Working Days, Festival Nights [NSFW]

"Eh? What's wrong with jellyfish? They may not seem like much at first glance but you've seen them in water right? How they float? They look really pretty! There's all sorts of really amazing and beautiful looking ones! When the light hits them just right they can shine as well!

They're not to be toyed with either! They're strong, and you're really amazingly strong too! I'd say a beautiful ocean creature suites you! If I had pictures I would be showing them to you right now to prove my point, but maybe there's another way of seeing them...Hmm...

Aaa! They're amazing, just like Lak-tan is! The sunlight reflecting off of them adds to their beauty, but of course while they are are beautiful Lak-tan's beauty is even greater...but...that's why. They are strong, and under the water they are beautiful; Lakshmi is also amazingly powerful, and beautiful.

The mask made me think of that, along with thinking about what the sunlight makes the water look like when it's reflecting off of it...." His smile was warm, and sweet, but he was also rather fired up from his explanation; he didn't care if he'd said a lot!

Lakshmi was pretty, and strong! He'd say it a million times if he needed to!

Beautiful...ocean creatures suit... her... Shining...

Lakshmi's flush grew strong, so strong she felt her face melting...or burning. Had it caught on fire yet? She would not be shocked if so... Kaimu was...he was ranting about jellyfish and their beauty, but it was sweet and cute...and also it was endearing and flustering because as much as he ranted about the jellyfish he ranted about her being more...beautiful and better... Like the Ocean and...powerful and...

Lakshmi moved the mask to her face and closed her eyes, spluttering as she tried to speak, to say anything coherent! Nothing came out, her eyes focused on that sweet smile...that held a hint of just fired up and determined feelings to it.

The mask...had made him think all that about her and...it...she was ruined, her body moving forward to hide herself against him and make small flustered sounds.

Like it had many times already, Kaimu's smile became a grin as Lakshmi hid her face in the mask before moving towards him to hide further, he moved the fox mask to the side of his head since they'd be getting it as well before wrapping his arms around her in an embrace, one of his hands moving to her hair to stroke it lightly.

Yes, Lakshmi reminded him of beautiful and powerful ocean creatures~!

Lakshmi snuggled against him, the strokes on her hair making her relax a bit even if her face still burned  brightly. Her sounds slowed before a very muffled voice sounded. "Y-You really think...that about me?"

...She could...accept being a jellyfish... if that...that was what he felt towards them. How he saw them... He thought her amazing, powerful, beautiful...he wanted to show her pictures a proof and...he felt she also was like...sunlight reflected off of water...

"I-I can...accept being... a Jellyfish then..." Even if...they had stung her in the past, Kaimu's fiery and determined words had moved her heart a bit. A lot. He had felt so strongly about this, she couldn't help but respond to such emotions!

"Mhmm! I really do, Lakshmi~" Kaimu replied as he continued to stroke her hair; she was flustered, but it wasn't like it was bad or anything, he was glad his words had meant that much to her, and that he was able to make her react like this.

His already bright composure brightened further at her acceptance, "Yay~" He chuckle after giving a little noise of cheer. She'd accepted it~!

"...Y-You are not allowed to say such things again until we are alone. Or...else... I will not be able to survive this festival..." It took Lakshmi a lot of willpower, a lot of strength to murmur those words up at Kaimu, but she did so. It wasn't a threat, just a warning that she may die...or may jump him if he continued such things...

He felt so strongly for and about her that it destroyed her, her head leaning against the soothing hand petting her head. "We should get our masks and you will teach me of odango and all its tastes."

Distract...him...for her own sake...

He wasn't allowed to say those things until they were alone? Shame~ He would love to keep complimenting her throughout the festival, but he didn't want her becoming flustered to the point of being unable to enjoy the festival.

He could continue saying these things later then~

"I'll continue when we're alone then, Lak-tan~" He replied, his smile never fading as another chuckle bubbled up.

"Thank you..." Lakshmi knew she would never escape it, but if he could confine it to the privacy of their rooms she would be fine... Kaimu causing her too many feelings was a recipe for disaster.

Pulling the mask to the side, she finally uncocooned from Kaimu's arms and smiled though the flush was still rampant on her cheeks. "Let me pay for the masks before the poor stall worker gets nervous..."

Lakshmi glanced over at the stall worker who was very red in the face and looking away from the two in some semblance of privacy... The others nearby were not so polite. Some were openly staring with smiles, some blushing and looking away... Lakshmi eeped as her flush steadily regained its darkest possible tint...

"Alright, Lak-tan." Kaimu let Lakshmi go as she moved out from hiding despite still being quite flustered so she could pay for the masks.

It was only then that he noticed the slight crowd they'd gained when he'd spoken apparently, which only added to Lakshmi's fluster when she noticed as well. Personally, he didn't mind if he'd drawn a crowd or not...he wasn't embarrassed in the least by it, but for Lakshmi's sake it would probably be best to head elsewhere as soon as the masks were paid for.

"We can get food next~!" He smiled, his voice happy but also gentle, hoping that would help put her thoughts on food rather than embarrassment.

Lakshmi stared at the ground, pulled out the money that was more than needed, set the coins on the edge... A small nod was all the warning Kaimu would receive before she grabbed his hand and pulling him away with a small flustered sound.

They were staring! All of them! At her because...because... She was so flustered, she ran towards the smell of food without thinking in her panic.

Kaimu noted the nod, though he'd still been a little surprised as Lakshmi suddenly pulled him away, but he gripped her hand back and followed her lead happily.

They would get away from the mask stall and the people and get food to enjoy, the crowd would eventually scatter again and go about their own fun, but for now...it was best to get away.

Festival food awaited them~!

Lakshmi slowed to a halt, not even a bit out of breath from the run but not wanting to draw too much attention. Her mask was slipping and she let go of Kaimu's hand to adjust it against the side of her head. The smell of food this close was a bit overwhelming, but she trusted Kaimu to be able to help her...

Turning finally to look up at the man she had been dragging, she was still very flushed as she messed with the mask... He looked...happy and she let out an eep and glanced away. "...Y-You...enjoyed that?"

Lakshmi was still flustered, even after they'd stopped...though, she'd only squeaked when she'd looked back at him? What? Had his expression been odd? He was happy, and enjoying himself!

"Mhmm, I'm having a lot of fun~ even if we haven't been here that long. Just being here with Lak-tan automatically makes it an enjoyable time!"

They were near the better food stalls, and Kaimu could easily smell all the good foods around, but he had just had to say that first. He readjusted his mask for good measure before moving to take Lakshmi's hand again, "There's a stall with odango just up ahead, if you'd like some, Lak-tan. There's other things there as well to chose from."

"I...you are cute Kaimu. You are just...cute..." Lakshmi smiled softly, her free hand coming up to her mouth and covering it as she looked away. He found her enjoyable no matter what and was having fun with all the silly shenanigans? He was cute. "I love you, silly ridiculous man..."

Her head shook slightly before she squeezed his hand after her minor little flustered admission. Her eyes were scanning around them very curiously, wanting to see everything and know everything that was going on before she replied. "I want to try some! They are your favorite so you will have to pick out what you like best and show me... My fun guide hasn't steered me wrong yet."

Kaimu gave a few chuckles at Lakshmi's words; cute? He could accept that, he was perfectly fine with being referred to as such by her. "I love you too, Lakshmi~"

She wanted to have odango then~ He wanted to pick the best stall for them to get it from, so he looked over all the nearby stalls before leading Lakshmi to one. It had things like odango, takoyako, ikayaki, yakisoba...lots of things really for one to enjoy.

He requested the odango before turning to Lakshmi, "Anything else catch you're eye?"

Lakshmi followed Kaimu, letting his hand and presence lead her while her eyes looked around with curiousness. Her hand, unusually enough, had brought the longer sleeve up to her lips and was covering her open mouth as she took everything in. Icy eyes hadn't realized that there was more to be seen at this particular stall so she turned back at Kaimu's words. "You like... takoyaki right? I want to try all the things you like."

She wanted to learn about him and his likes... Festivals and Oceans were things he loved then...

Odango and takoyaki then!

"Mhmm! It's really good! We can get that too then." Kaimu replied, giving a nod before requesting takoyaki as well and after a little while they were handed the food, now just payment and they could walk around and look at all the other things this festival had to offer.

Fireworks would come later, those would be pretty!

Lakshmi paid and tipped the stall owner, if Kaimu felt it was a good place to eat then it deserved more money. She was flushed, but it could be explained away by excitement which it was in part but the rest was Kaimu's cute excitement.

Smiling up at him, she waved off the change to the thankful owner as she turned and slipped her arm around his as Kaimu held the food. "Mm, they smell delicious. Which should I try first then?"

Kaimu offered one of the takoyaki sticks to Lakshmi after she'd taken his arm, a large smile on his face after she'd mentioned the smell; "Mhmm, it does; mmm here, try the takoyaki first and then you can try the odango. Sweets last."

He wanted to eat some of the odango himself, but it would be best to eat the takoyaki first he thought.

It made him happy to see Lakshmi looking so excited, they'd just gotten here really but she was already enjoying herself. It made him really happy to see her like this.

Taking the offered stick, she blinked softly at the speared ball of deep fried goodness before stuffing it into her mouth. Her cheeks bulging, she chewed and swallowed before she speared another from the container Kaimu was holding. "...Very good."

She looked away, it was pretty good and she liked the flavor. That sauce on top was delicious... How did they make these? Her eyes made furtive glances around to try and see. Sweets last...she wasn't a child! They were adults... Her furtive glances for hints on how these were made was halted by glances to see when she could steal an odango stick. As she reached up and snatched one, she held it triumphantly. "We are adults, we can eat the sweets when we want, Kai."

Kaimu's already bright disposition brightened further when Lakshmi had stated the takoyaki had been good, she was even going for more. He couldn't help but laugh as she snatched an odango stick and spoke.

"We are, you're right." He agreed, his laughter trailing off some as he did so; "I was just concerned about the tastes mixing."

If she ate takoyaki and then odango right after he was worried it'd taste weird for her.

Lakshmi's triumph was short lived, Kaimu's logic... a bit sound. She looked at the stick of odango, looked at the speared takoyaki...then promptly shoved both in her mouth at once.

Somehow they both fit, though with conspicuously large cheeks for a few moments as she chewed both and made a rather curious face. "...That was an interesting flavor. They definitely are not things you should mix at once, no."

Holding the stick, she speared another takoyaki to eat for the moment. Odango could wait.

"Eh..." Before Kaimu could stop her Lakshmi promptly stuck pieces of both dishes into her mouth. He waited, blinking as she chewed and swallowed what she'd eaten.

A sheepish laugh escaped him at her answer; "That's why I was concerned..."

It would taste weird combining them, obviously... They were both good though! They just needed to stay separate! The odango could wait until they'd eaten all of the takoyaki.

"It was not too bad..." Lakshmi contemplated putting another set of them into her mouth... She nodded firmly, and thus followed through with her actions once more. This time she winced at the taste, but now she had confirmation beyond a doubt that takoyaki and odango should not be eaten at the same time.

After chewing and swallowing, she popped a takoyaki into her mouth and nodded. "Well that was a rather odd experiment. I wonder if combining other foods would taste as weird... It merits study really."

Going full nerd, Lakshmi hmmed as she looked around at the offered selections of foods while thoughtfully stuffing her face.

I...If she knew it would taste weird why had she tried it again!? Kaimu blinked, unsure of what to say as Lakshmi confirmed once more the two items were not to be eaten together at once.

"They taste much better on their own." It was an obvious statement, but oh well. Though...

"Eh~ Lak-tan~? Since I'm carrying the food would you mind helping me eat some of the takoyaki? My hands are full." He asked, smiling as he did so.