thenearshore | -Overflow- for 24

I think I am. [He's never felt not happy with her.] Oh. That's true! I can help new Shinki now. That's so awesome! [Clearly he's thrilled at this prospect.]

Yeah, I could but I'd want to give you your own - like just from me? Is that weird? [Actually, the fact that he gave Marinette like four of them might be a bit excessive now that he's thinking about it. He's glancing down to her contact card on his phone. Yeah... it might be.

The blond tilts his head listening to her. Then he's laughing.] Oh so if I thought I was super suave you'd have called me something different? 'Pretty Name'? Really, Kairi? [He shakes his head.] At least the bar isn't too high, so I know I can do better.

[She laughs at how aghast Adrien is at the nicknames.]

Okay look, LANCE is the one who called my The Girl With The Pretty Name, so I had to tease him by putting that down as my contact name!

[That's a fond memory of Lance, at least. Now that she thinks about it, maybe that joking around with her 'brother' is part of what she is missing so much that she enjoys spending time with Adrien.]

And I don't mind you picking out your own nickname for me! That's part of what I think is fun about unique friendships.

[She only wishes Davesprite saw it that way... It might be easier to get along with her fellow shinki if so.]

That's why I call your goddess Mari after all.

Okay but either way - that's a terrible nickname! [He wrinkles his nose.] It's not even my nickname and I'm offended on your behalf.

[Only not really. He might be judging it a little but it's nothing worth getting offended over if Kairi didn't mind it.]

I will. It'll just take me a bit to get to know you better. [He grins.] Yep!

[Adrien tilts his head slightly.]

Oh. I call her lots of things! Mari is cute though but I figured everyone might use that so she needed special ones from me. It's only right. She calls me a special nickname.

[She laughs at his faux indignation.]

Oh darn, I guess that means we have to spend more time together! [Grin.]

That's great though, having nicknames for each other as god and shinki! That's super fun. You're right though that I didn't really try to come up with anything super-unique, just went with Mari for now.

How absolutely terrible. Clearly this will be bothersome and torturous.

[And he's managed to say that straight faced before bursting into laughter.] No but really I'd love that.

As long as it's something nice she'd be tickled pink I'm sure. She just likes making people happy so if you're happy then she's happy so if you wanted to just stick with Mari or something she'd be fine with that, too.

No wonder she and I get along so well!

[Kairi stops and thinks about it for a second before deciding how to phrase this politely...]

You know, you don't have to focus on her every time we talk just because she and I are friends, Adrien. I want to be your friend too, but I know it's harder to talk about yourself as a shinki too, so... just don't forget you're someone I enjoy hanging out with all on your own. Okay?

[She means well! And she hasn't seen them interact around one another yet, so she doesn't know how one-sided this may or may not be. She's willing to assume #ShinkiProblems for now.]

Huh? Oh..Sorry? It's just I don't know much about me, yet? It's still kind of hard.

[He shifts a bit awkwardly from foot to foot.]

I know I like cats because they're cute and fluffy. I can kind of play the piano downstairs at the temple? I'm trying to learn things - cooking. I just.. I don't think those things are interesting enough to share, I guess? I mean everyone does those things, right? Lean how to function and do basic things.

I'm not mad, Adrien!

[She leans in to give him a quick hug, then pulls back again.]

Don't sell yourself short! We're shinki - we have to relearn all of those basic things! Besides, depending on what kind of cooking you're talking about, that's no joke!

[She smiles and takes that thread to run with.]

What's your favorite dish you've made so far?

[There's a shy little smile. He just doesn't know her well enough to be able to read yet like he does some people and when he's alone with someone that makes it kind of harder becaus he doesn't have any other cues to go off of.]

Okay. [Adrien is returning that hug, this one less tense than the first one.]

I - I didn't really think of it that way. I guess I shouldn't compare myself to other shinki - especially the ones that have been here longer, Right?

[He considers tapping a finger against his chin.]

I've learned scrambled eggs, omelettes. I managed pancakes once. I've been kind of watching stuff on the internet and learning things from there. I'm kind of afraid to try too many things on my own just yet though.

[She's happy that this hug is less tense.]

That's the way! [She smiles back as he thinks and responds.]

So many breakfast things... any dinner or sweets?

[Just trying to prompt him.]

I'll keep that in mind.

[In that case he's doing pretty well.]

Dinner? Um..Not yet.

[Then he's snapping his fingers.] But I did learn how to make no-bake cookies and mousse?

Oooh, mousse! So fancy! And no-bake cookies sound amazing! I'd love to learn something like that.

[She's smiling as he seems to open up more.]

See, you're already awesome at all kinds of cooking things.

[She lightly punches his shoulder for emphasis.]

I don't know about fancy. It's actually pretty simple. If you want to come visit the temple or have me come over to yours, I could show you maybe?

[It would be nice to be the one teaching rather than being taught for once.]

Well, they don't really need much cooking? So I can't really catch anything on fire. My first morning I turned two perfectly fine slices of bread into black smoking charred squares of.. whatever you would call it.

[He laughed and shook his head at her.] I'm getting there.

It's simple... for you, Adrien - because you're good at it!

[She laughs. Really, can he not see he's talented at something like that? She didn't want to chalk it up to A Boy Problem... but... maybe it's just something really natural to do in his world compared to hers?]

Well... I don't know, I always thought baking and cooking in an oven and cooking on a stove top were all really different skillsets, but I still pretty much make things exactly to a recipe or not at all. Simple things like macaroni and cheese or a stew you can just throw everything in and walk away from for awhile. So I'd definitely take some lessons to get better when you have time!

[He's not used to this kind of talk. Even if Marinette had been nothing short of encouraging - he was still for some reason afraid of disappointing her or messing up. Acknowledging his own skills is something he struggles with.]

I.. try my best?

[Adrien nods.] That's pretty much were I am. I follow whatever the book or print out say to the letter. I'm going to keep learning things so maybe we can work on some stuff together. Who knows maybe we can open up the temple for classes or something? It's something that's been talked about once or twice.

No need for that! Hakkai's school is open for any kind of lessons like that! Whether it's just the two of us practicing or a whole group, there's a kitchen there for a reason!

[Not that she's utilized it much, being more focused on other things, but she's certainly seen it.]

He established it when he was a shinki for all of us shinki to help one another out, so I'm sure it's fine!

Oh! That's good. So if someone wanted to teach they could do it there? That's a really good idea! Maybe after we work on it a bit we could start teaching other Shinki. Wouldn't that be fun?

[That's smart. All of this is pretty smart. Maybe they can teach some and he's sure that Marinette would be more than willing to teach, too. Cooking or sewing or something.]

He's a very good person I like him.

[Kairi can talk all day about Hakkai's school and what good it serves, but as soon as the talk turns to Hakkai himself... Kairi's smile falters ever so slightly.]

He's done a lot of good for us shinki, even as a god.

[It's not actually agreeing with him... but it's not giving away what is personal to Hakkai either. How angry and wretched he felt as a shinki teetering on the edge of ayakashi-level blight... how he announced on his own some of the things he'd done. But Adrien wasn't around for his announcement, she didn't think. So she didn't feel it was her place to put that on the table either. It was true even now, in her mind, that Hakkai was capable of doing great things for the Far Shore and was very kind to shinki in general as someone who knew what it had been like.

... But then he was capable of other things regardless of consequences that Kairi would find unacceptable.]

I'd love to take you by the school and see what you think about those classes whenever you're free! I'm there most every day with my own studies.

[Some semblance of normalcy.]

[Adrien nods.]

He is very nice. I like him and he's really great. I don't know much about him but he's a decent guy.

[Adrien beams at her then bounces on the balls of his feet before rocking on his heels.]

That would be fun! I would love that and I need to learn more spells so I can be a better Shinki.

[She laughs.]

What, you think you can only train on spells at the school? I mean, sure you can get more practice partners there, but you can train just about anywhere. Even at Marinette's temple!

Well, I mean to learn new things I always do better with guidance? Like when i'm learning to cook - I'll watch how to do it before doing it or while I'm doing it. So I don't make mistakes at least until I feel confident in my actions.

[ Kairi nods. ]

Alright, alright, I was teasing, you know?

[ She pokes him lightly in the shoulder. ]

If you can't find it, give me a call?

[ She waves to him while she's heading off in case he has other questions. She's eager to see as many of her friends as she can. ]

Teasing? [He blinks then smiles.] Oh, okay!

[At that poke he laughed and nudged her back lightly.]

Absolutely. Have a good day, Kari.

-Overflow- for 24 - Autumn Reception

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