Birthday Present Shopping (drabble/open)
Aoba realized only too late that while he was at the festival he managed to miss Koujaku's birthday. It wasn't a matter of forgetting when his birthday was, rather that he wasn't entirely sure what the date was until he got back to Asrin and looked at a calendar. And by then things were rather awkward between the two of them. Still, he couldn't simply not do ANYTHING for the other man, belated or not.
So he wandered, and he continued to wander. Honestly, he had no idea what to buy the other man. Koujaku did not exactly want for much, and the only thing he could think of (allowing the man to cut his hair) wasn't something he was about to do any time soon. Which meant meandering between any store that seemed to have something that might be even something feasible as a present. But even through the potions and weapons and magical items nothing seemed particularly right, it was either too useful or not something that struck the blue haired man as a good present for Koujaku.
It was difficult, ultimately, to find anything that seemed suitable. Three hours later he was about to give up completely, exhausting all but a small antique shop that specialized in homemade items and things that fell through the rifts. He entered the store that smelled of dust and sandalwood, looking around at a large number of mismatched chairs and tables, feeling as though this would be yet another dead end. There were some things that were interesting but utterly useless: a single cassette tape, a bag of bottle caps, a stuffed cereal mascot. Aoba shook his head, getting ready to turn and leave when it caught his eye.
Near the back of the store, a table of mismatched items held on it a carved ivory comb, tall teeth with birds and flowers on the handle. The only thing that could have been better would have been if they were red, Aoba thought idly as reached out and gently picked up the item. They seemed to be painted a pale shade of blue instead, which suited the overall white tone of it quite nicely. It didn't matter what it cost, this was the perfect present.