White Day Return Gift (Ponsol)
((AYYYYYYY Letâs really hope that I didnât end up repeating anythingâ iâm sure that I didnât butâ you never know. I hope you enjoy this~))
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As one would expect, Ponsol and Kajika always met at their usual cafĂ©. It was simple, and familiar. It was like⊠tradition. Ponsol did like that about their meetings at the cafĂ©. There was something comforting about âtraditionâ as it gave off that feeling of stability.
Stability being something that he desired for when it came to personal relationships he shared with people. To know that he could count on someone (or something) to remain in his life was a nice concept.
That was the reason why Ponsol always suggested the café, because it meant something to him on an emotional level.
This year, Kajika and Ponsol arrived at the same time, and they were both showed to a table together. âI see weâre tied.â Usually one of them would arrive earlier than the other and place orders for the both of them.
Once they sat at their table, they ordered their usual drinks before getting straight to business. Ponsol had a gift bag in hand, and it was obviously a gift of sorts. Given the date, of course the gift was for White day.
Interestingly, Ponsol didnât look as he usually did. He was fumbling with his fingers with pursed lips. The gift bag was smaller than usual, which was quite telling, given that he normally enjoyed being grandiose with everything that he did.
Just these two facts should be enough to paint the picture that today was different from the other times he gifted her something. Today was a meaningful one, as it was his turn to convey his feelings of gratitude towards his friend.
Quietly, he pushed the gift bag towards her.
âYou are able to make watercolor paints with flowers. I had some made with the flowers in my greenhouse. Iâve supplied a palm-sized painting to show how they look on a canvas.â He considered that making paints out of flowers was a novel gift idea.
âThe next two giftsâŠâ He trailed off, thanking the moment he saw the waitress arrive with their beverages. The heir felt very out of his element, and it showed in his body language. âGiven what happened the last time, I went out of my way to make an extra keycard to my greenhouse. If you use this to enter, you wonât trip off the alarms. I hope you feel honored by this.â Ponsol was acting tough so to speak.
You could say that even he had a bit of a tsundere streak to him when he was out of his business element. Â
Indirectly, Ponsol was giving his express permission for Kajika to enter the greenhouse as she pleased, whether she wanted to visit his plants, or use the greenhouse as a place to hide in.
The importance of this keycard was that the alarm wouldnât get set off, even though the cameras will still record everything that goes on in the greenhouse. This meant that Kajika could enter his greenhouse without him knowing about it. This way, he could always feign ignorance should she be found there.
He wouldnât get caught in between like Kajika was worried about the last time. What was wrong about letting a friend visit a greenhouse? Nothing. If she had a keycard, she could go in as she pleased, and he couldnât possibly get much flack for that.
The gifts were becoming more and more personal for Ponsol, so the last gift had to be something that meant something big to him. âAs you know, I have a potted spider plant that I treasure. I received a spiderette from my motherâs plant, and Iâve propagated it. I named my plant after hers, so I donât forget the roots of the plant.â
Ponsolâs mother, Jasmine meant a lot to him, and of course, he would treasure Matilda. He received the spiderette before he left for college and heâd been taking care of the plant ever since. Spider plants created babies, otherwise known as âspiderettesâ and they could be repotted to propagate into their own entity.
Of all his plants, âMatildaâ is the only one he named, which attests to how important the plant is to him. Gifting Kajika a spiderette held a significant meaning.
Not only did he have to trust someone with caring for Matildaâs plant child, but he also had to consider them in high enough regard to even consider giving another person a part of Matilda.
âYou are the only one that Iâve given a Spiderette to.â He confessed. No, not even his brother.
Ponsol couldnât trust Shugarl to care for a plant, especially whenever he had one of those episodes of his. He lost track of time and couldnât care for himself. If he couldnât care for himself, could he be trusted to care for Matildaâs kin? Ponsol begs to differ.
He understood well that many people didnât care for sentimental gifts, but only monetary ones. So, from that point of view, his gift may be considered lacking, but he didnât think Kajika was one of those people. He was sure that she would truly appreciate and treasure the gifts.
âIâm grateful towards you for being my friend and for trusting me. I still donât understand why you consider me decent enough company to keep around, but Iâm appreciative of the fact that luck was on my side to gift me a wonderful friend⊠who cares. I do hope that youâll continue to be my friend for years to come.â Ponsol spoke these words from the heart. His voice was softer and somewhat⊠timid? It was a great contrast to how sure and strong his voice sounded otherwise.
He bowed his head slightly towards her, as a show of his sincerity. He never could have imagined heâd ever see the day that heâd gift a spiderette to anyone, but sometimes life had an interesting way of surprising you.
The worry now was if he would ever have to one up this yearâs gift. This one was already quite meaningful as it was, he didnât know if it was possible to gift anything even more meaningful than what he just gifted.
Woe is he who is so honorably keeping himself to his motherâs standards.Â
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A meeting at their place. It always made Kajika excited even though theyâd been there plenty of times before. Usually she liked trying new things and new places but there was just something special about having a regular meeting place. There might have been a time when she would have considering proposing another location but at this point it just felt wrong to do so.
This time she had even more reason to be excited because at last it was White Day and she was eager to see what her friend had gotten for her. He had told her to look forward to it after all and Ponsol was without a doubt a man of his word.
It was a pleasant surprise to find that she and Ponsol had arrived at the same time for once, as usually one or the other arrived first.
âIndeed, seems like weâre in sync today~â
Linking her arm through her friendâs companionably, she chattered away about various things as they made their way to their table in a more secluded corner of the cafĂ©. Once there, the both of them were quick to be seated and order their drinks, a simple task which involved merely nodding to the waitress asking if they would be having the usual. A perk when one was a regular.
The moment she departed, Kajika turned to eye Ponsol with anticipation as she had a feeling that her gift was finally going to be revealed. Her expression rapidly became one of concern because something about her companion was just... off.
It could be said that Kajika was oblivious at times but even she could tell that Ponsol was behaving differently than usual and she had known him for quite some time now. Concerned silver eyes watched as he pushed a small gift bag in her direction and it was with some hesitancy that she tentatively reached out to take it.
Whether it was Ponsolâs change in demeanour or something else, the atmosphere felt charged somehow, like the moment was one of utmost delicacy. It felt like she needed to exercise caution, even if she wasnât entirely why.
Once her companion began explaining the gifts, Kajika supposed she should open the gift to review the contents. The first thing her eye caught was the top of the painting he mentioned and she carefully drew it out to have a closer look.Â
âItâs beautiful...â
The words were a reverent whisper as she quietly admired the small work of art. It would have to be hung with the other masterpiece she had been gifted last year. It truly was amazing how talented her friend seemed to be when it came to these sorts of things and in this case it was even more precious because of the medium he had selected.
There was a pause to the proceedings when the waitress came bearing their drinks but Kajika couldnât bring herself to sip her tea now. All her attention was riveted on Ponsol and what heâd been about to say before the interruption occurred. Finally they were left alone once more and her friend continued from where heâd left off.
Her eyes opened wide with shock and for a moment she felt she couldnât breathe, even as she reached into the gift bag to remove the said keycard with trembling fingers. Her mouth opened and closed silently before she gave up trying to speak around the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.
With how long they had been friends now, it would have been impossible not to know just how important Ponsolâs greenhouse was to him. It had been one thing to sneak in there during a time of desperation but to be granted permanent access... It was hard to describe what she was currently feeling...
She could feel moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes but she ignored them as she gazed almost dazedly at the keycard clasped in her trembling hand.
At first Kaijka couldnât grasp why Ponsol suddenly started speaking about Matilda, his treasured spider plant, although she was always interested in hearing about what he considered important. For a brief moment, she fondly recalled when they had first met and discovered their mutual love of plants, how she had asked him if she could see his spider plant... it was rather amazing much their friendship had flourished since then.
The reason however, soon became all too clear.
If Kajika had been stricken speechless before, then she was even more so now. It was in that moment that she suddenly recognised part of what she was feeling. The overwhelming emotions she had felt back when she had finally befriended Mustafa, when he had finally allowed her to touch him and their irrevocable bond had been formed... that was how she was feeling now. Her most precious plant friend who usually kept people at a distance was showing her that he trusted her and appreciated their friendship and there were just no words for that.
Kajikaa was, by nature, a very tactile person so it was only natural for her to drop the keycard on the table, leap out of her chair and move to embrace Ponsol from behind. The moisture in the corner of her eyes were full on streaming down her cheeks now and for a moment she just kept her head buried in the nape of his neck as she tried to get her emotions under control enough to speak.
It was a tremulous whisper spoken in a trembling voice and accompanied by a feather light kiss planted on his cheek. Plopping her chin back on his shoulder, with her arms still around him she gave a shaky laugh although already her voice was sounding steadier than it had before.
âIâll have you know youâre never getting rid of me~â
Her tea was probably cold by now, not that she cared about that right now or the possibility of whoever may or may not be gawking at her strange behaviour. She was just delighted about implications behind the gifts she had just received and the precious person who had given them to her. Speaking of gifts...
âHmmm... I wonder what I should name mine? Tilda or Tilly perhaps?â
Another thought, although far from mind now but was sure to bug her later, was the impossible task of Valentineâs Day gifting the following year. Meaningful gifts from the heart, such as this, were practically impossible to surpass.
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