Day 14: 2/14/16: Girls give gifts
This year would be different.
Usually, Frey selected one special guy to meet her on Valentine’s Day to get his cookie apart from the others. This year, however, in light of the… group effort they’d put forth last White Day, she had a different plan in mind.
This year, she invited all of them to meet her by the castle in the evening.
She arrived extra early, and waited inside the castle, having bribed Venti with not one but three servings of pancakes to keep quiet.
Kiel arrived first, not that she was surprised. Vishnal and Arthur arrived shortly after him, and while each expressed surprise at seeing the others, none of the three seemed to be suspicious, or upset.
It was only when Doug and Dylas showed up, a few minutes later (but still an hour ahead of the appointed time) that the trouble really began.
By the time Leon arrived, Frey’s amusement at the bickering was veering sharply toward concern that war was in the offing.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," she thought for a moment -- before remembering what had inspired her to such a plan in the first place.
She sighed and braced herself for the worst.
Running through to her own apartment, she patted her hair into place and stepped out. Somehow she kept her bright smile intact and her voice level as she greeted them all. “I’m glad you’re all here!” she said, carefully balancing a large covered platter as she approached them.
All six fell silent; six pairs of eyes turned to her in mingled anticipation and trepidation.
“I wanted to thank you all again for the gift you all pitched in to get me last White Day. It made quite an impact! I think the rest of the town appreciated it too…” That got her a few quick smiles, but that was all. “Well, anyway, I made this for all of you to share!” With a flourish that would have done Porcoline proud, she lifted the cover.
Silence reigned for a long moment.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Leon inquired, though he was clearly unamused.
“It’s adorable!” Kiel exclaimed. “There’s one for each of us, right?”
“It certainly looks well made, but you said that’s for all of us?” Vishnal’s concern was evident.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Arthur said with a patently false smile plastered on his face.
“I don’t know. It looks about the right size for something sweet to me,” Dylas said, unfazed.
“Not if we’re all supposed to share! What’s goin’ on?” Doug demanded.
Frey sighed. “It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the gift you all pitched in for on White Day. I’m sure you all put a lot of thought and time and effort into it.”
“And money,” Doug muttered, but Leon shushed him with an elbow to the side.
“And I know that you all care about me. I wanted you to know that you’re all special to me, too. I like each of you. I care about each of you, and I want each of you to be happy. But I liked the way we’ve always done things. I like getting each of you gifts, and getting gifts from each of you separately. To me, it isn’t about who gives the best or the biggest or the sugariest… It’s that each of you has always given me something special, from yourself. That’s what always made me so happy on White Day.
“I’m not the statue-of-myself sort. It really was a nice thought, but honestly I was kind of embarrassed, and not the way you like me to be, Arthur.”
“Erm… Sorry about that,” the prince mumbled, his own embarrassment clear.
“We just wanted you to know the esteem in which we hold you!” Vishnal hurried to reassure Frey.
“I know that. And I thank you for it. But there’s something I should tell you all. I hope it won’t change anything between us. After all, I’m always going to care about all of you. You’ll always be good friends to each other, too, I hope!”
“What’re you getting at?” Dylas asked.
“Well, you see, the law says I can only be married to one person, and there’s no getting out of it except when one person dies. And I don’t want that. I don’t want to be tied to just one of you.
“I want to be tied to all of you!
“Now, the way I figure it, there are six days in the week, so each of you gets me for one day! We can work out the order later. But there’s only one of me, and I’m not all that big, so I made this cupcake to see if you could each handle a piece of me.”
Six pairs of eyes exchanged quite a few glances.
“I don’t want to share you. I want to make you mine,” Arthur said, stepping closer.
Doug was none too pleased either. “Yeah, same here!”
“Shut up, shrimp. She doesn’t want just you.”
“Or any of us,” Kiel corrected Dylas, “without all of us.” He looked torn.
Vishnal trembled as he spoke. “I don’t really like it either, but I’d be content with whatever Miss Frey commands…”
Leon looked downright angry. “I won’t have any part of such an agreement.”
Frey sighed unhappily as she looked at the cupcake. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said as she picked it up and lifted it to her mouth.
“Wait.” Arthur’s hand was firm on her wrist as he kept her from eating the morsel. “When do we need to decide?”
Frey shrugged. “There’s no deadline. I mean, I’m already dating all of you. It’s just a little more orderly way of doing things.”
“You do have a point,” Vishnal said slowly.
“I still don’t like it, but as long as I get my nibble…”
“Leon!”
“…of the cupcake,” he finished with a grin at Frey’s outburst.
“So wait. Are you saying nothing is going to change from the way we’ve been?” Doug wondered.
Dylas nodded. “I could live with that. For now.”
“Me too,” Kiel said. “Just one step at a time, right?” At Frey’s nod, he added plaintively, “Now can I have some chocolate?”
“There’s enough for everyone,” Frey said as she handed out pieces of chocolate cupcake. “Besides. I made more, inside…There’s plenty for everyone, after all!”
