Sweet Dreams

Private multimuse; Written by Maru

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     Geez, how did she end up in a spot like this with one of the most overtly kind and patient people she’s ever met? Yō had caused plenty of accidents, that much was an understatement, but she was far more used to being scolded for her antics or chastised for that devilish streak of hers rather than being… well, fretted over and doted on like an injured baby bird. 

     This girl— Hanamaru Kunikida, evidently— had definitely won her over quickly though. If one thing can be said about a certain magician, it was that cute girls were her prime target audience and this one was the exact sort of doe-eyed and innocent little thing that always ended up being the most fun.

     Almost a shame she can’t show off any real tricks with all of these injuries. She can only imagine the reactions such a humble country girl would have.

     “A shooting star here to grant you a wish–!! Heheh…. just kidding! Yō Watanabe at your service.” Lips pull into a wide, toothy grin as Yō offers her signature salute. “It’s nice to meet you, Maru-chan. Too bad it couldn’t be under better circumstances, huh? Thanks though. I, uh… probably would’ve been pretty screwed out here on my own if you hadn’t come to help me.”

  Hanamaru couldn’t help but be in a bit of awe while watching Yō; Despite her injuries she was able to be so charismatic and full of energy-- It almost radiated off of her. Without really thinking about it she raises her arm to offer a return salute, “It’s nice to meet you too, zura!” It takes a moment, but her eyes soon widen with a realization of what she just did. She quickly releases herself from the pose and stares down at her hand.

  “That... was really embarrassin’. I think I should leave the salutin’ to the professionals, ahaha--” With a clear of her throat Hanamaru elects to look absolutely anywhere except at Yō, internally begging for the sweet relief of death. Luckily she wouldn’t have to take such drastic measures, because in that moment--

  “Mow,”

  “Pudding! You’re back, thank goodness!” Entirely too happy for this diversion, the young witch turns her attention back to her furry friend, “Did ya get it? What’s the situation, zura?” Floating out of the shadows, Pudding returns victorious with broom in tail. Well... Almost victorious. The poor thing had broken into two pieces from the crash. Hanamaru’s face fell.

  “So it was broken after all... that’s too bad,” Pudding remains silent, but agrees with a solemn nod, “...Don’t worry though; Like I said we’ll all do our absolute best to fix if for ya, zura!” She offered up a reassuring smile to Yō, dropping her light back into her bag and closing it up, “I really don’t think I have anythin’ that could help you with me, though. We’ll have to ride back to my place and I can patch you up there,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

      A well-intentioned compliment like that from a lady of fine standing is enough to get Yō’s ears burning with embarrassment, even in knowing that at the end of the day she had more than earned Hanamaru’s gracious attitude. 

       While the captain certainly wasn’t a woman who lacked in self confidence, to say she was increasingly humble and bashful in the face of something like all of this was putting it lightly.

      “Right. We should probably get going, huh?” She laughs, a lopsided grin tugging at the edges of her lips as she starts down the street. “It’s been a while since I’ve stayed here, but it’s a nice place and the people who work there have always done me good. ‘n the food at the place next door is really good! Man, I’m honestly pretty excited to have a good dinner after who knows how long….”

  “It’s been so long since Maru had a regular meal on land... I’m also excited, zuraaa~” Almost instantly Hanamaru seemed to drift away from reality and into a dream world full of the food they might eat. When captive she had been given nothing but scraps; Just enough to keep her alive and valuable. Things had improved dramatically after being picked up by Yō-- and the first meal she had on the ship felt like the tastiest food she had ever eaten at the time. But now? Eating at a proper table with freshly cooked food? That was like a dream coming true.

  It was a port town, so they had to have freshly caught and cooked fish here, right? And bread! Surely there must be bread here somewhere? Maybe even warm, freshly baked bread... She wouldn’t dare hope for mikan, but that sure would be something, huh--

  “Ah!” In a split second she snapped herself back to reality, having realized just how far she was drifting into her head, “Sorry... Maru might be a little too excited, eheheh,” She laughed nervously, scratching at her cheek. She tightened her grip on Yō’s hand slightly, “I hope that wasn’t too weird, zura...”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

    At even the mention of her broom being damaged, that bravado drops immensely. Repair magic wasn’t her thing, not enough that she’d be able to fix something that runs on magic itself anyways, and healing magic certainly wasn’t any better— this is, by all accounts, a girl who studied almost exclusively techniques she was personally interested in after all.

     That was to say, there’s not much cool about fixing a broken leg or repairing a wand. In hindsight, maybe she’s the person who needed these skills the most.

     “Aw maaaaaan….. I’m such an idiot.” Yō groans, a hand coming up to raise at her face. “There’s no way I can get to the next town with a broken broom, and it’s already getting dark too. Not to mention all the grief I’m causing some poor girl who’s acting like it’s her fault I dunno how to look where I’m going.”

     She finally spares a glance back at the other witch, expression somewhere between childishly downtrodden and maybe a bit pouty. All things considered, it was a little hard to take her seriously when she was making the same face as a little kid who dropped their ice cream.

     “I really am sorry about all of this, Miss. As soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll definitely make it up to you, sailor’s honor!”

  Hanamaru hadn’t expected the girl to get so downtrodden about the possibility of her broom being broken. Perhaps it would’ve been better to keep those thought to herself, but if it actually was broken this would’ve happened anyway, and if it was fine it wouldn’t matter.

  Still, the expressions she was making were kind of... cute, in their own way.

  “U-Um, Maru’s really not mad about it or anythin’, zura! And I’d like to help if I can, so...” She taps her fingers together, a light red dusting of color spreading across her cheeks. Where did that even come from anyway? Pulling her hat down slightly to hide her face, she quickly moves on to looking through her bag properly for anything that might help. The bag was unfortunately not endless, so what Hanamaru had on hand was limited, “I wasn’t really expectin’ to have to be patchin’ someone up, so I’m really not sure anythin’ will be here...”

  “Ah!” After just a few seconds, Hanamaru’s head suddenly flies up in the middle of her searching, “I’m so sorry, zura! I haven’t even properly introduced myself, or asked for your name. My name is Hanamaru Kunikida, but you can call me Maru!” A warm smile spread across her face, “Can Maru ask who nearly knocked her out of the sky is, zura?”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     Well…. things could be worse. There was no major injury, nothing shattered and no terrible concussions or amnesia, but that didn’t change the fact that it was still one hell of an impact. Her body ached, the sort of dull throb that only further nagged her recklessness.

      It’s only when she hears an unfamiliar voice that Yō manages a response of any sort, though it seems to come in the form of an indignant groan as she tries to right herself and pick the twigs out of her hair.

       “Y-Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine, that just, er….” That wasn’t supposed to happen, really. Biting back the remark, Yō simply shrugs it off as casually as she can as she reaches for her hat, battered and dirty thing it was now. 

       “I, uh…. s-somethin’ must be wrong with my broom! I mean, I never do that so…”

       Yō winces as she shifts her weight to sit somewhat more comfortably, though the faint look of pain on her face is quickly replaced with regretful sheepishness as she smiles at the girl. Maybe under different circumstances it’d be the face of someone who felt bad for their mistakes but between the plantlife stuck to her in whatever odd angles and the dirt smudged all over her….  Yō didn’t look like much more than a messy kid who crashed their bike.

      “A-Ah,  that wasn’t you I hit though, was it?” Hands clap together and she bows her head apologetically. “I’m so sorry….!”

  Hanamaru couldn’t help but smile to herself; It had only taken a couple of seconds for this girl to start posturing at her. Was she really that embarrassed by having a little air collision or something?

  “There’s no shame in messin’ up sometimes, zura,” She kneels down in front of Yō, taking a quick glance at her cat companion who was already trying to get comfy on a spot of grass, “I hate to interrupt you Pudding, but could you see if you could find her broom? I don’t think it fell with her, but it’s likely close,” With what could almost certainly be considered a grumble, Pudding forced themselves up and away into the woods on a search and rescue mission, “Now, let’s see--”

  Before she could properly continue her intention of checking for injuries, she was interrupted by Yō’s rather sincere apology. She immediately seemed rather flustered, as if she wasn’t expecting it.

  “Ahh! It really isn’t that big of a problem, zura! Maru is completely fine, and she didn’t particularly stand out in the sky; You on the other hand...” The witch stopped herself to dig into her bag, taking out a small sized globe after just a second of blind searching. With a gentle squeeze, the globe illuminates the area around them, “Mmm... You definitely do look pretty roughed up at least, zura...” There were no glaringly obvious injuries as she moved the light around, and from her attitude the other girl definitely didn’t appear to be in too much pain. At the very worst, she maybe had a small break somewhere and some sprains.

  “You aren’t in life-threatening danger... But I definitely don’t think you can just get up and ride on outta here on your broom, zura. And that’s assumin’ it’s still in one piece-- Oh! But don’t worry!” She quickly reassured, waving her hands around, “Pudding will definitely find it for us, and I’m sure we can fix it!” She finished off with a confidant thumbs up, but backtracked rather quickly, “Well... I’ll do the best I can. I don’t wanna lie and say I can definitely do it and then not be able to,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

                                           @yoiyumede

     Alright, maybe her recklessness did bite her in the ass now and then.

     It’d been the same old same old, Yō flying around wherever the wind took her and following her fancies as she always did…. except, maybe just a little too fast to properly turn when she spots an obstacle. There were downsides to racing around like your life depended on it and, well, as it turns out the biggest one was nearly killing yourself in the process.

     She veers, just enough to barely clip the something ( someone? ) that’s in her way, though it’s more than enough to dismount the girl from her broom and send her tumbling below. The fall isn’t deadly, but it’s far from kind and Yō certainly meets a fair share of tree branches before unceremoniously hitting the ground with both a loud thud and groan.

     So much for style and grace.

  Hanamaru had been taking her nightly stroll through the sky, planning a visit to see how her latest pet project was doing. There was a rose bush; A gnarly old thing that looked like nothing but a pile of thorns. Any sane person would’ve deemed it dead and dug it up, but the girl thought that perhaps she could save it, and had conjured up a potion to hopefully bring it back to its former beauty. It had been a few days since, and she decided it was about time to see how it was doing. Before she could get very far, however, she was sent spinning; Quite literally.

  “Zuraaaaaaa--!” The young witch gripped onto her broom for dear life as it spiraled out of control from the simple touch, sending her hat flying alongside her poor cat companion. For a bit it seemed as if it would keep spinning forever, but Hanamaru quickly mumbled a spell under her breath and what appeared to be a bubble formed around the broom and herself, completely halting its momentum. 

  With an audible pop, the bubble disappeared as quickly as it had came, and the witch readjusted herself and her broom. She took a quick mental role call, noting the loss of her hat, but becoming slightly more frantic at the disappearance of her cat, “Pudding?” As she called out, a deep meowing resonated behind her, and she found her familiar to be floating around perfectly fine-- and with her hat in tow, “Thank you, zura.” Grabbing the hat from their mouth, she placed it back where it belonged.

  “Do you suppose that was a person? It felt too fast for a bird or somethin’...”

  “Mow,”

  “It was? And they crashed?! Do you know where, zura?”

  “Moooooow... Mow,” Rather lazily, ‘Pudding’ floated ahead of her and down through the trees Yō had most unfortunately fallen through. Hanamaru followed closely behind, carefully weaving through the branches as she descended until she came upon the mystery flyer. Dismounting, she quickly kneeled beside them.

  “Hello? Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     How anyone could be so chipper so early in the morning was beyond her, but it seemed Luka was all sunshines and kaomojis as usual. No surprise there.

To: Luka 🐟

couldn’t sleep. trust me, i tried.

    Lips purse, russet eyes practically glued to the keyboard of her phone as she tries to sort out her thoughts enough to send a second message. Why was it so hard to ask something about something as casual as hanging out? Sure, most of the time she spent with Luka was in a group setting or the result of the other woman dragging her off by the wrist, but did that really have to leave Meiko with so little idea of how to go about any of it when she wants it?

     If she was being a bit more honest with herself she might admit a good portion of that was the embarrassment of wanting someone’s specific attention, but that’s a thought pushed aside for her own sake. No need to dwell on how soft she was getting.

wanna get bfast? w me

  Luka placed her elbows on the vanity and stared down at her phone, eagerly waiting for a reply. When the first text popped up, she couldn’t help but giggle; She knew there was no way Meiko was up at this time by choice.

To: ❀Meiko❀

I would expect nothing less.

  Her fingers idly tapped at the back of her phone as she waited for the next reply. It would certainly be better for her to put the phone down and continue getting ready, but she loved speaking with the older ‘loid. Perhaps a little more than was normal, but she didn’t care. When the reply finally did come, her eyes brightened considerably, and a large smile formed on her face. Meiko was asking her to do something?

I’d love to! ❤

What time should we meet up? And where? It’ll still be a while before I’m ready (๑•́ ω •̀๑)

  Luka felt a bit lucky. Maybe it was because Meiko was up so early that she was willing to change things up and invite her somewhere for once? Either way she was supremely happy. Yes, she had technically asked first, but usually Luka was the one that had to suggest something and drag Meiko out with her. This was at least a little different from the norm.

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

                                           @yoiyumede

     If there was one thing Meiko was good at, it seemed, it was being…. perpetually tired. Maybe person wasn’t the best word for her, all things considered, but morning person she was very decidedly not— the groggy look on her face that lingers the first two hours, sluggish movements, and haphazardly unkempt appearance usually spelled that out pretty easily.

     But… here she was. Awake bright and early, for some reason or another, and debating the rest of her day’s schedule as she lay sprawled out in her bed. To say she didn’t have ideas wasn’t quite right, but acting on them was turning out to be another matter altogether. 

      Why hesitate? It’s not like it’s a big deal anyways….

       A hand scoops up her cell from the bedside, thumb scrolling through contacts and message screens with startling ease when the rest of her seemed so half-awake.

To: Luka  🐟

you busy?????

       There’s a pause, followed by a quick follow up.

ignore if u are sleepin

  Unlike her friend Meiko, Luka was naturally a morning person. By the time Meiko was finally forcing herself to get out of bed Luka was usually putting the final touches on her outfit or heading out for the day. Today though she was still running a brush through her hair when she heard her phone go off.

  Grabbing the phone off her vanity, a smile grew on her face when she saw who the messages were from. Without delay, she quickly typed out a reply

To: ❀Meiko❀

You’re up early! (*^▽^*)

  There was a short pause while the android checked her internal schedule. She didn’t really have anything planned besides a potential shopping trip, but it really wasn’t a necessary one. She likely would only have walked away with a few snacks and maybe a new potted flower.

I don’t have anything I really need to do today.  Why? Did you want to do something? (*´・ｖ・)

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     Yō would give anything to not believe everything Hanamaru says so readily, so easily. Even if the seas were a beautiful place, it was as harsh and unforgiving as can be— someone so sweet and gentle surely didn’t belong on a pirate ship, least of all in the circumstances she had been in. Above all, she’d rather not consider what’d happen if they hadn’t crossed paths.

     “Well… if I can promise one thing, it’s that no harm will come to any passenger of my ship.” Yō   says with a smile, one hand gently taking Hanamaru’s as the other lowers the cap from her head. “I can’t stand losers that upset nice girls, so I’ll do everything I can to make sure rocky waters are the worst of your worries, miss.”

      With a slight laugh, she adds, “We may look a little shabby, but my crew doesn’t mess around when it comes to precious cargo, y’know!”

  Hanamaru felt herself physically relax as the Captain took her hand. Unlike her own, Yō’s fingers were calloused and rough; A symbol of the drastically different lives they had lived. But it was still warm, and brought Hanamaru more comfort than she may have even realized.

  “You don’t look too bad. The shabbiness has a bit of charm, zura,” She giggled and looked down to their hands. For some reason she couldn’t place, she didn’t want to let go... But holding on would be weird, right? They barely knew each other really, and Yō had likely only done it to comfort her in the first place, but, “I trust you with my life, Captain. You’ve already saved it once; I have no doubts you’d do it a second time,” She had a moment of hesitation, their hands still linked together. In the end she gave Yō a light squeeze before, very slowly, pulling her hand away.

  “Now! Weren’t we supposed to be headin’ to an inn, zura? Sorry, I got a lil’ dramatic,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     “No pressure though, huh?” A wry smirk curls at the edge of her lips as she offers a brief nod. “Don’t worry though, miss. You’re in good hands. That whole mess with your folks aside, I’d hate for someone to go and try to ruin a perfectly good trip for you if I can help it.”

     Granted, Kanade wasn’t even all too sure what the princess needed to travel out of the kingdom for in the first place. Political obligations was as good a guess as any, but there was no real point in asking when it was none of her business to begin with and likely far over her head even with that aside.

     “I guess that just leaves getting your stuff and takin’ it down to the carriage. Once we’ve got you settled in I can go over the travel plan, but feel free to ask me any questions if you’ve got ‘em. Can’t say I’m the greatest person to go to for answers but you’ll get the best one I can give you, at least.”

  “No pressure,” Maria laughs softly. She had been dreading receiving her newly assigned guard; While she certainly understood it, her parents’ newfound over protectiveness was starting to feel suffocating. This knight though... She was easy to talk to. She spoke to her like she was normal. Maybe that’s why they assigned Kanade to her?

  “The last of the bags are in that corner there, the rest were already taken care of,” She points to a stack of four cases from medium to large sizes, “--Oh, but I can call some of the staff to take care of those, I’m sure carrying my luggage isn’t really in your job description,”

  Maria took a pause, her smile falling slightly, “I have just... one question. Are we expecting trouble? I know already that it’s a bit of a long trip, which can be dangerous, but... Have there been any threats made? Do you know?”

[rp-memes-cafe]

Send "´͈ ᵕ `͈" for my muse's reaction to yours suddenly holding their hand.

Bonus: Include why they decided to!

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     “Believe it or not, I got used to that a long time ago.” Yō laughs. “I’ve been sailing since I was pretty young though. I mean, granted, not like ‘m doin’ now but still. As good as it feels to be back in civilization for a while, I can’t deny that I don’t get pretty homesick for the water when I stay too long.”

      As much could be said about her since she was a child really. Still, you certainly couldn’t accuse her of having no passion or pride for her role.

     “Heh… I am sorry about that though, miss. This whole thing’s gotta be real hard on you, I know, but there’s not a lot of ways to get you home sooner than the route we’re going. Boat’s just about the fastest way and…. really, I think I’d feel better personally making sure you get there safe and sound after all’ve this.”

  “I imagine being off the water for you is similar to being off of land for me. You spend most of your time there, right? It makes sense you’d be used to it by now,”

  “There’s no need for you to apologize, zura! Everythin’ that I can find uncomfortable on your ship, all of it, is still leagues better than what you saved me from!” Her hand reaches out, as if looking for support, but then quickly returns to her side, “...By chance, by pure chance, you raided a ship that had me on it. If some other pirates had gotten there first, if you had passed the opportunity by I... God knows where I’d be; What situation I’d be in,” She swallows and takes a deep breath, loosening the fist she hadn’t been aware she made, “I don’t even want to think about it. I can’t let myself think about it. Because I remember everything they said, and... it still scares me,”

  With another deep breath, Hanamaru looks to the Captain with a renewed smile, “So really, thank you again for letting me have silly things like this to complain about, zura,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     Ah…. so she was that sort, then. Kanade probably should have expected as much even if this was her first interaction with a direct member of royal blood and admittedly the woman did have a point when it boiled down to it. Oh well.

    “Kanade is fine. ‘n sorry ‘bout that, miss. If we’re being honest, ‘m not too good at that kinda stuff and they usually keep me away from the more… sensitive situations, I guess. Normally someone else probably would’ve come up here to brief you but, uh, here I am instead.” 

    The younger crowd seemed to embrace Kanade’s charm and skill rather readily, whereas those more staunch about tradition…. well, they could certainly stand to be far fonder of her. She was the sort of unconventional spitfire that tended to make people nervous with her brash and bold disposition, intentional or not. There was a reason her higher ups usually did the talking.

    “But! I can say with confidence that even if I don’t have the personality for the job, I’ve got the ability for it. Nobody knows the area better than I do and I can just about guarantee I’ll get you there without a single scratch on ya, princess.” A grin pulls at the edges of her lips. “All I’m askin’ is you put up with me until then. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know what I was doing, after all.”

  “Honestly, I don’t really care that much, but I don’t think you’d enjoy a stern reprimanding from who-knows, just because you said one wrong thing,”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you though, Kanade. If I have to be assigned another guard, might as well be someone who’s semi interesting to talk to, rather than another that’s all business and manners,” With a quiet sigh Maria walked back to the mirror and checked herself over once more. There couldn’t be a single thing out of place; A Princess had to look perfect for the world at all times. She trusted the servants, of course, but she always had to be sure. 

  “If my parents assigned you to me, I know you must be very, very good at your job. If I had even a bruise on me they’d probably throw a fit and make me see at the very least three doctors who will all tell them I’m fine, but then maybe they’ll bring in a fourth just to be sure. Not that I can blame them very much, but...” She turned back to Kanade, a smile on her face but a slightly sad look in her eyes, “I don’t really want to go through that again today, so I hope you can really deliver me without a single scratch, as you said,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

                                                @yoiyumede

       Another day, another mission to see through. While Kanade’s life as a knight was far from boring or mundane, it was admittedly a bit more of a big deal when she’s appointed a high profile job like she was today and some part of her can’t help but be a little excited at the thought of that. When it all came down to it, Kanade was Kanade and she’d always be at least somewhat of an insufferable show-off.

       Still, escorting royalty? As good a time to show off as any.

       “S’cuse me, your majesty?” She calls out as the back of her knuckles rasp against the woman’s door. “I was hoping to go over some stuff with ya before we gotta go if ya got time for it. I was told ya wanted a proper introduction from your hired help before we hit the road anyways.”

       Not the most formal of greetings but unarguably very Kanade. God knows she was very lucky for her talent on the battlefield when her self control and ability to use better judgement are called into question.

  Who opened the door was not the Princess herself, rather two young maids who had been dressing her for her outing. Across the room Maria stood in front of large mirror, though her gaze was fixated towards the doorway.

  “Please, come in,” She looks toward the two servants, clasping her hands together, “Please go check on Kirika and Shirabe; Make sure they’ll be ready to leave on time, and close the door behind our guest. That’ll be all,” With a bow, the two girls ushered Kanade inside and left, closing the door as requested.

  Lifting her gown, Maria stepped off of her fitting platform and strolled toward Kanade, “...It’s ‘Your Highness’,” she spoke softly, as if she regretted having to make the correction, “’Your Majesty’ is reserved for the King and Queen, and it is considered an insult to use it for anyone else. You could get in trouble for making that mistake in public, and we wouldn’t want that to happen,” She offered up a sympathetic smile, now having stopped just in front of her new protector, “I’m sorry I had to start things off like that, but I had to get it out of the way. You are Sir Kanade, correct?”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

      “I have.” Yō admits with a nod. “I’ve been to a lot of different countries, actually. This town is one I’m more familiar with ‘cos it’s near where me and my crew consider our base, so to speak… kinda like our territory, you know? Anyways-”

     The thought is dismissed with a shake of her head.

      “It’s a nice, quiet place though. I figured you could use a break like that after what a trooper you’ve been this whole time.” The captain laughs. “I know what you mean about it feeling weird though. Sometimes we’ll stay out on the sea so long it feels almost crazy to remember there’s anything else out there, that the water doesn’t just go on forever and ever…. but I guess that’s part of why we need breaks in the first place.”

      With a wry smirk, arms cross over her chest and she raises a brow in Hanamaru’s direction with more than a hint of amusement.

      “We should probably go handle inn arrangements though. I’m sure you’re probably ready to have somewhere to get away from me and relax. Can’t help but feel like I’m not exactly the kinda girl you’re used to rooming with.”

  Hearing that Yō was familiar with the town put Hanamaru at ease. Even if nothing here was known to her, she was accompanied by someone who did know the area, and that was comforting. Something about being around the Captain in general made her feel safe, which is something she never expected to feel around a pirate.

  “Well, you’re certainly right that I’ve never known someone quite like you... But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing,” The girl smiled to herself, her mind still lingering on the way she felt around the Captain, “What I will appreciate is bein’ on a bed that won’t be movin’ while I try to fall to sleep. That’s somethin’ that’ll take a lil’ more gettin’ used to, I think,” With a laugh, she grinned up at Yō, “I don’t really know how you do it, zura,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     “If you can help someone without it hurting you in the long run, then is there a lot of reason not to?” Anne shrugs. “I’ve got the money and I’m having fun hanging out with you so it’s not really a hard decision if you ask me. Besides, maybe I just like lending a hand.”

    True enough, even if in the stranger ways a person could mean it. Maybe it wasn’t a typical thing to do but Anne Takamaki was far from a typical girl and the fact that she would probably risk her life for Lulu at the drop of a dime was infinitely more unusual. Thankfully Mementos presented enough yen to also help people in ways that didn’t involve nearly getting herself killed.

     Buying someone crepes seems a lot less serious than all of that anyways. 

     “Heh… and besides! You seem like a good girl who wouldn’t go lying about something like that, so I’m counting on you not to prove me wrong.” She teases, lips curling into a grin. “You wouldn’t wanna go tricking me about sweets. I’m a pretty tough chick, you know.”

  “That’s certainly a sentiment I can agree with! I wish more people in the world were always willing to give a little help to others. And I’m not just saying that because you’re buying me something--” Lulu giggled. In a way, Anne reminded her of herself. Lulu spent her life helping others, and while she required the dreams she took for nourishment, in the end she chose people who needed her help to contract rather than those that would have the best tasting dreams.

  Hearing Anne mention lying made Lulu pause and feel yet another pang of guilt, but at the very least in this situation she wasn’t lying about having no money. The sour look on her face was thankfully brief, and hopefully Anne had been looking the other way when it had appeared, “I swear I don’t have anything; I could never take advantage of another for sweets. Lying to get them would leave a bad taste in my mouth and ruin it!”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

      “Leave it to me. You’re not weaseling out of our plans that easily.” Anne quips with a coy grin. “We’ve totally got to properly celebrate, you know? Besides I’m not the kinda girl who could go waving a delicious crepe in front of someone like that. Er…. probably.” 

      With a thoughtful hum, Anne adds, “That just means you’ll have to treat me to snacks sometime to pay me back anyways, and in that case I get more crepes and we could hang out again. Win, win, right? I’ve totally got this thought out.”

      In her own energetic and excitable way, certainly. How far it’d actually carry in reality was up for debate until then.

      Turning onto the next street, Anne spares a brief glance back in Lulu’s direction.

      “Besides, it’s like you said! No missing out on a good sweets sale on my watch. It’s just the rational thing to do no matter how you look at it.”

  “Are you really sure? I mean, I don’t want to impose on you--” Her mouth slightly agape, she seemed genuinely surprised that Anne would be willing to pay for her dessert for her. Sure, she was saying Lulu could just pay her back with another one later-- but this was still like a gift! How long had it been since she had gotten a gift of any sort from someone? A couple years, at least? “...You know what? Never mind. You seem like you’ve already decided, and I honestly really, really want one of those crepes. I’ll be sure to pay you back some day!”

  Lulu grinned at Anne when she glanced back at her, “I guess it does make sense! Thank you, though. I don’t think it’s typical for someone you just recently met to be willing to pay for things for you,”

[yoiyumede-blog]

starshineknight:

     “Sounds like someone around here appreciates my tastes.” Anne’s lips tug into a sly grin. “I was thinking something like crepes? Today, every week, they have double cream and chocolate for no extra price…. so not going is, like, totally wasting money, you know?”

     Seems not ordering something so piled up with add-ons wasn’t an option in her mind. No use in treating yourself if you don’t go all out and get exactly what you want, right? At least, that was how she’d been rationalizing it so far.

     “Man though, if you like sweets I should totally take you to the buffet around here sometime. The cake there is like heaven…. I don’t even wanna think about how much I must’ve ate last time I went with my buddy Ryuji.”

  Lulu nods in fervent agreement, “It’d be like, totally a waste if you didn’t go on those days! That sounds like a steal, I wish I had known something like that happened around here,”

  “That buffet also sounds amazing! Can you really just go there to get desserts? I mean, of course no one would stop you, but I never really thought about doing that before! And unlimited food once you pay for your table...” She was drifting off into a daydream, the thought of endless plates of cakes, cookies, and cups of pudding overwhelming her mind. The spirit caught herself before she literally drifted off however, and grounded herself back in reality,  “I’m really getting ahead of myself there though; Crepes sound delicious!” 

  Lulu thought to herself for a moment after agreeing and then frowned slightly, realizing she was missing something extremely important “I actually don’t have any money to spend on crepes though... I was strictly planning on window shopping, and having too much money on hand brings the temptation of actually buying something,” More lies, but at least they seemed to be coming to her much easier as time went on. Maybe one day it wouldn’t bother her at all... But perhaps that would be a bad thing, “Sorry... You can still get something of course! I don’t mind stopping even if I can’t have some,”