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]

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.