A Box of Chocolate

Aletheia was nervous. They had not thought any of this through. Well, that was at least no different than usual. They paced past the door to the chocolate shop again, trying to draw up the courage to walk inside. They had not even decided what chocolates they were buying.

They tugged at their sleeves, feeling rather uncomfortable being dressed up. They weren’t used to sleeves, or shirts, but they felt that today needed to be different. They began to feel frustrated. They never had such a hard time making a decision, usually just going on impulse.

After a moment longer, they went inside, looking even more awkward than normal. They realized that they did not even know if the person they had in mind even liked chocolate, much less what kind if any. They mentally reprimanded themselves, stopping once they realized it was pointless.

They approached the counter, muscles twitching due to their nerves. They took a deep breath and rang the bell on the counter. The shop clerk appeared through the door, smiling brightly.

“Hello, may I help you?” The clerk sounded chipper.

“Yeah. I want to get someone some chocolates… problem is, I don’t know what type of chocolates she likes,” Aletheia said to the clerk, somehow managing to keep her voice calm.

“Well, tell me about this bun then.”

“She’s intelligent, loves to read and write. She is caring, if a bit snarky… at least snarky to me. She loves pomegranates, cranberries, and blackberries,” the pride bun basically gushed.

“A taste for the more bitter flavors, I see. In that case, she may enjoy dark chocolates. Or possibly chocolate covered pomegranate arils and blackberries. Possibly chocolate covered raspberries and rosehips too,” the clerk suggested.

The pale bun seemed to think for a minute, as if a lot rode on this decision. They did not want to get this bun the wrong thing. When they spoke, it was an unsure decision. “Can I get a few of each item you mentioned? And can they be put in one of those boxes?”

“Sure thing,” the clerk responded before walking off. He put various chocolates into a burgundy box. When he returned, he put the lid on the box and tied it shut with a ribbon. He told the hellfire bun the total.

After paying, Aletheia left the store, carrying the box of chocolates as if it were the most fragile and delicate thing in the Burrowgatory. They were sure that the person they were thinking of would be at work today, so they headed there.

When they entered ‘Kiss of Words’, they could not help but smile at the memories. They definitely had been trouble for this bun since meeting, but they’ve tried to be less trouble for her at least. They knocked on the office door, using one hand to hide the box behind her.

Amaryllis looked up to see Aletheia opening the door. She raised an eyebrow. “Since when did you start knocking?”

“I guess today?” Aletheia laughed, hiding their nerves behind the poor joke.

“Well, come in. You have never been shy before,” the greed bun waved them in.

Their skeletal wings twitched as they entered. They carefully used one of their hooves to close the door, not daring to turn their body yet.

“You’re more dressed than normal, should I be worried? You’re not sick, are you?” The publisher closed her laptop to give the graffiti artist her full attention.

“No, I ain’t sick,” Aletheia barely kept themselves from huffing. They wanted this to be a pleasant interaction, so they needed to behave. They moved to hold the burgundy box out to Amaryllis. “I… I got you this. Paid for it too.” They threw in the paid part so the other would not worry more.

The goth tilted her head. She carefully took the box and opened it. She was confused at first, but smiled as she realized it was chocolates. “You did not have to do this.”

“I wanted to. I didn’t know what you like for chocolate and got help from the person working at the shop. There should be dark chocolate and chocolate covered fruit. Pomegranate arils, raspberries, rosehips, and blackberries.”

“If you ever want to be thoughtful like this again, plain chocolate is fine,” she put the box on her desk and got up. She walked around and kissed Aletheia on the cheek, causing them to blush and fluster. “Thank you, Lethe, this was sweet.”

“W… well, you’re sweeter.”

“Wait… are you trying to flirt?” She teases, giggling slightly. She found the situation more endearing by the moment.

“What if I am?” The punk mentally cussed as they realized that they were just rude to the bespectacled bun.

The bookworm laughed softly. “It’s cute. Now, you must be uncomfortable in those clothes. I think you left one of your capes here. Why don’t you at least get those sleeves off and hang out with me while I attempt to work?”

Aletheia looked surprised and happy and they nodded. Within moments, they had changed and were sitting in Amaryllis’ lap, feeding her chocolate sporadically and the business bun worked.