But the pocky slips somehow and he is choking. Shallot moment.
Send “Pocky” to play the pocky game with my muse!
"What the--"
It was sudden enough for this guy to pop out of nowhere with a pocky sticking between his lips as he pursed them at her -- and it was so confusing Mariko wondered if he knew what the pocky game was before starting to even get embarrassed at the offer -- when the Saiyan boy let out a chocked gasp, eerily similar to what Mariko thought a strangled chicken would sound like.
Reacting on her instincts, Mariko immediately dismissed her thoughts and brought herself behind Shallot; she wrapped her arms around his chest, cupped a fist with the other hand, and thrusted it in his abdomen with sudden, firm fits. Finally, at the third attempt, Shallot let out a raspy cough, and she saw a half-chomped blueberry pocky flying in the air with an arch before miserably landing on the ground.
Mariko let out a sigh of relief and let go of Shallot with a severe frown.
"Are you alright?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Sheesh. Learn to chew, before doing stupid tricks with food!"
It's not an OC thing, but I need to know what it's like for Joker to play the Pocky game with Floyd.
Pocky day is for OC x Canon pairs, too!
Floyd held the little red box high over his head, letting it dip down just enough to give Joker some hope as she scrambled to try to get it back from him. "Come on, Clownfishie! You can get them, hahahaha!"
Joker reached and jumped, trying to climb up onto him without being entirely undignified. "You don't even know what they're for, Floyd! Lemme have them back!" she squeaked, hooking a hand onto the tall boy's elbow, and failing to tug it downward. "Oof! Why'd you have to be so gosh darn tall, anyway?"
"The better to teeeeeease you with." He grinned, flashing sharp teeth at her. She really was awfully cute, he thought. Her bright hairbow was knocked askew against disheveled curls during her struggles, and her cheeks were pink with equal parts exertion and embarrassment. He giggled as Joker scrunched up her face in frustration, red-painted lips in a cute little pout. "Don't give up. You're almost there!"
Joker exhaled sharply through her nose as she slung an arm over his shoulder and tried to pull herself upwards. "You're not making this easy, are you?"
"Nope!" Floyd wrapped his other arm around Joker's waist, pinning her against him. "I might have to give you a penalty squeeze for asking a reeeeally silly question, too," he added.
"Gah~!" Joker gasped as she had some of the wind squeezed out of her. "No fair," she panted. "I just wanted to play a kissing game with you—oop!" Floyd hoisted her up to his eye level, his half-lidded eyes full of amusement.
"You didn't say it was a kissing game, Clownfishie." He rubbed the tip of his nose against hers.
"You never gave me a chance to say so!" Joker tried to stomp, but her feet dangled just above the floor, and she clung fast to Floyd's shoulders.
"That's fair." Floyd tossed the Pocky box onto the couch, and put his other arm around her, keeping Joker pressed against his chest. "But let's be real. You don't need to add anything extra into the mix to get a kiss from me."
Joker looked longingly over at the box, and then back at Floyd. She shrugged. "I guess I can always teach you that another time."
"And that means we can make out now, with nothin' in the way?" Floyd grinned.
"If you insist," Joker said, reaching up to tousle his already-messy hair.
"Good." He giggled again. "But next time, bring a different flavor. Maybe strawberry or choconana. They're more fun than the plain chocolate."
Joker's jaw dropped open. "Wait, you already knew about the game?"
"Yup! I only want kisses in flavors I like. Got it, Clownfishie?" He squeezed her close to him again, and they both dissolved into laughter.
🍪 it's definitely not poisoned by either of them, right?
Claude’s skin crawls at the sight of the chocolate biscuit. Does he feel bad about spiking that chocolate with caffeine the other day? Well, considering he occasionally forgets that happened in the swirl of his other, more important goals and agenda, he can’t really say he does, ever really. But they can’t pin it on him! And Mitama hasn’t brought anything up since that fateful day.
Still, better safe than sorry. He accepts Mitama’s offer with a smile, but it’s his hand that come up first. Plucking the pocky out of her mouth, Claude is free to simply rise up to the challenge and plant a kiss directly on Mitama’s lips. A good one, too, hopefully enough so that she runs away flustered. Does she ever get flustered though? Claude breaks the kiss first, then returns the pocky he stole to her mouth. Hopefully that buys him some time before she blows up on him.
After the afternoon's board game club meeting, Punch found himself wandering the NRC campus instead of heading straight back to the dormitory. He loved early evenings at this time of year. The November air was crisp, and the slowly setting sun's light tinted everything with a layer of gold. The trees, ablaze in their autumnal glory, sent their leaves down in lazy spirals in the soft breeze. Punch took a deep breath, and smiled.
He had gotten a little packet of Pocky from his dorm leader at the club meeting; Idia had been absolutely horrified to discover that no one else knew about the "holiday" that was going on, but he sent little Ortho around with enough packs of the long chocolate-covered biscuits for everyone. During a game, Punch was regaled with a giddy story of how the snacks played a role in Idia's most recent dating sim obsession. His fingers brushed over the pack in his pocket as he walked. The game that the characters played with these sounded cute, but there was no way it was actually going to work, right? You couldn't accidentally kiss from sharing a cookie.
Right?
Punch's feet traveled automatically as he thought about it, and before he knew it, he found himself at the edge of the woods behind the campus. Red and brown leaves crunched beneath his shoes as he wandered. There was a little pond back here, and it would be a nice place to watch the sun set as he enjoyed the snack he got from Idia. He took a seat on a fallen log and sighed happily.
As he settled in, he saw a ripple in the water of the pond. He watched as a dark-haired head emerged from the water, bright eyes blinking in the rays of the descending sun. Pale, freckled hands followed, with a turtle clasped between them. Punch smiled; he recognized the figure, who was politely conversing with the turtle in a language he didn't recognize. He waited for a pause in the dialogue before calling out.
"Ruby! I wasn't expecting to find you here. How are you doing?"
Ruby jumped, almost dropping the turtle into the pond. His head spun towards Punch, and his expression lit up. "Oh! Is your meeting through already?"
"Yup." Punch chuckled. "Funny that you asked it like that. Almost sounds like you were waiting for me." He shifted slightly on the log, and pulled one of the biscuits out of the package. "... you want one of these?"
"I might have been waiting for something, but I won't tell." Ruby swam a bit closer, his graceful tail shimmering behind him. "What is it?"
"Kind of a cookie stick," Punch replied, shrugging. "Idia got excited over them being in one of his romance games, so he bought a bunch for our club."
"Cookies are romantic?" Ruby tsked and shook his head. "You land folks are strange, sometimes. But I do wanna try one." He moved to the edge of the pond, changing from merfolk to human form as he did. With a little touch of magic, he was dry and dressed in a flash, and made his way towards Punch.
Punch took one biscuit for himself, then held the rest of the pack out to Ruby. "Here ya go..."
Ruby held out a hand hesitantly. "I don't get how they're meant to be romance cookies, though."
"Ah." Punch swallowed. "Well? The way Idia explained it, two people share one. They eat it at the same time, from either end? And when they get to the center, um." His face flushed red. "You either back up and lose, get backed up from and win, or meet in the middle. And. Um. Both win. Because that's an accidental kiss."
"I want to try," Ruby said, unusually directly.
Punch's Pocky wobbled between his shaky fingers. "Like, now?"
Ruby nodded. Punch placed the cookie between his teeth. Ruby approached from the other side, and put his lips onto the opposite end. All was quiet except for the sounds of quiet crunching. They approached the center of the Pocky stick, and met there. And behind them, the sun touched the horizon.
"You want to do WHAT?" Juniper's yelping laugh echoed off of the campus buildings, as Punch's ears went red. "I've never heard of that one, big guy."
Punch loosened his necktie, hoping to release some of the heat from his blush. "I mean, it's kind of new to me, too? But it sounds interesting. Doesn't it make you curious about how you'd do?"
"Just seems like a waste of cookie time to me. I could eat about four or five of those suckers in the time it takes to maybe get a half stick in this game." Juniper gestured with her Pocky stick, amused.
Punch rubbed the back of his head. "It's not just about eating them, Juniper. It's the whole experience. Like playing chicken with your lips, right?"
Juniper blinked. "You calling me a chicken?"
Punch pursed his lips, and twiddled his biscuit between his fingers. "I dunno. Would you call yourself a chicken for ducking out on a game? I mean, it's not like the stakes are all that high. You win, you lose, or you accidentally bump noses."
She put her hands onto her hips. "What makes you think I'd end up losing, huh?" Her expression was determined, but her tail wagged behind her. Punch relaxed.
"So you'll give it a try?"
"I'll be the Pocky champ, even. Get over here." Juniper stuck her biscuit between her lips, letting it jut out defiantly. "Mm wddy!"
Punch took a deep breath. "If you're ready, then I guess I gotta be. This was my bright idea anyway." He could have sworn he saw her eyes twinkle as he leaned in and bit down on his end of the Pocky stick.
And he almost took a step back; Juniper was munching her way up towards his end of the cookie much faster than he had expected. Her tiny rapid nibbles made the Pocky wobble, and he almost lost his grip on it before she made it to the point where it ran out. Her lips brushed against his, and he began to sweat as her tongue darted out—
And it collected the last bit of Pocky before he could let it drop to the ground. She looked up at him, triumphant. "Told ya! No way am I gonna lose over some silly cookie!"
Punch's hand drifted up to his lips, and all he could do was nod. And when she asked if he wanted a rematch, he nodded harder.
Claude takes the pocky out of his mouth for his single-word reply, “No ❤️.”
He waves the pocky around like a wand, as if considering something. Linhardt’s weakness for sweets is something that Claude has known for a while, but how far is he willing to go? Probably not far at all–he seems like one of those ‘sour grapes’ people his mother has always complained about, but that won’t stop Claude from having a little fun.
“I’m actually on my last box,” he explains. “I’d like so enjoy some of these too, you know. Or are you willing to give me something in exchange?” Claude bites into the chocolate, loudly smacking his smiling mouth as he chews. “I’m waiting.”
When Edelgard offers to play the game with him, Claude can’t help but raise an eyebrow. He, somehow, even manages to restrain himself from getting up. There’s a trap here, no doubt about it. Question is, can he expose it?
“So nice to see Your Imperialness deigning to play parlor games with the rest of us.” Claude stays in his seat, resting his chin on his hand as he fixes Edelgard with a hard stare and a wide grin. “You know, we don’t have to waste time with the cookie. Just ask and we can just skip right to the kiss. That is what you’re here for, right? Not... anything else?”
