1489/Change Is Hard, So Is Dating
From MahouMUSH
Change Is Hard, So Is Dating | |
---|---|
Date of Scene: | 18 May 2016 |
Location: | Uminari City - Seishou Public School |
Synopsis: | Ami and Naru have lunch (and Dark(TM) Chocolate) at school again. Takashi decides clearly he should be having lunch at school with Ami. |
Cast of Characters: | Ami Mizuno, Naru Osaka, Takashi Agera |
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Lunchtime at Seishou is often a quiet affair for Ami Mizuno. Often, but not always. Almost as often, one or more of her friends will come to find the bluenette reading something on her tablet, and enforce socialization on the girl. Not that she ever seems to mind. Today it's Naru who's joined Ami at her little bench.
"Well at least she stayed awake through homeroom this morning," Ami explains to Naru amusedly as she finishes the last of the takoyaki in her bento. "I swear, that girl would sleep through the end of the world if she wasn't required to stop it." It seems Ami is in a good mood, and that mood only grows better as she gives a furtive glance around almost like a criminal, then reaches into her bento and pulls out a small piece of obviously home-made white chocolate.
Without warning, Ami pops the chocolate into her mouth, and her cheeks almost immediately begin to flush. This is, altogether, not a normal reaction from the girl to chocolate. Usually she isn't a big fan of it in the first place, but to be embarassed by the eating ... (or is that embarassed? Are her eyes dilating, just a little?!)
Ami takes a deep breath, then mumbles, "so good," with a little quiver in her voice. And then, on a lark, she pulls another piece out and offers it to Naru. "Try this. It's so amazing."
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"And if she didn't sleep through it, she'd snack through it." Naru comments with a shade of amusement to her tone as she nudges the rest of her bento box away, having had enough lunch in favour of spending the rest of the break drawing instead. Her notebook rests on the table, currently covered in diferent types and sizes and shapes of vines, as if exploring what twining foliage options she's the most fond of, and curling them around other drawings.
Naru glances over as Ami sneaks a wee bit of chocolate, with the same sort of gestures that one usually reserves for illict drugs, or naughty manga. She eyes Ami for a moment and then reaches for it. "What is it?" As if it doesnt look like chocolate, and on a sniff, it smells like chocolate, but Ami's expression doesn't say 'chocolate'.
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Chocolate," Ami explains to Naru amusedly. "Ta--uh," she blushes, then tries, "My um. My boyfriend made it for me." Since when does Ami have a boyfriend!? "It's so good. Makoto's is still just a little bit better, but this chocolate makes me feel all ... tingly. Rei said it did for her, too."
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"Does this boyfriend have a name that isn't Ta-uh?" Naru asks with a grin and just a tiny edge of teasing. She sets down her pencil and takes a nibble of the small piece. And another nibble. And tries to let that second nibble melt upon her tongue to enjoy it longer. "Mmmm. Creamy." She decides after a moment, quirking her head a little as she considers it. "Taste.. a little like cinnamon?" She isn't sure, and that's clear in her voice.
- Takashi Agera has posed:
It's almost on que, then, that Takashi Agera makes the turn around the corner. He's somewhat immediately recognizable as out of place, given that his Infinity uniform stands out rather boldly, the white uniform with the navy blue trim (as always, perfectly pressed) clearly not from Seishou.
"Ami!" he calls rather quickly upon spotting her. He waves a hand before realizing she's with someone else and he walks over rather rapidly. At least he doesn't have a gift of some kind tucked under his arm today. Though it probably bears asking what he's doing across town on her campus.
He regards Naru with a slight nod, but pretty much promptly sits down right next to Ami and very much in her personal space. "I was hoping I'd catch you."
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blushes again, and this time it's definitely embarassment. "Agera," she says quietly for Naru's sake. "Takashi Agera. He's um. He goes to Infinity, and is a bit scientifically minded. We played chess quite a bit. I still don't really know why; he sorta just offered to play with me one day, and then one thing led to another, and now ... well ..." she trails off, then bites her lip and looks to Naru. "I am not a very good girlfriend, though. I don't even know how to be one. And he's had so many girlfriends. I feel like I'm a complete disappointment to him, but he keeps promising me I'm n--"
That's when her name is called. She looks up at the call, and her eyes widen, jaw goes slack, and confusion is more than a little evident on herface. "T--Takashi-kun?" she asks, confusedly.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
- Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru Osaka opens her mouth, both to enjoy a bit more chocolate and to start asking Ami a collection of questions. And then there's an unfamiliar voice, and confusion that is not Naru-produced this time and she turns to see a tall young man who is most certainly not from around here. Her attention follows Takashi across the yard and right to sitting down next to Ami and she looks from one to the other.
"Hi!" Naru offers that and a bright smile before popping the last bit of the decadent chocolate in her mouth and ensuring that she has no crumbs left negligently on her fingers. "We were just talking about you." She adds for good measure, just to ensure Ami's mortification is complete.
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiles. "I'm here looking for you, obviously." he begins rakishly. "I mean I was here on business but since I was already here, I wanted to see if I could grab lunch with you." His eyes roam to her bento box. "Too late for that, I guess." he says, shrugging. "At least I know you really do like the chocolate and aren't just indulging me and then tossing it or something." he says with a smile.
And then he just leans over sideways until he's on Ami's shoulder - this is not an easy thing given their height difference - and looks up at her, eyes looking over his glasses at the odd angle. "But I do like hearing you talk about me." he says, and that smile is as much of a full on grin as possible. "You don't have to stop."
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami freezes, like a deer in the headlights, as Takashi leans down over her. She looks at Naru, then her eyes twitch towards Takashi, then back to Naru. And oh how she blushes.
"Of course I like it," she mumbles quietly. "Mako-chan wouldn't get so upset with you about it if I weren't actually enjoying it. Ah. Ah. Um. Um. Nnn. Naru! Naru-chan, this is m-m-m-m-my b-b-b-boyfriend! Takashi Agera. Taka-kun, this is Naru Osaka."
Beat.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Didn't she already ask that question?
- Naru Osaka has posed:
A little nudge of Naru's bento, still with plenty to nibble on in it, goes towards the draped Takashi. Someone may have been friends with Usagi forever and packs lunch accordingly. "He's here to visit you, Ami-chan. And be adorble with you. It's a thing." She smiles easily and then waves. "Pleasure to meet you, Takashi."
Wiping her fingers off on her skirt, she picks her pencil back up to go back to drawing. "Your chocolate /is/ really good. I've never tried candy making. Mako has sweets solidly covered, so I don't make as much as I once did." She notes casually, just as if lunch across the bench from a snuggly couple is normal.
For Naru, it probably is.
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi watches Naru to make sure it's okay before he plucks a bit of takoyaki from her bento. "Thank you, Osaka-san." he says, having learned to be extra-careful around Ami's friends - some meetings have gone far less well. "And thank you for the compliment. Kino-san actually gave me the idea for the special ingredient." he says, with a wry smile on his face. And he's still leaning on Ami, unabashedly.
The two of them have such a very different look about them - Takashi seems perfectly at home draped on Ami while she looks like she's been the victim of an Embarassment Youma. "You don't have to yell. I already told you why I'm here. I agreed to help out a teacher and run a parcel here. And since I was here, I came to find you for lunch. We don't get to share lunch much 'cause you're in a different school." And it'd be awkward, possibly, if either of them teleported or otherwise magically arrived to share it on the regular, or Takashi probably would.
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
A small squeak escapes Ami as she tries to find some sense of normalcy again. Failing that, she hunches her shoulders and leans--maybe just a little--towards Takashi. "I just ... you weren't ... this isn't ..." she tries to explain, but how do you explain it?
And if him walking her home after school hadn't started enough gossip, this certainly will. "Ahehhhh," she mumbles, then reaches up to scratch the back of her head.
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"Try a bit of the pickle, I think it turned out really well." Naru points with her pencil at a clump of pickled vegetables in invitation for Takashi to eat more of her lunch, clearly she doesn't mind. She giggles softly, going back to her drawing. "Does the fact that it's a secret ingredient mean that you won't tell?"
She grins at Ami's squirmy, squeaking discomfort and giggles anew. "It's called 'being affectionate' Ami. Just run with it. I've heard its lovely."
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiles and reaches for the pickle next. "Certainly not, I have to protect my secrets." Takashi says, and with a free hand squeezes Ami's arm (since she knows at least THIS secret.) And then he smiles. "I'm sure it's really not THAT bad, Ami." he says, from his odd perch. But then he leans up (perhaps finally.)
He nods at Naru. "As I'm sure you deduced, I'm Ami's boyfriend, Takashi Agera, and it's very nice to meet you, Osaka-san." he says. Well, one of them can say it without stuttering.
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blushes, feeling entirely a fool, and entirely unable to stop herself. "I just ... I just ..." she trails off, then sighs and reaches up to put her face in her hands. "Sorry," she mumbles, eyes cast down to the tabletop. Reaching into her bento, she pulls out yet another piece of the chocolate, then stuffs it in her mouth.
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"I made that guess." Naru confirms with a grin. "As she'd managed to stutter out your name, and then greeted you by it. I made the connection." She taps her temple with her pencil, pausing in her drawing to do so. "I pay attention. At least a little."
Naru giggles softly and curls up a bit more comfortably on the bench to be able to rest her notebook on her lap. "It's okay, not everyone's super comfortable with public displays. I think you two are super cute, even with Ami blushing up a storm." She adds a few more highlights to a leaf on her page. "So other than making candy, what else do you do for fun, Takashi?"
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Here, Takashi has to stop for a moment. Cover stories are really quite a thing. Even to Ami, he has cover stories, and it makes him bristle a bit for just a moment, perceptably. "Well, I'm in the Science Club at Infinity Academy," he begins, covering up his bristle with a bit of faux school spirit "and apparently I like to learn chess from pretty girls." he says, smiling at Ami. "Oh, and I ice skate." he says as an afterthought. "That's relatively new, picked that up over the winter."
"And beyond that I spend a lot of time studying, or experimenting in the labs." He looks at her drawing pad, regarding it for a moment, but doesn't say much about it. "And I like making Ami 'blush up a storm' apparently, that's becoming more of a hobby as time goes on." he adds.
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Finally, the bluenette seems to find some of her missing nerve, because she reaches over and punches Takashi in the arm. It's not a hard punch, but the girl knows her pressure points, and she manages to find one perfectly with her knuckle. "Making me blush isn't nice," she mumbles to him. "I don't like feeling embarassed!"
To Naru, she admits, "And I don't really mind the public affection, either. I'm just ... I'm embarassed because I still don't know what to do with it. I don't know how I'm supposed to react or act, and I know you don't experience that sense of dread very often, Naru-chan, but I am not used to not knowing something." She doesn't mean to sound mean. Honest.
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"I think the key is that you react with.. well.. whatever feels natural. Be it snuggling, or enduring it until you're in private. The only ones who put out proscribed ways to act are the silly girls who simper, and you'd be even more offended if I compared you to one of them." Naru comments thoughtfully, addressing Ami's comments without getting overly offended, but more analytical.
"Ice skating?" Naru looks back to Takashi a moment. "That's cool. Ami did mention that you were scientifically oriented, which is pretty cool too. I'm an artist, mostly, I suppose."
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi looks to Ami. "Well I don't necessarily do it intentionally. I mean, not always." he says, admitting that sometimes he does. "But you're really overthinking it too much. I've never asked or needed you to do anything." He looks down and away. "You're certainly not supposed to be associating me with a feeling of dread." he emphasizes, and looks either hurt or bothered by that comment - it's hard to tell.
"There comes a point where you've turned something over in your brain enough and you have to just go with it, Ami. Just like with a certain... egyptian themed adventure... you eventually have to trust that you've done all you can." he says, smiling a bit - and speaking a bit from experience. "I don't 'know' what I'm doing. I just know that I'm trying to do this whole relationship thing to the best of my ability. It's one of those rare things you really can't read a book on and figure out. Though... you're welcome to study me if you like." he says, finishing off with another one of those impish grins of his before turning to Naru.
"I certainly don't think she needs to concern herself with what anyone else thinks... especially anyone like that." he says, turning back to her. "Really the only people fit to judge our relationship are you and I." This is easy for Takashi to say, at least, because he considers nobody else really fit to judge him in any field."
"Mostly?" he asks with a smile. "Do you mean you're mostly but not completly an artist, or you're an artist but you have other hobbies, too, or?" he trails off, confused.
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blushes again, realizing she's upset Takashi as well as herself. But at least he's still talking, reminding her of Kunzite and admitting to his own lack of knowledge. She's really not sure she believes that he doesn't know what he's doing, but for some odd reason it makes her feel better to hear him say as much, anyways.
That is, until he implies he's a good subject to 'study'. Ami's blush is not disappointed embarassment, this time, and her eyes glint as she studies Takashi out of the corners, biting her lower lip. Evil, evil chocolates.
Fanning herself, Ami leans away a little, then follows Takashi right along to the new topic, "Oh, she's a fantastic artist. She just lacks confidence in her abilities. And she's also got a lot of other hobbies. Ah, also, I should point out that Naru knows. Everything. She was at the North Pole as a victim when we were there for ... the thing. She was kidnapped by Kunzite and Melanite."
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"Mostly. I do things other than art as well, although art's what I wander back to pretty much always." Naru confirms on the mostly, letting Ami and Takashi work out their relationship without further poking from her. At least for now.
Naru nods as Ami points out that she knows Things. Possibly also Stuff. "Egyptian thing?" She asks and then erms softly. "I don't know everything, but I do know enough to know how little I know." She hrms softly at the mention of Kunzite and flips to earlier in her notebook, abandoning her sketch a moment to jot something on a to-do list. "I need to poke Kunzite, thanks for reminding me." She flips back to her sketches and nods to both of them. "That one was a weird one, when I got kidnapped by them. It's fairly hazy, all in all."
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi doesn't know what he's doing, but in a way he's not ready to admit to Ami. He knows how to go through the motions of a relationship - how to act in order to get reactions, how to keep things sorted - but actually being in love with someone - that's an entirely new thing. Having these emotions real, rather than just faking them well - that's the thing that keeps him so off balance.
Ami's reaction gets her only the smallest moment of fingertips brushing against her thigh before Takashi leans forward. "Oh, good, then I can stop dancing around the subjects. Sometimes it's hard keeping track of Who Knows and Who Doesn't Or Shouldn't Know." Oh, Ami, you have no idea. "Yeah, I mean Kunzite. And... when it comes to art, someone once explained it to me a little bit like science. Experiment, find out what works for you, repeat it until the results match. It's just instead of finding the truth it's a little bit more than that - finding emotion, or whatever. Honestly, I tend to prefer to deal in concrete absolutes where I can... but I understand there are some places I can't."
"I'm still not up on everything that happened - maybe I won't ever fully understand all of that, though that'll probably be more due to lack of people willing to share than capability." he says with a shrug. More than anyone, he understands people do have their secrets.
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I'm not sure any of us will ever fully understand it," Ami admits quietly. And she's the one who probably understands it best. "What do you need to talk to him about?" the bluenette asks her friend curiously. Then she pauses, and her eyes widen a bit. Reaching for the Mercury computer, Ami turns the screen on and begins jotting down some note or another.
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"We're supposed to take a class together next week and I don't think he actually knows where. Or when. Which will be attending harder." Naru answers Ami, probably bringing up more questions than she's actually answered.
Naru smiles brightly and gives a little shake of her head. "Absolutes, I can respect them in math, but even in science, its often absolute only until we have more information, or new discoveries come to light, or your entire worldview has to change in a blink." She comments, still with a grin. "But experimenting, finding how to explore emotion and how that feels and capturing it on paper or canvas? That's just .. awesome. So.. yeah. A lot of drawing and sketching and painting and apparently murals now." She glances to Ami as she gets all focussed on her computer. "Something up?"
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiles. "I don't like the idea of not fully understanding anything. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. And I think I'll get closer than some people might expect." he says, and then watches her tap at her unique computer for a bit.
He turns to Naru. The business with Kunzite isn't so much his problem, but he does chip in. "Well, that will make it hard unless he just wanders in coincidentally." he says offhand. "But you know, every moment we have to re-evaluate things." he says, his eyes drifting unconsciously to Ami. "And what's important to us can change pretty quick. That doesn't mean it wasn't true before, or true now. Truth has to malleable. Absolutes... well, maybe I spoke wrong there. I like to know as much as I can in the moment. But that can change as time goes on."
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami looks up from her tablet, blinks at Naru, then grins and looks back down. "Nothing," she says quietly. "I just remembered some notes I forgot to take down, so I'm writing it out now before I forget." She's a really bad liar. No really. It's so obvious she's lying.
- Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru Osaka looks skeptical at Ami, complete with a quirk of her brow and a look. "Right. Of course. If I need to do Usagi's math assignment because she's not going to have time, just let me know." She comments and then looks back down at her drawing.
"KNowing Kunzite, he might actually manage to wander in coincidentally, because he's just like that." Naru smiles a little and then settles a little more hrm. "There's a lot of change, and truth being fairly mutable, all things considered. Emotions are just capturing a moment, a brief and elusive thing.. they're supposed to change and evolve."
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi gives Ami a sort of look that's hard to place, but turns back to Naru. He doesn't say anything about Naru doing Usagi's work for her either, but his opinion of that is probably something the girls can feel just in the air around him. He just knows not to poke at it.
"He certainly has an affinity for timing, at least." Takashi says, though his attitude probably belies that he doesn't like Kunzite's sense of timing at all. Then again, Takashi might have a dislike for Kunzite for very Ami Falling Off A Building related reasons. Or making him eat his own witchblast.
"And change is important. Sometimes people have a hard time dealing with it, though."
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Do not let her convince you to do her work for her," Ami scolds Naru amusedly. "She's so bad," she says, then rolls her eyes, fond of their mutual friend. Setting her tablet back down, Ami admits, "Oh, but it's nearly time to go back to class." She sighs, and looks to Takashi. "And I have to do physical education this afternoon. Are you going back to Infinity, or do you plan to walk me home again?"
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"She doens't ask, and I don't always." Naru protests. "Just if I know she's going to be busy doing bigger things than homework, I try and make sure there's something to hand in so it's not a zero." She gives a little shrug. "I usually find out after the fact though, so she's outta luck."
"Change is hard. I.. well.. I'm learning to embrace it. It's hard sometimes." Naru agrees with a little nod and then she reaches over to offer her bento box to the two of them again. "Last call."
- Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi reaches down and grabs another bite of Naru's lunch. "Thank you very much, Osaka-san. It was delicious." he says. Then to Naru, comes a comment. "Look, I know what we do isn't easy, but... it really doesn't excuse that sort of thing." he says with a sigh. "But I guess it's none of my business." He shrugs a bit and turns to Ami.
"Well, I'd really like to, if you don't mind. But if you've had enough of me for one day... absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that." he says, with a grin. "Don't want to overstay my welcome if you're already feeling that sense of dread."
- Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami considers the suggestion a moment, then offers the tiniest shrugs of her shoulders. "Just don't be offended if I smell a little sweaty," she says. "I'll shower after, but the showers here aren't that great, and I don't always have enough time for a proper shower. But," she glances back towards Naru and smiles, "Well. I'll meet you after," she says.
- Naru Osaka has posed:
"Objection noted." Naru nods to Takashi and retrieves back her bento box to close up. "I should be getting to class. Good to meet you, Agera-san. Hopefully I'll se eyou again." She tucks her lunch away, and her notebook as well, getting up off the bench and waving to the both of them. "See you later, Ami."