141 Vol. 3 pt. 11 Patch 2.0: Babies and Burgers (1/2)

Ryouta feels as if he should try being a bit more confident and assertive as he's being stared down by this large, hairy, macho man. But, it is hard to not feel emasculated in this older and larger man's presence. Even other men nearby feel emasculated being around this huge man.

”So, you're Serra's boy, huh?” the man asks.

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Ryouta nods his head and tries his best to maintain eye contact.

”You got a name there or do you only speak through nodding?”

If Ryouta didn't feel like a failure of a man in comparison to this other man before, he definitely does now. ”Ryouta – my name is Ryouta. It's nice to uh, meet you,” Ryouta says. When he looks around at the girls, Alice and Aiko both look like they find him adorable in this situation whereas Serra and Cassandra look like they're trying their hardest not to giggle from how awkward he's being.

”Ryouta, huh? Never heard that name before, but it's a good name. You treating Serra there right?”

”I'm trying my best to.”

”You better! I'll make sure she tells me if you screw up, and if that happens, you'll be feeling a lot more pain than what that sauce did to you,” the man says with a large smile and friendly tone despite his message. ”I suppose I should introduce myself. The name's Marco!”

”Marco as in the owner of this place?” Ryouta asks.

”You've got it!” Marco answers, somewhat rudely holding a hand out over the table and everybody's food to shake Ryouta's hand. ”You're one lucky boy if you've got Serra here, and I'm not surprised that Aiko is part of the package. Must be really somebody to get these other two ladies as well. I tried the whole 'more than one girlfriend thing' before and felt like I was going to go insane! I can only handle one woman at once trying to take my money from me.”

Alice makes sure to wipe her mouth before saying anything and then says, ”It is a pleasure to meet you, Marco! This burger is delicious and easily some of the most delicious food that I have ever tasted.”

”That accent – you from across the pond? You sound like one of those fancy noble ladies,” Marco says.

”I am! This is my first time visiting here, and if all of the food tastes this divine, I do not believe that I will ever want to leave!”

”Hah! Just come back here for all your meals and you won't be disappointed. Serra there is already one of my favorite regulars and we love recognizing faces around here.”

”Did you learn sign language for her or did you already know it?” Ryouta asks.

”Just for her!” Marco answers. ”Felt bad always seeing her have to point to things or use her phone to say what she wants, so I learned some signing. Then some of the other staff did the same after seeing her always in here. You could say that Serra is like a daughter to a bunch of us here.”

Ryouta looks over at Serra and sees her not even trying to understand this conversation, instead just holding her burger up to her mouth and taking as-large-as-she-can bites out of it.

”As for you, blondie,” Marco says, looking at Cassandra.

Cassandra hurries to swallow her food and looks up at him. She looks like she has no idea what he could be grabbing her attention for. ”Y-yeah?” she answers.

Marco looks at her face, then her chest, then at Serra who's looking at him. He signs ”good job” to her, and she signs back with a ”thanks.”

”Now! I'll leave you all to it. Enjoy the food and just shout if you need anything else!” Marco says and leaves.

Cassandra blinks a few times and looks at the others. Being checked out and then praised to somebody else isn't exactly something that she's unfamiliar with, but it was usually her ex's horrible friends making crude remarks to her ex's while in front of her. Instead, it was a large, hairy, older man praising her to her younger and smaller girlfriend. She still feels a bit objectified, but at the same time, she has no idea how to really feel about it.

”He didn't say I'm nice,” Ryouta says with a playfully-jealous pout. ”Guess I should get fat so that I have bigger boobs. Then I'll be nice.”

Ryouta realizes that he may have said something bad the moment he looks back at his burger.

He looks at Cassandra.