He’s right where he thought the man would be, and Ritsuka is certainly thankful he hadn’t had to look far for the Lord Impaler. This one gift is special, he thinks, because this Vlad (?) isn’t Chaldea’s (??), this Vlad doesn’t know their customs and likely has never gotten a Valentine’s Gift ( because well, Ritsuka doesn’t think back in the days where he thrived in life had such a holiday ). So of course, he has been excited about it - for days, weeks perhaps. This handmade chocolate is special, carefully made, and all of the boy’s cooking abilities had gone into it.
This one is his Servant - not Chaldea’s, but his -, and with how his previous Master treated him, he wanted this to be special. He wanted Lord Vlad to feel cherished.
“Mhm! Here, this is for you.” Though he had done no effort to hide the box, it’s handed to the Lancer (???) in a rather excited fashion. For days he had been eager to know what Vlad’s reaction would be, and his eyes are expectantly on his face for the reaction, until… –
Blue. Like his. Not gold, the ones he had gotten used to it. There, the Master’s smile falters for a bit, his blood turning cold. There’s no reason to come up with the worst case scenario, here - it could… it could just be the best one. Two of them. It’s possible. But there’s something in Ritsuka’s guts that say no, it’s just the opposite. … He does nothing about it. Brings the smile back, shoos the feeling away, and disregards the incident as just he’s tired, and nothing is wrong.
“H… Happy Valentine’s Day, Lord Vlad!”
--- but something is wrong. It’s in the gaze of the Impaler Lord, faraway and cold, yet, it’s in the heavy presence Berserker cloaks himself in, closer and more poignant without the barrier of humanity to shield men’s hearts.( A twisted existence under this skin stared at the young master in bewilderment) It’s in the lithe fingers that take the box of chocolates, without disturbance, without weight into inspecting palms. And in his voice, weighted the differences between friend and stranger.
“ I accept your gift, but I am wholy unprepared now to offer a return gift currently. You will have to wait a while. ” His tone was cordial and laced thin with a hidden gratitude. Fitting for a king, but the promise was assured with a faint smile. Vlad turned the box over in his palm, and thumbed over the ribbon. He brushed against the paper that tucked his name under it. Already his mind troubled what to get the mage. This was unexpected. Berserker did not need to open the box to smell the chocolates inside.
“ Master.” Vlad spoke up again. The word left his mouth like a hum. Ritsuka’s chin was not raised to look at him properly. He needed eye contact to assure the boy was listening this time. Vlad reached for the lapel of his coat and tucked the choco box in. That smile had disappeared. “ I will enjoy these later. Thank you--”
“ Next time, you needn’t prepare a gift when all I asked of you was your blood. ”
Very wrong, indeed.