2256/A Well Rounded Chat

A Well Rounded Chat
Date of Scene:	21 January 2025
Location:	Ice Cream Parlor
Synopsis:	Ikiko, Mie, and Molly meet up by chance in the Ice Cream parlor and discuss milk, yorkshire pudding, picnics, beef, and auto racing. All in the time it takes to eat some ice cream.
Cast of Characters:	Molly Skyline, Mie Kitamura, Ikiko Hisakata

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Molly Skyline has posed:
Monday afternoon in Tokyo, and school's out, which means all the teenagers are out around town looking for something to do that isn't homework. Gotta hang out with your friends, right? That's so much better than homework. Right? Right. (At least sometimes.)

Or sometimes you've just found yourself wandering around alone, which is fine too, and that's where Molly's at right at this particular moment. She doesn't really have a big homework load today, and she doesn't see any great need to go straight home (even if tonight isn't a night where she needs to help in either her Mom's restaurant or her other Mom's auto shop) so...

Ice cream it is.

Time to try a new flavor. And hey, while she's lining up she scans the room to see if anyone she knows is here.

Mie Kitamura has posed:
One thing Mie likes about Earth is its cuisine. Sure they have ice cream in Marchenland, but she was never really allowed to have any while she lived there. Here, however? Ice cream galore. So she's here.

She enters the establishment dressed like every other student from Radiant Heart and queues up in line. There's something about the girl in front of her that seems familiar, but she can't quite place a finger on it.

"I wonder what new flavors they have this month," she muses aloud.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
With it being a not-as-cold-as-usual winter's day, Ikiko has warmed up quite a bit from visiting the strays in a nearby neighborhood and making sure they get an extra meal. A few of them even had some good news, as one of the local families had taken a liking to them and were essentially adopting them off of the streets.

And what better way to celebrate the good fortune of a (canine) friend than having a yummy treat?

The ice cream parlor seemed rather fitting as a winter treat, especially to make up for the weather -- while the (barely) above-freezing weather was good for the strays, it doesn't feel exactly wintry. Walking in, the elementary-schooler joins the line, not immediately recognizing the girls ahead of her... but that voice does sound slightly familiar.

"It being a surprise will probably just make it tastier," Ikiko remarks with a smile.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is in line and about to be next, when she hears Mie's question behind her, and Ikiko's afterwards. She pauses, her brain still focused on the menu and the wheels turning slowly. That's it, Molly. Switch gears. She finally manages to turn and look over her shoulder.

"Oh! Hey! Uhm," she muses, totally not recognizing anyone that she feels like she probably should, "So if you don't mind a suggestion, I had the Royal Milk Tea flavor last time, and it was awesome. I'm probably not going to have it again today just 'cause I actually had it not just last time but the last three times."

And then it's her turn. Molly ends up ordering two scoops of lavender ice cream in a waffle cone with lots of sprinkles because who doesn't want sprinkles, and moves aside while it's being put together so people can keep ordering.

Mie Kitamura has posed:
Mie turns when Ikiko speaks and nods sagely. "Indeed. it is hard to be let down by ice cream." Molly's suggestion is worthy of thought, however. "Royal Milk Tea," she muses. "Is it milk that comes from royals? That would be... unusual." To say the least. "No royal I know would allow themselves to be milked."

"Still," she says as she steps up to make her order. "I shall try it. In a waffle cone. With sprinkles."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko nods at the recommendation, then stifles a giggle at the... unconventional logic noted by the girl ahead of her.

...wait, unconventional? That seems...

    ...slightly familiar, somehow?

Stepping up to the counter after Mie is done, Ikiko also orders a Royal Milk Tea waffle cone with sprinkles, glancing at both Mie and Molly, rummaging through her memory to recall why both of them seemed slightly familiar -- and for more than just all attending RHA, as the school uniforms made clear.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly laughs, "No no, it's... just a type of tea, it's not made with milk from royal... royals," she finishes, stumbling over a... definitely a mental image. Good grief. "It's perfectly safe, I promise. Like, my Mom likes a brand of coffee from North America called Kicking Horse, but it's not made from horses or anything, it's just, like, coffee."

And honestly coffee might be a good flavor for ice cream. She quickly looks up at the menu to see if it's an option here.

Looking is interupted when her ice cream is handed to her over the counter, and she grins as she thanks the server.

"...There's a table that just opened up over by the window," she says, looking back to Mie and Ikiko. "I'm gonna grab it." She starts walking towards said table, "You're both welcome to join me!!"

Mie Kitamura has posed:
Like Ikiko, Mie is sure she's met these two people before, but she can't quite pin down where or when, so when Molly invites her to sit with them, she takes her up on her offer.

"So how is Royal milk different from regular milk?" she asks as she's handed her dessert. She takes a tentative lick of the ice cream and nods in satisfaction. "It is sufficiently delicious, regardless," she declares.

Once sat at the table, she glances at the other two girls and announces, "I am sure we have met before, but I cannot recall the circumstances. So, I shall introduce myself again. I am Mie Kitamura, 9th grade."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Sure!" Ikiko smiles to Molly at the offer, catching the hint of a residual accent in the voice of the other girl. Not enough for immediate recognition, but definitely enough to tell that it was something that was noteworthy in her memory.

The younger girl nods at Mie's question, and also her statement of the tastiness of the ice cream. But it's the (re-)introduction that causes Ikiko's eyebrows to rise.

"Strawberries..." she whispers to herself, then shakes off her surprise. "Ikiko Hisakata, 6th grade," she states. "Nice to meet both of you!... or, well, re-meet, as it seems."

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Molly Skyline, tenth grade. ...And yeah it's a European name, I'm from England originally."

Like they couldn't figure that out from the Union Jack on the back of your denim jackat, Molly.

The purplenette remains oblivious to how overly obvious she is, as she just takes a seat and sets about enjoying her ice cream. After a couple of licks she mmms, "You know, I'm sure I've met both of you before, too. Not sure exactly when or where. But, hey." She shrugs her shoulders. "It's a big city."

As she resumes the enjoyment of her ice cream, she can't quite help but chuckle. "I've no idea what makes royal milk different from regular milk. Probably nothing outside of how it's prepared I'd imagine."

Mie Kitamura has posed:
Mie scowls in confusion. "How do you 'prepare' milk beyond... extraction?" She takes a few licks of her ice cream to see if she can tell the difference. "Perhaps it is because it is sweet?"

"It is, indeed a big city," she comments. "But wouldn't that make the likelihood of us meeting each other beforehand less likely than more? I suspect it is because we all go to the same school."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko taps her chin as she contemplates Molly. Name is definitely familiar, yeah; that was...

Oh. Right. That weird picnic Usagi hosted.

    (to be fair, it wasn't Usagi's fault that things wound up weird, but her bumps and scrapes were an inadvertent catalyst to the odd things that happened at that picnic)

"Bigger city means more places to possibly meet, which means more places to try remembering where you met someone," Ikiko shrugs to Mie. "Attending the same school does help with narrowing things down, though."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is, at this particular momen, entirely cluseless to where she's met these two girls before. She's just positive that she has. Oh well; work brain! Work! On something other than RPGs and automobiles. You can do it!

While her brain is busy trying to piece thigns together, the purplenette just shrugs, "I mean, I'm... really not an expert on milk preparation," she admits, "But I can tell you that all ice cream is made of it. It's just... I mean it's cold and it's whipped into ice creaminess, somehow, I don't know how to actually do it."

"And yeah," she adds, "Us going to the same school probably helps. I bet it's how we managed to all pick the same ice cream shop. Oh!! That's right." she nods back to Mie, "There's a fair bit that goes into making milk consumable after it's," she ahems, "'extracted', like you gotta pasteurize it and stuff. ...but beyond that I really don't know." She pauses again, furrowing her brow at Ikiko.

"Did you go to a picnic one time? Hosted by Usagi-chan?"

Mie Kitamura has posed:
"Interesting," Mie says between licks of ice cream. "I shall have to investigate this further. I don't think these things happen in Marchenland. But then again, I am not the one who milks the cows. I only eat them."

She watches curiously as Molly and Ikiko try to figure out where they've met, when it suddenly occurs to her that she has met Molly before.

"Ramen!" she shouts, pointing at Molly. "We met at the ramen place and we discussed racing."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Yup, that was it," Ikiko nods to Molly, a bit of a rueful smile on her face before she takes another lick of her ice cream. "Definitely enjoyable, even if it did get a bit odd." She didn't recall how the purplenette reacted to some of the more magical incidents, so she's still not sure if Molly is in the know about stuff.

Come to think about it, she could say the same about Mie as well...

"I take it you're fond of beef?" the younger girl asks innocently. Marchenland doesn't sound particularly familiar, but Ikiko isn't sure if it's some esoteric location in Europe or something more... not-mundane. But best not to inquire directly -- at least, not right off the bat...

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is racking her brains. Is there a place in Europe called Marchenland? It sounds German. Or, maybe Dutch... hmmm. Probably not Belgian. Luxembourgish maybe?

Oh, beef. "I lvoe beef," Molly offers. "Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding is the best. Don't get me wrong, I love the food here in Japan and honestly it's... better than back home, but roast beef with Yorkshire puddings can't be beat. Some veggies, a little horse raddish... perfection."

The purplenette hrmms, glacning towards Ikiko. "Yeah, things did get weird," she agrees, "Some might say magical. You never know." She tilts her head again, now back to Mie, "Oh!! Yeah, we did. That's my Mom's place, come by any time you like and I'll make sure you get a good table if I'm there. And yeah! I'll never say no to talking about racing, I can't wait to get my first car."

Mie Kitamura has posed:
"Yes. Beef." Mie confirms. "And sheep. I have not had Yorkshire pudding before, but I do like pudding. Yorkshire is a place in England, yes? I take it that the name comes from a special recipe that they make, rather than being made of the people there. Perhaps sometime you can prepare it for me. "

She nods at Molly's offer. "I will take you up on that. Your mother's noodles are quite tasty." She tilts her head curiously, "Do you plan on racing your car?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko blinks a bit at Mie's musings about Yorkshire pudding, then remembers the sugar glass strawberries and the skewer they were served on. Extreme omnivore's gonna extreme omnivore, she guesses?

Molly's precise turn of phrase gets a big smile and a brief wink -- definitely a 'there is more knowledge here than the usual', even if it's not an outright confirmation. And if she's willing to use that minimal of a masking of terms with Mie around...

The younger girl nibbles on her waffle cone as she likewise chews on these implications. No outright confirmations, but there was definitely a direct hint... and quite possibly an indirect one, to boot.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is getting to the stage of munching on waffle cone as well; now it's alternating between munching on cone and licking ice cream. The two go hand in hand. "This lavender ice cream is really good," she pronounces, "So if either of you haven't had it before, I recommend it." She pauses, and laughs, "And no, Yorkshire pudding isn't made out of people from Yorkshire. They'd respond poorly if you tried. ...I... don't actually know how to make it though, my English Mom usually handles that."

Molly returns the wink to Ikiko, as she continues, "I do plan on racing my car. I'm gonna learn how to work on it too, so I can make it the fastest thing on four wheels and beat all the boys."