"It's so nice that everyone is getting along, isn't it, Iffy?" Compa smiled brightly as she walked around her kitchen, humming a tune as she went. She was preparing a whole bunch of pudding just for the occasion, though whether or not there would be a chance to actually get it all to Neptune remained to be seen. Even so, she wouldn't know unless she tried!

"You're telling me..." Sighing, IF watched her girlfriend work, an exasperated yet equally amused smile playing on her lips as Compa went back and forth. IF had offered to help her more than once, but Compa had finally told her that if IF asked one more time, she would have to leave the kitchen. In the end, that left IF to her role as an observer. At least Compa wasn't at all something she minded observing. "Sometimes I wonder if we'd be better off with another Console Wars... Well, not rea-"

"Iffy! How could you say that?" Waving some kind of utensil at her, Compa had turned on her heel and was looking at IF with such a frown. IF offered the girl in pink a sheepish look, one she hoped that told her that she was kidding, but with Compa, one could never be too careful. Luckily, it seemed like Compa had received the message, for she turned back to her cooking efforts soon enough. "I know that things are hard for all of them inside right now, but... They're going to all get past it! I just know it! They got past their fighting, didn't they Iffy?"

Listening to Compa's optimism, IF wanted to smile. It would be really nice if it could all just work out like that, but she just didn't know if it would be that easy this time. It had been hard enough for them to settle their other differences as it was, after all.

"Yeah, they did. Maybe it'll work out just fine after all." Still, this was hardly the time or place to be concerned about such matters. IF would happily free herself of her worries in the story to be able to just enjoy an afternoon with Compa in her kitchen like she was right now... Especially after that... earlier scene...

Just thinking about it got IF blushing furiously. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks, inwardly berating herself. All of these scenes were supposed to be independent from one another, yet almost all of them so far had been referencing other ones! Why were they so terrible at keeping their fourth wall breaking from breaking the fourth wall?!

"Iffy, say 'aaaaaah'."

"Ah?" Thoroughly distracted, IF simply responded as a force of habit to Compa's request. Therefore, when the young woman placed a spoon of pudding in her mouth, IF had no idea it was coming. When it did, the sensory overload that came with it was enough to send a shock from her tongue through her entire body. As Compa removed the spoon, IF was practically dancing up and down as she coughed, attempting to swallow the "delicacy" that she had been offered. "Too sweet! Way too sweet!"

To her complete horror, rather than look surprised and send what she had already made into the trash, this seemed to please Compa, for she clapped her hands together as though that had been the exact result she had wanted to see.

Deciding to forget that for now, IF made her way to the sink, grabbing a glass on the way, to drown out the taste in as much water as she possibly could. She felt sick, that had been so sweet! How did Neptune eat that so often...?!

"That was from the sad and lonely plate of rejected puddings that I'm going to throw away." Compa explained cheerfully, watching IF try to cleanse herself from that awful, awful taste as though it was a matter of course for her. Well, at least it wasn't supposed to taste like that... "You looked way too serious, Iffy! So I decided to save you."

"W-With- t-that!?" IF barely spluttered through gulps of water. Having finally diluted the taste enough to be able to talk again, IF placed the glass in the sink and reached for some paper towel to wipe her mouth off — she'd made a bit of a mess. "There... There had to have been better ways to do that, Compa..."

"This was the only one that made me feel better about wasting all that food, though." Compa seemed to find this explanation perfectly reasonable, and IF in turn decided that it wasn't worth arguing over. Seeing IF giving in, Compa made her way across the floor once more, picking up a plate of pudding that appeared to have been set for her, maybe...? "This is a good one. Would you like it?"

IF looked at the pudding, wobbling up at her precariously, before she turned back to Compa. It didn't look threatening, but... That other one probably hadn't before she'd been force-fed it, either!

"Well, uh, I thought you were making them for Nep..." The brunette's words died on her tongue as she looked at the pleading expression on Compa's face. Swallowing nervously, IF gingerly took the place from the pink haired girl, earning IF a cry of delight from her before she turned back to what she had been doing, apparently leaving IF's eating of the pudding to herself. "T-Thanks, Compa!"

Normally, IF would have no complaints trying anything Compa made for her, but having more pudding immediately after that... other pudding? Naturally, her first instinct was to be wary. Maybe dispose of the evidence and pretend that she had eaten it... But what if Compa had put something in it that she was supposed to notice? If she just acted like it was fine and normal, she would be caught...!

It looked like she didn't have a choice.

Hesitantly, IF reached for the spoon that had been placed dead center in the pudding, as if waiting to be removed like some kind of ancient, mystical sword. Maybe she would get lucky and the spoon wouldn't come out? This might be some kind of legendary spoon stuck in some kind of legendary pudding, and...

No such luck. It popped right out, because spoons stuck in pudding typically don't require much effort to be removed at all. Silly Iffy.

Taking a large chunk of the pudding out with a single slash of her spoon, IF raised it to her mouth. If nothing else, she could say she had tried a lot of it and wouldn't need to try any more.

"Well... Here we go..."

Hopefully it was just normal pudding with nothing at all wrong with it...

"... Mmmmm!" Eyes sparkling, IF held the spoon in her mouth as she turned to look at Compa, unable to bring herself to remove the spoon. It... It was good! It was really, really good! Compa had outdone herself with this one! Torn between wanting to savor the taste that was still flowing from the spoon to her tongue and throughout her body and wanting to tell Compa how she felt about it, IF began hopping up and down as she slowly finished her treat.

Unlike her previous reaction to IF's "taste test," this time Compa seemed to be genuinely interested in it. She was smiling brightly and watching IF now that she had gotten Compa's attention, apparently having been waiting for the moment when she could find out just how good other people thought it was.

"I'm glad you like it, Iffy...! I worked really hard on it!" Her fists clenched tightly, Compa decided to let IF finish the pudding without interruption now, and returned to her work with a renewed vigor. If she could get that kind of reaction out of everyone, then it would be amazing! "There are a few more over there if you still want more...! Help yourself!"

Making a noise acknowledging that she had heard Compa, IF instead chose to lean against the wall and finish this one pudding for now. Compa had made all of these with everyone in mind, and as good as it was, it wouldn't be fair of her to try to hog it... No matter how good it was.

And it was really good!

Like that, time passed slowly for the two young women. Compa cooked, IF enjoyed her pudding, and overall, it was peaceful. In fact, after IF finished her pudding, she opted to resume watching Compa, as she had been earlier. It was a pleasant moment for the two of them, and despite how simple it was, it was enjoyable. Under normal circumstances, IF wouldn't question this kind of development at all — in fact, if anything, she would take the chance to enjoy it.

However... After a while, IF began to wonder why the scene hadn't ended yet. Thus far, most scenes had started to end on the characters, with the people in it being aware it was coming, yet here... It was just dragging on.

Well... She shouldn't be complaining... But if she was getting all this time to herself with Compa, shouldn't she be using it? Deciding that yes, she should, IF stepped away from the wall she had been leaning against and approached Compa. The fact that they had been just here... existing for so long meant that Compa had made a lot of pudding by now, and it was starting to become a bit concerning to IF.

"Say, Compa, what are you going to do with all of this? There's no real guarantee it'll carry over to another scene, and you'll have to make it all again in the main story if you want to give it to people there. Don't you think you might want to ease up a bit?" IF gave Compa a smile as she said it. She didn't want to come off as hurtful or inconsiderate or anything like that, especially when her intentions were quite the opposite, but considering how excited Compa had been about her reaction, it would be understandable if Compa didn't like the idea of calling it quits...

Thankfully, Compa seemed to get the message. She looked from IF to the the incredible amount of pudding she had made, so vast in amount that it was now spread out across most of the kitchen, before turning back to IF with a sheepish smile.

"Hmmm... Maybe I did overdo it a little bit..." Giggling, Compa began removing her apron from over her clothes — IF stepped forward to help her untie it from behind almost instinctively — and once that was done, she took a moment to stretch out her arms. "Whew! I feel a lot better now! Even if no one eats these, I made them and hopefully someone will. That's good enough for me."

IF laughed. Leave it to Compa to see the bright side in such an unusual situation.

"I just wish everyone could be like that." The Guild member commented to herself, sighing wistfully as she looked at Compa. She admired that about her. Some might call it stupidity or childishness, but IF didn't think so at all. Compa was just... Compa. She worried, just like everyone else did, but she could also take things in stride and try to make them better in ways not everyone else would — there was a reason, out of everyone in the entire world, it had been Compa who IF chose to take with her to try to save the CPUs, and it wasn't just because they were both friends of Neptune. "Maybe then all the problems they're dealing with wouldn't seem so bad."

"Who says they aren't?" ... on the other hand, Compa could also say things like this that still surprised IF. The brunette tilted her head at the strange question Compa had asked, to which Compa replied with a smile. "I think everyone is like that in their own way. Look at how everyone is thinking about love and marriage! That's not a bad thing, is it?"

"N-No, but..." IF glanced away. Marriage for CPUs was different than it was for normal people like them, but... With how things were turning out for Neptune and Noire, it wasn't that different either, so... Should she really say anything...? "For them... I mean, it's not..."

Compa tilted her head.

"It's not what, Iffy?" Taking a step closer, the bright eyed girl took her girlfriend's hand in her own, still smiling brightly, though now her expression had an added bit of concern and... maybe something else in there. "Do you... not like the idea of it? Is that what's been bothering you lately? Marriage?"

"W-W-W-What?" Where was this conversation going...?! W=Were they even talking about CPUs anymore...?! Why was Compa looking at her like that...?! What was going on here...?! Swallowing nervously, a strange sort of excited panic rising in her chest, IF found herself starting to sweat, feeling like her whole body was quickly becoming soaked in it — oh no, Compa would notice! — before she withdrew her hand from Compa's. "I-I don't... I mean, who... Isn't it kind of soon? Hahaha..."

"Soon?" Frowning, Compa slowly reached for IF's hand again. Was that really how IF felt about these things? That was a surprise...! Maybe Compa was misunderstanding her. "I don't understand what you're saying... Do you really have that much of a problem with it? I think it's a long time coming, not soon... Don't you, Iffy...?"

IF couldn't think straight.

Compa was holding her hand.

Compa was talking about marriage.

Was this really happening...?!

The way Compa was looking at her... That tone of voice...

Compa may not have been asking her explicitly, nor might she have been asking her to do it right now, but it was clear to IF that the subject was on Compa's mind... Should she have been thinking about it too...? Was it bad that she hadn't...?! Had she failed as a girlfriend...?! After all, Compa had been the one to initiate their first kiss while she still got flustered over hand holding...! Was she going to slow...?! Would Compa leave her for a more exciting "bad girl" someday if she didn't step things up...?!

What should she do...?! What were her options...?!

[FIGHT MONSTROSITY
ITEM RUN]

[RUN!]

"The Histoire! I need to go there for Guild!" Blurting out the first jumbled excuse she could think of, IF withdrew from her Compa, bright red and sweating profusely as the world spun around her — her eyes taking on a stereotypical swirled appearance to highlight just how flustered and confused she was. Before Compa could could press the matter further, she turned tail and bolted out of the apartment, crying out a jumbled apology after her as she went.

Tilting her head to the side, Compa crossed an arm under her chest as the other hung at her side.

"Was it something I said?"

Compa didn't understand.

Why would the CPUs all getting married be something that bothered Iffy so much?