1820/One Gift Begets Another

One Gift Begets Another
Date of Scene:	16 March 2015
Location:	Heaven or Hell Tower <HoH>
Synopsis:	Ayako and Riva meet up for another day, and Ayako springs a surprise on Riva! What will she think?
Cast of Characters:	Riva Banari, Ayako Hasekawa

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Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    It's just another morning in Boston. As usual, the television is on (although not on too loud so as to disturb Riva's sleep), and a certain Water Spirit room mate of Riva's is also (as usual) sitting on the couch staring at the show. It's a bit of a wonder that Ayako hasn't gotten bored of the television yet. Whenever she's in Riva's room, she tends to be doing something. Be it reading the books on Riva's shelf, to watching television, to playing Riva's video games (and being careful not to delete any of Riva's saves!); she's always doing something. Yet she's never seen cleaning. Of course, Riva can easily tell that Ayako does clean.

    But that's something else entirely. Nothing is really out of place today. Except for one thing. Next to Ayako on the couch is a small box wrapped in blue foil and decorated with yellow star stickers. Once in a while, the Water Spirit's amber eyes glance away from the television to see if Riva is out and about. But other than that, it's just another day!

Riva Banari has posed:
And you have no idea how much Riva appreciates Ayako's consideration. Or maybe you do, I CAN'T JUDGE YOUU

There is a muffled thud as something approaches Riva's door, and the erstwhile artist-slash-paranormal hunter pops into the apartment. It only takes her a glance to see what Ayako's up to, and she grins sunnily. "Heeeeeeeey Ayako!" She calls, shucking her jacket off and tossing it onto the back of the couch as she plops onto it in her usual casually messy way. "So what's on?" She asks, before just looking up at the screen to confirm for herself. Riva just shakes her head and grins. "You really do love TV." She says, and looks back over to the water spirit she invited in. She leans over, putting her arm up on the back of the couch and resting her head on her arm, her ponytail flopping over as she watches Ayako and her reactions intently.

After a few seconds, she flicks her eyes downward at the wrapped box. "Oooh, shiny." She says. "What'cha got there, Ayako?"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Does Ayako know how much Riva appreciates her consideration? Probably not as exactly as she would like! But she still does. Being useful is her thing, after all.

    At the muffled thud, Ayako quickly looks towards Riva's door. When Riva pops into the apartment, Ayako returns the sunny smile! "Good morning, Riva! Umm, some sort of strange technomagical show. With pirates. And time travel." She giggles and nods her head quickly. "I find it interesting, anyway! Multiversal television is always so ecletic!" Ayako's hands fold together in front of herself.

    Blink blink. One thing about humans. It's very easy to tell where they're looking. Just watch the whites and follow the irises. And so when Ayako follows Riva's gaze-she jumps a bit on the couch in surprise. "Oops! I... well." She quickly picks up the box and... glances around quickly. Well. "Too late to hide it... got too engrossed in television..." A light blush crosses her face as she giggles softly, and then looks back at Riva.

    "Here." The wrapped box is offered up at Riva. "I... umm... this is... umm..." Ayako takes a deep breath as she tries to figure out the right words. "This is for helping me make chocolate. And... umm... a bit for White Day too?" Her amber gaze wavers back and forth, as if a bit nervous.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Yeah, I caught a couple episodes of that one. It's pretty cool." Riva replies, kind of distractedly. It's clear her attention is far more on Ayako and the box than the TV.

Riva's seemingly insatiably curious gaze softens as she watches Ayako get all embarassed. "Oh, Ayako." She says, in a faintly teasing voice. "Don't worry about it, everything is..." She blinks then, surprised for a moment as Ayako presents her with the box. "For me? Well, thank you, Ayako!" She straightens, and takes it, hefting it contemplatively before she rummages, working to open it up. Of course she's thanking Ayako before she even knows what it is!

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    "Eh heh... Umm... Un. You're welcome." Ayako glances off to the side for a moment. Just a moment, though. Her amber gaze quickly returns to watch Riva rummage and open up the box. Inside is a single chocolate five-pointed star the size of a fist about half a centimeter thick.

    Now, no doubt Riva has seen Ayako try to make chocolate before. Riva's just too curious about what sort of result Ayako would have if she had made chocolate. The results of the batches of chocolate (thankfully small batches, as Ayako doesn't like to waste food) end up being extremely chaotic. One batch simply never solidified-even putting it in the freezer did nothing. Another batch was so rock-hard that it could have probably been used as a projectile weapon. And nevermind the taste. Such things are best not described.

    But this particular chocolate? Normal. In fact, it's better than normal. It's actually extremely good chocolate!

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva knows well about Ayako's... challenges... with cooking, and confectionary in particular. It's why she offered to help Ayako in the first place! Well, one reason.

Everyone loves chocolate, right?

So one can imagine her surprise when she sees a normal-looking chocolate star inside. "Oh goodness!" Riva says, picking up the confecionary and looking it over. "You made this, Ayako? It looks /delicious/!"

She then takes a bite out of it, chewing without fear. I mean, really, what's the worst that could happen. "Mmmmm." She says, closing her eyes as she savors it. "It /is/ delicious." She says, her mouth half full of chocolate as she abandons her manners in favor of enjoying the sweet.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako herself doesn't exactly fully understand why so many people like chocolate. Although it doesn't stop her from giving it!

    When Riva askss her if she made it, Ayako's amber gaze moves away. "I... well... You could say I made it... you could say I didn't make it. I can't really cook so..." She shakes her head slowly. "You can't really get that chocolate anymore, though." A soft sigh escapes Ayako's lips. "I do have some of it stored away, though. So..." She smiles cheerfully at Riva. "I wanted to give you one!" Her hands clasp together in front of herself happily. "I'm glad you like it!"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva squeaks halfway through munching on the morsel, definately making a show of enjoying it for Ayako. She doesn't even have to exaggerate, since it's actually good chocolate!

She puts the other half in the box when she realizes what Ayako's shenanigans are up to, and with a happy squeal she throes herself forward across the couch to give Ayako a big hug. "Thank you so much, Ayako!" She says, giving her a heartfelt hug. "This really means a lot to me." She says with a happy snuggle.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako quietly watches Riva enjoy the chocolate and smiles gently. "Eh heh..." And then blinks her eyes quickly when Riva throws herself forward at her to give her a hug. "Eep!" She giggles softly and returns the hug happily to Riva. "A-ahh! Umm... You're very welcome, Riva! Although, I ruined it a bit by you surprising me by noticing the box instead of me surprising you with the box!"

Riva Banari has posed:
When Ayako returns the hug, Riva seems content to just stay there, monopolizing her for a bit. "Oh, don't worry about it, Ayako." She replies, threading one arm around to give Ayako a tap on her pert nose. "I'm happy that you thought to give me something so precious." Huh? Chocolate? Precious?

She gives another affectionate snug, and then lets Ayako go. She can't suffocate the water spirit, but she's probably already overstayed her welcome in Ayako's personal space. "Ahem, SO!" She says, as she puts herself back where she was, and smiles. "I'll have to make sure to remember this for later, Ayako." She taps the side of her head, tilting her head to one side as she makes a show of thinking. The tapping hand absently snakes back down and picks up the half-eaten chocolate, and she takes another bite, making a low 'mmmmm' noise. "Definately better than my stuff. You can totally tell the difference. Just you wait, Ayako, I'm not going to let something like this go lightly!" She says with a wink, in a teasing voice.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako seems equally content to be monopolized for a bit! When Riva taps her on the nose, her eyes cross for a moment to focus on the tap. "Eh heh... then it was worth it to give you it!" She smiles brightly.

    Personal space? Ayako doesn't really have that type of concept herself. She's more worried about invasion of other people's privacy, usually! When Riva says she'll be sure to remember this for later, Ayako inclines her head to the side curiously. And then she wonders... just how is Riva going to 'get back' at her for this? She giggles softly and shakes her head slowly. "I'll look forward to it, then!"