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[fujimaru]

Ritsuka Fujimaru | 藤丸 立香
19(?) / F / Who knows!!

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Night 129; btw your inbox links are broken,

[impostorsyndrome]

Hey.

WELL I'LL FIX THAT THANKS!!

[fujimaru]

Hi???
Wait why are you texting me??

Evening 138

[impostorsyndrome]

[So before any bodyswapping is happening to anyone, in the earlier evening right after dinner, Ritsuka is getting a text:]

I have something to give you, if you're not tied up right now. Meet me by the fountain if you can.

[fujimaru]

[ Because that's not weird at all or anything. She does contemplate making a joke of it, or otherwise ragging him, but in the end, she just responds: ]

I'm not busy! ╮(￣～￣)╭
Give me five, I'll be there

[ Which she will, true to her word. ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[IT'S SUPER NORMAL RITSUKA!!! Anyway, when she arrives he's sitting there with his nose in his book from earlier, but sitting next to him on the fountain's edge is . . . a bubble tea slushie in a domed cup with boba and a fat straw.

He looks very casual though really.]

[fujimaru]

[ IT'S THE CASUAL THAT'S THE MOST SUSPICIOUS!!

But while she slows a little when she sees him and the bubble tea, she doesn't actually stop, bemused as she approaches. ]

...Okay, so, what's up?

[impostorsyndrome]

Didn't I tell you I was working on your return gift after those chocolates?

[He sets the book aside and picks up the cup to hold it out to her, his lips quirking just a little. It does look like a tea slushy with boba; it's a nice purple pink berry color. The cup kinda looks like this.]

I heard you missed these.

[fujimaru]

Yes...?

[ She has, but also, what the heckie. In spite of that, though, she does not hesitate to take it. Ritsuka has learned nothing about being afraid of what she might put in her mouth, apparently. ]

--I didn't know Magolor even made these? He keeps talking about how he's not the best cook.

[impostorsyndrome]

Yeah? I guess drinks are different than knowing how to make dinner. Hell, I wouldn't know how to make a bubble tea myself, but I can make a casserole.

[It's cute and delicious and wonderful, Ritsuka! Kadoc watches her, propping one foot up.]

But if it sucks, you can blame that.

[fujimaru]

If he hears you saying that, he'll definitely be annoyed.

[ She tries to be stern about it, but there's a little smile threatening at the corners of her mouth as she sits next to him and takes a careful sip. ]

Is this seriously a White Day sort of gift? I didn't think you were actually gonna do that.

[impostorsyndrome]

[THE BUBBLE TEA SLUSHIE IS IN FACT GOOD. Kadoc was bullshitting about the food vs drinks thing but he was also correct, in that Magolor is more skilled at making drinks because it's more similar to making potions. And also, this one is in fact a potion, shhhh. It just tastes like a nice fruity mixed berry slushie; the boba is plentiful and chewy. Hooray! He watches to see if she likes it, and is going to continue to drink it . . .

And he shrugs.]

I knew you didn't think I was gonna. Maybe that's why I decided to. You went to a lot of effort just for obligation chocolate for some guy who tried to kill you . . . I guess I didn't wanna live down to your expectations after that.

[fujimaru]

[ She likes it! She makes a pleased little noise at the taste, kicking her feet in a small reactive gesture. It doesn't taste like medicine, so of course she has no idea that it is anything but a tasty drink.

At his words, she huffs, a small, fondly exasperated sound. ]

I didn't do it because I expected anything from anyone. --Not that I don't appreciate! I do. Thanks.

[impostorsyndrome]

[Ah, good . . . cute . . . he'd needed her to like it, of course. She needs to drink it! Even a little will do the trick, but more is better! But it's only now, watching her sip it and react, that Kadoc realizes that he also did want her to enjoy it, and that it feels good that she is.]

I know you didn't, but you got something anyway. That's how the tradition goes anyway where you come from, right? . . . Is it good?

[fujimaru]

It's good!

[ He wasn't wrong that she's missed this kind of thing--bubble tea in general, even if this isn't her usual flavor of choice, and the socializing that she's always associated with it. ]

It's really nice of you to do this at all.

[impostorsyndrome]

I . . . yeah. It's nothing.

[He blushes a little. God. The truth is that he can't even handle her being bubble tea levels of grateful to him for doing something for her; why the hell would Douxie ever think he could handle the conversation that would go along with "by the way that just cured your slow-acting but fatal poison"?

(She will not notice anything dramatic or magical, just that she's no longer having bad days, and if she hasn't been having good days recently, suddenly she will be. From now on.)]

I—didn't really know what the hell to do, but I heard that guy was in the gift business, so I went to him for ideas. It turns out he's a friend of yours, like almost everyone else I meet in this place, and he said you'd mentioned missing bubble tea.

[fujimaru]

He's in a lot of businesses! But you could've done a lot worse than ask him for advice.

[ She bumps her arm against his, a small companionable gesture. Right now, the poison issue isn't on her mind at all; she's just pleased that it feels like their relationship has progressed to a comfortable level of equilibrium. Does this count as level two? It might. Nothing of his behavior is suspicious, not now that she knows him a little better; he really is kind of a shy guy, isn't he? ]

But it's not nothing. I appreciate it a lot.

[impostorsyndrome]

[YEAH BOND LEVEL 2, RITSUKA, SURELY THAT'S WHERE THIS IS AT,

He lets that happen, taking a breath and relaxing. Of course he's nervous. It's natural for him to be nervous! This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and suffering. And he's not really going to know for sure how things work out until they do, though Magolor had run tests on the materials and come to the conclusion that they were effective; theory and practice are different! So he's anxious. But some of that is just not being used to this yet socially, either. He is, indeed, a shy guy.]

. . . His branding could use a little work, if you ask me. Just so you know, I didn't know the cup was gonna look like that until he handed it to me.

[This is also true.]

[fujimaru]

[ BOND LEVEL 2 OBTAINED.

She breaks into brief giggles at his comment. He's not wrong to be confused, but also, the branding is completely on-brand. ]

Why not? He's cute, and he knows it. If you look like that, why not go the whole way with the whole, "make yourself your brand" thing?

[impostorsyndrome]

He must have humans pegged at this point. I mean, imagine if the tables were turned, and you ended up on an alien planet populated by a totally new species that just happened to find humans adorable. Like some visual neoteny shit, where we look like exaggerated versions of their young, so they can't help but react to us like we're the cutest things they've ever seen. Would you brand yourself? It takes a certain mindset to be that shameless.

[At least his nerves are leaving him, the more she drinks and the more they just have a normal conversation, sitting together outside, just hanging out. Definitely a normal conversation,]

[fujimaru]

I wouldn't, but I know some people who would.

[ BB... would be genuinely terrifying in a situation like that, wouldn't she... the very thought makes her snort. Considering their canon, this is probably a reasonable conversation for them to have, ]

But if you're cute and you know people think so, and you don't mind leaning into it, I don't think there's anything wrong about that.

[impostorsyndrome]

I wouldn't say it's wrong so much as telling. But you're talking to a guy who's never been considered cute in his life, so I'm not the authority here. Even an alien race would know better, looking at me.

[fujimaru]

[ She blinks slowly at the comment. It's one of those things where--she knows about his utter lack of self-esteem (it'd take someone completely blind to miss it, and Ritsuka can be oblivious, but that's a whole different level), but it still surprises her, the tiniest bit, when he comes out with that. Huh. ]

I dunno. I think you could be cute if you took better care of yourself.

[impostorsyndrome]

...That wasn't supposed to be fishing for compliments, sorry. Don't feel like you've gotta be nice about it. Anyway, I don't actually care. It is what it is. My looks have never really had an impact on my life anyway.

[He's self-conscious sometimes, sure, more than he'd like to admit to considering what he just said. But it's not really a lie either. What would being hot have changed about anything in his life?]

[fujimaru]

I'm not just trying to be nice. I mean it.

[ She's maybe about halfway done with her drink at this point, but she pauses on it, leaning a little more into his space to peer up at his face. The light isn't the best anymore, but she knows what he looks like at this point. ]

Trust me, I've spent the past three and a half years surrounded by really attractive people. I know it when I see it.

[impostorsyndrome]

Come on, I'm being serious. You don't have to say anything at all, much less something that overblown.

[REALLY ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE?! RITSUKA! His ears are pink even if that's not how she meant it! Kadoc leans back, but only a little, embarrassed.]

Just forget it! I don't care how I look. Which I know is the point. I could take better care of myself, I get it.