yumemigaoka | ☃️ HOLIDAY HIJINKS ☃️

Ai~! I was hoping you'd stop by! You've gotta try this, I think it's my best hot pot yet!

[Ango offers her a spoon and a paper bowl so she can scoop her choice of delicacies from the bubbling pot. The soup almost resembles the sludge monster mid-boss from Amane's Disturbance... but the smell is savory and spicy, with warm hints of ginger and peppercorn. Ango's "darkness hot pot" is either going to be incredibly delicious, or it's going to ooze out of its pot and start terrorizing the Dreamer Union. Is this going to be the thing that finally breaks the barrier between reality and nightmares???]

[ Ai accepts the spoon and bowl automatically because her Politeness Instincts and her Survival Instincts (which are kind of just the same thing at the end of the day) are shortcircuiting. Is it ruder to refuse to try his food or to try and it admit to his face that it tastes terrible? Oh god, is she already being rude by assuming it's going to taste terrible right off the bat?

She looks down into the pot with the sort of expression you might expect out of someone facing a rabid animal or a sheer drop. She's still smiling though, since she's a professional and all. ]

It smells... really good! And it looks. Um.

[ ................................................ anyway! ]

Wh... what part should I start with?

[Ai may be smiling... but Ango recognizes it as her professional smile, the one that she pastes on during awkward interviews. She's unwaveringly polite and cheerful because she has to be. It's who "Ai-Doll" is.]

...Wait! You don't have to eat that! I'm such an idiot... I totally forgot to ask if you were a vegetarian! Give me a few minutes and I'll make you a meatless version that's even better!

[He reaches for another can of Monster.]

This stuff is mostly chemicals anyway, so it's gotta be vegan, right? Now where did I put the potato chips?

[ And that just sends her brain even more intensely haywire. Not only is she making it obvious that she does not want to touch this thing, she's making it so obvious that he's going out of his way to try and make her an alternative. Which is nice and all, but what if the meatless version tastes even worse?!

She scrabbles to try and recover. ]

Ah, n-no, nothing like that! I was just a little worried about it being spicy. I'm no good with anything that's got even a little bit of a kick! But this doesn't smell so bad. I'll be fine!

[ She's babbling all that as she spoons some into her bowl before Ango can either stop her or make something even worse and, sending out a silent prayer that she isn't about to orphan Aqua and Ruby, takes a bite. ]

Wait, this actually tastes good?!

[ ALL THAT EFFORT TO BE POLITE AND FOR WHAT ]

[A's weakness to spicy foods is actually kind of adorable... she really is sweet in every possible way~]

Oh man, I'm sorry, I'll remember that for next time!

[He's gotta invest in one of those fancy hot pot bowls that has a divider to separate the spicy broth from the mild broth.]

There's half a jar of chili crisp oil in there, but the melted matcha ice cream oughta temper the spice level... haha, now I'm giving away all of my culinary secrets!

[Some secrets are best left unspoken, Ango.]

... I can't decide if I'm impressed or I'm scared.

[ Well, she's still eating and she hasn't keeled over yet so one of those is more likely. ]

How do you even make all this stuff go together, anyway? Is there some kind of secret ingredient? ... Secret technique?

[ i regret to inform you she is at least a Little bit considering trying to make this for Aqua and Ruby ]

[ WHAT IS THIS IMMENSE CHILL THAT JUST RAN DOWN AQUA'S SPINE. ]

☃️ HOLIDAY HIJINKS ☃️

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