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Ice cream dripped down the cone and coated Shishido’s fingers creating a sticky massacre. He barely noticed, lapping at the sweet treat enthusiastically while groaning softly.
“Can you be any messier?” Kuugo complained, using a spoon to chip away at his own small cup containing two scoops of cookies and cream. He leaned back in the small metal chair, taking stock of the front of the ice cream shop- lots of small trinkets and elaborate detailing in the windows. There were some lights strung up as well, blinking softly from inside the glass.
“Is that a challenge?” Shishido teased, locking eyes with Kuugo and sliding his tongue along the sharp ridges of his teeth. The warm light glinted off his fangs, and Kuugo’s face grew slightly warm, but he rolled his eyes to deflect it.
“No, I don’t want either of us to be wearing it,” he exhaled. Shishido laughed and took a large bite from the top scoop in his cone. The ice cream was getting smeared against his maw and dripping down his chin, threatening to cascade onto his sweater. “I’m going to grab us some napkins,” Kuugo stated before setting down his cup and extracting himself from the uncomfortable chair.
He entered the shop again, walking over to the little station set up near the trash cans with spare plastic cutlery and napkins. He reached for the napkins but stopped short when he heard a voice calling from behind the counter.
“You sure have your hands full,” a middle-aged man started conversationally. Kuugo looked at him dumbly, and the man gestured out the window. Kuugo turned and followed his line of sight, landing on Shishido devouring the cone of rocky road ice cream, crunching into the hard shell, and letting the melting liquid seep through the cracks and drip onto his sweater.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Kuugo agreed with a tired sigh. He snatched a large handful of napkins and turned to go.
“Here–” the man reached over the counter with a small piece of paper in hand, “For when you two come back.”
Kuugo grabbed it, looked it over, and found it to be a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for a double scoop in a cone or cup. He smiled and bowed his head slightly.
“No need to thank me, seeing your happy smiles is thanks enough!”
Kuugo headed back outside.
“Took long enough,” Shishido complained as he tossed the end of his cone into his mouth and chomped down on it loudly, “I’m already finished, and yours is half melted.”
Kuugo rolled his eyes and offered Shishido a few napkins. The lion hero stared at them for a moment before reluctantly accepting them and beginning to wipe off his fingers. Kuugo scooted forward and tried to wipe off some of the droplets that had gotten on Shishido’s sweater, though he ended up smearing them around and making them worse.
“I think you need to wash up in the bathroom, Shishi,” Kuugo said, defeated.
“What a pain,” he said with a sigh. He stood up and shot Kuugo a hard glare, “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Shishido disappeared inside.
Kuugo leaned back in his chair, staring up into the dull and darkening sky. He watched the heavy clouds billow by and reached for his cup of ice cream. It was quite milky already despite the cold weather. He poked at it and swirled it with his spoon. His eyes drifted back over to the shop window. Inside, he could see Shishido making small talk with the man who had chatted up Kuugo. He was saying something to the lion hero that had him doubling over in laughter. He glanced out the window and met Kuugo’s eyes, a small knowing glint catching Kuugo’s guilty gaze.
He turned back to his ice cream, finally scooping up some and eating it slowly. His teeth were quite sensitive to the cold, and he was hardly bundled up enough for the weather.
The door jingled, and Shishido reappeared with a big smile, putting all his teeth on display.
“We gotta come back here, Kuugo, that man is fucking hilarious,” Shishido insisted.
“I would be okay with that,” Kuugo agreed. He stood, offering Shishido his unfinished ice cream. He took it happily and began shoveling it into his mouth. “I was thinking we could grab the stuff for dinner tonight before we head home,” Kuugo added.
“Sounds good!” Shishido said around a mouthful of ice cream. He tilted the cup and scraped the rest of it into his mouth, then turned and tossed the container in the bin near their table. He turned back to Kuugo and offered his hand. “Shall we?”
Kuugo smiled and took his hand. It was warm and felt comforting in his grip.
“Lead the way.”