thearena | walking in the sunset again without a hassle

Who| Anna and Bro, then Bro and Aldo
What| Anna and Bro exchange valentines; Aldo has his first kill.
Where| Oot and aboot
When| V-day weekend.
Warnings/Notes| Death, language.

It was sort of funny, this whole Valentines gifts affair, but Anna's never been one to pass up an opportunity for a gift. Especially when there's a possibility of chocolates. But when she receives the parachute, a funny feeling erupts in her stomach at the realization that it's actually Valentines' Day. And she actually has someone to celebrate it with. Someone weird and wonderful, who she's very grateful to have been spending the first few weeks of the Arena with.

Rations have been scarce, but luckily Bro has been able to find game for them, and Anna's been scavenging berries, so they've gotten by pretty well in their little makeshift shelter, snuggled for warmth. She takes the parachute in with a big grin on her face, and plops down inside, unwinding her scarf from around her face.

"Hey. I got you something." Sort of. He'll definitely have to share with her. But she wants him to have it. She hides the heart-shaped box behind her back, cheeks flushed from the cold and from excitement.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is new for Bro. This is very, very new for Bro. He's never had anyone for V-day before, it's just not something he does. The whole relationship thing is fairly new, aside from a few one-off relationships in his past. Usually, he'd just be doing some sort of smuppet special for the website back home. Something steamy and cheesy to really make the housewives hot and bothered. He can't do that now, and now he has a girl to take care of and spoil.

He's never been the best at giving gifts, but he's pretty sure he's really nailed it this time and it's the only thing he's nailing for a good, long while. He's just putting it away when she returns, wanting to surprise her with it. Only, it seems like she has a surprise of her own.

Bro turns quickly, acting as if he's not just been hiding her gift. "Yoooo- did you? Is it more berries? Please tell me it's more berries. I just can't get enough of your berries." Please don't let it be more berries.

Anna lets out a snort. "It's not like I do anything to them, dummy, they're just berries." She adjusts so she's sitting cross-legged next to him, turning to hide the parachute as she opens it back up and taking out the box. "But no, you're wrong! It's not berries at all. It's something much, much better!" In her opinion, anyway.

"Now, close your eyes. And keep them closed! No peeking." She giggles, waiting for him to follow her bossy princess orders, before reaching over and placing the heart-shaped box in his lap.

"Tadaa! Happy Valentine's Day!"

Oh good, she believes he enjoys the berries. She can keep thinking that, because he'll never tell the truth. It's not that he hates them, he's just tired of eating the same damn thing every day. Ah well, they'll all die eventually and probably get resurrected, so it's not like it matters that much in the long run. "I know, they're just... I dunno. Magical."

He raises an eyebrow, but it's hard to judge her too hard when she's so fucking adorable about it. In their time together, he's really warmed up to the idea of being with her and he's far less guarded about it now. He might as well enjoy himself, right? It's times like this that she's so impossibly childish that it's endearing. "Fine, fine." He closes them, folding his arms over his chest with an exasperated sigh.

When she tells him to, he opens his eyes and looks down, his eyes actually widening when he sees it. "Fuck, are you for real?" he asks, taking the box into his hands and staring at it like it's solid gold. "You mean you ain't already scarfed these down yourself?"

"Hush," she chides him gently, swatting at his arm. "They're nothing." But really, she's pleased, even if he's only flattering her. It makes her feel like she's actually contributing something to this whole partnership. This relationship. They hadn't gotten off to the easiest start, but after a couple of weeks she's remembered why she wanted to be with him in the first place. Things are so easy when they're not bickering and blame-shifting. It feels so...nice to just have things back to normal. Or, what passes for normal.

She watches excitedly as he opens his eyes, and in her book his reaction is a winner. Anna lets out a squeal of excitement. "Do you like them? I asked for them thinking it'd be a nice surprise for you." She wrinkles her nose at him. "Of course not! I have some self-control."

Oh, if only Anna knew what she actually contributed, she wouldn't feel the need to find any damn berries. She contributes the heart to this partnership. The soul. She's what keeps it all going, otherwise Bro would've fucked off a long time ago and went about his business. She's keeping him grounded here, instead of getting into fights and getting killed like he probably would under the guise of protecting everyone.

"Do you? Do you really?" he asks, before giving her a nudge. "I'm teasin'. Of course I like 'em, they're chocolate. Everybody likes chocolate." He opens the box, plucking a chocolate out and examining it. "But I love it, cuz it's from you." Ew, he's getting domestic and mushy. "I got something for you too, though. You gotta close your eyes, too."

Anna just giggles. "I knew it," she says. "If you didn't like chocolate, I think we'd have a problem here." Except not really, because then there'd be more for her. "You do have to share with me, though." Like he has a choice.

But there are more exciting matters at hand, and Anna bounces in her seat. "Yes! Ohmygosh. Okay. Here we go." She closes her eyes and covers them with her hands. "Ready!"

Bro cuts her a look when she says the S word, because who shares chocolate? Not this guy. Not anybody with a sane mind. Okay, he guesses he can share the chocolate. Reluctantly. Very reluctantly.

But more importantly, he eyes are closed and it's time to give her the gift. It's the best fucking thing he's ever seen in his life, so he's confident that she's going to love it more than anything. Maybe even more than chocolate. It's way batter than chocolate. He shifts forward and reaches out, gently placing a crown made out of nachos on her head.

She looks so fucking beautiful right now, it almost brings a tear to his eyes.

Anna's not quite sure what to expect; will it be something ironic? Something vulgar? Really, anything is possible. She's not expecting him to place anything on her head, but it happens, and her nose wrinkles. There's a smell, and it's hauntingly familiar. It smells like Dave.

Cracking her eyes open, hands lowering, she looks up at Bro a bit incredulously. "Is that...Doritos?" One hand reaches up to feel at the object he'd put on her head. Holy hell. "Is that a crown of Doritos?"

Bro is confident that after the initial surprise and confusion wears off, Anna is going to love it, so when she looks at him like that, he doesn't look phased. "Nachos, actually!" he says in a cheerfully matter-of-fact tone. "I thought about doritos, but I realized nachos were better. Because see- it's held together by dry nacho cheese, so it's delicate. Like a real crown."

He leans in, looking more excited than he ought to. "I got it 'cuz you might be a Princess, but you're my queen, baby."

Anna squeals quietly, honestly just overjoyed that he seems so excited about it. It's rare to see him show any emotion except for 'raunchy' and 'vulgar,' so his cheerfulness is refreshing. He's obviously very proud of how well-thought-out this is. Smiling fondly, she reaches out to pat his cheek. "That's the sweetest thing ever," she gushes, feeling her cool cheeks grow warm at what he says next.

"Oh--wow. I bet you say that to all the princesses."

It is rare, but it's moments like this where it's totally worth it. She's happy, he's happy, he's riding a high from Valentine's day that he's never really ridden before. He'd never bought into the schmoopy droopy nonsense before, but he can definitely see the appeal. It helps having a girlfriend, of course.

"Shhhh," he says, waving a hand dismissively in regards to both the things she says. "You're wrong about one thing- it ain't sweet. Give that thing a lick and things are gonna taste real salty."

Wait, are they still talking about the crown, or-

Anna just snorts, and she's still naive enough after almost a year of knowing him that any suggestiveness flies right over her head. "Whatever you say, weirdo," she laughs. "I wish I had a mirror, I want to see what I look like as the Nacho Queen."

walking in the sunset again without a hassle

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