Once Again [Mae]

Mae sat alone in front of her pc when the phone buzzed next to her. She picked it up, and noticed, much to her suprise and joy, that it was Sharaku that had sent her a text message. Eager to see what he had to say, Mae wasted no time in opening the text and reading it. What she saw there made her smile... He wanted to see her, at his place. As to why he had picked his own home as the meet-up place, she could only guess. And that was rather moot to begin with, as Sharaku was quite the unpredictable man.

She put on her pink boots and her white jacket before she headed out to see him. She locked the door behind her, and positively ran down the stairs, and hurried as fast as she could to San Malarus station. She barely made it only the tram in time, and she spent the first minute of the ride to Penecia catching her breath... By now, she knew the way to his home, so going there didn't take very long. And sure enough, soon she found herself standing in front of Sharaku's door. "Well... here goes..." She whispered to herself before she knocked on the wooden door, waiting for Sharaku...

"Heh, indeed I am." Mae replied with a smile as she walked inside. "It's nice to see you again." Something was up... Sharaku was rarely one to be reaching out for others... and the rolled up sleeves would suggest that he was working on something. How... interesting. Not much had changed since the last time she was here. Perhaps something new somewhere that she didn't notice, but regardless, she made her way to the living room after taking off her jacket, gloves and boots, sitting down on the sofa she remembered so well. And there she was, waiting patiently for the suprise Sharaku had in store for her.

Well, being the nice lady that she was, Mae (as curious as she was), decided to stay in the living room while she heard some commotion coming from the kitchen... Something about a cat...? She did her best not to take a peek inside there, and decided to distract herself by looking around the room some more.

"Ah, don't worry, it's quite alright." Mae smiled back at him as he poked his head into the living room. Pay her back, huh...? Well, that was indeed very much like Sharaku. He disliked having debts for people over long periods of time, so she figured it was something related to that. "Oh, I see." The woman replied with a nod. Her eyes would then widen at the sight of the cake Sharaku gave her. "D-Did you make this? For me? Daaaw... you didn't have to do that! Thanks though." She'd take the plate, accompanied by spoon and all so she could actually take a bite out of this tasty morsel. Peach flavor, eh? Oh, yeah... She had told him about that last time they met, didn't she? Whatever the case, it was delicious, and she couldn't wipe that content smile off of her face as she looked at Sharaku. "It's delicious! Thank you so much~♥" Quite the positive effect that had on her. She kept eating, while moving a bit to the left so Sharaku got some room to sit down as well.

Daaaw... wasn't that sweet of him? Mae smiled warmly in return before she continued eating the cake she had been given. "Oh? Heh, I didn't know that you liked cooking and baking." He liked cooking, huh? If anything, with how tasty the cake was, Sharaku was rather adept at it as well. That he wanted to do it, and not just bake her something for the sake of making things even between the two made her even happier, and it made the cake taste even better.

Once she had finished her slice, she looked content, to say the least. "You're usually not one to invite people over, from what I've experienced... and yet you did now. Is there a paticular reason why, or did you just feel like it? You know, aside from the delicious cake." It had been a pleasant surpise for sure. And if he had gone out of his way to invite her here... then perhaps he had something special in mind? It wasn't everyday he reached out to someone, after all.

"Heh, it really isn't something you can tell by looking, no. But hey, it's a nice skill to have." Mae said with a wide smile. "I can cook somewhat decently, but... when it comes to baking, I'm worthless." A sheepish smile made it's way across the woman's face as she scratched the back of her head somewhat awkwardly.

"I suppose those rare moments are special then in their own way." Mae said with a light chuckle. Indeed, the less frequent something were, the more... special it was, in a way. He perhaps didn't see it that way, but the fact that he had reached out for her made the woman feel special. Almost as if Mae knew that she meant something to him now. "No, you really don't need a reason. I was just curious, is all." Indeed, curiosity was an interesting concept, for sure. And she couldn't shake this feeling that he had invited her over for some other reason besides cake and hanging out... Like, why specifically HIS home of all places...?

"Oh? Then, yes please. Teach me, Sharaku!" Mae replied with a wide grin. She wasn't gonna let an opportunity like this slip by. She might not get the chance to do so again, so might as well take it now while he offered her.

"Well, if you put it that way..." She didn't want that to happen, now did she? Mae didn't want to end up in a fight with Sharaku... Sure, maybe it was bound to happen at some point, as you can't be on good terms with someone else without some fall outs... She had been in fights with Ayane over small things too... that's just a part of being friends, in a way. "Heh... you'll know eventually, if there is another reason for it... It'll show if it's present."

"Oh, no. Not right now. I think we'll need to prepare more for something like that, no?" She said with a light chuckle. Indeed, something like that would need a bit of planning. Not that she wouldn't mind baking now, but... she didn't want to stress him with that now. It could wait. And besides, he had probably used up most of if not all of his ingredients making this cake for her. "Speaking of... may I have another slice?" She asked with a wink, picking up the plate she had used earlier.

Mae frowned lightly when he poked her cheek before she poked him back. "It better not, you hear me?" She puffed up her cheeks, looking serious for a second before she couldn't contain the giggles anymore. It was hard doing that with a straight face now. "Well, I'm personally of the impression that letting things develop naturally is the best way to go about it... I learned that two years ago..." It was better indeed to let things have their course, and not force things. Oh... he had to bring up THAT... Her face turned somewhat disgruntled when he asked her. She was going to tell him though. No reason to lie about it... "I met... Charles yesterday..." She sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead. "Even after two years... we're not really on good footing... I was hoping that we would at least get along a bit better, but... no... At least I got the answers I wanted." Indeed. That had been the final nail in the coffin... She had now tucked away the feelings she had for the android for good, as she knew it would only bring her pain and suffering trying to bring that back...