| [Jan. 31st, 2012|06:45 am] |
Katsuko had rolled exactly two inches away, still close enough to press warm and bony against Kakashi’s hip and shoulder.
"Five minutes, once the water boils. Which it isn't, yet," Ryouma said, making clanging noises as he rummaged around the kitchen. The fridge door opened. "Okay if we use the blueberries?"
“Sure,” said Kakashi. “They’re for you, anyway.”
Katsuko giggled, squirming to get more comfortable as she said, “Awwww....”
“Someday, Katsuko-chan, you’ll meet a man who buys you blueberries,” Ryouma said warmly, while Kakashi elbowed her in the side. “Don’t let go.” Ryouma set the carton of berries down on the counter, left the water to boil, and came over to them, navigating the wet but thankfully clean floor. He looked thoughtful, suddenly. “Actually, how’d you like me to set you up on a date?”
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Katsuko blinked, pausing.
“A date?” she asked. “How does that work? Do you have to dress up?”
“Don’t look at me,” Kakashi said.
Ryouma’s expression was equally fascinated and alarmed, like a man regarding a strange species. "Neither of you've ever been on a date before?"
“Not unless you count the mission with the nightclub,” Kakashi said dryly.
Katsuko frowned. “What do you do on dates?”
Ryouma made a frustrated gesture with his hands, trying to carve living ideas from thin air. “Talk. Eat. Watch movies, visit parks, go to festivals. Make out...” He glanced at Kakashi and said firmly, “We’ll fix that.”
Kakashi folded an arm behind his head. “But we do all those things anyway, except the festivals.”
“Take pictures!” Katsuko said brightly, having apparently decided to approach the conversation on a new, random trajectory. She tipped her head back, regarding the ceiling plastered with seal designs. A rueful smile edged her mouth. “A date. Sure, why not? Time to live a little.”
Kakashi winced.
Ryouma’s mouth firmed, resolve clanging like sudden steel in his scent, and Kakashi spared a thought of vague sympathy for Asuma, who was presumably still Ryouma’s first choice for matchmaking.
"All right. I've got a guy in mind. I'll let you know,” Ryouma said, bestirring himself back to the kitchen. Over his shoulder he added to Kakashi: "Dates are different. One of us has to ask. You buying me the jacket might count, though. I didn't make the rules."
“Since when do you follow the rules?” Kakashi asked, trying to wrap his mind around the idea of doing something public and civilian for fun.
“... there are rules for dating?” Katsuko asked, horrified.
Ryouma’s tone turned a little defensive. "One of my old girlfriends was in the seduction corps. There're all sorts of rules. An' some of 'em are stupid, but they make girls happy... I sent you flowers, didn't I, Katsuko? From the hospital. While I was ODed on soldier pills."
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