Valentine's day omake. Funniest thing I'll ever see.
The yuri levels are off the chart!!!
Alright, you put these worms directly into my brain, and a day later and 3000 words in this is the result. I hold you personally responsible for what follows:
Valentine's Day Omake - As Sweet as Chocolate (decidedly non-canon)
"Say, Erika, why's the 14th marked in red on your calendar?" Mariana asked idly during a study session in Erika's room.
"The 14th? That's Valentine's day of course. Why do you ask?" Erika replied.
"Valentine's Day? I don't think we celebrate that back home. What's it about?"
"Ah, uuh, w-well, it's a day where you give gifts to those people around you that are important to you and that you like very much!" Erika responded with a visible flush that quickly spread across her cheeks and her ears.
"Gifts!?!" Mariana exclaimed at the same time as she put a hand to Erika's forehead to make sure the poor girl wasn't suffering from a fever. "Nobody told me I needed to prepare gifts!"
Luckily it didn't seem like Erika had an elevated temperature, though the colour had now spread all the way across her face and even to the roots of her hair.
"I-It's really no big deal, I don't even know if the school is planning anything for the day." Erika squirmed under her touch until Mariana retrieved her hand and started to pack up her things.
"No no, I'm sorry Erika, but as class president I need to set a good example, so I'll have to cut this short for now. Thank you for letting me know about this! I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
With that Mariana swiftly exited the room and barely even registered the muffled scream of frustration Erika let slip into her pillow.
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Two days later Mariana got up early again to prepare breakfast, as Miss Leaf had once more been abruptly called away. All the more surprised was she to find the kitchen already in use by a clearly frazzled Erika, who looked like she hadn't had a wink of sleep yet.
"No! No! Noooo! Why is this not working!?!"
She looked like she was close to tears when Mariana greeted her with a side hug while looking over her shoulder.
"What are you working on?" Mariana asked her suddenly nearly petrified friend.
"M-Mary? What are you doing here already?" came the non-response.
"Preparing your breakfast of course, what else? Plus I need to finish some baking I got started on yesterday, the dough should be nice and chilled now" Mariana replied as she made her way over to the fridge where she pulled out two large rolls of brown dough wrapped in cling foil. "So, what's that project in front of you that's kept you up through the night?"
"I-It's nothing, it's stupid and I hate it really," Erika squirmed in front of the workspace that held the big heart-shaped baking pan filled with slowly cooling chocolate that Mary had seen earlier.
"Oh Erika, nothing you make is stupid. Tell me what's not working out, maybe I can help you out!" Mary offered easily.
"Alright," Erika conceded, "the chocolate just refuses to melt right. It becomes lumpy and grainy and fatty, and that ruins the look and everything is terrible and I hate it and why can't things just work out for once?"
"Ah, I see what you mean," Mary said as she inspected the offending object. "Chocolate can be finicky like that, it's all in how you melt it, you gotta have the right temperature, otherwise the fat will separate from the cocoa and then you get this," she gestured broadly in the direction of the pan. "How have you been melting the chocolate?"
"I put the chocolate in a pot, put that pot on the stove and turned it on while stirring, how else do you melt chocolate?"
"Ah, that explains it. You're most likely overheating the chocolate. It's much more reliable to do it in a bowl over a pot full of water, that way it won't overheat as easily. We've been learning about that in the cooking club." Mariana explained to her friend.
"Urrrrghhh, why does everything in the kitchen have to be so complicated?" Erika protested "So what do we do with this mess?"
"It looks to me like you've tried melting and cooling it down a few times?" Mariana asked to a nod from the other girl. "Well, I don't think we can make this batch work anymore, but I can still use it for a bit of hot chocolate for everyone's breakfast, no need to throw it out. Why don't you go to bed for now and we'll give it another try after classes on a fresh batch. I'm sure whoever you wanted to make this for won't mind getting it a bit later in the day."
"But I
wanted to make it for y-" Erika trailed off into mumbling that Mariana couldn't quite make out.
"No arguing! Plus, I need the kitchen now myself if everyone is going to have breakfast!" Mariana lightly swatted Erika's back with a towel she had just grabbed. "Off you go, you can still get at least an hour or two of sleep if you go to bed now. I'll make sure to wake you up in time for class."
After that and a bit of grumbling Erika finally retreated from the kitchen, letting Mary set up the baking trays and sheets of baking paper she'd need in a few minutes.
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When Elise came downstairs an hour later, Mary was busy frying up a small spread of eggs and omelettes. While most of the kitchen had been cleaned up again already, several baking trays were still stacked up next to the sink, waiting to be washed. On the kitchen counter ten little canvas bags were sitting, each tied closed with a little drawstring.
"Good morning, Mary! Is Miss Leaf away again or why are you cooking?"
"Oh, good morning Elise! You're up early! Yeah, she left late last night, must've been in a real rush. And Happy Valentine's Day to you! I made some chocolate cookies for everyone, would you like to try some?"
"Oh so that's what that smell is? Yes, of course, thank you so much!" Elise agreed as she sat down on a chair next to the counter.
"Alright, say aaah!" Mary instructed as she pulled out a plate of cookies and carefully fed one to Elise.
"Theshe are delishush!" Elise beamed around a mouthful of cookie. "Oh, and they are heart-shaped too? How cute is that?"
"I know, right? Missy gave me the cookie cutter when I told her I wanted to bake something for today. I wouldn't even have known to prepare anything if Erika hadn't told me the day before yesterday that you are supposed to give gifts to the people you care about today, so I decided that as Class President I should make something for everyone."
"Aw, that is so sweet! Thank you so much, I'm sure everyone will love these!"
"Oh, that reminds me!" Mary put away the omelette she had just taken out of the pan and grabbed something from a pocket beneath her apron. "This is for you. I saw that there's an exhibition match by the Orden de Verde the weekend after next, and I thought maybe we could go and watch it together."
"That sounds like fun!" Elise replied as she took the offered pair of tickets. "Of course, I'd love to!" At that the two were interrupted by a weird noise from the stairwell, but since nobody showed up for several moments after, they didn't think too much about it. "Ah, but I didn't get you anything! I'm so sorry! I didn't expect to get anything, so I didn't prepare anything in return! I'm so sorry, I will make it up to you, I promise!"
"No need, it's all my fault, I should've told you in advance that I was going to get you something, but it all happened so quickly, so I didn't even think about that!"
"No no, I'm so sorry, I should have been more prepared, I-" before the two of them could really get started on an apology-spiral, they were interrupted by the arrival of Theodora, whose unsteady steps and flushed face were definitely not the result of listening in to the conversation for the last few minutes, and how dare you even ask!
"Good Morning Elise, Mariana." she greeted the two of them, as behind her several other students started trickling into the kitchen area. "And happy Valentine's Day Elise, this is for you." she said as she handed over a small box covered in velvet.
"Oh, what's this?" Elise asked as she opened the box and revealed a smooth stone shining in the darkest purple that Mary had ever seen. "That's a Dusk Stone! Aren't these really expensive? This is way too much, I couldn't possibly accept it!"
"Nonsense! It was a trivial expense and I know for a fact that you will need one for both your Murkrow as well as your Duoblade to evolve. I won't take no for an answer on this!" Theodora declared imperiously, ending any chance of further debate on the topic.
"But I don't have anything in return for you either!" Elise panicked "Sorry everyone, I really have to go, I'll see you all in class!" Elise announced to the room, as she grabbed two slices of toast Mariana had just put on a plate and jammed a whole omelette between them, before hurrying out of the room at breakneck speed.
"Ah, so much drama between the girls this morning, is there even anyone in this class who likes boys?" Atticus joked from the sink where he had started cleaning the baking trays. This in turn only earned him angry glares from Jacinto and Manuel, who were busy exchanging chocolates with one another over the breakfast table.
"Alright everyone, make sure to grab your Valentine's Day cookies before you leave for class!" Mariana announced as she handed her pan to Atticus. "One bag per person, and Theodora, if you could take Elise's along, she seems to have forgotten it. I'm going to go and make sure Erika gets up. Oh, and I guess I'll have to put Miss Leaf's in a box so they don't go bad."
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Erika was currently dying. Once again she had chickened out at a crucial moment and as a result, she was currently watching Mariana hand a Valentine's Day gift to Nemona of all people. Apparently her family had sent her some Pokémon materials from their tribe a while ago, which she was now passing on to Nemona, who was already writing down a list of possible TMs she could make from them. And to top it all off, Erika was also horribly sleep deprived, due to that stupid chocolate not melting properly. Just what had she been thinking?
She was interrupted in her self-recriminations when Ostia arrived in the classroom and sat down on their seat, causing Mariana to pivot away from Nemona and towards Ostia, already digging through her backpack. She pulled out a thickly knitted hat, made from coloured yarn, and handed it to Ostia.
"I asked my mom to make one for you after I saw how much you were struggling with the cold in the Highlands during the Field Exercise," she explained. "I was planning on giving it to you for the Glaseado Field Exercise, but then Erika told me that today is a day for giving gifts to your friends," Erika cringed internally at this, "so I figured 'why not now?'"
"Oh, is that how Valentine's Day is celebrated?" Ostia asked innocently. "I've never had friends before to celebrate with me, Ms Raifort always disallowed me from associating with others." Mariana's face visibly darkened for a moment before she took the hat again and put it on Ostia's head, pulling it down by the ear flaps until it sat properly on their head. Erika wasn't sure whether Ostia really was so sheltered that they didn't know about Valentine's Day, or if they were just playing along with her rather… incomplete explanation of the holiday, but either way she decided not to poke at it.
"Well, Miss Raifort isn't here now, is she?" Mariana declared to some giggling by Ostia. "The colours of the wool are also the Ganzorig clan colours by the way, so every Andosin will know where you belong as long as you are wearing it!"
"Aw, thank you Miss Mary!" Ostia exclaimed while running their hands over the soft wool. "I'll make sure to take great care of it!" After a moment their expression turned pensive however. "Ah, but I have nothing for you in return! Oh dear!" And before Mariana could even get started telling them that she needed nothing in return continued: "Oh, I know! I recently heard about this famous restaurant that offers Alolan cuisine. How about I invite you and Miss Erika for dinner there? Oh, but you'll need some formal clothing, it's quite upscale apparently, so how about a shopping trip and then dinner together, as thanks for being
such good friends to me over the last few months. How does that sound, Miss Mariana and Miss Erika?" they concluded happily.
Okay, now the brat had to be messing with her. Right? Right?!?
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The afternoon found Erika once more stuck in the hateful kitchen, trying to melt a block of chocolate. This time however she barely dared to breathe as Mariana leaned against her and gently guided her hand through slowly stirring the partially melted chocolate in a glass bowl lodged atop a pot of boiling water.
Erika could barely hear her speak over the sound of blood rushing through her ears: "See, once you know how to do it, it's not all that hard. It just requires some patience and care. Now, do you have the baking pan ready?"
Erika nodded stiffly as she grabbed the pan and put it next to the stove. Mary took a step back and leaned against a counter, watching her. "Okay, so now you take the glass bowl and slowly pour the melted chocolate into the pan. Be sure to spread the chocolate around somewhat evenly, you can still distribute it afterwards, but it's much easier if it's not too uneven from the start. See, there we go!" She commented as Erika did her best to follow the instructions.
When she was done she put the pan aside and let out a tired breath. "Alright, now we just need to let it cool down," Mary said. "You could put it in the fridge too, but you might get some condensation on it that might cause the chocolate to split, so it's safer to just let it cool to room temperature on the counter. Oh, I completely forgot to ask, who are you making this for anyway?"
"It's for you, you giant dummy." Erika mumbled only to herself.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that, can you say it again?" Mary asked
"It's for you!" Erika nearly yelled out of frustration before reining herself back in and continuing in a quieter voice, "I was trying to make it myself and surprise you with it, but I couldn't even manage that and now you had to help me out with your own present." She slowly trailed off towards the end.
"Awww, aren't you the sweetest?" Mary almost squealed before grabbing her in a hug. "But you shouldn't have!" Erika's heart almost stopped before Mary continued speaking. "I don't feel like I've been a particularly good friend lately, between the gym challenges, training my team, managing the dorm whenever Miss Leaf is away, and schoolwork, I haven't really been able to spend much time with you or the others, I've just been a terrible frie-" she was cut off as Erika hit her forehead lightly with the side of her hand.
"Hey, no self-deprecation on my watch, alright? You have responsibilities and you fulfil them to everyone's benefit, nobody is going to fault you for doing so. Just look at how you dropped everything to make sure everyone had a good Valentine's Day. Anyway, don't apologise for being busy while you're attending the country's premier institution of learning, alright? We all are busy. We are meant to be!"
"Alright, I'm so- I mean thank you Erika." Mary said alongside a few sniffles. "Before I forget though, I did find something for you! The day has just been so busy, I nearly forgot to tell you! A few weeks ago I found some stables that will rent out Mudbrays and Mudsdales, I figured when the weather clears up a little we could get two Mudsdales, pack a picnic basket and take a ride through the Cortondo Forests, there's some really nice spots there that Elise and I found during our Ranger work." Erika's heart stopped for a moment before Mary continued. "How good are you at riding? I don't think I've ever asked."
"I've never done it before, it'd be my first time." Erika forced out before Mariana continued.
"Ah, in that case we can also just rent a single Mudsdale and get a two-seater saddle, they are strong enough to carry two people, and I can do all the work. As long as you are fine sitting behind me and holding onto me." She asked before immediately continuing. "Or I could sit behind you, but I'd basically be hugging you the entire ride so I can hold the reins, so as long as either of those options work for you we could totally do it. What do you think?"
"YES! I mean yes, I would like that very much!" Erika's idiot heart forced out before her too-smart-for-her-own-good brain could have any input. Her face had moved right past looking like a tomato about half a minute ago and now more closely resembled what she figured the surface of the sun must look like, both in colour and in temperature.
Maybe it wasn't entirely fair to Mariana, but the idea of spending several hours snuggled up against this ravishingly beautiful, effortlessly caring, frustratingly obtuse and intimidatingly tall girl just completely blotted out every other thought she could possibly have for the moment. Plus, it had been her idea, right? Right.
"When do you think we can do it? The sooner the better, right?"
