reciprocation

‘Strange crazed scientist falling in love with her’ was certainly not on Milla’s bingo card for this Matentine’s season, but considering how her little heart yearned for a connection not quite as fleeting as some random at an orgy or a one night stand, she had to keep her options as open as possible.

At first, she’d considered the match making service provided by the church, but when one day a bun she vaguely recognized as an acquaintance of an acquaintance approached her with a box of the most rancid homemade chocolates she could imagine, she…

Well, she flatly rejected him, at first. For one thing, she didn’t know the bun’s name at the time, just vaguely recognized the stitches holding him together, and gifting chocolates of dubious edibility just didn’t seem like the start of the whirlwind romance she liked to imagine. She was a little desperate, sure, but not that desperate.

She’d find somebun soon… right?

Days turned to a week, and eventually, the box of questionable “chocolates” sitting on her kitchen counter that she couldn’t bring herself to throw out seemed to call louder and louder for her. Friedrich was his name, she’d eventually learned. Maybe he wasn’t born to be the next great chocolatier, but that didn’t necessarily mean he’d be awful in bed, right? (Perhaps whatever knowledge he lacked in chocolate-making was reserved for love-making.)

In fact, when she thought about his overly excited expression when he passed her that box the week before, the way his spade-like, stitched tail swung wildly behind himself, she couldn’t help but smile despite her better judgment. Maybe it was the surge of hormones that every bun experienced around this time of year, but the whole display had been rather cute, remembering it now.

Milla sighed. If she came to regret it in the end, she could always just break it off. It wasn’t like giving him a chance came with some contractual obligation to keep him around, if things got a little too weird.

It was after a gig, far too late for a polite bun to drop in unannounced anywhere, that she stopped off at a corner store to pick up a box of chocolates. For being so particular about the gift she’d been presented last week, Milla wasn’t especially picky about the box she chose. The one she picked merely had to be the right combination of heart-shaped, filled with chocolate, and held on a display right next to her favorite brand of canned coffee in the cooler. As long as it met those criteria, it was the perfect gift in her eyes.

With the little plastic bag in hand, she headed to where an acquaintance of an acquaintance had told her Friedrich lived… of course, the last place she expected that address to lead her was an actual laboratory. She double, triple checked the address, and considered leaving to come back at a more reasonable time, but ended up approaching the entrance to the building regardless.

Was this a ‘trust the process’ or a ‘leap of faith’ kind of moment? Whatever it was, she had a box of chocolates and canned coffee, and she was going to see it through to the end. She’d come this far! Milla took a deep breath and pressed a single finger to the buzzer, noting the camera overhead.

“Mm– huh?!” His voice came from the speaker in front of her, slightly staticky but more than clear enough to make out. She waved at the camera with her free hand. “Milla! I’ll be right down!”

For as big as the building was, the speed at which Friedrich made it to the door was absolutely impressive. When he threw open the heavy industrial door, he wore his signature lab coat, bearing the same stitches as his markings, and a pair of haphazardly tossed off goggles hung around his neck. He was certainly out of breath, but whether that was at Milla’s presence or descending flights of steps and crossing half an industrial laboratory at breakneck speed remained to be seen. “Milla– hi– how– why–” Freidrich couldn’t seem to decide on which question to start with, so he went for all of them at once.

“I brought you chocolate,” she said, a flush creeping onto her cheeks in spite of herself. “And coffee.” Without another word, she dug into the plastic bag to retrieve her own can, then held out the rest for Friedrich to take. His eyes, mismatched like her own, widened.

“Chocolate? For me? I thought…” He took the bag regardless, peeking inside at the box she’d purchased.

“I just thought… you went through the trouble of making those chocolates for me, so I should return the favor.”

Friedrich took the heart-shaped box from the bag, examining the back where it detailed the types of chocolates within. His smile only grew as he read through the varieties on the back of the box. “Oh, my days! How did you know?”

Milla straightened up a little in surprise. “Wh-What?”

“How did you know that this is my favorite dark chocolate sampler? This was so thoughtful of you!” She could have sworn she saw a single tear form in the corner of his eye; somehow, in a vaguely horny haze, she’d located a gift that had evidently touched him to the core. Milla was the type of bun who liked to listen when she felt that the universe was giving her signs, and thinking back to all of the different colors and varieties of boxes at that corner store, it did feel significant that this was the first her fingers had grabbed for.

“Er… I just had a hunch,” she replied, rubbing at the side of her arm. “Do you like coffee? This one’s my favorite brand.” Milla pointed at the can he’d left in the bag.

“Oh!” Friedrich exclaimed. “This is my favorite brand, too.”

A slight smile pulled at the sides of Milla’s lips. Maybe it meant nothing, but the overly romantic side of herself that had decided on a whim to come here tonight couldn’t help but feel warm all over. This could mean something, right?

“Well,” he continued, “I haven’t really tried it yet, but this could be my favorite.” He offered a toothy grin and jabbed a thumb back at the inside of the lab. “Wanna come inside?”

She was just going to pretend that she didn’t hear the first part.

Milla leaned in, peeking at the darkened hallway behind him. “I wanted to ask about that. Do you… live here?”

Friedrich gave the vaguest shrug she could imagine before stepping back to hold open the door for her. “Kind of,” he replied, which was just as vague. “Let me show you what I’ve been working on! Since you said the last batch looked inedible, I’ve been working on synthesizing better chocolate compounds, and I think I’m really onto something here–”

“Actually–” Milla reached out to take his hand. The words “synthesizing chocolate” just did not sit well with her, or her stomach. “Why don’t we head back to my place, instead?”

The words seemed to set his cheeks alight with a deep red flush. “I… would really like that, Milla,” Friedrich replied, his hands wrapping around hers completely and giving a small squeeze.  “I can’t wait to try these chocolates.” (Again, she was going to pretend she didn’t hear that.)