realmofstories | A Christmas Romance to Remember

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A Christmas Romance to Remember

Characters: Ren Amamiya [Robin Hood] and Makoto Yuki [Thanatos]
Campaign: Frankenhyde
Format: Prose
Closed
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Ren is asked out to make smores and not realize he's on a date, or what his crush and close friend will confess to him...

The day after the party and Ren sobered up from the spiked punch, he went to Makoto to apologize for being a total creep, and all was well.

Since then, other than helping out with the robot reindeer, and even having named one Ryuji (though he sadly couldn't keep it), he has mostly stayed in the apartment. Frankly, he's starting to hate this story. From being possessed by his shadow, to having a PSTD attack during his scene with Minako (which he accidentally made himself faint by knock out powder). At least he's made peace with Dojima, though it will be a long time before he'll learn to trust the detective. He's still having trouble accepting that he actually listened to his story and thought his first arrest was bullcrap.

At the moment, he's looking through a recipe for a christmas cake. It's different from how modern cakes are made in Japan. He's not sure he'll go all out with the decoration like how the Victorian British do it.

He's not expecting company.

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But he was going to get company anyway. It took a bit of research but Makoto found a way to make marshmallows. He put them in a bag, dusted with some powdered sugar to keep them from sticking, along with some other treats, and had made his way to where he knew Ren was staying. He gave the door a knock and waited.

Ren heard the knock and places down the recipe book. He goes over towards the door and opens it to see Makoto there.

"Hey Makoto." he notices the bag. "Are those marshmallows? I didn't know this place had those."

Then again, it took him a while to figure out that curry ingredients were simple to get. So who knows? He's fairly sure the christmas cake recipe doesn't include those.

He shook his head. "I made them. Are you busy?"

It didn't look like he was busy, but Makoto had to be sure before commandeering his room.

"Not at all. I was just looking at recipes. The way they make christmas cakes are quite a bit different than how it's done in modern Japan."

Well it's smarter than trying to make smores outside in winter.

"To be fair, we’re at least 100 years in the past and in another country, it’s not too surprising.”

Nonetheless, he moseyed on in and made for the kitchen. Everything was Victorian and old, but with the magic and steampunk aspect, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out how to work the vintage ovens and stoves. He set the contents down on the counter and laid them out. Graham cracker (or something close to it), chocolate pieces, and his homemade marshmallows.

"Hm, I don’t see any skewers... guess we can use a fork."

Makoto may be leaving out a crucial detail as to what was going on as he figured out how to set up.

"Well yeah. I'm not sure food coloring has been invented yet." At least Ren assumes.

The victorian oven and stoves are definitely a step up from the medieval stove he has back in his house in the Index. Though he still misses modern tech. Alas.

He sees the chocolate and the graham crackers. "Smores? Heh, a little off season, but nothing wrong with that. A fork should work." he points to one of the drawers. "Forks are in there."

Sadly Ren is unaware of Makoto's true intentions with this.

Edited 2020-12-24 16:04 (UTC)

"I don’t know if I’d trust it if it were," people just didn’t know enough back then.

He rummaged for a couple forks and then grabbed a couple chairs to sit by the stove.

"There’s never an off season for s’mores," He said, gesturing for Ren to sit. "Especially for date nights."

"That is true." Since they used drugs that are illegal in the modern age.

He blinks in confusion. "Date night?" And then it hits him. "Wait, this is a date?"

Oh right. Christmas Eve. How could he forget? He knows the west treats Christmas differently than in Japan, but he should have known.

And now his face is turning red both because he's embarrassed that he forgot but also because he's not sure if this really means that Makoto feels the same way or not. It could be just a misunderstanding, but he hopes not.

Makoto nodded and then abruptly looked a bit shy, sheepish as he let more of his bangs cover his face. "I mean. If that's okay with you."

He wasn't reading the signs wrong, was he? There was now a noticeable quiver in the hand holding the forks. He was nervous, he had been the whole time, but was saying and acting matter of factly to try and hide it. But now that it was out, he couldn't stop the anxiety.

>I should choose my words carefully

> I'm more than okay with that
> Sorry I led you on

> I'm more than okay with that
> Sorry I led you on

Edited 2020-12-26 22:46 (UTC)

Ren could feel his heart flutter. He really does feel the same way. Though he notices the quiver and frowns, his heart hurting a little. He really is an idiot.

He moves a hand to Makoto's quivering hand and hold it gently.

"Yes, it's more than just okay with me." his face turns a darker shade of red and he has to pause to work up his courage before speaking. "To tell you the truth...I like you. I've felt that way for months, but I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if you liked other guys that way."

He then smiles. "This can be our date night."

"I'm not exactly good at showing how I feel," Makoto said wryly. "You can ask Ken but I did notice. I know you were trying to be subtle about it, that's why I didn't say anything. I wanted to be sure it was something that wasn't just a simple crush and... well, given that I can't go home, I didn't want to hurt you either."

He let out a breath and looked up at Ren.

"You're sure?"

Ren couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I really can't hide anything from you, can I?" It doesn't bother him really. Even if it would be troublesome in the times where he really needs to keep something a secret.

Ah right. If they all end up going back home for good, Ren would have to say goodbye to him.

His smile turns into a more sad smile. "I'm sure. Just because we can't be together forever doesn't mean we can't enjoy each other's company while we can here."

"You can, I'm not always so observant," He replied, looking away. But he was happy to hear that Ren was sure about this. Still, he wasn't looking forward to the inevitable parting but he supposed knowing it would happen eventually meant that he had to make every moment count. "Thank you."

Ren has long accepted that already, but he's not gonna let it stop him or haunt him. He's going to just focus on the now rather than the future.

"You're welcome." And then suddenly Ren's stomach growls and he can't help but laugh. "We should get going on the smores, right?"

He lets go to sit down on one of the chairs.

"I should have probably brought more than s'mores if your stomach is growling," He said, sticking a marshmallow on the fork and handing it off to Ren. "It's got some powdered sugar on it, so you might want to shake some of the excess off before lighting it on fire."

He prepared his fork and then sat down, reaching over to hold the marshmallow over the stove after turning it on.

"I can make something later." Some people have dessert before their meal after all.

He accepts the fork and nods. He moves it to a corner to shake off the sugar while keeping it away from the stove. He then moves the fork back over to the flames.

Since he had the chocolate and crackers laid out neatly, it wasn't difficult to get them on there and sandwiched soon enough. He was pleased by the result of his marshmallows and hoped Ren liked them too. There was a hint of vanilla in them, but not overly sweet.

"If you get tired of these, I don't mind going to pick us up a proper dinner," He said quietly, wiping the corner of his mouth with a thumb of extra chocolate. "You shouldn't have to make anything."

Heating the marshmallows was simple enough and indeed the smores are good. It reminds him of happier times in a way.

His eyes glance at that before looking away. As much as he would love a proper kiss (and not just the 'wake up from a sleeping curse' kind), that seems more like a second date thing. He would be just fine with a kiss on the cheek if he got lucky.

He finishes eating before talking. "You sure? You already made the marshmallows, it would only be fair for me to make dinner."

Edited 2020-12-28 04:51 (UTC)

"I'm the one who surprised you," Makoto chuckled lightly, blowing out another fiery marshmallow before it burnt. "Or we could just go somewhere and see what restaurants they have out there."

He didn't mind which one, but he just wanted to spend time with Ren. Even though it was kind of an ambush on his part. Oops.

"I think I rather stay here with you." He didn't feel like he was properly dressed to eat out despite wearing the usual clothes this world provided him.

He blows on another marshmallow before it could get burnt and sets it up with the cracker and chocolate.

"Just let me know if you need help with cooking."

"Okay," He smiled, biting into another s'more. He thought about what he could make. He didn't know what Ren had though. He did learn how to make a really good omurice before arriving to Index. It was a taste of home. They'd probably have to forgo the ketchup, but otherwise, it was doable. "Did you have rice and eggs here?"

That would be fine.

"I do have both of those. I was surprised they had rice at all, but they had more than I thought. Apparently I hadn't looked in the right place for curry, but it's popular here."

So he could make that curry and coffee before they head back to the Index, but they will have to see.

Minato nodded and shoving the last of the s'more in his mouth, he went to the pantry to get it along with the cold box to get the eggs. He swallowed the last of the food as he set about getting it ready. "How does omurice sound?"

Ren also eats the last of his smore before answering. "Sounds good to me. It's been a while since I had omurice."

Last time was last week. Mostly he's been trying out british recipes to expand his knowledge, though he didn't stop making more familiar foods either.

Too bad there's no ketchep. Alas.

They'll survive without ketchup. For now, Makoto got the rice and eggs started. The rice was going to take the longest so he got that started, washing and rinsing them.

"Honestly, it's probably better we did this. S'mores for dinner isn't exactly good for us."

Ren patiently waits in his seat. "No, but it is Christmas Eve, so we can afford to treat ourselves."

Especially considering how tough it's been in this story world. If he wasn't underage and didn't hate booze, he might get tempted to have some.

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A Christmas Romance to Remember

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