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The thing about girlfriends, well.
They deserve gifts. Sana knows this. She can observe the relationship between Kiara and Calli just fine and understand that not all gifts are objects. Sometimes, a gift is being able to hear her pulse, to feel the warmth of her skin. Sometimes her just being there is enough. That's love in its purest form.
That being said she had absolutely no idea what to get Ina.
“You don’t need to get me anything.” Ina looks at her with amusement and thinly veiled exasperation. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”
“A stuffed unicorn,” Sana says. She’s ducking around a display of clothes. The store they’re at doesn’t have anything interesting for her. There was maybe a scarf Ina looked at for a quarter of a second longer than usual, but those margins weren’t steep enough to warrant an impulse buy. “A stuffed unicorn that’s purple.”
“Again,” Ina says, “I don’t need a gift. Why would I need one?”
“It’s not about needing one,” Sana says sagely. “It’s about deserving one.”
“Uh-huh,” Ina says. She’s browsing through a rack of shirts. “And you’re so insistent on this because…?”
“I just said, it’s because you deserve it.”
“I don’t deserve this,” Ina says dryly. “I deserve better.”
Sana laughs, “Oh no you’re breaking my heart.”
Ina shakes her head. There’s a smile touching her lips, the fond little thing she reserves for their banter. Sana remembers when it was a scowl. The thunder in her expression used to follow her whenever Sana was in sight. She’s happier with this. Ina’s soft expression was a treat to see, even if Sana wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting. She was happy just to see her, just for her.
Sana folds her arms over the shirt rack. She’s watching Ina shamelessly. The priestess twitches. She’s turning her head but Sana caught that smile.
“Ina,” She sings, “Do you want a shirt? I can get you anime merch.”
“No thanks.” Ina gazes over the shirts in front of them. There’s no real interest in her eyes. “I want something I can confidently wear in public.”
Sana giggles, “So that’s a no to anime merch.”
Ina reaches up and presses a finger to Sana’s forehead. It’s not forceful, just a gentle tap. The priestess is grinning, “Don’t even think about it.”
“You’d look cute with a skirt,” Sana says. She swings the conversation around to her pleasing, or at least to keep it on the subject of a gift. It was important after all.
Ina moves away from the shirt rack. Sana follows after her, her hands clasped behind her back as they wander through the clothing store. She doesn’t think anything here will strike Ina’s fancy. There’s a part of her that’s wondering why they’re even there to begin with. She’s certain even Ina knows this is a bust, but the priestess is moving on to the sweaters like she has any inclination to wear them at all.
“That’s a sixty-dollar price tag.” She warns.
Ina glances at her, “You said you wanted to get me a gift, hm? Any gift?”
Sana raises her eyebrow at her, “Oh no, am I your wallet now? I’m going to be buying this whole store at this rate.”
“I haven’t even done anything yet.” Ina huffs. “And I was joking. I don’t want a gift.”
“Do you want a sweater?” Sana prods.
She doesn’t get a response. Ina is moving away from them as if that hadn’t been her goal at all. Sana can’t stop smiling at this. The playful step in the way Ina walks is drawing her along. It’s a personal crumb trail, just for Sana. She follows it willingly. Ina isn’t looking at her at all, but Sana can picture the smile on her face. The game was afoot and she loves the way Ina plays it.
“Will you try on some clothes for me?” Ina asks.
“Will they be cute clothes?” Sana fires back, “Otherwise, I don’t want to.”
“Not even for me?”
“Oh for you I would do a lot.” Sana muses. She makes a gesture above, “I’d destroy the world for you, Ina. I could do that.”
“Funny.” Ina says dryly, “I’d rather not have to call Kronii to fix that again.”
“It was funny the first sixteen times.”
“It wasn’t funny the first or the following fifteen times. You know that.”
“I’m hilarious,” Sana says.
Ina laughs. She’s rubbing her face like she’s exasperated and it’s endearingly cute. Sana leans against the nearest clothing rack just to get a good vantage spot to watch her. Ina is looking at the sweater. After a moment she’s picking one up. It’s a pink color.
“This one.” Her priestess says, “You’d look good with this I-” She pauses as she catches Sana’s gaze. She raises an eyebrow, “Yes?”
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Sana says. “I’m just appreciating fine art.”
Ina is shoving the sweater into her arms, “Okay, smooth talker, go into the fitting room.”
“Will you come with me?” Sana shoots her a look.
Ina deadpanned, “Hurry up or I’m leaving you.”
“Yes ma’am.”
The sweater was nice. It’s not exactly her taste and not even close to her style, but it’s a lovely pink color. She twirls around in it and hums. At least it makes her boobs look nice. She walks out of the fitting room and strikes a pose.
“Am I pretty?” Sana asks.
Ina looks her over. She’s fighting a smile, “...That isn’t you at all.”
“I know, I look horrendous.” Sana laughs, “What even is this?”
“I thought, I don’t know!” Ina marches over to her. She’s plucking at her sleeve like she’s measuring its worth from that alone. “You kept mentioning gifts and I wanted to get back at you. Maybe you deserve a gift, but this didn’t play out as smoothly as I wanted it to.”
“How smooth was it going to be?”
“You’d have a new sweater,” Ina frowns, “But we can both agree it won’t be that.”
Sana raises her arms up to get a better look at her would-be gift. Sure, it’s not perfect, but with the idea of it being something from Ina, it felt lovely to wear. She’d wear it every day if she could. The more she thought about it the more attached she got to the idea. She liked this sweater, she realized, she liked it a lot.
“You know,” She muses, “I don’t need a gift, because the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten is you.”
Ina closes her eyes, “...That was a good one.”
“Did it get you?”
“Maybe.”
Sana laughs. Ten minutes later they leave the store, a newly purchased sweater in her arms.
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