Hey there! I literally thought of this story off the top of my head and kinda gave myself a little chuckle. Hope you guys like this quick one-shot! Happy reading!
Rated "T" for suggestive conversation and mild language ;-3
Disclaimer:
*I don't own anything but the plot. The characters, settings and other elements belong to creators of Tales of Graces f
-Rainy-Day Gossip-
A stormy day in Lhant meant no fun in the sun for the three girls' friendly engagement that day. Cheria, Sophie and a visiting Pascal took refuge in Cheria's quaint cottage, successfully escaping the icy outlook on the exterior. Cheria busied herself by slaving over the kitchen stove (something she enjoyed doing very much), while Sophie napped on Cheria's bed.
"Man I am sooo bored!" exclaimed the Amarcian, swinging her feet rapidly as she sat in a wooden chair, making it squeak quite loudly.
"Pascal, stop kicking your legs like that," barked Cheria, "You'll break the chair!"
"Aww c'mon, I'm not THAT heavy!"
"That's not the point, Pascal! And will you please be quiet?! Sophie is sleeping!"
Pascal noticed Cheria's face turning red with frustration, something that made the little inventor jump slightly.
"Finnnneeeee, Cheria. Geez!"
The girl of two-toned hair leaped for the chair and proceeded to stretch out on the middle of the room. Cheria rolled her eyes slightly and proceeded back into the kitchen. The grilled chicken bowl was almost ready for her and a small pot of miso stew was simmering next to it (since Pascal 'doesn't like the greasy stuff'). Cheria was rather pleased with herself, knowing that she will be able to make the best foods when she moves in with Asbel. Her bliss was soon halted by the screech of the Amarcian in the next room.
"CHERIA?! IS THE MISO DONE YET?!"
Cheria slammed her ladle down, making a loud CLANK and stomped into the dining room.
"What the hell is the matter with you, Pascal?!" she cried, shaking her fists at the twenty-two year old.
"What?! I'm sooo hungry!"
"You are going to wake Sophie if you don't stop—"
"It's okay, Cheria, I've been awake," emerged a gentle, innocent voice.
The two adults turned around and saw the purple-headed minor descending the small steps to Cheria's "room", yawning and stretching as she went. Cheria turned from angry to motherly in the matter of a second, patting the shorter girl on the head when the latter reached her.
"Oh, Sophie, did you sleep okay? Sorry there was so much noise!" Cheria remarked as she shot a glare at Pascal, making the inventor jump again.
"No, it is okay, Cheria, Pascal didn't disturb me at all. Listening to you guys was...funny!"
Cheria made a slight smile. Suddenly, a weird aroma erupted in the air, followed by a trail of black smoke.
"Is something burnin'?" asked Pascal, sniffing the air.
"OH NO, MY CHICKEN!" screamed Cheria, running back into the kitchen, arms flailing about as she went.
The owner of the house opened her pan of chicken to a cloud of dark smoke and charred meat. Sweeping the cloud out of her face and turning off the heat, she rendered her meal destroyed.
"Darn, I was really looking forward to that chicken..." she sighed.
The need for damage control set in and the cerise-haired woman poured three bowls of miso stew, one for each of the occupants. Clutching the dishes all at the same time, she dropped each before their respective eaters. Cheria sat down and began eating immediately, as the noontime meal was her first of the day. She looked up to see the other two staring at her.
"Heyyyy, I thought you were having chicken, Cheria?" taunted the Amarcian playfully.
"It, um, didn't turn out so great..." the homeowner muttered, staring down at her dish, a tad embarrassed at her mistake.
"'One must NEVER leave cooking food unattended, Cheria!'" chimed Sophie, wagging her finger in disapproval.
"Thank you, Captain Malik," Cheria retorted, a little peeved at the thought of Sophie scolding her.
"The Captain told me that when that woman kept forcing us to eat her gross food."
"Heyyyy, I heard Annie's cooking is great now!" added Pascal, slurping some tofu cubes down her throat.
"While we are on that subject, what DOES the Captain teach you?"
The room went silent, for ever since their very first trip to Strahta, Malik had been teaching Sophie many things about Ephinea when they are apart from the group. Some of the topics, however, were quite questionable to the humanoid's mother and father and often left the two uneasy. Sophie tilted her head and made a puzzled expression at Cheria.
"Are we having "girl talk"?" the young girl asked.
Cheria made a slight smile.
"Yes, that's exactly what we are doing. I want to know about some of the things the Captain has been teaching you..."
Sophie dropped her head for a moment, thinking of some topics.
"Well, about a week ago, I asked the Captain about development."
"Development?" Cheria was lost.
"Yes, when I first reunited with Asbel, I was confused about why everyone had grown so big and why I haven't changed at all. Asbel told me that I would grow in height and such too, someday...but I was curious about the "and such" part."
Cheria looked at her with wide eyes and a crimson face.
"Did the Captain—"
"—He told me that I should ask YOU, Cheria. He was rather embarrassed when I asked... I've never seen the Captain so red before."
Cheria passed a wide-eyed glance at Pascal, as if she was telepathically instructing her not to say anything.
"So what does it mean, Cheria?" Sophie asked, tilting her head.
The motherly teen let out a deep sigh.
"Sophie, it's nothing—"
"OH, I GET IT! SOPHIE'S TALKIN' ABOUT BOOBS!"
"Boobs?" Sophie was still lost, her child-like mind unable to comprehend even the simplest of human topics.
"PASCAL?!" Cheria screamed, her face ignited with a concoction of surprise, embarrassment and anger.
"What?! The girl had to find out sometime!"
"This is an inappropriate conversation at mealtime! Un-BELIEVABLE"
Sophie patted Cheria on the shoulder, her usual calm demeanor still with her.
"Cheria...I would very much like to learn about boobs. Let's talk about boobs, Cheria... I want to learn."
"Ahhh Sophie, stop saying that word!"
Cheria tugged on her hair and ran into the kitchen, somewhat sickened by the mealtime discussion. Pascal couldn't help but laugh at this whole thing. Sophie watched her "mother" walk away and made a frown.
"Pascal, why is Cheria mad at me?"
"Oh, don't worry Sophie. It's just a little bit of a sensitive topic for people like Cheria."
"Sensitive?"
Pascal set her spoon down and cleared her throat.
"Well, you see—"
"PASCAL, STOP! Don't teach her that stuff!"
"Aww c'mon, Cheria! The girl's gotta learn too, ya know?"
The room went silent again as Cheria let out a sigh to keep her composure before proceeding to sit back down. The air was still, nothing but the pitter-patter of rain and the clanking of silverware were heard. It was like this for the next two minutes, then the humanoid spoke up again in her ever-so-gentle voice.
"So what does it mean?" she asked again, rather abruptly, triggering Cheria to throw down her spoon and sigh in disbelief.
"Sophie…"
"Please Cheria…I want to learn…"
Cheria looked at the pensive purple girl and then the Amarcian, and then back at the former. She hung her head and frowned.
"Where is he, Grandpa?" Cheria demanded of the head butler, her fist clenching on either hip.
The old man looked at her with kind, innocent eyes, completely unaware of what was happening.
"Lord Asbel is in the study, Cheria, shall I inform hi—"
"No, thank you, I can do it myself…" she sashayed to the first floor door.
Asbel, the young lord, was doing paperwork jumped upon hearing the main door being bashed open and then slammed closed again, both done by his obviously furious childhood friend who was angrily stomping in his direction.
"C-Cheria?!" he stammered, confused as she honed in on him.
"Shut up, you pig!" she retorted upon reaching the desk, "if you weren't the lord, I swear on all of Ephinea and Fodra combined that I would smack you!"
Asbel went red in the face and scooted his throne-like chair back a few inches, fearing her impending rage.
"W-What did I do?"
"Because you made Sophie curious about…sexual things!"
"W-WHAT?"
"SHE ASKED ME ABOUT BOOBS, ASBEL, BECAUSE YOU TOLD HER SHE WOULD 'DEVELOP" SOMEDAY!"
Asbel tilted his head, pondering at what point he asked her that. Then, it hit him.
"C-Cheria…I didn't mean it—"
"SHUT UP!"
From the other side of the door, all that can be heard was muffled albeit echoed shouting, mainly from Cheria. Poor Frederic shook his head in disappointment as the working maids snickered under their breath.
"So, do you think you can give me these…'boobs'?" asked the humanoid.
"Oh sure!" snickered the Amarcian, "do you have a size in mind? Possibly like mine or Cheria's?"
The younger girl thought for a moment, lowering her head a split minute before shooting back up with a serious face.
"Emeraude..."
Pascal's eyes widened in surprise.
"R-really Sophie. That's REEALLLYY big!"
Sophie looked at her with a tilted head.
"It's just like the Captain says…. 'go big…or go home!'"
So yeah, that happened heh heh! I hope you guys got a little kick out of it! Please review and stuff! I really like hearing from you guys :-3 See ya soon o/