Aspen hadn’t been on a date since her breakup with Beau, and auctioning herself off via picnic basket had seemed like a good way to put herself back out there. She couldn’t dwell on what a terrible girlfriend she had been forever, and she certainly couldn’t pine after childhood friends who didn’t see her that way until she died, either, so she was excited to spoil someone new for a day and see where things could go.
Only… when she heard who had won her basket, it wasn’t someone new at all. It was @kyohamada, and Aspen wished her twin was there to keep her from hyperventilating. Sure, she hung out with him often enough, sometimes even alone… but Aspen had been dreaming about going on a date with him since she’d been a little girl, for so long that she didn’t even remember a time when that wasn’t something she’d wanted. Still screaming internally, and with legs that felt like Jell-O, Aspen willed herself to move towards him, using the few seconds walk to try and think of something charming and grown-up to say.
Instead, she found herself tripping over her feet, just barely catching herself before she toppled into Kyo completely. “Oops? Hi,” Aspen said sheepishly, glad she hadn’t dropped the basket and ruined this before it even started. “Good news, I didn’t injure myself! But even if I did, at least there’s a first aid kit,” she reminded him, holding his basket prize out towards him with a warm smile.
The main draw to the event was that the proceeds went to a great cause, but everyone was always on his case about working too much so he figured the couple of hours spent with the basket-maker if he won anything would be a great way to prove to the nay-sayers that he did in fact know how to unwind and have fun. It was almost weirdly perfect that the person who made the basket he ended up winning just so happened to be one of those nay-sayers. He had to laugh to himself when that little tidbit was revealed, and for a brief moment wondered if maybe she had set it up that way. It was not uncommon for the twins to mention bribery as a means of getting their way, after all.
There wasn’t really enough time to entertain the theory, however, as seconds later she was approaching -- if you could really call it that. It was more like she stumbled her way over, but that was just her way. Years of knowing her had prepared Kyo for a less-than-graceful entrance and it was second nature to him at this point to have his arms out at the ready to catch her in case she actually toppled over. “You trip more than a toddler learning to walk, you know that?” he teased, accepting the basket from her. ‘Is this about to get weird?’ he couldn’t help but wonder. This was Aspen they were talking about, and it was no secret how she felt about him. Truthfully he’d kind of just ignored it growing up, written it off as a phase when they were younger. And now here they were, her feelings seemingly just as apparent as they were back then. And while Kyo cared for her, he was just never sure he could return her affections.
But he’d also never tried. To him, Aspen had always been his childhood friend, almost like another sister to him. What would happen if he actually gave this a shot? He wasn’t quite sure he knew how to do that, but if there was ever a time to give a try this would be it, wouldn’t it? “So,” with a smirk, Kyo reached into the basket and pulled out one of the miniature bottles of alcohol, the usual teasing light in his eyes returning as he brought his gaze back to meet hers. “Trying to get the winner drunk? Was that the whole plan with the basket?”
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