Title: Bubbly
Rating: SFW
Wordcount: 1259
Pairing: Mitsuru/Yukari
Summary: Yukari is a little out of her element on this date, but she's determined not to let Mitsuru notice.
Note: Written as a treat for Miss_Prince for the 2014 round of FemslashEX.
When Mitsuru suggested going out for a nice Christmas dinner, Yukari assumed that she meant something like Wakatsu. So it was with some self-conscious surprise that she found herself in a private room at what had to be the most outrageously expensive restaurant on the east end of Iwatodai. If the waitstaff noticed that Yukari's dress couldn't have been worth a quarter of the cost of the meal, they were too polite to show it.
Of course, Mitsuru was entirely in her element. As the table filled with crusty breads and tiny dishes stuffed intricately with unfamiliar foods, she surveyed them all approvingly, and nodded as one of the servers produced a little bucket of ice with a bottle poking out.
"It's Christmas Eve," she said to Yukari, "so I took the liberty of ordering some champagne. Would you care for a glass?"
No matter how many times Yukari did the math in her head, Mitsuru wasn't twenty yet. One of the perks of being a Kirijo, she supposed; maybe Mitsuru had a glass of wine every night now to unwind after a long day of college classes and company business. Yukari imagined her reclining in a leather chair with a glass of red wine and felt terribly young and unsophisticated.
"Um, sure. Champagne's just the thing on Christmas Eve, right?"
The uncorking made a noise like a muffled Evoker blast. Yukari fisted the tablecloth but managed not to yelp or leap out of her seat. As the server filled her glass with fizzing gold, she watched Mitsuru for cues. At least half the appetizers did not readily suggest how they should be eaten.
Still clearly at ease, Mitsuru raised her champagne glass. "To a lovely evening, and lovelier company," she said, curling her fingers to brush against Yukari's when their glasses clinked together.
Yukari giggled, cheeks warming, and braced herself for her first ship of champagne. It wasn't the shock she'd expected: just bubbly, almost like soda, and sharp in a way she couldn't quite describe. She took a second sip and wondered how long it took to get drunk.
Her glass was refilled once with when small bowls of soup appeared to replace the appetizers, then again to accompany a plate of buttery fish. By then Yukari had begun to feel warm, as if her blush had seeped under skin and spread inward, and familiar foods emboldened her. She tucked into the fish before Mitsuru had raised her fork.
Dishes of steaming, intricately garnished meat arrived next, and Mitsuru's eyes lit up. "The lamb here is delectable."
"Yeah, it smells super good." Yukari cringed at her own choice of words. "I mean, it smells... delectable." That was worse, and probably the champagne's fault. Flustered, she let her hand hover over her silverware until Mitsuru gave her a lead to follow.
Lamb turned out to taste mostly like beef, with the unexpected tingle of mint. Daunted by the prospect of admitting that half the tastes on her plate were new to her, Yukari stuck to non-descriptive "mmm" noises.
When little dishes of sorbet followed, she relaxed and resumed her collaboration with the champagne. She knew how to handle sorbet.
What she didn't know how to handle was the salad that came next. Mitsuru appeared to have expected it and didn't offer an explanation, so Yukari swallowed her confusion over dessert showing up in the middle of the meal. Asking would have made her feel like a kid, and that was the last thing she wanted to feel like on a date.
Mystifyingly, cheese came out next. Mitsuru didn't so much as raise an eyebrow. Maybe everyone was drunk, including the waitstaff.
After draining the last of the immediately available champagne, Yukari let escape, "So. Cheese."
Mitsuru paused midway through using one of the flat knives to smear some over a piece of a bread. "I recommend the Brie."
Presumably that was the one she had just cut into. Yukari helped herself to one of the other knives and wondered if her movements looked as clumsy as they felt. As she sliced off a sticky glob of a cheese with disproportionate care, she said, "This is really sophisticated, huh?"
"Are you feeling all right?" Mitsuru asked.
After a flutter of panic, Yukari focused some of the ambient heat inside her into a long, sly smile. After a few tries, she managed to toe off one of her shoes. "I feel like I'm up for anything," she purred, eyelashes low, brushing her foot against Mitsuru's ankle. She was rewarded by a deep flush in Mitsuru's cheeks.
"If I say that I am, too, will you hold me to it later?"
"Definit—ooh." Yukari lost track of the word as Mitsuru's foot slid up along her calf.
When more plates arrived, reminding her that they were still at dinner, Yukari found herself perplexed by a colorful fruit tart. The champagne coaxed her into blurting, "Didn't we already have dessert?"
"No, just sorbet to cleanse the palate." Now Mitsuru looked flustered. "I'm sorry, I assumed you knew the order of the courses. I should have asked."
"Hey, you don't have to apologize. I could've asked, too." Fidgeting with a napkin seemed like the best course of action. "I've never been anywhere this fancy before, but it's fun to try new things, right?"
After an uneasy pause, Mitsuru sighed. "I've made you uncomfortable, haven't I? I'm sorry."
Yukari's head snapped up almost fast enough to leave her dizzy. "Whoa, whoa! No, I'm totally comfortable with you. This is just... I dunno. Sorry? Ugh, I wouldn't even have said anything if I wasn't drunk."
Mitsuru frowned. "If you weren't..."
"Drunk." Yukari let a giggle bubble up under her voice. "I'm drunk."
"Yukari..." Mitsuru's lips twitched up and down, as if she wasn't sure what emotion she was suppressing. "The champagne is non-alcoholic."
The heat under Yukari's skin fled outward, leaving behind a cold clarity. She slid low in her chair with a tentative plan of using the table as cover to slink away. "I'm going to go crawl under a rock now."
Mitsuru caught her arm firmly, but she kept her voice light and gentle: "If you're intoxicated, it would be irresponsible to let you leave alone."
Despite herself, Yukari laughed. "I'm making a total idiot out of myself, huh? Sorry. I guess you really can't take me anywhere."
"No, I shouldn't have assumed. We have precious little time together, and we should spend it doing things we both enjoy."
With an unsteady smile, Yukari raised her head enough to make eye contact. "But if this is gonna work, we both have to go outside our comfort zones, right?"
"Of course, but we shouldn't pretend that we aren't. Wouldn't you have been more comfortable tonight if you hadn't been pretending to be familiar with traditional French dining?"
"You mean like when I took you shopping and you pretended to know your clothing size?"
Mitsuru smiled sheepishly. "Shall we call it even?" At Yukari's nod, her smile widened, and she squeezed once before letting her arm fall back to her side.
Still low in her seat, Yukari found that she could nearly wrap her lower leg around Mitsuru's. She gave it her best try as she said, "Speaking of comfort zones, wasn't I supposed to hold you to something?"
Mitsuru's laugh was low and breathy. "Oh, but I shouldn't take advantage of you in your compromised state."
With a wink, Yukari reached under the table to squeeze her knee. "We'll see who gets the advantage."