The Climb - A collection of MamoUsa stories for MamoUsa week 2019 that explore the trials, tribulations, and the strength within to build a healthy, loving, and lasting relationship.
Day 1: Sunday June 23rd: Free Day- Its been a year! Let this day get your creative juices flowing and working again!
AN: So, naturally, I'm posting this attttt... 11:30 EST because I suck. And, fair warning, this is totally unbeta'ed due to it being said 10:00 EST XD
I love the idea of peeking in to what builds the foundation of our favorite couple, and I hope you do, too!
AN Edit: OK so it's 10:00am EST because I fell asleep. Sorry about that! Double whammy posting today!
Mamoru. Hated. Pinterest.
No. 'Hate' was too weak of a word. No, he absolutely loathed Pinterest.
It all started one day when Usagi came back from a girls night out. Mako-chan had introduced Usagi to the DIY app and showed her "just how easy!:D:D:D" it was to do almost anything. Step-by-step, photo-by-photo instructions with videos and simplified explanations that would allow even a child to become the ultimate cake decorator, or wood polisher, or expert Christmas tree decorator.
And at first, it was cute.
Mamoru sneered. Like, the first time, it was cute.
The first task Usagi had decided to take on was iced sugar cookies. Simple, yes? Especially since she had made cookies before with Mako-chan and the girls, you'd think that it wouldn't be an epic disaster.
Which it was. Until Mamoru realized that these so-called 'iced cookies' called for 'royal icing.'
"I don't understand why we can't use the frosting out of the can."
"Because, Mamo-chan, it calls for royal frosting! And I can't make the bunnies faces with just any old icing, it NEEDS to be royal."
And as a result, Mamoru was pulled into the project.
He showed Usagi how to properly measure the ingredients, how to gently stir the icing, how to pour it and use the squeeze bottles to make the intricate designs she so desperately wanted. It took a few tries and rereads on his end, given he wasn't a baker at all, but the fact was true about Pinterest - just about anyone really could do anything.
Usagi cheered in glee as her creations came to life; bunnies with little 'x's' for their mouths, pink lines for the tint in their ears... they really did look like novice royal-iced cookies. Which, Mamoru hated admitting almost as much as he hated Pinterest, surprised him that even he could pull this off.
He swore that it was the last time. He told Usagi that he would NOT ever do that again. Between the mess of his kitchen to his sticky hands (and he HATED feeling sticky), he was swearing off royal icing forever. "Next time, do it with Mako-chan."
Unfortunately, that was not the last time... for Pinterest, at least.
Sure, Usagi kept her word about not frosting cookies with him again.
Next, it was making bulgogi.
Bulgogi... Korean grilled beef. Another seemingly simple recipe found on Pinterest that turned quickly into another disaster he had to step in and help with.
All started off great at first. Mamoru had most of the ingredients that the recipe called for, so all they really needed was thin sliced beef, green onion, a pear, and a carrot. So when Usagi went to the store and returned with the items exactly as listed on the website, Mamoru began to reconsider this... this Pinterest fascination.
Mamoru sat on the couch, attempting to read a book as Usagi clanged around the kitchen. Between cabinet doors slamming and drawers rattling with velocity, Mamoru couldn't help but keep one eye on her as she made her way around the small space. He watched as she carefully measured out soy sauce and sesame oil, cringed as she dipped the wet tablespoon into the dry canister of brown sugar, but ultimately kept his lips sealed. He refused to intervene. Think of the stickiness. Think... of the stickiness.
Then came crushing garlic.
"Mamo-channnnnnnnnnnn, how do you crush garlic?"
It took every fiber in his body to not get up. Remember the stickiness, Mamoru. Remember the stickiness.
So he told her to peel the garlic. Lay it flat, and then using a... knife... And then it hit him. Usagi... with a knife. A butchers knife.
So once again, Mamoru was pulled into the happenings of bulgogi, from showing her how to crush garlic, to grating the pear with his microplane grater, to using the whites versus the dark greens of a green onion, and how to peel the carrot into delicate shavings.
And, once again, Mamoru was surprised at just how good it tasted, and that he helped create that.
But never again. The state of his kitchen once more?
Nope. Never. Again...
... until the painting of the side table happened.
"Come on, Mamo-chan, we can do this beautiful, rustic update to this old table. It will be easy, see?!"
And he had said no. No, no, no. He liked his clean, modern look. Simplistic chrome and blacks. No frills, no fuss, and certainly, no rustic.
Unfortunately for him, it didn't come as too much of a surprise when he came home once night after working an overnight shift at the hospital to see the table in the middle of his living room, the table globbed with hideous streaks of chalk gray, and Usagi looking at him all wide-eyed, tears brimming from frustration and lack of sleep.
"I wanted to surprise you, but, I can't get this right!"
And, so, once again, Mamoru stepped in, this time on lack of sleep, and read through those bloody instructions once more. Explained to Usagi that you need to sand between thin coats to get the effect she was looking for, how different sandpapers provide different results. He gave her an updated shopping list (because you need fine sandpaper, not coarse, because it strips the paint right off), told her to be back at 14:00, and they'd work on it together.
Again.
It took the afternoon, the evening, and the next morning, but the side table was transformed into some ridiculously looking piece that belonged in an art studio, or a classroom. And while he was, once again, a teeny-tiny bit impressed that he managed to transform a simple black table into a new... shade of black? He swore off Pinterest after that. His living room was full of dust. Dust, everywhere!
Between the stickiness, the image of Usagi holding a butchers knife, and ALL the dust, Pinterest struck out. Three strikes, done. Finito. Au revoir.
That was... until today.
Usagi had this brilliant idea, she claimed. All she needed was his patio.
"I promise, Mamo-chan, no measurements, or knives, or anything else of the sort. Just... stay inside, okay? It's going to be great! I found the idea on Pinterest!"
So he excused himself. For a little bit, he tried to read, but between the sound of a drill, the clanging of a step ladder (mind you, on a BALCONY, which gave him a damn near heart attack when he heard her fall over once, followed by a "DON'T YOU DARE COME OUT HERE I AM FINE!"), he had to leave. He had to get the Hell out of there before he lost his mind.
Mamoru shoved his hands in his pocket. Pinterest. It's like a virus that infected the google image search. All you have to do is click on the damn application, let it open, and then it fills your mind with all these damn ideas. It is just a monster lurking in your search results, it's rosy hued maw preparing to gorge itself on your clicks. Because you will never find what you seek on Pinterest. Because it tells you what you think you want. Oh, yes, who the hell wants royal-iced bunny cookies? Or bulgogi? Or a chalkboard side table? What person in their right mind came up with chalkboard paint!? All of this crap could have been avoided had Usagi never discovered that dumb app and try to do something way outside of her limitations.
And then it hit him.
He was a fucking dick.
Mamoru stuffed his hands in his pocket at the revelation of how much of an ass he sounded like. Sure, maybe he didn't like the mess it created, but at least Usagi was taking a step outside of her comfort zone. And sure, maybe the level of expertise for the cookies was a little too far out of reach for her, but at least she tried.
Not to mention that the flavor of the cookies did have a sweet, vanilla bean taste to them, because Usagi listened to the website and purchased this ridiculously expensive vanilla bean paste. He'd be a liar if he didn't admit that he ate about half of the cookies the next morning for breakfast with his coffee.
And the bulgogi tasted not half bad. In fact... it tasted pretty good.
And the feeling of placing his hand over Usagi's when he showed her how to use the grater, slowly moving the pear back and forth to create the smallest shreds of fruit that went into the marinade.
Or how adorable Usagi looked when she knew she was in too deep with the painting of the table, looking for guidance from him when it the paint wasn't quite coming together just yet.
Another realization hit him like a glittery slap to the face. The time spent with Usagi, doing new things like baking or cooking international cuisine to painting... the quality of time together. Pinterest, as obnoxious as it may be with its "feng shui" and its outfit pairing suggestions (like the time she convinced him to buy a heinous red flannel top, because it was 'trending'), they were learning new things. And they were doing it together.
Maybe... maybe there was more to this... this Pinterest obsession.
And if he could survive the stickiness, and the butcher knife, and the dust (that unfortunately still lingered), he could survive more experiments. More trials. More grumbling and mumbling.
As long as they were doing it together.
When he returned to his apartment, Mamoru felt completely renewed; a changed man. He was ready to be more open-minded, more accepting of trying new things with Usagi. After all, they would be one day making a home together; why not learn how to do some of the things together now before they actually purchase and move in to their own place down the line?
That was... until he saw the patio.
Usagi was beaming underneath an awning of pink, surrounded by a balcony of pink lights... with tiny flamingo picks... in his precious patio planters.
A metal pink flamingo sign on the wall.
A "my spirit animal is plastic pink flamingos" bamboo sign hanging on the other side.
Pink flamingo pillows.
Pink cushions.
Pink
Pink
Pink
Pink
Pink
Pink
"Don't you just LOVE IT?" Usagi exclaimed with a shuffle of her feet, her fists clenched in excitement as she looked to him for approval.
Mamoru lreturned a strained... very, verrrry strained smile. "Yyyyyeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa-no. No. No. Usagi, come on! Really?! All the pink?! Flamingos?! I didn't know you love flamingos?! At least, not THIS MUCH!"
And from that day forth, Mamoru decreed that with each Pinterest project Usagi insisted on doing, they would have to mutually agree to it.
She eventually concurred.
And he had the neon pink, plastic flamingo decor patio to remind her.