Apology?

“So, uh, that was a thing.” Nik said as he and Mina walked away from the safranos court. “Those guys were jerks, weren’t they.”

“Yep, all of the guys were.” Mina replied without looking at him, though out of the corner of her eye she saw him wince as he caught her implication.

“Ok, yeah, I was kinda a jerk too.” Nik admitted in a rare showing of self awareness. “Sorry about that. I kinda got caught up in the game.”

“Apology not accepted.” Mina shot back, making Nik wince again.

“Yeah, I figured.” Nik replied. “… Would you accept it if I got you some food from Iro’s favorite restaurant?”

“Hmmmm… only if the restaurant is actually good. If not, you have to buy me something else nice.” Mina said, causing Nik to sigh.

“Just like Iro.” Nik said under his breath, clearly not wanting Mina to hear. Unfortunately for him, she heard him quite well.

“Also, stop talking about Iro.” Mina said as she spun around to face and point at him. “It’s rude to talk about other girls while spending time with one. The only exceptions are your mother and sister, and you made it very clear that Iro is not either.”

“Gah, sorry.” Nik said, looking sufficiently chastised.

“That apology will be accepted once you prove you can actually do as I asked.” Mina replied. she then spun back around to keep walking down the street. “Now, lets go see this restaurant you seem to think is so great.”

“Alright, follow me.”

Nik then sped up his pace and ran ahead of Mina, and behind him Mina smirked.

‘Well, Nik is a lot more fun when he thinks he has to pamper me.’ She though as she followed him.

Xxx

*Munch munch munch*

…

*Gulp*

…

“Alright, you’re forgiven.” Mina said before taking another bite of her bakgala (basically baklava from back in her home world, only replace the nuts with flakes of fruity ice cream that had to be being kept cold using magic somehow). In front of her, Nik visibly brightened up at her declaration.

“Yes! I knew this place would be good. I don’t know why all the adults say their favorite place to eat in town is Komkrasi, this place is the absolute best.” He exclaimed. And with Mina now happy, he eagerly chowed down on his sandwich he bought for himself, and Mina opted to put her desert aside to do the same.

The pair ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their surprisingly delicious sandwiches. The silence wasn’t totally relaxed though. While Nik was clearly enjoying his food, he also kept an eye on Mina constantly, clearly trying to be carful and not do anything wrong again. While he hid it well, Mina could still tell he was a bit tense, and she mentally sighed as she realized it was a problem.

‘As nice as it is to have him want to pamper me and keep me happy, I really shouldn’t. I can’t forget what happened with Danis and that one shyer boy she dated. Billy I think it was?’ Mina thought to herself. ‘Well, whatever. I should probably apologize before this goes too long. Might as well let him know I overheard him and Iro too.’

So, with a reluctant sigh, Mina put down her sandwich and looked Nik in the eye.

“Hey, sorry for being mean and forcing you to bring me here.” Mina said, drawing Nik’s attention. “You were being a jerk, sure, but you realized that and apologized. I should have just accepted it and moved on, instead of taking advantage of the fact that you were sorry to get something out of you.”

“Oh, uh, it’s fine.” Nik said calmly through half a mouthful of sandwich, though he visibly relaxed at her words. “I was going to bring you here for some food anyways after playing safranos, so it’s not like you forced me to change my plans or anything.”

Mina felt a surge of annoyance when he said that, admitting that he hadn’t actually gone out of his way to make things up to her like he’d made her believe. But, she pushed the annoyance down. Scolding him right after apologizing for getting mad wouldn’t do her any good here. Plus, she could always tell Iro about it later, and have her scold him in her place.

“Anyways.” She said roughly as she forced the annoyance down and replaced it with a softer look. “There’s something else I wanted to say.”

“Hm?” Nik exclaimed curiously, finally putting the sandwich down so he could talk without food in his mouth. “Is something else wrong?”

“Er, maybe? Depends on what you think.” Mina said, making Nik more curious.

Mina paused, took in a breath as she took a moment to think about what she was going to say, then spoke.

“I overheard you and Iro talking last night about how she wanted you to try getting to know me and possibly start going out with me.” Mina admitted, her words making Nik’s eyes go wide. “The door to the room the two of you were in was open a bit, and I could hear you two talking from the hallway. I know I shouldn’t have listened in, but I couldn’t help it, and so I know you’re not spending time with me today because you want too.”

Mina then stopped to let Nik process what she’d said, something he clearly needed to do. His eyes were wide with surprise, gears visibly turning in his head as he slowly went from surprise to frustration, and Mina braced herself for him to yell at her.

“Hold on, I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about other girls today? You’re the one who made the rule, so why are you talking about Iro now?” Nik asked angrily.

Mina was caught off guard by that declaration. Of all the things for him to be mad about, that was not what she expected.

“What? The rule is that YOU aren’t allowed to talk about other girls, it’s completely fine if I bring them up first. Also, it’s no one of my rules, it’s just a rule! It’s how these things work!” Mina exclaimed.

“What? Why does the rule only apply to me?!” Nik questioned angrily, and Mina face palmed.

“It doesn’t just apply to you! You don’t get to talk about other girls that aren’t your family unless I bring them up first, and I don’t get to talk about other guys that aren’t my family like my dad or brothers unless you bring them up first. That’s how this works!” She exclaimed.

“Huh? Ohhhhhhhhh. Oh, I get it now.” Nik exclaimed in realization. “… so, you’ve got some brothers then?”

Mina allowed her head to fall onto the table, the loud bang making Nik flinch and realize he was focusing in on the wrong points.

“Ah, right, not the moment.” He awkwardly backtracked. “So, you saw me and Iro?”

“*Sigh* Yes, I did.” Mina said as she lifted her head back up.

“So, that means you know the two of us are… well… a thing?” he continued.

“Yes, and I also know that she wants you and me to be a ‘thing’ instead.” Mina replied.

“Ah… ok… So, what now?” He asked.

“Wait, you’re not mad at me for eavesdropping and learning your secret?” Mina asked confused.

“Well, I mean, I’m not happy you eavesdropped, but I do it all the time so I don’t really care. Also, Iro’s the one that wants to keep our relationship a secret. I’m just keeping it hidden for her.” Nik explained. “I’m just confused why you’re even telling me.”

‘Ok, this guy is weird.’ Mina thought to herself before she responded.

“Well, I just wanted to let you know that you don’t have to force yourself to try being nice to me if you don’t want to be. I know you’re only doing it because Iro wants you too after all.” Mina explained. Then, a bit more nervously, she continued. “But… I wouldn’t be upset if you still wanted to try being a thing.”

“Huh?”

“I uh, I’ve never actually had a boyfriend back home.” Mina admitted, feeling her cheeks heat up as she was suddenly more embarrassed about that particular fact than normal. “I was never really interested. But you know what they say, ‘new world new me’. So, if you were interested in trying being a thing. In being… you know… b-boy and girl… together… I would be interested too. Plus, you know more about being like that than me, so you’d be showing me how to do it. I-if you’re interested.”

“I uh… um, I’m not sure.” Nik said awkwardly, though his cheeks were also red so clearly the idea didn’t upset him. “I still have Iro, you know. Even though she wants me to try to be boyfriend girlfriend with you, she still is technically my girlfriend right now.”

“And we barely know each other, so we’re not exactly close yet. Yeah no, I get it.” Mina continued, feeling more disappointed than she expected, despite having expected him to say something like that.

“I mean, I’m not saying no, just not yet.” Nik then said, raising Mina’s hopes slightly. “Iro wants me to try, and you’re willing to try, so I will try. Just, maybe we should get to know each other a bit more first.”

“Oh! O-ok, I’m cool with that. Honestly, I should have expected that.” Mina replied. In retrospect, she should have known she wouldn’t get an instant yes, but she let herself get her expectations up that he would say yes to being her boyfriend right away.

“Anyways. I was wondering if you wanted to go to a church service after this.” Nik then said.

“Huh? A church service?” Mina questioned.

“Yeah. On the way here, my mom suggested we go take you to a service so you can learn more about Uraina.” Nik explained. “It’s just you and me right now, but we can still go just by ourselves. Are you interested?”

“Huh, that actually sounds interesting. Sure, lets go.”