The direction of her heart formed the pattern of Misono's days, her love for them letting her slip easily into the rhythm of her families as they changed. With the advent of her going outside the house and making friends, her heart had found a second love, another direction of pull, a shadow of time against that of her family
( ... )
Nino held tightly. He didn't ask how Misono knew he was there. He didn't even greet her. Just held on. When she was done he shook his head mutely. He wasn't really cold and he didn't want her to shut up. Not at all. Nino wasn't actually sure what he'd been thinking, coming down to the store this early. He'd been set to simply walk in and wait for Misono to arrive - it seemed like a pretty sure bet that a sex shop didn't open until lunch time.
"No," he said, finding his voice after a momentary eternity of staring silently. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking when I started walking here." Because he'd been too busy trying not to run humans over as he stared at the ground he was walking over. Nino cleared his throat and added, "I only realized I didn't know where else you'd be once I got to the door."
Something really was troubling him. She tipped her head and gave him a deliberately lopsided smile. "Yesung says I talk enough for twelve people, and you know I do, so if you ever want me to be quiet you can just say." She reached out and twined her fingers through his, swinging their hands. "And you don't ever have to be sorry. I won't ever be mad at you. Not really really mad. Sometimes I have a temper
( ... )
If Misono had a temper, that was news to Nino. Then again, she had found him tired and bone weary and half sick from the iron of the ship. It was probably hard to get angry at someone like that. And in all technicality, by human time they only knew each other a handful of weeks - those spent together on the ship and a few days since. Maybe Misono really did have a temper. It didn't change anything.
He held her hand, playing absently with her fingers as she pulled him up the stairs to the apartment. Hot chocolate sounded good. Hot chocolate sounded amazing. Nino almost startled off his step to find Misono suddenly nose to nose with him. He registered what she said and smiled faintly. He nodded, pressing their foreheads together.
"Yeah. I could. You could. Even if I went far I'd leave you a trail, so you wouldn't have to try."
He wasn't sure how Misono worked, but if she was anything like him, there was no way he could hide from her. Not since they'd shared magic. He obediently started back up the stairs after her. "Honey in hot
( ... )
"We're connected," she agreed quietly. "For always." She shifted her hand and curled her pinky around his. Misono loved being close to the people she loved; the fact that Kazunari got close, played with her fingers, put their heads together, was a gift to her. He was a gift.
"I don't know about honey in hot chocolate," she confessed as she opened the door to the upstairs apartment. "I saw it in a movie and it seemed like they really liked it so I thought I would try. But Ponyo isn't real so who knows? If we don't like it, we can have regular hot chocolate. I'll make extra so that we can." One handed she reached into the cupboards and pulled out the chocolate bars she kept there. "I like sweet things but not too sweet. America sure has a lot of things that are too sweet." She still had a Japanese palate--she preferred subtle tastes with the occasional burst of flavor, or else the simple tastes of something being just as it was
( ... )
Nino nodded. Honey in hot chocolate. It sounded too sweet. Honey in tea was good. Hot chocolate was good, especially if there was cinnamon. But honey in hot chocolate... Well, he'd never tried it, so he really couldn't disparage it. He'd give it a chance
( ... )
She leaned back into him, touching as much as accepting that touch, and thought about what he'd said. "You can get the milk," she told him. "I bought a quart of whole milk to use just for this." She kept her hands steady and quick. "And we need the pot, but that's already on the burner." She hummed under her breath, a short note, and then said, "I don't want American tastes to go all over. That's no good--because you said it: the fun part of eating is the different tastes." She made a face and looked at her chocolate, gauging how much she needed. "I'll have to work harder to make sure it doesn't happen
( ... )
"Milk," Nino repeated, nodding. He went to the thing that kept food cold - there was a name for it, but he never remembered - and found the whole milk. He brought it back to Misono, setting it on the counter by the burners for her. "It wouldn't be any fun," he agreed. "I wouldn't have a reason to want to eat human food if it all tasted like American tastes. ... I like turkey, though. That is something most countries don't have
( ... )
"Some stuff here is really good but sometimes it's not and sometimes they think good food is baby slime." She pouted playfully and then let it melt into a smile. "Turkey is good. I like Thanksgiving, that's pretty good all the way around. Yesung and I might do something for it this year."
This year, next, she'd have years with him and she knew it. But she also knew the years of being alone. She watched Kazunari's wings fold and his smile come and go like a firefly. "If you only just started to realize then you've probably got time yet. If it were something urgent it'd feel that way. And--" She didn't want to say that he was still healing even if he was. Well. "And you're still healing from everything from before. Your last favorite..." They'd never really talked about that person though she had her theories on it. It didn't (and did) matter who it was to the rest of the world, though, it mattered to him. "Your last was somebody very, very special, right? So it takes time. There's time to get better and go on, I know
( ... )
Nino wondered briefly if 'baby slime' meant oatmeal and porridge. Or maybe apple sauce. They seemed like the kinds of things that would wind up on a list of foods not for adults in this day's thinking. Nino liked the stuff. It was simple and filling and so wide-spread that he'd practically grown from New to Used on it. Marie had liked porridge, but only when he made it because he'd tricked her into thinking it was a secret fay food. Then she found herself married to France and the royal court there would never have allowed something as base as porridge into their dishes
( ... )
Misono had been thinking of Yesung's reaction to her infant-squid ceviche and how he'd called it slime later. Some people were just babies about food. Misono liked eating in general because she could still remember the novelty of doing so. But she also knew Court and food and would have agreed with Nino about how sometimes Court got it all wrong
( ... )
The chocolate started melting into the milk, swirling out and away from the spoon as Misono stirred. Soon enough the whole pot was turning different shades of brown, getting deeper and deeper. It smelled good
( ... )
Misono had never really considered before the idea of loving humans. She just did. "I guess it's pretty strange, loving people. They do stuff we don't understand and have rules that don't make sense and they leave us behind. They always leave us behind. But..." She smiled as she poured, the scent of chocolate and spice wafting up with the steam. "But I guess it's like the way the cherry blossoms bloom and fall, or the fireflies coming and going. Like a sunset, they're beautiful because we can't hang on to them." She made a face looking up at Kazunari. "That's kind of poetic! I'm not a very poetic person so it's not very good but if we love who we love, that's enough to go on with, right
( ... )
Humans always left behind those who loved them. But humans could join their lost humans. Nino didn't have that option. Not that he knew of. When he became too old for this world, he'd return to his own home. Fay weren't made to die
( ... )
Misono felt a puff of a laugh escape, like dandelion fluff. "Kazunari is a god person," she said. "I won't write it down; I'll remember because normally nobody says I say wise things
( ... )
Nino pursed his lips slightly, nodding around his mouthful of hot chocolate as he took in Misono's words. A kitsune, huh? Young and walking around with a tail, working in a zoo. That sounded funny - a fox working at a zoo. But it was better than a fox being in the zoo. Maybe Nino could go if it was early enough, because zookeepers had to open early to feed and take care of the animals before the humans got there and he'd never met a kitsune before
( ... )
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"No," he said, finding his voice after a momentary eternity of staring silently. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking when I started walking here." Because he'd been too busy trying not to run humans over as he stared at the ground he was walking over. Nino cleared his throat and added, "I only realized I didn't know where else you'd be once I got to the door."
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He held her hand, playing absently with her fingers as she pulled him up the stairs to the apartment. Hot chocolate sounded good. Hot chocolate sounded amazing. Nino almost startled off his step to find Misono suddenly nose to nose with him. He registered what she said and smiled faintly. He nodded, pressing their foreheads together.
"Yeah. I could. You could. Even if I went far I'd leave you a trail, so you wouldn't have to try."
He wasn't sure how Misono worked, but if she was anything like him, there was no way he could hide from her. Not since they'd shared magic. He obediently started back up the stairs after her. "Honey in hot ( ... )
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"I don't know about honey in hot chocolate," she confessed as she opened the door to the upstairs apartment. "I saw it in a movie and it seemed like they really liked it so I thought I would try. But Ponyo isn't real so who knows? If we don't like it, we can have regular hot chocolate. I'll make extra so that we can." One handed she reached into the cupboards and pulled out the chocolate bars she kept there. "I like sweet things but not too sweet. America sure has a lot of things that are too sweet." She still had a Japanese palate--she preferred subtle tastes with the occasional burst of flavor, or else the simple tastes of something being just as it was ( ... )
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This year, next, she'd have years with him and she knew it. But she also knew the years of being alone. She watched Kazunari's wings fold and his smile come and go like a firefly. "If you only just started to realize then you've probably got time yet. If it were something urgent it'd feel that way. And--" She didn't want to say that he was still healing even if he was. Well. "And you're still healing from everything from before. Your last favorite..." They'd never really talked about that person though she had her theories on it. It didn't (and did) matter who it was to the rest of the world, though, it mattered to him. "Your last was somebody very, very special, right? So it takes time. There's time to get better and go on, I know ( ... )
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