Jingle bell time is a swell time

[freshprints]

Who: Naegi (superordinary) and Kirigiri (freshprints)
Where: Goldenrod City!
When: December 24th!
Summary: Two protagonists. Fried chicken. Christmas Eve. Final destination.
Rating: G because this log will almost certainly consist of nothing but schmoop and dokis. And possibly murder, depending on if that comes up, but we're going for schmoop and dokis here.
Log:


Featuring art by the incomparable Miffy. o/

[The trouble with being both the SHSL Detective and an alumnus of murderschool is that when it gets right down to it, there's really no such thing as "taking a break and relaxing". True, it's the holiday season, and Kirigiri's probably entitled to a vacation. But even during the holidays, even amidst the gift-giving and good cheer and the near-inexplicable influx of hypnodeer, she never really gives in and just...embraces the spirit of the season. She's too used to standing outside and looking in, too set in her ways and her hard-broken habits to let go and drop her guard for very long. Even on Christmas, she's watching the people around her, working through the lingering mysteries of the new arrivals and the implications they have on her future, postulating theories and checking them for plausibility against the things she knows. It's a tedious mental exercise, but someone's got to do it. And this is her talent, after all.

Still, if there's ever been one person in the world who could get her to unwind even a little, it's Naegi, and now that they've made plans for a Christmas Eve...date...thing, she's going to honor them. Maybe it'll be nice, and they can just...be normal. For a night.

And maybe pigs will fly — but then again, there are at least two Munna in the house. Anything is possible in Johto.

So, it's Christmas Eve and here she is, staking out the master bedroom's private bathroom during a period while Celes is thankfully not occupying it, staring at herself in the mirror and trying her best not to spend too long debating whether or not her trainer class kimono is far too ridiculously formal for an occasion like this. It's the sort of concern that's almost painfully mundane, really.

And yet, after what they'd been through at school, the fact that such a painfully mundane concern is also her only concern at the moment is frankly almost a gift in itself.]

Comments

[superordinary]

[ Naegi honestly prefers New Year's to Christmas, but there's something about the season that lifts the spirit and envelopes it in a certain warmth. It's contagious and not even the increased workload at his job at the Goldenrod department store is enough to pull him out of it. It's nice to have these warm, fuzzy feelings and reasons to celebrate and be merry as the year is drawing to an end; and what a year it's been. They have their own house (that currently looks tacky as hell because certain people overdecorated it) and they've made it a place to call their home despite the absurd amounts of hair on the furniture and people who don't quite get along for understandable reasons; they're students from murderschool, after all.

He's still not sure where his relationship with Kirigiri is heading, but he's made at least some progress by working up the courage to actually ask her out on a...date... thing oh who is he kidding it's definitely a date because spending time together on Christmas has romantic connotations. Here's hoping that he won't royally screw it up somehow.

Two boxes of fried chicken from Kanto Fried Fowl? Check. One Moomba to keep them warm and possibly ruin their date with drool? Check. Is he dressed and ready to head out? Check. Is he actually feeling ready for a romantic evening? ...Not really, but he's not going to call it off. He's going to do this thing.

Waiting for Kirigiri to come downstairs is probably the most difficult part of this. ]

[freshprints]

[There comes a point, naturally, where Kirigiri's had her fill of fussing, and it's immediately after that point when she decides to just throw in the towel, head downstairs, and roll with it. It's not as though she can't always just come back upstairs and change if need be, and all this primping and polishing is starting to make her feel weird. So she's just going to go with it; she's probably delayed this long enough already, after all.

So she vacates the bathroom and heads for the stairs, taking careful steps because of the length of the garment (which is strange in comparison, since she's used to the freedom of a short skirt instead), and heads down to get this show on the road.]

[superordinary]

[ Luckily, Naegi is a patient person, but the waiting doesn't do anything to curb the butterflies in his stomach. When she (finally) comes down the stairs, it actually takes him a second to realize that the person wearing those clothes is in fact the girl he's taking out on a date. Whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn't this. ]

...Kirigiri-san. [ Pause. ] You're really pretty.

[freshprints]

[In fairness, while her first instinct upon receipt of the compliment is to think, "Gently caress, I should've gone casual," that's also a reaction that has very little to do with anything save for maybe a slight flash of self-consciousness, and a touch of her usual family guilt about drawing attention to herself as opposed to remaining unobtrusive.

Fortunately, it's also an instinct that fades rather rapidly, and the fact that she's still coming down the stairs means that even when she ducks her head a little in response, it doesn't actually hide her expression — which is threatening to reveal a smile.]

...It's all right, then...?

[superordinary]

Um, perhaps something warmer would be more appropriate? Unless you... really want to.

[ His gaze lingers on her for just a little longer than his mother would have approved of (gently caress she is pretty)and he can feel his ears turning a shade of pink. ]

[freshprints]

[Well, it's not like she's going to miss those ears — she's not the SHSL Detective for nothing, good grief — and she thinks briefly that this would be an excellent opportunity for an easy out...

...but on the other hand, she caught that look, too, and. Well.]

I'll take a coat. And Moomba's warm, so...

[So maybe she will regret this later, but maybe it will be worth it.]

[superordinary]

All right. [ Well, if she starts feeling cold he can always escort her back home... here's hoping she doesn't catch a cold because that would suck and possibly lead to The House Full Of Sick Dangans. ]

Let's go, then.

[ Having said that, he moves to hold the door open for her. ]

[freshprints]

[Pausing long enough to fetch the aforementioned coat, she heads down and out the door when he holds it, pausing only long enough to test the weather; it is cold, but she'll manage, between the coat, Moomba, and the fact that she's fairly resilient against the cold weather as it is.

Speaking of which, Moomba would be a good thing right about now, so she finds his ball and gives it a toss; a moment later, the bright flash of light fades and results in one very happy, very slobbery, very massive firedog.]

Don't slobber, Moomba.

[SHE SAYS, LIKE THAT'S GONNA DO SOMETHING.]

[superordinary]

...We're going to have to keep an eye on the fried chicken, I think.

[ Or, you know, it's going to end up in the belly of the slobberbeast and no one wants that to happen. Except for Moomba, of course. ]

[freshprints]

Or eat it ourselves, faster than he can.

[Still, she's got that vague sort of half-smile on her face again, because of her entire roster, Moomba's undoubtedly one of her favorites, antics and all.]

[superordinary]

I'm pretty sure he could eat it all in less than five seconds, if he wanted to. [ He closes the door shut behind them and then moves to scratch Moomba behind the ears. ]

[freshprints]

His appetite is as big as he is, there's no doubt of that.

[Moomba, naturally soaking up the attention like the big dumb sponge he is, does his very best to give Naegi a big sloppy nuzzle in response, as if attempting to prove the point.]

Where are we going from here?

[superordinary]

[ Naegi doesn't seem to mind, and he just laughs and runs his fingers through thick fur. ]

Route 34? We can look at the stars while we eat there.

[freshprints]

[...ooh mr. naegi-kun ooh]

No wonder you thought I'd be cold.

[And yet she certainly doesn't act as though that's any sort of problem, as she gives Moomba a few last calming pats before heading to his flank and semi-gracefully boosting herself up onto his back (sidesaddle, of course, given the chill in the air and her outfit).]

...

It'll be easier if you steer while I hang on, won't it? Moomba will listen to you.

[superordinary]

I can do that. [ Okay, let him just board the furball express here. The cold weather really makes him appreciate the built-in heater in these firedogs. ]

Are you sure you don't want to change into something warmer, though?

[freshprints]

[Hopefully he won't mind if she just sort of gravitates right in and leans against him — to hang on, naturally.]

I'll be fine. The cold doesn't bother me much.

[superordinary]

All right.

[ If she catches a cold he can always nurse her back to health I mean let's just prompt the Moomba to start moving. ]

[freshprints]

[As they ride, Kirigiri is a little surprised to find herself...gradually unwinding, which is surprising at all because she honestly hadn't realized how much tension she'd apparently been carrying around until it started seeping away to the rhythm of Moomba's movements and the warm clouds of breath dissipating in the chill evening air. It's been a terse few weeks, there's no doubt of that; between Nanami's arrival, the new mysteries to uncover, the ongoing struggle with Celes and her on-again off-again grudgematch with Ishimaru...

But right now, there's none of that. The fact that she's dressed up is contributing to it, strangely enough; it makes her feel different, like this is something unusual and special (which it is), and as Moomba runs forward that means that with every step there's something the two of them are leaving behind, too. Whatever else happens, this night is theirs, and that's really quite the pleasant thought, actually.

She's slid down a little and rested her head against Naegi's shoulder before she quite realizes it, in part because the altered position means more contact with Moomba's fur, but also because it's just...nice like this. Nice, and relaxing, and if we're being honest about it, there's a little doki there too.]

[superordinary]

[ Naegi doesn't say anything during their ride; sometimes words aren't needed, and he's perfectly fine doing the "..." thing Kirigiri likes. He can hear the background music abrupty shift to a different song as they move onto Route 34 and eventually the sounds of the city behind them begin to fade into silence, replaced entirely by the wind and the crisp sounds of snow crunching under Moomba's paws.

He can feel himself unwind, too -- working at the department store during the month has been a lot more more stressful than usual because of the holiday and then Nanami showed up which brought up a metric ton of questions about the future ahead of them. But that's not something that he's concerned with tonight. Whatever happens in their future can wait, and today is called the present for a reason. That reason being Kirigiri resting against him, and he smiles when he feels it.

No more than five minutes later, he cues for Moomba to slow down and finally breaks the silence between them. ]

...I think this is a good spot.