#i am asking for purely hypothetical reasons but also help me get my friend hooked

[lilacandladybugs]

If your friend agreed to watch one and only one episode of avatar the last airbender, which episode would you show them and why?

[voltage-vixen]

“I’ve been hit with Cupid’s arrow.” Toma

AO3

Valentine’s Day Countdown--- Day 2

Toma sighed for what felt like the millionth time this morning, as he glanced over at MC’s desk and rolled his eyes when he saw that she was still happily chatting away with Natsume. He glanced at the clock and saw it was already 12:30pm, which prompted the copywriter to shoot a glare at MC that went unnoticed by her.

Today was the day before Valentine’s Day, and Toma and MC were supposed to be grabbing lunch together since he had to leave town for a business trip later this evening. “Supposed to” being the key words, considering they were planning on meeting each other in the lobby at 12:15pm. About five minutes prior to their meeting time, Toma watched MC pack up her belongings and prepare to leave her desk, until her old childhood friend came strolling by to ask her a question.

While Natsume’s intentions originally were pure and regarding a prior discussion MC had with one of his clients, their conversation soon turned lengthy, and Toma assumed the old friends were reminiscing about their high school days together.

The sight of them being positively absorbed in their discussion, was causing an unknown flame to ignite within Toma. He intentionally dropped knocked a binder to the floor from his desk, and the loud sound caused both MC and Natsume to finally look over in his direction.

“Oh Toma, let me help you pick those up and sort them back into your piles,” MC offered, as she rushed over to help him grab the spare papers that were scattered over the floor.

Natsume remained at her desk and rolled his eyes before waving goodbye to MC. MC casually nodded back to him and continued to collect the papers. That is until Toma abruptly crawled under his desk, and yanked his girlfriend under with him.

“Pretty bold of you to keep me waiting that long,” Toma accused the dumbfounded woman. “It’s rude to blow off our Valentine’s Day date for another man.”

He flicked the top of her forehead, and MC scowled while quickly climbing out from underneath the desk. She smoothed over her skirt while checking to make sure their colleagues didn’t notice their secret exchange.

“I’m sorry I lost track of time, but it wasn’t intentional,” MC hissed, once she confirmed that no one else in the office was watching. “I didn’t realize you would be jealous of Natsume. He’s only a friend, so you have nothing to wo-.”

“I never said I was jealous,” Toma rebutted before MC could complete her sentence. “And if that’s the attitude you’re going to have, you can forget about Valentine’s Day this year!”

MC was about to snap back, but the sound of someone clearing their throat stopped her.

“Are you two having another one of your vivid brainstorming sessions?”

MC and Toma remorsefully spun around to see Mr. Tachibana flashing them a knowing grin.

“We’re sorry about that, sir,” Toma bowed his head. “We didn’t mean to allow our passion for the project to run overboard in the office in front of everyone.”

“We deeply apologize,” she atoned. “And actually, if you’ll excuse me, I just remembered that I have to go take care of something.”

MC turned on her heel and started to head in the direction of the breakroom.

Toma sighed in dejection and slumped his shoulders, completely forgetting about the fact that his boss was still standing beside him.

“Kiriya, this isn’t directed towards you or anything, but think of this as some general advice,” Shunichiro casually noted. “Hypothetically, I am willing to bet that most woman don’t enjoy fighting with their boyfriends, especially ones that have prior obligations that prevent them from spending a certain romantic holiday with their loved one.”

Toma’s jaw dropped as he watched the creative director return back to his office.

How does that guy manage to know everything going on inside the office?

Never mind, that! I need to go find MC and apologize for upsetting her.

He reached into the draw of his desk and found the red-jeweled heart pendant he wanted to surprise her with.

Internally scolding himself for letting his jealousy be the root cause of their petty fight, Toma squeezed MC’s present tightly in his hands, and scurried off into the direction she had left in.

MC collapsed down onto one of the chairs in the breakroom and scowled at her can of coffee.

Although she was frustrated with Toma’s reaction, MC was also irked by her own actions that lead to their fight. She had already been feeling bummed about not being able to spend Valentine’s Day on the actual day together with her boyfriend, so MC took the opportunity to get some last minute advice from Natsume on what else could be done to make their quick lunch date special.

I should have just been honest with Toma from the start about why I was running late, she glumly thought to herself.

Not that this entirely let him off the hook, of course. There was still no reason for him to take an abrupt tone with her.

“MC?”

Her head spun towards the door, where she saw a guilty looking Toma standing in the entryway. She silently watched him shuffle over and placed a colorfully wrapped package in front of her.

“This is for you,” he explained. “Ugh, I’m sorry about earlier. Let’s forget about it, and after you open your present, we can still squeeze in our lunch.”

Toma was taken aback when MC crossed her arms in front off her chest and slightly frowned.

I already apologized. What more does she want from me?

He cautiously pushed the present closer to her, attempting to gauge what was running through her mind, but MC maintained her solemn expression.

Clearly, she’s still upset. Looks like it’s time to woo her with my words, ands show her why I’m a first-rated copywriter.

“As sure as one can be when you look to the tree to see the morning sparrow, I’m equally as sure that I’ve been hit with Cupid’s arrow, when I regard my bountiful love for you.”

Toma’s face glowed a beet red color, and MC burst into laughter when hearing the corniness of his impromptu poem.

“A sparrow?” MC giggled at the silliness of the analogy.

“It was the only word I could think of that rhymed with arrow off the top of my head,” he muttered. “You’re the only person I would ever say such lame stuff too, by the way. You should feel honored.”

Toma cautiously patted the top of her head and squeezed her shoulder, before reluctantly pulling away.

“I regret how I treated you earlier,” Toma bashfully confessed. “He’s always flaunting your long-term relationship, and I was feeling a bit insecure. Especially since I can’t do anything special to celebrate the holiday with you tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to feel bad, Toma,” she tenderly reassured. “We don’t need to have a reason like a holiday to spend time together. I’m always happy to be with you, regardless of the circumstances.”

Overwhelmed with love by her sweet confession, Toma tugged her up from the chair and warmly embraced her.

“What if someone sees us?” MC anxiously wiggled out of his grasp.

Toma grabbed a hold of her sleeve and leaned in close to utter in a voice nearly lower than a whisper.

“Then it looks like our lunch is going to turn into an afternoon hooky,” he propositioned suggestively.

“Toma, what are we going to do about work?”

MC grumbled under her breath when Toma ignored her and started to head towards the elevator. Not wanting to be left behind, MC trotted off after him, only stopping to make a speedy detour at her desk to grab her bag.

Toma had already pushed the button to the elevator, and MC confronted once the doors were safely shut.

“You didn’t answer me! What are we going to do about work?”

Toma smiled knowingly at MC and thought back to his conversation with Mr. Tachibana.

“Somehow, I think they already know not to expect us back today.”

Chuckling at her puzzled expression, Toma wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and slipped on the pendant he had picked out for her to wear.

She glanced down at her new jewelry and broke into a huge grin.

“Happy early Valentine’s Day. Let’s spend every minute together until you have to leave,” she hummed into the crook of his neck.

Toma grunted his agreement, and they pulled away from each other when the elevator doors opened. MC walked out first to avoid suspicion from their other colleagues, and Toma stared longingly while he strolled behind her.  

Toma vowed that he was going to make sure MC had the best pre-Valentine’s Day celebration ever, and MC was making the same promise to herself as they walked out of the building, both planning on relishing in their sweet time together.

@agustd54, @firepurplestar