Lisa naturally took the day off; work at the Library was leisurely anyway, so her absence hardly mattered.
The sun was already high—nearly noon—when the two of them finally got up and sat at the dining table.
But lunch could wait; what interested them far more was analysing yesterday's vegetable soup.
The ingredients were simple—common vegetables—and Stelle spotted nothing odd.
There were rather many varieties, though; throwing them all into one pot sounded like a recipe for a weird flavour.
Stelle could barely recall the taste of last night's juice—it couldn't have been pleasant.
"So, shall we try again?" Lisa sat opposite her, gently swirling the bottle in her hand.
The liquid inside sloshed, its colour even shifting slightly.
"Er…" Stelle eyed the vegetable juice, heart thumping.
Lisa's current brew differed a little from last night's, though she'd also prepared an identical one as a control.
"Relax—big sis's off today. If anything happens, I'll take care of you, just like last night…" Lisa read her worry and added with a smile.
Mentioning "last night" only made Stelle shoot Lisa a resentful glance.
Lisa's stamina might be lacking, but she played very daringly—even Jean had never explored certain spots the way Lisa had.
"Alright, let's give it a try." After hesitating for a moment, Stelle finally nodded.
After all, this concerned her own physical condition; she had to figure out the unknowns as soon as possible.
Otherwise, if she ever accidentally ate a vegetable that left her dead drunk and someone seized the chance to murder her, it would be disastrous.
"Good, then let Big Sis feed you." Lisa's smile turned triumphant; bottle in hand, she rose and walked to Stelle's side.
"H-hold on, I can do it myself." Stelle wasn't a child; she didn't need help drinking something.
Unfortunately, Lisa gave her no chance to refuse. She opened the bottle, tilted her head back, and drank all the vegetable juice inside.
Stelle's eyes widened; in that instant she seemed to grasp exactly what Lisa meant by "feeding" her.
Lisa gently lifted Stelle's chin, then leaned down and pressed their lips together.
"Mmph…"
Violet liquid trickled from the corners of their mouths onto Stelle's clothes, but the garment's self-cleaning function quickly erased the drop of juice.
After a long while, their joined lips finally parted.
Yet they didn't part completely; considerately, Lisa licked the stray vegetable juice from the corner of Stelle's mouth.
"So, any reaction?" Lisa's cheeks were faintly flushed, perhaps from the brief lack of air.
"S-seems like nothing." Stelle licked her own lips.
This time she finally knew what the juice tasted like—far, far better than she'd imagined.
"Really?" Lisa tilted her head in puzzlement. She set the bottle aside, then straddled Stelle's lap.
"Then let's try yesterday's batch again."
—
When Stelle woke again and stepped out of Lisa's house, dusk had already fallen.
The sunset bathed Mondstadt's streets in gold.
Walking along the road, Stelle couldn't help sighing at the day's madness.
To work out what had gone wrong, they had spent the whole day experimenting, mixing and matching every vegetable imaginable.
In the end… they still hadn't found the culprit; even drinking yesterday's identical juice produced no tipsy reaction.
It was as if yesterday's glass had deliberately spoiled itself just to give Lisa an excuse to make a move.
Though the results couldn't be called good, both had thoroughly enjoyed the process.
After all, with that much juice, the water had to go somewhere, and Lisa was happy to help.
Stelle naturally wouldn't let Lisa do all the work; she gave Lisa a Reward in return.
By the time Stelle left, Lisa lay sprawled on the sofa, clothes askew, too drained to see her out.
"How the day has flown." Stelle gazed at the distant setting sun, sighing at time's swift passage.
Though she had nothing urgent lately, spending an entire day on this still felt a bit wasteful.
"Oh, isn't that Stelle!"
A familiar voice rang out behind her; Stelle turned in surprise.
Paimon and Lumine were hurrying toward her, Mona in tow.
"Huh? What are you two doing here?" Stelle eyed them curiously.
"Well… it's a long story," Mona said with a helpless look.
"We helped Mona finish a task today," Paimon chirped, fluttering in front of Stelle.
"A task? Did you take a commission from the Adventurers' Guild?" Stelle asked.
"Not that. It's the matter my master entrusted to me—remember I mentioned it?" Mona shook her head.
"I'd meant to ask you for help, but I ran into them when I left today, and my divination said I'd meet the right person, so…"
As Mona recounted the day's events, Stelle's expression turned amused.
"In short, Mona's decided not to go back," Lumine said with a grin, then teased, "So, happy now?"
Her look seemed to say, "There—you got your wish."
"I asked Katheryne to find me a cheap house; I'll stay in Mondstadt till the old woman cools off," Mona added.
Though Amber had welcomed her to stay, as an astrologer she needed a spacious, independent house.
Living with Amber would cramp her style; a short visit had been fine, but a long stay wouldn't work.
"Speaking of which—are you free tonight?" Mona suddenly asked.
"Should be. Nothing planned," Stelle answered after a moment's thought.
"Then… would you come help me tidy the house?"
"Just… me?" Stelle blinked; clearly Mona wanted more than cleaning help.
She licked her lips. She'd played with Lisa all day, but only the ox dies of exhaustion—no field gets worn out.
And, strictly speaking, she was both the unfatiguable field and the tireless ox.
"Lumine's coming too; Amber's out scouting and won't be back till the day after," Mona added.
"Then I'll definitely be there tonight."
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