1165/So, That Went Well

So, That Went Well
Date of Scene:	11 March 2016
Location:	Uminari City - Seishou Public School
Synopsis:	Takashi's been on the verge of tearing his hair out trying to come up with a suitable White Day return gift for Ami, so he decides to consult Makoto. It does not go the way he expected.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Makoto Kino

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Takashi Agera has posed:
There are a few thinks Takashi Agera is legitimately bad at - one of them is talking to most people in an honest way. Another one of them is admitting when he needs assistance, and reaching out for that assistance in the form of another person. But today, he's got to do both of those things.

Which is why he's outside Seishou Public School just after classes end for the day, looking for the person he knows from personal experience can help him in his current endeavor. The fact that she is, in a way, also responsible for the difficulty he's facing hasn't eluded him.

And he might also be bad at people in general, which is why instead of waving her down or anything normal, suddenly he just steps up beside Makoto Kino from behind like he's been walking alongside her all of the time - not strange at all - but when he talks it doesn't sound like the person who she met and stared down for a few moments.

"Kino-san?" he says, unsure of the name. "Ami's friend, Kino-san, right?" he asks, somewhere between nervous, unsure, and just incredibly out of his element right now.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto unsurprisingly startles a bit when Takashi steps up unexpectedly into her peripheral vision, enough so that she actually stops and turns to face him. For a moment there she seems very much on her guard - look, it's been a really strange month - but then she recognizes him, and he seems so incredibly uncertain that any wariness on Mako's part quickly melts away.

"That's me," she confirms with a little nod, regarding him with growing curiosity. Ami's crush. Boyfriend candidate. Something like that. "It's Agera-san, isn't it? What's up?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi nods a bit unconciously. Okay, right girl! You would think that it would be really hard to mistake Makoto Kino for anyone else or vice-versa, but suffice it to say that the boy isn't trusting all of his own faculties to make the right decisions right now.

"I think..." damn, this is hard. "I think I require your assistance." he says. That's much easier for him than saying 'I need your help'. And he goes with it. "White day is coming up." he says, as though that alone is going to explain everything.

But after a pause, he adds. "And for Valentine's day Ami gave me some of your chocolate." he says, almost accusingly. "And I can't match it and I've been trying for a week or so." he grumbles. "So I need to figure out what it is you're doing differently that I'm not so I can make sure she's getting chocolate at least as good as she gave."

It's clear from his face this is one part Social Obligation Rules and ten parts Ami-Chan Specifically, but he's trying to cover it up by focusing on the first. And he seems quite grumpy about it all.

Makoto Kino has posed:
By the time he's finished, Makoto is just kind of staring at Takashi, blank-faced. If he's grumpy now, he has plenty of opportunity to get even grumpier before Makoto finishes parsing what he's just told her and - slowly and very ruefully - starts to laugh.

"I'm sorry," she says almost immediately, lifting a hand in a forestalling gesture. "I'm not laughing at you, I promise, I just - oh, geez."

The hand that she lifted comes the rest of the way up to rub over her face. "You're talking about the chocolates I brought over while Ami-chan was staying with you? I didn't realize--" Hastily stopping herself short, she shakes her head. "Never mind. What have you been trying so far?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
The laughing does not endear her to Takashi one bit, and he goes from just grumpy to full on scowling. "I didn't come here for you to laugh at me." he says. There's something suddenly cold, cruel, hostile in that voice, and it's much more in common with the monsters she just fought in the arctic than with the boy in another school's uniform. It's there just for a moment, too, pricking at the back of her mind like a needle, that tinge of blackness, darkness, before he shakes it off and pulls himself just barely off the edge.

It's her apology that probably forestalls something a lot more dramatic and he steps back and away from her, fist clenched, then unclenched. "Yes. Those chocolates." he says, with the last vestiges of venom he can muster.

Then, he lets it out with a massive sigh. "Look, I wouldn't be coming to you if I hadn't tried everything else. I'm not a bad cook. Cooking's just science." he says, a bit disdainfully. "Like chemistry. Input peices, get result." he says. "I just need to know what you put in the chocolate you gave me, so I can make some more educated guesses about what to do with mine." he says. He's speaking slowly and carefully because he's holding onto himself with all of his mental hands now.

"I've been working on this since before we all went on Expedition Human Freezer Pops. It's a long list of what I've been trying so far. But I don't exactly have a sample to work with so I'm just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks."

"It's not that it isn't good - it's that it isn't good ENOUGH."

Makoto Kino has posed:
She'd thought, the very moment that she'd started laughing, that her laughter might offend him, but the vehemence of his reaction is nothing that Makoto was prepared for. Any lingering mirth in her expression dies away swiftly and she draws back a little from him, considering him all over again with her brows drawing together in surprise and concern and a faint warning trickle of genuine alarm.

She tamps down quickly on any immediate reactions and is quiet for a moment, choosing her response carefully. He seems to be calming down, but she's still recovering from D-Point and Ami likes him and all things considered Makoto really doesn't want to escalate anything with this guy. Certainly not right now.

So she takes a breath and keeps her concerns to herself. She's visibly more on guard again, though. "I really wasn't laughing at you," she says with honest apology in her voice. "It's just - those chocolates were kind of special. The ones I brought Ami-chan were the extras; I made them for Nephrite."

Another momentary pause, while Mako thinks about how to explain. "The ingredients weren't anything very complicated. Unsweetened dark chocolate, rose honey, and a little bit of sea salt. But the roses I used for the rose honey infusion had a little magic in them, I think. At least that's what I was hoping when I made the chocolates."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi holds himself back, and since the two of them have found some degree of calm, it seems like there will be no dramatic confrontation. And as soon as that threats there, it's over, stuffed back down deep where it won't set off alarms - just as soon as he was set off he's completly back to normal.

"Yeah, she told me some of that - I know you didn't make them for me, but it doesn't really change the fact that those are the ones she gave me on Valentine's day... and that means I can't really half-ass this." he says. With that hint of danger gone he's still very clearly agitated - but not at Makoto, at the situation. At the chocolate.

"That's before we even get into what happened after we finished off Kunzite." he mumbles quietly. A large part of what he meant there was not the kiss, but the conversation after it - though the former is all Makoto will know to connect to it.

"So I'm a little tense and on edge because Am- because this is important to me." he explains. But perhaps notably, does not apologize.

And then when Makoto explains, he blinks a bit. "...well yeah, that would make sense." he muses. "If there was magic in your chocolate... I mean, I thought I was missing an ingredient but I guess I didn't expect them to be anything more than mundane chocolate." he says. "What kind of magic?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I see," Makoto says gravely, with a little bit of a nod. "Well..."

She ducks her head and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear, suddenly looking kind of sheepish. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at explaining these things. It should've just been a normal rose, but it was blooming well after it should've stopped. The person who was taking care of it has magic linked to roses, and then I started taking care of it, and my power deals with plants sometimes too, so I thought perhaps it might have picked a little something up."

As she explains, she straightens back up again, thinks back. "I mean, I don't know for sure. But it seems like it might've had a little bit of an effect on the Dark Kingdom's brainwashing, in the long run, so maybe. More importantly--"

Here Makoto hesitates a moment, unsure if she might be about to put her foot in it again. "--I understand how important it is to you, but this kind of thing isn't a competition, you know? Giving a gift for Valentine's or White Day is about communicating your feelings; don't you think trying to measure it against a previous gift might just get in the way?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi looks intently as Makoto explains the twisting path of that little bit of magic. "It's okay." he says, when she comments about her ability to explain. It's not intended to be chiding, but Takashi is used to having people try to explain magic to him in less... scientific terms. Part of the job.

"No, no. That all makes sense. If there was some sort of magical adjustment made, I wouldn't be able to match that with all of my cooking - without some similar help. And evenmoreso considering that's your... specialty." he muses, a bit. There's a smile that creeps up his face.

But when she says it's not a competition, his eyes narrow again. "That's silly." he says, after a moment. "You should put your all into everything you do. How can you say it's not a competition?" he asks, clearly -actually- perplexed. "You decide what resteraunt to eat at by figuring out which one's better. You decide what car to buy by figuring out which one's best. House? Best. Everytime in life you make a choice, it's a competition." he says, bluntly.

"And I'll be damned if it ever comes up that she feels like she ought to make a choice that I look like anything but the best." he says, crossing his arms. "So while it might be just some gift for you, it's not for me. Ami is wonderful and I care about her, and I want to show that, and I am going to show that in the most amazing way I can, every time, without fail."

"So maybe you're content with acceptable and the chocolates were dumb luck - but I'm not content with anything but greatness. Ami's certainly a lot more than acceptable. So yes, I will measure these gifts against everything until I'm sure there's not a question."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Despite herself, Makoto can't help feeling affronted as she listens to Takashi explain his point of view. It gets her back up, and she has to take a moment to try to rein in her feelings before she replies. "That's not what I meant at all," she says. "I'm just saying, Ami-chan's not going to be thinking like that, about whether what you give her is as good as what she gave you or not.

"Besides," Mako adds a moment later, and now she can't entirely hold in her exasperation, "you're talking like there's a totally objective measure for these things. What's 'better' isn't always the reason behind people's decisions. Sometimes it's just about how a person feels."

She'd cross her arms in front of her chest but she's still holding her school bag, so Makoto just lifts her chin a little, looking Takashi squarely in the eye. "It's great that you want to impress Ami-chan, but shouldn't it be more important to make her happy?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Well, I don't know what you meant, but I know what it sounded like, and it sounded like you meant to tell me I should just be happy with not being the best." he says, reacting equally poorly to her exasperation. How quickly things have re-escalated. "I'm not settling for anything, ever. Are you going to tell me there's no objective measurement?"

Takashi seems somewhere between offended and bemused. "If there wasn't an objective measurement I wouldn't be here because all chocolate would taste the same!" he says, totally missing the point. "Are you going to tell me that there's no difference between your magical rose chocolate and if you hadn't bothered? That extra effort /makes a difference/."

"What do you mean, more important. It doesn't have to be one or the other, Kino-san. If she's impressed then she'll be happy. If she's happy, she'll be impressed by the effort. If I put the work in, then she can see how I feel through it." he adds.

"Really, it's hard to believe you're one of Ami's friends, spouting nonsense like that. You must be one of the reasons she's not pushing herself as hard as she could be, why she's milling around here instead of at Infinity - she could blow through the entrance exams." he says, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "Wasting her genius."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Ugh. Makoto clenches her teeth and reminds herself steadfastly that Ami really likes this guy and he did save her life. And looked out for her during the battle with Kunzite. And--

"Okay," she says, making a valiant effort to hold onto her patience. "Maybe I put it wrong. I wasn't trying to say that effort's not important, I'm trying to say that giving it your best effort, because it matters that much to you, is more important than whether you think what you made is as good as something someone else made. Because it mattering that much to you is what's going to make Ami-chan happy."

Her expression is somewhere between frustrated and earnest as she presses on: "Because, yeah, maybe there's some kind of objective measure but - you're talking like there's an equation you can science out to figure out all the answers, and that's not how it works. People have their own tastes and feelings, it's not always about what's better. Sure, my chocolates were good, I put everything I could into them, but it wouldn't have done anybody any good if I was giving them to someone who didn't like sweets or hated the smell of roses, or - or a guy who wasn't into girls. And anyway, impressed isn't the same thing as happy!"

And then her empty hand plants against her hip and she's trying really hard not to bristle at him and his accusatory finger. It's not working too well. "Maybe Ami-chan keeps going to Seishou because she likes it there. If she wanted to go to Infinity, I'd support her all the way, but that's for her to decide, not you or me! And so is whether or not her genius is being wasted."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi is steadily growing more and more annoyed. Not furious, this time. Not angry. Just annoyed. It's the same kind of annoyance adults have when they feel like a child just isn't getting a lesson. "If you care about someone then you /will/ put effort into it. And you won't get it wrong." he says, looking at her. It's incredibly annoying, to him, that she's actually trying to argue her side on this, and yet to him, making zero sense.

"I'm sure there is. I'm sure that I could, given enough opprotunities, pick out the series of gifts she liked more than any of the others. The fact that it came from me - while an honor - isn't the only point of relevance. You know how they say it's the thought that counts? They're right, they just take the wrong lesson from it."

"Thinking about what someone will like, making sure you get it right? That's what's giving me all this anguish. Because I don't want to screw this up. That's the thought that counts." he adds, gritting his teeth a bit.

"Just because you're willing to settle for imperfection doesn't mean I am." he says, perhaps again. "And it doesn't mean she should. I respect her decision but that doesn't mean I agree with it. Again, objective measurements. Infinity is going to give her a better start in life, and she could breeze through it, too. She's holding her potential back - objectively, measurably - and I don't understand why." he adds. This is actually something that bugs him a lot when he thinks about it."

He doesn't step back, but he untenses for a moment. "I am trying to be nice because you're her friend, and I keep slipping because what you're saying doesn't make any sense, Kino-san." he says, looking her in the eye, and leaving the commentary unsaid but clear he's not being ruder because of their mutual acquaintance.

"But I guess that doesn't matter right now. Is there anything else you can actually suggest to help me with this?" he says, sounding mentally exasperated, like a retail worker trying to be nice to a customer who's stayed past closing time. "I mean, I did come all the way out here."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto's breath hisses out quietly between her teeth. "I could say the same thing about you, Agera-san. Is it really that hard to understand? People's feelings aren't objective. They're not scientific. Ami-chan understands that. If you don't, then maybe you should ask her about it."

She lets her hand drop from her hip and, lips pressed tightly together, gives his question some serious (albeit aggravated) consideration.

"I really don't think there is," she decides eventually, and at least has the grace to sound resigned rather than dismissive about it. "I already told you what went into my chocolates. I already gave the rose bush back to the person it belongs to, and even if I still had it I don't think that's the route you should be going. I don't know what else I could tell you that would actually help you do what you're trying to do."

A beat, then Mako amends that: "Except for maybe stop getting hung up about perfection. If you put your very best effort into something, and you're thinking all you can about what that person will like and what will make them happy... that isn't 'settling'."

Takashi Agera has posed:
"If she understands you better than I do, then maybe I will have to pick her brain because she speaks my language." he admits, shrugging a bit. The implied 'unlike you' is left there.

"No, no, I understand now what happened, really. I really thought for a moment there was something I wasn't getting about cooking, but that turned out not to be true - that's actually a huge load off my mind." he admits, a bit snarkily. "I can figure out the rest on my own - turns out what I was missing is just that you did a little bit more than make chocolate."

"Kino-san, if I ever stopped chasing perfection, I would die." he says. This is said with real, honest conviction - after all, it's basically what he was raised on. Pride and Perfection... the two watchwords he builds everything else around. And without Ami's presence here, it's easy for him to slip into a less-than-kind attitude since she pushed that button.

"You know - I tried to figure out where I knew your name from. But then I remembered." he says with a smirk. "And why your uniform is wrong. I guess you would have to settle for mediocrity given your pugilistic nature making it hard to keep up with coursework, being transferred all around."

"Explains why we don't see eye to eye, really." he adds, glaring at her. He's ordered around chumps in Eclipse the way he sees her, and this has changed his attitude from just hostile to haughty. "You're basically like the hired muscle - nobody's friends with you because of your intellect." he says, smugly. "You don't have any desire for perfection because you know it'd be a waste of time in the end, right?" he practically snarls. "Because your best would still end up being third rate. I suppose Ami-chan has just taken pity on you and is trying to get you up somewhere above conbenie attendant for a life goal. Like I said... she wastes her genius."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Oh, that was a low blow. Makoto's eyes narrow, suddenly hard and sharp as bottle-glass. Her hand curls into a fist at her side and only the thought that she'd be proving him right lets her hold back the upwelling desire to punch him in his arrogant face.

"Don't talk like you know anything about me," she states, voice low and nearly vibrating with barely-restrained emotion. "You know, I was encouraging Ami-chan to give you a chance when she was wondering what to do about you. Too bad I didn't know you could be this much of an asshole."

She squares her shoulders, stands facing Takashi with her back very straight. "I don't think there's any point in us talking any more. But I'll tell you one more thing - if you start doing anything that makes Ami-chan unhappy? We're gonna have words again."

She doesn't wait for him to answer before she turns and begins to stalk away, long strides eating up the sidewalk.