"Eh, not so much dinner," Ami explains to her two friends as the three leave the skating rink. they find a quiet place to de-henshin, and then Ami leads the trio on a short walk around the block to a nearby Confectionery. "But something sweet, at least."
Ami reaches up to hug Usagi as she joins the pair. "Mako-chan, I didn't know you were so good at ice skating. That was a ton of fun. We really do need to do that again, if we get the opportunity this winter."
And Usagi is chilly in her pretty pink coat and stockinged legs. (Naru was right, winter's totally stocking season!)
After hugs are distributed, she hooks her arms through each of the girl's, huddling close.
"You guys should! And I can watch! And cheer you on! Yay!"
She takes in a deep breath, the smell of sweet on the air. "Ahhhh. I wonder if they have those fancy truffle things. With nuts! Maybe not fruit. But ooo, caramel!"
Makoto beams at both of her friends, joining in the hugging before Usagi claims her arm and the three of them make for the confectionary. "It doesn't just have to be during the winter," she notes, pink-cheeked with the chill in the air and looking well pleased with life at the moment. "I'm sure there's an indoor rink somewhere that we could go to even once it gets too warm to freeze."
She grins merrily aside to Usagi as the other girl enthuses about sweets. "Hey, fruit's good, too! But I think I feel like getting some cream puffs this time."
"And here I was thinking of getting something with fruits," Ami says, pouting at Usagi just a little. She heads inside with her friends and reaches into the pocket of her sweater. "My treat anyways. Get whatever you'd all like."
Usagi sticks her tongue out at both of them, a silly little 'bleeeee!' of a thing. "I didn't say you couldn't get fruit. I'm just in the mood for chocolate!"
But oh! "But cream puffs!"
But oh! "What if they have those really warm brownies? AUGH!"
And then her arm is tightening around Ami's. "My hero!"
But this will require Careful Thought and Decision Making!
"Hmmmmm." Without unlinking her arms from anyone, she taps her chin as she looks over the menu. "What to get, what to get. What am I in the mood for."
Makoto giggles at Usagi's reaction. "Chocolate is always good, too," she allows, and lets Ami have her arm free since it's clear that Usagi has no immediate plans to.
"You keep treating us," she observes, looking over to her blue-haired friend. Still smiling, although it's more rueful now. "I appreciate it, but is that really okay?" She feels like she should treat sometimes, too, but on her budget... well, she can always make treats, anyway.
Ami beams at Usagi and hugs the girl briefly. But then Makoto's challenging her finances, and Ami blushes just a little. "W..well I get a pretty big allowance. And Paris was my mom treating you, not me. I just asked, and she thought it was a great experience for us all."
Usagi gasps and pounds a fist onto an open palm. "That's right! I still need to thank Mizuno-Mama!"
Then she's back to pondering and thinking and debating. "Oooo, they do have hot brownies! I want those!"
"Well," Makoto says, "thank you. And your mom. It definitely was a great experience." If in one or two more ways than Dr. Mizuno may have imagined it to be. After she says it. Makoto leans in to hug Ami again.
It's a very huggy evening. Heaven knows they've all needed some hugs lately.
"If you get those and I get the cream puffs, we can all share," she suggests to Usagi as she steps back again.
Ami hugs Makoto back, then smiles. "I already told her you were all really grateful and we had a lot of fun. But I'll make sure to tell her again," promises the bluenette. Then she steps up to the counter and orders herself a chocolate-covered banana.
She gasps and looks up at Makoto, and then she BEAMS!! "That's an excellent idea!"
She orders her brownie! "Warm and gooey and melty, please!"
Mmmm, the best way to eat brownies!
Then she pokes Ami. "Heeeey, when it comes to chocolate, banana isn't a fruit! It's essential! I was meaning like...little berry things."
"Banana is totally a fruit," Makoto disagrees playfully. "Even with chocolate. How else are we supposed to justify banana splits as healthy if we can't claim the banana as fruit?" Once the other two girls have ordered, she steps up to order cream puffs and some hot tea to take off the last of the chill from the ice skating.
Ami squirms and dances away from Usagi's pokes. Apparently she's ticklish! "Banana are always fruits!" she agrees with Mikoto. "Besides, I wanted a chocolate covered banana. Why does it matter/" she grins at Usagi, then lets the other two order before paying for it all, along with a bottle of Coca-Cola for herself. "C'mon, let's get a table while we wait."
Another tongue! Bleeeee! (And she also sneaks in an order of hot cocoa!)
"But it's not little dried crunchy berry fruit bits!"
She tips her nose in the air with a slight 'hmph!' and flounces toward a table. She doesn't make it two flounces before she turns around again, hands behind her back, and doing a little sway. "Thank you, Ami-chan."
Makoto makes a speculative, drawn-out hmmm sound as she trails along with the others. "So really, it's the 'dried' part that you don't like?" she asks Usagi, brows lifting. Still smiling, but now she's not teasing so much as genuinely wanting to know. For science.
In the sense of 'science' as 'baking', anyway.
Ami slides into a booth and pops open her coke. "Mmm, admittedly, dried fruits really have no place in sweets. Though I do like fresh strawberries, blueberries, cherries, or apples with my chocolate."
Usagi gasps and places a hand over her heart. "I never said I don't like them, Mako-chan! My fruit preferences in sweets, least to greatest, dried berries, strawberry, banana, MakoSweets." A firm nod!
She rushes back to the counter, further ruining her counter, and grabbing her cocoa with a broad grin to the confectioner person. Then, she very forcibly does not skip to the table as she slides in, as well. "I don't think I've tried chocolate with apples! Well, except those KitKats, but that's not quite the same!"
"It's important to know these things!" Makoto replies with a smile as she slides into the booth after the other two and leans forward to rest her forearms on the table.
"For instance," Mako nods to Ami, "I think chocolate with fresh apples is good, but caramel with apples is even better. And Usagi-chan, you didn't mention fresh berries. Like... what about blueberry muffins? Or blueberry pancakes?" Inquiring minds want to know!
"Mmm, Apples and Caramel are good," Ami agrees thoughtfully. "But only if it's salted caramel. I'm not a big fan of super sweet caramel. Chocolate, though ... it's already bitter enough and it just goes great with apples. The darker the better. Especially if it's a nice tart green apple."
"Mmmm, caramel with apples!" A heavenly sigh!
And then she's tapping her chin again. "Well, of course blueberry muffins and pancakes. They're almost as good as banana muffins and pancakes!"
Mmmm, green apples! "I like the ones that make me go like this." She makes a face like she just ate something sour. "That, and they're usually really crunchy, and not occasionally somewhat crunchy like a lot of red apples."
"Ami-chan has mature tastes," Makoto observes, eyes crinkling at the corners with her smile. She props her chin on her hands, looking between her friends. "I like sweet apples better than tart ones, personally, but a contrast is definitely best. Peanut butter's good with apple, too. Oh, or sharp cheese."
Meanwhile, she's making mental notes. The next time the girls sleep over at her apartment, there will probably be banana pancakes.
Ami looks a little uncomfortable with the compliment to her palette, but she doesn't argue. After all, she is very mature. Right? "Peanut butter does go well with apples," she agrees thoughtfully. "And cheese. Although I prefer milder cheeses."
"Peanut butter." Another dreamy sigh. "It's too bad cheese can't go with chocolate or peanut butter. Because that would make an amazing apple if it did."
She has, up until this point, not really day dreamed about food as much as she had about a month ago.
"And if the dark chocolate comes with nuts, yummy. But if its just a plan dark chocolate bar, it annoyed the roof of my mouth if I eat too much."