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[protegge]

[the chorus of blondie's CALL ME, sung extremely poorly but with great enthusiasm]

( text | voice | video | action )

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2/14; BACKDATED....

[gotyourbach]

Oh, Mista-kun!! There you are!

[Kaede's voice rings loud and clear as she catches sight of her target walking on the other side of the street and immediately starts jogging toward him. Could she just walk? Yes. Will she? Not this time.]

I was starting to get worried I wouldn't find you... I have something for you!

[protegge]

[Sometimes, you just have to jog everywhere you go. Sometimes, you act genki even when you're not. Mista, for his part, is performing a grade-A stroll, hands in his pockets and humming tunelessly to what he remembers from Stylosa's latest song, when . . . suddenly there's a girl hollering at him.]

[So he stops. Duh. Even if he is a little (visibly) surprised as he turns towards her.]

You wha? [A genius...... The World's Smartest Man.]

[gotyourbach]

I have something for you! [she repeats, no less cheerfully. Did she fucking stutter, Mista??

Give her a second, she has to shrug her backpack off and dig through it for a few seconds before reemerging with an,] Ah-ha! [of triumph as she pulls out a small bag and offers it to him in both hands.]

It's chocolate... where I come from, girls give chocolates to boys they're friends with or people they work with. So! I got these for you.

[protegge]

Wait, seriously?

[Look, obviously he's taking the chocolate, he's not an asshole. He's confused, though, that much is clear. He's very much from a culture where he is supposed to give presents to girls, and then they are supposed to reject them and laugh at him but in a good-natured way. This is a lot to take in.]

You just give chocolates to guys whenever you — [Wait. Calibrating. Mista.exe is rebooting. And counting in his head.]

Holy shit, is it Valentine's Day? [oh my god. bear with him kaede hes so dumb]

[gotyourbach]

[It's a good thing he got it, because explaining it just makes it sound dumb! His reaction just makes her laugh, though, and she clasps her hands behind her back.]

Yeah, it is! The chocolates are a little spicy... I hope you like them!

Do they have Valentine's Day where you're from, Mista-kun?

[It's only after she asks that she realizes if he recognized what it is, of course he has it, or some version of it. But the question has already been released into the wild.]

[protegge]

Yeah, I like spicy stuff.

[ The chocolate has A Flavor . . . that's so fancy. He is torn about whether to open the bag now and eat one, or to save it for later. Probably he will choose to eat it, though. Delayed gratification isn't really a thing for this one.]

We have it, yeah, but usually it's guys giving girls stuff. Or sometimes people giving each other stuff. [He's . . . a little pink.] And it's not usually friends so I don't have anything ready for you. [He is going to Die Of Shame. But at least he'll die eating choco.]

[gotyourbach]

[He is more than welcome to eat them now! She certainly isn't going to stop him. They are figuratively and quite literally out of her hands.]

Oooh... No, we have another holiday for guys to give girls stuff. It's called White Day, a month later! Guys are supposed to give gifts back to all the girls who got them stuff, with some kind of white theme.

...Oh! [Belatedly, and very firmly, she puffs her cheeks out with a frown and rests her hands on her hips,] You don't have to get me anything though, Mista-kun. I just wanted to do something nice for all my friends here!

[protegge]

Huh. [He peers into the bag, considering this information. So this is cultural exchange. He's intrigued by this concept, the idea that everybody has a particular day to give chocolate and to receive it. It kind of makes sense. Mostly.]

[White Day. His expression goes thoughtful. Well, he sure as fuck can't make chocolate. It'd be a bad idea. He'd just give Kaede food poisoning. He'll have to think of something else—]

[Oh. She thinks she can stop him. He grins, putting one hand (the non-chocolate-holding hand) on his hip and puffing out his cheeks in imitation of her. It's actually a pretty good imitation? Rude.]

What if I wanna do something nice for you back? What're you gonna do about it?