genessia | Action [Closed]

Who: Mai & Martha
What: Impromptu Lunch Date
Where: small cafe around the corner from where Mai works
When: Mid-November

[Even on days when the air was at ouch crispier, Mai preferred to sit outside. She had a little more than an hour for her lunch break that day, having finished her last assignment early and having plenty of time before she was due back to finish repairs on that motor bike. Minus the few minutes' travel time walking to the eatery, and that left her with more than enough leisure time to sit with a sandwich, cup of hot tea, and the book she's brought that day.]

[Another romance novel. Not unlike the one she'd read during Bulma's water park trip. The same author, even, though this one ventured a touch more into the fantastical genre. Something about time travel. A "forbidden" love across the ages.]

[...it was certainly enough to capture the not-so-young woman's interest, and she flipped pages more often than she took bites of the ham and cheese sitting only partially eaten on her plate.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Martha's finally gotten hold of some new young adult fantasy. A series by a Nigerian-American author, Nnedi Okorafor, that's supposed to be like a Nigerian Harry Potter, which she loves! She's way more excited than is even remotely seemly, and because of it, she goes out of her way to find a cafe she's never been to for a long lunch so she won't be interrupted by her colleagues.

She's just settled in with her book, her water and her salad when the screech of tires on the street grabs her attention. It's nothing, just two teenage boys 'cool posing' by tearing up the streets with their bikes. She shakes her head, goes back to her book, and just by chance her gaze lights on Mai.

"Mai!" Martha's well-pleased to see her friend. She waves. "It's brilliant to see you. Absolutely brilliant!"

Mai was seconds away from taking another bite of her sandwich; as such, her mouth was partially open when she paused at the sound of her name. Glancing up over the edge of her novel, she scanned the area for only a moment before noticing Martha at a nearby table.

"...Martha!" She waved back in turn, offering a sheepish laugh. "What a nice coincidence, catching you on my lunch break like this. How've you been?"

"A pleasant coincidence for sure." She grinned brightly at Mai, while trying to recall the last time she'd seen her. "I've been well. What've you been busy with?"

Trunks would surely have let her know if anything terrible had happened to her, but she still felt strangely out of touch.

There was a slight pause, and she briefly wondered if it was worth bringing up some of the...less favorable events of the past month. The attack on Bulla. The appearance of a certain pre-genocidal god....

"Work, mostly, I suppose." This much was not a lie, as she had all but buried herself in engines the last week and a half, in particular. And it made for much more pleasant lunchtime conversation. "Trunks' birthday is coming up, so I wanted to make a little extra to get him something this year."

The other main thing on her mind; it wasn't as if she'd ever had the opportunity to buy him a present until then.

She'd been at the hospital during the attack on Bulla, which, of course, she hadn't forgotten, but she thought it best not to bring up painful moments unless Mai herself wished to.

"Is it?" she found herself asking. "He didn't say." Her smile curved a little mischievous and a little sassy. "Of course you'll need to get him a gift. Do you have a plan?"

She had absolutely no idea what to get Jack for Christmas.

For all Mai would have liked to claim otherwise, she shook her head.

"No, not yet. I have...a few ideas, but I haven't settled on any one thing yet. I suppose I'm a little out of practice when it comes to gift-giving."

"Maybe I can help, yeah?"

Abruptly, Martha laughed and gestured between the two of them. "It's bonkers, the two of us sitting at separate tables talking. May I join you?"

"Oh! Please, do."

There was little need to shift, as the vacant chair was directly across from her, but Mai still made a small show of rearranging the food in front of her to allow Martha as much space as she would need.

As she approached, Martha nodded appreciation for Mai's show of making her welcome. It reminded her of the Japanese people she had met before the factory.

"Thank you," she murmured and then sat again. "So. We were talking about Trunks' birthday. Are you thinking small, large, showy, meaningful? What's the impression you want it to make?"

"Impression?"

She may as well have been speaking a foreign language, for all the awkwardness of the word on her tongue. A moment of contemplation later, however, and she was chuckling softly. Followed by a shake of her head.

"No, nothing like that. It's just...this is the first time I've ever had a chance to celebrate. I don't want to overwhelm him, but I still want to get something he'd like."

Martha wondered what Mai thought she was suggesting but sex was such an awkward topic, the risk of an unintentional innuendo wasn't worth asking. Instead, she waited for Mai to speak.

"Never celebrated a birthday, or never celebrated his?" Their lives had been full of danger and distress. She wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't had time for birthdays at all.

Sex was actually not the first thing that came to mind. Really, it was moreso the simple fact that she had known Trunks for more than a year's time in close proximity, each seeing the other at their worst. As such, she had already made her impression on him, and hadn't taken such a thing into consideration.

"Technically...I guess both. I can't remember the last time I celebrated mine. And I don't know if he ever had a chance." Maybe in the years of peace between the Androids and Zamasu's reign of terror. "But I know we've never celebrated together before now."

Action [Closed]

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