[OPEN] I’d feel like I’m not alone for the first time

[strawberrypunch]

WHO: Tatsuma Hiyuu and you!
WHERE: All over Recollé
WHEN: All month prior to Christmas Eve
WHAT: Catch all for the month! Spending time with friends and grandparents, doing charity chores, getting caught by mistletoe bats and - maybe even meeting someone new!
WARNINGS: None for now

[12/5 - Out and about]

[Tatsuma’s on a mission today.

With a ticket in hand, he approaches the tree, looking over the various packages until he locates his own. It doesn’t take long to tear it open, revealing...

A toy? He’s clearly pretty puzzled as he takes it out, examining it from all sides. The poor thing has definitely gone through something, that’s for sure; not only is it covered in dust and grime, but there’s evidence of dents that have been since buffed out, even if there’s still creases and warping in the material that couldn’t be fully repaired. ]

It really is...

[...Well, about what it had been described as. It definitely looks like something he’d get, that’s for sure. But he hasn’t seen it in any of his memories up until now, so...

Just where did this come from?]

[Mistletoe Bats]

[He’d spotted them as they flapped about - they’re hard to miss, honestly. But in his curiosity, he actually pauses to allow them to come close, peering up at then instead of taking the opportunity to flee.

It’s because of this that he ends up with a little mistletoe bat companion, flapping right over his head even as he continues to walk. It’s... not going to leave him alone, is it?

Currently, he’s debating making a fine use of his powers to sprint away. But maybe someone else can save him from this sad fate first?]

[Family and Friends]

[With the weather as cold as it is, anyone who comes by to visit Tatsuma may well find themselves invited inside by his grandmother. It’s so cold out these days, they’d best come inside and get warm - oh, and there’s apple cider and fresh pie, so help yourselves!

Tatsuma’s cheerful enough, his expression only dropping to one of annoyance when his grandmother parts with a teasing “Hii-chan,” because of course she can’t let her grandson have his friends over without poking fun at him.]

Ta-tsu-ma. Not Hii-chan. [Hmph!]

[That said... Starting on the 18th onward, any visitors may notice that his gaze lingers for a bit on his grandmother as she excuses herself from the room for the moment. There’s a slight, very slight frown before he turns back to the guest.

Whatever it is... Maybe it’s just his imagination.]

[Charity Chores]

>[A. Souji]

[It’s inevitable that the pair would sign up to work on chores together. The list itself seemed mostly harmless in Tatsuma’s opinion (if perhaps not in the eyes of whichever poor soul they settled on for a caroling victim). Although, of the list, the most suspect option was most definitely...]

Red and Green Chili Pepper Eating Challenge...?

[It’s been a sad discovery, finding that he could no longer taste his most favorite foods. However, little does he know, the lack of taste is not going to save him from the fate that awaits them.

There’s already a line ahead of them. They don’t have long before they’re called up, and Tatsuma watches the other competitors blithely. It couldn’t be that spicy... right?]

>[B. Jack]

[Tatsuma’s never met Jack before, but he’s sure that their charity work will go off without a hitch. Not so much because he expects it to be easy, but more because - it’s charity work. Everyone who’s signed up for such a thing must want to help, and all of the charity work assigned must be things that a general crowd could accomplish, right?

But then they get their assignments and he finds himself staring at that very first line, the echoes of his grandmother’s scolding in his head. Uh...]

Are you... good at baking?

[Please, please, please be better than him.]

Comments

Family and Friends!

[digthefuzz]

[Kurt had happened to run into Tatsuma right outside his home, only to be invited inside by the kindly grandmother.

So he sits there casually while looking at his slice of pie. He's in no rush to eat it, and rather he tries to enjoy its smell while he can.

As Tatsuma corrects his grandmother, Kurt chuckles teasingly.]

Now, now, Hii-chan, let's not get all upset about this.

[strawberrypunch]

[He shoots a look at Kurt that pretty much says "Not you, too" even if he doesn't actually speak up, instead sulkily forking a piece of pie into his mouth. Sigh.

Eventually Grandmother Katou pokes her head in with a cheeky grin. Did the boys have any plans for the day? If not, they could always step into the studio later if they'd like. Of course, they're welcome to help themselves to as much pie as they'd like in the meantime, but they should be careful not to ruin their dinners, either!]

Oh... is the kiln...?

[Ah, yes - they're firing up the kiln later, too.]

[digthefuzz]

[Kurt responds to that with a cheeky grin. That's just adorable!

As Grandma pokes her head in, she waves and tells her about not having plans beyond just chilling today. His finals are done, so he's just taking ti easy now!

Then he turns to Tatsuma.]

A kiln... [He probably recognizes that term since he just took a pottery class, but he wonders.] What's she gonna do with it?

[strawberrypunch]

Oh-- it's grandpa.

[He pauses to take another bite of pie.]

He does pottery, so he's going to fire it up. I have some pieces I wanted to put in too, so...

[It sure didn't take long for him to be back to smiles again.]

[digthefuzz]

Oh, sweet! Man, and I just took a pottery class too. Seeing a master at work will be too legit to quit! [He smiles.]

So what're you gonna put in?

before they die...

[compendiem]

[ Minato isn't really a friend, he thinks, so he's the one who more or less invited himself over, asking Tatsuma if he could come over to see pottery and maybe play with the clay a little. This is where Tatsuma finally gets to learn his name, I guess, seeing as he can't very well get away with not introducing himself to Tatsuma's grandmother when she comes in with cider and piping hot slices of pie.

If Tatsuma is "Hii-chan, then... He points to himself. ]

You can call me "Ari-chan." Thanks for having me over.

[ It's solidarity. ]

[strawberrypunch]

Ari-chan...

[It strikes him around when Minato introduces himself, but it's only as he chews on a bit of pie that he seems to think on it.]

Arisato... Like Minako?

[compendiem]

[ His eyes widen slightly before narrowing, looking off to the side while he eats the pie in layers— the top crust first, then the filling, then the crust underneath, making each bite last three times longer than it normally would. ]

Good guess. It's Minato, with a T.

[strawberrypunch]

[Tatsuma watches him curiously, taking another bite himself.]

Siblings, or...?

[compendiem]

[ He nods, and would have left it at that, but he's reminded of how hurt Minako had sounded— even over text— when he voiced not wanting people to know that they were brother and sister. He had his reasons for that, but it all seems so silly now in light of how he'd made her feel. ]

She's my twin sister. We're... not really that much alike. You could probably tell, if you know her.

charity!

[insantafe]

If you call being banned from the kitchen good, then yeah, I’m good at baking.

[ Even if he had absolutely nothing to do with the thing that got him banned from the kitchen in the first place, Jack can admit it’s… kind of justified, in general. ]

They’ve got gingerbread mixes at the grocery store, right? It can’t be that hard to figure out.

[ Well. Here’s hoping ReVA don’t mind a slightly charred gingerbread house. At the very least, they should appreciate the effort. ]

[strawberrypunch]

Banned...

[This does not bode well. But he does nod.]

I think I saw kits for it. Should we check there first?

[He could always ask his grandmother, but... He can't just rely on her baking expertise all the time!

(And yet, he is still probably going to end up relying on her baking expertise, in an attempt to leave their home in tact.)]

[insantafe]

Probably the best place to start, unless you’ve got a gingerbread recipe tucked away somewhere.

[ Which, if he has to ask if Jack bakes, he probably does not have. But that’s fine. ]

Maybe this no-taste thing isn’t so bad. No one ever said it had to be good. Gives us more room to mess up and still make a decent-looking gingerbread house for everyone, you know?

[ alright so let’s go get that mix! ]

[strawberrypunch]

Grandma might, but...

[She's not the one who signed up for this. He'll turn to begin walking to Freshens!]

If it's just looking nice, that should be easy. It's just decorating, right?

[He's going to load it up with so many strawberry gummies, stop him.]

[insantafe]

Decorating, yep. And frankly, I haven’t seen a lot of people actually eat their gingerbread houses, anyway? They’re mostly for decoration, I guess.

[ Which makes their lives way easier. As long as it’s not burnt to char, it should be fine! ]

So we’ve got to pick up some candy while we’re there, and frosting if the kits don’t have it. What kind of candy are you thinking? Gum drops are pretty obvious, but besides that.

let’s do this

[tarotcards]

[ when souji saw this chore on the list, he wasn’t frightened. in fact, he was excited. he’s never one to pass up a challenge when it came to eating strange and questionable things in order to test out his courage and fill his curiosity so a pepper eating contest? he’s ready for it. however, he’s not sure if tatsuma is and he looks over to him ]

Do you want to sit out?

[ he thinks it should be okay if just one of them competes, right? ]

AW YEAH

[strawberrypunch]

Mm.

[He smiles, as usual.]

I'll be okay. It's only fair if we both go, right?

[...He may also be underestimating the strength of the spices here.]

[tarotcards]

All right. Together then.

[ he places a hand on tatsuma's shoulder, squeezing it and when they're called up to do their part, he'll walk them together so they can sit down next to one another. there's already a plate full of chilli peppers laid out in front of them. ]

Are you ready?

[strawberrypunch]

[It's... a lot of chili peppers, but he can handle it.]

Ready.

[How bad could it be?

The contest overseer continues to hype up the audience before turning to the contestants. He hopes they're ready to bring on the pain! On the count of three...]

[tarotcards]

[ one... two... three...! ]

[ souji doesn't even hesitate as he immediately grabs the peppers in front of him, taking large bites as he tries to finish as many as he possibly can. at first, he thinks he's doing okay and wonders what all the fuss is about. he doesn't feel the burn at all so this is going to be a piece of cake. nothing to worry about, that grand prize is going to be his! but then, oh god, but then... it creeps up on him. his entire mouth suddenly feels like it's on fire and every breath he takes is like torture. despite drinking expired milk, eating grass, trying out cat food, and consuming every other terrible thing in the world without blinking an eye or stopping, souji narukami actually halts and has to take a break. sweat is running down his face and he feels the tears coming to his eyes. he's not going to call it quits but dear god, this is pure hell. ]

[ with a pepper still in his hand (this damn pepper!), he looks over to tatsuma, trying to see how he's handling it so far. is tatsuma surviving or has he given up? ]

warm fuzzy family times (that will soon come to an end)

[dulynoted]

[ It would be remiss of Akira to snuff family occasions during the holidays, wouldn't it? And while he's never been much of a party animal, he knows when he needs to make an appearance and if it's family, he doesn't have to put on a nice face for the sake of propriety. (It's almost like he likes them or something.)

So there's a knock at the door. And when it's opened, Akira stands there in a warm button-up jacket and offers a smile. He'll take the hug and light praise offered by their grandmother as he steps inside, careful to knock the snow off his shoes as he does. ]

Whatever you're making, it smells delicious.

[ He catches Tatsuma's gaze as he takes his shoes off and hangs up his coat. ]

And you were going to keep this all to yourself.

[strawberrypunch]

[Tatsuma just grins from the warm indoors as Akira sets about removing his coat and shoes.]

You should have some too. It's hard to finish it all.

[Truly, life here is so hard. His smile only widens as their grandmother begins ushering Akira into the dining room, trailing behind as she begins to hit Akira with the barrage of the usual questions: how is he doing? Is school going well? Is he making new friends?

The last one gets a huff of laughter from Tatsuma. Some things really don't change no matter how old her grandchildren get.]

[dulynoted]

[ Of course their grandmother has made enough for three families, always ready and hoping that someone would stop by. She's just that kind of person, he supposes and he can't find fault with it, though he does get concerned that it will get taken advantage of every now and then.

He laughs lightly at all her questions, nodding and answering appropriate. Yes, school is going well. He is glad he'll be finishing up in the spring. Juggling school and work is always busy, but he meets people, don't worry. He's doing just fine. ]

You'd think I've been gone for years, but it was just last month, wasn't it?

[ Akira jokes simply as he takes a seat at the table. He glances at his cousin. ]

How have you been, Tatsuma?

[ They have spoken recently...over Retrospec. But he doesn't mention it in front of their grandparents. ]

[strawberrypunch]

I've been good.

[Is the simple, grandparents-appropriate answer. Their grandmother gets an expression that's somewhere between mischievous and her usual kindly demeanor. Akira, you should get a load of the boy he's brought home recently...

As usual, it's his grandparents' gentle teasing that continues to get the most reaction out of him.]

Grandma.

[She simply laughs before turning back to Akira. Grandpa's in the studio firing some of his pots, but she's sure he'll be lured in by the smell of pie soon.]

[dulynoted]

[ Akira raises his brows slightly, gaze dancing between Tatsuma and their grandparents. Oh? says his expression, though he doesn't voice it. He supposes he could get details from Tatsuma privately at a later time. ]

Well, who wouldn't be? Your desserts have always been wonderful.

[ It's a genuine appraisal of her skills. ]

If he isn't quick, Tatsuma might finish the rest.