White Camellia, Red Snapdragon and Lilies both. (Private)

"Didn't you just come in for a coffee?" Yurio asked, smiling, amused. She was here on her time off, and still decided to do her job instead of pretty much anything else. He, of course, wasn't against the idea of getting everyone something to make their catching-up time more enjoyable. 

Carol and Ana were still busy with their talk as the note was deposited at their table, but Lyra was plenty aware of what was going on and so was the first to read it's contents. By the time that she was done thinking of what she could possibly have, Eliza returned to their table and sat down. Lyra turned her attention to Eliza, largely ignoring the recount of the important goings on in Ana's life next to her. It was all mostly stuff that Eliza had told Carol about, just with more detail; it was also stuff Lyra more or less knew about. "Auntie," she said, pointing to Aurora's note, "Anything you recommend?" she asked.

Perhaps Aurora did indeed come there to grab a drink, but the circumstances changed her plans a little. She decided to help them out a little, at least when it came to dealing with Carol, Ana, and Lyra. With a hand on her hip, she waited for Lyra to state what she wanted.

"That depends on what you like, Lyra." Elizabeth simply said and nodded a little, before giving her question more serious thought. After giving Aurora a quick glance, her attention refocused on the younger Kindleberry sister. "If you like coffee like your mom and sister, then your choices are broad. You could have what your mom had - a mocha, which is a coffee mixed with chocolate. You could also just straight get a cup of hot chocolate without coffee or a white coffee, which is coffee with milk. Tea is always good. obviously. In terms of sweet treats we have... a cheesecake, an apple pie, and a brownie." Eliza said, basically remembering the most popular things from the menu. Well, popular amongst teenagers that is.

Luna meanwhile focused on preparing Ana the best coffee she could make. She knew well how the girl liked her coffee and thus was going to make it just the way Ana would enjoy it most.

Lyra thought about the options recommended to her for a few moments. "Cheesecake and hot chocolate sounds good," she said to Aurora, finally, smiling. 

Ana had about finished being grilled by Carol at that point. She looked a good deal more spent than when she did when she came in, thanks to a combination of having a while to cool down after her sprint and the rather tiring subject that was her life. There was a reason why she didn't share all that much...

Carol sighed, even as she was once again mussing up Ana's hair thoroughly enough that she was making her head bounce like that of a bobblehead. Ana wasn't complaining. "So, now that I know more or less what's been going on, I feel better," Carol said, as she crossed her arms. "Oh, and, a cheesecake for me, too," she said with a smile.

Aurora grinned and nodded. "Sure thing!" She said to the two before walking off back to the counter. With swift movements, she set up to prepare Lyra's drink just as Luna was done with Ana's coffee. Bad timing - they would have to go twice or have the coffee get colder than perfect. So, to avoid any unnecessary incident regarding Luna's clumsiness, Aurora told her to handle the chocolate while she went back to deliver Ana her coffee. "Here you go, cousin. Luna's finest." Aurora said with a smile before rushing off back to the counter to deal with the cheesecakes.

Elizabeth put a leg on a leg and closed her eyes for a moment. "Straight from the source, hm?" She commented, half-mindedly trying to filter out all the useless detail that Ana'd shared with Carol. Of course, almost everything was the stuff Eliza was aware of herself and it was difficult not to hear the whole story again. Suddenly the nine-tailed witch covered her mouth and let out a giggle. "It's good that you didn't see Luna's face after your mom demanded to "see the manager". For a moment I was worried she would pass out on me." She said, feeling a little bit amused because of the whole situation. Focusing on Carol again, Eliza smiled again. "Oh, I would love to see Gyles' face when he will finally realize his wife is back."

Ana perked up a little at having had received Luna's coffee. The timing was perfect, and she didn't question it one bit even though she hadn't asked for anything. No longer looking to have a care in the world, she sipped away at the coffee. At least for a while, until Eliza mentioned what Carol had done. She remembered the way her phone was going off in her pocked, so she took her out, scrolling through the messages with one hand while drinking her coffee with the other. "You scare her, apparently," Ana said. That was the first message.

Carol looked to recoil just a little bit from both Eliza's and Ana's comment, since none of that was truly her intention. It just made her think that getting back on Luna's good side was going to be more difficult. "Don't say it like that..." she said, quietly. She did manage to perk up at the pention of Gyles, though. "Oh, I want to see him. I'm sure he's bust with work, though, so he can wait. Make it his punishment for giving sparse information..."

Eliza couldn't help, but feel even more amused by Carol's reaction to her comment about poor Luna. "It's quite normal, really. You're her lover's mother, so, it's quite natural that the sheer possibility of not being accepted by you will terrify her." The witch explained, getting into the psychology behind Luna's fear. Whether it was accurate or not wasn't entirely sure. It could just as well be Eliza's deduction more than anything. "Besides, at this point I'm pretty sure poor Yurio is at least somewhat afraid of me. While I do admit, I should probably fix that, it also works as a perfect incentive for the boy to never, ever hurt my daughter." She explained, fully aware that Yurio could be listening to her. At the mention of Gyle's punishment, she let out a giggle. "Oh yes, the man certainly deserves it for not keeping you properly informed."

A few moments later Aurora was back with two pieces of cheesecake for Carol and Lyra as well as the cup of hot chocolate. With wide smile on her face, she looked at them all. "Enjoy! Let me know if you want Luna to join in, I can substitute for her behind the counter." The girl said, before walking off back to where Yurio and Luna were.

"You know, I don't think that's such a good thing, Elsie," Carol said, sighing. "What about Dalibor? I'd have thought that he'd be plenty to keep anyone in check..." she asked, offering an alternative to Eliza's ways. 

Ana creased her brows at hearing her mother call Eliza that. Even if she was distracted by various things and only half listening, that was more than enough to bring that strange sort of expression on her face. Didn't help that she was reading about Luna's impressions of the time until she texted her in the first place. 

Lyra wasn't really bothered by it. She knew less about her auntie than her sister, so her mother's strange nickname went over her head. She was more interested in the sweets that Aurora brought along.

Ana and Carol, on the other hand, seemed quite interested in Aurora's offer. Carol had picked up the plate with her piece of cheesecake and Ana was still holding all of her stuff, but with that offer they both looked like they forgot all about it. They both turned to Eliza, Ana leaning forward a bit so she could be seen properly, and gave her the same not-so-convincing sharp-eyed puppy-dog pleading look that their features didn't quite let them pull off. She was the boss, after all.

"Don't get me wrong, Dalibor would be a good safety measure if not for the possibility of Aurora exploiting his weakness." Eliza said, her understanding of her family's weaknesses once again kicking in to provide an analysis. Dalibor's weakness being obviously his love for his daughters and his wife. "Anyway, I'm feeling soft today, I might have a little chat with Yurio later. As I said, I like him, he's a good man." She concluded the topic. Even though it was slightly refreshing, the thought of showing too much weakness after years of masking them all almost desperately was making her slightly uncomfortable. Well, exposing herself just a little wasn't going to hurt too much, most likely. It was a risk she was willing to make.
When both Carol and Ana started staring at her as if they waited for her to agree to give Luna a break, she let out a laughter. An actual amused laughing fit. When she finally calmed herself down, a slight blush was present on her face before she covered her mouth with a hand and gave them a more serious look. "Aurora already gave Luna her blessing. Do you really need my word too?" Eliza finally said, signs of amusement still present in her voice. Then, she waved her arm while looking at Luna, inviting her to join them.

Aurora once again went through a deep shock, hearing her mother laugh. With her eyes opened wide she looked towards Yurio. "Y-Yurio... s-she really is like me, is... isn't she..?" She asked, feeling somewhat terrified to admit it.

Luna glanced over at Aurora and Yurio. "E-Excuse me... E-Eliza is calling me..." The wolf witch said quietly, before walking past the two and walking over to the table where the whole pack was seated. "Uhm, y-yes? Is... Is everything alright..?" She said, her stress caused by the possibility that the drinks weren't to their liking.

Yurio was stuck somewhere between offended, confused and anxious. One, he wouldn't hurt Aurora, so could Eliza stop with what she was doing, please!? Two, what the hell!? Three. A talk!? "It's... Just laughing, it's nothing," he said to Aurora, though he couldn't deny it entirely. "Right, looks like you're covering, though..."

Carol went from looking at Eliza to watching Luna approach, being one of two people unaffected by Eliza's laughing fit. She wondered what went on in that head of her's sometimes. If you like the man, then don't scare him, then... Not that she could change her friend, and she wouldn't try besides maybe giving her opinion sometimes. 

Ana's eyes shot open wide at Eliza's mirthful, rather than calculated, laughter. That's really not something you saw every day. Only Luna's voice broke her out of it, and she quickly scootched away from her mother so that there was a place for Luna to sit between them. She put her phone away and patted that place, smiling. 

Lyra was done with the cake in record time and was now just sitting back sipping on her hot chocolate. She looked like she was rather enjoying it.

"Yahoo!" Aurora said grinning from ear to ear. Truly, she loved working with Yurio. They were such a great and efficient team and the speeds they could operate at served as proof of that. Aurora quickly put an apron with the cafe's logo on and took her spot near the coffee machine. "But... seriously, the more I listen to my mom in that state, the more parallels I draw..." She said, sounding concerned about that.

Eliza's logic regarding the boyfriends of her daughters was quite complicated to a point where she would need a few long whiles to explain the reasoning behind everything that she was doing to them. The main points of that could be brought down to her never placing full trust in anyone from outside of her closest family no matter how much she liked someone. Also, some of her ideas could be considered quite old-fashioned. Well, Carol was a big exception in everything, but she was a woman. It's not that Eliza wouldn't take suggestions though, she wasn't that stubborn. "Anyway... I suppose you're right. Aurora is a responsible young woman, I shouldn't be trying to keep her man in check as if they were teenagers. Hm, I wonder if I can sort of, reset things between me and Yurio." Eliza said though it was more of her thinking out loud.

Luna was a little bit hesitant to sit between Ana and her mother. She still wasn't sure if Carol liked her or if she gave off a good first impression. Not only that, but her shyness was also kicking in, making her even more hesitant. In the end, the smile Ana gave her was what gave her courage. Slowly, she sat in the indicated seat and smiled politely, although everything about her screamed 'sheepish'.

"Don't worry about it," Yurio said, shaking his head. If anything, Eliza being a little more like Aurora, though worrying, would also make his life somewhat easier. Aurora being more like Eliza, though... He wasn't sure if he could quite handle that. As for what he was hearing from that far table... He was mostly tuning it all out.

"Yeah, that," Carol said, agreeing with Eliza. "Though, if he's scared of you, I'm not so sure you can just reset things... People don't work like that. Uhm... Dragons, I don't know about, but not people," Carol then added. She started eating her cake, then, remembering that she was still holding it. She looked to the other side of her to give Luna a smile when she sat down, too.

Ana, as most would expect of her, scootched closer to Luna and placed a hand on her head. Head patting was Ana's go-to when Luna wasn't feeling entirely comfortable with something.

So far everything pointed out towards Eliza and Aurora each having many similarities between each other. Well, at least to the most observant observers. One thing was certain, Aurora wasn't on the path of becoming more Eliza-like, at least for the time being. "You sure?" She asked, her concerns only slightly lessened. Ah, well, I have you to make sure I am... well... me."

"While a full reset might not be possible, probably, making myself seem less intimidating might certainly change things up. That's what I'm, sort of, doing right now too." Elizabeth told Carol quite casually, before glancing over back at the counter and smiling at Aurora and Yurio. Especially Yurio, probably.

At first, Luna felt uncomfortable, like she wasn't supposed to be there. After all, it was a reunion between Ana, Lyra and Carol. However, Ana's head pats quite quickly soothed her. With her eyes closed, she relaxed her muscles and mind. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine. After all, Ana was around. Carol wasn't Eliza, so she wouldn't be teasing them like she does with Yurio and Aurora. Everything would be fine. "O-Oh! Uhm, pardon my intrusion, b-by the way... I-I thought I... I was needed o-or something..." Luna said and quietly, sounding quite apologetically.

"You don't have to worry about not being you, even if you and Eliza are a little more similar than you thought," Yurio further tried to reassure her. As for Eliza... Yurio wasn't looking. There was work to do...

"You might be able to improve your relationship, if that's what you plan to do. Though... Everyone seems to be taken aback," Carol said, then turned in her seat a little. "Speaking of improving relationships," she said, pausing, "I already said I didn't mean to scare you, didn't I? You don't have to think that you're in the way... As long as you're with Ana, you might as well be family."

The comment from her mother made Ana blush. "U-uhm... Auntie is giving you a break, 'cause Aurora offered to take over for a bit. So you're not intruding. We want you here."

"I guess you're right." Aurora said and then let out a sigh. She only waved back at Eliza, before focusing on what she was supposed to be doing. There was work to do indeed.

"Taken aback, huh?" Eliza said and looked away for a moment, giving it some thought. Or, at least pretending to do so as she knew exactly what was going on. "There's no point in me even trying to keep my usual demeanor going with you around, Caroline." The witch said, stating the obvious. After all, no matter how hard she tried to keep her cool around Carol, it would always prove pointless. There was something about that woman that could easily break through her wall of calmness.

Luna's face turned red immediately hearing the mention of family coming out of Caroline's mouth. Family? She wasn't family to them, right? She was just Ana's meister and lover. There was no way she even dared to consider herself that no matter what the Kindleberrys or Fosters would say. There was one contradictory line of thinking to her denial though - after all, she considered Ana to be her 'family', but that was just applied to her and her only. "B-But... Aurora is supposed to e-enjoy her free time..." Luna said quietly in response to Ana's words, before trying to look away from both Ana and Carol, unable to figure out how to mask her embarrassment.

Eliza shook her head a little. "It's Aurora's choice. Besides, Luna, I think you deserve to get to know your girlfriend's mother. Weren't you curious about her?" She said, hitting all the right spots in Luna, in terms of making the girl even more embarrassed. It was true, Luna wanted to meet Carol and Luna couldn't deny that. Mumbling a little, trying to deny that even a little, she stared at the floor, her face covered with a blush. Really, it wasn't Carol that was the danger there, it was Eliza. Even though, for the first time, the nine-tailed witch didn't even intend to tease anyone. Clicking her tongue she looked away. "Uhm,my bad."

"That's fine, just be yourself~" Carol said to Eliza, cheerfully. It's not like Carol was doing anything particularly special to make that happen, so she mostly saw the more honest Eliza. "They'll get used to it, if you let them. 

Ana kept stroking Luna's head, smiling softly even despite her own still-lingering embarrassment. She really didn't expect Carol to come out with the whole family line. On another note that was less embarrassing for her, she wasn't expecting Eliza to expose Luna's curiosity so openly to the person in question. 

Carol didn't seem to know what to say to Luna while she was like this. Perhaps nothing was best, for the time being.

Elizabeth was silent for a moment, calmly contemplating what which side of her was the one that she could consider being 'herself'. Of course, she assumed that Carol meant the more honest and open side of her. However, years of being the mysterious and dominant Eliza made her question some things. "Myself, hm..." Eliza said through a sigh. "In my case that can mean different things, I'm afraid." She admitted, trying to reflect upon Carol's suggestion. After all, she could be many things depending on the situation. Being honest about her feelings was something she considered a weakness, thus it was hidden under the act of being stoic. Occasionally, she would switch things up into the more playful side of herself.

Luna needed a moment to calm down from her embarrassed state. She seemed to understand that what Eliza did was actually a slip-up, but she only guessed that because of what the older witch did after exposing her. "I... uhm... w-well.. o-of course I was... am... curious..." Luna finally admitted. "I-I mean... uhm..." It was obvious she was having trouble putting her thoughts together into sentences without making herself seem weird or without embarrassing herself further. "It... It's Ana's mom. Of course, I-I wanted to meet her... A-also, w-well... I... don't r-really know my mother so... I was curious..." Luna finally explained then looked at the floor, once again feeling the same sad feeling that she had felt before.

"Oh, you know what I mean when I say that," Carol said, waving off what she thought sounded an awful lot like an excuse. Eliza had assumed rightly, because the Eliza that Carol knew best would of course the one that Carol would refer to as 'herself.' She may have been a little more dismissive than she was usually, but really, right now she wanted to listen to whatever Luna had to say whenever she wanted to say it. "Mmm... I think it's natural to want to meet your partner's parents, after being together for a while. Nothing to be embarrassed about. And, you're meeting me now, so, if there's anything specific you want to know about, ask away," she said.

Ana put down the partially full cup that she was still holding and pulled Luna into a loose side-hug of sorts. Even the mention of Luna's own family was, if spotted by the girl, enough to have Ana do as much comforting as was necessary. Luna being sad was the last thing that Ana wanted to see, after all.

Elizabeth went silent, allowing Luna to speak on whatever topic she desired. The spotlight was hers, so to speak. The nine-tailed witch would use to moment to contemplate. She couldn't just change the way she was, that would be both ridiculous and too sudden - Dalibor would probably get a heart attack if she just switched without a warning.

Luna closed her eyes after being pulled into the hug by Ana. It was enough to calm her down enough and restore the peace of her mind, apparently. "O-Oh, no, uhm, the only question I-I a-actually have is quite s-silly..." Luna said quietly in response to Carol's suggestion and looked away, smiling a little and blushing. "Uhm, w-well, the question is... w-what makes a good mom, i-in your opinion..?" She eventually asked. Eliza had been asked the same question at one point and her answer was quite simple - 'Making sure the children will grow to be strong, independent and capable of living their lives just the way they desire'.

Carol looked a little surprised for a moment. She didn't have to think about it for very long, though. "Oh, the short of it all for me is that as long as my girls are able to be happy, I can feel like I've done a good job," she said with a grin. It was a good deal simpler than Eliza's ideal, but therein was the difference between them. Really, it boiled down to the exact same thing.

Both Ana and Lyra looked to be pretty happy at that. Ana lifted her head to smile at her mother and Lyra slumped up against her side, still sipping at her drink. Looks like she'd had enough of it that it didn't spill when she did so.

Luna nodded, satisfied with the answer. The two opinions given both by Eliza and Carol made her imagination work. Ana, Lyra, Aurora and Angela had it really nice with their moms. "T-that's so simple..." Luna finally said, smiling at Carol. "T-Thank you f-for answering m-my silly question..." The wolf witch looked towards Ana, feeling her smile grow wider. She was slowly starting to relax around Carol. Though, some discomfort would still remain for a little longer.

Eliza listened to the exchange between Carol and Luna with interest. The answer her friend gave, while seemingly different from her own, really could be boiled down to the same thing. She wanted Aurora and Angela to be happy and, in her opinion, she'd succeeded. "Being a mother is a joy. Sure, sometimes it's difficult, but... it's all worth it in the end." Eliza said.

"In theory. As Elsie said, It's a little more difficult in practice than it is to just say it, sometimes, but nothing's better than seeing the payoff," Carol said. Her recent absence was one of those difficult times, but the pay at the end of it meant that her family would have more security. And now she would get to spend plenty of time with everyone to make up for it all. 

Ana was glad to see that Luna looked to be a little more comfortable. She shifted to sitting normally again, keeping an arm draped around Luna's shoulders.

"For us, the payoff sure is great, I would say, right, Carol?" Eliza said, and then started smiling as she looked at her friend's children and then at her own daughter and her boyfriend. A part of her was also proud of Luna. Sure, she wasn't her kid, nor Carol's, but as it turned out she was considered family by both the Kindleberrys and the Fosters. Aurora was treating her like another sister, Eliza decided to act as a sort of, mother figure for her whenever life demanded it. Being Ana's girlfriend also put her in a spot amongst Carol's family too. Despite everything, Elizabeth would say that Luna was quite a lucky girl. "Our children live happy lives, working to achieve their respective goals." She said.

Luna closed her eyes and shifted a little in her seat to get herself more comfortable. She quickly got lost in her thoughts contemplating both what Carol and Elizabeth were saying. While she still didn't believe she deserved to be called family by Caroline, she was also happy that she was accepted by her. Eliza's willingness to support her whenever she needed it, was also really appreciated. However, despite it all, she just, sort of, wished there was someone she could actually call a sister or a mother. It was all complicated, really. Remembering Charlotte, Luna wished she could bond with the other witch more since she was the only person from her pre-orphanage years that she actually knew. Speaking of witches... "H-Hey... Ana..." Luna whispered. "D-does your mom know about my... i-issues with magic?"

"It's looking like it," Carol said simply. Time changes things, but seeing Ana and Lyra made her think that that was very likely still the case. In time, she'd be able to make certain of things. 

Ana sometimes wondered if Luna was quite aware of how many people cared for her, besides Ana herself; as far as Ana was concerned, Luna was someone you couldn't not care about. She wasn't thinking of all that now, though. Right now, she was just trying to make sure that Luna was comfortable. She leaned her head towards Luna at hearing her whisper her name. She turned her head to Luna, leaning in a bit as she whispered back. "I've mentioned that you're having trouble with things, but no specifics. Didn't think all that was important. Why?"

Eliza nodded a little, the smile still present on her face. She was in a great mood, clearly and she wasn't stopping herself from showing it. "I'm just really proud of our kids - Luna and Yurio too." The witch said nonchalantly, looking at all their precious kids.

Luna's thoughts were usually a mess anyway. However, she did know that many people cared for her and she was grateful, but she just wanted to have someone she could actually, freely and without any hesitation call her family. Of course, she had Ana, but she just desired to have parents or something. Back to reality. Luna scratched her head a little. "W-Well... It... should be im-important, right..?" She said, but wasn't so sure herself.

"Oh, no doubt about that," Carol said with a quick grin. Lyra was shaping up to be a little prodigy, and Ana was well on her way to becoming a Death Scythe.

"If you think so," Ana said, swinging her arm up to pay Luna on her head again. "But, if you think she should know, then you can say so yourself," she then added. Perhaps it was a little mean of her, but getting them talking might be just what Luna might need to warm up to her mother more. That, or the opposite. That remained to be seen.