Title: test run
Rating: G
Fandom: Flowers
Relationship: Takasaki Chidori/Yaegaki Erika
Wordcount: 710
Short summary: The Sasaki twins drop by to visit soon after Erika and Chidori have returned from a short vacation together and get some details and reflections about it from Erika.
“So all you did was go to Tokyo to see the ballet?”
When the Sasaki twins drop by a second time to visit, only Erika is home; Chidori’s rehearsal is running long as oft happens during the first full run-through days. This was still better than the first time the twins dropped by, which happened while Erika and Chidori were out of town on a short trip.
Speaking of said trip, Erika lets out a loud sigh. “It was still quite the ordeal.”
“But I thought when you said ‘vacation together’, that it would be somewhere more exciting.” Ichigo shakes her head. “Like Paris or something!”
Erika scoffs. “You think we’d survive 15 hours on the plane?”
Ringo perks up. “You looked into it?”
“Yeah.” Erika flashes a wry smile. “Of course Chidori wants to take me to Paris someday.” Anyone who cares about the performing arts would be attracted to the arts scene in Paris. And anyone who has read enough classic western literature would be attracted to the famous sights of Paris. “But she needs to get a lot more famous and make a lot more money. Because I’m not spending 15 hours packed like a sardine.”
“But aren’t you…never mind.” Ichigo smartly does not voice the comment that had come to mind. Likely it was going to be about Erika’s size; she and the twins are still rather small at least compared to Chidori or some of their other friends like Suoh or Yuzuriha. She coughs. “Anyway, how was your trip?”
How to even start… Erika shrugs. “The ballet was good. The trip there was a pain. I don’t know what was worse, all the people staring at me or Chidori’s reaction to it.”
For a 4-day trip, 2 of them were spent just on transport. On the other 2 days they went to the ballet twice; one time to see an actual performance and one for a tour. Just getting to the theater and back to their hotel room was an ordeal… Although areas were wheelchair accessible, it didn’t mean it was wheelchair friendly, not with those crowds…
“Hmm…” The twins glance at each other, neither wishing to stick their tongue out unnecessarily. Erika smiles to herself; they are smart enough to know picking one option would just mean Erika would use the other option in a way to get them in light trouble with Chidori later.
“Chidori’s glare was pretty good at scaring away children though.” So Erika would at least give her absent partner some props, as a treat.
This causes the twins to giggle. “I’m sure it’s a lot harsher than it was back when we were in school!” Ichigo exclaims.
“Definitely.” Erika grins. “She gave them nightmares.”
Ichigo gives light applause while Ringo nods in approval. Of course being horror story fans, those two would applaud Chidori for scaring children. Rikka, if she were here, would be appalled of course, and Suoh would probably be embarrassed. As for Chidori herself…
“What are you saying about me?”
Lost in their conversation, Erika hadn’t noticed Chidori’s return to their apartment. With the way the twins’ eyes widened, they probably hadn’t noticed either. Erika grins widely as Chidori approaches and leans in for a kiss on the cheek.
“Nothing bad, my dear.” And tops off her overly cheesy words with the kiss that Chidori has asked for.
Chidori, of course, narrows her eyes slightly but steps back and gives the twins a friendly smile. “Nice of you two to visit. Did you bring the thing I asked for?”
Ichigo pouts. “Yeah, but shouldn’t we be the ones getting souvenirs? Since you were the one who went on vacation.”
“As if you two haven’t been to Tokyo yourselves…” Chidori grumbles. But she does pull out the souvenir, or the fancy box of cookies, out from the drawer it was stored in. As the twins shout happily in response, Erika just crosses her arms over her chest and thinks to herself how the vacation together with Chidori maybe wasn’t so bad in hindsight. Even if logistically it had been rough, and the balance of transport time to other activities was off… Still, as maybe a test run for how a future vacation together might go, it was…