META_mahn
Well-Known Member
YSS Kaiyō
Wardroom
17日 2月 YE 39
1720 Hours
Mochi sat perched on the edge of his wardroom seat, butterflies circling his stomach merrily as if he wasn't nervous enough. He'd planned out and organised a small double-date-meeting-thing with (some) input from infantryman Mat. He himself didn't know Mat as well as he probably should - the Juni stretched spontaneously as he thought - but he knew Arb-Arb was close to Meissa so he'd better start working on that.
Brushing the front of his shirt for probably the tenth time in as many minutes, he took a breath to quell the butterflies. This was the first in a long time he'd been intentionally early to an event (this he considered very much an 'event') and was determined to impress. Only a few more minutes to go..
God.. I really hope I've got this right. He never dressed up this way, it was either totally casual or totally formal - smart-casual inbetween sort of dressing was totally beyond the blonde. So, he was wearing a jumper. A jumper of all things, over a T-shirt. Mochi envisioned a middle aged librarian for a second, then shunted it from his mind forcefully.
Trying to take his mind off things for a moment at least, Mochi asked himself what's the worst that could happen - I mean he'd had successful relations before.. right? I mean, his father disowned him from birth, he'd never been allowed to talk to his siblings and he basically raised himself. Screwing up his face in dismay, he remembered that most of his university friends were still in contact but.. he hadn't seen them in years.. With an audible groan, Mochi lowered his forehead to the table with a small "thunk". What was he doing?!
Meissa cringed somewhat as she looked herself over, and over again in the hallway. Why was she wearing a skirt and such finery. Why was she doing this to herself. She hated skirts, even if it was just a knee-length. She hated the slightly claustrophobic feeling of her clothing. Just why was she doing this. She tried to keep her breath and heart steady, but couldn't. She looked fine -- she even got Boss to provide some feedback, albeit mostly just statistical probability that X clothing would make you look more attractive as according to psychological structure or what-have-you-computational bullshit , and a little bit of grooming, as well as how to look the best with minimal cosmetics -- but she just...
Of all the things to be embarassed about, why the skirt? Why? God, she was hopeless. People said they were lovers, not fighters. Well, she was a horrible lover. Great fighter though. Yes, real great fighter. Come on, it's just like fighting. Know your enemy, percieve your enemy, defeat your enemy.
Be brave, Meissa. Be brave. Wait, what? Since when did she doubt her bravery? She finally, finally calmed her breath and heart down. Then, took a step forward. Almost in an instant the butterflies were back and her face flushed red again. The fact Arbs said that she looked cute when she blushed...didn't make anything better. In fact, it made it all worse. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide, for the first time in her life.
But she walked in (after mentally knocking herself around a few times), supporting herself against the door frame, wings covering her body partially. God, she needed help. She needed so much help. When she tried to speak, her words failed her. So she waved. It was a pitiful wave. She tried to speak again.
"Hi, Mochi..." she squeaked out. She gave herself some credit for being able to talk. Granted, her posture was making her look about as large as her roommate. All of her normal...presence that just filled a room when she entered was gone. All of that fight she normally had, all of the sort of confident spirit, gone. She blamed it on the skirt. And, of course, the fact this was her first date with her first love. And he wasn't even here yet.
Love, huh...so this is what it felt like. Blushy, ridiculous, and utterly stupid feeling. But something warm about it made her walk into the room, didn't it? Something made her put on a skirt instead of pants like she normally would.
Someone pushed Meissa forward with a set of pokes-with but a simple invasion of her roommate's privacy the other Angel made her presence known. She was... Somehow keeping her cool, at least under the make-up she bothered to apply professionally for once. The artificial blush mixed with her hair into a perfect frame for her eyes, twinkling slightly in the light. With a bit of help from the Boss-that AI could call in a lot of favors on the birbs now if it wanted-Arble managed to select a one-piece black dress of simple construction, the skirt ending just below her knees as she stood.
"Ahem. Uhhh.... You alright Mochi...?" Her wavering song directed towards her face-down date, the little one's faint smile drooped into a light frown - headaches are terrible plagues for dating, or any social interactions... Even if the thought of trying to care for a sick Seinosuke heated the angel's face like the burner that produced that cute scar.
Mat was a little less than ready for his double date, but he had helped plan it, so he knew he had to go. He knew he had to show up, at least for Meissa's sake. And Mochi. And Arbitrated. And there was no way he could justify letting all of them down. That didn't stop him from feeling queasy and like he could blow chunks at any moment as he walked down the hall to the wardroom from his cabin.
He wasn't ready, but there he was. He had shown up and the sight of Meissa in her skirt, of all things, was enough to send the butterflies in his stomach up to his throat. But he kept the nausea down enough to push past it and stepped into the wardroom clumsily, nearly falling face first into the ground.
Meissa looked backwards at what was prodding her forward, and saw Mat tripping over himself. Against her own...apprehension would be the name, she rushed over to make sure Mat didn't flop facefirst into the ground. If a god existed, Meissa prayed that this date wouldn't explode like something she set charges all over.
Mat got overexcited when Meissa began helping him and waved his hands out in front of himself, saying excitedly, "No, no need to he—" He stuttered, "Help me!"
Meissa made some sort of weird noise as she 'tried' to support Mat up as he nearly flopped over, desperately using her shoulders to keep him upright. At least she still had enough instinct left to do this. The queasiness she felt in her own stomach only worsened when she realized that she probably had to confess to him sometime sooner or later.
Noticing how the other couple seemed to be busy with their own activities, Arb-Arb trotted over to the facedown scientist, veeeery gently ruffling a bit of his hair with one finger. "Hope you haven't fallen asleep yet," she sang lightly, as the pint-sized birb continued to play with the Juni's hair. It was kinda messy but not stupendously so, an easy little brush-just like that-was all that was needed to set it back into the proper place.
"Thanks, Meissa. Thank you for helping me. You didn't need to, you know," Mat said to Meissa. "Why do you help me?"
Do it now, Meissa. Do it now. Did she have to? Yes, yes she did. She had to say it some time, right? So get it over now.
Stupid words. Don't fail her now. Just say it. A few simple words. But they were a struggle to say as her face instantly flushed red while trying to say them. Finally, she almost choked the words out.
"I...I love you, Mat. That's why."
Oh god. She's done it now. She's finally said the words. She turned her head downwards, away from Mat's gaze, closing her eyes.
Mochi was very much inside his own head, all the ways the date could flop swam in there like cave fish inside.. well.. a cave. It was only the gentle melodic voice of his angel and a light, gentle brushing of his messy-as-usual-despite-scrubbing-up hair that roused the man. Raising his head perhaps a little too enthusiastically, Mochi was graced with the most radiant face he'd ever seen, almost taken aback at how Arblebarble appeared with just the right amount of everything. "I.. uh.." he murmured - exactly how a PhD qualified scientist would respond - before mentally shaking himself into sense.
"H-Hey every.." the officer trailed off, overhearing Meissa's heartfelt confession to her partner - suddenly feeling as if the flame of expectation had lit flared up underneath his seat. As he held his breath, eager to see what would happen next, Mochi reached out and gently took Arb-Arb's soft-as-clouds hand in his own. A flare of warmth shot up his arm and straight to the center of his being, raising his eyebrows to her in apprehension as they looked on.
Mat was unable to process the words and after she said them, his mind went blank and all he could think about was putting his lips on hers. Mat lifted his hand to put it against Meissa's cheek and brought her face so that she was looking at him and bent down, moving on instinct.
"It's okay to say that, Meissa. Uuuh..." He trailed off. But then he regained his ability to speak and say, "I-I do, too..."
Her lips were warm and soft. A hint of sweet mint and chocolate on them. At first her body was rigid and surprised due to Mat's sudden action -- what? Then, she let herself give into his grip and his shoulder. She was still blushing, of course, but now she smiled. Yes, yes she did love him. He was a horrible, oblivious idiot, but he was her idiot now. And...well, he was quite the lover. He could feel her heart racing as her body was pressed close, but Meissa didn't seem to mind the intimacy. He was such a sweet guy. He tried so hard, and Meissa could see it.
Feeling the warmth of her lips and flutter of her heart as they moved in sync with one another, Mat was able to see her true desires for the first time in a clear and comprehensible way. He didn't know what to do with them, though, and his tongue moved hungrily from his lips before he disengaged from the kiss and moved away from her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He stared at her intensely in the eyes and moved away even further away from her and let go of her shoulders and bowed to her, murmuring at her.
God as if Mat being a dork and kissing Meissa wasn't enough, Mochi was still managing to one-up him with that stammer! With the little Shan's hand safely encapsulated inside Mochi's warm, precise holdings, it was only a matter of time before the cool facade cracked, the angel snnnneeeaaaking over to peck her partner's forehead with her own lips.
"You, sir, need to relax a little!" Reassuring, if Mochi's personal heavenly resident wasn't trembling like a flower in the breeze and blushing so hard her makeup couldn't even hide it. Sheesh, just what was going on here? All four of us can do our jobs just fine with each other but the moment food and some privacy got involved we're all blubbering messes!
"Thank you, Meissa... For letting me. Er, I'm sorry, Meissa," Mat said while he bowed, looking down at the ground.
"It's okay." she whispered. "We'd have done this at some point anyways."
She noted their distinct lack of seats. "Uh, maybe we should sit down first..."
"Mhmm!" Mat said after he had lifted himself up and put a hand up to his hair and toussled it then moved his hands down to his sides and nodded. "I guess we should..." He walked them over to the table where Mochi and Arbles sat and brought out a chair in which Meissa could take a seat.
"Hey, look at the gentleman giving his fine lady a chair." Meissa poked his forehead with two fingers. She took her seat before Mat sat down.
Her birb peck was light and soft, yet it infused Mochi with a renewed sense of confidence and determination. As Mochi took a deep breath as subtly as he could, 'What am I doing? Just act normal you dimwit!' he spurred himself mentally. They should all just sit down and talk like how regular normal people do, he had plenty in store and there was no way he would show himself up!
Giving Arb-Arb his best winning smile Mochi rubbed the top of his head sheepishly as he stood from his chair. "You're right, where are my manners!" the Juni swept over to his neighbouring seat and - with practiced technique - slid it back slightly for her.
It took a few seconds of gazing before Ms. Shan realized she herself was curling her own lips upward with her partner's renewed confidance as a bolster for her own. Things couldn't go that poorly with execution like this!
"Thank you, Mochi!" She accepted the chair gently, the Caelisolan's tiny body gently lowering into the cushion before relaxing with idle breath, either awaiting someone to say something or food to be delivered-in a way this was enough to stop herself from bubbling into a mess of nerves, at least for the time being.
The blonde himself was eager to show what he had spent his nighttime hours preparing for their dinner. With all sitting, he cleared his throat politely. "Okay everyone, I'm going go be serving a specially made meal!" he tried to keep his voice measured and calm despite the nerves - he wasn't sure how well he was succeeding.
Glancing around for a second for the tray he should have left somewhere, a slight frown appeared. It should've been one table over.. "O-One sec." Mochi's tone slipped as he dashed off to one side of the room.
Arble chuckled a little watching the young man mess around. If he left it in here it's probably hidden or something so others don't steal it... Either that or someone else put it away already. Meissa just figured it was probably really close by. That's what always happens, right? You leave something like your phone in your pocket, then you search your entire room upside down, only to find your phone right there. In your pocket.
Scanning around where the Juni was sure he'd left the plates, a memory popped into existence. He'd left it on one of the seats another table down to keep them out of sight! Sighing a little, he carefully lifted the solid silver tray, laden with silver domed plate covers and cutlery. Gliding back to their table, Mochi began setting them down before each of the datees. "Dig in!" he smiled once he finished and returned to his place beside his cherry-winged partner.
Arble looked at the steak, grinning from ear to ear. She might not be particularly positive for the consumption of meats such as this, but like holy crap it smelled AMAZING!
Mochi beamed as the three uncovered their meals, displaying the carefully crafted contents. "The meat is specially grown by myself, which is probably against equipment regulations.. uhm.. Mat helped cook it!" Using bio printing, genetics engineering and tissue grown acceleration machinery this way probably wasn't what they were designed for...
"We need to get a list of favors we owe Boss now, at this rate." Meissa snorted. She owed one or two. Arbs owed like...five. She wasn't sure about Mat but Mochi probably owed about ten now for Boss not telling Eden about the probable misuse of equipment.
"So, home-grown meat, basically?" Arb-Arb did have to admit, that sounded pretty cool. She had a momentary flashback to when psomi was first produced en masse, helping negate the recurring problem of malnutrition. Somehow it managed to always taste good, even if you had enough money for a regular, proper meal most of the time, and sometimes even changed its taste through the day! Lost in thought, the smol seemed to remain staring at her food, eyes unfocused...
Meissa curiously cut into the steak, checking how well Mochi did. On the first cut she knew it was pretty real, how the meat tore apart into discrete, irregular strands. The smell of seasoning and broth injected into the steak smelled amazing as well, too. One hell of a cook, that guy.
"Ah. The last time I ate synthetic food was psomi in friggen' Elysia." Meissa replied. She begrudginly gave the Patricians that victory. Before psomi, her fights were more or less a means to keep afloat with the war putting a strain on her family's income. She still preferred real food, though. She wasn't the biggest fan of Yamatai, but she preferred it over old Elysia. And she was one of the ones that lived on the comfortable end. She still swore the Patricians made psomi just to bolster their own massive, M-class star-sized egos. Complete with the solar flares.
"Custom tailored meat, uh-huh. Psomi? What did it taste like?" Mochi was curious about this strange food they all seemed to know of and he'd never heard of. As he finished setting everything out, he grabbed the silver jug of water from the plate. Pouring some out into each of the glasses, he set them down before each of them. "I would normally have got some some nice vintage wine but.. yaknow." he muttered once he finished and sat down in his rightful pl. In reality, he'd simply forgotten to prepare wine beforehand: he'd got enough IOUs to MEGAMI. One more wouldn't have phased him.
After a moment, Mochi spotted Arble staring down her steak as if it were going to either disappear or attack her at any moment. "Hey.. Everything alright?" the emerald-eyes asked softly, it was rare he saw the smol like this.
"Just bump her." Meissa said to Mochi. "She's probably got her mind five light-years out."
Meissa then, with some restraint, bit into a piece of the steak after slicing a part off. It was quite the masterful steak, alright. Tender and juicy from both source material and preparation methods. The owl was sure she hadn't eaten a better steak.
Mochi raised a surprised eyebrow at the demo expert, then placed his knife back down on his plate. He hadn't yet taken a bite but the smell was tantalising, he had to admit - Mat had been a lifesaver in the cooking, he wouldn't have been able to keep them all warm if he was doing them himself. With a careful, warm hand the blonde encapsulated Arb-Arb's in his and squeezed lightly to let her know he was there.
"Abwuh?" The little Shan seemed to restart at the squeeze, shaking her pint-sized body in a single, shockwave-like motion. She turned her head towards Seinosuke, blinking slowly and attractively before her breathing caught up with the rest of her. "Sorry about that, uhh..." Mid-sentence she started turning back to a somewhat neutral angling for the party, "Did someone ask me something?" Aside from being a bit disconnected from the present still, Arblemarble seemed to be alright-after a pause, she realized her hand was being held, and blushed cutely while returning Mochi's squeeze with surprising-but not quite potent-force.
Sein couldn't help but break into a beaming smile as Arblebarble rebooted, her shining emerald and sapphire eyes meeting his with the cutest look of surprise. A light shade of crimson toned her complexion, coupled with a return signal broke Mochi's shell and he leaned forwards. Brushing his lips upon her soft cheek, he kissed her there for a few short, affectionate moments and then whispered "Nothing.." The blonde pulled back before the kiss blossomed into something more after suddenly realising that he was in the presence of others. Turning more than one shade of scarlet himself, he resisted the urge to cough in embarassment and went silent for the moment. 'Where did that come from?!' he murmured inside his head, keeping as normal an external demeanour as possible.
Meissa gave him a thumbs-up. Then pecked Mat on the cheek and turned back to the thumbs-up. Good job, man. Now everyone's had their kiss. 'Chu' is how it went. Right?
Mat was out of it, having dug into his food then received a kiss by none other than the one that he had kissed just minutes earlier, he was surprised by the interruption, fork hanging out of his mouth as his hand fell and a smile erupted at the corners of his lips as he closed his eyes.
"Th—Thanks, Meissa," Mat stammered. To which, Meissa only ruffled his white hair. It also had a nice texture. Then she turned back to her own steak.
As if a kiss were to help the miniature dork stay together-she barely had time to realize what Seinosuke had done before he'd shifted himself back into his seat properly. Stuck somewhat facing her romantic choice, lips moving slowly like a fish for a good five seconds before a surprisingly violent gyration shocked Shan's brain into proper control again... Apparently her best option was to conceal the blush poorly by looking down at the synthetic steak, and start dissecting it neatly. Meissa was right, it was tender as all heck... "It's, uhh... I-it's got a really interesting texture... Not all, tough like the normal ones..." Somehow the bridge albatross managed to stammer out a mostly complete sentence. A few moments again and she started to chew thoughtfully on a steak... Holy crap, it was really tender and quite delicious... And technically home-grown, if 'home' could be defined as an area several light-years in length.
Mochi began to tuck into the steaming meal himself, having noticed the signal from Meissa. Cutting a small square of tender flesh, he chewed on it with a contemplative thought in his emerald eyes. It was good indeed but it wasn't the top of his potential - if only he had all the precision machines his university did onboard it would defintiely be first class. Detecting a lull in the conversation and taking upon himself in capacity as self-appointed host for the evening, the Juni prompted the table best he could. "So, Meissa, what convinced you to join the Kaiyo?" he ventured: he hadn't talked to many of the other crew about that (normally very personal) subject and it would be a interesting answer no doubt.
"Well, you didn't say how thorough." Meissa replied. "I wanted to join just because I wanted to screw around in the cosmos. Get away from Elysia. And Yamatai. Plus, a fighter's gotta find work somewhere, so here I am." Or, at least, that was the common answer she gave. Perfectly acceptable and perfectly a lie, lie, lie. She didn't mind telling this lie. Arbitrated knew the first part of the truth. She would tell Mat as much as she would want to divulge later. Maybe, if the time was right, she would tell it all.
"Hm? Oh, yes." Setting her fork upon the plate the smollest of birbs cleared her throat once to dislodge some of the steak. It was so easy to pull apart some had gone loose inside of her! "Well I mean, I didn't really know what to do with my life. It was a bit too... Open-ended, I guess?" A short pause. "The military seemed like a fairly easy choice, although I admit that I never did expect to meet... people who weren't nekos. Nor would I find," and with this comment, Mochi felt something warm like a blanket wrap quite loosely around his back, and a weight on his side as Arb gave him some unique wing-based hug, "Someone like you guys!" Closing her eyes in a smile and light blush, Arb-Arb rested there for a few more moments before returning to a position that was more customary for food consumption.
Mochi turned a little of confusion, blonde hair floofing a little with the movement as he realised that the smol was snuggling him with a soft, candy-coloured wing. It was so cute and unexpected, Mochi reached out and couldn't help but stroke her wing a few times and as she tried to pull away, kept stroking the silky feathers - probably without realising the implications.
Mat sat rigid, not knowing if he should continue eating or answer the questions being posed. He dipped his utensil into his food, then set it down gently and looked uneasily at Meissa.
Matsuvo wondered aloud, "I wonder what we're going to do after this." Meissa wiggled her eyebrows at Mat. Obviously she wasn't gonna do...that, just yet. But jokes have to be made, people have to blush, and fun must be had.
"Dammit Meissa, isn't that a bit... High-speed?" She may have giggled at her cabinmate's suggestion whole blushing harder than Saki when Eden came into the medbay all that time ago, but the albatross had to ask...
"O-oh!" Mat muttered. He was a little taken aback by Meissa's wiggle waggling of her eyebrows and didn't quite know what it meant until Arbitrated said something, then it seemed to make more sense. "Oh..."
Mat grabbed his hands and clenched them together, then said to everyone, "I think I didn't mean that. I mean I think that at least I didn't mean that. Maybe I did? No, I didn't. I don't think so, at least... What are we talking about?"
"Nah, not yet. Not time for that, at least. Maybe some time much later." Meissa replied to Mat's obvious flustered look, suppressing a giggle. "But back on the topic. Why did you join the Star Army?"
"My parents told me stories from the Star Army and they got me excited to join," Mat said, happy to change the subject. "I couldn't be happier with the choice." He smiled brightly as he said, "Like all of you said, I, too, have met tons of great people." He looked to Meissa and then looked away before returning to look into her eyes with a wide smile.
"Aww. What a guy." Meissa brought her head to rest on the shoulder of the one she loved now.
Mat's pale flace blushed a scarlet before he cocked his head so that the side of his face rested against the top of Meissa's brunette head and said simply, "Thanks, Meissa. I like you a lot, too." To which, Meissa only reached up with her wing and wrapped it around Mat's other shoulder. Mat smiled and closed his eyes, realizing he loved Meissa more than he ever thought he could love another.
Mochi felt some trembling under his fingertips, likely connected with the red lighthouse expression worn by his partner. It took a considerable amount of effort to not just go and jump into the scientist's lap, probably disrupting the table and a few other things. Aside from the pretty obvious distracted vibration of her steak-laden fork, and the blush itself, there wasn't much that Meissa and Mat would be able to read from the smol...
"He did the thing." Meissa whispered to Mat, this time not suppressing the giggle. "He made your mistake."
"Oh?" Mat said with a lilting tone of voice denoting a question. "He did?"
After listening to their reasons for joining, Mochi was a little confused at how hushed their voices had become.The Juni was too concerned with trying to fathom what Mat and Meissa were muttering about to realise that the feathers he was caressing had started to vibrate lightly. As Meissa and Mat started throwing him some weird looks, Mochi glanced to Arbles for some help. Upon the revelation that his partner was practically burning crimson, he immediately stopped stroking. 'Oh god, what have I done?' ran through his head, 'Did I say something to embarass her? Or have I done something wrong?' In horror, the blonde scanned his chest for any food he'd thrown over himself, which he thankfully hadn't. Despite this entire episode lasting about a second, Mochi felt like he was on red alert. "H-Hey, are you alright?" he asked, trying to keep his voice light and not letting panic slip through as he wondered what it could be. Meissa clapped at his failure. Good job, man. Good job. The reponse prompted was a surprised expression, accentuated by two raised eyebrows - 'Oh no.. This has to be bad..'
"Apparently, little known fact." Meissa huffed out. "Don't touch the wings of an Elysian. That's the bad touch. Don't worry, I don't mind too much, Mat. Just don't, uh...lean back too quickly."
The pint-sized girl couldn't help but burst out in a fit of the giggles, especilly with Meissa's description of what the cool-but-not-really-cool scientist had just done. Okay maybe that was a bit of an accelerant but it sure as hell felt nice! Smiling all the while as she cooled, the weapons operator leaned over and tilted her face up, juuuust straining to plant a kiss on Mochi.
A little red flushed Mochi's cheeks as it dawned on him what the commotion had been about. He knew it was accidental and besides, it was hardly a crime even if it was intentional. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with showing how you feel about someone anyway." he quipped back to Meissa perhaps a little defensively. Mochi felt a little sheepish but the smol's heavenly laughter dispelled any embarassment as soon as it fell on his ears. The Juni looked towards the little Shan, eyes twinkling as they met hers, about to say something before she leaned in. Whatever it was, it was forgotten as he moved to meet her in kind. Their lips touched, soft, warm and filled with affection, one hand snaking around her waist as they kissed. As he held her in a firm yet gentle embrace, perhaps the other discreetly brushed a few nearby feathers to prove his feelings.
"Mmm!" Taken aback from the responsive lips of the much taller Minkan, Arb-Arb simply seemed to melt into Mochi's arms and embrace, briefly readjusting herself to be easier to hold and smooch. Her face like a fire pit from his actions, the tiny female closed her eyes to keep this moment forever... Or at least until the next one came around. Her blanket-like plumage seemed to have an almost silky consistency to it, and a gentle humming noise emanated from the smol's body. Should she have wanted to say something, it was really quite gone now.
"I won't, Meissa," Mat said, though it was not a timely way of letting Meissa know she was safe, at least he was showing some effort. He lifted his head and looked straight at Mochi, wondering what made the other man so capable of making more of a mess of himself than even Mat had. Was this some sort of competition Mat didn't know about?
Meissa patted him on the shoulder with her wing, retracted it back, and sat up straight again. "Now you can lean back." Meissa replied, running a hand through Mat's snowy white hair. Like the color of doves. "I give you too much shit, Mat. For how nice you are." She patted him a few more times.
Mat received the pats willingly and smiled at Meissa, then pushed forward to kiss her gently on the cheek. The only thing was, he didn't know where her cheek was exactly. He could have sworn it was two inches higher than it really was and Mat ended up kissing Meissa directly on the eyeball.
Meissa recoiled in surprise as Mat kissed her in the wrong spot.
"O-oh!" Mat mumbled, troubled by his own action. "What the— I'm sorry, Meissa!"
"Come on now, Mat." Meissa laughed. "My lips are right here." She kissed him back, a short one on his own lips.
"Thanks, Meissa," Mat said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair as he did.
A hot tingling sensation arched across Mochi's spine as his parther pressed against him, each time she wiggled it heightened his senses. Arble's flowing locks brushed his cheek and it tickled in the nicest way. Every second that passed was another in bliss - another to treasure. As far as he was concerned, they were alone together in their own world, totally oblivious to anything beyond each other in that moment.
A subtle tap to the scientist's nose brought him out of his fantasy just enough to remember that this was only their first date, and he was not alone with his precious little angel. As the little Shan turned back to her plate with a blush, she squeezed Seino's hand under the table a couple of times in a row. Clearing her throat, she spoke, "S-sorry about that..." Taking several deep breaths to try and steady her emotions, the teddy birb remained silent for the time being.
The lil' boop to the snoot knocked some sense back into Mochi, causing him to turn back to the others after shooting a quick wink to his smol. The scientist lowered his gaze towards the center of the table, a little embarassd and giving himself a moment to cool down before anything. In the temporary pause, Arb-Arb finally got back to finishing up her portion of meat, pretty obviously enjoying the meal that had been made.
Meissa took some more time to savor her meal, her wing constantly poking Mat in ticklish spots, which made him laugh quite a bit.
"That's adorable." Meissa commented, while teasing him more.
"No," Mat said, stumbling over his words. "Y-you are."
"No, you're the adorable one, I'm completely sure of it." Meissa nudged him.
Mat blushed heavily.
Wardroom
17日 2月 YE 39
1720 Hours
Mochi sat perched on the edge of his wardroom seat, butterflies circling his stomach merrily as if he wasn't nervous enough. He'd planned out and organised a small double-date-meeting-thing with (some) input from infantryman Mat. He himself didn't know Mat as well as he probably should - the Juni stretched spontaneously as he thought - but he knew Arb-Arb was close to Meissa so he'd better start working on that.
Brushing the front of his shirt for probably the tenth time in as many minutes, he took a breath to quell the butterflies. This was the first in a long time he'd been intentionally early to an event (this he considered very much an 'event') and was determined to impress. Only a few more minutes to go..
God.. I really hope I've got this right. He never dressed up this way, it was either totally casual or totally formal - smart-casual inbetween sort of dressing was totally beyond the blonde. So, he was wearing a jumper. A jumper of all things, over a T-shirt. Mochi envisioned a middle aged librarian for a second, then shunted it from his mind forcefully.
Trying to take his mind off things for a moment at least, Mochi asked himself what's the worst that could happen - I mean he'd had successful relations before.. right? I mean, his father disowned him from birth, he'd never been allowed to talk to his siblings and he basically raised himself. Screwing up his face in dismay, he remembered that most of his university friends were still in contact but.. he hadn't seen them in years.. With an audible groan, Mochi lowered his forehead to the table with a small "thunk". What was he doing?!
Meissa cringed somewhat as she looked herself over, and over again in the hallway. Why was she wearing a skirt and such finery. Why was she doing this to herself. She hated skirts, even if it was just a knee-length. She hated the slightly claustrophobic feeling of her clothing. Just why was she doing this. She tried to keep her breath and heart steady, but couldn't. She looked fine -- she even got Boss to provide some feedback, albeit mostly just statistical probability that X clothing would make you look more attractive as according to psychological structure or what-have-you-computational bullshit , and a little bit of grooming, as well as how to look the best with minimal cosmetics -- but she just...
Of all the things to be embarassed about, why the skirt? Why? God, she was hopeless. People said they were lovers, not fighters. Well, she was a horrible lover. Great fighter though. Yes, real great fighter. Come on, it's just like fighting. Know your enemy, percieve your enemy, defeat your enemy.
Be brave, Meissa. Be brave. Wait, what? Since when did she doubt her bravery? She finally, finally calmed her breath and heart down. Then, took a step forward. Almost in an instant the butterflies were back and her face flushed red again. The fact Arbs said that she looked cute when she blushed...didn't make anything better. In fact, it made it all worse. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide, for the first time in her life.
But she walked in (after mentally knocking herself around a few times), supporting herself against the door frame, wings covering her body partially. God, she needed help. She needed so much help. When she tried to speak, her words failed her. So she waved. It was a pitiful wave. She tried to speak again.
"Hi, Mochi..." she squeaked out. She gave herself some credit for being able to talk. Granted, her posture was making her look about as large as her roommate. All of her normal...presence that just filled a room when she entered was gone. All of that fight she normally had, all of the sort of confident spirit, gone. She blamed it on the skirt. And, of course, the fact this was her first date with her first love. And he wasn't even here yet.
Love, huh...so this is what it felt like. Blushy, ridiculous, and utterly stupid feeling. But something warm about it made her walk into the room, didn't it? Something made her put on a skirt instead of pants like she normally would.
Someone pushed Meissa forward with a set of pokes-with but a simple invasion of her roommate's privacy the other Angel made her presence known. She was... Somehow keeping her cool, at least under the make-up she bothered to apply professionally for once. The artificial blush mixed with her hair into a perfect frame for her eyes, twinkling slightly in the light. With a bit of help from the Boss-that AI could call in a lot of favors on the birbs now if it wanted-Arble managed to select a one-piece black dress of simple construction, the skirt ending just below her knees as she stood.
"Ahem. Uhhh.... You alright Mochi...?" Her wavering song directed towards her face-down date, the little one's faint smile drooped into a light frown - headaches are terrible plagues for dating, or any social interactions... Even if the thought of trying to care for a sick Seinosuke heated the angel's face like the burner that produced that cute scar.
Mat was a little less than ready for his double date, but he had helped plan it, so he knew he had to go. He knew he had to show up, at least for Meissa's sake. And Mochi. And Arbitrated. And there was no way he could justify letting all of them down. That didn't stop him from feeling queasy and like he could blow chunks at any moment as he walked down the hall to the wardroom from his cabin.
He wasn't ready, but there he was. He had shown up and the sight of Meissa in her skirt, of all things, was enough to send the butterflies in his stomach up to his throat. But he kept the nausea down enough to push past it and stepped into the wardroom clumsily, nearly falling face first into the ground.
Meissa looked backwards at what was prodding her forward, and saw Mat tripping over himself. Against her own...apprehension would be the name, she rushed over to make sure Mat didn't flop facefirst into the ground. If a god existed, Meissa prayed that this date wouldn't explode like something she set charges all over.
Mat got overexcited when Meissa began helping him and waved his hands out in front of himself, saying excitedly, "No, no need to he—" He stuttered, "Help me!"
Meissa made some sort of weird noise as she 'tried' to support Mat up as he nearly flopped over, desperately using her shoulders to keep him upright. At least she still had enough instinct left to do this. The queasiness she felt in her own stomach only worsened when she realized that she probably had to confess to him sometime sooner or later.
Noticing how the other couple seemed to be busy with their own activities, Arb-Arb trotted over to the facedown scientist, veeeery gently ruffling a bit of his hair with one finger. "Hope you haven't fallen asleep yet," she sang lightly, as the pint-sized birb continued to play with the Juni's hair. It was kinda messy but not stupendously so, an easy little brush-just like that-was all that was needed to set it back into the proper place.
"Thanks, Meissa. Thank you for helping me. You didn't need to, you know," Mat said to Meissa. "Why do you help me?"
Do it now, Meissa. Do it now. Did she have to? Yes, yes she did. She had to say it some time, right? So get it over now.
Stupid words. Don't fail her now. Just say it. A few simple words. But they were a struggle to say as her face instantly flushed red while trying to say them. Finally, she almost choked the words out.
"I...I love you, Mat. That's why."
Oh god. She's done it now. She's finally said the words. She turned her head downwards, away from Mat's gaze, closing her eyes.
Mochi was very much inside his own head, all the ways the date could flop swam in there like cave fish inside.. well.. a cave. It was only the gentle melodic voice of his angel and a light, gentle brushing of his messy-as-usual-despite-scrubbing-up hair that roused the man. Raising his head perhaps a little too enthusiastically, Mochi was graced with the most radiant face he'd ever seen, almost taken aback at how Arblebarble appeared with just the right amount of everything. "I.. uh.." he murmured - exactly how a PhD qualified scientist would respond - before mentally shaking himself into sense.
"H-Hey every.." the officer trailed off, overhearing Meissa's heartfelt confession to her partner - suddenly feeling as if the flame of expectation had lit flared up underneath his seat. As he held his breath, eager to see what would happen next, Mochi reached out and gently took Arb-Arb's soft-as-clouds hand in his own. A flare of warmth shot up his arm and straight to the center of his being, raising his eyebrows to her in apprehension as they looked on.
Mat was unable to process the words and after she said them, his mind went blank and all he could think about was putting his lips on hers. Mat lifted his hand to put it against Meissa's cheek and brought her face so that she was looking at him and bent down, moving on instinct.
"It's okay to say that, Meissa. Uuuh..." He trailed off. But then he regained his ability to speak and say, "I-I do, too..."
Her lips were warm and soft. A hint of sweet mint and chocolate on them. At first her body was rigid and surprised due to Mat's sudden action -- what? Then, she let herself give into his grip and his shoulder. She was still blushing, of course, but now she smiled. Yes, yes she did love him. He was a horrible, oblivious idiot, but he was her idiot now. And...well, he was quite the lover. He could feel her heart racing as her body was pressed close, but Meissa didn't seem to mind the intimacy. He was such a sweet guy. He tried so hard, and Meissa could see it.
Feeling the warmth of her lips and flutter of her heart as they moved in sync with one another, Mat was able to see her true desires for the first time in a clear and comprehensible way. He didn't know what to do with them, though, and his tongue moved hungrily from his lips before he disengaged from the kiss and moved away from her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He stared at her intensely in the eyes and moved away even further away from her and let go of her shoulders and bowed to her, murmuring at her.
God as if Mat being a dork and kissing Meissa wasn't enough, Mochi was still managing to one-up him with that stammer! With the little Shan's hand safely encapsulated inside Mochi's warm, precise holdings, it was only a matter of time before the cool facade cracked, the angel snnnneeeaaaking over to peck her partner's forehead with her own lips.
"You, sir, need to relax a little!" Reassuring, if Mochi's personal heavenly resident wasn't trembling like a flower in the breeze and blushing so hard her makeup couldn't even hide it. Sheesh, just what was going on here? All four of us can do our jobs just fine with each other but the moment food and some privacy got involved we're all blubbering messes!
"Thank you, Meissa... For letting me. Er, I'm sorry, Meissa," Mat said while he bowed, looking down at the ground.
"It's okay." she whispered. "We'd have done this at some point anyways."
She noted their distinct lack of seats. "Uh, maybe we should sit down first..."
"Mhmm!" Mat said after he had lifted himself up and put a hand up to his hair and toussled it then moved his hands down to his sides and nodded. "I guess we should..." He walked them over to the table where Mochi and Arbles sat and brought out a chair in which Meissa could take a seat.
"Hey, look at the gentleman giving his fine lady a chair." Meissa poked his forehead with two fingers. She took her seat before Mat sat down.
Her birb peck was light and soft, yet it infused Mochi with a renewed sense of confidence and determination. As Mochi took a deep breath as subtly as he could, 'What am I doing? Just act normal you dimwit!' he spurred himself mentally. They should all just sit down and talk like how regular normal people do, he had plenty in store and there was no way he would show himself up!
Giving Arb-Arb his best winning smile Mochi rubbed the top of his head sheepishly as he stood from his chair. "You're right, where are my manners!" the Juni swept over to his neighbouring seat and - with practiced technique - slid it back slightly for her.
It took a few seconds of gazing before Ms. Shan realized she herself was curling her own lips upward with her partner's renewed confidance as a bolster for her own. Things couldn't go that poorly with execution like this!
"Thank you, Mochi!" She accepted the chair gently, the Caelisolan's tiny body gently lowering into the cushion before relaxing with idle breath, either awaiting someone to say something or food to be delivered-in a way this was enough to stop herself from bubbling into a mess of nerves, at least for the time being.
The blonde himself was eager to show what he had spent his nighttime hours preparing for their dinner. With all sitting, he cleared his throat politely. "Okay everyone, I'm going go be serving a specially made meal!" he tried to keep his voice measured and calm despite the nerves - he wasn't sure how well he was succeeding.
Glancing around for a second for the tray he should have left somewhere, a slight frown appeared. It should've been one table over.. "O-One sec." Mochi's tone slipped as he dashed off to one side of the room.
Arble chuckled a little watching the young man mess around. If he left it in here it's probably hidden or something so others don't steal it... Either that or someone else put it away already. Meissa just figured it was probably really close by. That's what always happens, right? You leave something like your phone in your pocket, then you search your entire room upside down, only to find your phone right there. In your pocket.
Scanning around where the Juni was sure he'd left the plates, a memory popped into existence. He'd left it on one of the seats another table down to keep them out of sight! Sighing a little, he carefully lifted the solid silver tray, laden with silver domed plate covers and cutlery. Gliding back to their table, Mochi began setting them down before each of the datees. "Dig in!" he smiled once he finished and returned to his place beside his cherry-winged partner.
Arble looked at the steak, grinning from ear to ear. She might not be particularly positive for the consumption of meats such as this, but like holy crap it smelled AMAZING!
Mochi beamed as the three uncovered their meals, displaying the carefully crafted contents. "The meat is specially grown by myself, which is probably against equipment regulations.. uhm.. Mat helped cook it!" Using bio printing, genetics engineering and tissue grown acceleration machinery this way probably wasn't what they were designed for...
"We need to get a list of favors we owe Boss now, at this rate." Meissa snorted. She owed one or two. Arbs owed like...five. She wasn't sure about Mat but Mochi probably owed about ten now for Boss not telling Eden about the probable misuse of equipment.
"So, home-grown meat, basically?" Arb-Arb did have to admit, that sounded pretty cool. She had a momentary flashback to when psomi was first produced en masse, helping negate the recurring problem of malnutrition. Somehow it managed to always taste good, even if you had enough money for a regular, proper meal most of the time, and sometimes even changed its taste through the day! Lost in thought, the smol seemed to remain staring at her food, eyes unfocused...
Meissa curiously cut into the steak, checking how well Mochi did. On the first cut she knew it was pretty real, how the meat tore apart into discrete, irregular strands. The smell of seasoning and broth injected into the steak smelled amazing as well, too. One hell of a cook, that guy.
"Ah. The last time I ate synthetic food was psomi in friggen' Elysia." Meissa replied. She begrudginly gave the Patricians that victory. Before psomi, her fights were more or less a means to keep afloat with the war putting a strain on her family's income. She still preferred real food, though. She wasn't the biggest fan of Yamatai, but she preferred it over old Elysia. And she was one of the ones that lived on the comfortable end. She still swore the Patricians made psomi just to bolster their own massive, M-class star-sized egos. Complete with the solar flares.
"Custom tailored meat, uh-huh. Psomi? What did it taste like?" Mochi was curious about this strange food they all seemed to know of and he'd never heard of. As he finished setting everything out, he grabbed the silver jug of water from the plate. Pouring some out into each of the glasses, he set them down before each of them. "I would normally have got some some nice vintage wine but.. yaknow." he muttered once he finished and sat down in his rightful pl. In reality, he'd simply forgotten to prepare wine beforehand: he'd got enough IOUs to MEGAMI. One more wouldn't have phased him.
After a moment, Mochi spotted Arble staring down her steak as if it were going to either disappear or attack her at any moment. "Hey.. Everything alright?" the emerald-eyes asked softly, it was rare he saw the smol like this.
"Just bump her." Meissa said to Mochi. "She's probably got her mind five light-years out."
Meissa then, with some restraint, bit into a piece of the steak after slicing a part off. It was quite the masterful steak, alright. Tender and juicy from both source material and preparation methods. The owl was sure she hadn't eaten a better steak.
Mochi raised a surprised eyebrow at the demo expert, then placed his knife back down on his plate. He hadn't yet taken a bite but the smell was tantalising, he had to admit - Mat had been a lifesaver in the cooking, he wouldn't have been able to keep them all warm if he was doing them himself. With a careful, warm hand the blonde encapsulated Arb-Arb's in his and squeezed lightly to let her know he was there.
"Abwuh?" The little Shan seemed to restart at the squeeze, shaking her pint-sized body in a single, shockwave-like motion. She turned her head towards Seinosuke, blinking slowly and attractively before her breathing caught up with the rest of her. "Sorry about that, uhh..." Mid-sentence she started turning back to a somewhat neutral angling for the party, "Did someone ask me something?" Aside from being a bit disconnected from the present still, Arblemarble seemed to be alright-after a pause, she realized her hand was being held, and blushed cutely while returning Mochi's squeeze with surprising-but not quite potent-force.
Sein couldn't help but break into a beaming smile as Arblebarble rebooted, her shining emerald and sapphire eyes meeting his with the cutest look of surprise. A light shade of crimson toned her complexion, coupled with a return signal broke Mochi's shell and he leaned forwards. Brushing his lips upon her soft cheek, he kissed her there for a few short, affectionate moments and then whispered "Nothing.." The blonde pulled back before the kiss blossomed into something more after suddenly realising that he was in the presence of others. Turning more than one shade of scarlet himself, he resisted the urge to cough in embarassment and went silent for the moment. 'Where did that come from?!' he murmured inside his head, keeping as normal an external demeanour as possible.
Meissa gave him a thumbs-up. Then pecked Mat on the cheek and turned back to the thumbs-up. Good job, man. Now everyone's had their kiss. 'Chu' is how it went. Right?
Mat was out of it, having dug into his food then received a kiss by none other than the one that he had kissed just minutes earlier, he was surprised by the interruption, fork hanging out of his mouth as his hand fell and a smile erupted at the corners of his lips as he closed his eyes.
"Th—Thanks, Meissa," Mat stammered. To which, Meissa only ruffled his white hair. It also had a nice texture. Then she turned back to her own steak.
As if a kiss were to help the miniature dork stay together-she barely had time to realize what Seinosuke had done before he'd shifted himself back into his seat properly. Stuck somewhat facing her romantic choice, lips moving slowly like a fish for a good five seconds before a surprisingly violent gyration shocked Shan's brain into proper control again... Apparently her best option was to conceal the blush poorly by looking down at the synthetic steak, and start dissecting it neatly. Meissa was right, it was tender as all heck... "It's, uhh... I-it's got a really interesting texture... Not all, tough like the normal ones..." Somehow the bridge albatross managed to stammer out a mostly complete sentence. A few moments again and she started to chew thoughtfully on a steak... Holy crap, it was really tender and quite delicious... And technically home-grown, if 'home' could be defined as an area several light-years in length.
Mochi began to tuck into the steaming meal himself, having noticed the signal from Meissa. Cutting a small square of tender flesh, he chewed on it with a contemplative thought in his emerald eyes. It was good indeed but it wasn't the top of his potential - if only he had all the precision machines his university did onboard it would defintiely be first class. Detecting a lull in the conversation and taking upon himself in capacity as self-appointed host for the evening, the Juni prompted the table best he could. "So, Meissa, what convinced you to join the Kaiyo?" he ventured: he hadn't talked to many of the other crew about that (normally very personal) subject and it would be a interesting answer no doubt.
"Well, you didn't say how thorough." Meissa replied. "I wanted to join just because I wanted to screw around in the cosmos. Get away from Elysia. And Yamatai. Plus, a fighter's gotta find work somewhere, so here I am." Or, at least, that was the common answer she gave. Perfectly acceptable and perfectly a lie, lie, lie. She didn't mind telling this lie. Arbitrated knew the first part of the truth. She would tell Mat as much as she would want to divulge later. Maybe, if the time was right, she would tell it all.
"Hm? Oh, yes." Setting her fork upon the plate the smollest of birbs cleared her throat once to dislodge some of the steak. It was so easy to pull apart some had gone loose inside of her! "Well I mean, I didn't really know what to do with my life. It was a bit too... Open-ended, I guess?" A short pause. "The military seemed like a fairly easy choice, although I admit that I never did expect to meet... people who weren't nekos. Nor would I find," and with this comment, Mochi felt something warm like a blanket wrap quite loosely around his back, and a weight on his side as Arb gave him some unique wing-based hug, "Someone like you guys!" Closing her eyes in a smile and light blush, Arb-Arb rested there for a few more moments before returning to a position that was more customary for food consumption.
Mochi turned a little of confusion, blonde hair floofing a little with the movement as he realised that the smol was snuggling him with a soft, candy-coloured wing. It was so cute and unexpected, Mochi reached out and couldn't help but stroke her wing a few times and as she tried to pull away, kept stroking the silky feathers - probably without realising the implications.
Mat sat rigid, not knowing if he should continue eating or answer the questions being posed. He dipped his utensil into his food, then set it down gently and looked uneasily at Meissa.
Matsuvo wondered aloud, "I wonder what we're going to do after this." Meissa wiggled her eyebrows at Mat. Obviously she wasn't gonna do...that, just yet. But jokes have to be made, people have to blush, and fun must be had.
"Dammit Meissa, isn't that a bit... High-speed?" She may have giggled at her cabinmate's suggestion whole blushing harder than Saki when Eden came into the medbay all that time ago, but the albatross had to ask...
"O-oh!" Mat muttered. He was a little taken aback by Meissa's wiggle waggling of her eyebrows and didn't quite know what it meant until Arbitrated said something, then it seemed to make more sense. "Oh..."
Mat grabbed his hands and clenched them together, then said to everyone, "I think I didn't mean that. I mean I think that at least I didn't mean that. Maybe I did? No, I didn't. I don't think so, at least... What are we talking about?"
"Nah, not yet. Not time for that, at least. Maybe some time much later." Meissa replied to Mat's obvious flustered look, suppressing a giggle. "But back on the topic. Why did you join the Star Army?"
"My parents told me stories from the Star Army and they got me excited to join," Mat said, happy to change the subject. "I couldn't be happier with the choice." He smiled brightly as he said, "Like all of you said, I, too, have met tons of great people." He looked to Meissa and then looked away before returning to look into her eyes with a wide smile.
"Aww. What a guy." Meissa brought her head to rest on the shoulder of the one she loved now.
Mat's pale flace blushed a scarlet before he cocked his head so that the side of his face rested against the top of Meissa's brunette head and said simply, "Thanks, Meissa. I like you a lot, too." To which, Meissa only reached up with her wing and wrapped it around Mat's other shoulder. Mat smiled and closed his eyes, realizing he loved Meissa more than he ever thought he could love another.
Mochi felt some trembling under his fingertips, likely connected with the red lighthouse expression worn by his partner. It took a considerable amount of effort to not just go and jump into the scientist's lap, probably disrupting the table and a few other things. Aside from the pretty obvious distracted vibration of her steak-laden fork, and the blush itself, there wasn't much that Meissa and Mat would be able to read from the smol...
"He did the thing." Meissa whispered to Mat, this time not suppressing the giggle. "He made your mistake."
"Oh?" Mat said with a lilting tone of voice denoting a question. "He did?"
After listening to their reasons for joining, Mochi was a little confused at how hushed their voices had become.The Juni was too concerned with trying to fathom what Mat and Meissa were muttering about to realise that the feathers he was caressing had started to vibrate lightly. As Meissa and Mat started throwing him some weird looks, Mochi glanced to Arbles for some help. Upon the revelation that his partner was practically burning crimson, he immediately stopped stroking. 'Oh god, what have I done?' ran through his head, 'Did I say something to embarass her? Or have I done something wrong?' In horror, the blonde scanned his chest for any food he'd thrown over himself, which he thankfully hadn't. Despite this entire episode lasting about a second, Mochi felt like he was on red alert. "H-Hey, are you alright?" he asked, trying to keep his voice light and not letting panic slip through as he wondered what it could be. Meissa clapped at his failure. Good job, man. Good job. The reponse prompted was a surprised expression, accentuated by two raised eyebrows - 'Oh no.. This has to be bad..'
"Apparently, little known fact." Meissa huffed out. "Don't touch the wings of an Elysian. That's the bad touch. Don't worry, I don't mind too much, Mat. Just don't, uh...lean back too quickly."
The pint-sized girl couldn't help but burst out in a fit of the giggles, especilly with Meissa's description of what the cool-but-not-really-cool scientist had just done. Okay maybe that was a bit of an accelerant but it sure as hell felt nice! Smiling all the while as she cooled, the weapons operator leaned over and tilted her face up, juuuust straining to plant a kiss on Mochi.
A little red flushed Mochi's cheeks as it dawned on him what the commotion had been about. He knew it was accidental and besides, it was hardly a crime even if it was intentional. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with showing how you feel about someone anyway." he quipped back to Meissa perhaps a little defensively. Mochi felt a little sheepish but the smol's heavenly laughter dispelled any embarassment as soon as it fell on his ears. The Juni looked towards the little Shan, eyes twinkling as they met hers, about to say something before she leaned in. Whatever it was, it was forgotten as he moved to meet her in kind. Their lips touched, soft, warm and filled with affection, one hand snaking around her waist as they kissed. As he held her in a firm yet gentle embrace, perhaps the other discreetly brushed a few nearby feathers to prove his feelings.
"Mmm!" Taken aback from the responsive lips of the much taller Minkan, Arb-Arb simply seemed to melt into Mochi's arms and embrace, briefly readjusting herself to be easier to hold and smooch. Her face like a fire pit from his actions, the tiny female closed her eyes to keep this moment forever... Or at least until the next one came around. Her blanket-like plumage seemed to have an almost silky consistency to it, and a gentle humming noise emanated from the smol's body. Should she have wanted to say something, it was really quite gone now.
"I won't, Meissa," Mat said, though it was not a timely way of letting Meissa know she was safe, at least he was showing some effort. He lifted his head and looked straight at Mochi, wondering what made the other man so capable of making more of a mess of himself than even Mat had. Was this some sort of competition Mat didn't know about?
Meissa patted him on the shoulder with her wing, retracted it back, and sat up straight again. "Now you can lean back." Meissa replied, running a hand through Mat's snowy white hair. Like the color of doves. "I give you too much shit, Mat. For how nice you are." She patted him a few more times.
Mat received the pats willingly and smiled at Meissa, then pushed forward to kiss her gently on the cheek. The only thing was, he didn't know where her cheek was exactly. He could have sworn it was two inches higher than it really was and Mat ended up kissing Meissa directly on the eyeball.
Meissa recoiled in surprise as Mat kissed her in the wrong spot.
"O-oh!" Mat mumbled, troubled by his own action. "What the— I'm sorry, Meissa!"
"Come on now, Mat." Meissa laughed. "My lips are right here." She kissed him back, a short one on his own lips.
"Thanks, Meissa," Mat said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair as he did.
A hot tingling sensation arched across Mochi's spine as his parther pressed against him, each time she wiggled it heightened his senses. Arble's flowing locks brushed his cheek and it tickled in the nicest way. Every second that passed was another in bliss - another to treasure. As far as he was concerned, they were alone together in their own world, totally oblivious to anything beyond each other in that moment.
A subtle tap to the scientist's nose brought him out of his fantasy just enough to remember that this was only their first date, and he was not alone with his precious little angel. As the little Shan turned back to her plate with a blush, she squeezed Seino's hand under the table a couple of times in a row. Clearing her throat, she spoke, "S-sorry about that..." Taking several deep breaths to try and steady her emotions, the teddy birb remained silent for the time being.
The lil' boop to the snoot knocked some sense back into Mochi, causing him to turn back to the others after shooting a quick wink to his smol. The scientist lowered his gaze towards the center of the table, a little embarassd and giving himself a moment to cool down before anything. In the temporary pause, Arb-Arb finally got back to finishing up her portion of meat, pretty obviously enjoying the meal that had been made.
Meissa took some more time to savor her meal, her wing constantly poking Mat in ticklish spots, which made him laugh quite a bit.
"That's adorable." Meissa commented, while teasing him more.
"No," Mat said, stumbling over his words. "Y-you are."
"No, you're the adorable one, I'm completely sure of it." Meissa nudged him.
Mat blushed heavily.
