One-shot derived from prompt 40 of 'Fuzzy and Contradictory', as suggested by Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius.
I should probably point out that writing humour is not my strength, so this may not end up too funny. All the same, I hope you enjoy it.
When Nice didn't respond to his announcement of dinner being ready, Murasaki went in search of him.
"Oi, Nice, didn't you hear me calling?"
Nice lifted his head from the desk and looked at him blearily. Then he shook his head at him and continued staring at the items on the desk-two sets of headphones. One set battered the other shiny and new.
"What are you brooding about now?" Murasaki asked.
"Brooding? What do you think I am? A mother hen?" Nice glared, but then his expression went puppy-dog sad. "Hajime-Chan still thinks I suck!"
Murasaki sighed. This, in a sense, was true. Over the past week, Hajime had been constantly ribbing Nice, in between the cases they had been on. While Nice and Hajime were known to tease each other just a little bit, Hajime idolised the blue-eyed boy, and so the change had unreasonably upset him. Not that he'd admit it outright.
"Just…buy her a hamburger or something?"
"Don't you think I've tried that?!"
"It's been a week? Why are your headphones causing so much trouble? I mean…just….." Murasaki saw that for once, the voice of reason was not going to do any good. He sighed again.
"Look, just come eat. Your food will get cold."
Surprisingly. Nice complied and went to eat at their small table. They didn't talk at all until Nice caught a glimpse of a pile of leaflets.
"What are those?"
Murasaki glanced at them.
"Oh, those? They came through the door. Will need to put them in the recycle-don't suppose you could do that, could you?" His question fell on deaf ears as Nice rifled through the leaflets as if looking for something. Then, he stopped at one of the leaflets, read it over, and grinned. Then, he pocketed it and carried on eating.
After eating, Nice picked up his plate and went to the kitchen to attempt to wash it.
"Those other leaflets can go wherever." He told Murasaki.
"Oi! Put them away yourself at least."
Nice stopped halfway and turned back, plate still in hand, and scooped up the leaflets, glaring all the while. But now he seemed happier.
…
"Ohayou, Koneko!" Nice called. "Any jobs for us today?" Despite Art's change of heart being a looming threat, life did go on. And, for some reason, he had yet to surface again. So for now, everything was normal. Except for the ongoing Nice/Hajime spat.
"Erm…let me go check!" Koneko ran to the back and came back out almost immediately.
"There's a lost purse case downtown..."
"Seriously?! Murasaki, you are good at those, you take this one. We don't need two people hunting for such a small thing."
Murasaki gave Nice a long, long look, and then said.
"Fine, but you need to do grocery shopping."
"EHHH?!"
Murasaki didn't bother to argue, but instead pulled a folded shopping list and shoved it at Nice, before taking the address from Koneko and leaving. Nice scowled, and then put the shopping list in his own pocket.
"Ah, whatever. Come with me, Hajime-Chan."
Hajime didn't answer, but she slid off the bar stool and went over to Nice, and then they both left.
"Oh, Nice, there's a job for you too, but the lady doesn't want to be contacted until this afternoon-" Koneko trailed off as she realised that she was talking to herself. She rubbed her forehead tiredly.
"Oh, well. I wonder if Theo and Rei-san will come visit after school today?" She said to herself as she began cleaning the counters.
…
Their first stop was the convenience store, as some of the items on the list were easier to get there than they were at the supermarket. Nice bought a large bag of sweets to get Hajime through the shopping trip, but held the shopping bags himself.
"Murasaki'll get mad if you eat them all before we even get a chance to put them away." Nice explained cheerfully.
Hajime stuck her tongue out at him.
"You utterly suck."
"Uuu…Hajime-Chan, you're so cruel."
As they walked to the supermarket, Nice took out the leaflet he had saved last night, and scrutinised it carefully, as if committing the contents to memory.
"This way."
"But the supermarket is in the opposite direction. Next to the McDonalds."
"I know, I know. Just have one quick stop to make first." He swung the bags in his hand and grinned at Hajime as they went into a tiny phone repair shop.
He put down the two bags, and opened one of them, taking out his old pair of headphones.
"Fix these." He ordered the grumpy looking old man. Hajime stared wide-eyed at both of them.
"Why should I?" the old man responded.
"Pleeeeassse? " Nice wheedled. "I saw your leaflet." Nice brandished the leaflet as proof.
"They work, it's just that they're battered. " The man looked from Nice to Hajime and back again. What he was thinking, neither of them could imagine.
"Fine." He said eventually. "Payment up front though. " Nice obliged, handing him a small pile of coins. The man looked at the coins, nodded, and disappeared into the back of the store.
Now, Nice and Hajime were left by themselves. They stared at each other for a few moments, then Nice reached back into his bag and pulled out the other, newer set of headphones.
"These are yours." He said as he held them out to Hajime, avoiding looking her in the eye. "Because you took good care of mine."
Hajime took them hesitantly, then put them on, the same way Nice usually did. She shifted a bit to make sure it was comfortable, and then she grinned. The grin only got wider when the old man came back out with the other set of headphones looking shiny and new.
Nice put them on and grinned back at her.
"Now look, we match!"
Hajime giggled.
"Nice-kun , you don't suck anymore!"
Nice let out a huge, huge sigh.
"Well, that's good to know. I was thinking I'd be stuck in the realm of uncool forever! Shall we go then, Hajime-Chan?" Nice picked up the bags with one hand and held out his other to Hajime, who took it happily as they left the tiny shop.
"Hey…Nice-kun?" Hajime asked as they got closer to the supermarket.
"Hmm?"
"Can we get hamburgers afterwards?"
Nice's laugh was loud and bright.
"Of course! You don't even need to ask!
