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It was very busy in Rhodes Island’s hangar, just like any other time when operators returned from their missions. Mechanics working on transport vehicles, medics treating injured, operators wanting to get to their dorms and take a shower as soon as possible. You were here too, since there was an operator you were waiting for to return.
“Merry!” You yelled the moment you caught a glimpse of a blonde haired head with blue goggles. It was pretty difficult for you to navigate through the crowd, but with some bumping around you reached your Perro girlfriend.
“Y/N!” She exclaimed when you hugged her from behind, but winced when you squeezed around her arms. It seemed like she got hurt during the mission.
“Did you get hurt?” You got worried for her.
“Just a scratch. It will get healed in no time at all!” She beamed you a smile. While you didn’t quite believe her, you knew she was very tired from the mission, so you didn’t press further.
“I see. When you are done with the medical checkup, come to the landship’s roof.” You definitely got her interested in what you said. She knew that this would most likely be a date, since you were dating for a long while now, and you knew each other well. But choosing Rhodes Island’s roof as a date location was new, and Merry couldn’t help but get excited, thinking of possible reasons as to why you chose it, the most obvious was that you wanted the date to continue until sunset.
“Alrighty~” And with a quick peck on your cheek, Merry ran away towards the medical bay.
There were actually multiple reasons for you to prepare this surprise: first of all, you were dating Merry, so it was your responsibility to take her on dates from time to time. Second of all, you wanted to make sure she rests properly after the mission, the desire fueled by the fact that Merry got injured on it. And third and most important of all: it was Valentine’s Day today. Last year Merry planned an entire skiing trip, so you had to pay her back for that.
You were still debating whether what you had planned was even nearly comparable to last year, but it was too late for that. The goods were bought, the equipment was prepared, there was only one thing you could do now: cook.
***
Merry thanked the medics one last time before exiting the examination room. Her right arm felt slightly numb because of the painkiller, and it was bandaged under her shoulder now. She got outsmarted by her enemy when she tried to counterattack with her shoulder blade. Thankfully, due to Merry’s outstanding agility, she managed to avoid getting her arm cut off, only ending up with a big cut across it. Due to her natural regeneration, it should take her half the time to heal than the average person.
She was walking rather fast, very eager to see that Y/N had planned. When she was around halfway to the roof ladder, she heard someone from behind:
“Hey, Perro.” Merry turned around to see a white haired Lupo. From previous missions she remembered that her name was Lappland.
“Huh, me?” Merry asked. Lappland grinned on that, and Merry thought that her teeth were unnaturally sharp. She was slightly wary of the Lupo due to her reputation, but tried to brush it off. Everyone at Rhodes Island were colleagues, there was no way Lappland had bad intentions, right?
“Of course I meant you, we are alone here after all.” Lappland’s grin grew wider, and Merry felt an unnatural chill run down her spine. “Say, My Little Perro, are you free right now? I REALLY need to “steal” you for a thing.” Merry didn’t know why, but she was getting really, REALLY nervous right now. She wanted to leave this long, scary hallway as fast as possible, but she also didn’t want to sound rude, so she had to make an excuse.
“Uh, sorry Lappland, but I have a date with my boyfriend, and I’m getting late, so I have to go now, I don't want to disappoint him.” And with an apologetic smile, Merry walked even faster than before, almost running, leaving Lappland behind.
“Tch, i forgot i had to be nice not only to that coniglietto. Alright, who is next on the list?” She spat out, before taking a look at a piece of paper. She could just put a bag over the Perro’s head or tranquilize her, but hallways had cameras in them, it was simply too risky.
***
Only when Merry opened the door to the Rhodes Island’s roof did her heart finally calm down. She felt a slightly chilly wind on her face. This time the landship was docked near Siesta, so even in winter the temperature wasn’t too cold. There was no way it would snow here though, which made Merry disappointed at first, but, as with everything bad, she managed to quickly brush those feelings away.
Then her sensitive nose caught a very nice scent. A scent that she very much enjoyed in fact. Taking another sniff, Merry realized that she was not mistaken - someone was cooking meat here. Then her fluffy ears gave signals to her brain and she corrected herself - someone was grilling meat here. Merry turned her head, scanning the roof. Due to Rhodes Island’s size, the roof was big as well, but Merry identified the source of these pleasant feelings. And the dots in her brain connected.
“Y/N!” She exclaimed and rushed to you. You greeted her with a smile and a warm, tight hug.
This entire thing was in fact your Valentine’s Day surprise for her. You had to first learn how to cook and then learn how to make a grilled steak for this. With the help of text and video guides, as well as taking personal lessons from Gummy, you managed to learn everything you needed while only causing 10 thousand LMD worth damage to the Rhodes Island’s kitchen! For the record, that’s worth about as much as Merry’s weekly “collateral” damage.
Unfortunately, you had to end you hug so you could flip the steak on its raw side, a nice sizzling sound coming from the grill.
“Is this why you asked me to come here?” Merry asked, though she already knew the answer.
“Yeah. Last year we spent a great Valentine’s Day together, so as your boyfriend I had to pay you back for it. Though i think that a simple barbecue isn’t comparable to-” But Merry didn’t let you finish your sentence. She found what you said very stupid, so she had to shut you up, and she did so by kissing you, also working as a way to wash away all of your doubts.
“This is the best way to make up for last year!” She exclaimed once your lips parted. “I love you Y/N!” She added and beamed you the most beautiful smile ever.
“I love you too Merry.” You kissed once again, but this kiss was much shorter, since it was time to take the meat off the grill. You moved the meat onto plates, which were then placed on top of one of cafeteria’s tables, which you “borrowed” together with two chairs. You knew Merry was very hungry from her mission, so you made sure that not only the steak was big in size, but the vegetables you served it with were in plentiful amounts too.
You saw in the corner of your eyes that Merry was drooling slightly at the sight of you serving the food. It was clear that she couldn’t wait to dig straight into the juicy meat.
“Have patience Merry.” You chuckled. Merry blushed and wiped her mouth with her left arm. Thankfully, you were done now. You poured orange juice for both you and Merry, and finally invited her to the table.
When Merry took a bite of the steak, she felt like she went to heaven. The taste of meat, its tender texture, and a pleasant aroma of the spices were almost too much for her. She couldn’t help but tear up slightly from how amazing she felt. She was all but groaning from pleasure.
You smiled at that, happy to see that you managed to please your girlfriend. You enjoyed the rest of your romantic dinner without speaking, the only sounds were Merry’s cute happiness whines. When you finished eating, the sun was beginning to set, so you moved closer to the edge of the roof and stood against the fence, taking a look at February’s sunset while holding hands together. When the sun was about to fully hide behind the horizon, Merry turned her head towards you:
“Thank you for this evening Y/N. This is the best Valentine’s Day of my life!” In the evening light, her eyes seemed to shine brighter than any amethyst in the world.
“I’m glad that you enjoyed it. I love you Merry.” You couldn’t help but wonder: what did you do to deserve such a perfect girlfriend?
“I love you too Y/N.” And your lips sealed in one last kiss.