suddenlybees | || IC INBOX

Oh--oh, no, I don't mind if you ask me.

[Nana's not crouched over -- she actually leans back against the table, arms folded, and looks down at the glass. Her left leg hooks behind her right, as she thinks about that. She smiles.

It's a little wistful.]

Nope. No siblings... I always wanted one, but... I'm an only child.

Hu~h... You're real good at taking care of people, so I sort of thought you'd be one! Kinda like Minako, except not as scary!

[ Minako, the sister slash leader who rules with an iron fist... Though most of the time it's Kano doing something to deserve that fist. He's quiet for a bit, staring at his own reflection, and then pipes up again. ]

...You like it at school, then? Living in the dorms like this, it's kinda like having a huge family to look out for! Or something like a community?

[Nana laughs.] She seems like she could get scary... no, um, I never did--I guess I... always worked hard to make friends, though, because of it.

[She glances to her feet, breaking eye contact through the reflection to study her shoes.]

...I like it a lot.

Having all of these people around me, feeling like... I can help make them happy, and feel safe, and make it feel like home. I know not everyone sees it that way, that it's really hard for a lot people, but just knowing I can do even a little bit so they don't have to feel quite as lonely. It's...

[She feels her guard slipping away, and her fingers -- which had been grabbing the edge of the table that she was leaning on -- loosen.]

...It's one of the most wonderful things that ever happened to me.

[ —oh. Oh no, no no no, this is starting to sound like one of those heartfelt conversations she's supposed to be having with one of her close friends, not somebody like him, he thinks, catching the pauses in her words and turning on his heels so he can look up at her in person and non just her reflection- pushes himself up onto his feet and ends up standing on the same edge of the table Nana stands. ]

I'm sure you've made it like that for a lot of people! Like a "home" or that it's "safe" or... um. Like for me! Getting to know you when I came here, that made me happy! Living in the dorms has been great, 'cause I get to see you every day! It's like that!

[Nana blinks, looking up to meet his eyes. And she starts to turn red in the face when he says that he gets to see her every day. She's conscious that she let her guard down. Her fingers curl back around the edge of the table.]

...Really? I did? I'm glad. It's important to me.

[That's not putting her guard back up, she tells herself. But it's nice to hear. Even if he looks... flustered? She isn't sure.]

I've liked getting to know you, too. And do all the fun, weird, different things we get into together. I never really did anything like... sledding down snow mountains -- that didn't happen, really -- [She winks.] ...or running away from crickets, baking none pizza, or... all of those things I never thought to do until I came here.

[ He'll take happy and embarrassed over the previous sad and sentimental- he can handle happier things better, settling down a little as he listens and inclined to believe her when she says that she had a good time. It feels a little like a job well done on his part of well, messy and unsuspected circumstances though much of it was. ]

Haha~ And all of that in just the past month, huh? Here's to many more months, to you and me~

[Nana beams, cheerfully, at that. The sentimentality isn't gone... but if there's anything Nana Daiba is good at, it's compartmentalizing and locking the less fun sides of that away. She laughs, even.]

There was a lot of fun before that, too! But why be picky? To many more!

[She holds her hand like she's doing a toast. There's no cup in hand though.]

To many more~!

[ Without a cup, Kano has no idea what she's miming, but he's watched enough sports anime to know what to do— not a fist bump, or a high five, but rather, he reaches up and clasps her hand in celebration. ]

[When he clasps her hand, there's a moment's pause -- but it's not in a bad way. It's a surprise -- realizing he didn't know that it was miming a toast, and then having him take her hand. All told, Nana just takes a second to process it. Then Nana clasps his hand back.

This, she thinks, is nice.

She likes this. Her smile is back quickly, and she's a little red in the face again. She hesitates a moment, about to say something -- it's written all over her face -- when BZZZZZZZ.]

O--oh. The pizza dough's done baking!

[ Saved by the bell? But not really, because Kano drops down to a crouch when the timer goes off, still holding onto Nana's hand, but staring into the oven with all the anticipation of a child awaiting somebody to open the oven to a tray of golden brown freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Or, in this case, none pizza. ]

It's done, it's done~ Can we take it out now? Or does it have to sit?

[She keeps a hold of his hand, deciding this is very nice and shouldn't be interrupted. She leans down with him, staring at the none pizza. Then she realizes:

Oven mitts.]

We'll have to let it sit for a moment. It needs to cool!

[She regretfully slips her hand out of his, to grab the oven mitts and then pull it out. It looks like a... giant, round, flat herb-y bread.

Nana stares at it, curiously, while she slides it on the counter.]

[ Kano's hands go back into his pockets once Nana lets go, as if wanting to preserve what warmth he can hold onto, but he might as well just hold them over the pizza like he does with his face, leaning over the counter and staring down at what is surely none pizza with no beef. ]

It smells good~ We can call Minako and Ellie to come down and share it with us? Or-- maybe we should just save them leftovers, 'cause if we call Minako, she'll make short work of the entire thing.

[ The law of the orphanage... But he says it fondly, with a laugh. With a limited amount of food and so many mouths to feed, sometimes you have to fight for what scraps you can get. Minako, fearless Minako, thrived in those sorts of situations and made sure the three of them had enough to eat, bless her heart. ]

[There's a regretful twitch of Nana's fingers. A visible sign that she's thinking, right now, that she'd like to have that back. But there's none pizza to serve up, as much as she couldn't just watch it burn to a crisp.

She glances sideways, then smiles.]

Well... we could have a little now, then go get them?

That way they get it while it's warm but it's not demolished, either.

Hm~ That's right, if we cut it into squares instead of slices, nobody can tell how many there originally was~

[ Do they have to go that far to hide the fact that they went ahead and ate first? No, but he still feels a little bad about it, instead of sharing it all together proper.

He roots around the kitchen for a knife, stares at his rejection on the flat side of the blade for a second, then quickly passes it Nana's way, handle first. ]

Here you are~ Please do the honors!

This is devious but I think it's fair. This is an experiment. It wouldn't be fair to subject Minako and Ellie to an experiment and then find out it needs improvement.

[She takes the knife, carefully -- a bread knife would be better, but she'll teach him about that later (because those are good for kitchen accidents, too) -- and then does a few quick cuts.

Then, she presents a piece to him, on a small plate, with a little bow.]

Please enjoy~ And tell me what you think!

[ That's a good way to put it! Forgive us, Minako, Ellie, we're taste testing for your sake...

Kano takes a bite of what he's given. Bread is bread... He's not a food enthusiast of any sort, but when it comes to picking out things that stand out, it's the same thing. ]

Mm~ It's definitely different fresh from the oven!! Crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, and the herbs really stand out without any sauce or cheese to mask the flavors! It really is none pizza...!

[Nana takes one of the pieces, and has a bite. There's a moment of quiet; she takes a second to try to appreciate and critique her own work, because she tends to be her own worse critic.

But after a second, she nods.]

I think it's a solid start! There's a couple of changes... and I have to think about whether I could add beef and make it work...

If it's something like this, maybe you can hole out some of the breading inside and stuff it with beef? Something like a sandwich, but more compact~

[ Easy to stick into his pocket and carry around instead of properly eating it, like he does with a lot of food he comes across that can be saved for later. ]

I think I could do that, if I cooked the beef first... I'll work on that!

[They're reinventing the hot pocket. She has no idea.]

Should we grab Ellie and Minako? Or do you want a little more first?

[ Hot pockets are the absolute best, maybe Nana can make it in such a way that it doesn't immediately scald your tongue with every bite. ]

Let's go grab them~ It's like that, right? How food tastes better and you're happier when there's more people there enjoying it~

[It will be her greatest challenge yet.

Nana flips the dial on the oven to 'warm,' then slips the none pizza back in. Then, she turns to Kano, clapping her hands together.]

Mm-hm... it's better when you can share it with someone, and see how happy it made them. Let's go!

[And she's off!]

[ He thought so...

Kano sets off up the stairs back to the third floor after her, silent all the way, not needing to force a smile or anything of the sort when he's behind her.

His real smiles don't always have the full weight of happiness that's supposed to be there backing it up- he could never get his fake smiles quite right, either, laughter, those sorts of things. But it's different with Minako and Ellie, with Minako as bright as she tries to be and Ellie as open as she can't help but be sometimes, those are the sorts of reactions Nana deserves to see for her baking. ]

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