Thoughts

"Why did I agree to this?" Blanc walked through a mall, ignoring the groups of people that chattered and loitered around him. Since Heartsmas was closing in, people were also scurrying around, searching through every single store to find the perfect gift. Luckily for Blanc, he already found that Four Goddesses Online board game that Rom and Ram wanted. Hopefully, the twins actually got him something instead of that Giant SnowBlanc that they got his room last year.

Actually, Blanc wished he was out searching from the twins' Heartsmas gifts, or even Mina's. Rather, Blanc wished that he was at home, working on his manuscript for the Novelist Amateur's Prize. The deadline was in a couple weeks and he had one hundred and eighty kilobytes left to write.

"I should just go home…" Blanc glanced down at his clothes. The CPU of Lowee wore his big poofy cap, although his normal one was in the wash, so he wore a plain one instead. Blanc wore his fur trimmed coat, the collar of the coat held together by a sapphire brooch. The CPU stuffed his gloveless hands into the pockets of his brown slacks, nestling hCis chin into the white scarf wrapped comfortable around his neck.

Glancing upwards, Blanc found himself in the center of the mall, where a giant water fountain stood, continuously ejecting tons of water into the air.

"Shit, I'm already here…" Sighing, Blanc glared at his feet, covered in his white sneakers. "Dammit…" Blanc closed his eyes.

O o O

"Hmm… Yes, and then the heroine will gain a special power to give her to-" A window popped up in front of Blanc's document, cutting him off from his masterpiece. "Oh, who the hell is it?" Blanc narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth upon seeing the name. Sighing, Blanc smashed his finger on the small green button on the window, extending it and revealing the smiling face of a blonde haired woman.

"Ah, Blanc! I'm glad you picked up~!" Blanc leaned on the palm of his hand, rolling his eyes.

"You'd probably keep calling until I picked up anyways." Vert giggled, making Blanc feel one of the veins in his head pulse.

"I would never do such a thing." Vert folded her hands in front of her face, closing her eyes and widening her smile. "I'd call your phone instead." Blanc scoffed.

"I should change my phone number…"

"Oh you tease." Blanc raised an eyebrow.

"So, what do you want?" Blanc swore that Vert's face got brighter. How she could do that was beyond his caring.

"Blanc, are you free tomorrow?" Blanc slightly lifted his head.

"I'm busy writing my manuscript, why?"

"Oh, good. That means you're free." Blanc furrowed his eyes.

"Are you deaf? I just said I was-"

"Please meet me at the Super Maria Mall in Lowee at 11am. Thank you~!" Blanc stood up, his hands slamming against the desk as Vert's face vanished, showing the CPU his document.

"Wai- Vert!" Growling, Blanc pulled his hands through his hair. "Goddammit, Thunder Tits…"

O o O

"Oh, that's right…" Blanc opened his eyes, stopping in his tracks. "I never agreed to this." Blanc pulled out his phone and stared at the clock. "Three minutes to eleven…" Blanc made a fist bump. "I can get out of here befor-"

"Ah, Blanc!" Blanc's arm hung limp against his body, a slow and agonized sigh flying out of his lungs. "You're early!" Raising his head, Blanc narrowed his eyes and turned to see Vert. "And here I thought I could imply I was waiting here for a long time by saying I just got here…" Blanc raised an eyebrow.

"...Vert." Blanc scanned Vert, the CPU of Leanbox was wearing a long green coat over a long blue skirt. Vert's cotton gloved hands grasped one of Blanc's gloveless ones and pulled it closer to her.

"Thank you for coming!" Blanc rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, what did you want from me?" Vert hums to herself and begins pulling Blanc in a direction.

"There's no need to rush, come along."

"Hey!" Vert dragged Blanc through the mall, weaving through the crowds of people. Blanc couldn't ask Vert where she was taking because of two reasons: the mall was loud and people kept bumping into him, forcing Blanc to keep his focus on not losing his hat.

"Ah!" Suddenly, Vert stopped moving and Blanc walked face first into her body. "Oh, my apologies, Blanc." Vert let go of Blanc's hand and wrapped her arms around him. "I'd forgotten that I've given you the cold shoulder. Here, let me warm you up."

"Dff pffuk!" Blanc resisted Vert's sudden affection, mostly because he couldn't breathe. When Blanc was able to give himself a bit of space, Blanc looked up and glared at the CPU of Leanbox. "Where did you friggin take me?!" Vert smile disappeared for a second until she glanced to the side.

"Why, here of course!" Blanc broke free of Vert's vice grip and straightened his clothes before looking in the direction that Vert glanced. Blanc and Vert stood in the entranceway to a venue where a plethora of stalls were lined throughout the room. Blanc could faintly see posters, thin books and other goods on the tables.

"Really?" Blanc turned to Vert. "A con?" Vert smile grew.

"Well, it was nearby you so I'd thought we could both enjoy this." Vert's shoulders drooped as she smile fluctuated. "Was I wrong?" Blanc shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head to the side for a second.

"Eh. Not really." Blanc stared a certain table, where there was a crowd of people were surrounded it. "But those guys are really selling…" Vert nodded.

"That circle is really popular… Oh, if you'll excuse me. I must grab their newest edition before it was too late!" Vert ran past Blanc and dove into the crowd, leaving Blanc alone as a commercial bead of sweat rolled down his head.

"Although they're popular, I don't wanna risk it…" Blanc scratched his head, turning towards some of the lesser populated areas of the venue. "I'll look somewhere else."

As Blanc walked through the con, he noticed that there were a lot of women in the area he was in. Come to think of it, a lot of them were very passionate about their works. Blanc decided to ignore it, continuing his search for some good reference material. Glancing around, Blanc paused to see one of the posters. The CPU's eyes shrank and his mouth dropped open, internally screeching.

The poster depicted a shirtless young man chained to bed, blushing profusely while another older man hovered above. His screeching turn gasping for breath as he turned around, find another poster similar to it, and then another and more. Rushing over to one of the stalls, Blanc picked up one of the doujins, his hand trembling and his teeth nearly shattering from the pressure.

"GODDAMN YOU VERT! YOU TOOK ME TO A FRIGGIN BL COOOOOOOOOOOON!"

O o O

Biting into a Snackers bar, Blanc sat outside of the venue, glaring into the con.

"Almost made people think I was into that kinda stuff…" Blanc knew for a fact that Vert loved that kinds stuff. Hell, she displayed it everywhere in her room and the next room over. Blanc crushed the candy bar in his hand, sighing. "I didn't expect her to take to a con for that kinda crap." Shaking his head, Blanc glanced up at the sound of Vert walking up to him, three paper bags in her hands.

"I came out with quite the haul~!" Blanc rolled his eyes until Vert let out a sigh, putting one of her hands on her cheek. "Although I wish I could have gotten to BuraBeru… but they were sold out…"

"Well, are you done yet? I wanna go home." Vert watched Blanc cross his arms and glare to the side. A playful smile found its way to her lips as she grabbed Blanc's arm, sliding two of the bags over to the boy. "Hey, I'm not carrying that junk!"

"Come now, Blanc. I apologize for earlier." Truth be told, Vert heard Blanc's outburst in the convention and hid herself in the crowd until he had stormed out of the venue. "Here, I know a place where I can treat you." Blanc raised an irritated eyebrow.

"I'm not Neptune, nor am I Noire. You can't cheer me up with cakes or sweets." Vert's smile grew.

"This place has a tangerine sundae." Blanc immediately locked eyes with Vert.

"Do they have tangerines sitting in the ice cream?" Vert nodded slowly and patiently. Suddenly, Blanc pulled Vert away from the venue. "Well, whaddaya waitin for? Come on!" Taken aback, Vert giggled as she watched Blanc pull her through the mall, looking left and right repeatedly for whatever Vert was talking about.

"Blanc, you do know that I have to lead you in order to get there?"

"Well, hurry it up!"

"Alright~."

O o O

Vert led Blanc out of the mall, leading him to a cafe a ways out of the shopping district. Letting go of Blanc's hand, Vert gesture to the cafe while pulling her hand through her hair, winking at Blanc at the same time.

"Here we are~!" Suddenly, Vert heard the sound of the bell and turned around to see Blanc walking through the door. "E-Eh, Blanc?" Vert enters the cafe, finding Blanc already sitting in a booth.

The cafe was currently having a Heartsmas themed event, decorating the area with heart-shaped snowflakes ranging from pink to white while streamers and other decorations permeated throughout the cafe.

By the time Vert had placed her things in the booth and sat down, Blanc had already closed his menu and had pulled out a tiny notebook. Vert places her hands on the table and quietly watches Blanc reach into his hat and pull out a light blue mechanical pencil.

"You find anything you wanna drink?" Blanc began scratching into the notebook without even looking up at Vert.

"I've been quite a few times, so I know the drink selection by memory." Blanc grunted. A waitress walked up to Blanc and Vert, smiling at them.

"Hi, may I take your order." Vert smiled at the part-timer, nodding.

"Yes, I'll have a cup of mandarin tea." Vert turned to Blanc, who was still scratching into his notebook. "Blanc?"

"My drink order will be a QuatroVentiExtraCoffeeVanillaHazelnutsAlmondHoiVertChipWithChocolateSauceWithCaramelSauceAppleCrambeFrappe." Vert stared at him, blinking her eyes.

"Was… that a spell?" Blanc glanced up at Vert.

"It's not a spell, it's in the menu." Vert picked up the menu and searched through the names, frantically looking for Blanc's drink. "Heh, I thought that you knew all of the drinks in the menu." Vert put down the menu to see Blanc smirking.

"W-Well, I remember the drinks that I like…" Blanc let a small laugh. The waitress wrote the drink orders and smiled at them.

"Would there be anything else?" Blanc's face turned stoic as he turned to the waitress.

"Sundae." The waitress felt a bead of sweat roll down her face.

"U-Um, what kind?"

"Tangerine." Nodding, the waitress wrote Blanc's order and turned to Vert.

"Would you like anything?" Vert shook her head.

"No that will be all. Thank you." The waitress bowed to Blanc and Vert and left them to their devices.

Since Blanc was doing his own thing, Vert reached into one of her bags and attempted to pull out a doujin when a small notebook hit her wrist and fall into one of her other bags.

"Oh!" Rubbing her wrist, Vert turned to see Blanc put his pencil in his hat while his other hand was outstretched. "Why did you have to toss that at me?" Blanc narrowed his eyes.

"Don't read that while I'm around." Vert pouted and turned to face Blanc. "By the way, why did you invite me to a friggin BL convention?" Vert covered her mouth with her hand and muffled a laugh.

"Do I need a reason to invite a friend to an event?" Blanc crossed his arms.

"We hate each other." Vert blinked her eyes and slowly lowered her arm.

"I-I'm sorry? What do you not like about me?" Blanc waved a hand.

"Let me give you a list: You're annoying, you love BL and show it to everyone, if I'm not careful, I swear I'd die from suffocation because of your goddamn tits, and…" Vert leaned forwards.

"And?"

"You're a CPU. Competition for Shares. There's literally no way we'd get along." Vert pressed her lips together, gripping her shoulder.

"I see that we've had different perspectives of each other…" Blanc raised an eyebrow. "Because I've taken quite a liking to you…" Blanc leaned against his seat.

"Sure you do." Vert nodded.

"I do! You're hardworking and passionate. I appreciate how you help Nep-Nep, Noire and I without showing it." Blanc frowned, feeling like he just kicked a Pupgoo. "And you're really cute whenever you get mad about your height." And now he glared at her.

"I was going to feel bad until you said that." Vert taps her fingers on the table.

"Well, I can't hide the truth now~." Suddenly, the smell of tea and coffee filled their nose.

"Here we are: One Mandarin tea and one Fruity & Nutty Caffeinated Surprise!" Vert took her drink before staring at Blanc's.

"Wait, I thought your drink was much more complicated." Blanc shrugged his shoulders.

"I read the ingredients." Blanc sighed in relief after taking a deep drink.

"Why?" Vert sipped her tea, watching the waitress leave.

"I thought it would be fun." Suddenly, a large sundae with giant scoops of vanilla and mint flavored ice cream that was sprinkled with tangerine slices was placed in between Blanc and Vert.

"Here we go! A couple's Tangerine Pleasure Seeker!" Vert turned to the waitress.

"I thought we ordered a single sundae." The waitressed smiled.

"Since Heartsmas is nearby, we're offering free couple-sized sundae for, obviously, couples!" Before Vert could say anything, Blanc grabbed one of the spoons that came with the sundae and dug it into the vanilla scoop and taking a fair number of the tangerines.

"No complaining, eat." Blanc bit down on the spoon. Upon pulling the spoon out of his mouth, Blanc made a face of bliss. Giggling at Blanc's face, Vert dug her spoon into the mint scoop and took out a tinier portion. As they were eating, Vert scooped up a portion of the vanilla scoop and held it to Blanc.

"Blanc, aaaaah~." Blanc stared at the spoon then at Vert.

"Two things:" Blanc held up two fingers. "One, no…" Blanc then narrowed his eyes. "...and Two, bite me." Vert grabbed a small tangerine slice and placed on her spoon.

"Aaaah~." Without hesitation, Blanc bit down on the spoon. Vert's face lit up as Blanc's darkened in realization. Releasing Vert's spoon, Blanc turned to the side. Cheeks starting to burn a little bit.

"Damn…" Out of the corners of his eyes, Blanc saw Vert lean against the table, opening her mouth wide. "No."

"Aaaah~."

"Stop it."

"Aaaah~."

"I will hurt you." Vert wiggled one of her eyebrows.

"Aaaah~." Blanc clicked his tongue.

"Whatever." The CPU of Lowee dug his spoon into the mint ice cream, taking a miniscule portion and feeding it to Vert. Vert slowly released the spoon and smiled at Blanc, giggling and looking at him with upturned eyes. "...Can you not?"

O o O

When the CPUs had finished their sundae and drinks, Blanc and Vert walked out of the cafe and headed in the direction of Lowee's Basilicomm.

"You don't have to go with me back to the Basilicomm." Blanc was carrying half of Vert's merchandise while wearing a white cotton glove to help his hand keep his blood ciruclation. Vert carried the other half, while her neck was warm with the other end of Blanc's scarf.

"Well, I'm trying to appeal to you." Blanc rolled his eyes, staring at his ungloved hand, which was wrapped tightly in Vert's free hand.

"Can you let go my hand?" Vert shook her head, pulling herself closer to the CPU.

"Better to start now rather than later." Blanc sighed, tightening his grip.

"Fair enough."

Happy Birthday UltiAlex, whenever that is.