than to have eyes but not have you. A treasure like you is found only once in a lifetime," Welt concluded, wrapping things up with absolute honesty.
Lola was capable of causing him terrible headaches with her exuberance, but he wouldn't push her away for anything in the world. Perhaps Welt didn't know for sure yet if he loved her, but he certainly cared for her deeply and wanted her permanently in his life.
The bookseller sealed his monologue with a sincere smile, tinged with a bit of shy embarrassment, but incredibly sweet and genuine.
Meanwhile, Lola's brain and heart found themselves a millimeter away from total explosion. Her legs, suddenly deprived of all strength, had turned to jelly; a stronger gust of wind would have been enough to make her collapse to the ground.
'These are the most... I don't know how to describe them, but no other man, no, not even a woman has ever told me words so... beautiful feels like an understatement,' Lola thought, without finding the courage to take a single step. She brought both hands to her chest, pressing them to her heart in the hope that it wouldn't stop from overworking.
"Are you feeling okay? Does your heart hurt?!" Welt asked. An intense note of worry tinged his voice as soon as he noticed that the girl was visibly swaying on the threshold.
"I don't know," Lola confessed, uncovering a vulnerability she had never felt in her entire existence.
"You must have slept too little and skipped breakfast," Welt murmured in a caring tone.
Taking a step forward, he slid an arm around her waist and gently pulled her against his side to support her. "Come inside, lie down, rest. I'll take care of you, I'll make you something to eat," he added reassuringly, holding her firmly and guiding her unsteady steps inside.
'I finally understand why the cliché of the shy, cute, and compassionate librarian became so popular. I'm dating a male variation, and I love it,' Lola thought, abandoning herself completely to the warmth of Welt's embrace as he reached back to close the front door.
'Master, if we were in a video game, you would have just unlocked Lola's next level, and without even going through the date mission,' Sora thought to herself, almost shocked by the intensity of what was happening inside the champion's soul.
XXX
Fifteen minutes later inside the Blight House.
Lola is sitting on the couch in Welt's living room. Her white blouse is completely unbuttoned down the front, exposing a playful white bra that struggles to contain her voluptuous shape, and an incredibly toned and attractive abdomen. If the athletic woman were in an anime, a whole swarm of colorful little hearts would be floating above her head at this exact moment, a clear sign of a love overflowing from her body.
"Your blood pressure is good," Welt said, sitting right in front of Lola on the edge of the living room coffee table, as he gently slid the blood pressure monitor cuff off her arm.
In that moment, the bookseller was acting like a true doctor or an expert medical assistant; he had put aside every trace of his usual shyness to make room for pragmatic and professional efficiency. Welt packed the device away inside an unusually large and bulky first-aid kit, which looked like it belonged to an emergency physician rather than a normal househusband.
'This doctor side of my Teddy Bear is something totally new, and I love it to madness,' Lola thought, watching him with a deeply infatuated gaze, her eyes glistening with admiration.
Welt placed the stethoscope earpieces into his ears and pressed the metallic chestpiece against Lola's bare chest, moving with a confidence that didn't remind her at all of the shy boy from a few minutes before.
"Take a deep breath in," Welt instructed, concentrated on listening to her heartbeat. "Now breathe out." Welt continued the auscultation, shifting the instrument slightly across her warm skin.
"Your heartbeat is excellent," he finally declared, taking the stethoscope off his neck.
'This experience reminds me so much of my mother's stories, when she told me about how she used to take care of Dad after his hardest boxing matches. Except this time, the roles are reversed,' Lola thought, almost certain that, in her own way, she was retracing the steps of her parents' beautiful love story.
Welt stood up and placed the palm of his hand on her forehead. "You're a bit warm, but I'd say you're all right. It must be a simple drop in blood sugar," he concluded.
The bookseller—who was secretly a magical superhero and a highly skilled Artificer—had no idea that Lola's near-fainting spell had no biological cause. It was just a pure and simple positive emotional overload, assuming such a thing even existed in medical treatises.
"You're a man full of talents... businessman, artist, handyman, and even a doctor. Is there anything you can't do?" Lola asked, softening her voice in an attempt to openly flirt with him.
"Swim," Welt replied flatly, withdrawing his hand from her forehead.
"We'll fix that soon," Lola retorted with a knowing smirk, already having her special plans for the day in mind.
Closing the emergency briefcase with a metallic snap, Welt officially exited his "serious mode." It was only at that precise moment that the bookseller realized he was alone, in his house, in front of a beautiful and practically half-naked woman.
"Can you button your shirt?" Welt asked, abruptly turning his gaze away and staring at an indefinite spot on the wall.
"Is it necessary? You're going to see me in a bikini soon anyway," replied Lola, who had no problem showing herself undressed in front of him. In fact, if Welt had asked her to leave her pajamas there in the living room and follow him into the bedroom... she would have gone without the slightest hesitation.
"My house, my rules," Welt exclaimed, checking on her out of the corner of his eye as a light blush crimsoned his neck.
'And now that he knows I'm fine, he goes back to being his usual shy self. Somehow, I love it to death,' Lola thought, smiling to herself, finding that modest and protective side of him absolutely adorable.
RING!
"The water for the tea is ready, you'll have a cup of medicinal herbal tea. I'll also bring you some toasted bread with Apple Family butter and homemade strawberry jam I made myself," Welt said, quickly vanishing toward the kitchen.
Lola followed him with her eyes, while her mind fantasized: 'How would my Teddy Bear look better? Dressed in a doctor's coat taking care of me, or in a perfect househusband's apron?'
Left alone, the young woman with her legs still weak took advantage of Welt's temporary absence to look around and examine her surroundings. She was sitting on a black leather couch, her feet sinking into a plush electric blue rug. In front of her was a recliner with a mini-fridge built into the armrest, a low wooden coffee table, and an immense bookshelf, packed with video games for PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, PSP, and Nintendo.
On the upper shelves stood a whole army of what Lola assumed were simple collectible figurines, but which were actually the playable characters from the Skylanders video game series. Facing the couch, a black wooden TV stand with glass doors housed several consoles, and above it dominated a large television screen.
'Cold and dark colors, everything perfectly neat and clean... but it could use a sunnier touch. You can really tell only a man lives in this house,' Lola thought, already fondling the idea of adding some colorful paintings, photographs of the two of them, vases with fresh flowers, and maybe a prettier nightstand. 'My Teddy Bear has a lot of gamer stuff. I don't know much about video games, but he loves them. Maybe I should buy a gaming magazine to understand it better,' she told herself, eager to become part of even Welt's nerdiest hobbies.
Lola buttoned three of the four buttons on her blouse, the bare minimum to look decent and terribly sexy at the same time.
Shortly after, the owner of the Blight House returned carrying a wooden tray. On it were the dishes for Lola and the plate with Welt's omelet, left half-eaten before she showed up at the door. He placed the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch, then sat down next to her, maintaining a minimal safe distance.
"Be careful, the tea is still hot," Welt warned her, before picking up his fork again to finish his breakfast.
Lola looked at the plate intended for her: five slices of toast, spread with a generous layer of butter and dark jam. She grabbed one and took a firm bite.
"It's excellent, did you make it yourself?" Lola asked with her mouth half full, ecstatic at the flavor.
"Only a third. The bread and butter come directly from Sweet Apple Acres farm, but I made the jam myself using wild strawberries. However, the herbal tea is one hundred percent mine; I grow the plants used directly in my garden," Welt explained, deliberately omitting that by the word "garden" he also meant the magical greenhouse hidden in the middle of the woods.
Lola put down the half-eaten slice, grabbed the ceramic mug, and took a long sip of tea.
"Warm, revitalizing, and the smell is excellent," the girl declared, lifting the mug beneath her nose to inhale the warm vapors that scented of medicinal herbs.
"Your immune system will thank me," Welt commented, cracking a small smile, sincerely happy that his work was being appreciated, especially when he did so in his guise as Welt and not as Warlock.
"I almost feel like canceling my plans for today and staying here the whole day," Lola joked, letting her head drop onto Welt's solid shoulder, settling comfortably against him.
"If you don't feel capable of standing up, I can give you a mug of milk with honey and let you have the guest room to take a nap; we can postpone for another time," Welt proposed in all seriousness, ready to offer her a safe and quiet place to rest.
"You are too kind and caring for your own good," Lola whispered. She was extremely tempted to accept Welt's invitation, even though in her mind she was already imagining implications decidedly unsuited for a simple "guest room."
RING!
"The oven alarm, the savory snacks are ready," Welt exclaimed, placing his empty plate on the table and springing to his feet to return to the kitchen.
"Savory snacks?" Lola asked aloud, having no idea what the boy had been up to before her arrival.
Feeling much better thanks to the warm tea and the food in her stomach, the blonde got up from the couch and decided to follow him.
"Where is this enchanting smell coming from?" Lola asked as soon as she crossed the kitchen threshold, hit by a heavenly scent of puff pastry and melted cheese.
Welt, who in the meantime had put on two large padded oven mitts, was pulling the hot baking sheet out of the oven.
"Cheese and ham savory snacks, I made them this morning. I didn't want to show up at your house empty-handed," Welt explained, placing the baking sheet on the turned-off stovetop.
The bookseller slid off the oven mitts and turned around to grab a serving platter and a pair of steel tongs. Lola, drawn to that amazing smell like a magnet, approached the baking sheet and, without thinking, reached out her fingers to grab a spiral savory snack and bite into it. The hot cheese filling nearly burned her tongue, making her jump. The girl let out a muffled groan, split in half between the pleasure of the taste and the pain of the heat.
"Drink this!" Welt exclaimed, appearing by her side like lightning and handing her a glass of fresh water.
The Olympic champion grabbed it and gulped down the water all at once, saving her tongue from disaster.
"Sit down at the table and wait five minutes if you want to eat another one, but only one, not one more. The rest is for your parents," Welt ordered her. His tone was calm, but coated with a slightly authoritative edge that brooked no argument.
Lola simply nodded like a child caught red-handed and sat neatly at the table. She completely ignored the smartphone set up on the holder next to the book stand; she preferred to use her eyes to watch every single movement of Welt inside the kitchen with infinite love.
'I will marry my Teddy Bear and have seven little bears with him, or I will die alone surrounded by seven female cats,' Lola solemnly promised herself, clenching her fists under the table while the image of their radiant future filled her mind.
XXX
Just as Welt had promised, at the exact expiration of the five minutes, a ceramic plate with two golden and fragrant savory snacks appeared in front of Lola; the rest had already been carefully arranged inside a cardboard pastry box. Welt also revealed to her that he had prepared a Tiramisù as well, not knowing for sure if her parents were people geared more toward savory or sweet.
'If for some absurd and unthinkable reason my parents were to disapprove of my Teddy Bear, I swear I'll run away from home and even accept being disinherited,' Lola thought with absolute firmness, sinking her teeth into one of the savory snacks. This time, chewing cautiously, she did not burn her mouth.
"Are you doing okay, Lola? Does your head hurt? Normally you are more talkative," Welt asked. He had sat down to Lola's left, after storing the Tiramisù in a second pastry box as well.
"I'm enjoying something beautiful in good company, I don't feel like talking as much as usual," Lola replied, softening her gaze. For once in her life, she didn't feel the need to talk as much as seven women put together.
"Maybe I should invite you over for breakfast more often," Welt commented with a subtly playful tone.
"Call me and I will come to you at any time of the day or night," Lola countered immediately, returning to her usual overwhelming behavior in a flash.
"I would prefer instead if you gave me a little advance notice for each of your visits," Welt corrected her. He much preferred to maintain a semblance of an orderly schedule, essential to manage splitting the heavy duties of his two parallel lives.
"This is the first time I've entered your house. For a haunted house, it's prettier on the inside than on the outside. This atmosphere isn't so bad, it has its charm," Lola confessed, looking around, she who usually favored a decidedly more modern and minimal style.
"I know, but I've managed to modernize it as best as I can. I've made some rather interesting purchases," Welt replied. His house, in fact, was the faithful mirror of his double life, a surprise intersection of magical relics and worldly comforts.
"But isn't this house a bit too big for just one man? Don't you feel lonely sometimes?" Lola asked. She didn't like the idea of her teddy bear spending nights in solitude in that old witch's house at all, even if it had been partially restored.
"Well, you're not entirely wrong. This is a house for a vintage family, made for a married couple and five or seven children," Welt explained. He would certainly feel very lonely if it weren't for Sora's constant presence; but, obviously, he could not reveal the existence of a sentient magical grimoire to anyone.
"I can help you fill it!" Lola exclaimed with a sudden joy that lit up her eyes, feeling ready to do what rabbits are notoriously best at in the world.
"I'm not looking for a roommate or trying to rent out some rooms, though it would be interesting to have a Mr. Bean upstairs," Welt replied lightly. He was convinced that Lola was simply offering to split the utility bills and fill one of the empty rooms; the thought that the girl was proposing to give him children did not cross his nerd mind even for a second.
'Lola, slow down! You can't talk right away about wanting to fill the house with adorable babies, you just risk scaring him to death,' a serious, logical, and sensible voice intervened inside the athletic woman's head.
'Right. First he meets my parents, then comes the wedding, then lots of babies, after that a flood of grandchildren, and finally, we will become two ghosts and live together for eternity in this haunted house,' Lola planned mentally, forcing a temporary "restraint" upon herself.
Welt had not grasped the true meaning of Lola's proposal in the slightest, but Sora had understood everything.
'My Master is sometimes too proper for his own good. Lola is literally ready to offer herself to him body and soul, and he doesn't even realize it. But I can't entirely blame him: Master is someone who takes things step by step, while Lola is someone who doesn't walk, she sprints like a cheetah. Plus, it doesn't help that Master is still a virgin and has never had a girlfriend or a significant relationship of any kind,' Sora reflected to herself, by now certain that the road to uniting Welt with a woman would still be a very long one.
Ironically, it was a good thing that both Origami and Lola were women endowed with strong personalities and inclined to take the initiative; otherwise, Welt would have waited years or, worse, until the wedding night.
"I still live with my parents in the family manor, but it would be interesting to make a change," Lola said aloud, grasping at straws to make it seem as though she had previously been referring to a simple relocation.
"Right now I like my privacy and my house just the way it is, but the sister of one of my employees is a real estate agent, I could give you her number," Welt proposed with total candor, eager to be helpful but intent on protecting his own vital space.
"By any chance, is there a vacant house in the neighborhood?" Lola asked, enthusiastically fondling the idea of living on the same street as her teddy bear.
"No, they are all occupied, but surely there are neighborhoods or apartment buildings better suited for you. I don't mean to offend you, Lola, but you don't strike me as someone who can maintain an entire house. You seem more like an apartment girl who pays a maid and a personal cook," Welt analyzed. By now, he had outlined a rather precise picture of Lola and her daily habits.
"You know me well, Teddy Bear! I'm good at many things, but I am no housewife. If it weren't for my maid Belfast, my room would be a disaster, and I only avoid living off instant meals thanks to Chef Yu," Lola admitted with a chuckle. After all, she was still the daughter of a very wealthy family, pampered like few other people in the world; she remained a wonderful woman and a formidable athlete nonetheless, she was just madly in love and lived according to a rhythm all her own.
"I admit to being a little more curious to see where you live and who takes care of you," Welt confessed, sincere.
"The idea of taking a nap in the guest room is very tempting, but I feel much better after receiving your care. Most importantly, Mom and Dad cleared their schedules so they could meet you for lunch," Lola explained, not wanting to slight her parents in any way. Although she was willing to sever all ties with them for love, if it were strictly necessary, she much preferred for them to welcome Welt into the family with open arms.
"If they went to such trouble, it would be rude not to show up. But I have a question: why do I need to meet them? After all, we are... good friends. Or, in a house of wealthy, well-to-do girls, does meeting the parents serve as a way to officially be close friends or something like that?" Welt asked, letting a disarming naivety surface. Love and romantic relationships were definitely not the fields in which he shone. Sports, politics, celebrity life, and female dynamics were territories where the boy showed a glaring deficiency.
'My Master is not an idiot, but clearly he has major limitations in this field. I understand that he is a sort of humble realist when it comes to comparing himself to the great heroes of science and magic, but I am sure he doesn't have a good image of himself as a potential romantic partner at all,' Sora concluded, analyzing the situation. 'Motoko is a sort of partner in the fight against crime, tied more to Warlock than to Welt. Nia is practically his best friend, so she interprets her flirting as simple jokes. Origami is too cold, they almost always talk about scientific topics and he sees her as a friend and a fellow scientist. But Lola is clearly a woman in love who wants much more! Perhaps the fact that Lola is so exuberant makes everything incredibly confusing for Master?' Sora reflected further, aware that sometimes the champion's behavior could seem a bit disconnected from reality.
Lola remained completely speechless the moment she heard the phrase "close friends" come out of Welt's mouth. Her heart seemed to skip a beat.
'We are close friends? We aren't boyfriend and girlfriend? Did I get something wrong in our relationship?' Lola asked herself, her gaze lost in space and an expression of deep confusion stamped on her face.
'I met my Teddy Bear about four and a half months ago, when I accidentally hit him with my car. He didn't call the police or even the ambulance; we went to the park, ate ice cream together, and butterflies suddenly appeared in my stomach,' Lola remembered with precision, recalling that afternoon when, sharing a bench, she had managed to make Welt laugh, lighting an indelible spark inside her own chest.
'After that, I visited the Owl House almost every single day. I talked to my Teddy Bear about my days, gave him a lot of gifts, invited him to various places to eat and chat, we visited shops, sometimes we went to the movies, and I drove him home in my car,' Lola continued to retrace, mentally counting more than a hundred days of dates. Her heart melted at the mere memory of all the little intimate moments they had shared.
However, analyzing things with a cold mind, she realized that at most they had held hands. She herself had showered Welt with warm hugs and a few kisses on the cheek, but she had never explicitly uttered the word "date," preferring more generic phrases like "let's go out and have fun" or "let's go try new things."
'I stopped with the bad boys after the last one, but with them, after just a few outings, we were boyfriend and girlfriend right away and had sex in the most improbable places. I think I caught the habit from them of seeing us together after a couple of outings and assumed the same applied to my Teddy Bear,' Lola thought, realizing she had made a massive error in judgment.
'My Teddy Bear is the exact opposite of so many of my ex-boyfriends. Many of them were bad boys, but Welt is a good guy, far too kind, caring, and gentle. Things are different with him, and that's a good thing, but it also means the rules I'm used to are completely different,' Lola continued in her reasoning. When she was motivated, her mind could be as sharp as a sword.
"Teddy Bear, can you please answer some questions for me?" Lola asked, softening her tone to clear things up once and for all.
"I was getting worried, seeing you in silence and contemplation puts me on pins and needles. Ask whatever you want," Welt admitted with a relieved sigh.
"The two of us are close friends, right?" Lola asked, starting with the basics.
"Yes, we are friends. When we both have free time, we spend it doing interesting things and we feel good. You are an excellent companion and I like listening to what you do," Welt replied. He found the topic a bit strange, but he was aware that Lola was by no means a predictable woman.
A sincere and relieved smile appeared on Lola's face.
"Teddy Bear, you care about me, right?" Lola posed, moving on to the second fundamental question.
"If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have allowed you into my life or my house, or offered you my care. Welt only has three female friends in the city, and you are among them," the bookseller replied, making a quick mental count that included Nia and Origami, but deliberately excluding Motoko, whom he considered a friend tied exclusively to Warlock.
Lola's smile widened even more.
"If by chance something bad happened to me, like being disinherited or if my family suddenly became poor, would you help me?" Lola asked, eager to put him to the test.
"In such a bad scenario, I couldn't help but aid you, if you'd let me. I would be willing to give you one of the bare rooms in my house, temporarily, and a job at the Owl House. I would have to fire Lars or Rigby, but better them unemployed than you," Welt stated in all seriousness. He would never tolerate the idea of leaving someone he cared about on the street to starve, especially since he had such a large and mostly empty house. Even though, in such a scenario, managing his double life would have become a nightmare.
A smile filled with absolute love lit up Lola's face. Without warning, she stood up and wrapped her arms around Welt's neck, squeezing him with all the athletic strength she possessed in her body.
'We aren't boyfriend and girlfriend, and that's a hard blow, but we are two friends so close that we are ready to do anything for each other. This is a thousand times better than many of my ex-boyfriends. I'm sure that, starting from here, I can work on it to become something more than just friends or boyfriend and girlfriend,' Lola thought, filling herself with hope.
"Lola, go easy, if you keep this up I'm the one who's going to need medical care," Welt commented with a strained voice, beginning to feel a serious lack of air.
Lola loosened her grip and let him go. Welt sank back into his chair, placing a hand on his chest to recover his lost breath.
"Sorry, it's just that only now have I realized how special you are," Lola murmured, resorting to a massive understatement. In her head, Welt had just upgraded from the status of 'a cute, kind guy I want to be with' to the definitive one of 'my future husband and the father of my numerous children.'
"Special in a good way or a bad way?" Welt wanted to know. Unable to read her mind, he had no idea of the emotional chaos erupting inside the girl.
"In the best possible sense. I realized that you are the best man I have ever known, that you care about me sincerely and not for my money," she replied, looking at him with eyes full of infinite tenderness.
"The best man? What am I, a saint? I'm just a man with a lot of free time who has no problem lending a helping hand to those in need," Welt deflected, retreating once again into his shell of a humble realist. "As for money, I already have enough to be happy," he continued, knowing he was financially more than stable.
"You are too sweet for your own good," Lola declared, and with a lightning-fast move, she went to sit directly on Welt's lap.
"Lola, it's not a good idea for you to sit like this," Welt protested, feeling his face literally go ablaze.
"I got so emotional that my legs have turned to jelly again," Lola lied shamelessly, intending to enjoy the contact with her teddy bear for a little while longer.
Welt remained motionless and silent, his cheeks scarlet. He called upon all his willpower to keep a cool mind, but male biology, at times, proved decidedly stronger than the mind. Lola, for her part, clearly felt something beneath her thighs... a physical reaction that made her smile mischievously.
'My Teddy Bear is definitely interested in me. He just needs time and a few firm shoves in the right direction,' Lola concluded to herself, definitively erasing that tiny, absurd doubt that Welt might be secretly gay.
"Five minutes, then get up," Welt ordered, forcing himself to raise his tone of voice a bit to compose himself.
Lola shifted her eyes to the kitchen wall clock. "You're right, Teddy Bear, if we stay here much longer, the schedule I made for today risks going to ruin," she commented, locking eyes with Welt again from a close distance.
"I like your perfume: mandarin, bergamot, and fresh ginger. An excellent combination, it suits you," Welt added, left intoxicated by the citrus trail emanating from Lola's skin due to their extreme proximity.
"You're the first one to mention my perfume," Lola confessed, touched. None of her ex-boyfriends had ever paid attention to such intimate and subtle details. Another huge point in Welt's favor. "If we're going to stay like this for five minutes, could you tell me a bit about yourself? I've talked to you so much about me, but you talk so little about yourself to me," she asked him, eager to dig deep into the boy's past.
"There isn't much to say, I'm boring, you're the interesting one," Welt dismissed, convinced he had nothing special to share.
'Maybe it's not just my fault that we're still stuck in the close friends phase. If my Teddy Bear really is the male version of the shy, cute, and kind librarian... does that mean he might suffer from low self-esteem?' Lola reflected. Under the effect of those strong emotions, her brain was releasing such a quantity of hormones that it made her thoughts run at a higher gear.
'Unfortunately, Warlock is the interesting one who lives adventures,' Welt thought instead, saddened by the fact that he couldn't tell a living soul what he was up to every night. The only things out of the ordinary in his identity as Welt were his eccentric neighbors, managing the Owl House with its abstruse employees, and his friendships with Origami and Lola herself.
"Teddy Bear, you will never be boring to me," Lola whispered, resting her head against Welt's chest and sinking into a peaceful silence.
The bookseller slowly overcame his resistance and slid an arm around her back, pulling her close. In that moment, the jelly legs made a real appearance, and Lola's heart resumed beating wildly against the boy's rib cage.
'There is much more love in a single embrace like this than in a wild night spent with a guy with a motorcycle and a leather jacket,' Lola told herself. She wanted to put her hands all over Welt, shower him with kisses, and go further, but she chose not to ruin that perfect, unrepeatable atmosphere, preferring to enjoy every single second.
'Teddy Bear... no, Welt... I promise you I will take care of you. Just as Prince Charming takes Cinderella and turns her into his happy and beloved princess, I will do the same with you, only with the roles reversed,' Lola vowed to herself, proving she possessed a mind truly unique in its kind.
XXX
Shortly after, Welt and Lola finally left the Blight House. Stepping aboard Lola's flaming yellow sports car, they sped off toward the Broadview District, the wealthiest and most exclusive neighborhood in the city.
At the exact same time, Laura Lane and Peter Parker were heading out to have breakfast at a local spot, where they would fine-tune their plan of action for their new job as investigative journalists.
No less important, a mysterious Femme Fatale had just stepped out of her luxury hotel, dressed in a way specifically designed to steal, in every possible sense, the heart and mind of a certain police officer.
To be continued...
XXX
Author's Note:
I wanted to include Peter's and the Femme Fatale's segments in this chapter already, but the scene developed so much around the intimate moment between Welt and Lola that I couldn't help but leave the spotlight on the two of them.
I truly hope you enjoyed the chapter! I had to cut some scenes and discussions to keep the pace cheerful and happy, but I had a great time writing it.