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[sealeted]

This diner, the place last time...

[She wobbles her hand from side to side.]

It's a bunch of things.

[offshoots]

That's only two.

[not that he needs the list. not that he wants it.]

Only one of those I found for myself. The other one was, uh...

[shutting up.

the hell is wrong with him?]

[sealeted]

Hm?

[Well, well, that's an intriguing abruptness! Do share, Robin.]

[offshoots]

[no, she'll have to use a Command Seal.]

Nothing. Don't worry about it. I like sweets, too.

[banana flavored ones.]

[sealeted]

Yeah, I'd hope so. I'd feel bad if you were just choking them down to make me feel better.

[She sips at her water, eying him up.]

...I have been looking for parks, too.

[offshoots]

[look, Hakuno doesn't need to know that he thought of her when he saw this place. she doesn't need to know he thinks of her outside his duties as a Servant or as a Submissive. or even beyond the mutual agreement they have where they're able to use each other to meet quotas.

it'll lead to conversations he doesn't want.]

... Have you? [doesn't ask why.]

Found anything good?

[sealeted]

[That... wasn't the sole purpose of her offer... you dummy...

Gosh he's lucky she's so indulgent.]

Closest I've found have been a few gardens, but those are private property I only got to visit for photo shoots. I'll keep looking, though.

[offshoots]

[V E R Y dumb

she may have tried to convince him she's not a goody-goody, but she keeps proving she kind of is. following the law and not visiting those private gardens when he would.

see? dumb. and the reason he's going to be a Pinkish Problem for her.]

Whereabouts are these private gardens?

[sealeted]

I'm not at liberty to disclose private client information.

[Don't!!]

[offshoots]

[he snorts, nearly laughs.]

Yeah, I thought you might say that. I was hoping you'd fall for it and tell me, though.

[sealeted]

Tell you what; if I end up getting a house here eventually, you can raise your own garden.

[offshoots]

Ah.

[a catch 22, if there ever was one.

not only that, but did she remember he said he liked to garden? he feels agitated again, fingers scratching at his chest. over a pocket. where a key might be hiding.]

... That'd be nice. [he can't count on it, but it would be nice.]

You've been here for, what, how many months now?

[sealeted]

About four, I think.

[She doesn't like to think about it much.]

I think... I'll have at least a year under my belt, soon.

[offshoots]

[a lot has happened to her in four months, he bets.

a lot has happened to him. like her, he doesn't like to dwell on it. live in the moment and such.]

Huh? A year? For what?

[sealeted]

Oh, you know.

[She gestures, vague and expansively.]

Alive.

[offshoots]

[give him a second. or twenty.

he has some knowledge about the nature of her existence already. Hakuno isn't shy when it comes to talking about herself. unlike him. that's not including the flashes of images he gets when he's sleeping, too.

but it's not her turning one year old when she looks closer to 18 that slightly floors him.]

Your birthday is coming up?

[sealeted]

I don't have one, so... not really.

[She shrugs.]

What about you?

i feel attacked every time you use that icon lmao

[offshoots]

[??? sure as hell sounds like a birthday to him.]

No, no, no, no. Not really? Hah? What do you call having a year under your belt being alive, then? Life anniversary?

c:

[sealeted]

[She has no idea what date her code was generated on, Robin.]

A benchmark? A rough one, anyways. A few months in the War, a few months out of it, facing down Velber, a few more here...

[offshoots]

[what date her code--

just say birthday, Hakuno.]

... Tsk.

[did Nero never ask about it? Tamamo? Altera? those other Servants? their beloved Master, Praetor, Husband, whatever they call her wouldn't be here without a birthday.]

Alright, okay. If you're coming up on a year soon, what do you say to just using today as your birthday from now on? So, for tonight, the treats are on me as a present.

[... she just needs to pay for it using the money he's been saving from work is all. he reaches into his pocket, searching around and talking to himself.]

I should have plenty by now.

[sealeted]

Oh, uh...that's, that's really sudden?

[She startles, blinking up at him.]

Just... picking one. Is... is that even okay? Should I... tell people ahead of time, or...?

[She's short circuiting over a made up day, congrats.]

Is there... I don't know, some sort of process I should follow?

[offshoots]

[belated not sudden, in his opinion.]

It's a day to celebrate you, so focus on yourself and less about other people.

[process? what process? he hesitates in going through his pockets any further and stops, realizing that Hakuno really has no idea about some of the most basic of things. things you grow up with.

like a birthday.

his eyes soften.]

All you have to do is what you want to do. If you want to make it a long process, you can do that. If you don't want to make it a big deal at all, that's fine. If you want to tell the whole city, do it. A birthday is a time where you do the things that you want to do because it's the day you were born. [lord knows she could stand to do that once in a while.] That's if you want to use today, though.

[he's paying (kind of), either way.]

[sealeted]

I—that's—

[She fiddles with her napkin, and there's... something behind that awkwardness, beyond just simple surprise. It just took a little warming up to find the way to phrase it.]

...what if I forget it?

[offshoots]

[of everything she could be worried about -- from people having the opinion that it's weird to concerning herself with informing those she's close to about her birthday -- he doesn't for a second think about her memories. it throws him.

but it makes sense, too. history often repeats itself. "you won't" is too optimistic for a reply and he doesn't want to lie to her. "you'll get to choose another birthday" won't make her happy, either, when he believes memories are some of the most important things to her.

he sighs and damns himself. he is her Servant.]

Then I'll remember it and remind you, okay?

[sealeted]

[She fiddles with her napkin, and glances up at him through her bangs.

There's a strange hesitance in her gaze for such a forthright, stubborn Sovereign.]

...you promise?