It's beginning to look a lot like shippy shenanigans...

[i_am_not_cute]

[It's sunny, snowless, and warm -- odd adjectives for a winter day in Luceti. But if the shifted Christmas decorations on all the buildings didn't tip someone off to the true season, certainly the sprigs of mistletoe popping up everywhere would.

At this point, Pao-Lin can practically draw a photographic image of the parasitic plant from memory; she's just seen so much of it. Such things happen when a girl makes it a point to zap any mistletoe she can spot as she goes for her usual run around the village. Though she doesn't harbor a hatred for the plant the way other Lucetians seem to do, it gives her a little more purpose in her days for the moment. It's kind of fun, in a way, like a game. One with awkward consequences if she loses, but by some stroke of luck she's managed to miss out on mistletoe misery thus far.

That being said, there is one person she wouldn't mind being stuck under the mistletoe with. But she hardly needs an excuse to kiss him.]

Comments

[alacritous]

[Naturally, Hubert does better with the heat. But after a considerable time in Luceti and its more rounded changes in the weather, he can tolerate the cold better than before. The mistletoe, not so much – he makes a point of avoiding those as he walks through the village. That is, with intense care and caution.

At the sound of steady, paced footsteps, he angles his head in its direction. Just then, he sees a familiar face no more than a few yards ahead, their paths about to intersect.]

Pao-Lin?

[i_am_not_cute]

Hubert!

[Girlfriend glomp incoming! Pao-Lin easily crosses the remaining distance between her and Hubert and throws her arms around him in an enthusiastic hug. Sheesh, you'd think she hadn't seen him for years with how happy she is to greet him again. yeah I went there whatcha gonna do about it

Distracted as she is, she doesn't notice the mistletoe that's discreetly bloomed above the two of them under the eaves of a nearby building. But it'll be discovered in due time.]

[alacritous]

[how dare you

Enthusiastic though she may be, and enthusiastic though he may be, Hubert is taken aback by the energy behind Pao-Lin's embrace. He doesn't mind it; to be honest, deep down, he must appreciate it. He's still a little bewildered as they pull apart.]

. . . Is something wrong?

[With his attention on Pao-Lin, he also fails to notice the mistletoe that the both of them might have otherwise spotted from farther away.]

[i_am_not_cute]

[Shaking her head.]

No. Why?

[alacritous]

[He stares, but only for a second before he shakes his head.]

It's nothing. You seem more exuberant today, is all.

[i_am_not_cute]

[If this weren't Luceti, she would have brushed that comment off with a laugh. But Pao-Lin actually considers things seriously for a moment, crossing her arms in thought.]

Well, it doesn't feel like anything's wrong...

[Not that that is necessarily an indicator of wrongness, and she knows it. The weirdest of Shifts can feel notoriously natural when in effect.]

[alacritous]

It probably isn't anything.

[And it's about as far as he'll go in "explaining" himself. To truly do so would be, to say the least, embarrassing for him.]

You're fine, Pao-Lin.

[i_am_not_cute]

Yeah, I guess so!

[No point in worrying about it too much, especially if Hubert says it's okay. If she's under a Shift, she'll probably find out soon enough, and she can deal with it then.]

So what're you up to? Are you busy right now?

[alacritous]

[Just like that, she drops her line of query. Pao-Lin is gullible, in that sense – and, normally, that would drive him over the moon – but the trust she puts in him similarly warms something in Hubert.

He shakes his head.]

As a matter of fact, I'd just finished my business for the day.

[It's still early, so he'll find something else to do. Because he's just built that way.]

1/2

[i_am_not_cute]

[Well, if Hubert's in need of something else to do, Pao-Lin has the perfect task for him.]

Good! Then you can help me find a present for Asbel.

[She turns and begins to walk off -- ]

2/2

[i_am_not_cute]

[ -- only to find that her feet seem glued to the ground. Her momentum carries her into an awkward flail, a hand lashing out to grab a hold of Hubert for support. Hopefully she doesn't end up clocking him in the face.]

[alacritous]

[A present for Asbel . . . yes, that –

She does end up clocking him in the face, even despite him stepping back on instinct. And Pao-Lin clocks hard, as if she were punishing his body for moving back instead of forth to support her. With a stifled cry, he stumbles, but it's like his feet are also glued to the ground, so he just ends up on his rear with his arms propping him up from behind.

Why. He's so confused.]

[i_am_not_cute]

A-ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean --

[Of course you didn't, Pao-Lin. This isn't a sparring match, after all. Either way, don't mind her sprawled questionably on top of Hubert.]