A/N: Me a few days ago: "ALRIGHT, LET'S GO. DAILY UPDATES."
Schedule: "No. you will have work. loser."
Me: "O-Oh."
Audience: "You suck."
Sorry I haven't updated! OhmylordIsuck. I'm TRYING THOUGH. MAYBE I WON'T BE BUSY SOON.
Anyways, today's prompt isn't making out like I thought it was, it's actually "with animal ears". You have no idea how hard it was to come up with situations in which a robot and her introverted boyfriend would wear animal ears. In fact, as I type this, I'm not even sure what I'm going to do. BUT I'M TRYING.
Enjoy the story!
"Sensei, that's so not cool! How could you do this to me!?" said Teddie as he ran around Yu Narukami, trying to grab the bear suit he was dangling above his head. Yosuke had developed a sort of Keep-Away game as a punishment for Teddie slacking off of work, so now everyone was trying to keep it away from him. It had changed hands beteen everyone several times now, and Teddie was getting no better at getting it from them. It was beginning to become less like punishment and more like torture.
"Labrys, your turn!" he said, tossing the suit towards her. She caught it, laughing and running away from Teddie as he chased after her in his human form.
"Labby-chan, how could you!? I thought I was your kniiiiight!" he said, tripping over himself several times.
Despite what you would think from a boy who lived in a bear costume with stubby little legs, he was actually pretty quick. Not quick enough to keep up with Labrys, but almost quick enough. "Labby-chan, I've gotta' get my fur back! I can beeeaaarly stand how cold it is!" He sounded pitiful. "Labby-chaaaaaan! Why won't you help your Teddie in shining armor?"
She sighed, laughing as she turned around and held the suit out to him. Teddie's had enough now, and I gotta' go tell him about his break. "Okay, but just this once. Ya' gotta' work for Yosuke-kun if you don't want us to take it again, ya'hear?"
He smiled radiantly now that his demands had been met. "You got it, Labby-chan! I'll work extra hard!" He sprinted off into Junes, yelling a battle cry that could shake the heavens. Of course, Teddie's not-so-intimidating appearance made that harder.
Labrys laughed as she continued through the store, looking for a certain someone in particular. We came all the way out here for vacation and all he's done is work the whole time. . . He's gotta' lighten up a bit.
Mitsuru decided it would be nice if everyone got a couple weeks of the holiday season off. With that extra vacation time, everyone decided that spending some time in Junes at the Amagi Inn sounded like a pretty nice vacation. With the Shadow Operatives running about and the Investigation Team off school, it was a bunch of shenanigans waiting to happen.
After Yosuke heard they were in town, he was really enthusiastic to get everyone together for a "shopping spree" in Junes to celebrate their vacation. Naturally, everyone agreed. Only afterwards did they realize Yosuke's "invitation" for special backstage access was actually just him begging for them to work in the store for the week.
"C'mon, guys, Junes is gonna be packed! The Winter sale is one of our most popular events!" said Yosuke, on his knees. "You've gotta' help me!"
And so everyone, even the Shadow Operatives, agreed to put some work in. I'm getting paid, too, so I don't mind. She got to spend time with her friends, for money? Sounded like a pretty nice gig. Even if she couldn't think of any immediate use for the money, maybe she could use it to buy something nice in the future.
She rounded the corner, where she saw the person she was looking for stocking shelves. The Junes uniform made him look far different than he normally did as he placed food articles on the shelves, blue hair clashing with the orange t-shirt and red and white apron. He was taking his work a lot more seriously than everyone else, which was a good thing for the most part; that said, Labrys sort of wanted him to cut loose and have some fun. His bored and serious expression was almost painful to look at while she was having so much fun.
She walked up behind him, covering his eyes with her hands. "Guess whoooooo?"
He smiled wryly, immediately recognizing the cold feeling of her uncovered fingers. He still wanted to have a little fun with her, though. "Mitsuru."
"Guuueeess again!" she said, giggling.
"Yukari."
"Nooope!"
"Uhm. . . Junpei?"
She inflated her cheeks, taking her hands off his eyes. "No, it's me!" She pretended to pout as if she was angry
He laughed. "I know, I know," he said, turning to face her with a quick kiss, which she responded too pretty well. Immediately after it was over, though, she went back to her pouting expression.
She kept her fake pouting face up for a brief moment, before laughing as well. "Hey, I finally get to see you and that's all you got?" She giggled, taking his hands in hers and swinging her arms. "You got a lot more work to do? Yosuke wanted to let everyone take a lunch break in the food court before the lunch rush hits."
He nodded, putting a couple more boxes on the shelf. Labrys, deciding to make the work go faster, started helping him out. He was really efficient with this kind of thing. "You're really workin' hard, huh?"
"Guess so," he said, smiling with the corner of his mouth as he put another box on the shelves. "I've had a lot of practice."
"How so?"
"Paperwork," he said, as if the word came from the depths of hell. "Do we even have time for a break?"
They'd been there for a couple of hours now, but hardly any work had gotten done. Along with the Teddie antics, lots of other games had been played that day, mostly involving the sillier members of their combined groups. That said, they were a little behind on work. If we don't finish everything, nothing will get done anyways. . .
Labrys frowned, placing the last of the boxes on the shelf. "C'mon, Makoto, you need to let loose for a bit! Nobody got anywhere by workin' forever, yeah? You gotta have fun on your vacation."
"Well, I'm not on vacation right now, I'm work-"
"Ah-ah-ah!" she said, putting one of her metal digits on his lips. "No complainin'. You're gonna' take a break and like it, got it?"
He smiled, pulling her hand away from his mouth. "Sure, sure." I guess a break couldn't hurt too much.
"Alright, let's go!" She tugged on his hand and started leading him towards the food court, running enthusiastically.
She really didn't play around when it came to spending time with her friends. They ran through the winding aisles of Junes, not slowing down for even a moment. For her, it wasn't tiring at all, but Makoto was having some difficulty keeping up. Still, he smiled at her enthusiasm. She really just wanted to spend time with everyone and have fun. Her innocence was always astonishing, even if she was supposed to be working.
"Hey, there you guys are!" she said as the made it to the food court, Makoto panting behind her. He took a moment to catch his breath, before taking a seat at one of the tables in the food court. "Sorry, Makoto was bein' a fuddy duddy and wanted to finish his work." She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, to which he responded by reciprocating the gesture. "So what's for lunch?" she said, taking a seat next to Makoto.
He looked at his watch, growing concerned with the time. We might not get to finish up before the rush hits, he said, tapping his foot impatiently. The Winter sale was surely going to be popular, and if they didn't use all the time they had, Yosuke (and everyone else there by extension) would be getting a pay dock. Once again, he looked to his watch, but he found his arm being grabbed by an outside force.
As he expected, it was Labrys. "Everything's gonna' be fine. Relax, alright?" she said, with a warm and gentle smile.
That warm and gentle smile compelled him to forget all his worries, despite the nagging feelings at the back of his head.
Several minutes of mere idle conversation passed, questions circulating throughout the group as they waited for Yosuke. Makoto found his attention drawn to Labrys, staring at her face. He wanted to appreciate every minute of her simple happiness. Something about seeing her happy made him ecstatic, like he was doing a good job as her lover. Each of her smiles seemed to slow the world down, so that he could stare at them until his heart was content.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked, tilting her head. "You're a little spacey. Not thinkin' about work, are you?"
He shook his head. "Just happy."
Yosuke, deciding to interrupt the moment, ran into the food court, Teddie on his tail. "No way, Ted, no way am I wearing that!"
"Noooo, Yosuke! This is payback for what you did to my fur!" Teddie was holding something, chasing after Yosuke with a vengeance. "I'm gonna' get you, Yosuke! You can't run forever!"
"Hey- It wasn't just me, Ted! Everyone had a bit of a part in it, go get them!" he said, waving his arms around as if Teddie was a swarm of flies.
"But it was your idea, Yosuke! And I'm gonna' get them too! Just after I get you!" Teddie finally caught up to Yosuke, who released an angered groan. An intense struggle broke out on the floor of the food court, that looked like it could easy cause some casualties if anyone else got sucked in. Of course, it was just Teddie, so no real harm was done.
"Uh, Makoto, d'you know what's goin' on?" asked Labrys, looking towards him.
He looked just as confused as she did, so no, he probably didn't.
When Yosuke emerged from the residual cloud of smoke left over from their epic struggle, he had been adorned with some cat ears and three whiskers on either cheek. He pulled at them desperately, but they wouldn't come off. "Wh-What the hell, Ted! They won't come off!"
"I used this stuff from the storage in the back!" he said as he held up a tube of industrial-strength super glue.
While Yosuke came to terms with his imminent hair loss, Teddie locked onto his next target.
"Makoto!" he said, slapping a pair of blue ears onto Makoto's head behind his back. In the same instant, some whiskers were placed on his cheeks and he was given a cute little button nose, not unlike Teddie's. He didn't really resist; if anything, he thought it would be funny. But still. . .
"Teddie, Makoto didn't do anything," said Labrys as Teddie finished his makeup job. "And I'm not really fond of the idea of havin' to cut those things outta' his hair."
"Oh, I know! I just think everyone should wear some." He blushed, turning his face away. "Besides, I only used the glue for Yoooosukeeeee's. . ."
"Wh- Ted, I am so gonna' get you!" he said, chasing after Teddie once again.
Makoto turned to look at Labrys, curious as to how she'd respond to his brand new "makeover". If he looked half as ridiculous as he thought it, her reaction would be priceless.
Her expression meant it was promising. She could barely manage to keep her laughter in, it occasionally bursting through her lips as she tried to stay quiet. "So how do I look?" he asked, making some feisty cat claws as he let out his best fake growl.
Labrys couldn't contain her laughter anymore. It burst out, echoing throughout the food court as she laughed at her boyfriend's expense. "Y-You look . . . great," she said, barely managing to finish the sentence without laughing. "R-Really nice!"
He chuckled. "So should we keep it?"
She laughed yet again. Labrys nodded furiously, not capable of forming coherent sentences through her laughter. It certainly didn't help that Makoto was milking the cat appearance to the best of his ability. Occasionally he licked his hand, pretending to groom himself as she laughed, only causing her to laugh harder. She could barely take her eyes off how silly he looked.
"Lllllllabby-chan!" said Teddie, running up behind her rapidly while simultaneously avoiding the new onslaught of eared followers out for revenge. This time, it was her who was surprisingly equipped with a whitish blue pair of dog ears and a distinctly dog-like nose. Before she could even dispute it, Teddie was off into the wind, running away from Yosuke while adorning more members of the group with animal ears of different varieties.
Deciding it was better not to question it, Labrys laughed, playing with her newly acquired ears as they flopped around her head. "Where d'ya think he gets all this stuff, anyway?"
Makoto shrugged. "No idea. We are in a department store, after all." He smiled, admiring his girlfriend's new animal appearance. It was silly and immature, but kind of endearing and cute in a way. She actually pulled the ears off pretty well. He could picture her wearing them more often, though he wasn't sure how that would blow over in a work environment, or a casual one, for that matter. Anything looked nice on her, though. She really did look cute in anything she wore. I'm a lucky guy.
He found himself distracted from what was going on around him, absorbed in his observations of his girlfriend. She snapped her "fingers" in front of his face, releasing a 'cling!' sound of sorts. "Hey, Makoto, you're gettin' awful distracted. You sure you're alright?"
"Sorry, sorry," he said. "You're just so cute in those ears, I can barely focus."
Her face started to flush red. "Y-You think so?. . . Th-They're kinda' . . . silly," she said, twiddling with the tip of the ears.
"Definitely. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen." He was partially teasing her and partially stating his opinion. It really was adorable in every sort of way. Now that she was embarrassed, it really was the cutest thing ever. "I could look at it forever."
"C'mon, stop it. . . I-It's embarrassing. . ."
He poked her cheek, releasing a fake "meow", which elicited a nervous giggle from Labrys. "You're a pretty adorable cat, too, Makoto," she said, with a fake bark to counter his meow.
"Really? I'm flattered," he said, kissing her cheek as he leaned towards her.
She laughed, pressing her forehead against his. "Y'know, even though we're supposed to be working, I love these kinda' things."
"Like what?" he said, rubbing his fake nose against her fake nose to mimic animals. She laughed.
"Just, time I get to spend with everyone . . . and with you. It's the best. I just . . . I love it all."
Makoto smiled a genuinely warm smile. He was now satisfied with his break. "Alright, I should get back to work."
"But. . ." She released some whiny dog-like noises. "Can't you stay on break for just a little while longer?"
"Look over there." Behind him, Teddie, Yosuke and Chie were fighting to the death over the whole ear dispute. Chie wasn't very comfortable with the bunnie ears (and tail, mainly) that Teddie had put on her without her permission. A flurry of angry kicks were being sent his way as he pleaded his case. "If I leave it to them, nothing'll get done."
"Fine, fiiine. But at least let me help, 'kay?" she said, standing up with her boyfriend's assistance. "If you're gonna' work, you're gonna' have to put up with me."
"That might not be-"
She silenced his protests with her finger, as she was so fond of doing. "Shhhhhh. You're gonna' work with me and you're gonna' like it, 'kay?"
Makoto never though he'd like the idea of getting back to work, but this time, it seemed like a genuinely good idea.
A/N: Woo, update! That one was fun.
Other characters are fun to write and read about, don't you think?
Audience: "You suck."
Great! But I've been neglecting the main relationship lately, or so I think, so the next bunch of chapters are probably going to be super fluff again. If you don't like that, sorry!
Next prompt is wearing kigurumis. Yay for animal related prompts!