[X] Talk with your friends.
-[X] Has she been cooking long?
-[X] Your uncle could give her some tips if she wants.
-[X] That is, if she doesn't mind some minor cases of extreme teasing.
[X] Go do something else after the tea and cookies.
-[X] Watch some movie together.
"Oh, have you been cooking for long then?" you ask Ami while reaching for another cookie to eat. "I mean, you say you're an amateur… But I don't think this is the first time you've baked these to be honest."
Ami fidgets a little and keeps smiling. "I actually only picked up the informal hobby last year. Mom was going to make rice balls for some relatives from the South that were visiting us. It was mostly on a guilty impulse from doing nothing, but I asked to help her with them. And now, here I am."
You nod along to the explanation and smile back at her. It's kind of like you picking up the miniatures yesterday. "Mhmm, maybe if we ask nicely, my uncle could also give some tips! He's a really great cook,-" Credit where credit is due. "-and often makes big Western meals like it was nothing!"
"Huh, is that something he picked up in Paris?" Matsuko asks you.
"I think so?" you slowly say. Truth to be told, your aunt was an excellent cook already when he became your guardian a few years ago. Her work trip just seems to have mainly changed her menu, perhaps due to being forced to cater to miss Cathy while there. "I mean, I think it's only recipes he brought from there. That, and the meals are a lot bigger than before." And taste so much better than your own rather mediocre products.
"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind," Ami promises.
"Yeah! Although, I hope you don't mind some minor cases of…" Okay, that's probably being a bit dishonest right there. "...extreme teasing?"
"Teasing?" Ami asks you worriedly, her expression mirroring those of Matsuko of Yuujin.
"He thinks I'm some sort of casanova who's trying to court her friends," you reply sullenly, though you can't help the embarrassed blush creeping onto your face. "I swear, I choose my words badly only a single time, and I never hear the end of it afterwards!" How can it be so difficult to realize that you're only friends! Friends, without prefixes!
"Well, to be fair, your friends seem to be at least partially complicit into the teasing," Ami says, only to get cut off by you sending her a horrified look. That makes her stop and prevent Yuujin and Matsuko finding out about the horrors that lie there. The whole kidnapping thing is something better told on your own terms so that there won't be any misunderstandings!
"Oh, is this some sort of secret I sense here?" Matsuko asks, grinning like a maniac. "Do tell!"
...Nope! "Maybe some other time?" you attempt to evade the question, hastily trying to think of something to distract everyone. "But say, how about we pick some movie to watch together? I think it would be fun, especially with Ami's cookies and tea for snacks!"
"We also have popcorn in the closet and some soda left," Ami pipes in before being overridden by a very insistent Matsuko.
"That's a great idea! You can tell us everything while we watch the movie!"
...
What do you do?
[] Pick a movie.
[] Talk with your friends.
[] Suggest you do something else.
[] Write-in.
===
Alright, I should be able to get back to my usual pace now. I still have some finals left, but the worst of it has passed.
.
