Maria pushed some hair out of her face, expression showing some displeasure as she felt chocolate get on her forehead. Since when did she manage to get it on her arm? She had a feeling that meant it got in her hair, too. She looked at the microwave's clock: 2:38. In the morning.
She had been attempting to make chocolate for hours now, and still, it never turned out right. Yeah, she was being a bit of a perfectionist… but on the other hand, the first few times she had burnt it pretty badly. After that, it was… gradients of burnt. At any rate, she had yet to successfully make a batch of chocolates that weren't burnt at all. She refused to give up, though. She wanted to give Naomi properly made Valentine's Day chocolate.
For a few years now, she had celebrated Valentine's Day and White Day with Tomoe. She had been really confused when Tomoe gave her chocolates the first Valentine's Day they knew each other, and even more so when she realized they were handmade. But, of course, Tomoe had then explained that in Japan, women were supposed to gift friends and colleagues with chocolate on Valentine's Day, and it had no romantic connotations. From that year on, Maria always reciprocated by giving her cookies on White Day, although they were usually made from the store-bought dough since she knew herself not to be the most skilled at cooking or baking. Well, no one had ever taught her even the basics, so she simply had no way of knowing. And yet, here she was trying to make something even more complicated… That was different, though. …This wasn't obligatory chocolate she was making.
Alright, time for Chocolate Attempt #... actually, she had lost track a couple hours ago. But half an hour later, she had finally made chocolates successfully. Thank god. Without bothering to clean up the kitchen, she covered the chocolate, put it in the refrigerator, and went to bed.
The next morning, once she got to Resurgam, she realized she actually had no idea whatsoever what she was going to say. Maybe she ought to ask Tomoe for advice… although that would be a bit embarrassing.
"Maria!"
Speaking of, she saw Tomoe coming over. "'Morning!"
"Good morning." She retrieved a small bag of chocolate from her bag and handed it to her. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Thanks! Happy Valentine's Day." She put it in her bag, then hesitated. "Hey, uh… can I ask for your advice on something?"
"Oh! Of course, what is it?" Although Maria was starting to get better about it, it was clear Tomoe was still a little surprised for her to willingly ask for advice, without even being prompted.
"Uh… maybe, could we talk somewhere else?" She looked around. They were in the middle of the hall. Anyone could overhear them, and that could potentially include the intended recipient of her handmade chocolates.
"Of course." She motioned for them to go down the hall, heading toward Maria's office, which was closer than her own.
Once inside, Maria closed the door. She could feel that her cheeks were a bit warm. "So, um… I made chocolates for somebody, but I have no idea what's the, you know, proper way of giving it…" Geez. It was embarrassing to admit she had done something so… girly, in her opinion. She didn't think it suited her. "...And they're not obligatory. But I don't know, am I supposed to just say that?!" She rubbed the back of her neck lightly. "I mean… it's going to make a lot of things pretty awkward if I say that and it's, well, not reciprocated… which I'd kind of guess is probably the case…" Which she knew from the beginning. Honestly, she was pretty sure Naomi was straight and had a thing for that assistant of hers. She had decided that, hey, she'd never know if she didn't try… but suddenly, now that it actually came down to it, she was second-guessing that. After all, it wasn't exactly like they never saw each other. There was definite potential for it to become quite uncomfortable.
"Hm… Well, if you want her to know your feelings, you ought to be honest. You might be able to say they're just obligatory, but… you made them because you want her to know, right?" She didn't bother asking if the person in question knew how Valentine's Day was celebrated in Japan. Maria hadn't told her, but she was nearly certain she knew who was being discussed.
"Yeah, but… like, it's probably gonna make things really awkward."
"It's not the way of honor to give up without even trying. ...Anyway, you two have known each other a while, and I doubt she's the type to make things uncomfortable, so even if you need a bit of space from her for a while, I think it will be fine."
"Wait, how did you know I was talking about Naomi?" Okay, so technically Tomoe hadn't mentioned her by name, but… it was pretty obvious she knew who was being discussed.
She smiled a little. "I know you." Actually, it was really not all that subtle… she suspected she was far from the only person who guessed Maria had feelings for her. It wouldn't be altogether surprising if Naomi knew Maria had feelings for her, too…
"Alright! I'm… Actually, I wonder if she'll be coming by here, or if I should go to CIFM? I don't want to, like, call her to find out…"
"Gabe might know," she suggested. "Haven't they been friends for a while? In fact, if she still does obligatory chocolates, she should be coming sometime today, anyway."
"Okay, if you see her… uh… I don't know, can you point her in my direction, but like, subtly?"
"Sure. -Oh, by the way, they're called 'honmei chocolates.' When you give them romantically."
"Okay. Thanks! ...I might go talk to Gabe and see if he mentions anything."
"Alright. Let me know what he says?"
"Yeah, of course." She left her office and went to find him. Thankfully, he was in his office and didn't have any patients waiting for him. "Hey, Gabe. 'Morning."
"'Morning."
She sat down, trying to look casual. "So, has Tomoe stopped by? Her chocolates are always so good."
"Yeah, I look forward to them every year."
She hesitated, still trying to play it off as random conversation. "Since the obligatory chocolate is a Japanese thing, I wonder if Naomi does it too?"
He glanced at the bag she held. "Just random curiosity?" he said, tone teasing. He had noticed Maria's crush on her a long time ago…
Her face flushed. "I'm just wondering!"
"Hm… maybe I should take your temperature; your face is a bit red…"
"Shut up!"
Gabe laughed. "Anyway, I think she's planning on stopping by, if there's something you'd like to give her…"
"Geez! And don't tell her I was asking!" More like she didn't trust him not to do it in a way that was completely embarrassing.
"I won't. -Let me know how it goes, though, huh?" He said this more seriously. Despite his teasing her, he wouldn't intentionally do something that would actually embarrass her.
"Anyway. I'm gonna go see if Hank or the surgeon need any help with anything."
"Okay. Good luck."
Spotting his jacket on the table, she picked it up and threw it at his head before heading for the door. Before quite leaving, however, she turned back around and smirked as he removed the jacket from his hair. It was her 'revenge' for his teasing.
Out in the hall, she headed toward Erhard's room. He usually had a surgery or two, so she could assist him for a while.
"Come in," he said when she knocked on the door.
"'Morning."
"Ah… good morning."
She saw him looking at the chocolates that, presumably, Tomoe had given him. "Oh, right! This is your first time getting chocolates from Tomoe, right? They're awesome!"
"She… makes these by hand and gives them to everyone?"
"Uh-huh. Tomoe's pretty impressive! Making chocolate is hard." She could certainly now say this from experience. "But she does it every year. It's kind of a tradition in Japan. Most of us give her presents on White Day, too - that's next month; I guess it's basically like saying thanks to people who gave you chocolate, or something like that."
He nodded. "I'll try to remember that."
"Anyway, I was wondering if you've got any surgeries I could assist with? I don't have much to do today, so…"
"I've got one coming up in an hour, but Hank is assisting."
Which meant that Hank wouldn't have any either. Maybe Tomoe would, actually. "Alright. Well, I'll see you around."
She headed out… then was nearly crashed into by Darnell.
"Dr. Torres, there's been an accident!"
"Hey, I'm gonna leave my bag here, 'kay?" she said, sticking her head back into Erhard's office. "I've gotta run!"
"That's fine," he replied.
Thankfully, the disaster was relatively small in scale. There were a couple of red tags when she got there, but for the most part everyone was yellow tag. She quickly tended to them, and thankfully, it went without incident. They returned to the hospital not long after.
Erhard was still in his office. Maria went in, getting her bag. She stopped to check that the chocolate hadn't melted or broken - thankfully, it was still in the same condition she'd packed it in.
"How did it go?" Erhard asked.
"Oh, it was pretty easy. Everyone should be fine." Always a huge relief.
He nodded. "That's good. -By the way, I've never seen you carry a bag before."
"Oh, uh… yeah, I don't really usually. I mean, my jacket's got pockets, but, I mean… I wouldn't want Tomoe's chocolate to melt." Or her own, but still.
"Sensible. So, is Tomoe the only one who gives out chocolate?"
She thought about it. She was pretty sure Darnell had given Emma some last year… and she had gone around talking about what a good friend he was. Poor guy. The sad thing was, she was pretty sure Emma wasn't doing it to make a point or anything - she was just that unaware. "For the most part. I mean, unless they have, you know, someone they're interested in."
"Are you giving some to Naomi?"
"Wh-What?!" She could feel her cheeks heating up again. "Does everybody in the whole damn hospital know?!"
Neither of them having noticed she hadn't bothered to close the door - Maria having intended just to get her bag - Esha stuck her head in. "Know what?"
"About her crush," Erhard replied, tone deadpan as usual. It wasn't even that he was intending to tease her, really. More like just answering the question.
"Oh, on Naomi?"
"Seriously?! How does everybody know?!"
Erhard spoke up again. "Your face gets red sometimes when you talk about her, and you always seem rather eager for her visits."
Esha laid a hand on her shoulder, amused. "It's pretty obvious."
"...Do you think she knows?" Maria asked. If so and she hadn't said anything… that probably meant her feelings were one-sided.
She very much suspected the answer was yes, but she was worried it could lead Maria to jump to conclusions. "I'm not sure."
"Ugh. Talk about embarrassing. Tomoe, Gabe, both of you…"
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I think she might be stopping by soon, so… good luck!" It was fun to have an opportunity to tease her a bit, but really she hoped it worked out well. And, of course, there wasn't really any reason to be embarrassed…
"...Thanks." With that, she took her bag and headed back into her office.
Seriously though, she didn't think she was that obvious. She tried to keep it pretty much under wraps so Naomi wouldn't find out, since for a while she hadn't wanted to tell her. She still thought there was a pretty good chance Naomi was straight…
She sat at her desk and worked on some stuff, until she heard a knock at her door. Could it be Naomi…? No, it was probably Esha, or Gabe, or Hank… Someone else. "Come in!"
The door opened, and it was, in fact, Naomi. Maria stood as Naomi approached her.
"Um…" She spoke up, deciding to be the one to speak first. If Naomi was just going to give her obligatory chocolate, then it would be a million times more awkward to give 'honmei chocolate' after that. Maria rubbed the back of her neck, then reached for her bag. "I made these. For you." She pulled out the chocolates and held them out. Somehow, now that it came to actually telling her, she was surprisingly calm. In the end, perhaps she simply tended to feel calmer around her…
"You made them?" Naomi asked, slightly surprised. She honestly wouldn't have guessed Maria could cook, or would take the time to actually make chocolate.
"Yeah, but I think they should taste good. -Um… Tomoe said that they're 'honmei chocolate'... I don't really know what 'honmei' means, but… well, it's Tomoe, so I'm sure it's true."
So she did know. It didn't particularly surprise her that Tomoe also celebrated Valentine's Day the way she presumably had growing up, or that the other doctors here would have thus learned about it. ...Actually, she was even less surprised to find that Maria's chocolates were honmei. She had definitely had her suspicions. Still, for the sake of informing Maria of what she had just said, she elaborated. "Honmei chocolate is to show your true feelings for someone. That is, you typically give it to a spouse, partner, or someone you're romantically interested in."
"Then, um… I guess it's honmei chocolate, yeah." Okay, so maybe Naomi didn't know-
Naomi kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you."
Now that was unexpected, in Maria's opinion. Her face flushed, and she grinned. Before she could think of what to say, Naomi spoke again.
"I made chocolates for you as well." She retrieved them from her bag. If she was going to be completely truthful… "I wasn't sure whether to consider them giri or honmei, but… I'm not opposed to them being honmei."
Giri… She (correctly) assumed that meant obligatory. "Well, um… I'd be happy about that… Though you probably already knew that…" she added sheepishly. She was just excited…
"I've had my suspicions for a while," she admitted.
"Yeah, uh… I've been told that it's really obvious? Tomoe, Gabe, the Chief… even the surgeon! I didn't even tell any of them, but they all knew…"
"Don't worry," she assured her. "...It's sort of cute."
She didn't consider herself particularly cute, but... Geez… how could anybody not have a crush on Naomi? And yet, Naomi was… It occurred to her fully that Naomi was choosing her. "Um, sometime, do you maybe wanna… get coffee or something?"
"Sure. ...I'll look forward to it."