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Chise ran through the rain, holding a heart shaped box under her rain-coat behind her back. She pushed through the door to the house so hard she was scared she might break it, but she didn’t want the present to get soggy, nor make it's recipient wait for longer.
What met her was something she expected, a completely black void on the other side of the door, one that she carelessly stood right on top of. It was impossible to discern any object or shape in front of her, yet the floor beneath her was still solid.
She slowly closed the door behind her, the inside of which had the same pitch black filament lining it.
“I’m home, Elias.” She said warmly, the thing she always said when coming home to him. She reached to her left, feeling a wall and a clothing rack, and she took off her coat and shoes. “I’m sorry I didn’t respond when I was out, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” She slowly took out the box from behind her back, as she heard the void around her murmur.
“It’s chocolate!” She exclaimed, opening the heart shaped box. “I… wasn’t able to confirm if you like chocolate without it sounding obvious but…-“ She started to trail off awkwardly, before she felt a large tendril curl around her waist, and lift her upwards off the ground.
In her surprise she dropped the opened chocolate box to her side. “E-Elias the-“ She started, again being cut off as another shapeless tendril wrapped around the box, securing it and keeping the chocolate inside.
What felt like a gust of wind swirled around her, and the void again murmured. Chise strained her eyes to see if she could make anything out, but the void remained just as featureless.
“Do you want to talk?” Chise asked, trying to judge Elias’s mood. She understood that he was anxious, and wanted to find the best way of easing him.
“You need to… respond.” Elias said through voices coming from multiple directions around her. “I was worried…” He said weakly, as the tendril around her tightened, as if making sure she was really there.
Chise placed a hand on the thing grabbing her, and caressed her hand over it. “I did say it would be a few hours. I didn’t want to respond because then you might have figured out what I was buying for you.” She explained, thinking it was good enough of a reason.
She could suddenly feel herself being moved around, the tendril effortlessly directing her through the void, before it suddenly let go, with her in a sitting position over what felt like the living room couch, with the still open box placed next to her.
Chise tried to feel around with her hands and feet if she could sense any type of texture from what she was sitting on, but apart from the fact that beneath her feet was something hard, and beneath her hands was something soft, she couldn’t tell anything else.
“I’m sorry that I worried you, Elias. I was with Angie and Alice the whole time.” She assured him. “I… wanted to get you something. Angie told me that she had given you chocolate before, so I was hoping you’d like that…” She said, again feeling awkward over being perhaps a bit too cliché.
“Why did you buy this for me?” Elias responded, and the box got lifted into the air as if it was being examined.
“It’s a gift! For valentines.” Chise exclaimed with a happy tone. “We had never celebrated it before and I just… thought it would be nice, even if it’s not the most imaginative present.” She told him, though was almost expecting him to say that he didn’t know what valentine's was.
She instead got to watch the box slide down the sofa, and over the floor, until it stopped a few metres away.
The void around her shook a bit. “I… didn’t buy you anything.” It said quietly, as if ashamed.
“That’s fine, I wasn’t expecting you to.” Chise said with a warm smile. “You buy stuff for me all the time. I wanted to give something back.” She told him, although the end of the sentence grew softer as she felt her cheeks heating. “But mostly I just… wanted an excuse to say that I love you.” She managed to barely get out, still feeling like a flustered mess whenever she thought about her husband, this whole thing really being just a ploy for her to say that a bit more.
At the finish of those 3 words, the air in the void-ridden room stood completely still, and it grew eerily quiet for a few long moments.
The silence was broken up, however, as Chise heard plastic being ripped open, only to look over at the box of chocolate, and seeing a heart-shaped piece disappear into nothing, and for the red plastic to lay on the floor next to it.
Intrigued, and feeling like she knew what was happening, Chise quietly got off the sofa, and tiptoed over to the box.
As she did, another piece disappeared into nothing, and she tried to aim her eyes at exactly where it did.
Chise got down on her knees, and stretched her arms forward, and angled her hands over the shapeless void. She closed her eyes.
“I love you, Elias.” She whispered softly with all the warmth her heart could muster, and when she opened her eyes, the void around her was gone.
Instead, on the floor in front of her, was her husband’s glowing eyes staring back at her, with one of her hands under his chin, and the other laid right above his teeth on the side of his skull.
“I love you too, Chise.” Elias answered earnestly. “Thank you for the chocolate, it is lovely.” He added, taking another piece of it.
Chise could feel her cheeks glow like a fire, but she really couldn’t care less about that. “I’m so happy you like it, Elias.” She responded softly, feeling like the trip was well worth it.
“I’m sorry that I-“ Elias started, but was quickly cut off by his wife placing a peck on his snout.
“No sorrys now. Instead, how would you like to spend the rest of the evening?” She asked, wanting nothing else than to spend time with him.
Elias thought for a second. “How about… we pick out a book, and sit together in the armchair for a while?” He asked her bluntly, but finished with placing a small lick on her cheek, his version of a kiss.
Chise smiled at him. “That sounds just perfect.” She told him honestly, and they spent the rest of the evening in a loving embrace.