I promised myself this month I’d give the Same-Prompt Fic Party a try, and I did! The result is fluffier than I originally intended, but here it is.
The Two of Us, and Chocolate
(1165 Words)
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” Michiru smiled at her princess over her tea. A little whipped cream still clung to Usagi’s upper lip, but that was the only trace left of the milkshake she’d gotten barely five minutes ago. Questions were a standard when they went out just the two of them. Usually, it was simple matters, like what lipstick does Michiru use and could she help Usagi pick a dress for her next date? Or there’s a fancy party for Mamoru’s school, what can Michiru tell her about etiquette besides the necessity of avoiding “juice?” On a rare occasion, it was senshi business. She was certain that’s not the case today.
“Well, you know how you and Haruka are both girls?”
“I do indeed.”
“Well, so then who buys who chocolates on Valentine’s Day?”
Michiru let out a laugh. “I don’t think either of us has bought each other chocolates on Valentine’s Day. We usually—“
“No chocolates?” Usagi shot up from her chair in horror. “But I thought… I thought you two…” Her eyes were wide. “I thought you two were dating! I thought you were in love!”
Michiru blinked. “We are.”
“But how can you have love without chocolate? Chocolate is love. Love is chocolate.” She grasped Michiru’s hands. “She needs to know you love her.”
“Haruka has quite enough candy without me buying her more.”
“I’m sure that’s not what Haruka thinks.” She tugged Michiru out of her chair with surprising strength for someone so small. “You have to buy her some right now! Valentine’s day is tomorrow!” She dragged her towards the door.
“Usagi…” She sighed and resigned herself. “We haven’t paid.”
“Oh.” Usagi stopped and dug around for her wallet.
—–
The moment they walked in the door, Michiru knew there was no way they were walking back out with only chocolate for Mamoru and Haruka. The decadent smell of baking chocolate that wafted through the air was enough to tempt Michiru. And what could tempt Michiru could make Usagi drool like Pavlov’s dog.
She made a beeline for the free samples. Michiru trailed behind. Chocolates had always seemed a trite gift to her; if she gave something impermanent, she wanted it to be an experience, something at least worth remembering. Maybe it was narrow minded to exclude chocolate from that. Usagi, at least, would think it worthwhile. And Haruka did like chocolate, even though she enjoyed Michiru’s usual Valentine’s gifts.
“One sample per customer,” the sales lady snapped. Usagi pouted and slumped back towards Michiru.
“So what does Mamoru like?”
“He likes anything, but especially dark chocolate. What about Haruka?”
Michiru laughed. “If it’s sweet, she’ll eat it.”
“Ah,” Usagi nodded. “Haruka has good taste.” She cast her eyes around the store. “There’s lots of sweets… Look! We can build our own gift bags!”
Michiru didn’t pretend to be surprised when Usagi began filling two, one with dark truffles and the other with every flavor available. Michiru opened one and considered her options. Peanut butter was a definite, as was cherry. And… she sprinkled in a few sea salt with a smile.
Usagi frowned. “What does salt chocolate taste like?”
“You’ll have to find out.” She put a handful in the top of Usagi’s bag and then took it by the handles. “Are you ready?”
She put one last chocolate in Mamoru’s bag. “Ready!” She followed Michiru to the counter. “But you don’t have to buy that one, Michiru, I—“
“You’re helping me out, so it’s only natural that I should treat you.”
“But that means you’re buying me Valentine’s chocolates before Haruka!”
“Oh dear, you’re right.” She put her hand on her chin to look pensive as the cashier ran her card. “I suppose I’ll just have to hold onto them until after I give Haruka hers.”
Usagi’s face fell, but she took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s the only thing to do.”
Michiru handed Usagi her bag after they finished paying. “I think Haruka will understand.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
The bag was half empty by the time Michiru dropped her off at home.
—–
Haruka’s car was in the drive when she arrived. She slipped the gift bag into her purse before going inside. “I’m home.”
Haruka wrapped her arms around her, buried her face in her hair. “You smell like chocolate.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. What were you two up to?”
“Oh, a little this, a little that.”
“Michiru…” Haruka’s voice rose into almost a whine.
“Don’t you want to be surprised?”
“No.”
Michiru smiled and slid onto the couch. “She said that if I loved you, I had to buy you Valentine’s chocolate.”
Haruka plopped down next to her. “She’s right. Chocolate is love.”
Sometimes their little similarities astounded Michiru. “Oh? Are you saying I haven’t loved you enough?”
“You’ve loved most of me plenty. But my stomach… my stomach has felt woefully neglected without chocolate on Valentine’s Day.” She kissed her lightly. “You don’t taste like chocolate.”
“Perhaps we should fix that.” She pulled the gift bag out of her purse. She gave one truffle to Haruka and began unwrapping one for herself.
“But it’s not Valentine’s Day yet.”
“Then I’ll just have to buy you more tomorrow.”
Haruka smiled and unwrapped her truffle. “You’ll have to wait until the afternoon though. A delivery’s coming for you in the morning.” She popped the chocolate in her mouth and licked the melted bits off her fingers. “Mako says love is flowers.”
“You buy me flowers all the time.”
“But those aren’t special enough, apparently. I had to make a message in flower language. Couldn’t even use roses.” Haruka laughed. “They could convince us to buy anything in the name of love, couldn’t they?’
“Then, knowing Mina and Rei, we should prepare for many dildos and a wedding at the shrine.”
“And Ami?”
“I think Ami knows better than to say love’s about the trappings.” Michiru leaned her head against Haruka’s shoulder. “I think she knows love’s just about the two of us.”
Haruka reached for another candy. “Well, the two of us, and chocolate.”
Ohmygosh Hi! I’m really flattered that you want to know more! I absolutely don’t mind sharing my thoughts, since I feel like with SilMil fics, the fun is in the details rather than the broad strokes.
I have to preface this by saying that I’m terrible and mix canons for my
headcanon, so I tend to end up going with manga/new myu SilMil but an
anime-based 20thcentury.
I see SilMil Uranus and Neptune being a lot like Haruka and Michiru, except
Uranus is even more headstrong and reckless and Neptune adheres absolutely to
her duty. Uranus needs people and feels like having this power means she needs to
protect people, and there haven’t been any outside threats for god knows how
many years, so why should she stay in her castle so far away from everyone? She
makes visits to the Moon often enough that she’s nearly as close to Serenity as
her guardians are. Venus hates her
for it. She has literally one job, and she’s not doing it. But she also envies her ability to disregard all she’s supposed to be, so she can’t
bring herself to make her stop (she absolutely could make Uranus toe the line,
with physical/magical force or with disciplinary action through Queen
Serenity).
Neptune, meanwhile, does stay alone in her castle, with only her mirror for
company. The mirror could show her a lot of things, but like a good soldier,
she only uses it for her duty. She looks for intruders from outside the solar
system.
But the war between Moon and Earth is coming, and without the Silver Crystal,
there will be nothing to draw threats for thousands of years. So what she sees
are flashes of the Death Busters. Maybe Galaxia on occasion. And she sees
herself fighting them, alongside the woman she’ll love. She doesn’t know when
they’ll meet, but they have the same duty, so surely, someday, they’ll be
together.
Then the War happens. Neptune feels when the first senshi dies, and then
another. She does not leave her post, her duty was drilled into her, she will
stay. But when she feels a third senshi die, she casts her mirror to watch.
Uranus is with them, fighting. Uranus is with them, dying. She sees it this
time along with feeling it.
Serenity dies, and then the Queen.
Neptune’s duty means nothing now. It
never meant anything, her kingdom burned and she stood by. Any future she’d hoped for was gone.
She leaves for the first time since she was stationed. She doesn’t expect to
find anyone alive on the moon, but she finds Saturn.
Can we please take labels off of everything? I guess not.
says the heterosexual who never had to worry about labelling their sexuality, never had to think about their sexuality, never had their sexuality denied to them on a mass scale, was never forced to cover up their sexuality, is never discriminated against based on their sexuality, never felt alone in their sexuality, etc etc etc
no i will not cover up the sexualities of myself and my fellow lesbians. we have the label of lesbian. we label ourselves as lesbian because we choose to, because that is our sexuality and that label is, for many of us, something that has been denied to us or questioned in the past. and we will label ourselves (and other characters that are – u know – confirmed to be lesbians) as that no matter how much society wants us not to and tries to pretend we don’t exist. because we do fucking exist. and we’re not confused, and we’re not transient, we’re fucking gay.
MILK YOU ABSOLUTE TREASURE. I’m assuming all your apologies yesterday were to do with this being based on a scene from the Fic From Hell, aka The Last Casualty.
“Pluto had never had a birthday. You should have seen her when we made her a cake and put some streamers in the dining room, I thought she was going to cry.”
In any case, you are forgiven, and this is absolutely wonderful.
SittingOverHereDreaming 