week 5, tuesday

[psychedelica]

[ Steph may have noticed that Hikage's been out and about less and less lately... She also might have noticed that he was actually out of the room for a good portion today. Whenever she comes back, she'll find that he has nonetheless beat her there. Or someone has, anyway.

Two things of note: one, left on the table in the common room for her (clearly for her, since there's a note addressed to her in Hikage's neat and elegant script) is a fluffy-looking cheesecake topped with a few raspberries, as well as a slightly crumpled red rose that may look familiar to her if she was near the earth dorms today.

Two, Hikage is sitting in the other room with the door closed. It's easy to tell that he's in there, because she'll be able to hear him laugh - a genuine, light-hearted laugh, for once. ]

Comments

[vigilantics]

[ she rolls her eyes before hobbling the rest of the way to him. she gives him a kiss on the cheek. ]

Thank you. What are you looking at?

[psychedelica]

[ that actually... was not expected at all. Hikage is not exactly used to physical affection (shocking), so he actually starts instinctively leaning away when she leans in - not fast enough to get out of the way, though. His shoulders lock up, and a faint blush dusts his cheeks. He does his best to shake it off. ]

-- Uh, this. I got this from the well.

[ he's a bit too flustered to be cagey or shy about it like he usually is, it seems. When he tilts the mirror in her direction, she'll see a familiar face, and it's not her reflection - rather, it's a young girl with a round face and fluffy blonde hair, moving entirely of her own accord on the surface. She's peering through as if she's on the other end of a video call; though there was a smile on her face as she (apparently) laughed at Hikage's sudden blushing, her expression becomes one of confusion when it's pointed towards Steph. She can be clearly seen mouthing "Hikage-kun," although no sound comes from the mirror. It's his little sister. ]

[vigilantics]

Your sister!

[ she sounds pretty excited about it; no wonder hikage seemed so weirdly happy. steph watches the girl for a moment, before looking at hikage. ]

She's super cute.

[ she seems to be ignoring hikage's embarrassment over the kiss. ]

[psychedelica]

[ thank you for sparing his feelings, Steph. He nods in agreement, eyes drifting back to the mirror. His sister - Hikage still can't remember her name any more than he can remember his own - smiles again when he reappears in the metaphorical frame, although she looks slightly concerned, as well. ]

Yeah. She doesn't look like me at all. [ he doesn't quite remember, but he's certain they were probably half-siblings at best. still, he thinks of her as if they'd been raised together from birth. ] I don't think she can see anything but me with this.

[ much like he can only see her, not where she is. ]

... I don't understand how it's possible, but...

[vigilantics]

I'm happy for you. You deserve to get to know her.

[ even if it has to be in this way.

there's a pause, before she points at the door. ]

... can you and your sister go bring the cake over here?

[ steph does not want to... go all the way back over there it's hard... and she isn't sure if he's going to put the mirror down. ]

[psychedelica]

I know her. I remember all about her now. But... she died a long time ago. I didn't think I'd see her again.

[ he thought he'd failed. That was how all of this started, after all. To think his wish would be granted, even halfway, in such a manner - it was ridiculous. But he's happy. He feels a bittersweet peace that he hasn't known in a long time.

It's probably because he's in a good mood that he gives his sister a little wave goodbye before setting the mirror back down again and rising from his chair. ]

Sure. Wait a second.

[ and... he goes and gets it for her! what great room service. ]

[vigilantics]

[ wow. she'll never see him be this nice to her again after this week.

while he's doing that, though, stephanie is just going to look at the mirror. what a cutie...... ]

[psychedelica]

[ never give up hope, Steph...

Usagi's reflection seems to disappear from the mirror soon after Hikage leaves; she doesn't appear to be aware that Steph is looking at her, either, for those few moments she remains. It might be an item that only works when Hikage's using it. Which isn't a huge problem, since it doesn't take long for him to walk back with the cheesecake. (It's just a little one, big enough for two people at most, so she doesn't need to feel too intimidated by it.)

Now that he's actually giving it to her, he's wondering why he bothered making this... which makes him remember getting kissed on the cheek again. he shakes his head, then holds the cake out to her. ]

Here. [ a beat. ] You ate all that cheese the other day, so...

[vigilantics]

[ the cheese comment just makes her snort. admittedly, she was mostly binging like that because she was annoyed that she couldn't do anything at the ball without needing help, but she also likes cheesecake so she won't complain. ]

How sweet of you. We're sharing.

[psychedelica]

... It's all right. I'm not into sweets very much.

[ which may or may not accidentally shed some lights on all the sweets he's been baking the whole time he's been here?! don't think too hard about it, please. Hikage takes a seat nearby. ]

Have you gotten anything from the well?

[vigilantics]

[ it does, in fact, shed. some light but steph doesn't mention it. she probably will bring it up again later, but for now she lets it slide. ]

Nope.

[psychedelica]

Really? [ he looks moderately surprised, arching a brow at her. ] They don't all backfire like Fane's.

[vigilantics]

[ she's not sure how to explain that she has no tokens to even use on the well since she hadn't done any objectives... ]

We'll see, I guess.