Where despite the fact both friends know they should be careful, they are having a good time with the Infernals while waiting for the music night to truly begin.

No one's POV:
-

"You never told us what job you have Guido!" Pyros said looking at Alter interested.

"Well, I went through many hobbies and jobs to find what I like the most. I worked for some time to a library, found interest in cooking for a while, served as a doctor's helper for an year. Eventually I found out I like botanology and plants!"

"Ah sweet! I likes plants too and gardening!" The male goat said excited.

"And what do you like to do Eugenia?" Tefra asked turning everyone's attention on Geno, who pretended he was trying to think deeply.

"Well…" He started while slowly panicking. "Yeah, obviously I ain't gonna tell 'em I am capable steal. Bullsh*t!" He thought. "I… don't really follow any if Guido's interests really. I like though singing and dancing!" He said. "Sounds about right for a still so young 'girl'."

"Aaaw, that's so nice! Do you sing well?!" Pyros asked.

"Oh my sweet bambina! Her voice is so gorgeous it always bring a tear to my eye!" Alter said 'touched', leaned and hugged 'his bambina' tightly.

"Guido no! Stop being silly, nuuu!" Geno complained but fighting also to stop laughing. The goat siblings laughed too.

"Hello and good evening everyone." A female voice was heard the moment exactly Alter had sat normally again. Geno turned head and saw a monster similar like Grillby, on fire. However she was made out of green shades of flames and 2 little cute eyes were visible. She was wearing white shirt, long blue skirt and a white apron above.

"Hi Fuku!" Pyros said. The green flame nodded and then her head turned to look at the skeletons. She bowed down lightly.

"Hello, I am Fuku, my father is the owner of this place and I'm helping with his business. If you're ready to order say it."

"Oooh. Grillby's daughter? Nice to meet you Fuku." Geno said waving. After the 2 skeletons quickly introduced themselves and everyone ordered, they returned to their conversation.

"How are things in Syracuse in general?" Tefra asked supporting her hand on her chin staring at Alter nor too cheerful or serious.

"Bernard's work had reached many lands, as well mamma Italy and all cities! Us monsters saw changes. We weren't treated very well once but Bernard's ideas and influence helped the living conditions. We sure are living well. I heard that influence reached even la Grecia!"

"Oh that's nice to hear…" Tefra said thoughtful looking down.

"Especially the Christianic element both kinds are sharing helped with it."

"How much of a loyal monster are you?" The small female goat asked then, again staring at Alter carefully. Alter didn't reply immediately. He hummed with a calm smile and looked down for a moment.

"… I might not be fasting the way it should normally be, not eating and drinking for days, or pray with the greatest dedication. But I still try to do the good to everyone because that's what truly is needed. Act through kindness, because only one life we have and we won't have second to fix our sins. Prayers and fastings are ways to clean us, but they doesn't matter if we still do sins. And besides, exaggerations are demons' work." He said shrugging his shoulders in the end.

"Ok, you're just lying to cover yourself. I've known you only for about weeks but I've literally seen you not eating almost AT ALL for days. And when I sleep and wake up randomly in the night, you're STILL AWAKE!" Geno thought trying to hold back a chuckle. Then he turned supposedly 'angry' at Alter. "Oh yeah Mr. 'I'm not that religious'?! You're the one waking me up at 6:00 in the morning to go to church early many days of the week!" He 'complained' and everyone laughed.

"It's good for your soul though." Alter said.

"Yeah, but waking me up by opening the curtains and letting the light hit me abruptly isn't!" Geno continued still pretending he was an angy baby. The tall skeleton laughed a little louder. Despite Geno and Alter were both on guard for the questions the Infernals were doing to answer carefully, they seemed to have a very good time.

Since Alter was mostly doing the talk, nothing seemed able to screw things up. After a while of cheerful talking, 2 waiters stopped near their table and let down plates with food, glasses, a bottle of water and another bottle with a liquid that seemed black. Or perhaps the dark green color of the bottle was making it look like it.

"Ah brilliant! You must try the red wine and tell us Guido what you think!" Pyros said staring at Alter excited. Geno didn't really feel jealous he 'couldn't drink because he wasn't adult'. He had never drink alcohol anyways. But he stared at Alter secretly in wonder. Now what?

He was avoiding alcohol just like the devil avoids incense. He had hear funny stories from him about what his struggle to avoid the pirates from giving him alcohol, how many times he avoided at the very last moment drink water which had even a few drops of rum in it. One time everyone had actually believe he had drink alcohol.

A few years ago, where that one funny story took place…

It all happened on break when Ramirez happened to sit near him. The dog was drinking something from a little bottle. In almost every lunch break everyone would see Ramirez drinking 1 of these little bottles. No one knew what he was drinking but most believed «The bastard had good booze for himself and not sharing it».

However no one was daring take from his bottles, Ramirez knew how to throw hands. Alter wasn't caring enough to know but slowly the curiosity became enough for him to ask what the doctor was drinking. Usually once, Ramirez was condemning talk with Alter but to the priest's surprise he was given another little bottle.

"Why don't you find out yourself?" The dog asked. After staring at him surprised, Alter accepted the bottle and sniffed lightly the drink. It smelled weird and bitter, but not like alcohol at all. He tried some of it, only to soon start gagging silently. With difficulty the sip managed to go down. But he had recognised what the drink was.

Ramirez didn't seem impressed with his reaction and just shrugged his shoulders. But when he saw Alter taking another sip and swallowing it down easier, there he got a little surprised. A little bit more when Alter approached closer.

"You're drinking this everyday?" He asked.

"Yes. Just a habit." The dog said casually. Alter approached his bottle near Ramirez'.

"Thanks for the… interesting drink. Cheers?" He asked. The doctor rolled his eyes but clanked gently his bottle with Alter's. They returned on drinking in silence. But not for long.

"HOLY SH*T GUYS, THE PRIEST IS DRINKING FROM THE DOCTOR'S SECRET ALCOHOL!" Dave yelled who happened to pass by. In a blink of an eye, everyone had gathered around Alter and Ramirez as if the priest had done something impossible, staring at him and the little bottle he was holding.

"*sigh* Casually surrounded by idiots…" Ramirez said, rolled his eyes and took another sip from his bottle. Suddenly Dave snatched Alter's bottle very rudely.

"Oi, share some with us, will you?!" He said and chugged down the bottle. Only to soon freeze from disgust, run towards the gunwale and spit out the drink to the sea. Oh how everyone had died laughing, especially after Markus picked up the bottle, smelled the remaining liquid and announced what the 'alcohol' really was.

"Poor David, this is not alcohol, it's aloe juice!" He said as Dave was trying to wipe with his hands the bitter taste of aloe off his tongue, which was making everyone literally even tear up from laughter.

"YOU DAMN PRIEST, HOW DARE YOU PRANK ME LIKE THAT?!" The tiger yelled ready to attack Alter. But suddenly everyone stopped laughing, talking or moving seeing Ramirez covering his face and shaking.

"Doctor Ramirez?" Michael asked worried. "Is everything alr-?" The pirates' surprise turned even bigger when they heard Ramirez actually wheezing and laughing loudly. It was the first ever time anyone in the crew, not just Alter who was from the most recent crewmembers, was seeing the doctor laughing. And not even sarcastically! Genuinely cheerfully.

"Ramirez?! You're laughing?!" Everyone heard at that moment Captain's voice, who was staring at the dog shocked. It needed many more seconds for Ramirez to finally calm down and catch his breath, the extreme laughter had caused him hiccups. When he finally stopped he coughed gently and immediately turned serious again.

"My apologies for that, Sir." He just said.

"No no! You did nothing wrong! Who said you're not allowed to laugh?! It suits you in fac-."

"Bullsh*t!" The doctor said stubbornly and walked away. Everyone laughed again. Now he had returned to the casual monster they all knew. When Captain Reaper asked Markus what had caused Ramirez to laugh so much and he heard the whole story, he started laughing too.

"David, that's what you get for trying to steal other people's drinks!" He said and the tiger looked away snarling.

Present…

Geno was wheezing nonstopping from the story Alter had narrated only a week before the mission and everytime he was recalling even a small detail from it, he would burst out laughing. At the same time he was surprised. Damn, the dog can actually laugh? He would really want to see that happening if there was any other chance.

But Alter said it, it was the first and the last time as it seemed that Ramirez laughed when it happened. Even Captain, who as it seemed knew him for much longer had never seen him doing that until Dave's reaction after he tasted aloe juice triggered him to laugh. But back to the main narration of the story.

What was Alter going to do? Deny drink? Actually take the glass in front of him that was now having inside some wine by Pyros? It wasn't much at all, just to have 'a first taste', 1 or 2 sips and then if he wanted, to have more. Geno thought it would be super weird for him to see Alter actually drinking the wine.

The guy who he had never seen touching alcohol. Indeed Alter for a moment didn't do any move to take the glass, just staring at it with a casual unreadable smiling expression of his. But then he exhaled quietly from his nose and actually took the glass. Geno tried his best to hide his surprise.

"I wonder if another reason he doesn't drink is because he's getting drunk easily. But how can we know that if he never tasted wine actually?!" He thought. He stared at Alter as he was looking inside his glass, rotating it lightly. Eventually he stared at Pyros and Tefra and raised his glass.

"Well, cheers!" He said. The goat siblings raised their glasses too and said cheers too. Then they took a sip from their wine. Geno's mind was screeching.

"Oh sh*t, he's actually drinking it!" He thought. He shouldn't be finding it that weird but still, for him it was. Alter sighed satisfied and let down his glass.

"To be honest I'm not drinking often. Though it is not bad sometimes have some wine. Wine delights the heart! Oh, I had a funny experience younger. I was just an 8 year old bambino when I found a bottle of special wine, gift for my father. When my mamma found me, I was passed out with the bottle half empty near me! Silly me wanted to taste it! I'm still laughing remembering this, especially when she told me that I was so drunk, I wouldn't stop murmuring, I'm going to marry you mamma!"

The siblings started laughing. Geno wheezed and started slamming his palm on the table fast. Though soon he started wondering if Alter was already drunk to mention that memory with such excitement or he was just in the mood for stories.

"Nah. He can drink conium and not die and he will get drunk by taking just a sip from the wine? How ironic it would be if it was like that? But I believe he knows well what he's doing…"

"Did your father punish you?" Tefra asked a little concerned.

"Luckily not. If it wasn't for my mamma, I would be hanging upside down from one of the trees of our village for a whole day!" He said and everyone started laughing again. When they calmed down Pyros looked at Alter excited.

"Well?! How was the taste of the wine Guido?!" He asked. Alter chuckled. He raised his glass again.

"Hm, I was told the wine here is brilliant. As it seems, this is right! I think from all the few drinks I had in my life, we have the 'wine'er here!" He announced. Tefra and Geno covered their mouths to muffle their laughter while Pyros eyes turned googly like.

i think the picture i found on the internet describes very well pyros' expression😂😂😂

"Signore Guido, NO!"

"Signore Guido yes!" Tefra interfered looking at Pyros with a sly expression. "Come on brother, why are you-?"

"Young lady I know that look, don't you dare finish that sentence, I-!"

"'Wine'iiing~?" Tefra completed, making Geno and Alter laugh loudly. Upon laughing Alter stretched his hand towards the small female and did high five with her.

"Bless your mouth for bringing joy and cheerfulness! May the man you love always laugh with your puns." He said.

"They are SO made for each other…" Geno thought delighted.

"WILL YOU 2 SHUT UP?! MONSTERS ARE TRYING TO DRINK!" They heard from a near table Mal and Rasp yelling at them while Rus and Slim were wheezing and coughing from laughter. The fish ladies on their table just groaned.

imagine mal and rasp yelled in this style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af24WFf2RP4

Suddenly the lights went out. Only a few candles could break the shadows. Geno looked around worried.

"What's going on? Why did the lights go out?" He asked. There Pyros, who calmed down after the terrible puns, leaned closer to Geno.

"Don't worry Eugenia! It's sign that very soon the show will begin!"

"Really?"

"Yes, of course!" Pyros reassured. Geno looked towards the stage. There were no lights at all, it was the darkest spot inside the restaurant.

"By the way, who came to entertain us?" He asked. There Pyros' eyes glowed brighter then.

"Danarei Milos is a really famous musician and adventurer! She and her friends are amazing story tellers, they sing their adventures! They've travelled in many lands and have many experiences! She had come a few times here and sang except from songs her and her friends made, other famous ones too!"

Geno didn't say anything, he just nodded in understanding and turned to look at the direction of the stage.

"Alright, let's see if these musicians, adventurers, I dunno what else they are, indeed are as good as Pyros says…" He thought.

2580 words. stay tuned, because the promised dance battle is really close! goodbye, we'll see each other soon hopefully *pet pet pet*