Shotgun & Devillic Log: Getting Summer Ready
Kaiya made another face as more sand coated her feet with each step. "I hope the grass helps more than you're advertising, or that sand in shoes is less annoying than I think it'll be..." She responded, It was probably better when wearing sandals, but that was not the footwear she had with her that day (and the ones they had purchased were safely tucked away in a locker). She followed Mikoto back up to the grass, and their stuff, though, and started trying to rub off the worst of the sand off her feet.
"There is a reason sandals exist... but if we sit and chill for a bit, rub off our shoes, it should be tolerable. And it is worth it," Mikoto insists. When they make it back to their things, he flops over onto the grass, not even trying to wipe it off yet. Happy to let the sand dry, since then it won't get on his hands so much.
Setsuna sends back a response to the picture Kaiya had sent, "Looks lovely~ Trying out your new beach things already?"
After finding that the sand was being stubborn so far (and seeing Mikoto's strategy), Kaiya sat down in the grass next to him, feet straight out to not get sand on her clothing. When the ping of Setsuna's message came through, Kaiya pulled her phone back out and smiled at what he'd written, then sent back, "Just the hat and sunglasses. Miko-chan and I went and walked in the sand, then put our feet in the water. It's so neat having the water come up like that! I don't like wet feet in dry sand, though :("
Mikoto checks his phone, but Keiji's still working, so he pesters some work friends instead. Nothing quite as wild as a drag queen group chat~ he sends them a day drag picture, purposefully with no context.
"Well, they look great. That was such a summery picture." Honestly, it might end up a phone background for the singer. At her comment about the sand, he sends her a star wars meme. He fully has no idea if she'd even get the reference, but it was too good an opportunity to pass by.
Kaiya had seen some of the Star Wars movies, but she couldn't say that she had seen them enough to remember more than the main points, so the meme made her snort and send back, "It had better NOT get everywhere!" Then she added, "I'm glad you like them! And the picture too! I thought it looked nice~ What are you up to?"
Keiji, meanwhile, was just finishing up his shoot. He was rather exhausted, but once he was on his way home, he pulled out his phone and saw the incredible number of pictures and messages from Mikoto. "How in the world did you find the time to send me all of this while out shopping with Kaiya?" He asked, his lips turning up in an amused smile before scrolling back to look at everything. Getting to the last photos again, he added, "Wait, are you at a beach?"
Setsuna decides not to let her know that sometimes after going swimming in the beach you will indeed find sand in very interesting places, not wanting to dissuade her from excitement for the beach. "Well, Anakin did literally come from a desert planet... I'm doing boring office work for the restaurant."
"We got done shopping surprisingly fast, so we went to a trick art museum," Mikoto explains, although frankly by the time Keiji looks at the photos that should be somewhat obvious. He ignores his trans coworkers asking if his egg has cracked to talk to his boyfriend instead, "Yes~ We went for a little wade and found some seashells."
Kaiya smiled at that response. "I guess desert sand would get, literally, everywhere. And there wouldn't be much water to make it worthwhile." She decided, then continued, "Awww boring office work sounds like no fun! Should I come over after and un-bore you?" She figured it was safe enough since she was out with Mikoto. She'd, obviously, just be going home with him. If Setsuna went upstairs to his own apartment, well.... no one could put those two things together, right?
"The two of you and 'fast shopping' seem like two things that should not go together. Three things? Whatever. I can't imagine the two of you shopping for *anything* quickly." Keiji responded with an amused smile. The knowledge that the two of them had, indeed, gone to a beach was interesting, though, "What beach did you guys go to? And did you find any fun shells?"
"Sure, that sounds lovely," Setsuna replies. And given she's at a beach somewhere, he probably has long enough to get his work done before she'll actually successfully come over.
Mikoto is terribly amused by Keiji's assumptions about their shopping, and replies, "We had a list of what we were looking for, and got pretty lucky and got ones we liked quite fast. We ended up shopping in Odaiba and there's a park here with this little beach. We definitely found some shells." For some reason, he opts to not immediately tell Keiji about the one he'd found.
"Yay~" Kaiya sent back, then out loud told the blond, "Ne~ Miko-chan~ Is it okay if I follow you home today~?" She was asking, but she had no doubts that he would say it was okay.
"Ah~ I see." Keiji sent back, still rather amused by the whole thing. "Sounds like the two of you have had a really good day. Are you going to bring the shells home so I can see them?"
"Hmm? Sure, of course," Mikoto replies. It would be ok in general, but especially with the couple's current ban from seeing each other in public, it also happens quite often for other reasons.
Mikoto has to admit, "It's been a lot of fun - and aside from the shopping, pretty cheap fun too - and I *might* show you my shells~"
"Thanks~" Kaiya responded happily, glad that she had received permission, even if she hadn't expected anything else. The truth was: Mikoto could have been expecting to go to her house to see her brother instead, so asking was important, just for that. That sorted, though, she sent back to Setsuna, "I don't know when I'll get there. We're waiting for the sand on our feet to dry before trying to get it off and put our shoes back on. Then, I don't know how long it'll take us to get back from Odaiba." She added, not realizing this was the first time she'd mentioned where they actually were.
"Oh~? They must be some pretty cool shells if there's only a *chance* you'll show them to me~" Keiji sent back, a somewhat tired smile on his lips, his amusement shining through his exhaustion from work. "I'm glad that you two were able to find fun, inexpensive things to do too." He added, understanding that Mikoto was trying to be mindful of Kaiya's lack of money while still having a great day out together, and he really appreciated it.
"No problem, just gives me more time to get my work done before you get back. No need to rush, have fun, ne?" Setsuna suggests, before putting his phone down and focusing on his tasks at hand.
The blond teases, "Wouldn't you like to know~ Sounds like Kaiya-chan's coming over to my place when we're done." he adds, letting Keiji know what the arrangement for the day is -- things get complicated sometimes, with who's going where.
"Okay! Don't work too hard~" Kaiya sent back. When she didn't receive a response back, she assumed that Setsuna was back to working, and she flopped back in the grass next to Mikoto to scroll through instagram for a bit.
"I really would~" Keiji sent back, still very amused. The information that Kaiya and Mikoto would be heading to the Traveller was important, though not super surprising. "Want me to meet you over there sometime later?" He asked. Clearly it made no sense to go over there right now, as it would likely take Kaiya and Mikoto a while to get back, and he could probably catch a nap while he waited too.
"If you come over later, you could try to convince me to show you my shell," Mikoto advertises, although his perverted mind starts to feel like shell feels dirty in that sentence somehow. But, since he knows Keiji had been working that day, he does add, "If you're feeling tired, that's ok too."
That reply almost made Keiji laugh in the middle of his train ride, but he sent back, "I think I'll head home for the moment to get a nap, then come over later to try to do a little convincing~ Enjoy the rest of your time in Odaiba!"
Kaiya, meanwhile, had received a text from one of her friends.
"Sounds good, see you later," Mikoto replies, since Keiji's text sounded like a sign off. He responds briefly to his group chat from work, then puts his phone away. He enjoys the view while Kaiya texts her friends for a bit, and then says, "Think our feet are dry yet?"
When Mikoto spoke up, Kaiya finally noticed that her friend was no longer texting. "Oh! Yeah, maybe?" She responded, her feet kind of itchy, now that she was thinking about them. She quickly said goodbye to the friend she'd been talking to, then tucked her phone away. "So~ What's the best way to get the dry sand off?" She asked, looking to Mikoto for his expertise in this.
"I like to use the grass first, and then my hands to polish up," Mikoto explains -- and using the grass first means his hands are still largely clean and can help with the fine grains. He shifts so his feet are away from his sister (so he doesn't accidentally shoot sand at her) and starts vigorously rubbing his feet on the grass.
"Oooh~ Okay!" Kaiya replied, then shifted to mirror Mikoto and began vigorously rubbing her feet in the grass as well. Actually, it was kind of fun, and she began to giggle as the sand started to come off her feet.
Once the grass has done most of the heavy lifting, Mikoto reaches over to use his hands to try to get off as much as he can -- knowing full well it's not possible to get it all off. At least he has sandals today -- although they are also wedges so it could still be quiet uncomfortable. He especially uses his fingers to get between his toes.
Watching her big sister, Kaiya took note of what Mikoto was doing to get the most sand off his feet, then copied him. As she worked between her toes, she wrinkled her nose at the grossness of the feel. "I wish we had, like, a pail of water to stick our feet in to get all the sand off for sure." She complained lightly. Waiting for her feet to dry after washing them wouldn't be any worse than waiting for the sand to dry. At least, she assumed that would be how it would work.
"Hmm. I mean it would help a lot, I don't know if the practicality is worth the value," Mikoto admits. He's not quite sure how best he would be able to do that. He delicately puts his shoes on, then immediately off again as he finds places where the sand is bothersome.
"Hmmm...." Kaiya considered it for a second, then shrugged. Mikoto was probably right, after all: carrying a pail around to use at the beach would probably be more problem than it was worth. Oh well. Since she wasn't wearing sandals that day, she took more care with getting the sand as fully off her feet as she could before putting her footwear back on. There was definitely still sand in there, but she didn't think she could do any better job, so she'd just have to deal with it.
Mikoto seems satisfied with his second attempt putting his wedge sandals on, he waits to see how Kaiya's doing. Then he asks, "What are we gunna do now? Keep wandering around? Head back?"
Kaiya shrugged at the question, "Either is fine with me right now. Setsuna-kun is working right now, but if you want to go home and get changed, then go see my brother, I'm good with that." Of course she knew that Keiji was done with work by now, and she was sure that Mikoto had talked to him at some point while they were drying the sand on their feet.
"Hmm, well the thing is, it'll take us a bit to get back," Mikoto replies. It had been a longish train ride in the morning, and they'll be doing that in reverse to return home, "So we probably don't want to do a LOT more."
"Ooooh~ That's true, huh? I forgot how long it took to get here." Kaiya admitted, then shrugged. "Maybe just head back, then?" She suggested, thinking that might be the best idea with the long trip home (especially since they didn't have any clear ideas where else they would want to go).
Mikoto smiles, and agrees, "Yes, let's leisurely make our way back~" There's no rush to it, but they are on basically a different island than most of Tokyo, and they live on the other side of the city from the island too. He stands up and stretches, then picks up his bag.
"Okay~" Kaiya agreed easily, then fell into step next to her friend. "Is Keiji going to meet us at your house? Or are you going to see him later?" She asked, always interested in her brother's and the blond's relationship. Not that she wanted nitty gritty details, but she did like knowing that they were doing well.
"Hmm, it sounded like that plan was for him to come over later - he's catching a nap for now," Mikoto replies. And Keiji catching a nap is lovely because it means their sleep schedules will sync up slightly more than usual.
"Ooooh~ That's a good idea. Then he'll be rested by the time we get back, or at least by the time he comes over!" Kaiya responded happily. "That'll be good. Then you guys can have a nice date, or whatever~" She wasn't sure what Keiji and Mikoto were calling their hangings out, but *she* thought of them as dates.
Mikoto sails right past the date designation - he's not totally opposed to the word, but he mostly uses it when they're actually going out, not just hanging out. "Mhmm, it should be a nice evening -- for all of us, ne?"
Given that a good many of Kaiya's dates with Setsuna, both before and after the decision for them not to be seen out and about together, had not been out dates, she absolutely counted in dates as dates. Thankfully, they didn't have to dissect that classification today. "Mhm~ I hope so~" Kaiya agreed brightly, with a smile for her friend. "Do you think we'll have dinner all together? Or do you and my brother have other plans~?" She asked, not because *she* had other plans, but just because she was curious if they were going to go for more of a family vibe for dinner, or a more romantic one.
"Hmmm, we didn't really make a solid plan. I like the idea of eating all together though," Mikoto replies. Since he's spent his day with Kaiya, a family dinner where they're still hanging out just seems proper, and who could say no to Setsuna's food (no insult to Keiji's cooking at all, as it's also great).
"I like that too~" Kaiya agreed easily. Family dinners were something she really loved. It wasn't something she ever remembered experiencing before Mikoto and Setsuna came into her life. Of course, she and Keiji had always tried to sit down and eat together, but Keiji had always been working while in high school, and then when he started modelling, his schedule became so erratic. So, family dinners, with all four of them together, were really very special to her. And whether Setsuna cooked, or Keiji did, or they just ordered something up from the restaurant, it was always something she enjoyed.
Isn't ordering from the restaurant pretty similar to Setsuna cooking? Theoretically? Anyways~ "So, I guess we'll do that. Hopefully Keiji-kun wakes up and joins us before dinner." He laughs at that, knowing they'd wait for him - or save food for him, at least.
Kaiya would have had a retort to that if Mikoto had voiced it. The food would be very similar, but the effort for Setsuna would be very different. "Oh, I'm sure he will! I don't think he'll nap *that* long!" Kaiya replied, absolute certainty in her words. Of course, she couldn't be sure how immediately after getting home that her brother would lay down (especially since he would probably need to eat *something* first, shoots being notorious for not doing a good job feeding their models), but they probably weren't going to eat as soon as they got back to Mikoto's place either, so it should be fine, in her opinion.
"Wanna shoot Setsuna a text warning him that we're planning on making him cook for everyone?" Mikoto suggests, and of course, he could just as easily send that message, but it's more fun coming from his girlfriend though, right?
That suggestion made Kaiya laugh. "My warning will mostly be about making a little more for Keiji~ You know he'd already assume he was making for you~" She said, teasing Mikoto good naturedly. She did pull out her phone, though, to send off, "Miko-chan and I were thinking it might be nice to have family dinner tonight. Keiji is supposed to come over sometime too (he's going home for a nap first after work). Should we pick up anything on the way home?" She added, thinking that was open enough to mean either 'pick up takeout' or 'get needed groceries' and not just assume that Setsuna would want to cook that night. Sure, he loved doing it, but he *had* been working all afternoon. He might be tired.
"Setsuna's logic is, make enough for me. If I don't show up, he has a full meal of leftovers," Mikoto jokes, knowing he eats a lot and grateful to the wonderful men around him who cook for him so he doesn't have to.
Setsuna wants to cook for the full family, and while he's a bit tired, thinks this crowd would be receptive to something of a lazy dinner, so he suggests, "Can you pick up some minced chicken then? And baby spinach if they have it?"
"Sounds like a reasonable thing to do." Kaiya responded, thinking Mikoto wasn't so far off from the truth, actually. Hearing that text coming through, she looked back at her phone. "Okay~ We're stopping at the grocery store on the way home." She told the blond. "We have a request for minced chicken and baby spinach." She relayed, then sent back, "Okay! We'll do that. If they don't have baby spinach, will regular spinach work?" Asking now made more sense to her than getting to the store, searching, then asking.
"If they don't have baby spinach.... then I don't really care. Pick up any veg you think you'd like in an italian flavour profile," Setsuna replies. This lazy dish has very few ingredients that MUST be present, and he already has all of those, so it doesn't matter too much.
"Ok~" Mikoto replies, fine with that. It's fair that the non-chefs handle anything like washing the dishes, or fetching ingredients. And adds, "Ooh, I could buy some ice cream..."
"Okay~ Italian veggie profile~" Kaiya sent back, glad to know what type of vegetables to look out for. She may not be any kind of great cook, but she did understand what kinds of veggies were supposed to go with certain types of food (mostly). "Sounds like we're having something Italian tonight!" She told Mikoto, then immediately enthused, "Ooooooh~ Ice cream~" With it being so warm, ice cream really did sound good.
"Oh, cool," Mikoto replies, with the italian food reveal, with a tone that makes it obvious that he truly didn't care. And that's because he was sure that whatever Setsuna would feed them would end up being delicious, so he's just not worried about it. "Ice cream -- maybe coolers?" He asks, seeing if Kaiya would be interested. The rule seems to be that it's fine for her to enjoy one with appropriate company at an appropriate time, after all.
Kaiya just rolled her eyes at Mikoto's lack of enthusiasm for her dinner announcement, but let it slide. "Oooh~ Coolers would be fun!" She replied happily. She had no interest in ever being drunk again, but she did enjoy drinking the adult drinks when she was safe with people she trusted (just in case), and she knew that the blond knew of tasty drinks she had yet to get to try.
"Ok! Ice cream, coolers, and boring food to eat to live!" Mikoto declares, clearly more interested in some aspects than others, but also being purposefully ridiculous. He spots a sign, "Oh, instead of going all the way back, I think we could get on at this train station?"
Kaiya just giggled at Mikoto's explanation, then shrugged at his suggestion about the train. "We could. We have to remember to get off and pick up my bags, though." She reminded her friend. Not that she thought he forgot, exactly, but more as a way to stick a mental note *to* get off at that stop before going home.
Mikoto hadn't totally forgotten, but it hadn't been on the top of his mind. But it's still very doable to use this method to get her bags, so he's gunna roll with it. "Ok, how about... we stop at that station, you stay on the platform, I'll run and get the bags?" He offers - not the least of which because this way only he would have to pay a second time for transit.
While she would love to say 'no, I'll go with you!', Kaiya recognized the offer for what it was, and she smiled before nodding. "Okay! That sounds like a plan." Even if it felt a little silly, she was still really grateful that her friend was thinking of her financial situation like this.
Hey man, 200 yen is ACTUALLY nothing to Mikoto, but it matters to Kaiya and Keiji, and any subtle way where he can save them a little scratch, he's gunna take. "Cool." He says, the situation being settled. They head into the near station, and as planned, the blond pops out, and comes back laden with shopping bags -- honestly with his outfit, the blond hair, the bags, he looks like something out of an american movie~
Kaiya hung out on the platform to wait for Mikoto to come back, just scrolling through instagram while she waited. When the blond came back, positively festooned with bags, Kaiya couldn't help but giggle when she saw him. She did immediately go over to him and take her fair share of the bags, though. "You were so quick!" She exclaimed, not having expected him to be so fast, but happy she had been wrong.
"I mean, was I supposed to dawdle?" Mikoto asks, amused at that comment. He hadn't wandered around or anything, just directly there and back. He's pleased when she takes some of the bags though, and then stands and waits for the next train -- which shouldn't be too long.
"Nooooo~ But I felt like the lockers were further away." Kaiya admitted. While she was sure that Mikoto hadn't dawdled, she also didn't think he had run either. Still, she wasn't going to argue with the results. Once their train came, she got on with Mikoto, and all the bags, then stuffed the bags away and took a seat with Mikoto, glad that there were seats available for their long ride back home. "Whew! Next stop: the grocery store~"
He certainly had not run, in these shoes. Seats were nice, especially since it means they get put their bags in the (Rarely used) overhead storage. "And then we make Setsuna cook yummy food for us~"
Kaiya giggled at that addition to their plans. "Yeah~" She agreed, though she would happily help if she could. And, she knew even Mikoto would do any jobs that Setsuna gave him to get the meal going. "Are there any veggies you really like? For Italian food? Setsuna-kun said if we couldn't get baby spinach to get whatever veggies that would go with Italian." She explained, trying to make it clear this wasn't some weird, out of the blue question.
The blond shrugs, admitting, "I mean, I'm like the least picky eater around." Plus they don't know whether the baby spinach will be available or not yet so it just seems kinda academic to him.
Kaiya scrunched her nose at him in amusement. "Yeah, true, you'll eat just about anything, huh?" She mused. Though, thinking about it, she couldn't think of too many things she wouldn't eat either. She hadn't really had the option to be picky, honestly.
"The human garbage disposal," Mikoto jokes, having no trouble saying rude sounding things about himself, and he certainly can put food away like nobody's business. Somehow. Where he puts it, nobody knows.
That description made Kaiya laugh a bit. "Yeah~ Basically~" She agreed. "I don't think I could ever eat as well as you." She added, absolutely thinking that it was amazing that Mikoto was able to eat so much and still be so slim. Though, with her exercises and increased eating, *she* also wasn't gaining that much in the way of visibly noticeable weight, especially with her growth spurt.
"It's not the flashiest super power, but I certainly won't complain," The blond reasons, and the light, joking atmosphere continues on their longish train ride. When they're out and walking to the grocery store Mikoto is glad to be walking around instead of sitting still.
As they entered the grocery store, bags split between them so that they weren't *so* ridiculous, Kaiya hummed happily and made straight for the produce section. Chicken wouldn't be an issue at all, so seeing whether the baby spinach existed was the more important task. After eating much better the last several months, and getting used to eating food made by an honest to goodness chef a good amount of that time, she had come to appreciate many more types and preparations of vegetables, so she was also taking in the many tasty looking items as she passed them.
Mikoto, despite having eaten lovely homecooked meals all his life; from his mom and then Setsuna, remains more or less blissfully unaware of any useful information about food or cooking. But at least he recognizes baby spinach when he sees it, "Oh, there we go."
"Oh! Yay!" Kaiya enthused as Mikoto found the vegetable they'd come for. On the one hand, she was glad that they would be able to realize Setsuna's vision. On the other... she was kind of sad they wouldn't get to look for other yummy veggies. Ah well~ Another time. "Now~ Chicken!" She said, moving toward the meat section even as she spoke.
"Mhmm," Mikoto agrees, following along, and letting Kaiya pick out the chicken since to him that would require slightly more reading and he doesn't feel like doing it now.
Kaiya hummed a little to herself as she looked the chicken over, checking weights, dates, and the look of the chicken the way that she had learned to from Setsuna. Finally, she chose some chicken for the four of them, then turned back to Mikoto. "Okay~ Ice cream next? Or coolers?"
"Coolers first, ice cream last," Mikoto replies, with the wisdom that ice cream should also be grabbed last so as to prevent as much melting as possible. Besides, he knows what ice cream he wants to buy, but they might take a minute choosing their coolers. He leads the way to the alcohol aisle and starts considering the options.
"Okay~" Kaiya agreed easily, then followed along after Mikoto. When they came to the alcohol aisle, she took a look at the different coolers, but asked the blond, "Is there anything that's really good? Or should I just... look?" She asked, not sure exactly what she should be looking for. After all, in the past she'd just had whatever Mikoto had purchased.
"Hmmm," Mikoto thinks that just saying to choose what looks good might be a bit broad, so he points to a couple brands, "I like these ones -- maybe just see what flavour appeals to you out of these?"
"Mmmm.... Okay!" Kaiya replied brightly, going to look at the available flavours in the brands that Mikoto had pointed out. Some things, like grapefruit or green apple sounded refreshing, but not all that sweet, and so far she had only tried sweet coolers. So, with that thought in mind, she looked again. After a bit of looking over the options, she found herself between two different flavours. "Mmmmmm..... okay, I'm trying to decide between two: Rainbow Punch, and Pink Lemonade." They were both vodka coolers, so it was really just a question of flavour at this point.
The blond has a typically eloquent solution - grabbing both. He explains, "You can try them both, drink whichever you prefer, and I'll have the other one." He explains, already starting to moving along towards the ice cream aisle.
Kaiya giggled at that solution. "What if I like them both~?" She asked, just a little cheeky. She followed along after Mikoto, though, sure that he knew what ice cream he was after.
"Then I'll drink half of each," Mikoto replies, having no qualms at all about sharing, and pretty sure Kaiya doesn't actually want to drink two coolers worth of vodka. Mikoto gets to the ice cream aisle, and just immediately starts grabbing some chocolate ice cream.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed, thinking that was a fantastic idea. She definitely didn't need two coolers' worth of alcohol in her, and she knew her brother wouldn't be happy with that idea either, so knowing that she and Mikoto could just share the coolers if she liked them both made her very happy. She wasn't at all surprised when Mikoto immediately grabbed the ice cream without needing to consider at all. "Okay~ To the register!" She announced, pretty sure that they now had everything they'd come for.
The ice cream Mikoto likes comes in relatively small containers - which he considers single-serve, so he gets 4 containers. He then goes to the register, and being the one of legal age, is for multiple reasons the one to actually purchase everything. With yet another bag added to their pile, he says, "And now, home time~"
Kaiya definitely didn't even try to pay for their purchases here. First, she couldn't due to age. Second, she knew Mikoto wouldn't let her. With their grocery shopping done, though, she agreed with a relieved sigh, "Yes~ Home time~"
At that sigh, the blond giggles, "Funny how when you go out to shop, it's so exciting, but by the end it's always like 'oh thank goodness, time to go home', ne?"
"Mmmhmmm~" Kaiya agreed, "I'm ready to flop onto a couch or something. I just feel like my energy has suddenly gone *poof*!" She admitted, though she didn't really lag at all as they made their way back to the Traveller.
"Well, it is hot today - hot days always seem to make people tired," Mikoto agrees, although thankfully it's not maximum crazy humid summer heat quite yet. It doesn't take them too long to get home, and head immediately into Setsuna's apartment. The blond goes straight to the kitchen as if he owns the place, to make sure he stashes the ice cream safely in the freezer.
"Mmm... that might be it." Kaiya agreed, following Mikoto inside gladly. Since her shoes were just slip ons, she was able to head into the apartment proper pretty quickly herself. She left her bags and hat at the front door, then slid her new sunglasses up on top of her head, then called out, "Setsuna-kun~ We're here~" She wasn't sure if he was in the kitchen, and therefore had already encountered the blond, but she hadn't heard anything to indicate that either. Of course, he also might be downstairs in the restaurant too, and she was calling to an empty apartment.
Unlike Mikoto who converted his second bedroom into two walk in closets, Setsuna uses his as an office. He emerges from there, stretching since he'd been sitting for god knows how long before he'd heard his girlfriend. "Welcome~ Did you have fun?" he asks, heading over to his girlfriend to greet her properly with a kiss. She definitely looks summery, with the sunnies up on her head. For a moment, he thought she'd forgotten to take her shoes off in the genkan, but no, she's just that tall now.
"Mhm~ Lots of fun! Glad to be home now, though." Kaiya agreed, happily leaning in for that kiss. The fact that she didn't have to lean *up* at all, really, was almost as surprising as when she'd realized that she was now taller than Mikoto. She wasn't *quite* the same height as Setsuna now, but close enough that it would take a measuring tape to tell the difference now.
Setsuna is not going to bring up the difference. He really doesn't care if Kaiya is shorter than him, same as him, or taller than him, and mentioning that he'd noticed the difference -- well he didn't want to accidentally give the impression it bothered him. There's enough weird stuff about height differences in media as is. "Happy with what you found?" he asks, definitely not asking for a show. It's one thing to both be in swimwear at the beach, and another for just her to be in swimwear prancing around the house. Also Mikoto's here somewhere and apparently Keiji's gunna show up at some point too.
"Very~ I'll have to show you some of it later. I kind of got more than I thought I would..." Kaiya admitted, slightly embarrassed. To get past that, though, *she* brought up the height thing, "I guess I had a growth spurt! I noticed that Miko-chan was suddenly shorter than me on the beach, and I'm almost as tall as you without shoes now! I guess that's why I felt so yucky and achy the last week or so..." She admitted. She didn't sound upset, or weird about it, and she didn't expect Setsuna to feel upset or weird either, it was just that she'd noticed, and it was weird and surprising to her.
"Isn't that just what happens when one goes shopping with Mikoto though?" Well, he's not going to shy away from the topic if she brings it up -- he's just thankful she feels fine about it. He admits, "There was a moment where I thought you'd forgotten to take your shoes off - but yeah, you're just taller now. Taller than Mikoto, huh?" He doesn't doubt it, but it'll take some getting used to. He gets an arm around her and brings her along to the kitchen so they can see what the blond is up to, but the ice cream is already stashed by then. And he blinks, "Why are you Miko-chan today?"
The blond smiles, "This way if Kaiya-chan needed help in the dressing room, I could oblige."
Kaiya laughed at that, "Yeah, I guess it is." She agreed happily, her tiredness mostly melting away now that she was in the cool apartment, and even moreso as that arm went around her. "Yeah~ Wait til you see!" She told him, which he would imminently, now that they were heading toward the kitchen. At Setsuna's question to Mikoto, Kaiya just smiled at her 'big sister'. Fact was, she didn't really view any difference between boy Miko, girl Miko, and band Miko. They were all just 'Mikoto' or 'Miko-chan' to her, regardless of how he was dressed. "And no one would think it was weird or anything for him to be helping me look for swimsuits and stuff." She added, thinking that would have also turned into a lot of stares and incorrect thoughts about what they were doing.
"You didn't wanna spend all day knowing everybody who saw you thought that she was your girlfriend. Even though she's an awesome girlfriend and everybody would be jealous," Setsuna reasons, giving Kaiya a squeeze before letting go and looking through the groceries (whysomuchbooze and junkfood oh god why is miko like this) and then starting to get out the rest of his ingredients.
Miko smiles, "Everyone would of course be jealous of her, but no matter how awesome, I do not want a girlfriend and it would be uncomfortable with a bunch of people thinking my little sister is my girlfriend."
Kaiya just giggled at the idea of people thinking she was Mikoto's girlfriend. It wouldn't be the first time, but she agreed with the blond that it would feel pretty weird at this point. Not awful, but definitely weird. She smiled at that little squeeze, then moved to stand closer to Mikoto, inadvertently showing just how much taller she was than the blond now. Not *extremely*, but enough to be immediately noticeable when they're side by side. "We were able to find the baby spinach!" She announced, even though Setsuna clearly had seen that now.
Mikoto has purposefully pretended to be her boyfriend before - if it's necessary he's willing to do it. But he'd rather just temporarily be a girl with her.
"So you did. I was worried because they sell out really quickly of it for some reason," Setsuna admits -- and that's when he sees the pair side-by-side and Kaiya was 100% correct -- she's clearly taller than the blond now. Wild.
Refocussing, he explains, "So. I'm tired so I'm going to make something lazy and easy to make, but delicious. And... as a bonus, you get to learn how to make something lazy and easy and delicious." he explains to his girlfriend.
"Oooh?" Kaiya asked, immediately interested. Lazy, easy, and delicious was just about perfect to her. "Does that mean I get to help?" She asked. Not 'does that mean I *need* to help'. No, she was excited at the prospect of being able to help her boyfriend cook if she could. Anticipating a positive response, she moved a little away from Mikoto, and a little closer to Setsuna.
"Absolutely -- actually, honestly, it's easy enough I can probably just coax you through the whole thing," Setsuna admits. He gets out an onion -- they have the minced chicken and baby spinach from the grocery store. He gets out garlic, chicken soup stock, sri racha and finally a box of couscous. "And that's about everything. And part of what's nice about this is... you can flavour it differently. I often just throw in whatever left over meat I have."
"Yeah?" Kaiya asked, a little surprised that the recipe was *that* easy. Seeing the other ingredients come out, she was surprised that they were all things that she had cooked before with Setsuna. "Oh! I know how to use all these things!" She said with some surprise. "Do I... start with the onion?" She asked, "Oh! Or do I need to start the couscous first?" It depended on whether the whole thing cooked with the grain at the same time, or if it needed to be done separately while she worked on everything else. That she even knew that was all thanks to her boyfriend's training.
"Couscous is last," That's probably the one thing he hasn't cooked with her. He understands her logic - grains usually need a long time to cook, so he explains, "It's actually not a grain, despite its appearance. It's actually pasta. So it will cook near instantly. We will start, as usual, with dicing and frying up the onion." And he leaves it at that, knowing she can easily do that.
"Ooooh~ I think I got it confused with quinoa." Kaiya admitted. "Okay! Onion first, then garlic when the onion's almost done frying?" She had learned, first hand, the bitterness of over-cooked garlic. That said, she did get to work dicing up the onion. Her cutting technique was getting better with practice, but she definitely still wasn't anywhere near chef level. Once the onion was chopped, though, she got out the pan she needed, put the oil in, then got it hot before adding the onion, grinning broadly at the hiss and sizzle when she added the vegetable to the oil.
"Depends on how much garlic flavour you want. If you want a big punch, you put it in at the end. But for normal purposes, yeah," Setsuna agrees. Once that's done, he coaches, "Lower the heat, and pour in the canned tomato - at this point the hard part is basically over. Just keep it slowly cooking, stir occasionally, and add in the other things minus the couscous. We're gunna use minced chicken, baby spinach, and chicken soup seasonings -- if you feel like trying you could brown the mince chicken properly before the canned tomato, but this is something I make when I'm feeling lazy, and it'll be fine either way."
Kaiya listened to the instructions being given to her, and nodded a couple of times to herself. "Okay, so, the less lazy way is chicken first, then tomato, then the rest. More lazy way is tomato first, then cook the chicken in the sauce." She reiterated, then went for the tomato first, since the selling point to her learning this was that it was lazy, and easy, and delicious, so she wanted to see how it tasted with the laziest preparation. She took her time, adding the ingredients the way that Setsuna had described, and soon there was a lovely smelling sauce with chicken cooking away. "Do we make the couscous the same way as other pasta? Or just put it in the sauce to cook?" She asked, not sure how this part would work.
It was around this time that Keiji arrived at the apartment. He dropped off his clothes for the next day in Mikoto's place, fully expecting to stay over, then walked across the hall and knocked on Setsuna's door. He just wasn't used to walking into the man's home the way Mikoto and Kaiya were.
Because Miko and Keiji were there, they were using two cans worth of tomatoes, but for just two people, one would be enough. "That's the beauty of it. You just cook the couscous in the sauce - it absorbs it nicely and genuinely will only take about 1 minute to cook. So you taste the sauce, and make sure the seasoning is as you like it, then finally add the couscous and cover." Setsuna replies. He doesn't add enough sri racha to make it super spicy or anything, he just finds it adds a nice flavour.
Since the other two are busy, Mikoto goes to open the door - besides he knows it's his lover on the other side. He opens it up and smiles at the younger man, "Hello~ welcome. I think dinner's almost done?"
"Oooh~ That's really cool!" Keiya enthused happily. "And even better for cleaning~ Only one knife, one cutting board, one pan, and one lifter~" And the dishes they were eating off of, of course, but she was just thinking of the small number of cooking dishes. That said, she took a taste of the sauce, considered it, then added a little more sriracha, then a touch more salt, and tasted again. "Hmmm.... I think that's good?" Hearing her brother arriving, she thought it was pretty perfect that everything had come together at the perfect time. "Couscous now?"
Keiji smiled at finding Mikoto on the other side of the door. "Thanks! Sounds wonderful." He commented, moving inside so he could take his shoes off. "You're looking quite lovely for your shopping trip." He complimented, figuring Mikoto had gone girl-mode to ease the shopping with his sister. And... well, he was enjoying the aesthetic, so why not say so?
"I've used leftover chicken, or leftover beef - just change the chicken bouillon to beef. you can make it spicier with more sriracha or... anything, really," Setsuna agrees. He nods along with her realizing how few tools had been used, as that's definitely a factor in how lazy this meal is. "Mmhmm. Add the couscous, fold it into the sauce and cover. And you can turn off the heat -- the sauce is hot enough and the couscous cooks fast enough that it'll be fine."
"Smells good too," Mikoto adds, since he's been sitting in the kitchen doing nothing while the other two have been cooking. Once Keiji has his shoes off, he tugs on his boyfriend's hair to demand his greeting kiss. As for his outfit, he smiles, "I feel very summery - although being boy mode would be better for that cuz I'm cinched and I'm sure my cincher is drenched in sweat."
"Can you use fish too? Or does that not work out so well?" Kaiya asked, already following Setsuna's directions regarding the pasta. Once it was covered in the sauce and she had covered it and turned off the heat, she smiled over at her boyfriend. "Done!" Her pride in herself evident in the look in her eyes and the lightness of her voice.
"Mhm~" Keiji agreed, then gave a soft, joyful chuckle at that hair tug before leaning down to give Mikoto that requested kiss. "You definitely look summery." He agreed, appreciating the look, though he did add, "Did you want to get changed before dinner?" As much as he enjoyed the look, he knew that it involved a lot of extra stuff under the clothes to make the illusion work so well, and if it was making his lover uncomfortable, he'd rather Mikoto take the chance to change into something more comfortable.
"Hmm, I think it would be fine. I don't usually have leftover fish, so I haven't tried it. If you don't have a fish bouillon, a veggie stock would probably do." Setsuna theorizes. He smiles at her, and says, "Incredibly lazy and easy to make though, right?"
"Hmm. I should have," Mikoto admits, with a laugh, realizing that's probably what he ought to have done while the others were cooking. But he'd been enjoying watching Setsuna and Kaiya being all cozy. "I think dinner's basically already done though." he admits. He takes Keiji's hand and pulls him into the kitchen to see how that's going.
"That makes sense! We don't often have leftover fish, but sometimes we can get cheap frozen fish, and some of the cheap frozen fish is kind of.... bland? So I think it might be nice adding it to something like this." Kaiya explained. She nodded enthusiastically at the question, though. "Yeah~ Really easy!" She agreed, still beyond proud of herself for actually having done all the work for this meal. It was about that time that Mikoto returned with Keiji, though. "Keiji! I made dinner!" She told her brother immediately.
"Oh well. You can always change after dinner instead." Keiji replied, following the other man into the kitchen. That immediate welcome from his sister made him laugh a bit. "The whole thing?" He asked, assuming that she had done a lot of help, rather than having made it all basically herself. It did smell very good, though, as advertised.
"Ohh, yeah it should work well for that," Setsuna agrees. he definitely doesn't buy or eat cheap frozen fish, but he's not going to judge the Tanaka family for something cheap and healthy like that. He smiles and waves in greeting to keiji, and says, "She cooked it all. I just watched and gave advice."
Mikoto nods at the idea that he'll have to change later. Once he's got Keiji in the kitchen, he goes to the fridge to get out drinks for everyone. He pipes up though, "I watched the whole thing -- Kaiya-chan made it~"
Kaiya just grinned at Setsuna and Mikoto confirming that she had done all the cooking. Truly, she was very proud of what she'd done.
Keiji took in that very proud look, as well as the words of the other two men, then smiled at his sister as well. He knew she had been doing her best to take on more of the cooking duties when he had to work, and most things she made turned out very well these days, so he was proud of her too. "Well, it smells great!" He said out loud. "I can't wait to try it."
That response from her brother made her positively beam. "It's almost ready! We're just waiting for the pasta to be done. And it should be done really soon, right?" She directed that last at Setsuna. She was pretty sure he'd said it would only take a minute or so, so that meant really soon, right?
Mikoto helps out in his simple way, by putting out drinks for everyone, having a good idea where everyone typically sits, and what they typically drink for dinner. He saves the coolers for dessert since he doesn't know how their flavours would interact with dinner.
Setsuna starts getting out the dishes, and agrees, "It's probably done already -- to be extra sure you can lift the lid and give it a good mix around." That would even out any spots that happened to have less sauce with spots that have more and help make sure all the couscous gets coated.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed brightly, going and doing just as suggested and stirring the meal around. As soon as she lifted the lid, the delicious scent in the air intensified. "Mmmmm~" She hummed excitedly. Just as she was done stirring the pasta and sauce, deeming it probably done, her brother was there with dishes ready. "Okay~ Let's see...." She said, mostly to herself, as she doled out three servings that she thought of as 'normal', and one that nearly filled the dish entirely for Mikoto. There was still a bit left over, but someone would undoubtedly eat it.
Keiji figured that Setsuna was overseeing the meal, making sure it really was done even if he was leaving it all to Kaiya on the surface, so the model decided to be helpful by getting the dishes down for their meal. After all, he *did* know where they were. Watching Kaiya dole out the food, he was a little overwhelmed by the amount Kaiya was apparently putting out for everyone but Mikoto, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just smiled, breathed in the delicious scent, then put the food out on the table in the right places. "Thanks for cooking, Kaiya. It looks and smells delicious." He said before taking his seat.
Keiji takes over the dishes and helps with serving, so once Kaiya gets to doling out portions, Setsuna heads over to the table. He smiles at Mikoto, perfectly happy to see a nice beer has appeared at his space at the table. "It's a one pot dish, and also a great way to use some leftovers, or veg that's about to go." He advertises, sure Keiji will appreciate him showing Kaiya another meal that uses those things. Although it would mean keeping couscous around which he doubts they do currently.
"It smells amazing," Mikoto says, happy with the mountain of food in front of him, but waiting for everyone to be settled before digging in. "Itadekimasu~"
As Keiji settled at the table with his own portion, he was immediately intrigued by what Setsuna was saying. "Oh? Can other pasta be used the same way? Or does it need to be something small, like this?" He asked, wondering if spaghetti, fusilli, or even ramen or rice noodles might work too.
Kaiya was listening with half an ear to the food talk, but she was more excited to see what Mikoto thought of the taste, honestly. "Itadekimasu~" She agreed before taking a taste herself. Personally, she thought it tasted really, really good. She was glad she'd added a little more sriracha, though. She thought it was nice with the tiny kick.... though she thought the blond would probably want more.
"You could do other pasta, sure. But you'd need another pot to cook the pasta first; and the nice part of the couscous is that since you cook it directly in the sauce, it absorbs the sauce and gets really delicious." No sauce dripping off the pasta. The effect really is more like a grain.
Mikoto has a spoonful, and it's definitely good - he has had this with Setsuna once or twice before so he's not surprised. He does, in fact, get the sri racha and give a squiggle of it all over his mound though.
"Ah~ I see. Well, I guess I'll have to watch for pasta going on sale to pick some up." Keiji decided rather easily. Seeing that Kaiya and Mikoto had started in on their meals, he followed suit. With the first mouthful, his eyes widened in delight, and he nodded to himself before swallowing. "That is really good!"
Kaiya wasn't at all surprised to see Mikoto adding more spice to his food, but it did make her giggle a little. "Needs more spice, Miko-chan~?" She asked before happily eating some more.
"I mean, it doesn't *need* more," Mikoto replies, vaguely aware that it can be considered rude in some places to add seasonings to a meal someone has made for you, although he's not really worried that Kaiya's taking offense, "But I do like it."
"I only really see couscous at international stores, like kaldi, but I do see it go on discount often since I think they don't use a lot of units, but it's unlikely to go stale fast enough to actually worry about," Setsuna advises.
Kaiya just giggled at Mikoto's response. She'd already known it wasn't any kind of diss to her cooking. Mikoto just liked things spicier than everyone else at the table. "No, no~ I know you just like things Korean spicy, instead of Japanese spicy~" She replied happily. Of course, this wasn't even Japanese spicy. It was just tasty, at least in her opinion, so it might be almost bland for the blond's taste, actually
"Oh?" Keiji replied with interest to that information. "I guess that would explain why I'd never seen it before. I thought it was just that I hadn't been looking for it." He admitted, then ate some more of the food. Really, it was quite tasty, and filling too. A very good combination for a lazy meal that his sister could make easily. He really would have to look for the couscous.
"And sri racha is just really tasty," Mikoto agrees. There are some hot sauces that are JUST hot, but he likes spicy food for the flavour. Mikoto eats his large portion faster than everyone else, of course, and not even sweating from an amount of sriracha that would render the food inedible to basically everyone else at the table.
Setsuna further ads, "Sometimes it ends up in the discount section cuz ti's close to the sell by, but it's totally fine after that, since it's a dried pasta, so that's a great chance to buy it." It's honestly how he buys it most of the time. Part of why he has money is he doesn't go pissing it away unnecessarily.
Kaiya smiled at that reasoning, but then gave herself over to eating. After their wandering around that day, she was quite hungry. Not Miko level of hungry, of course, but enough that she didn't feel like talking while eating anymore, unless someone directly engaged her.
Keiji, meanwhile, was pacing himself while eating, so he was enjoying having some conversation. The pacing was very much a learned behaviour to make himself feel fuller while eating less, especially with a smaller stomach. He still hadn't changed that behaviour, nor done much to try and expand his stomach. The fact was, with his job, he really didn't see a reason to try and change his eating habits too much, even if he was glad that Kaiya didn't have to emulate him anymore. "That's really good to know. I'll definitely watch for it being on sale." He agreed. "I do do that with some other dried items." He admitted.
Setsuna nods. Knowing which things you can safely buy on discount or not was a skill he valued, even if he didn't *need* it the way Keiji did, which is why he'd wanted to share his knowledge about the couscous as Keiji wouldn't be as familiar with the product as he was, "Couscous is really fun to play around with. If you have it in any kind of sauce or broth it'll cook near instantly. So a really lazy cheap meal is like. couscous, soup broth, boom."
"Hmm! So it can be used in place of rice, or other noodles, in a lot of things." Keiji replied thoughtfully. Not that it could replace a bowl of rice, but if they could get hot pot soup bases on sale, they could eat that sometimes, and then put rice in at the end, so they could maybe use the couscous for that sometimes.
"Yup," Setsuna agrees. One thing it is good for is soaking up sauces and then being instantly ready. "It doesn't bring much on its own though." although he thinks that warning is not necessary. He finishes up his meal and leans back, intent on savouring his nice beer.
Keiji shrugged at that slight warning. "A lot of noodles and grains are like that, though." He observed, still slowly working on his meal. He wasn't all that worried that he was, by far, the last person eating.
Because, yes, Kaiya was also done her food by that time, and was almost copying her boyfriend in savouring her drink, though hers was water, not beer. Her alcoholic drink was being held for later. "There's a little left in the pan if you're still hungry, Miko-chan." She advertised, seeing that Setsuna wasn't getting up to get more, and she was in the happily not hungry realm. Not over full, since she knew there was dessert, but not needing more dinner at this point.
"Hmm~ Don't mind if I do~" Mikoto replies. He had done a lot of walking that day so he was pretty hungry -- he would have been ok sticking with what he'd eaten, but he'll also gladly finish what's left. What's left isn't really enough for a decent leftover meal all of its own anyways. Everyone was done except Keiji, and he was the least likely to look for seconds. So the blond heads over to the stove, serves himself the last of it, douses it with hot sauce again, and still manages to finish just barely before his boyfriend.
"Are we going to keep hanging out as a family for a bit?" Setsuna asks, not really pushing either way, but just curious what the plan is.
Keiji couldn't help but smile at his lover taking up the offer to finish the food. It wasn't unexpected, but it was somehow adorable anyway. Maybe because Mikoto was still all dressed up, and made up to look as much like a girl as physically possible? Whatever, it didn't matter. Eventually he did finish up his food, though, and also began slowly enjoying the beer that had been put in front of him. The question about plans for the evening though... He looked at Mikoto and shrugged. He wasn't opposed to hanging out all together for a little bit, but he also knew that, at the end of the night, he was going across the hall to Mikoto's place.
Kaiya piped up, though, "Well, we still have the ice cream Miko-chan bought for dessert to have, at some point~ And we bought coolers so I could try them, but I don't know when we were planning to have them. Miko-chan said he would drink whichever one I didn't like, or we'd split them if I liked both." She explained, not sure what the plan of the evening was between now and dessert/coolers. It might be now-ish, or it might be more like play a game, then have sweets.
Mikoto definitely does not look like the kind of girl who would be eagerly pursuing seconds, but that doesn't bother him any. He's not envisioning a long visit, but enough to leisurely enjoy their drinks and dessert would be good. So he nods, "Yeah. Let's put on some TV or something, chill, and drink, and eat~"
Setsuna laughs, but he's been working all day so being lazy sounds lovely, "Honestly? Sounds great."
"Yay!" Kaiya exclaimed with a cute little clap of delight. "Can I help get or bring anything out?" She asked the blond, assuming Mikoto was taking charge of the 'drink and eat' portion of things.
Keiji smiled warmly at his sister's response, then picked up his beer. "Sounds like those of us that were actually working today get to retire to the couch while the shoppers of the day figure out dessert." He observed to Setsuna.
"It's only fair," Setsuna agrees, giving up some thanks to his god that he and Keiji have somehow managed to be friends who can be at ease together despite all of the weird situations their relationship has had to overcome. He goes ahead with the younger man, thinking that this means they get to chose the TV show (... unless the 'girls' come and hate whatever they chose, at least).
"Hmm~ You bring the drinks and I'll get the ice cream?" Mikoto suggests, having absolutely no reason for this division of labour. There were two tasks and he didn't really care who did what. He goes to get spoons first.
Keiji nodded sagely, then headed to the living room with the other singer. The big plus side to all of them being so close was that they could all actually fit on the couch together, even if they ended up squishing a little, or just kind of sitting on top of each other a little bit. With that thought in mind, Keiji had no problem taking a seat and putting his mostly full beer down on the table. "Any ideas on show? Or movie?" After all, Setsuna, and Mikoto, had access to a lot more options than he had at home.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed, then got out the coolers. "Mmmm.... should I split them half and half in glasses now, and just switch glasses if I don't like one? Or just leave them as is?" She asked, not sure which would be more efficient in the end.
"Probably a show," Setsuna replies. He'd gotten the idea that Mikoto probably wasn't planning on staying super late, and a movie was more of a commitment. "Maybe a cooking show, or something home-reno-ish?" He starts looking at the on screen tv guide. A good music show would be the best, but also the least likely to be found.
"Just leave them as is. Fewer dishes, and I'm not worried about catching cooties from you," the blond replies, terribly amused. Glasses seem like so much wasted effort to him. He doesn't even get bowls for the ice cream, since he'd bought all single serve containers. He does get a tray so he doesn't freeze his fingers off carrying them all though.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed brightly, once again, picking up the coolers as is and bringing them into the livingroom. Once there, she set them down on the coffee table, then settled in next to Setsuna, happily cuddled right into him. "Okay, I'm going to try both of these *before* I have any ice cream, because I want to know what they taste like on their own." She said decisively, then opened both of them. "Okay.... which should I try first.... Pink Lemonade, or Rainbow Punch?" She asked the room at large, though it was mostly to herself.
Keiji shrugged at Setsuna's idea of a show. He was fine with either. When Mikoto came in with four little tubs of ice cream, the model blinked. There was almost no way that he would be finishing his, but that was probably fine. When the blond sat down, he easily got his arm around his lover's shoulders. "We each get our own?" He asked, though this was definitely obvious. The question about the coolers though, he said, "My vote is lemonade first."
Setsuna does end up finding some home reno show, but at least one where the renovations are somewhat whacky and not a standard 'now it looks like you live in a hotel' level. Although he has no real stake in the matter, he decisively declares, "Well, you start with rainbow, obviously."
"No. There's 3 for me, 0 for you, and Kaiya-chan and Setsuna are sharing one," Mikoto replies with utter and complete sarcasm. There were 4 small tubs, and 4 spoons, of course there's one each. He passes out the ice cream tubs to everyone. They were all the same flavour so no worries there.
Keiji was so focused on the extreme level of sarcasm being leveled at him, that he didn't even react to Setsuna immediately voting for the opposite cooler for his sister to try. Instead, he was trying to hold back laughter at what Mikoto had said. "O-oh? Well I guess that works." He responded, tears gathering at the edges of his eyes, he was trying so hard not to laugh.
Kaiya just started laughing immediately at getting contradicting advice from her brother and her boyfriend. But~ Boyfriend trumped brother, right~? At least, in this case, she thought he did. "Okay, I'll try the rainbow first." She decided, then took a sip from that drink. "Hmm!! It's really good!" She said, almost surprised there was alcohol in there, actually.
Mikoto serves Keiji last, as he so deserves for the ridiculous comment earlier, but he does properly give everyone one cup of ice cream and one spoon. Moving on as if nothing stupid had happened, he does tell his lover, "This is my favourite flavour - at least for cheap stuff you can find anywhere."
Setsuna did not need telling. He already knew that Mikoto liked this one. He's not as obsessed but maybe that's because it is a LOT of chocolate, and he's not always in the mood for that. But it had been a hot day, so the frozen treat appeals. He smiles at Kaiya trying her drink, "Coolers can be really dangerous; at least when you drink something that tastes rotted, you know you're drinking alcohol."
Keiji accepted his ice cream graciously, when it was handed to him, then opened it up so he could have a taste. "Oh? Good to know." The singer said with a smile, taking special note of the maker and flavour. Not that he would be likely to have it in a lot, but it would be nice to have it in for a special occasion or something. Taking his first spoonful, his eyebrows went straight up, then came back down. "Oh wow. That's *really* chocolatey!"
Setsuna's thoughts on alcohol made Kaiya make a face. "No thanks. If I'm just going to have one or two drinks, I want them to taste good~" She did understand that coolers could be dangerous in situations like the first time she'd gotten drunk, not realizing that what she was drinking *was* alcoholic, but knowing that she was drinking alcohol, and limiting herself to one or two drinks, she thought she would be okay. "I mean, why drink alcohol if it tastes gross?" She asked, already reaching for the lemonade to try it next.
"There is a reason sandals exist... but if we sit and chill for a bit, rub off our shoes, it should be tolerable. And it is worth it," Mikoto insists. When they make it back to their things, he flops over onto the grass, not even trying to wipe it off yet. Happy to let the sand dry, since then it won't get on his hands so much.
Setsuna sends back a response to the picture Kaiya had sent, "Looks lovely~ Trying out your new beach things already?"
After finding that the sand was being stubborn so far (and seeing Mikoto's strategy), Kaiya sat down in the grass next to him, feet straight out to not get sand on her clothing. When the ping of Setsuna's message came through, Kaiya pulled her phone back out and smiled at what he'd written, then sent back, "Just the hat and sunglasses. Miko-chan and I went and walked in the sand, then put our feet in the water. It's so neat having the water come up like that! I don't like wet feet in dry sand, though :("
Mikoto checks his phone, but Keiji's still working, so he pesters some work friends instead. Nothing quite as wild as a drag queen group chat~ he sends them a day drag picture, purposefully with no context.
"Well, they look great. That was such a summery picture." Honestly, it might end up a phone background for the singer. At her comment about the sand, he sends her a star wars meme. He fully has no idea if she'd even get the reference, but it was too good an opportunity to pass by.
Kaiya had seen some of the Star Wars movies, but she couldn't say that she had seen them enough to remember more than the main points, so the meme made her snort and send back, "It had better NOT get everywhere!" Then she added, "I'm glad you like them! And the picture too! I thought it looked nice~ What are you up to?"
Keiji, meanwhile, was just finishing up his shoot. He was rather exhausted, but once he was on his way home, he pulled out his phone and saw the incredible number of pictures and messages from Mikoto. "How in the world did you find the time to send me all of this while out shopping with Kaiya?" He asked, his lips turning up in an amused smile before scrolling back to look at everything. Getting to the last photos again, he added, "Wait, are you at a beach?"
Setsuna decides not to let her know that sometimes after going swimming in the beach you will indeed find sand in very interesting places, not wanting to dissuade her from excitement for the beach. "Well, Anakin did literally come from a desert planet... I'm doing boring office work for the restaurant."
"We got done shopping surprisingly fast, so we went to a trick art museum," Mikoto explains, although frankly by the time Keiji looks at the photos that should be somewhat obvious. He ignores his trans coworkers asking if his egg has cracked to talk to his boyfriend instead, "Yes~ We went for a little wade and found some seashells."
Kaiya smiled at that response. "I guess desert sand would get, literally, everywhere. And there wouldn't be much water to make it worthwhile." She decided, then continued, "Awww boring office work sounds like no fun! Should I come over after and un-bore you?" She figured it was safe enough since she was out with Mikoto. She'd, obviously, just be going home with him. If Setsuna went upstairs to his own apartment, well.... no one could put those two things together, right?
"The two of you and 'fast shopping' seem like two things that should not go together. Three things? Whatever. I can't imagine the two of you shopping for *anything* quickly." Keiji responded with an amused smile. The knowledge that the two of them had, indeed, gone to a beach was interesting, though, "What beach did you guys go to? And did you find any fun shells?"
"Sure, that sounds lovely," Setsuna replies. And given she's at a beach somewhere, he probably has long enough to get his work done before she'll actually successfully come over.
Mikoto is terribly amused by Keiji's assumptions about their shopping, and replies, "We had a list of what we were looking for, and got pretty lucky and got ones we liked quite fast. We ended up shopping in Odaiba and there's a park here with this little beach. We definitely found some shells." For some reason, he opts to not immediately tell Keiji about the one he'd found.
"Yay~" Kaiya sent back, then out loud told the blond, "Ne~ Miko-chan~ Is it okay if I follow you home today~?" She was asking, but she had no doubts that he would say it was okay.
"Ah~ I see." Keiji sent back, still rather amused by the whole thing. "Sounds like the two of you have had a really good day. Are you going to bring the shells home so I can see them?"
"Hmm? Sure, of course," Mikoto replies. It would be ok in general, but especially with the couple's current ban from seeing each other in public, it also happens quite often for other reasons.
Mikoto has to admit, "It's been a lot of fun - and aside from the shopping, pretty cheap fun too - and I *might* show you my shells~"
"Thanks~" Kaiya responded happily, glad that she had received permission, even if she hadn't expected anything else. The truth was: Mikoto could have been expecting to go to her house to see her brother instead, so asking was important, just for that. That sorted, though, she sent back to Setsuna, "I don't know when I'll get there. We're waiting for the sand on our feet to dry before trying to get it off and put our shoes back on. Then, I don't know how long it'll take us to get back from Odaiba." She added, not realizing this was the first time she'd mentioned where they actually were.
"Oh~? They must be some pretty cool shells if there's only a *chance* you'll show them to me~" Keiji sent back, a somewhat tired smile on his lips, his amusement shining through his exhaustion from work. "I'm glad that you two were able to find fun, inexpensive things to do too." He added, understanding that Mikoto was trying to be mindful of Kaiya's lack of money while still having a great day out together, and he really appreciated it.
"No problem, just gives me more time to get my work done before you get back. No need to rush, have fun, ne?" Setsuna suggests, before putting his phone down and focusing on his tasks at hand.
The blond teases, "Wouldn't you like to know~ Sounds like Kaiya-chan's coming over to my place when we're done." he adds, letting Keiji know what the arrangement for the day is -- things get complicated sometimes, with who's going where.
"Okay! Don't work too hard~" Kaiya sent back. When she didn't receive a response back, she assumed that Setsuna was back to working, and she flopped back in the grass next to Mikoto to scroll through instagram for a bit.
"I really would~" Keiji sent back, still very amused. The information that Kaiya and Mikoto would be heading to the Traveller was important, though not super surprising. "Want me to meet you over there sometime later?" He asked. Clearly it made no sense to go over there right now, as it would likely take Kaiya and Mikoto a while to get back, and he could probably catch a nap while he waited too.
"If you come over later, you could try to convince me to show you my shell," Mikoto advertises, although his perverted mind starts to feel like shell feels dirty in that sentence somehow. But, since he knows Keiji had been working that day, he does add, "If you're feeling tired, that's ok too."
That reply almost made Keiji laugh in the middle of his train ride, but he sent back, "I think I'll head home for the moment to get a nap, then come over later to try to do a little convincing~ Enjoy the rest of your time in Odaiba!"
Kaiya, meanwhile, had received a text from one of her friends.
"Sounds good, see you later," Mikoto replies, since Keiji's text sounded like a sign off. He responds briefly to his group chat from work, then puts his phone away. He enjoys the view while Kaiya texts her friends for a bit, and then says, "Think our feet are dry yet?"
When Mikoto spoke up, Kaiya finally noticed that her friend was no longer texting. "Oh! Yeah, maybe?" She responded, her feet kind of itchy, now that she was thinking about them. She quickly said goodbye to the friend she'd been talking to, then tucked her phone away. "So~ What's the best way to get the dry sand off?" She asked, looking to Mikoto for his expertise in this.
"I like to use the grass first, and then my hands to polish up," Mikoto explains -- and using the grass first means his hands are still largely clean and can help with the fine grains. He shifts so his feet are away from his sister (so he doesn't accidentally shoot sand at her) and starts vigorously rubbing his feet on the grass.
"Oooh~ Okay!" Kaiya replied, then shifted to mirror Mikoto and began vigorously rubbing her feet in the grass as well. Actually, it was kind of fun, and she began to giggle as the sand started to come off her feet.
Once the grass has done most of the heavy lifting, Mikoto reaches over to use his hands to try to get off as much as he can -- knowing full well it's not possible to get it all off. At least he has sandals today -- although they are also wedges so it could still be quiet uncomfortable. He especially uses his fingers to get between his toes.
Watching her big sister, Kaiya took note of what Mikoto was doing to get the most sand off his feet, then copied him. As she worked between her toes, she wrinkled her nose at the grossness of the feel. "I wish we had, like, a pail of water to stick our feet in to get all the sand off for sure." She complained lightly. Waiting for her feet to dry after washing them wouldn't be any worse than waiting for the sand to dry. At least, she assumed that would be how it would work.
"Hmm. I mean it would help a lot, I don't know if the practicality is worth the value," Mikoto admits. He's not quite sure how best he would be able to do that. He delicately puts his shoes on, then immediately off again as he finds places where the sand is bothersome.
"Hmmm...." Kaiya considered it for a second, then shrugged. Mikoto was probably right, after all: carrying a pail around to use at the beach would probably be more problem than it was worth. Oh well. Since she wasn't wearing sandals that day, she took more care with getting the sand as fully off her feet as she could before putting her footwear back on. There was definitely still sand in there, but she didn't think she could do any better job, so she'd just have to deal with it.
Mikoto seems satisfied with his second attempt putting his wedge sandals on, he waits to see how Kaiya's doing. Then he asks, "What are we gunna do now? Keep wandering around? Head back?"
Kaiya shrugged at the question, "Either is fine with me right now. Setsuna-kun is working right now, but if you want to go home and get changed, then go see my brother, I'm good with that." Of course she knew that Keiji was done with work by now, and she was sure that Mikoto had talked to him at some point while they were drying the sand on their feet.
"Hmm, well the thing is, it'll take us a bit to get back," Mikoto replies. It had been a longish train ride in the morning, and they'll be doing that in reverse to return home, "So we probably don't want to do a LOT more."
"Ooooh~ That's true, huh? I forgot how long it took to get here." Kaiya admitted, then shrugged. "Maybe just head back, then?" She suggested, thinking that might be the best idea with the long trip home (especially since they didn't have any clear ideas where else they would want to go).
Mikoto smiles, and agrees, "Yes, let's leisurely make our way back~" There's no rush to it, but they are on basically a different island than most of Tokyo, and they live on the other side of the city from the island too. He stands up and stretches, then picks up his bag.
"Okay~" Kaiya agreed easily, then fell into step next to her friend. "Is Keiji going to meet us at your house? Or are you going to see him later?" She asked, always interested in her brother's and the blond's relationship. Not that she wanted nitty gritty details, but she did like knowing that they were doing well.
"Hmm, it sounded like that plan was for him to come over later - he's catching a nap for now," Mikoto replies. And Keiji catching a nap is lovely because it means their sleep schedules will sync up slightly more than usual.
"Ooooh~ That's a good idea. Then he'll be rested by the time we get back, or at least by the time he comes over!" Kaiya responded happily. "That'll be good. Then you guys can have a nice date, or whatever~" She wasn't sure what Keiji and Mikoto were calling their hangings out, but *she* thought of them as dates.
Mikoto sails right past the date designation - he's not totally opposed to the word, but he mostly uses it when they're actually going out, not just hanging out. "Mhmm, it should be a nice evening -- for all of us, ne?"
Given that a good many of Kaiya's dates with Setsuna, both before and after the decision for them not to be seen out and about together, had not been out dates, she absolutely counted in dates as dates. Thankfully, they didn't have to dissect that classification today. "Mhm~ I hope so~" Kaiya agreed brightly, with a smile for her friend. "Do you think we'll have dinner all together? Or do you and my brother have other plans~?" She asked, not because *she* had other plans, but just because she was curious if they were going to go for more of a family vibe for dinner, or a more romantic one.
"Hmmm, we didn't really make a solid plan. I like the idea of eating all together though," Mikoto replies. Since he's spent his day with Kaiya, a family dinner where they're still hanging out just seems proper, and who could say no to Setsuna's food (no insult to Keiji's cooking at all, as it's also great).
"I like that too~" Kaiya agreed easily. Family dinners were something she really loved. It wasn't something she ever remembered experiencing before Mikoto and Setsuna came into her life. Of course, she and Keiji had always tried to sit down and eat together, but Keiji had always been working while in high school, and then when he started modelling, his schedule became so erratic. So, family dinners, with all four of them together, were really very special to her. And whether Setsuna cooked, or Keiji did, or they just ordered something up from the restaurant, it was always something she enjoyed.
Isn't ordering from the restaurant pretty similar to Setsuna cooking? Theoretically? Anyways~ "So, I guess we'll do that. Hopefully Keiji-kun wakes up and joins us before dinner." He laughs at that, knowing they'd wait for him - or save food for him, at least.
Kaiya would have had a retort to that if Mikoto had voiced it. The food would be very similar, but the effort for Setsuna would be very different. "Oh, I'm sure he will! I don't think he'll nap *that* long!" Kaiya replied, absolute certainty in her words. Of course, she couldn't be sure how immediately after getting home that her brother would lay down (especially since he would probably need to eat *something* first, shoots being notorious for not doing a good job feeding their models), but they probably weren't going to eat as soon as they got back to Mikoto's place either, so it should be fine, in her opinion.
"Wanna shoot Setsuna a text warning him that we're planning on making him cook for everyone?" Mikoto suggests, and of course, he could just as easily send that message, but it's more fun coming from his girlfriend though, right?
That suggestion made Kaiya laugh. "My warning will mostly be about making a little more for Keiji~ You know he'd already assume he was making for you~" She said, teasing Mikoto good naturedly. She did pull out her phone, though, to send off, "Miko-chan and I were thinking it might be nice to have family dinner tonight. Keiji is supposed to come over sometime too (he's going home for a nap first after work). Should we pick up anything on the way home?" She added, thinking that was open enough to mean either 'pick up takeout' or 'get needed groceries' and not just assume that Setsuna would want to cook that night. Sure, he loved doing it, but he *had* been working all afternoon. He might be tired.
"Setsuna's logic is, make enough for me. If I don't show up, he has a full meal of leftovers," Mikoto jokes, knowing he eats a lot and grateful to the wonderful men around him who cook for him so he doesn't have to.
Setsuna wants to cook for the full family, and while he's a bit tired, thinks this crowd would be receptive to something of a lazy dinner, so he suggests, "Can you pick up some minced chicken then? And baby spinach if they have it?"
"Sounds like a reasonable thing to do." Kaiya responded, thinking Mikoto wasn't so far off from the truth, actually. Hearing that text coming through, she looked back at her phone. "Okay~ We're stopping at the grocery store on the way home." She told the blond. "We have a request for minced chicken and baby spinach." She relayed, then sent back, "Okay! We'll do that. If they don't have baby spinach, will regular spinach work?" Asking now made more sense to her than getting to the store, searching, then asking.
"If they don't have baby spinach.... then I don't really care. Pick up any veg you think you'd like in an italian flavour profile," Setsuna replies. This lazy dish has very few ingredients that MUST be present, and he already has all of those, so it doesn't matter too much.
"Ok~" Mikoto replies, fine with that. It's fair that the non-chefs handle anything like washing the dishes, or fetching ingredients. And adds, "Ooh, I could buy some ice cream..."
"Okay~ Italian veggie profile~" Kaiya sent back, glad to know what type of vegetables to look out for. She may not be any kind of great cook, but she did understand what kinds of veggies were supposed to go with certain types of food (mostly). "Sounds like we're having something Italian tonight!" She told Mikoto, then immediately enthused, "Ooooooh~ Ice cream~" With it being so warm, ice cream really did sound good.
"Oh, cool," Mikoto replies, with the italian food reveal, with a tone that makes it obvious that he truly didn't care. And that's because he was sure that whatever Setsuna would feed them would end up being delicious, so he's just not worried about it. "Ice cream -- maybe coolers?" He asks, seeing if Kaiya would be interested. The rule seems to be that it's fine for her to enjoy one with appropriate company at an appropriate time, after all.
Kaiya just rolled her eyes at Mikoto's lack of enthusiasm for her dinner announcement, but let it slide. "Oooh~ Coolers would be fun!" She replied happily. She had no interest in ever being drunk again, but she did enjoy drinking the adult drinks when she was safe with people she trusted (just in case), and she knew that the blond knew of tasty drinks she had yet to get to try.
"Ok! Ice cream, coolers, and boring food to eat to live!" Mikoto declares, clearly more interested in some aspects than others, but also being purposefully ridiculous. He spots a sign, "Oh, instead of going all the way back, I think we could get on at this train station?"
Kaiya just giggled at Mikoto's explanation, then shrugged at his suggestion about the train. "We could. We have to remember to get off and pick up my bags, though." She reminded her friend. Not that she thought he forgot, exactly, but more as a way to stick a mental note *to* get off at that stop before going home.
Mikoto hadn't totally forgotten, but it hadn't been on the top of his mind. But it's still very doable to use this method to get her bags, so he's gunna roll with it. "Ok, how about... we stop at that station, you stay on the platform, I'll run and get the bags?" He offers - not the least of which because this way only he would have to pay a second time for transit.
While she would love to say 'no, I'll go with you!', Kaiya recognized the offer for what it was, and she smiled before nodding. "Okay! That sounds like a plan." Even if it felt a little silly, she was still really grateful that her friend was thinking of her financial situation like this.
Hey man, 200 yen is ACTUALLY nothing to Mikoto, but it matters to Kaiya and Keiji, and any subtle way where he can save them a little scratch, he's gunna take. "Cool." He says, the situation being settled. They head into the near station, and as planned, the blond pops out, and comes back laden with shopping bags -- honestly with his outfit, the blond hair, the bags, he looks like something out of an american movie~
Kaiya hung out on the platform to wait for Mikoto to come back, just scrolling through instagram while she waited. When the blond came back, positively festooned with bags, Kaiya couldn't help but giggle when she saw him. She did immediately go over to him and take her fair share of the bags, though. "You were so quick!" She exclaimed, not having expected him to be so fast, but happy she had been wrong.
"I mean, was I supposed to dawdle?" Mikoto asks, amused at that comment. He hadn't wandered around or anything, just directly there and back. He's pleased when she takes some of the bags though, and then stands and waits for the next train -- which shouldn't be too long.
"Nooooo~ But I felt like the lockers were further away." Kaiya admitted. While she was sure that Mikoto hadn't dawdled, she also didn't think he had run either. Still, she wasn't going to argue with the results. Once their train came, she got on with Mikoto, and all the bags, then stuffed the bags away and took a seat with Mikoto, glad that there were seats available for their long ride back home. "Whew! Next stop: the grocery store~"
He certainly had not run, in these shoes. Seats were nice, especially since it means they get put their bags in the (Rarely used) overhead storage. "And then we make Setsuna cook yummy food for us~"
Kaiya giggled at that addition to their plans. "Yeah~" She agreed, though she would happily help if she could. And, she knew even Mikoto would do any jobs that Setsuna gave him to get the meal going. "Are there any veggies you really like? For Italian food? Setsuna-kun said if we couldn't get baby spinach to get whatever veggies that would go with Italian." She explained, trying to make it clear this wasn't some weird, out of the blue question.
The blond shrugs, admitting, "I mean, I'm like the least picky eater around." Plus they don't know whether the baby spinach will be available or not yet so it just seems kinda academic to him.
Kaiya scrunched her nose at him in amusement. "Yeah, true, you'll eat just about anything, huh?" She mused. Though, thinking about it, she couldn't think of too many things she wouldn't eat either. She hadn't really had the option to be picky, honestly.
"The human garbage disposal," Mikoto jokes, having no trouble saying rude sounding things about himself, and he certainly can put food away like nobody's business. Somehow. Where he puts it, nobody knows.
That description made Kaiya laugh a bit. "Yeah~ Basically~" She agreed. "I don't think I could ever eat as well as you." She added, absolutely thinking that it was amazing that Mikoto was able to eat so much and still be so slim. Though, with her exercises and increased eating, *she* also wasn't gaining that much in the way of visibly noticeable weight, especially with her growth spurt.
"It's not the flashiest super power, but I certainly won't complain," The blond reasons, and the light, joking atmosphere continues on their longish train ride. When they're out and walking to the grocery store Mikoto is glad to be walking around instead of sitting still.
As they entered the grocery store, bags split between them so that they weren't *so* ridiculous, Kaiya hummed happily and made straight for the produce section. Chicken wouldn't be an issue at all, so seeing whether the baby spinach existed was the more important task. After eating much better the last several months, and getting used to eating food made by an honest to goodness chef a good amount of that time, she had come to appreciate many more types and preparations of vegetables, so she was also taking in the many tasty looking items as she passed them.
Mikoto, despite having eaten lovely homecooked meals all his life; from his mom and then Setsuna, remains more or less blissfully unaware of any useful information about food or cooking. But at least he recognizes baby spinach when he sees it, "Oh, there we go."
"Oh! Yay!" Kaiya enthused as Mikoto found the vegetable they'd come for. On the one hand, she was glad that they would be able to realize Setsuna's vision. On the other... she was kind of sad they wouldn't get to look for other yummy veggies. Ah well~ Another time. "Now~ Chicken!" She said, moving toward the meat section even as she spoke.
"Mhmm," Mikoto agrees, following along, and letting Kaiya pick out the chicken since to him that would require slightly more reading and he doesn't feel like doing it now.
Kaiya hummed a little to herself as she looked the chicken over, checking weights, dates, and the look of the chicken the way that she had learned to from Setsuna. Finally, she chose some chicken for the four of them, then turned back to Mikoto. "Okay~ Ice cream next? Or coolers?"
"Coolers first, ice cream last," Mikoto replies, with the wisdom that ice cream should also be grabbed last so as to prevent as much melting as possible. Besides, he knows what ice cream he wants to buy, but they might take a minute choosing their coolers. He leads the way to the alcohol aisle and starts considering the options.
"Okay~" Kaiya agreed easily, then followed along after Mikoto. When they came to the alcohol aisle, she took a look at the different coolers, but asked the blond, "Is there anything that's really good? Or should I just... look?" She asked, not sure exactly what she should be looking for. After all, in the past she'd just had whatever Mikoto had purchased.
"Hmmm," Mikoto thinks that just saying to choose what looks good might be a bit broad, so he points to a couple brands, "I like these ones -- maybe just see what flavour appeals to you out of these?"
"Mmmm.... Okay!" Kaiya replied brightly, going to look at the available flavours in the brands that Mikoto had pointed out. Some things, like grapefruit or green apple sounded refreshing, but not all that sweet, and so far she had only tried sweet coolers. So, with that thought in mind, she looked again. After a bit of looking over the options, she found herself between two different flavours. "Mmmmmm..... okay, I'm trying to decide between two: Rainbow Punch, and Pink Lemonade." They were both vodka coolers, so it was really just a question of flavour at this point.
The blond has a typically eloquent solution - grabbing both. He explains, "You can try them both, drink whichever you prefer, and I'll have the other one." He explains, already starting to moving along towards the ice cream aisle.
Kaiya giggled at that solution. "What if I like them both~?" She asked, just a little cheeky. She followed along after Mikoto, though, sure that he knew what ice cream he was after.
"Then I'll drink half of each," Mikoto replies, having no qualms at all about sharing, and pretty sure Kaiya doesn't actually want to drink two coolers worth of vodka. Mikoto gets to the ice cream aisle, and just immediately starts grabbing some chocolate ice cream.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed, thinking that was a fantastic idea. She definitely didn't need two coolers' worth of alcohol in her, and she knew her brother wouldn't be happy with that idea either, so knowing that she and Mikoto could just share the coolers if she liked them both made her very happy. She wasn't at all surprised when Mikoto immediately grabbed the ice cream without needing to consider at all. "Okay~ To the register!" She announced, pretty sure that they now had everything they'd come for.
The ice cream Mikoto likes comes in relatively small containers - which he considers single-serve, so he gets 4 containers. He then goes to the register, and being the one of legal age, is for multiple reasons the one to actually purchase everything. With yet another bag added to their pile, he says, "And now, home time~"
Kaiya definitely didn't even try to pay for their purchases here. First, she couldn't due to age. Second, she knew Mikoto wouldn't let her. With their grocery shopping done, though, she agreed with a relieved sigh, "Yes~ Home time~"
At that sigh, the blond giggles, "Funny how when you go out to shop, it's so exciting, but by the end it's always like 'oh thank goodness, time to go home', ne?"
"Mmmhmmm~" Kaiya agreed, "I'm ready to flop onto a couch or something. I just feel like my energy has suddenly gone *poof*!" She admitted, though she didn't really lag at all as they made their way back to the Traveller.
"Well, it is hot today - hot days always seem to make people tired," Mikoto agrees, although thankfully it's not maximum crazy humid summer heat quite yet. It doesn't take them too long to get home, and head immediately into Setsuna's apartment. The blond goes straight to the kitchen as if he owns the place, to make sure he stashes the ice cream safely in the freezer.
"Mmm... that might be it." Kaiya agreed, following Mikoto inside gladly. Since her shoes were just slip ons, she was able to head into the apartment proper pretty quickly herself. She left her bags and hat at the front door, then slid her new sunglasses up on top of her head, then called out, "Setsuna-kun~ We're here~" She wasn't sure if he was in the kitchen, and therefore had already encountered the blond, but she hadn't heard anything to indicate that either. Of course, he also might be downstairs in the restaurant too, and she was calling to an empty apartment.
Unlike Mikoto who converted his second bedroom into two walk in closets, Setsuna uses his as an office. He emerges from there, stretching since he'd been sitting for god knows how long before he'd heard his girlfriend. "Welcome~ Did you have fun?" he asks, heading over to his girlfriend to greet her properly with a kiss. She definitely looks summery, with the sunnies up on her head. For a moment, he thought she'd forgotten to take her shoes off in the genkan, but no, she's just that tall now.
"Mhm~ Lots of fun! Glad to be home now, though." Kaiya agreed, happily leaning in for that kiss. The fact that she didn't have to lean *up* at all, really, was almost as surprising as when she'd realized that she was now taller than Mikoto. She wasn't *quite* the same height as Setsuna now, but close enough that it would take a measuring tape to tell the difference now.
Setsuna is not going to bring up the difference. He really doesn't care if Kaiya is shorter than him, same as him, or taller than him, and mentioning that he'd noticed the difference -- well he didn't want to accidentally give the impression it bothered him. There's enough weird stuff about height differences in media as is. "Happy with what you found?" he asks, definitely not asking for a show. It's one thing to both be in swimwear at the beach, and another for just her to be in swimwear prancing around the house. Also Mikoto's here somewhere and apparently Keiji's gunna show up at some point too.
"Very~ I'll have to show you some of it later. I kind of got more than I thought I would..." Kaiya admitted, slightly embarrassed. To get past that, though, *she* brought up the height thing, "I guess I had a growth spurt! I noticed that Miko-chan was suddenly shorter than me on the beach, and I'm almost as tall as you without shoes now! I guess that's why I felt so yucky and achy the last week or so..." She admitted. She didn't sound upset, or weird about it, and she didn't expect Setsuna to feel upset or weird either, it was just that she'd noticed, and it was weird and surprising to her.
"Isn't that just what happens when one goes shopping with Mikoto though?" Well, he's not going to shy away from the topic if she brings it up -- he's just thankful she feels fine about it. He admits, "There was a moment where I thought you'd forgotten to take your shoes off - but yeah, you're just taller now. Taller than Mikoto, huh?" He doesn't doubt it, but it'll take some getting used to. He gets an arm around her and brings her along to the kitchen so they can see what the blond is up to, but the ice cream is already stashed by then. And he blinks, "Why are you Miko-chan today?"
The blond smiles, "This way if Kaiya-chan needed help in the dressing room, I could oblige."
Kaiya laughed at that, "Yeah, I guess it is." She agreed happily, her tiredness mostly melting away now that she was in the cool apartment, and even moreso as that arm went around her. "Yeah~ Wait til you see!" She told him, which he would imminently, now that they were heading toward the kitchen. At Setsuna's question to Mikoto, Kaiya just smiled at her 'big sister'. Fact was, she didn't really view any difference between boy Miko, girl Miko, and band Miko. They were all just 'Mikoto' or 'Miko-chan' to her, regardless of how he was dressed. "And no one would think it was weird or anything for him to be helping me look for swimsuits and stuff." She added, thinking that would have also turned into a lot of stares and incorrect thoughts about what they were doing.
"You didn't wanna spend all day knowing everybody who saw you thought that she was your girlfriend. Even though she's an awesome girlfriend and everybody would be jealous," Setsuna reasons, giving Kaiya a squeeze before letting go and looking through the groceries (whysomuchbooze and junkfood oh god why is miko like this) and then starting to get out the rest of his ingredients.
Miko smiles, "Everyone would of course be jealous of her, but no matter how awesome, I do not want a girlfriend and it would be uncomfortable with a bunch of people thinking my little sister is my girlfriend."
Kaiya just giggled at the idea of people thinking she was Mikoto's girlfriend. It wouldn't be the first time, but she agreed with the blond that it would feel pretty weird at this point. Not awful, but definitely weird. She smiled at that little squeeze, then moved to stand closer to Mikoto, inadvertently showing just how much taller she was than the blond now. Not *extremely*, but enough to be immediately noticeable when they're side by side. "We were able to find the baby spinach!" She announced, even though Setsuna clearly had seen that now.
Mikoto has purposefully pretended to be her boyfriend before - if it's necessary he's willing to do it. But he'd rather just temporarily be a girl with her.
"So you did. I was worried because they sell out really quickly of it for some reason," Setsuna admits -- and that's when he sees the pair side-by-side and Kaiya was 100% correct -- she's clearly taller than the blond now. Wild.
Refocussing, he explains, "So. I'm tired so I'm going to make something lazy and easy to make, but delicious. And... as a bonus, you get to learn how to make something lazy and easy and delicious." he explains to his girlfriend.
"Oooh?" Kaiya asked, immediately interested. Lazy, easy, and delicious was just about perfect to her. "Does that mean I get to help?" She asked. Not 'does that mean I *need* to help'. No, she was excited at the prospect of being able to help her boyfriend cook if she could. Anticipating a positive response, she moved a little away from Mikoto, and a little closer to Setsuna.
"Absolutely -- actually, honestly, it's easy enough I can probably just coax you through the whole thing," Setsuna admits. He gets out an onion -- they have the minced chicken and baby spinach from the grocery store. He gets out garlic, chicken soup stock, sri racha and finally a box of couscous. "And that's about everything. And part of what's nice about this is... you can flavour it differently. I often just throw in whatever left over meat I have."
"Yeah?" Kaiya asked, a little surprised that the recipe was *that* easy. Seeing the other ingredients come out, she was surprised that they were all things that she had cooked before with Setsuna. "Oh! I know how to use all these things!" She said with some surprise. "Do I... start with the onion?" She asked, "Oh! Or do I need to start the couscous first?" It depended on whether the whole thing cooked with the grain at the same time, or if it needed to be done separately while she worked on everything else. That she even knew that was all thanks to her boyfriend's training.
"Couscous is last," That's probably the one thing he hasn't cooked with her. He understands her logic - grains usually need a long time to cook, so he explains, "It's actually not a grain, despite its appearance. It's actually pasta. So it will cook near instantly. We will start, as usual, with dicing and frying up the onion." And he leaves it at that, knowing she can easily do that.
"Ooooh~ I think I got it confused with quinoa." Kaiya admitted. "Okay! Onion first, then garlic when the onion's almost done frying?" She had learned, first hand, the bitterness of over-cooked garlic. That said, she did get to work dicing up the onion. Her cutting technique was getting better with practice, but she definitely still wasn't anywhere near chef level. Once the onion was chopped, though, she got out the pan she needed, put the oil in, then got it hot before adding the onion, grinning broadly at the hiss and sizzle when she added the vegetable to the oil.
"Depends on how much garlic flavour you want. If you want a big punch, you put it in at the end. But for normal purposes, yeah," Setsuna agrees. Once that's done, he coaches, "Lower the heat, and pour in the canned tomato - at this point the hard part is basically over. Just keep it slowly cooking, stir occasionally, and add in the other things minus the couscous. We're gunna use minced chicken, baby spinach, and chicken soup seasonings -- if you feel like trying you could brown the mince chicken properly before the canned tomato, but this is something I make when I'm feeling lazy, and it'll be fine either way."
Kaiya listened to the instructions being given to her, and nodded a couple of times to herself. "Okay, so, the less lazy way is chicken first, then tomato, then the rest. More lazy way is tomato first, then cook the chicken in the sauce." She reiterated, then went for the tomato first, since the selling point to her learning this was that it was lazy, and easy, and delicious, so she wanted to see how it tasted with the laziest preparation. She took her time, adding the ingredients the way that Setsuna had described, and soon there was a lovely smelling sauce with chicken cooking away. "Do we make the couscous the same way as other pasta? Or just put it in the sauce to cook?" She asked, not sure how this part would work.
It was around this time that Keiji arrived at the apartment. He dropped off his clothes for the next day in Mikoto's place, fully expecting to stay over, then walked across the hall and knocked on Setsuna's door. He just wasn't used to walking into the man's home the way Mikoto and Kaiya were.
Because Miko and Keiji were there, they were using two cans worth of tomatoes, but for just two people, one would be enough. "That's the beauty of it. You just cook the couscous in the sauce - it absorbs it nicely and genuinely will only take about 1 minute to cook. So you taste the sauce, and make sure the seasoning is as you like it, then finally add the couscous and cover." Setsuna replies. He doesn't add enough sri racha to make it super spicy or anything, he just finds it adds a nice flavour.
Since the other two are busy, Mikoto goes to open the door - besides he knows it's his lover on the other side. He opens it up and smiles at the younger man, "Hello~ welcome. I think dinner's almost done?"
"Oooh~ That's really cool!" Keiya enthused happily. "And even better for cleaning~ Only one knife, one cutting board, one pan, and one lifter~" And the dishes they were eating off of, of course, but she was just thinking of the small number of cooking dishes. That said, she took a taste of the sauce, considered it, then added a little more sriracha, then a touch more salt, and tasted again. "Hmmm.... I think that's good?" Hearing her brother arriving, she thought it was pretty perfect that everything had come together at the perfect time. "Couscous now?"
Keiji smiled at finding Mikoto on the other side of the door. "Thanks! Sounds wonderful." He commented, moving inside so he could take his shoes off. "You're looking quite lovely for your shopping trip." He complimented, figuring Mikoto had gone girl-mode to ease the shopping with his sister. And... well, he was enjoying the aesthetic, so why not say so?
"I've used leftover chicken, or leftover beef - just change the chicken bouillon to beef. you can make it spicier with more sriracha or... anything, really," Setsuna agrees. He nods along with her realizing how few tools had been used, as that's definitely a factor in how lazy this meal is. "Mmhmm. Add the couscous, fold it into the sauce and cover. And you can turn off the heat -- the sauce is hot enough and the couscous cooks fast enough that it'll be fine."
"Smells good too," Mikoto adds, since he's been sitting in the kitchen doing nothing while the other two have been cooking. Once Keiji has his shoes off, he tugs on his boyfriend's hair to demand his greeting kiss. As for his outfit, he smiles, "I feel very summery - although being boy mode would be better for that cuz I'm cinched and I'm sure my cincher is drenched in sweat."
"Can you use fish too? Or does that not work out so well?" Kaiya asked, already following Setsuna's directions regarding the pasta. Once it was covered in the sauce and she had covered it and turned off the heat, she smiled over at her boyfriend. "Done!" Her pride in herself evident in the look in her eyes and the lightness of her voice.
"Mhm~" Keiji agreed, then gave a soft, joyful chuckle at that hair tug before leaning down to give Mikoto that requested kiss. "You definitely look summery." He agreed, appreciating the look, though he did add, "Did you want to get changed before dinner?" As much as he enjoyed the look, he knew that it involved a lot of extra stuff under the clothes to make the illusion work so well, and if it was making his lover uncomfortable, he'd rather Mikoto take the chance to change into something more comfortable.
"Hmm, I think it would be fine. I don't usually have leftover fish, so I haven't tried it. If you don't have a fish bouillon, a veggie stock would probably do." Setsuna theorizes. He smiles at her, and says, "Incredibly lazy and easy to make though, right?"
"Hmm. I should have," Mikoto admits, with a laugh, realizing that's probably what he ought to have done while the others were cooking. But he'd been enjoying watching Setsuna and Kaiya being all cozy. "I think dinner's basically already done though." he admits. He takes Keiji's hand and pulls him into the kitchen to see how that's going.
"That makes sense! We don't often have leftover fish, but sometimes we can get cheap frozen fish, and some of the cheap frozen fish is kind of.... bland? So I think it might be nice adding it to something like this." Kaiya explained. She nodded enthusiastically at the question, though. "Yeah~ Really easy!" She agreed, still beyond proud of herself for actually having done all the work for this meal. It was about that time that Mikoto returned with Keiji, though. "Keiji! I made dinner!" She told her brother immediately.
"Oh well. You can always change after dinner instead." Keiji replied, following the other man into the kitchen. That immediate welcome from his sister made him laugh a bit. "The whole thing?" He asked, assuming that she had done a lot of help, rather than having made it all basically herself. It did smell very good, though, as advertised.
"Ohh, yeah it should work well for that," Setsuna agrees. he definitely doesn't buy or eat cheap frozen fish, but he's not going to judge the Tanaka family for something cheap and healthy like that. He smiles and waves in greeting to keiji, and says, "She cooked it all. I just watched and gave advice."
Mikoto nods at the idea that he'll have to change later. Once he's got Keiji in the kitchen, he goes to the fridge to get out drinks for everyone. He pipes up though, "I watched the whole thing -- Kaiya-chan made it~"
Kaiya just grinned at Setsuna and Mikoto confirming that she had done all the cooking. Truly, she was very proud of what she'd done.
Keiji took in that very proud look, as well as the words of the other two men, then smiled at his sister as well. He knew she had been doing her best to take on more of the cooking duties when he had to work, and most things she made turned out very well these days, so he was proud of her too. "Well, it smells great!" He said out loud. "I can't wait to try it."
That response from her brother made her positively beam. "It's almost ready! We're just waiting for the pasta to be done. And it should be done really soon, right?" She directed that last at Setsuna. She was pretty sure he'd said it would only take a minute or so, so that meant really soon, right?
Mikoto helps out in his simple way, by putting out drinks for everyone, having a good idea where everyone typically sits, and what they typically drink for dinner. He saves the coolers for dessert since he doesn't know how their flavours would interact with dinner.
Setsuna starts getting out the dishes, and agrees, "It's probably done already -- to be extra sure you can lift the lid and give it a good mix around." That would even out any spots that happened to have less sauce with spots that have more and help make sure all the couscous gets coated.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed brightly, going and doing just as suggested and stirring the meal around. As soon as she lifted the lid, the delicious scent in the air intensified. "Mmmmm~" She hummed excitedly. Just as she was done stirring the pasta and sauce, deeming it probably done, her brother was there with dishes ready. "Okay~ Let's see...." She said, mostly to herself, as she doled out three servings that she thought of as 'normal', and one that nearly filled the dish entirely for Mikoto. There was still a bit left over, but someone would undoubtedly eat it.
Keiji figured that Setsuna was overseeing the meal, making sure it really was done even if he was leaving it all to Kaiya on the surface, so the model decided to be helpful by getting the dishes down for their meal. After all, he *did* know where they were. Watching Kaiya dole out the food, he was a little overwhelmed by the amount Kaiya was apparently putting out for everyone but Mikoto, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just smiled, breathed in the delicious scent, then put the food out on the table in the right places. "Thanks for cooking, Kaiya. It looks and smells delicious." He said before taking his seat.
Keiji takes over the dishes and helps with serving, so once Kaiya gets to doling out portions, Setsuna heads over to the table. He smiles at Mikoto, perfectly happy to see a nice beer has appeared at his space at the table. "It's a one pot dish, and also a great way to use some leftovers, or veg that's about to go." He advertises, sure Keiji will appreciate him showing Kaiya another meal that uses those things. Although it would mean keeping couscous around which he doubts they do currently.
"It smells amazing," Mikoto says, happy with the mountain of food in front of him, but waiting for everyone to be settled before digging in. "Itadekimasu~"
As Keiji settled at the table with his own portion, he was immediately intrigued by what Setsuna was saying. "Oh? Can other pasta be used the same way? Or does it need to be something small, like this?" He asked, wondering if spaghetti, fusilli, or even ramen or rice noodles might work too.
Kaiya was listening with half an ear to the food talk, but she was more excited to see what Mikoto thought of the taste, honestly. "Itadekimasu~" She agreed before taking a taste herself. Personally, she thought it tasted really, really good. She was glad she'd added a little more sriracha, though. She thought it was nice with the tiny kick.... though she thought the blond would probably want more.
"You could do other pasta, sure. But you'd need another pot to cook the pasta first; and the nice part of the couscous is that since you cook it directly in the sauce, it absorbs the sauce and gets really delicious." No sauce dripping off the pasta. The effect really is more like a grain.
Mikoto has a spoonful, and it's definitely good - he has had this with Setsuna once or twice before so he's not surprised. He does, in fact, get the sri racha and give a squiggle of it all over his mound though.
"Ah~ I see. Well, I guess I'll have to watch for pasta going on sale to pick some up." Keiji decided rather easily. Seeing that Kaiya and Mikoto had started in on their meals, he followed suit. With the first mouthful, his eyes widened in delight, and he nodded to himself before swallowing. "That is really good!"
Kaiya wasn't at all surprised to see Mikoto adding more spice to his food, but it did make her giggle a little. "Needs more spice, Miko-chan~?" She asked before happily eating some more.
"I mean, it doesn't *need* more," Mikoto replies, vaguely aware that it can be considered rude in some places to add seasonings to a meal someone has made for you, although he's not really worried that Kaiya's taking offense, "But I do like it."
"I only really see couscous at international stores, like kaldi, but I do see it go on discount often since I think they don't use a lot of units, but it's unlikely to go stale fast enough to actually worry about," Setsuna advises.
Kaiya just giggled at Mikoto's response. She'd already known it wasn't any kind of diss to her cooking. Mikoto just liked things spicier than everyone else at the table. "No, no~ I know you just like things Korean spicy, instead of Japanese spicy~" She replied happily. Of course, this wasn't even Japanese spicy. It was just tasty, at least in her opinion, so it might be almost bland for the blond's taste, actually
"Oh?" Keiji replied with interest to that information. "I guess that would explain why I'd never seen it before. I thought it was just that I hadn't been looking for it." He admitted, then ate some more of the food. Really, it was quite tasty, and filling too. A very good combination for a lazy meal that his sister could make easily. He really would have to look for the couscous.
"And sri racha is just really tasty," Mikoto agrees. There are some hot sauces that are JUST hot, but he likes spicy food for the flavour. Mikoto eats his large portion faster than everyone else, of course, and not even sweating from an amount of sriracha that would render the food inedible to basically everyone else at the table.
Setsuna further ads, "Sometimes it ends up in the discount section cuz ti's close to the sell by, but it's totally fine after that, since it's a dried pasta, so that's a great chance to buy it." It's honestly how he buys it most of the time. Part of why he has money is he doesn't go pissing it away unnecessarily.
Kaiya smiled at that reasoning, but then gave herself over to eating. After their wandering around that day, she was quite hungry. Not Miko level of hungry, of course, but enough that she didn't feel like talking while eating anymore, unless someone directly engaged her.
Keiji, meanwhile, was pacing himself while eating, so he was enjoying having some conversation. The pacing was very much a learned behaviour to make himself feel fuller while eating less, especially with a smaller stomach. He still hadn't changed that behaviour, nor done much to try and expand his stomach. The fact was, with his job, he really didn't see a reason to try and change his eating habits too much, even if he was glad that Kaiya didn't have to emulate him anymore. "That's really good to know. I'll definitely watch for it being on sale." He agreed. "I do do that with some other dried items." He admitted.
Setsuna nods. Knowing which things you can safely buy on discount or not was a skill he valued, even if he didn't *need* it the way Keiji did, which is why he'd wanted to share his knowledge about the couscous as Keiji wouldn't be as familiar with the product as he was, "Couscous is really fun to play around with. If you have it in any kind of sauce or broth it'll cook near instantly. So a really lazy cheap meal is like. couscous, soup broth, boom."
"Hmm! So it can be used in place of rice, or other noodles, in a lot of things." Keiji replied thoughtfully. Not that it could replace a bowl of rice, but if they could get hot pot soup bases on sale, they could eat that sometimes, and then put rice in at the end, so they could maybe use the couscous for that sometimes.
"Yup," Setsuna agrees. One thing it is good for is soaking up sauces and then being instantly ready. "It doesn't bring much on its own though." although he thinks that warning is not necessary. He finishes up his meal and leans back, intent on savouring his nice beer.
Keiji shrugged at that slight warning. "A lot of noodles and grains are like that, though." He observed, still slowly working on his meal. He wasn't all that worried that he was, by far, the last person eating.
Because, yes, Kaiya was also done her food by that time, and was almost copying her boyfriend in savouring her drink, though hers was water, not beer. Her alcoholic drink was being held for later. "There's a little left in the pan if you're still hungry, Miko-chan." She advertised, seeing that Setsuna wasn't getting up to get more, and she was in the happily not hungry realm. Not over full, since she knew there was dessert, but not needing more dinner at this point.
"Hmm~ Don't mind if I do~" Mikoto replies. He had done a lot of walking that day so he was pretty hungry -- he would have been ok sticking with what he'd eaten, but he'll also gladly finish what's left. What's left isn't really enough for a decent leftover meal all of its own anyways. Everyone was done except Keiji, and he was the least likely to look for seconds. So the blond heads over to the stove, serves himself the last of it, douses it with hot sauce again, and still manages to finish just barely before his boyfriend.
"Are we going to keep hanging out as a family for a bit?" Setsuna asks, not really pushing either way, but just curious what the plan is.
Keiji couldn't help but smile at his lover taking up the offer to finish the food. It wasn't unexpected, but it was somehow adorable anyway. Maybe because Mikoto was still all dressed up, and made up to look as much like a girl as physically possible? Whatever, it didn't matter. Eventually he did finish up his food, though, and also began slowly enjoying the beer that had been put in front of him. The question about plans for the evening though... He looked at Mikoto and shrugged. He wasn't opposed to hanging out all together for a little bit, but he also knew that, at the end of the night, he was going across the hall to Mikoto's place.
Kaiya piped up, though, "Well, we still have the ice cream Miko-chan bought for dessert to have, at some point~ And we bought coolers so I could try them, but I don't know when we were planning to have them. Miko-chan said he would drink whichever one I didn't like, or we'd split them if I liked both." She explained, not sure what the plan of the evening was between now and dessert/coolers. It might be now-ish, or it might be more like play a game, then have sweets.
Mikoto definitely does not look like the kind of girl who would be eagerly pursuing seconds, but that doesn't bother him any. He's not envisioning a long visit, but enough to leisurely enjoy their drinks and dessert would be good. So he nods, "Yeah. Let's put on some TV or something, chill, and drink, and eat~"
Setsuna laughs, but he's been working all day so being lazy sounds lovely, "Honestly? Sounds great."
"Yay!" Kaiya exclaimed with a cute little clap of delight. "Can I help get or bring anything out?" She asked the blond, assuming Mikoto was taking charge of the 'drink and eat' portion of things.
Keiji smiled warmly at his sister's response, then picked up his beer. "Sounds like those of us that were actually working today get to retire to the couch while the shoppers of the day figure out dessert." He observed to Setsuna.
"It's only fair," Setsuna agrees, giving up some thanks to his god that he and Keiji have somehow managed to be friends who can be at ease together despite all of the weird situations their relationship has had to overcome. He goes ahead with the younger man, thinking that this means they get to chose the TV show (... unless the 'girls' come and hate whatever they chose, at least).
"Hmm~ You bring the drinks and I'll get the ice cream?" Mikoto suggests, having absolutely no reason for this division of labour. There were two tasks and he didn't really care who did what. He goes to get spoons first.
Keiji nodded sagely, then headed to the living room with the other singer. The big plus side to all of them being so close was that they could all actually fit on the couch together, even if they ended up squishing a little, or just kind of sitting on top of each other a little bit. With that thought in mind, Keiji had no problem taking a seat and putting his mostly full beer down on the table. "Any ideas on show? Or movie?" After all, Setsuna, and Mikoto, had access to a lot more options than he had at home.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed, then got out the coolers. "Mmmm.... should I split them half and half in glasses now, and just switch glasses if I don't like one? Or just leave them as is?" She asked, not sure which would be more efficient in the end.
"Probably a show," Setsuna replies. He'd gotten the idea that Mikoto probably wasn't planning on staying super late, and a movie was more of a commitment. "Maybe a cooking show, or something home-reno-ish?" He starts looking at the on screen tv guide. A good music show would be the best, but also the least likely to be found.
"Just leave them as is. Fewer dishes, and I'm not worried about catching cooties from you," the blond replies, terribly amused. Glasses seem like so much wasted effort to him. He doesn't even get bowls for the ice cream, since he'd bought all single serve containers. He does get a tray so he doesn't freeze his fingers off carrying them all though.
"Okay!" Kaiya agreed brightly, once again, picking up the coolers as is and bringing them into the livingroom. Once there, she set them down on the coffee table, then settled in next to Setsuna, happily cuddled right into him. "Okay, I'm going to try both of these *before* I have any ice cream, because I want to know what they taste like on their own." She said decisively, then opened both of them. "Okay.... which should I try first.... Pink Lemonade, or Rainbow Punch?" She asked the room at large, though it was mostly to herself.
Keiji shrugged at Setsuna's idea of a show. He was fine with either. When Mikoto came in with four little tubs of ice cream, the model blinked. There was almost no way that he would be finishing his, but that was probably fine. When the blond sat down, he easily got his arm around his lover's shoulders. "We each get our own?" He asked, though this was definitely obvious. The question about the coolers though, he said, "My vote is lemonade first."
Setsuna does end up finding some home reno show, but at least one where the renovations are somewhat whacky and not a standard 'now it looks like you live in a hotel' level. Although he has no real stake in the matter, he decisively declares, "Well, you start with rainbow, obviously."
"No. There's 3 for me, 0 for you, and Kaiya-chan and Setsuna are sharing one," Mikoto replies with utter and complete sarcasm. There were 4 small tubs, and 4 spoons, of course there's one each. He passes out the ice cream tubs to everyone. They were all the same flavour so no worries there.
Keiji was so focused on the extreme level of sarcasm being leveled at him, that he didn't even react to Setsuna immediately voting for the opposite cooler for his sister to try. Instead, he was trying to hold back laughter at what Mikoto had said. "O-oh? Well I guess that works." He responded, tears gathering at the edges of his eyes, he was trying so hard not to laugh.
Kaiya just started laughing immediately at getting contradicting advice from her brother and her boyfriend. But~ Boyfriend trumped brother, right~? At least, in this case, she thought he did. "Okay, I'll try the rainbow first." She decided, then took a sip from that drink. "Hmm!! It's really good!" She said, almost surprised there was alcohol in there, actually.
Mikoto serves Keiji last, as he so deserves for the ridiculous comment earlier, but he does properly give everyone one cup of ice cream and one spoon. Moving on as if nothing stupid had happened, he does tell his lover, "This is my favourite flavour - at least for cheap stuff you can find anywhere."
Setsuna did not need telling. He already knew that Mikoto liked this one. He's not as obsessed but maybe that's because it is a LOT of chocolate, and he's not always in the mood for that. But it had been a hot day, so the frozen treat appeals. He smiles at Kaiya trying her drink, "Coolers can be really dangerous; at least when you drink something that tastes rotted, you know you're drinking alcohol."
Keiji accepted his ice cream graciously, when it was handed to him, then opened it up so he could have a taste. "Oh? Good to know." The singer said with a smile, taking special note of the maker and flavour. Not that he would be likely to have it in a lot, but it would be nice to have it in for a special occasion or something. Taking his first spoonful, his eyebrows went straight up, then came back down. "Oh wow. That's *really* chocolatey!"
Setsuna's thoughts on alcohol made Kaiya make a face. "No thanks. If I'm just going to have one or two drinks, I want them to taste good~" She did understand that coolers could be dangerous in situations like the first time she'd gotten drunk, not realizing that what she was drinking *was* alcoholic, but knowing that she was drinking alcohol, and limiting herself to one or two drinks, she thought she would be okay. "I mean, why drink alcohol if it tastes gross?" She asked, already reaching for the lemonade to try it next.