heaven's bbs | video

[reloves]

Posted by: Minako
Date: February 8th

[ First there's a mess of blonde hair, as if someone turned the camera on a little too quickly and excitedly before being fully ready, but then Minako's face - with a big smile - fully appears. ]

So, everyone.. Valentine's Day is coming up, and you all know what that means! [ She moves her eyebrows up and down a few times. ] Of course I'm sure some of you already have found that special someone to spend that special day with, but there must be some people who are still worried about what they'll do on that day!

Well, if you're one of those people, then have no fear! You don't have to spend all day feeling down when you can instead dedicate it to finding the love of your life! That's what I'm here to help you with this year. You see, you can sign up for having one or more quick blind dates on Valentine's Day. Just leave me a comment here if you're interested, and tell me if you're interested in one date, or two, or three, or.. well, maybe someone will set the record for most blind dates in one day?

[ She laughs. ]

Anyway, once you've done that, people will randomly get assigned together and you'll be told the location of your date or dates on Valentine's Day itself! It's that simple!

And maybe by now you're thinking, "aw geez, Minako, I know you're a totally cute and super capable girl, but how could even you do all of that all by yourself?!" Never fear once more, since I have a super great partner in all of this who will tell you some more about this great opportunity!

[ Minako seems to reach for something off camera, muttering a few things under her breath at whatever is there, and then Chikusa is dragged onto the video. Not entirely willingly, from the looks of it. ]

[In fact, Chikusa definitely isn't willing, as is obvious by the fact that he is aggressively not making eye contact with the camera. After a few moments, perhaps giving into the oppressive sparkling atmosphere which is around Minako, he grits out a sigh.]

...No more than three dates.

[They have not planned for more than three. He refuses to do more work.]

Also... we need some people willing to clean up ayakashi on that day, too. There's a variant which seems to be getting worked up about this holiday.... So we need cleaners. Tell us if you're interested....

[After a second, he weakly tries to pull out of Minako's grip not too unlike a cat.]

[ Minako doesn't seem like she'll let go just yet, which means there's a lame and weak tug of war happening on camera right now as Minako tries to maintain her near sparkly smile. ]

Yes, let us know! Now how do I..

[ She reaches over to the camera - thankfully letting go of Chikusa - and manages to shut the feed off after a moment or two. ]

Comments

[reloves]

Wait, what?!

[ How could she have spoken to you for longer than 10 minutes and not have gotten every single juicy detail of this yet, Chikusa?! ]

Yes! And yes! [ Double yes?! Apparently Minako saw two questions there, which means she probably took his statement about the boyfriend as "do you want to hear more about my boyfriend"... She sounds pretty determined all of a sudden. ] You should tell me more about him while I'm testing the chocolate for you!

[kokuyoyo]

[That. That is sure a response. Chikusa pauses where he's fiddling with his own laptop and blinks over at her.]

...Alright? Then, I'll need to get some of the leftover I've made. But they're messy...

[reloves]

I'll accept them anyway! [ She forms her hand into a fist, holding it over her heart. ] With all my heart! But-- you know. In a totally platonic "all my heart" kind of way. You have a boyfriend, after all!

[ She's putting just a little bit too much emphasis on that word while making doe eyes at him. Chikusa has a boyfriend. Chikusa's cute little heart is filled with pure innocent love for his doubtlessly just as love-filled boyfriend!! How could she not be giddy at the very thought. ]

[kokuyoyo]

[Okay, he... He has to lean away a little. This is way too intense for him, and, honestly? He doesn't know how to deal with it. He really doesn't know what to do.]

Then... I'll leave you to talking to people and go get the chocolates? You're better at it anyway...

[She's... personable. Or something.]

[reloves]

Of course!

[ Minako will take that as a compliment - and it's a quality about herself she very much believes in as well, so she smiles. ]

Leave it to me. I'll make sure to convince everyone to join in!

[kokuyoyo]

Right. Then... I'll be back.

[It takes a little while for him to come back, especially since he's bribing Goku and has to get those chocolates out... But he does, indeed, come back, despite feeling sort of like he wants to lay on the side of the road like the corpse he always wanted to be. He sort of kicks his foot against the doorframe, in lieu of a knock, before shuffling in. He has another backpack, besides his usual backpack, which he left behind with Minako.]

[That one just has romance research. You know. For reasons. Don't ask him about it.]

I'm back... [Setting down his current backpack, he glances up at her from beneath his hair while taking out tupperware after tupperware.]

[reloves]

Welcome back!

[ Minako looks just as energetic as she did when he left - a total contrast with how he looks right now. She glances up from her phone and puts it down for a moment to instead turn and look at him. ]

Did you bring me some delicious chocolate to try out? I worked real hard for it, you know! I got so many people to go for it already-- your god is going to be surrounded by tons of couples!

[kokuyoyo]

Thanks.

[He means it, too, although it's clearly a little awkward coming out of his mouth. This is a whole lot of work, and it all spawned because of his own attempts to figure out how to get Hakkai out of whatever bizarre relationship he's in.]

Anyway... I'm trying to work on how they look... So they look not great right now.

[And that's what's behind Tupperware #1: some clumsily molded chocolates which have already leaked out some red filling out of them, whether through a hole or from cracks when they didn't quite hold right.]

But I don't like wasting food...

[reloves]

[ Well, there's no denying the chocolates look pretty.. experimental. But Minako is definitely willing to overlook that, especially since she's just testing them out anyway. So she doesn't even give the chocolates too weird of a look - she just mentally shrugs it off and smiles. ]

That's fine, isn't that why I'm trying them now? If the flavor is at least good, you're already halfway there! [ She reaches out to grab one of the chocolates. ] Besides, your boyfriend is totally lucky to have someone to make him chocolates regardless of how they look. I'm super jealous of him already!

[kokuyoyo]

[Being jealous of Ken is sure a thing he wouldn't have expected to ever hear. Clearly the words of someone who has never met Ken. Still, he guesses it's fine.]

He cooked for my birthday... So I like giving him things back. [Especially since Ken hardly ever cooks. They've talked about how he doesn't feel as if he's good at it.] And he likes berry flavors... so...

[And the raspberry filling definitely does its job! If anything, depending on Minako's tastes, it might be a little too sweet... A little too much sugar, maybe.]

[reloves]

That's so sweet of you! [ And she means it. Being attentive to lovers is something she appreciates a lot in people, and it's definitely making her see the good side of Chikusa.

She's also putting the chocolate into her mouth after saying that, thoughtfully chewing on it for a few moments. Minako doesn't have as much of a sweet tooth as a certain blonde she used to know, but it's still bearable for her - not like it's too extreme or anything. So she seems to enjoy it. ]

Oh.. they're pretty good too! Does your boyfriend like sweet things? Because it seems like you put quite some sugar into these.

[kokuyoyo]

[Chikusa isn't entirely sure it's sweet of him... After all, he's known Ken for, well. All his life, he's pretty sure. He can't think of knowing another person that long and not picking up on the things they like, especially with memories of Ken blowing their allowance on things like gum.]

[But that's not important. The sweetness of the chocolate is, and Chikusa stares down intently into the box while thinking over it.]

He'll... eat anything he can shove into his mouth. [Sweet or not. After a second, something occurs to Chikusa, and he blinks a bit.] ...I guess I do too.

[Living a life on the run means no pickiness allowed.]

But if it's too sweet... Hm.

[reloves]

It's not so sweet that it ruins the whole thing! No worries! [ And while Minako is definitely not about flattering people she thinks of as her friends - she does it a lot - it's not as if she wouldn't be honest about it if she thought they tasted awful. ]

Maybe just add a little less sugar in the next batch and I'm sure they'd be perfect.

[kokuyoyo]

Then... I'll try that.

...But no point in wasting them. [Pop! Right into his own mouth.] Do you cook...?

[reloves]

[ Hey, you don't have to tell her twice! Minako will gladly take another one as well.

But his question makes her shake her head and laugh. ]

Do you think I seem like the type? [ Normally it might've sounded a little self-depreciative, but Minako brings it with a smile. ] Nope, I have no idea how to do it. Zelda and I end up relying on other people a lot because of it.

[kokuyoyo]

[Wow. Let him take that in for a moment while he chews through his chocolate.]

...Why not just learn...?

[reloves]

[ Now that's a sore spot. Not the kind that offends her, but.. ]

Haha, well, things are working out more or less as they are right now, right? No need to change it. [ Minako doesn't sound too convinced of that though - it sounds more avoidant than anything else. ]

[kokuyoyo]

...What if those other people end up disappearing?

[Sorry, Minako. He's hear to ruin this self denial.]

[reloves]

Then there's still lots of places to get food! Or maybe we could eat something simple..

[ She seems rather insistent on it, but it's mostly since it's not a matter of not wanting to learn. ]

Either way things will work out somehow. People are too nice here for them to don't work out.

[kokuyoyo]

I don't like relying on other people like that...

[It puts him too on edge. Too paranoid. Sure, he steals free food when it's presented to them... but that's only occasional and meant to supplement what he already does.]

...Do you need simple recipes...

[reloves]

Are you saying I should rely a little on you to get recipes? [ She says it in a jokey sort of way, because of course she has to make sure everything ends up light. Minako, ever showing she might be insecure about anything? Hah. ]

I'd appreciate it if you had some recipe that would make it very hard to accidentally set the kitchen on fire.

[kokuyoyo]

...

[Hey, Minako. Quick question. What the f- ]

[Still, he thinks he has this handled. Cold recipes only.... He takes his phone, navigating it away from the message she's just posted.]

...So... Nothing that involves the oven or stove... At least not right now. [Seriously, Minako.] But... Horiatiki salata is a salad, so you shouldn't have a problem with that.

[And he'll be sending her a list of ingredients and the way he does it to her.]

Get a rice cooker. Then you can just have regular rice, which is fine... But you can also make onigiri, which aren't too hard... Just follow a video to show you the way to form it. Salmon would be good, but since you might set that on fire.... Pickled plums, I guess. I hate those, but not everyone...

[And, like. He'd still eat it if he had to. Chikusa isn't picky. Oh, and he's sending that list of ingredients as well, along with a recipe.]

...Steaming meat... might also be manageable for you. But you'll need to get bamboo steamers and know how to use those. If you do... I know a chicken recipe that might be good...

[A video on how to use bamboo steamers, an ingredients list, and a recipe. Chikusa gives a pause, here, thinking carefully.]

...I could try to think of a pasta... if you felt confident in not setting anything on fire.

[reloves]

[ See, this right here is the exact problem. Usually Minako can do just about anything with confidence, even when she has absolutely no idea on how to do it. But while she's discovered there are definitely some things she can do for Zelda - keeping her happy by acting like an idiot, for one - cooking is not one of those things if she wants to ensure the temple remains standing.

So his list ends up feeling kind of overwhelming. Could she really pull off any of those things without some ridiculous random kitchen accident happening? Who knows, but Minako sure doesn't have a lot of faith in that anymore. ]

You sure know a lot about this, huh.. [ She's trying to keep her usual tone, but there's still a hint of discouragement in it she can't quite contain. ]

[kokuyoyo]

[Oblivious to the intricacies of other people's moods unless it's "murder" and "not murder", Chikusa misses the way the mood tones down. Instead, he just tries to think further on what sort of recipes would be viable. He has a vague idea of at least four different areas, from the way he's bounced around so many places, but in this case, it's not really helpful...]

[After a second, he blinks out of his thoughts and takes in her observation.]

...My first god.. was a hearth god. So I wanted to be useful for him... [That's certainly a phrase to use. No matter how much he tries to remind himself to change, some things just remain habit.] Even when he disappeared, I thought he might come back... So I still practiced. And then Hakkai just likes doing it... So I guess it became a habit.

[It's sort of comforting, sometimes. It has enough similarities to poison making that he feels comfortable doing it, but more uses than poison. Acceptable uses, anyway.]

[reloves]

[ It's a little surprising how much of - what is in her opinion - Chikusa's caring nature she's seeing today. Taking good care of his boyfriend, taking good care of his god.. With how quiet he is, it'd be easier to think he's detached, but Minako figures he must be super fond of the people he's close to that he thinks so much about what he can do for them.

It makes her feel like she should be presenting herself a little better too right now. She's still utterly convinced this cooking situation is hopeless, but she forces a smile that looks pretty natural anyway. Isn't that what she's best at? ]

Your gods must always appreciate you a lot. [ With all that he does for them. Minako continues quickly though, not wanting to linger on something that gets too close to her own issues out of fear of stinging Zelda-- ] And, you know, I appreciate you a lot too. You're really helping me out here! I'll try to keep some of the stuff you mentioned in mind.