Tokyo Narita (4/?): A Coalesce Short

Chuo, Tokyo

Japan

January 2018

11:23 AM

“Taking you to Ginza might have been a mistake,” Mathieu laughed. Huffing, Aether merely dragged him out of the third shop that way, one hand holding his and the other holding on to three separate shopping bags. “Aren’t you hungry yet, chérie? The last time we ate breakfast was at the hotel,” he mused. Aether, still dragging him, merely shook her head. 

“Not hungry. I’m shopping until I can’t walk,” she replied without looking back, to which Mathieu could only smirk at. He knew that she didn’t mean that (at least he hoped); it had been a couple of hours since they had last eaten. She’d have to be hungry somehow in another hour, or else he’d have to put his foot down. 

But then again, he thought, this is one of the times I’ll get to spoil her somehow. His eyes fell one of the shopping bags she grasped. He had bought her the coat she had seen in the second shop with a lot of coaxing; and if he had to be honest with himself, then that wasn’t going to be the last time he’d be spending money on her while they were in Japan. Not exactly. One of the things he loved was to spoil her rotten, and when coaxed enough, Aether would relent. At least until she starts insisting that she pay for her clothes and things herself.

Before he knew it, Aether stopped in front of yet another shop. She looked at him with a pleading look in her green eyes, and was about to open her mouth. Mathieu, however, gently took the shopping bags from her arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. That was enough to send her racing inside, the redhead smirking in amusement as he followed after her. 



The shop wasn’t as large as others; in fact, it was easy to spot Aether a couple of feet away. There were a couple of people in the store who were buying as well, and based on the small boxes and the mirrors he spotted, Mathieu judged that this was a makeup shop—one of Aether’s greater weaknesses. It was something he teased her about from time to time when they were back at home; he had seen her makeup collection and wondered how one woman could have so many lipsticks of similar shades. 

He tapped her shoulder. Aether peeked and saw him, holding two different shades of lipsticks in her hands. “I don’t know,” she told him. “I’ve been hearing that this is a good brand, but—this is going to sound ridiculous.”

“What is it?”

“…I may or may not have similar shades to these two.” She gestured to her wrist; Mathieu spotted some kind of swatches against her skin. He wasn’t an expert in color, more so makeup, but he had seen similar shades on her lips in the past. “Right?”

“I’m inclined to agree.” He took the lipsticks from her hands and set them back on the holder; Aether held back a disappointed noise. “Isn’t there any other product around here that you’d rather buy?”

“Mm.” She glanced around, eyes scanning the different trays and stacks of product. Mathieu didn’t know what they were exactly, only recognizing the basics like lipstick and eyeshadow. “Maybe not,” she admitted, reaching to tug at his wrist again. 

“Are you sure—”

“Positive.” She tugged again, and he followed her as she led them out. “Maybe we can stop somewhere and eat?” 

“If you want to.” Aether gave a nod and Mathieu hooked his arm around her, pulling her closely to him as they walked. “A little weird of you to suddenly give up on the makeup, Aether. You alright?” 

“It’s nothing serious.” She flashed him a small smile, “Sort of realized that makeup gets a little less fun when the colors you like are really similar to one another.”

“Thought that made you happy? This ‘dupe’ thing you mention from time to time.”

“It does! But…” She trailed off, “I don’t know. That, and…I’m a little embarrassed.” 

Mathieu blinked. “Embarrassed?” She ducked her head and mumbled something under her breath, to which he frowned. “Aether?” 

“I may feel a little embarrassed that I’ve been dragging you around for a couple of hours. Without really giving you the chance to go wherever you want.” 

This girl. A smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “And where do you think I want to go?”

“That’s the thing! I don’t know.” She covered her face with her hands and Mathieu couldn’t help it; he stopped and pulled her hands away from her face, kissing her forehead again in reassurance. “I want to know where you want to go. This is our trip, not just mine.” 

“Do you really want to know?” Aether nodded, and Mathieu took hold of her hand. “Alright. Then I hope you’re happy with ramen, chérie.”

ABC Ramen was a small place; both of them had managed to secure bar seats around the corner of the restaurant. She let Mathieu order for them; after conversing with one of the servers, Aether saw a much warmer smile come to his face eventually and he nodded, voicing out his thanks. She couldn’t help it; she reached out and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “What did you get us?” 

“Gyoza and two bowls of ramen for us. Mild spice for you.” He gently rubbed circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, “and two glasses of soda. Unless you want something more?”

“Sounds nice.” She leaned her head against his shoulder and Mathieu squeezed her hand, listening to her as she exhaled slowly. “What do you want to do after?”

“That’s up to you.”

“I mean it. Come on, there’s gotta be somewhere you want to go after this…maybe you want to check out some electronics? Go somewhere and see the view, take a few pictures?” He didn’t respond. Aether frowned. “Mathieu…”

“I’ll think about it, alright?” She wanted to protest, but chose to nod instead, pulling away from his shoulder. It became quiet at that point; she then decided to update Tadashi on what they were doing while Mathieu browsed through his phone. 

[To: Tad
Mathieu’s acting weird…]

[From: Tad
Did he do anything?]

She paused, fingers hovering over the keys. He didn’t, she typed slowly, but he’s acting a little weird. I don’t know. I’m asking him what he wants to do, but he isn’t really saying anything. That, and he insists on making me happy even though I already am. Does that make sense? 

There was a pause from Tadashi’s side. Aether thought that he had fallen asleep—it was late in the night at Atlanta after all, but eventually she saw the three dots flash from his side of the message. A few minutes later, Tadashi replied. 

[From: Tad
It sounds like he wants to make up to you, Aether. For whatever reason.] 

[To: Tad
Make up?]

The thought seemed weird to her. She sneaked a glance at Mathieu; he was still on his phone, reading something with his blue eyes scanning the text intently. That doesn’t make sense, she typed. What would Mathieu want to make up for?

Another pause. And then—

[From: Tad
I’m not exactly sure, but…it’s possible that he still feels guilty because of what he did to you. 
Whatever else he did, at least.] 

[To: Tad
Oh.] 

Guilt. Of course. 

[To: Tad
I’ll talk to him about it…
Thanks, T. Get some sleep. :(] 

[From: Tad
Np—you enjoy, okay? x] 

“Mathieu—” he turned at the sound of her voice and she was about to speak, but at that exact moment the server returned with their food. She stopped. Two bowls of steaming ramen were set in front of them, alongside two glasses of coke and a serving of gyoza. Mathieu thanked the man and then met her eyes, a little confused and concerned as well. 

“Yes?”

Instead of bringing it up, she stuck a small smile on her face. “It’s nothing. Maybe we can go somewhere after this?” 

“Whatever you want.” She nodded and they soon started eating, Mathieu commenting on it from time to time with her listening, nodding along as she spoke. Aether wanted to enjoy, she really did—but Tadashi’s message stuck. The realization that he wanted to desperately make up to her stuck. 

And she wasn’t sure how to feel.