Nope's Peak [Day 6 Date] Shuichi Saihara

[pecker]

[Shuichi, huh... She theorizes it's just because he's the only one who played a full round of the game with her. In that respect, his selection is actually a slight point of annoyance among the storm of them, which she lied about because she wants to stay in the game. It's a white lie anyway - she doesn't hate him, and he seems intelligent and kind. That doesn't mean she sees any way at all that they're compatible, though. Well, she'll just have to put on a positive face and make it work. It got her through the date with Kaito... for like five seconds, but still.

Huh. For some reason, she feels annoyed again.

At any rate, when Shuichi arrives, she's gotten a basket from the Wizard of Oz set (Toto was removed and set somewhere nearby) and put the savory food she made in it: some onigiri, each with little bits of fish or egg in them. She's stretching out her bingo prize by using it in small amounts. Anyway, it wasn't too hard to find a cloth among the set pieces either, so she wound up shoving some things aside and setting up a fairly cute (if small) picnic area in the middle of the floor. But she couldn't find another place to put Audrey II, so it is inexplicably looming behind her, making this look more like some kind of jungle picnic than the mountains. As for her outfit - she was tempted to just wear her usual one, since it'd be easier to put costumes on over her bikini. But he's funny to tease, so in the end wearing something that would have to be taken off just seemed like a better idea. She has this totally cute dress on, just hanging out on the blanket waiting for him to show up.]

Comments

[truthstranger]

[ When he shows up, he has a couple of fruit tarts carefully wrapped and stacked in one hand, and a thermos of tea in the other, and he blinks when he sees the setup. ]

Ah, sorry... have you been here a while? You look, um... nice.

[ He hasn't changed from earlier, wearing one of the casual outfits from his closet. ]

[pecker]

Oh, no! I just sat down.

[It's not an incredibly fancy set anyway, besides the basket it's basically just a "blanket" and a couple of other plants to go with Twoie. She just changed into the dress after her snacks were made.]

B-But thank you! [She can't exactly say "you look the same", though. Time to ramble nervously.]

To be honest, I-I've been dying to try this dress on. The cells last week didn't seem like they'd be kind to it... Well, a dusty prop room isn't loads better, but at least I'll only be wearing it for a little bit, right?

[truthstranger]

Y-Yes, I suppose that's true.

[ He reddens and glances around the room like it hadn't quite occurred to him that trying on costumes would require changing clothes in here. At least there are enough set pieces they could probably use as privacy screens... ]

Um, should we eat first, or save it for after?

[pecker]

Haha...

[He certainly didn't have to think hard to read into that statement, did he. She does have every intention to protect their modesty, at least. Neither does she have a true preference either way for how fast they get to the changing.]

Well, that depends. Are you hungry? Either way, you can set it down...

[She'll take a closer glance when he does. How good do these tarts look?]

[truthstranger]

[ He sets down the tea and the tarts. They definitely look amateurish, the crust a bit thick and uneven and the fruit not particularly artistically arranged, but otherwise well-made! ]

I could probably eat...

[pecker]

Sure, then. It all looks pretty light, anyway.

[Their skill levels are probably about even, though it's pretty hard to mess up an onigiri, so hers do look fairly nice. She'll pass over the basket to Shuichi first.]

A-And we can talk about what kind of scene we want to do! Do you have any ideas to start?

[truthstranger]

[ He takes an onigiri with a smile before passing the basket back. ]

Thank you. Um, I didn't have any particular thoughts... is there something you'd like to do?

[pecker]

[She takes one too, and leaves the basket in the middle.]

Oh, I don't know... it might be in the spirit of the game to try something romantic, but at a glance I'm not sure what most of these costumes could have to do with it.

[There wasn't a romance in the Wizard of Oz?? Sound of music is nuns and children]

W-We might have to go digging for a bit. [For now, she takes a bite, though her expression doesn't change much since she's used to her own cooking.]

[truthstranger]

[ He takes a few thoughtful bites of his onigiri. ]

Mm, if we're improvising there's no reason we couldn't make anything romantic...

[ He glances at a few of the random costumes. ]

The tragic romance of the knight and the assassin, or something.

[pecker]

[She's pausing a bit at "assassin," before taking another casual bite.]

Aha, are those the archetypes you like?

[truthstranger]

Ah, not exactly, though they can be interesting...

[pecker]

Yeah, they're all right. I could work with it. [smile!] What's the tragedy? Is the assassin after that knight's, um, liege?

[truthstranger]

That would work. And the knight is sworn to protect them, so they come into conflict... but neither of them really want to hurt each other.

[pecker]

That's good stuff!

[She finished her first onigiri while he was talking, so she grabs a second one... that should be enough for her before she tries the dessert.]

Then... which one do you want to be?

[truthstranger]

Ah, I was assuming the knight, but I would do either.

[ He also starts on a second one. ]

—Ah, these are good, by the way. Thank you.

[pecker]

I'm okay with assassin then... I sort of figured. All men want to be a knight at some point, don't they?

[Or so says the cliches. But she smiles shyly at the compliment.]

Oh, well thank you! Haha. I heard, um, that date food is special, so I'm glad you like it.

[truthstranger]

Mm. I know that knights are overly idealized, and the common conception of them is basically a fantasy... but it's not a bad ideal to have, to be that dedicated to protecting someone, I think.

[pecker]

Maybe. I don't know that it's something a real person can pull off though... that's why it's such a nice fantasy.

[truthstranger]

You're probably right about that.

Assassins are a bit romanticized too, aren't they? In a different way, obviously. One of my friends was... sort of an assassin, but...

[pecker]

[She's not sure if she's surprised or confused by that revelation, but she's not sure if the point of contention is that someone like him would have an assassin for a friend, or that an assassin would keep friends in the first place. But then, he worded it a bit strangely.]

Umm... what do you mean by sort of an assassin?

[truthstranger]

...

Sorry... It’s complicated. I shouldn’t have put it that way. For all intents and purposes, she was an assassin.

[pecker]

[Check out that defensive hand over his entire face... that's one hell of a secret he must be keeping, especially for someone that sounds dead. She finishes the other onigiri, not sure what to make of it. But she has no reason to spy on him for more details... Niwatori actually seems fine either way letting it drop.]

Mmm. Well, either way, it's a deadly profession. People romanticizing assassins... I don't know... they want what they can't have? 'Forbidden love,' I think that's what it's called.

[truthstranger]

Mm, or the allure of danger is exciting... something like that.

[ He relaxes a bit going back to talking about this in general terms. ]

[pecker]

I see... Everything is a balancing act. People who live comfortably want thrills, just like people who live dangerously want comforts.

[As if on cue, she wipes a bit of rice off her mouth and starts inspecting the tarts again, eventually picking out a raspberry one.]

This is one of my favorite flavors... you know, birds love to come and pick at berries like this when they're on the bush? They have to be pretty careful of the thorns, but everybody loves them!

[truthstranger]

Haha... it sounds like that would be inconvenient for the people trying to grow them, but also pretty cute.

And, I do hope you like it...