Chapter Text
“Mmmm,” Stelle scrutinizes the kiosk in front of her before turning to March 7th. “If you are getting books for Himeko, Pom Pom and Mr. Yang then I’ll bring them something else.”
March nods enthusiastically as she continues to browse the romance paperbacks, looking for more of the books Pela recommended.
“Thanks for helping me pick out a manga for Mr. Welt,” She glances at Stelle apologetically with a sheepish smile. “Picking out a novel for Himeko and Pom Pom was easy- they like the same stuff as me.”
Beside them, Dan Heng snorts and arches his eyebrow, “Yes, you now have a new read for the trashy book club.”
“Hey!” March stomps indignantly, “Our book club is not trashy. Even the estranged Miss Pela was impressed by our previous selections.” Stelle can’t help but laugh as she makes a poor attempt to hide her face behind her hands.
“That’s not what that word means,” Dan Heng deadpans.
March 7th glares at her fellow trailblazers before sticking her tongue out and heading to the cashier.
“Well, I haven’t bought my gifts yet so I’ll leave you to finish up here with March,” Stelle tells Dan Heng.
He nods, “Will you be meeting us back at the Express?”
Stelle begins walking backwards in the direction of the trolley, “Yeah. I shouldn’t be too long.” She gives a wave before heading to the Underworld of Belobog.
Watching her companions pick out such nice normal gifts for their family on the Astral Express, Stelle could feel an itch beginning under her skin. After March finally decided on books, Stelle could feel the claws of mischief firmly taking hold. Since waking up on the space station with a world threatening bomb inside her chest, Stelle has not been keen on normalcy. Sure, it was nice to have a few days of relaxing on the train before they ran into the interference on Jarilo-VI, but there was still something reckless lurking below the surface. She had been almost relieved they ran into trouble. She may be blessed by Qlipoth the Preservation now, but the first to claim her was Nanook. Stelle wants to indulge in a little mischief before they once again relax as they depart this freezing planet.
Stelle makes her way through Boulder town, past Lauder’s grocery shop to a back alley. As the people around her become fewer and far between, she makes it to a rusty iron barricade. With a cursory glance behind her, the trailblazer jumps over it. The move is surprisingly graceful as she lands softly on the other side. Don’t want to make too much noise and draw any unwanted attention. She only manages a couple steps before a low whistle comes from above her.
Stelle looks up to see Sampo Koski swinging his legs merrily over the edge of a tall stone wall. “Hey pal, that was a fancy vaulting move you did there,” he says as he jumps down and literally does a superhero landing.
She rolls her eyes and keeps her face neutral, not ready to encourage him with a real reaction.
“Oh no, no need for that attitude. I was simply trying to emulate our great trailblazer here,” Sampo gives an exaggerated wink, his ever present grin only getting wider as he dusts himself off. With a nod, he begins leading her further into the back alley.
“So what brings you to my neck of the woods? I thought the Express had already left.”
Stelle shrugs as they walk, “I’m actually here to do some shopping. Apparently the trailblazers always bring gifts back to those who stayed behind on the express.”
Sampo gives a dramatic Oh and begins nodding to himself. “So you want to browse Koski’s Curios for the best gifts in town. I see, I see. Well,” He bows deeply with his hand over his heart, “Sampo is prepared to help you find a present that will knock their intergalactic socks off.”
Stelle can’t help but laugh at his theatrics and when he stands back up, there’s a twinkle in his eye. Ah , that’s what she came there for. If anyone could scratch her itch for chaos, it would be Sampo. The questionable business man ( Con man , Dan Heng’s voice echoes in her head) had a knack for stirring up trouble- surprising people when they least expect it and leaving before they realize what happened.
“Every other shop's selection was a bit,” she scrunches her nose,”boring.”
She stands next to him now, looking through some open boxes Sampo had left out in front of the door to his office.
The first time Stelle had been there she called it his secret lair which made him laugh. She still thinks about the way he winked at her when he said it was more of a dragon’s hoard. He snapped his teeth at her with a dark chuckle.
Stelle is lost in her thoughts so when Sampo places a hand at her waist to nudge her through the door, she jumps sheepishly. He always seems to catch her in these rare moments of daydreaming.
“What does my favorite friend have in mind then? Hopefully my hoard doesn’t bore you too.” Sampo sweeps his arms wide, standing in front of an array of shelves. They appear haphazardly organized but the trailblazer knows the man keeps meticulous track of his stock despite what he may tell other customers.
“I was thinking something mechanical for Mr. Yang and something funny for Himeko and Pom Pom.” She taps her chin as she scans the shelves. Sampo brushes a finger under Stelle’s chin and casually directs her to look at a shelf to her left. She shivers when his hand leaves her.
Sampo, as unbothered as always, says “I recently rescued some little robots. I don’t think any of them work but some are in better condition than others.”
“As for funny, you should check out my novelty mug collection,” he walks over to a table with boxes upon boxes of ceramic mugs, leaning back against it.
She laughs incredulously, “Where the hell did you find these?”
Stelle gives Sampo a knowing look as he shrugs, “They fell off a truck.”
Stelle’s laughter becomes quiet giggles as she digs through the boxes. If she turned she would see him looking down at her with a cheshire grin.
Aha, she pulls a mug out that says ‘Ask Me About My Huge Ass’.
“We have got ourselves a winner- I have to get this for Himeko.”
Sampo nods sagely, “An excellent choice. I have the same mug for my morning coffee and it does wonders for my ego.” He tosses his hair and places a hand on his heart, “Sometimes I forget how huge my ass is.”
Stelle bites her lip to keep from laughing but Sampo got what he wanted anyway. There was a blush on her face as she pointedly avoided eye contact as she looked at a different box of mugs. Turning away entirely, she misses the way his grin turns feral, emerald eyes glittering.
“Say,” he steps closer, leaning over next to her ear, “ Stelle .”
The trailblazer snaps upright, spider senses tingling, “yes, Sampo ?”
She glances at his hand tracing slow figure eights on the table next to her and then back up at his eyelashes fluttering. Stelle is tall- Sampo is taller and yet here he is giving his best demure look. Chin tucked down, bottom lip stuck out ( almost a pout, she notes internally), and his hair hanging in front of his eyes more than usual, Stelle can’t help but play along with him. She’s still caught off guard when Sampo reaches for the yellow belt of Stelle’s coat and tugs her closer to him.
“When you come back to Jarilo-VI, will you bring me a souvenir?”
Stelle can feel herself heating up but she does her best to keep a straight face. Even though Sampo is obviously turning the flirt dial up to 100, and a tiny voice in the back of her head is telling her to be wary, this feels like the most vulnerable she’s ever seen him. So. She lets herself smile.
“Of course.”
It’s worth it to see Sampo grin and hear him laugh.
“I’ll hold you to it,” he winks.
-
That night, post dramatic family reunion and drunken gift exchange, Stelle lays starfished in bed, unable to sleep but unable to move. She ended up getting Himeko the gag mug, a cat sized Belobog robot for Welt, and an unusual glowing plant with care instructions written in another language for Pom Pom. Everyone loved their gifts and it brought some levity after a tense mission debriefing. She doesn’t know what she expected from her first trailblaze mission- she certainly didn’t think it would be safe- but taking out the planet’s leader was not something that crossed her mind.
Her phone buzzes, snapping Stelle out of her thoughts. Holding the device over her face wasn’t a good idea though because she drops it as soon as she sees what’s on her screen. Sampo sent her a selfie and a goodnight text. The photo shows him sitting at a table wearing a snug heather gray t-shirt and holding a steaming hot mug that says ‘To Hell With Your Mountains, Show Me Your Busch!’
Don’t worry pal, no coffee before bed! Just a hot mug of tea to keep me company. Sweet dreams ~ (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ