Stop and Smell the Flowers [Mu/Yuki]

The blonde blushed and looked down at the muffin he had yet to finish, breaking off a piece and placing it in his mouth so that he wouldn't have to respond for a bit. Once he had finished, however, he let out a cute little huff of air "I doubt he would want to have kids with me anyway. It's almost like he ignores my existence." Mu looked at the white haired female with sad eyes "Do you think he notices? That I like him? It would explain a lot..." He chewed on his lip for a moment before deciding a piece of the muffin would be a better target for his gnawing. He placed another piece in his mouth and simply waiting for his other teammate's answer.

Yuki shrugged. "Occam's not the easiest person in the world to read. He's really good at keeping secrets. Maybe he does notice. Maybe he doesn't care. Or maybe..." She leaned closer and put a hand to the side of her mouth as if to be discrete. "Maybe he's being plain hard to get.", she said with a wink. The girl leaned back and took another sip of tea. "I don't know how he feels for sure. I can only guess as much as you can. But I know he acknowledges you enough to be a teammate, and along with that, someone to care for as such."

Mu thought about that for a moment. He honestly doubted Occam was the type to play hard to get, but he couldn't help the little nugget of hope that was blossoming in his chest. Maybe Occam did like him? And if not he might come to like him in time...Yeah, all he needed to do was be optimistic and persistent and he would get his dream guy "You're totally right. I shouldn't worry so much." A bright smile lit his face and he placed another bit of muffin in his mouth. As he was chewing, a thought occurred to him and he quickly swallowed in order to direct a question at his friend "I know this is sudden but...D-do my bugs still bother you...?"

Yuki's eyes quickly glanced down to the mug of tea, staring into the reflections and scanning over the light rings that would stain upper areas inside it. "...I've been wanting to talk to you about that...." She turned the mug back and forth a few times before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. The moment she exhaled, the girl looked up to stare Mu straight in the eye. "I've only ever seen them in combat. Never outside of it. The thought of how terrifying they can be sends literal chills up my spine. But... I did hear of a method people use to lose fear of bees or spiders, where they are slowly introduced to them. I... I thought I'd ask to try that with you... Since I don't really have any bugs of my own and... I wouldn't be able to do it myself anyways..."

Mu listened intently and nodded at his best friend, a slight hint of concern in his eyes "I am willing to, if you're sure. But if you get too uncomfortable, please tell me and we'll stop." He took a deep breath himself and nodded. He held out his hand and a single bee fluttered from his sleeve. It buzzed around curiously before moving out and settling on Mu's muffin. It seemed to just look about the muffin a bit before moving to one of the chocolate chips, appearing to begin to eat. It was completely oblivious to the two watching it as it enjoyed the rather large treat.

YUki nodded, although she seemed a bit surprised Mu decided to try this here and now. She took a sip of tea, finishing the cup and stared at the insect. It was really small, a bit of hair on its thorax. It was a petite thing, black with golden bands and dusky brown wings that glittered gently. Yuki didn't feel too overwhelmed from seeing just one, especially since it was more focussed on enjoying a sugary treat than anything else. "They like chocolate?", she asked, watching the bee's red tongue prodding at the chip.

Mu nodded and gave a small smile, seeing that Yuki didn't have too much of an adverse reaction to the small bee "While they mostly munch on my chakra, it seems to have tailored their tastes to mine. They like whatever sweets I like, but will eat little else. I am trying to figure out a way to use that in order to make a hive that sustains themselves on honey alone, so they don't have to reside in my body all the time. In case I decide to get a different hive." He watched the bee for a moment, looking at it enjoying it's snack "Hey Yuki, could you hold out your finger?"

"M-m-my finger..?", the girl stammered out. Yuki took a few moments to try to keep her calm, although she was suddenly nervous from what she could only guess would be having her holding a bee on her finger. He's your teammate. He wouldn't hurt you. He wouldn't let his bees hurt you. Trust him..., Yuki told herself. She held out a finger, slightly shaking from the uncertainty of how it would feel to have something crawling around on her finger.

Mu bit his lip when he saw Yuki shaking slightly. This seemed like a bit of a bad idea, but he hoped she wouldn't freak out too much. That would be bad "Okay. Here goes." He nodded towards the little creature and it took flight, fluttering slowly from the muffin to Yuki's finger in order to not startle her. It reached her finger and landed lightly, simply resting there for a moment before it looked around, beginning to turn in a small circle. It seemed to look at Yuki after it finished it's revolution, as if it was waiting for her reaction.

The moment the bee took flight, Yuki so badly wanted to retract her finger but instead forced herself to keep it there and instead looking away towards the window and closing her eyes until she felt something light land on her finger. There was a small jump from the shock and she felt a light tickle as it turned around to stare at her. Yuki took a few moments but slowly looked back over at the bee and watched it. She sighed and looked up at Mu, giving him a shy smile. "It's cute...but a little creepy that it's staring at me.", she said, although her voice sounded a little weaker than usual.

Mu sucked in a breath and tensed as Yuki jumped because holy Gaia he did not want her to freak out. When she looked at the bee and smiled at him he let out the breath in a big rush, returning her smile "They stare a lot. I don't think they can blink, actually." He rested an elbow on the table and placed his chin in his palm, watching the little creature as it began to slowly make its way across Yuki's finger "Tell me if it gets uncomfortable, okay?"

Yuki looked back down at the bee, its tiny legs bringing it further down her hand and near the base of her thumb. "Honestly, I'm more worried about accidentally freezing it... Bugs don't really like the cold, I think.." She slowly turned her hand in case the insect wanted to crawl onto her palm. "...Do you... Do you name them?", she asked trying to keep things less awkward and quiet. It wasn't a good question, since Mu had... a lot of bugs. There were probably too many to name with the numbers he had.

Mu giggled a bit but shook his head "There are much too many to name. I have something around forty thousand of these little creatures living within me, so naming them all is a bit challenging." He tilted his head as he watched the little creature make it's way to her wrist before turning and walking back the way it came "I do name the Queen, however. The current one is Abigail. Also, you don't have to worry about it freezing. In fact, it might help for it to be exposed to more cold. I am trying to breed a type of Ninhachi that is capable of withstanding colder temperatures, so they can mesh better with your skills."

"I guess so... Forty thousand is a really large number for coming up with names. I realise that's a really silly question to ask." She continued to watch the bee and put her hand down to rest her arm since she wasn't going to hold it up forever, and the bee was on top of her hand so it wouldn't get squished between her hand or the table. "Maybe not all of them need names. Though that sounds a little unfair that some get names and some don't.", she pondered out loud. "...Can.. Can I name this one? There...is a way to tell which bee is which, right?" Yuki was sure he could distinguish which bees were which based on really minute differences since he's been around with them longest. Maybe she was thinking too deep on it and they all looked the same to him? She wasn't all that sure.

Mu thought about it for a moment and realized that he could tell the difference between his bees, just really small things. Like some were black with yellow stripes and some were yellow with black stripes. He leaned in to examine the bee more closely, it held a little more fuzz on it's thorax and on it's legs. It's wings were also bore a rather elegant swirl design. He would easily be able to tell this one from the others "You can name her, and I'll know which one she is. She is pretty unique. It's a girl, by the way." He gave her a small smile and sat back a bit, just watching.

"Aren't most bees girls?", she asked before going quiet to ponder over a name for the bee. "Hm.... How about... Amelia?" Yuki watched the bee, noticing the light catching onto her wings to reveal the swirls. "....Bees aren't that scary... so long as they're not angry or attacking I guess....", she mumbled quietly. Wasps though... Wasps and hornets will always be scary.

Mu shook his head a bit at the question "Shinto insects are different from the norm. They were genetically modified to be the perfect little warriors and other things were changed as well. Most of the regular Ninhachi Hives are split evenly between males and females." He smiled at the little creature and nodded excitedly "Amelia is a wonderful name! Also, you don't need to worry about my bees getting angry or aggressive. I have complete control over them, so they won't attack you unless I ordered them to. And I would never do that because you are one of my very best friends." He gave Yuki a bright smile in order to calm her fears.

Yuki nodded and smiled back at Mu. "I... I put some time aside to try to read about bees to learn but I guess there is a much larger difference from regular bees and Shinto ones. I probably should have looked for literature regarding clan insects now that I think about it...", she mewed sheepishly, keeping her gaze on Amelia. With her other hand, Yuki extended a finger to touch the bee, softly brushing over the fluff along the thorax if allowed.

"The books on the clan insects are kind-of exclusive to, well, the clan. We sort of don't want other people to know too much about our bugs. Even something as mundane as their wing patterns or the gender of a hive's population." He tilted his head to the side and watched as Yuki pet the little bee. Amelia didn't seem to mind, and looked to be enjoying it as far as Mu could tell "Thank you, by the way. For trying to learn more about my bees. It shows that you care, and that you are putting effort into making our team work, while others would just avoid me. You're a great friend and I couldn't ask for anyone better."

Yuki kept watching Amelia crawl around and pause every few moments or so, as though she was continuously looking for a suitable perch to rest on and changing her mind. "Occam had a point when he said what he did. We are a team and we need to find ways to work with each other. I thought trying to study about the bugs you have would help a little... But... I'm happy you're so willing to help me get accustomed to your bees. You're also a great person." She didn't want to be more afraid of her teammates than need be. Every person has something to be wary or feared, but if it was someone in her team, it shouldn't hinder performance. "...How are you going to get them to adapt to the cold?", she asked, trying to keep herself from overthinking things as well as the thought of dealing with being around Mu's bugs when they swarm in a fight.

Mu leaned forward a bit rested his hands on the table, excited to tell his friend his idea "All animals breed selectively in order to make sure the best traits arise in later generations. While these traits may take years and years to take root in natural animals, the Shinto bugs are different. We are able to modify a single bug, enable it to reproduce, and voila! You've got a new version of Ninhachi at your finger tips!" He giggled a bit and wiggled his fingers "Just one little bug is needed. So if I have one bug become accustomed to your cold, I will be able to make a hive just like it. I am doing the same with Occam, since Lightning is extremely dangerous for my insects. But instead of having them become accustomed to Lightning, I am modifying a few in order for them to be able to consume the chakra within Lightning Release techniques, making them especially useful against users of Lightning Release."

Yuki seemed really interested in what Mu had to say. "Really? Mu, that's so cool! Would they be fluffy like moths to withstand the cold? I think they'd look super cute all furry and fluffy like that!" She paused and immediately looked down at the table. She made herself look overly excited and felt like she had gotten a bit too loud from it, feeling embarrassment wash over her quickly. Maybe they won't be fluffy but may still be able to shrug off cold... Shinto bugs are specially built after all... I really should stop referencing regular bugs to them..., she thought to herself silently, letting out a small sigh while mentally scolding herself. Her gaze shifted back onto Amelia who was sitting still for a while on her hand. "Should we go to a park or something a little more open and get some fresh air?", she asked once she had calmed herself down again.

He tilted his head a bit before nodding "It all really depends on how I want them to look. Fluffy little bees do sound absolutely adorable. I'll have to make sure that's how they look." He saw how excited his friend had gotten and then how she deflated just as quickly. He didn't want her to feel as if she was being overly silly or that she was embarrassing them, so he would make sure the bees were furry for her. He thought about a park they could go to, but one didn't come to mind "I don't think there are any parks nearby, but we could just walk around and look at the storefronts, if you want? We could still get some fresh air and maybe buy some new pretty things. I've been meaning to get some new kimonos."

He had a point... Parks were probably a little weird to have in a village that existed in a large cave. "Oh right, we could do that.", she mewed. She thought Mu had quite a few kimonos, but she guessed he never really have too many. "Your kimonos are always so pretty too. You have a really good eye for patterns and designs, Mu." She wondered if Kori could potentially get inspiration from Mu's kimonos, or if she already had inspiration from that particular clothing type. Maybe while they were out shopping and looking around, she could find something pretty for Kori to use or wear or maybe something to give Occam or Mu later as a small gift or surprise.

Mu dropped a tip for the waitress onto the table as he downed the rest of his hot chocolate. It was no longer hot, being simply warm now, so it was quite easy to finish it. He stood and smoothed out the kimono that he was wearing. He wrapped his muffin in a napkin and did the same to the desert Yuki had given him, stashing them in hidden pockets. Once he was done, he looked to his friend with a smile "Looks are always important, and I love looking my best. Are you ready to head out?"