-- SEXY MEXICAN MAID [Sandra]

[DEVIN JAMES THATCHER]

There was a light pep in his step as Devin walked down the aisle at the grocery store, humming happily to himself as he did so. His cart had all sorts of random ice cream toppings scattered at the bottom; a few people slowed their walk through the store to watch as he dropped fudge, caramel, cherries, sprinkles, and other random items in it with a happy smile on his face. Next stop was the ice cream! Once he found the brands that he liked, he stood at the glass door and stared at them for a few minutes before deciding on the flavors that he and Sandra liked the most. At this point it looked more like he was hosting a birthday party for twelve children than buying treats for he and his girlfriend.

"Is this all for you?" The cashier asked, appearing curious about the four different tubs of ice cream and wide array of toppings. Devin simply smiled. "Yep! I think I'm all set. Gotta make sure we have plenty to choose from." Noticing the cashier looked confused, he clarified by adding, "Me and my girlfriend are celebrating our birthdays." He chuckled and appeared a bit sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck before training his focus on the food as it passed the scanner. After exchanging pleasantries one more time, the boy grabbed the bags and practically skipped his way out of the store and towards his car. The only thing he could think about was his girlfriend, their birthdays, and...and ice cream. His mouth salivated at the thought.

When he arrived at her apartment, the boy hopped out of the car and grabbed the bags--checking first to make sure the ice cream did not melt too much on the way--and wandered up to the door. Uhh... Devin glanced between both sets of bags before deciding that it would probably be beneficial to set some down to knock on the door. When Sandra answered, he lifted up both hands to reveal the dessert. "Heyyy beautiful!" Devin greeted, leaning forward to give her a soft kiss. "I come bearing gifts! Lots of gifts. Four different ice creams and more toppings than we probably need." Or probably not, since the two of them probably had the capacity to eat all of it in a matter of a couple of days.

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Jetlag was awful, and even though it actually surprisingly didn't affect Sandra as badly as it might have other people (cough, her brother, cough), she was still rolling around in bed pretty late in the day. Japan was always fun, but fixing her schedule after getting there, then again after getting back, was much less fun. Then again, the fact that she napped so much as it was helped a little bit -- it wasn't uncommon for her to actually be asleep anyway at this time of day. She figured, however, that she should eventually get up since Devin would be coming over, and she didn't want to just leave the poor boy standing outside. If anything, she'd probably just make him nap with her, but actually once she'd gotten up and moved around a little she found that she was too excited and jittery to actually sleep.

She'd actually gotten up a while ago to have breakfast, but promptly gone back to sleep, which made this pretty useless. By now, though, she was hungry enough for their plans for the day, which was good, because who didn't want to make the biggest ice cream sundae imagineable and dive into it? There were few better birthday celebrations, seriously. Considering she wasn't going anywhere, she didn't even bother getting dressed -- pyjamas were the way to go, and she didn't think Devin would mind -- but did spend a few minutes getting ready before plopping herself down on the couch to wait for him. It wasn't a long wait; there was a knock on the door a few minutes later, and she nearly tripped over herself hurrying for the door. She was usually an excitable person, but considering the trip to Japan, it had actually been a while since they'd spent much time together, and okay, she'd actually missed her boyfriend a lot -- shhh... as if it were a secret at all.

Her grin was ridiculous when she opened the door, after managing to get there without falling flat on her face or anything. "Ahhhh, hey!" she greeted, giggling a little bit at the kiss. "Gifts! I love gifts! Especially ice cream gifts. What kind do we have?" she asked, rambling on excitedly, taking some of the bags from him as he came in. "And what toppings -- oh my god this is heavy, did you buy the whole grocery store?" She was just teasing, in a silly mood because she was excited, but how could she not be? It was their first date since before she'd left, and they had ice cream and, judging by all the groceries, probably more toppings than she could even think of, at least off of the top of her head. There were lots of toppings out there to choose from, though.

Sandra ditched all of the bags on the kitchen counter for the time being -- hopefully the ice cream wouldn't melt before they actually ate it -- and then turned back to him, pulling him into a hug. "Hiii, I missed you," she told him with a giggle, her voice a little muffled by the hug. A month's separation was a long time. She pulled back after a second, however, the wide grin still on her face. "And, and, happy early birthday! Oh, and I have gifts too actually! Not ice cream, but... chocolate. So." Okay, so they both liked food a little too much. "But remind me later! Because... y'know... ice cream." She laughed a little bit, gesturing at the bags. She had her priorities in order, after all. Ice cream would melt! It had to come first!

[DEVIN JAMES THATCHER]

It had been one long, agonizing month while Sandra was away in Japan, and it was evident by his smile that he was incredibly excited to see her. The smile she wore only encouraged his own and it was starting to make his face hurt. If his hands hadn't been full he would have pulled her into a hug and made some sort of romantic greeting. "Ice cream gifts are the best kind of gifts!" Devin agreed happily. He examined the bags and nodded to each tub as he spoke. "French vanilla, butterscotch, cotton candy, and chocolate chip. Do those sound good? There were a lot to choose from..." So many that he considered buying about four or five more but held back. They didn't need that many! He almost didn't allow her to take some of the bags but he had to admit that his fingers were starting to lose feeling. He smiled sheepishly and chuckled. "Nooo, not the entire store. Just...the ice cream and toppings section." There was a slight pout to his lower lip as he looked at her, playing innocent. Of course he was actually innocent but it was fun to play along.

He quickly followed her into the kitchen and set down the other bags before returning the embrace, laughing. "I missed you too," He mumbled, kissing her jaw gently and pulling her close. "Ugh, I missed you so much." He had been accustomed to having her around so often that when they went four weeks without face-to-face contact it was a bit difficult. The ice cream, even though it was only for a minute or two, was completely forgotten. He smiled back at her when she pulled back and ran a hand through her hair. "Happy birthday to you too! Are we getting old? We might be getting old." Age was just a number; they were both pretty energetic and, despite their eating habits, not all that unhealthy. Mentally, Devin was a bit younger than his birthday claimed him to be, but only in his ability to have fun and joke around. To live life. "And oh, chocolate! Sounds awesome. We should...probably put these in the freezer just in case." Giving her yet another kiss--the close proximity allowed for it--he squeezed past her and put all of the ice cream in the freezer for the time being.

"And uh...I actually have a real present for you, if you're interested." Devin said feebly, sounding almost nervous as he turned away from the refrigerator and looked at Sandra with a loving expression. He had saved up the past month or two for it. Luckily living with his aunt made it easier. Expelling a small sigh to release the bit of tension he felt in his chest, the boy reached into his back pocket and pulled out a box that was thin but rectangular in shape, yet short enough to hide in his pocket. "If you don't like it it's okay," He started with a nervous huff, walking over to her. He took her hand in his and turned it to face palm up, setting the box there. His fingers twitched nervously. "B-but I figured I'd try my hand at picking something out on my own." Inside was a silver necklace with a pendant attached to the chain; inside was one ruby and one alexandrite, a smaller gem stacked on top of another, slightly larger one. All he hoped was that she might like it.

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Sandra giggled and nodded a few times. "They are! Just... ice cream." She listened as he listed off the different types, then laughed a little. There was no real rhyme or reason to these flavours, it seemed, but that was perfectly okay -- they were all delicious, and that was what mattered. Plus, the two of them would probably eat anything slapped in front of them. "They all sound awesome! I love chocolate chip," she said, peeking into one of the bags to see if that was the one with the chocolate chip inside. It was butterscotch, but that wasn't important. Still awesome. "Actually I kind of love all of them but... you know. Oh oh, do we have rainbow sprinkles? Because those are the best too!" He probably didn't need to hear her rambling about ice cream when they were about to eat it, but that was a-okay. She giggled and shook her head at him. "There's probably kids going to the store right now to buy ice cream and they won't be able to find any! What have we done?!" That was okay -- they had plenty to share, if only those kids knew where to find them... Of course, Sandra was glad that wasn't happening, because this was all theirs, and some things were just not for sharing.

She snuggled against him, probably crushing his lungs with how tightly she was holding on, but okay, she really couldn't help it. "So much," she mumbled, rocking them back and forth a little with the hug. She was laughing, but less out of amusement and more out of just happiness and excitement and a bunch of mushy feelings. "Next time can I just... just pack you into a suitcase or something? And you can come," she told him, giggling as she withdrew, arms still hanging loosely around him as she kissed him. "Are we getting old? Are these wrinkles?" she asked, poking his forehead gently and laughing. She was just teasing -- he might be almost twenty now, but there were no wrinkles to be found. She certainly hoped she wasn't getting any either. They were still young! Or something! "Soon we'll be sitting in rocking chairs yelling at kids to get off our lawn. But at least we don't need teeth to eat ice cream and pudding and... other good stuff!" That day would not come soon, hopefully, but it was probably a very real future. Growing old was just part of life. "Oh, yeah," she said, blinking in a little bit of surprise when he brought up the ice cream -- she'd nearly forgotten it was sitting there in the warmth -- but she was distracted quickly by the kiss. She sighed a little. "Stupid ice cream. Being all melt-y and stuff." She giggled at herself. Now she was just being really ridiculous.

The change in his tone made her blink a little bit in surprise, and she tilted her head to one side, a little bit concerned, actually. She didn't really understand what he was saying until a few moments later, though, and when she did her face lit up. "A present?" she asked excitedly, biting her lip a little bit to contain the huge grin threatening to break across her face. "I'm sure I'll love it," she told him in all sincerity, watching as he pulled the box out of his pocket. Cheeks very pink, she opened the box with some difficulty. It wasn't hard to open -- she was just very jittery now. This time the grin spread easily across her face when she saw it. "Ahhhh, oh my god I love it," she said, nearly bouncing up and down on the spot in her ridiculous happiness.

The necklace was beautiful -- but more than that, it was something from Devin, and she couldn't even imagine what he'd saved up just for this. "You really didn't have to, it's so pretty, I -- wow -- why are you so cute?!" she asked, wrapping her free arm around him and kissing him again. "And it's perfect. Extra perfect because you picked it out. I... Here, can you..." She lifted the necklace gently from the box and offered it to him, seeing if he would help her put it on. Once it was fastened around her neck, she touched her fingers gently to the actual gems, still smiling ridiculously. She gave him another kiss and then just shook her head, still disbelieving. "Thank you," she said softly, realizing how much she'd babbled but had neglected in thanking him. "It's so nice and beautiful and I... feel like I need to go dress up to wear it now," she said with a giggle, but it really was the prettiest and there she was in pyjamas, all underdressed. Not concerned with that at the moment, however, she took his hand and gave it a tight squeeze, still holding onto the box with her other hand.

(orz sandra STOP BABBLING.)

[DEVIN JAMES THATCHER]

"I know you do," Devin replied sweetly, flashing a smile. They had been together for a long time--over a year now--and little things like that had been logged away in the back of his mind. He liked that he could bring her things she liked. He laughed. "Of course I did! I would never forget rainbow sprinkles. Like, what kind of ice cream lover would I be?" His arms flailed around dramatically, tilting his head back. The guy loved all kinds of food but sweets were some of his favorites. Fortunately his girlfriend did too so they could enjoy four tubs of ice cream together without an ounce of shame. "I...I don't know! But I wasn't really interested in sharing," Devin pouted dramatically. "I wanted us to have all the ice cream." Nah, ice cream wasn't all that cheap and while he wasn't broke, he wasn't sprouting money out of his ears either. Besides, most of his money went towards her gift.

He really had missed her while she was gone though. It was difficult for him to express how happy he felt having her in his arms again after an entire month. Work and family kept him occupied well enough, though. He chuckled, affection lacing his tone as he spoke. "Of course! I'm short and small. I could fit into a suitcase I think." The thought of being contorted into a pretzel shape and stuffed in a bag didn't sound appealing, but the destination sounded pretty cool. And of course it would be with Sandra. "Hmm, possibly," Devin thought for a moment, crossing his eyes and looking up as she poked him, laughing. "Do you think we could be mean enough to yell at kids?" He could hardly lift a fist to defend himself against bullies or anyone else interested in a fight; children would not be easy to get angry with. He smiled as she giggled after the kiss. She was so adorable.

The anxiety kept him from fully responding to her question, and instead offered a small nod of confirmation. He hoped she would love it but he never did have a lot of confidence in himself or some of his choices. This was no exception. However, the nerves dissipated into thin air at her response to the present, his own smile matching hers. "I'm so glad," He replied with obvious relief. "And I know I didn't have to, but--" The sentence was abruptly cut short as she kissed him, his stomach doing its usual flip as he rested his hands on her hips. "...but I wanted to. You deserve it. Ah, sure, let me.." He waited until she turned around to clasp it around her neck. It looked good on her and it made him so happy to see how much she enjoyed it. When she faced him again, Devin leaned into her--and the kiss--and placed his hands on the counter behind her. "Pffft, you don't need to dress up. You're perfect, even in pajamas."

Feeling overly affectionate at the moment (though those moments seemed to happen quite often) he gave her another small kiss before smiling and using a finger to touch the gems around her neck. "Our birthstones," Devin started quietly, trailing his finger up to her neck and over her shoulder. "You and me. They can even add birthstones to it later, too. But...I figured this meant a little more than just a set of earrings or something." A family pendant, he believed they called it, seemed suitable. They had a lot of life ahead of them and there were no plans like that for a long while but it was the one thing that truly caught his eye in the jewelry store. Something that could hold a lot of value as time went on. "I love you," Devin said, smiling at her again as he searched her face with a soft expression. Sandra made him the happiest guy alive.

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Sandra just smiled -- or continued smiling, really, because she was kind of all endless smiles right now -- when he said that he knew. There were lots of little things she'd picked up on since they'd started dating that she'd never been able to pick up on before. She liked that, actually, even when it was just silly things like favourite ice cream flavours or whether or not Devin actually ate the red Smarties last. "I don't know! A really bad one! But luckily you brought them so you're still a pretty good ice cream lover, I think." She grinned. "Otherwise we might have to revoke your certificate!" Man, if there was a certificate for loving ice cream, Sandra would so have that hanging proudly on her wall. She giggled at him."So selfish! ...But it's okay, I wouldn't share either," she told him, sighing. Those kids would have to find ice cream elsewhere, unfortunately.

She snuggled again into his shoulder, not quite ready to let go yet. There were a month's worth of hugs to make up for, okay, and she was feeling extra affectionate right now. "It's too bad you're not just a liiiittle smaller, then I'd keep you in a carry-on!" She smiled. No, even if this were possible she wouldn't make him do that. It would be pretty uncomfortable, she figured, and the trip to Japan was (obviously) long. "Or one day maybe you can just come for real," she said thoughtfully, thinking it over. Flying to Japan was really freaking expensive, though. It didn't have to be Japan! She liked the country and her family and scattered friends there but, in the context of this conversation, she just wanted to spend time with her boyfriend. "You're getting old," she teased, giggling as he went cross-eyed. "And probably not. Maybe we can be those nice old people instead, that bake cookies and give out lots of Halloween candy every year. And stuff." She had her priorities in order, clearly.

Though she noticed the relief in his voice, she couldn't even do anything but just smile and shake her head at him, a little bit speechless over this whole thing. It was so unnecessary but awfully sweet and, given the opportunity, Sandra could probably just gush about the gift for days. "You're just the cutest thing in the world," she told him, shaking her head. "I don't even know what I did to deserve this but -- I -- you're just the best, did you know that?" She hoped he did. Her smile wouldn't leave her face, either way, and all she could do was just watch him and squeal a little bit in happiness and ridiculously ecstatic feelings. His leaning in only encouraged this and she let both of her arms wrap around him now, still holding onto the jewelry box with one hand. "You're perfect," she said, shaking her head. "Just... totally perfect."

She sighed contentedly, still smiling but more calmly than giddily like before, and then inhaled slowly as he explained, one of her hands moving to rest on his shoulder. "You and me," she repeated quietly when he was done, nodding just a little. "It does! It... it means a lot." Sandra couldn't find the right words right now (could she ever?) but she watched him for a long moment. His words made her think about the future, which was interesting because it was, on the whole, something she just didn't like to think about if she could avoid it at all. In some things, however, it wasn't so bad. She usually just didn't know what she wanted, but she did at least have a general idea when it came to Devin. "In the future, huh," she said, seemingly at random, blinking a little. The thought made her smile and she bit her lip to try to contain it. They were still very very young now (though getting older by the minute!), of course. Sandra had no concrete plans about anything, at any point, ever -- all she knew was that her boyfriend made her really happy and she wanted that to continue. His words made the huge smile uncontainable, however. "I love you too." She pressed their foreheads together, breathing in and out deeply.

[DEVIN JAMES THATCHER]

Devin's mouth fell open, feigning shock and upset before drawing it shut and pouting dramatically. If Sandra looked close enough, there was even a quiver for added flair. "I would hope so! I don't want to lose my certificate. I worked hard for it." If anyone did not need to work hard for a certificate for food, it was Devin and Sandra. Her love of food only encouraged him even more. "I'm not selfish!...but wait, you wouldn't share with me?" He placed a hand on his chest. "You should at least share with me, if no one else." Then they could have all the ice cream to themselves. He wasn't a naturally selfish person, actually, but when it came to a night in with his girlfriend there was some since they missed the entire month of June, and it was their birthday celebration.

He crossed his arms, trying to look offended (emphasis on trying). "Hey, hey, I'm already travel size! Any smaller and I could fit in your pocket." Which, to be honest, didn't sound all that bad. Now his mind drifted towards images of being as big as Thumbelina and all the struggles he would go through in life. Like climbing a stair. Being short did have some disadvantages, especially considering his non-confrontational attitude. It made him seem even less intimidating. Devin blinked at her offer. "That...would be really cool, actually." The boy never really traveled; money was not overflowing and his aunt's job kept her busy. Oh, how he wanted to go out of the country and see something new, even if it were just over the border. Just for the hell of it. Japan sounded much better than just a simple jump into the U.S. so there was a small surge of eagerness laced in his smile. "I could see that." He agreed with her wholly, nodding. Chasing children off of his lawn did not seem quite in his personality anyway, as amusing as it would be in a cartoon or a TV show. He was far too nice for that. "I still want a cane though, just in case." He waved his hand around, wielding an invisible cane.

Devin merely shook his head to disagree with her but did not verbally dispute her comment, knowing full well that they were capable of going back and forth on these subjects for hours. The 'no you are' seemed to happen quite a bit. "You don't?" He asked, smiling mostly to himself. "You deserve this because you're you. You're good to me, and make me happy. No one deserves this and the rest of the world more than you." It sounded so cheesy, even as he said it, but in the same token nothing could be more true. Sandra was one of the first people that seemed to accept him as he was and expected nothing more, nothing less--outside of his family of course. She made him feel so special and loved. "I'm glad you think so..." Even now she made him feel on top of the world. He was surprised that one person could do something like that. It had to be magic, right?

Her movements caused Devin to close his eyes briefly, the smile still present and very complacent. Only Sandra could render him completely helpless with one touch and turn his brain into mush. He wanted to tell her but it would be hard to explain, so instead just relished in her touch and voice without even responding at first. You and me. A couple of years ago he never thought he would be standing here with her in a solid, happy relationship that made him infinitely happy. Nothing could express his emotions correctly. When she said 'the future', his blue eyes parted enough to look at her before glancing down. "I...yeah," He refrained from rubbing the back of his neck as per usual. "I mean, nothing like that for a long time...or anything. I just...I figured..." And now the rambling began, the boy a heap of random words. Great. After a few more attempts he went quiet and sighed. He felt silly now.

But those four words were incredibly reassuring. More reassuring than he let on.

Offering his girlfriend a smirk, he pushed the hair away from her face and used the hand on the counter as a means of pulling her towards him. "Good thing I put the ice cream in the freezer. It would've melted by now." Devin chuckled, giving her another kiss. He was so distracted at this point the food had been forgotten until only a moment ago. "Do you want some now? Or do you wanna wait?" Either way was fine with him, of course. Since when did he ever make a solid decision? Hardly ever.

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Sandra giggled at the pout. That was just way too overdramatic, but hey, it was cruel to take away his certificate just for forgetting rainbow sprinkles. "Rainbow sprinkles are serious business," she told him, her voice and expression not matching the whole "serious business" thing she was trying to go for. Mostly she was just being silly. "They'd probably just think you got the certificate by a fluke in the first place. Can't let that happen." It was okay. There were unfortunately no certificates for loving food that much, though she wondered what the point of it would be if it did exist. "Nooo, of course I would share with you!" she said, mouth falling open to kind of gape at him like that was an insane thought -- which it was. "I thought that was just assumed." It was her turn now to pout at him.

He really was so tiny -- taller than her, of course, but still tiny. His words made her smile. "Aw, a smaller you! I would keep you in my pocket and feed you chocolate chips and Cheerios and you can pretend they're donuts!" she said happily, realizing that this made no sense, but the image sounded pretty hilarious in an adorable way. It would also, unfortunately, be really weird, but hey, this was all hypothetical anyway. She nodded and grinned. "A big trip one day," she said as if making this a definite plan, as if she even knew what a definite plan was. "We should go everywhere, though. You should come visit Vancouver sometime! And... and... places! And things!" Vancouver was certainly a lot closer than Japan, and it occurred to her that she'd met a lot of Devin's family and he'd only really met Matthew, which was a rather inaccurate depiction of her entire family. "You can have a cane if I can have a rocking chair," she promised, laughing. Actually it wasn't like rocking chairs were difficult to find, but shhh. They didn't exactly keep one in the apartment or anything.

All she could do was smile and shake her head, her cheeks faintly pink, but it was definitely, definitely in a good way. "I'm glad you're happy," she said, knowing how cheesy all of it was, but then again, their whole relationship was just silly and sappy and fluffy and she really kind of liked it that way. Then again, Sandra had always been a little bit daydreamy. "I always do," she told him with a sigh, closing her eyes for a little bit too when he did, then opening them again to look at him. He really was perfect. She just loved him. When he seemed to struggle with his words, however, she frowned a little bit. That wasn't what she'd intended when she'd said those words at all -- she hadn't even really been totally conscious of saying them, honestly, and she didn't particularly like that he looked... like that. The feeling was hard to explain. "Hey..." She nudged his forehead gently with hers. "I know, I wasn't... I mean... Sorry," she said, shaking her head a little, going pink again. "Don't worry about it, y'know? I wasn't thinking anything like... that. I mean, I -- yeah, it's just -- I dunno. But you're the sweetest." She just didn't try to think about the future in general, at all. Sandra offered him a smile, though, brushing a hand against his cheek.

Giggling, she let him pull her closer, moving her hands to his hair as well and playing around with it absently. "Oh yeah, we have ice cream," she said, kind of joking but also kind of not at the same time -- ice cream was awesome but the gift and her boyfriend were just very, very distracting. She'd managed to forget that it was there. She smiled when she withdrew from the kiss. "Lucky you thought ahead, then. We can have some now if you want!" she told him, smiling easily. "Or if not we can just chill for a bit, I don't mind either way!" She probably wouldn't have minded even if they never got around to eating, because hey, sitting around and being lazy together was also a perfectly acceptable way for them to spend their time, and one that she enjoyed just as much, too. She was just always a cuddly person. In case he did want to eat, though, she dug around in the cabinet behind her and withdrew an ice cream scoop. "Aha!"

[DEVIN JAMES THATCHER]

Devin tried to envision himself as being pocket size and could only laugh. He wasn't exactly the tallest guy around either; standing next to his best friend Josh he felt like a midget in comparison. That was okay though! Being short suited him well enough. Sandra didn't mind at least. Or well, didn't seem to mind. "But what if I already pretend like Cheerios are small donuts?" He asked, poking out his lower lip in a dramatic pout. "I guess I could go with giant chocolate chips though. Damn...I forgot to get some for the ice cream." He pumped his fists downward and shook his head, realizing that he forgot so many awesome topping choices. If he bought them all though, he would probably go broke. "We can go anywhere and everywhere you want. I'll visit any place! I've been to Vancouver though." He had lived in Canada all his life so it was no surprise, though Devin thoughts weren't on taking a trip there to visit Sandra's family. That would make the trip entirely different. He nodded. "Deal!" Rocking chairs and canes. What an epic combo!

He was most certainly happy, no doubt about it. When the relationship was bright and steady and comfortable it was hard to not be happy about everything. He liked comfortable and consistent, something he never thought he'd grow to enjoy. Then again, he'd never had a chance to find a person that fit what he needed and wanted...until Sandra. That was why seeing a future with her was so simple. Of course there weren't any plans right then--the guy was still trying to figure out how to survive college--but still it was there. She stopped him from rambling by nudging his forehead, blue eyes glancing up to meet hers. "I just didn't want it to sound awkward," He started lamely, twitching his lips to the side. "I mean, the future isn't avoidable but...yeah. I should've just not said anything about it still. At least not for a bit..ugh." If he could smack his head against a wall, he would. The boy released a sigh and dropped his shoulders, trying to avoid feeling overly paranoid. Sandra seemed fine. "You're the sweetest too. Thanks." He offered a small but loving smile.

The hands in his hair made him feel relaxed and there was a subconscious murmur of happiness in his throat. Who didn't like having someone run a hand through their hair? "Yeah, yeah we do," He muttered, obviously distracted by his girlfriend. Good thing the freezer was preserving their ice cream from melting all over the counter while they had their mushy moment. It would be a sad day to have melted ice cream.

"Hmm," Decisions, decisions. Devin wanted ice cream but at the same time felt a little more cuddly than usual and just wanted to lay down on the couch and relax. Of course they could always do both! There wasn't much of a reason not to. He smiled when Sandra pulled out the ice cream scoop and gently took it from her, brandishing it like a sword. "Let's do ice cream and we can curl up on the couch and do absolutely nothing the rest of the day." That sounded like an awesome plan, he thought, as he pulled out the ice cream and set out the toppings. Once his bowl was topped off with a scoop of each flavor and all of the toppings available to them, he grabbed a spoon and skipped off to the living room. "I wonder how hyper this will make us..." Devin thought. They were in college and acting like kids! He loved it.

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Sandra liked her boyfriend's height -- he was still taller than her if only by a little, and it seemed that both of them had stopped growing for the most part, so there would probably be no random growth spurts in the future. They weren't fourteen or something anymore like they had been when they met. "Then... oh then I guess you could pretend they're regular-sized donuts, 'cause you'll be small enough!" she said, proud of her brilliant plan, but she burst out laughing at his overly-dramatic pout before settling down and planting a kiss on his cheek. So cute. "No chocolate chips? Nooo," she whined a little, making a much bigger deal out of it than she actually believed it was. "We can see if we have some, I think we might." She didn't know why they would, but they had all kinds of things. Both she and Matthew were big foodies. "Then I want to go everywhere," she said, pointing a finger at him to emphasize her point. "Everywhere. All the places! We can start small, though." Sandra smiled. Travelling around with Devin sounded fun.

The future was always daunting -- she didn't think about it, at any point, ever. When people brought it up, she made some light-hearted joke and let the moment pass by -- she really preferred not to have anything to do with planning or preparation or... anything. She was very much the type to live in the moment, and since it had always worked out so far and she was very much happy with life, she didn't see a problem with her plan. Even so, she didn't like that Devin was... upset, maybe. She didn't know if it was as strong a feeling as upset, or just more like unease. "It didn't," she tried to assure him, voice quiet. "I... Hm. I mean..." She didn't know what to say, acknowledging that it was a little awkward, but probably only because Devin had made it so. "I'm happy! That... you know... Kind of that we're... In it for the long run, I guess?" she asked, not unsure of the meaning but finding the words themselves funny to say. "Or something," she finished, cheeks a little pink only now. Still, she squeezed his shoulder gently when he spoke next. She was feeling mushier and sillier than usual.

She smiled. Ice cream was good, but so was just standing there being affectionate. It wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary for them, actually. Today it was especially pronounced. "Mm, ice cream..." She wanted ice cream. It was too bad Devin was being all distracting -- nah, actually, it wasn't bad at all. Even so, she smiled even wider when he decided on ice cream. "Wasn't that always the plan?" she teased lightly, grabbing bowls and handing one to him. Four scoops of ice cream (an extra large one of chocolate chip) and a pile of toppings all over them later, Sandra quickly shoved the cartons back into the freezer and skipped off into the living room. "Sugar sugar sugar," she enthused, already chewing on a stray gummy bear that she'd stolen from the bag after dumping a bunch on her ice cream to begin with. "We're either gonna be super hyper, or just like... super lazy." She demonstrated the second one by flopping down next to him on the couch, blowing hair away from her face when it fell in front of her eyes. "Probably really hyper first and then super lazy. Or something." Sandra giggled for no real reason, spooning some ice cream into her mouth (mmm...) and beaming at him. "So, so, tell me, what did I miss? How was the Hollow while I was gone?"