Title: Birdbaths
Rating: Rated T.
Pairings: Mazume (Mamura x Suzume).
Genre: Romance.
Summary: It doesn't make sense why she would want something like that in such cold weather, but he goes along with her anyway.
Regarding Q&A: Any questions regarding the story can be asked via PM or review.
Beta: N/A - Help wanted.
Warnings: None.
Category: Hirunaka no Ryūsei.
Uploaded: December 13th, 2013
(Section Break)
"I want ice cream."
Sitting on the edge of the wooden platform, her contorted robe-like clothing draping around her shoulders, she says this. Her fingers tingle from the icy weather and she feels the cold radiate off the snow underneath her feet.
He looks at her incredulously, the silence of sitting and watching the late night sky broken. "Ice cream?"
She nods. "Strawberry ice cream, in particular." She glances at the stars. "Sprinkles, maybe."
He wraps the towel from his bath around his shoulders further. "It's snowing."
"Yes, it is."
His hand twitches. "We ate dinner a few hours ago."
She looks at him oddly. "Yes, we did. Did the bath give you temporary amnesia, Mamura?"
"I'm going to bed," he mutters, scooting back. His warm pajamas are kept down against the flooring as his body weight shifts, and using his hand to support himself, he stands up. They look at each other, one with a blank stare and the other with a mildly curious expression. "Are you going to stay out here?"
She hums. "Maybe."
"You have to get up tomorrow to see the others off, you know."
She ponders over this, her finger touching her chin. Through the cold, her breaths come out as white vapour, and she says, "Maybe I'll feel more tired after having strawberry ice cream with sprinkles."
His entire arm twitches, but she doesn't seem to notice. "Are you made of ice or something?"
"You don't seem cold either," she points out.
He gives her a deadpan look. "It's midnight and it's snowing. You want ice cream before going to bed."
She nods once more, and he sighs. "Go to bed," he says. "There probably isn't any ice cream in the house, anyway."
"Oh. Sure."
She stops talking, unmoving, and he is left there standing awkwardly. Her eyes gaze back to the explosions millions of light years away, her legs swinging off the edge of the platform. The silence is long, and he is unsure of what to do.
"Weren't you going to bed?" she asks, looking at him.
"Yes."
"Why haven't you gone?"
He shrugs.
"Get me some strawberry ice cream, then."
The twitch moves to his eye. He leaves, feet padding over the wood to the direction of the bedroom.
She breathes deeply to herself, biding her time until her nose eventually turns a cherry red. The moonlight streams in from the opening she she sits in, and bringing her legs up she wraps her arms around them. The freeze of the outside makes them feel colder than what she imagines a walk-in freezer to be like, and mumbling to herself, she realises she really would like strawberry ice cream. With sprinkles.
A person sitting down next to her brings her out of her thoughts, and looking to the side, her classmate had returned. She doesn't realise what is happening until a bowl is shoved in her eyesight, too close to focus upon, and she backs up to see it. Behind, she can clearly spot the amnesiac from earlier who seemed colder than her, judging by his face, but looking closely she notices the bowl has something frozen and pink in it, as well as a rainbow-coloured topping. Slowly reaching up to grasp it, it falls into her hands, and peering inside, it is strawberry ice cream with sprinkles.
"Ah," she murmurs.
He makes no reply, handing her a metal spoon chillier than the ice not three feet away. "Here."
She takes the utensil. "Thank you."
She notices another bowl, one in his own hands. It too is full of rosy dessert, and a smile plays at her lips.
"You got some too," she teases.
He looks away uncomfortably, and she questions why he looks like hypothermia had begun to creep up on him despite her having been sitting in the winter temperatures longer.
"And?" he mutters.
She shakes her head, a giggle escaping her, and scooping a bite she inhales the ice cream. It is cold, and bursts of fruit cover her tongue. A few spoonfuls later, she hears another clank of metal against dishes. He is eating now as well, and sitting there bathed in the soft shine of the stars, she idly swirls the food she has around and around the bowl as she lets it melt on her tongue. Her nose tingles more than before, and she wonders if it was a good idea to have the dessert. Another breath of vapour escapes her, and shaking her head once more at her ridiculous thoughts, she admires the quiet landscape, the feeling of happiness warming her being.
"I'm going to bed," her companion says, and looking over at his face which is probably red from the combination of the chill from both the ice cream and the weather, she nods.
"Thank you for the ice cream."
"Yeah."
He is finished and probably colder than her, as his blond hair is still damp, and she too stands, picking up both their bowls afterwards. "Goodnight," she says. He acknowledges the farewell with a simple incline of his head, and heading off to the kitchen, she takes one last look at his back as he leaves.
She has to admit that the ice cream hadn't helped her at all on her trek to sleep.
It can't be helped, though, she muses to herself. Ice cream with Mamura is worth it.
(Section Break)
*silently adds the word "ryuusei" so this shows up on Google*
I'm trying something different in this one. Not as good as I had hoped, but this is pretty much an experiment of romance writing stuffz, so why not. I might use past tense in some of these. It's probably a better idea anyway, yeah? Well, maybe not, but we'll see~
Well, if you review, virtual cookies. If not, that's fine too. As long as you like the story, everything's all good!
Shameless advertising: I have another Mazume Hirunaka no Ryūsei fanfiction called Opacity, by the way. And if you're interested, I also have various other one-shots for One Piece and Naruto, most of them parody.