(Card Story) Sweet and Fluffy Grattitude
Mar. 26th, 2021 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schoenheit
Card: [SSR] (I Suppose I Have No Choice but to Dance for You) Owen
Event: A Wish Upon the Bell of Happiness
Characters: Akira, Bradley, Kuromi, Mithra, Owen, Snow, White
Chapter One ✧ Chapter Two ✧ Chapter Three ✧ Training Episode
Chapter One
Location: Manor Hallway (Day)
Akira: (Hm? There's some people standing in front of the lounge.)
Snow, White, and... Kuromi-chan? What are you doing in a place like this?
Kuromi: Eek—!! Shhhh! C'mon, be quiet!
Akira: Huh? What's going on...?
Snow: We're observing Owen at the moment, if you were curious.
White: Sweet little Kuromi said she didn't want to be found out, so we're carrying out our activities in secret.
Akira: (Oh, that's right... Kuromi-chan has been pretty interested in Owen.)
Location: Manor Lounge (Day)
From where we stand, we can see Owen playing a card game with Mithra and Bradley in the lounge.
Bradley: What's wrong, huh? Gonna call it quits yet?
Owen: Not a chance. Just laugh while you still can.
Mithra: Certainly; please, do feel free to quit any time you'd like.
✧✧✧
Location: Manor Hallway (Day)
Kuromi: (Heart eyes) Wow wow wow... Hunks and hotties as far as the eye can see...
Snow: Watching over the object of your affections from afar is terribly bittersweet.
White: In the words of the previous sage, it's "the peak youth experience."
Snow, White: My, oh, my!
Kuromi: It's not like that, okay... I just wanted to give him something... So I'm trying to figure out when's the best time to do it, is all.
Akira: Would you like me to call him over for you? He seems pretty invested in the game, so you might be waiting for a while...
✧✧✧
Location: Manor Lounge (Day)
Owen: Hey. What are you doing? You've been shuffling back there forever.
Kuromi: Wah!?!? Owen...
Mithra: You're... Kuromi, I believe?
Bradley: And you brought the sage and retirement club with you too. Great.
Owen: You came all this way to gawk at us... Why? If you have business, spit it out— fast.
Snow, White: Darling Kuromi, now's your chance!
Kuromi: Uwah! Don't push me! Uhm, Owen... This is...
Owen: What is this.
Kuromi: ... It's a letter. I wrote it.
Owen: A letter? These loopy scrawls are a letter?
Akira: (Ah, that's right. People here can't read languages from my world.)
Bradley: Huh? What's this s'posed to be?
Mithra: I've never seen this alphabet before. Is this composition some kind of curse?
Snow: Ugh, men! Knock it off! You're waaaaay too tactless!
White: Toooootally unbelievable! Can't you act a little more decent when a girl writes you a love letter!? Hmph!
Akira: Love letter!?
Kuromi: No! T-That's not what it is at all, listen!
Bradley: There's someone out there who actually has feelings for Owen... Can't help but wonder if she hit her head.
Mithra: I feel the same way. What good qualities does he have? His face, perhaps?
Kuromi: I already told you, it's not a love letter...!!
Chapter Two
Owen: ......
Owen flips the letter over countless times as he inspects it front and back, a suspicious look on his face.
Akira: (He looks like a particularly cautious animal... One that's found something it's never seen before.)
Since it's not a love letter... Would you be okay if I read it aloud for everyone, Kuromi-chan?
Neither Owen nor the others are familiar with our language, so they won't be able to read it.
Kuromi: Huh!? ... That's gonna be pretty embarrassing, but I guess we gotta.
Owen: What, you’re going to let yourself be cursed in my stead?
Akira: It's something Kuromi wrote especially for you, so I don't think it's cursed.
Let's see... "Dear Owen"...
Here, Kuromi had penned her gratitude to Owen in sweet, polite words.
Akira: (While this isn't a love letter, the contents are heartwarming all the same.)
What a wonderful letter, Kuromi-chan.
Kuromi: ... I really did want to thank him directly, but... I got too embarrassed to say it out loud...
Owen: I don't remember doing anything for you, though.
Kuromi: Of course you did! You were the first one to find me when I came to this world!
And because you found me, I was able to find everyone else again, like Kitty. Why wouldn't I be thankful for that?
And now I'm gonna show you just how thankful I am.
Owen: I never asked you to repay me, though.
Kuromi: Yeah, but I'm doing this because I want to! So? Tell me about the kinda things you like!
Bradley: Hah, she's just a little force of nature, ain't she. C'mon, man, just go with it.
White: Exactly so, Owen. You mustn't embarrass a young lady by rebuffing her.
Akira: Owen, she's trying so hard to do something nice for you, so why don't you let her?
Owen: ......
✧✧✧
Location: Kitchen (Day)
Akira: Well, I guess it's no surprise Owen's favorite thing is, as always, sweets.
Kuromi: I'm gonna bake you the coolest pastry ever, so you better look forward to it~ ♪
Owen: I want something tooth-rottingly sweet, piled up thick with a cottony topping slathered all over a spongy cakey thing.
Kuromi: Cotton?
Owen: Mm. Something sweet that's soft and sticky, like a toy's innards. I want so much of it stuffed in my mouth that it spills out and drips down my chin.
Akira: I suppose he's thinking of whipped cream? Then, how does tres leches sound? It's an extremely sweet cake with a respectable layer of cream heaped up on top.
It's something I've already made with Nero, and you enjoyed before, too, right?
We have some Galactic Wheat and Lipstick Berries. We've got this down pat, Kuromi-chan!
Kuromi: All right, we're on it! I've got this covered!
✧✧✧
Akira: ... All right! Now we just have to wait for it to finish baking.
Kuromi: Oh, man! I'm so excited! Heheh~ Heheheh~ ♪
Kuromi-chan's anticipation shined brightly in her gaze as she peered through the oven window. However...
Chapter Three
Kuromi: H-Huh? Wh... What is this...
Enshrined before Kuromi's wide eyes is the remarkably half-burnt charcoal, half-browned remains of her cake.
Akira: Huh!? I'm so sorry, I must have made a mistake in the recipe somewhere...
A lot of things can go awry when using magical ingredients, so it's normal to sometimes make a mistake and end up with something completely different.
Kuromi: (Downcast) ... Nn... The cake...
Akira: Back when I still wasn't used to things, I was a charcoal-making machine, so it's all right! Let's look over the recipe one more time...
Owen: Hey... Why are you sniffling?
Owen, who had been quietly leaning against a wall until now, speaks up to address Kuromi. Her shoulders hang low, discouraged.
Akira: Owen...?
Owen: (Smiles) You're making a cake for me, aren't you? So finish it fast.
I won't forgive you if you make me wait more than this, all right?
Kuromi: (Heart eyes) ... Pushy hunks are super cool, too... ♡
Akira: Kuromi-chan, let's give it another shot! We still have some ingredients left.
Kuromi: ... Jeez, it's not like me to get all mopey.
All right! This time, I'm gonna make the best cake ever!
(Fade to black; time passes)
Kuromi: It’s done...!
Akira: We did it! It's perfect...![1]
Kuromi: Yeah! Try some, Sage!
Akira: Thank you. Let me take a bi... Ngh!?
(This is way too sweet...! My mouth feels like a gritty sea of sugar!)
Owen: Hold it. Why do you get to eat it before me.
Akira: Ah— Owen! Please wait a mome...
Owen: (Munch, munch)...
Fufu. My mouth is burning.
Kuromi: Huh?
Owen: It tastes like I'm chewing mud preserved in sugar. The squelchy-sweet texture and the gritty-sandy texture are getting all gross and messy in my mouth... This is fun.
The corner of Owen's lips are curled up in a satisfied smile. On the other hand, Kuromi-chan looks worried, glancing between me and Owen as she compares our reactions.
Akira: Ummm, so, what he means is, it's delicious...! Isn't that right, Owen!
Kuromi: I-Is that so? Thank goodness.
(Sound of footsteps)
Snow, White: Darling Kuromi, Dear Sage. How goes your time as pâtissiers?
Mithra: It smells good in here.
Bradley: Man, I'm starvin'. Hey, gimme some of that, too.
Owen: Hold it right there. Get away from me. This cake is all mine, got it?
Kuromi: ...!
Bradley: Now, that just makes me wanna steal it.
Owen: I'm not handing this over, ever. If you want something to eat that badly, that charcoal is enough for the rest of you.
Mithra: Oh, may I? Don't mind if I do.
Snow: Goodness, Mithy, you're eating those things again...
Akira: ... Owen seems to adore the cake you made, Kuromi-chan.
Kuromi: (Heart eyes) Owen...! I'm soooo happy, too ♡
Owen: Hey... Kuromi. Don't you have seconds for me?
Kuromi: Sure thing! Leave it to me!
Training Episode: Easily Misunderstood
Location: Manor Dining Hall (Day)
Owen: Hey, Master, what kind of spell is "hunk"?[2] I think she was chanting that incantation to place a curse on me.
Akira: The word "hunk" refers to a good-looking male. It's a compliment, not a curse. Did someone mention it to you?
Owen: Kuromi said I was one. Hmmm. So she wasn't cursing me.
Akira: Kuromi-chan would never curse you. Do you think she's that kind of person?
Owen: I think she's strange. She said I'm a "a sweetheart and a hunk." Then, she thanked me, a Northern wizard. There's no way there isn't something wrong with her.
Akira: (Owen really left an impression on her, huh...)
Kuromi-chan is a wonderful young girl. She's come to like you so much since you're just as wonderful, Owen.
Owen: Is there something wrong with you, too? If your eyes have gone bad, allow me to take them out and clean them for you.
Akira: I-I'd prefer if you didn't...
Owen: Hmph... If she's fine with a Northern wizard like me, she must be a bad little girl herself.
Akira: If she were truly a "bad girl," she wouldn't have baked you a cake as a way of thanking you, would she?
Owen: Maybe. Who knows.
Akira: Kuromi-chan may be just... a little bit easy to misunderstand, but... she reminds me of a certain someone.
Owen: What's that mean? See, so she's weird.
Translation Notes
1. The term Akira uses here is 大成功, AKA the result you get when you cook something perfectly in the app's cooking minigame. ↑
2. The word used here is "ikemen," Japanese slang to mean a good-looking, cool, handsome individual.↑ ↑
Thank you dotsuitarehompo @ Twitter for the raws, and 310mc1 @ Twitter for proofreading!
