Chapter Text
pokke: Dantsu you gotta help me!!!
dancingflame: whats wrong pokke?
pokke: i cant tell you but can we go to the mall this weekend? its really important
dancingflame: sure! anything for my dearest <3
As all responsible adults know, the best time of year to do holiday gift shopping for your loved ones is the morning before said holidays arrive. Jungle Pocket is a "responsible adults", so she of course would never make such a mistake, she just wants to go on a date with Dantsu specifically, is all. Bundled in a light jacket and beanie and tugging along Dantsu behind her, Jungle Pocket walks along the sidewalk on the way to the second-closest mall from Tracen Academy. In truth, she is not a responsible adults, and she did completely forget to get anything for Tachyon this year. So far, at least. The goal of today's shopping trip was to try and remedy that, and Dantsu is coming along to act as moral support, because large public indoor spaces freaks Pocket out.
"Say, I don't think we've ever been to this mall before. Is there something new you wanted to show me?" Dantsu asks, a hint of a hopeful lilt in her voice.
Pocket steps in through the automatic sliding doors, letting the warm air of the heated building wash over her before she turns around to face her golden retriever of a girlfriend. "To be honest Dantsu," Pokke sighs, "I brought you here because-"
"Ah, Pokke!" an all too familiar voice comes from behind her.
The holidays are always a bothersome time for Agnes Tachyon. Everyone seems to be in such a joyful state of mind that no one is lacking the amount of perceived self respect to volunteer to be one of her test subjects. A pity, really, because she thinks the role is actually quite lucrative. Ah but she did in fact put her name in for that whole gift exchange business, so she must put some effort into acquiring some material item that her fated receiver would enjoy. It is true that concocting a new mixture would be in her wheelhouse, but having the risk of her not being around to monitor the effects and dosage was a big no-no for her, so that was off the table. Regardless, she still had multiple hours before the exchange was due to occur.
"Cafe!" Tachyon swivels around in her chair. "What say you about a little experimental mall outing between us?"
Cafe, sitting on her usual spot on the hideout couch, looks at Tachyon with a slightly stilted gaze. "Did you just remember the gift exchange is coming up soon?" there's a little teasing edge to her voice.
"No, no! Sweet Cafe, do you truly believe I would do such a thing?" Tachyon says, sounding scandalized. She watches as her room mate quietly looks away, not immediately replying.
"Sure, I'll go with you."
A bolt of pure horror shoots through Jungle Pocket from ear tip to tail as she slowly faces the source of the noise. Sure enough, standing a few lengths away is Tachyon, kitted out in a surprisingly warm-looking scarf and matching with Cafe. "Oh! Hey, Tachyon. What are- you doing here? At this mall? Right now?" Pokke says. She expects a witty reply to punish her immediately for her admittedly pitiful attempt at deflection, but it doesn't come. Instead, she finds Tachyon to be rather unsettled, eyes flitting around, occasionally landing on Cafe as if pleading for support.
"Wellll," Tachyon drags the word out, "I needed to buy some new things, of course. The work of a researcher never ceases, you must know that much?"
"So you decided to come to the mall?" Pocket asks, more confused than anything else.
"You see, Jingle Pocket-"
"That's not my name." Jingle Pocket says.
"Ooh! Jingle Pocket, that's cute!" Dantsu says, playing with the name a few times as she gives the ever-angrier Pokke a few head scritches.
"That's good. Jingle Pocket…" Cafe echoes.
"What the heck, everyone!" Pocket cries out, drawing more than a couple concerned looks directed her way. "Come on, Dantsu. Let's go." she grabs onto her girlfriend's arm and leads her further into the mall.
"Okay Jingle Pocket~!"
Despite first impressions, the mall is actually significantly bigger than Pocket has initially thought it would be, which makes gift shopping equal parts easier and harder. While it certainly could have been more busy, people are still milling all about the place — enough to unsettle Pocket a bit — not that her partner really noticed. There's a distinct sparkle in Dantsu's eyes as she revels at the size of the mall that Pocket can't get irritated about, no matter how desperate she is to get her task done.
Tachyon is a very practical person even at the worst of times, and Pocket did mean it when she said it was a bit odd to be shopping for herself in a mall. What would she even want the Pocket could get her?
"Hey, Dantsu, I don't really know how this whole shopping thing is supposed to go. Could you help out a bit?"
"Of course!" Dantsu says, promptly dragging Pokke over to the nearest information board. Never in Pokke's life has she ever seen such a screen the height of her that she could touch. "Here, you can see all the shops that are in the mall, and it'll even tell you how to get there!"
With a touch of reluctance, Pocket gently taps on the "Touch here to start" button on the screen and is immediately presented with a bunch of selections on which she doesn't have an answer for. Clothing? Food? Furniture? She had hoped the magical screen would give her answers, not more questions.
"What did you want to buy today, Pokke? You haven't yet said what we came here for." Dantsu asks.
Well, Pokke definitely didn't prepare for this question to be asked so soon. "Ehhh, well," she scratches the back of her head. "I just figured that-"
Dantsu gasps, "Pokke! They have a cute trinket shop here! Can we go there, please?"
As far as stores went, Pokke did not find herself being very impressed with the size of the trinket shop. There are a bunch of little displays lining the walls where Pokke can see little bits and bobs like stickers, keychains, and magnets on exhibition. She can concede that what exists is quite cute, but it's not what she's looking for today. No matter though, she has ample time to get everything sorted.
The mall. What a horrible, horrible place. A place seemingly designed to make variable control nearly impossible, what with all the people out front of stores trying to pull your attention towards their establishment and distract you from anything else. Even if the whole building is too brightly lit and there are too many people and it's too loud, Tachyon resolves to achieve her goal today, before making for the nearest exit posthaste. All around her, families and pairs flowed through the sliding glass doors of the entrance looking happy and reasonably composed, an antithesis to her own feelings.
"Tachyon," Cafe says, snapping the stupor. "Are you alright?"
"Of course, Cafe. I was merely surveying our surroundings," Tachyon replies.
"…from the entrance."
"What would I be unable to glean from just the entrance?"
As it turns out, a lot. Tachyon scarcely remembers a time she's been in an uncontrolled shared environment with so many others. Tachyon can not make heads or tails of what is going on or what she is to do. In front of her is a massive touchscreen, looking not unlike an information board. Technology. She can do that. Tachyon taps on the screen, bringing up a minimalistic menu comprised of a big search bar and two buttons labelled "Categories" and "Directory" underneath. She presses the second one.
"Do you know what you are looking for?" Cafe asks, quietly standing at Tachyon's side.
Large tiles pop up on the screen, showing logos and presumably store names that Tachyon has never heard of before. "Allow me a moment, and I shall answer your question," she says. She presses on a checkbox labeled "Books, Gifts, and Toys" and pulls up the directions to navigate to the first store she sees.
Truth be told, Tachyon isn't entirely sure what she should get for Pokke. Shopping, at the best of times, is a necessary evil, and shopping in-person which involves wasting valuable time on travel and perusing, even worse. Shopping for herself is a bother, but she's not particularly picky about what non-research related goods she purchases for herself. Now she's shopping for one of her dearest partners and she's not sure what to do. Logic has suggested that going to a gift shop may bear some fruit. The shop in question turns out to be quite large and not all alike what Tachyon imagines it to be like. The aisles are wide and sprawling, and filled mostly with books more than giftable items. Books are perfectly good gifts… just maybe not for Pokke.
"Do you believe this store has what you need?" Cafe asks, quietly scanning the length of the store.
"We may have a quick look," Tachyon says, "perhaps this bookstore will-"
"What do you think about this?" Cafe holds up a book titled "Intro to Umamusume Physiology: A Guide for Beginners." It's hopelessly below Tachyon's reading level.
"Why would I buy such a thing?" Tachyon says, slightly offended.
"I'm just putting something out there. You have yet to tell me why we are here in the first place." There's a slight quirk to Cafe's lips that Tachyon completely misses.
"I never knew you would resort to such jabs at me," Tachyon says, but there's no bite to her voice. "And put that back too, we're going." Cafe puts "How To Deal With Your Silly Partner" back on the shelf.
So the giftshop-but-actually-a-bookstore didn't work out, a shame because Tachyon really does not know what other options she has. Perhaps she can still think something up? or find something else in the mall?
"I am here if you need help," Cafe says.
"Of course, thank you, Cafe."
10000 yen later with a small paper bag of trinkets and a bag of candies in Dantsu's hand, Pokke walks out of the gift shop, having been unable to find anything 'right' as a gift. Dantsu is happy though, so it's not all bad. In lieu of any further plan, Pokke enters the flow of pedestrian traffic, holding on to Dantsu so they're not separated.
"Pokke, was there nothing you wanted back there?" Dantsu asks, trying to feed Pokke a tiny gummy bear, to which Pokke graciously accepts.
"Eh, not really. None of it really felt right, ya know?" She holds onto Dantsu a bit tighter as the crowd packs up a bit.
"Hmm, maybe we could walk around a bit more and see if we can find anything, maybe stop at the food court– Pastry shop!"
A few minutes later, Pokke finds herself sitting at a table in the middle of a bustling food court, sitting across from Dantsu who's holding a bite of chocolate cake on a plastic fork.
"Open wide, Pokke," she drawls, holding the cake right in front of her girlfriend's lips.
Pokke turns her head away, a furious blush spreading across her cheeks. She tries to reach for the fork so she can feed herself, but Dantsu is quick to pin her hand down to the table. Pokke's eyes flit around the food court, scanning to see if anyone is watching her.
"Eat this and you can have the rest to yourself," Dantsu edges the fork closer to Pokke's mouth, who still refuses to comply.
"I think you'll look cute doing it."
Pokke takes the bait hook, line, and sinker. "I'm not-" Dantsu seizes the moment to push a bit of cake into Pokke's mouth. When Pokke chomps back down in reaction to being duped, it's like her brain receives a big injection of dopamine from the taste of chocolate. She eagerly eats the rest off the fork, bringing no lack of satisfaction to Dantsu.
Indeed, a sugar hit may have been what Pokke needs to get her brain working. Upon polishing off the last of the cake, ideas flood into Pokke's head. The author wonders where she can acquire some of this idea-generating chocolate cake.
"I got it! I know what I should get now?" Pokke scrambles up and out of her chair. "Stay here, Dantsu! I'll be right back," she runs off, taking care not to bump into anyone carrying a tray of food.
After her latest and consequently worst shopping failure, Tachyon relents and allows Cafe to lead her on to the next and hopefully better destination. Which is why she finds herself a bit boggled when Cafe pauses in front of a small and colorful shop front.
Inside the space, long shelf-like surfaces line both walls, with little stools underneath, dotting the length of the building. On one side, the table is covered with colorful materials of thread, papers, paint, and pencils; the other side is populated with scissors, brushes, writing implements, and adhesives. "What is this?" Tachyon asks.
"You are good at making things," Cafe says. "Make something," she drags Tachyon behind her into the shop.
So Tachyon stands, stock still in the middle of this colorful, slightly unkempt crafts room, unsure of what to do. At the very least it's only her, cafe, and one other employee around. Tachyon has never really been a creative type; sure she creates her concoctions in her lab, sometimes taking creative liberties with the colour or composition, but none of that constituted creativity in the same vein that an artist like Digital has.
"Cafe, I-" Tachyon scans the room again, hoping that she'll latch onto something, or that she can keep her mind distracted. There is so much going on, all the materials, all the implements, much of which she isn't familiar with. Where even should she start? Start on what?
"You can do it," Cafe presses a quick kiss to Tachyon's lips. "I will meet you at the food court," she turns and walks out the door, leaving Tachyon behind.
What is one thing Tachyon can't live without, but not her girlfriends? For one, her research, but also, her tea. Tachyon loves to start every day with her tea-infused sugar drink, as Cafe does with her coffee, Dantsu with her fruit smoothie, and Pokke herself with a morning kiss. Fuji always says that a good way to gift give for someone is to make core parts of their life easier or better. Pokke doesn't particularly rate her understanding of Tachyon’s work very highly, so lab improvement is out of the question. Sweets though, she can manage.
With a little bit of running around and shouting, Jungle Pocket is able to acquire her gift in a little more than half an hour despite the niche-ness of the product. Navigating back to the food court also didn't take much longer than half an hour, in spite of her getting sidetracked by a couple sporting goods stores.
She arrives to find Cafe standing next to the table and Tachyon having replaced Dantsu, sitting down. Pokke approaches the table tentatively, as if it has the potential to be a trap. "..Where did Dantsu go?" Pokke asks. Tachyon's ears flick upon hearing her voice.
"She will be back soon, do not worry," Cafe says. She walks away without any further acknowledgement.
Pocket presses the interaction into the back of her mind and sits down across from Tachyon. She notices her girlfriend fidgeting slightly with her clasped hands and avoiding eye contact. "Yo, Tachyon," Pocket waits for one of Tachyon's customary quips that never comes. "Whatcha.. doing here?"
Tachyon looks up at Pocket with an uncharacteristically wavering stare. "Good afternoon, Jingle Pocket. I didn't know you were here," her voice carries her signature lilt, but lacks its usual substance.
"What do ya mean? You just looked at me earlier, and you saw me at the very start what are you talking about?" Pokke says, incredulous. A small smirk appears on Tachyon's lips.
She steamrolls past Pocket's outburst. "What are you hiding in your pocket. Pokke?"
"N-nothing!" Pokke recoils, plunging her hand deeper into her jacket pocket. "What about you, what are you hiding in your hands?" Tachyon freezes for a moment, ears twitching a touch, before she opens her hands. A small stack of rectangular cards fall out, neatly bound with a rubber band. Pokke's dog brain urges her to reach out for the tiny stack, but her hand gets swatted away before she can grab it. She whines in protest.
"Now, now, Jingle Pocket, it would not be very fair for you not to show me what you have when I have so graciously revealed my hand," Tachyon holds out an expectant hand. Pocket grumbles a bit before tossing her purchase out onto the table. It's undoubtedly a small plastic bag filled with some white powder.
"My, my, Pokke! I never assumed you would go to such lengths for me, though I can't say I have much use-"
"No!" Pokke shouts, drawing a few looks from surrounding tables, "I mean, it's not that."
"Enlighten me, dearest Pokke, of your offering."
"It's sodium saccharin," Pokke mutters.
Tachyon fixes her with a piercing stare. "I didn't catch that, you must speak a bit louder," her voice takes on her usual teasing edge.
"It's sodium saccharin!" Pokke says, again drawing a few looks from the volume of her statement, "I got it for you because I thought that you spend a lot of time with melting all your sugar cubes in your tea all the time and this is a lot sweeter so you can spend more time on your research without waiting for your sugar to melt."
Pokke plants her face onto the table, half for being unwilling to make eye contact and half for the sake of regaining her breath. She waits multiple long seconds for any feedback. The first part comes in the form of a hand combing the top of her head between her ears.
"This is wonderful, Jingle Pocket. I shall make great use of this."
Pokke slowly tilts her head back up to see Tachyon pushing the booklet of paper towards her. She sits up and takes the stack into her hand. The top piece reads "Agnes Tachyon's Coupon Book" with debatably legible penmanship. Jagged colored lines surround the title, making it look kinda radical. Pokke removes the rubber band and takes a peek at the second piece of paper. "One day out? What does that mean?" Pokke docks her head to one side.
"It means, dear Pocket, that you get to take me out for a whole day," Tachyon says, matter-of-factly.
"Don't I already get to do that?" Pokke asks.
"I'm not allowed to refuse."
Pokke's eyes light up. "You mean-!" she fist bumps the air. "Yeah! Can I share these with the other two as well? Or am I the only-"
Tachyon gently presses Pokke's hand to the table with her own to cut her off. "These are reserved exclusively for you," she says, " though I suppose if there is such a demand-" Tachyon is interrupted by Pokke flinging herself over the table to kiss her on the lips.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" It's by far one of the messier Pocket-initiated kisses, and it ends before it has much time to develop. "Actually, do you know where they went?"