For You Exclusively

This had not been the intended result, Shanna thought dispiritedly as she used one of her cut-out paper hearts to fan the dried out husk of her boyfriend.

After fainting, both she and Norri had endeavored to carry the limp form of her boyfriend to the sofa and deposit him there.

Only!
Unlike some of his earlier fainting spells, he was awake almost seconds later!
And what had he said?

"He was acclimatizing to the potency of her attacks."
This guy…! This performative ass!

"This is quite tasty." Norri said taking another bite of one of the cupcakes. "O-Oh, but sorry for eating them. I'm sure they were all meant for Rondy." He said as he eyed the half-eaten romantic icing.

Formerly Together Forever, now ther ver.
The incomprehensible wordage somehow mirrored Shanna's own inscrutable feelings.

"Help yourself." Shanna said dejectedly as she continued fanning.

"It wasn't made for me either…" Rondy mumbled from the sofa. "It was made for alt-world Rondy who probably never even existed at all."

"Haaaah?! Are you calling me a liar!?" Shanna squawked, accidentally scrunching up the paper heart. "I've collected and lovingly stored every letter you ever sent me, I can go bring them down if you'd like to see!"

"Absolutely no thank you…"

"That's what I thought! You should apologize to Rondy right away, he's probably crying from the cloud tops he's lovingly watching me from."

"I should apologize to myself…???"

"Yes, yes! And you ought to do it right away! Look up at the sky with hands outstretched in prayer and say "I'm sorry for being born a Wrong Rondy!" A Wrongdy."

A giggle broke up the spat, as an angry and exasperated set of eyes landed their way.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry for laughing." Norri said waving his hands. "I was just thinking about how well you two are getting along."

Shanna shot him a withering look the likes of which she learned from her new evil Rondy. "I think you need a new pair of glasses then. Because this guy-" She said jabbing a finger at Rondy- "Must hate me."

"Hate you?" Rondy spluttered out, raising himself up in a remarkably fast recovery.
"That's my line! Trying to poison me by over spicing dinner-"

Shanna interrupted with a groan "I can't believe you're STILL talking about that!"

"Okay, fine." Rondy began as Norri's head swiveled between them with each new argument.

"We can discuss your latest instrument of murder instead, that icing…! E-Even looking at Norri eating them is giving me heart palpitations… Horrifying, terrifying… I'd rather…" He paused a moment. "Fight dragons."

This drew Shanna's most outraged noise yet. "Scarier than a dragon??"

"Dragons." He said. "Plural."
"Be serious."

He closed his eyes and slowly opened them. "I'd rather fight 3 ½ dragons than eat that."

Shanna's expression turned dead pan. "What."

"Well, you asked me to be serious, so I will. Allow me to explain." Rondy began with a clearing of his throat. "If the dragon family were in tow with a toddler dragon, I have various strategies I could deploy to ensure my survival. There is no such miracle tactic against your 'cupcakes'."
He even threw up two fingers to simulate the air quotes.

Shanna looked appalled.
"Are you really trying to say that my cupcakes are scarier than a bunch of dragons!??!"

The finger came back out. "And one toddler dragon."

Shanna's brain had reached its threshold for Wrongdy nonsense. Her gaze swung furiously toward Norri as the necessary outlet for her aggro.

"And you think me and THAT are getting along!?"

Norri burst out in unrestrained laughter.

~ ~

Shanna grumbled aloud as she set about tidying up the living space.
Cut out hearts came down.
Banners were unpinned.

A spare box she'd fetched from the cellar was to become the new home for all of Shanna's hand made crafts.

Wisely, Rondy at least had the wherewithal to avoid her as she set about tidying up the outrageous displays.

He walked Norri to the front door, as he suppressed a shiver thinking back to the living room.

"I'm glad you're feeling a bit better." Norri said looking at Rondy over his shoulder.
Rondy grunted in reply.

"You should treasure Shanna." He said.
That got a better reply from him.

"Treasure her?" Rondy scoffed. "I appreciate her for the housing, certainly. But let's be clear… She doesn't value "me" she just values what I was."

Norri turned to face him, his hand on the doorknob and Rondy was surprised to see the earnest look in his face.

"Say, did you know? For certain festivals the townsfolk supply their own cooking for community or for various games. In blind taste test contests, everyone secretly always knew Shanna's dishes though. They were always bursting with flavour." He said with a nod.

"Glad to see it's not just me with taste buds that still function." Rondy muttered.

"My point was…" Norri said waving his hands with a chuckle. "That her flavours are usually really, really, bold. But the ones she made today were actually very, very, mild."

He paused for emphasis before proceeding.

"Maybe Shanna really does value Rondy for Rondy. In all shapes and sizes, no matter what. And maybe…" He said with hand aloft. "You ought to express a bit of kindness Shanna's way too."
Having finished his piece, he pats Rondy upon his shoulder.

It was at this moment that Shanna exited the living room, carrying one of the boxes of trinkets in her hands. Her mouth fell open at their physical contact.

"What's this!? So this man you've known for barely a whole day can touch you, but I so much as approach your perimeter and you faint!?"

Rondy had seemingly become aware of it too, as he shuffled away at high speed.

"Outrageous!" Shanna sputtered indignantly.

Rondy had known her long enough that he could tell her cheeks were flared out in a pout, and as he retreated further inside he could vaguely hear the sounds of Norri trying to put her mind at ease.

He had only known Norri a day… and in the span of that one evening, he already seemed a different person.
Suddenly he was more confident, more brave...

How? What happened?
What else?

Shanna happened.
He had only known her for a mere 3 days... And yet, in those three days he'd experienced so much of her. Her childish personality. Her over-emotional antics, her desires, her willpower...

What was it that drove her so hard...?

The question hung in his mind as he found his feet inexplicably drawn towards the living room.

The room was in a state of flux.
Half the decorations were still up, while the others had been carefully folded into the box. Able to take in the sights at his own pace his eyes wandered about the room taking in the sights bit by bit.

The flowers, the glass bottles.
The varied pies, Shanna's cupcakes.
All the decorations, all the effort into making them.

He hadn't initially noticed it, but he now saw all the curtains in the living room had been shut as well.

A slow and private smile spread across his face.

And after a moment, he left the room.

~ ~

As Shanna had waved goodbye to Norri, the sky outside had been tinged with exquisite shades of pinks and purples. It was as if even the gods had sought to be Shanna's wing-man.
Seriously.

How had this gone so wrong?

She headed back to the living room and after a few minutes of labour all the decorations had been safetly packed and stored away.

That just left the food now…

The pies from the cookshop could simply be stored for later.
No, the problem lie with them.

With hands on her hips and a huff in her chest she stared down warily at her handicraft.

"Oh, what does it matter." Shanna said with a sigh.
She reached down for a cupcake and munched into it.

Hadn't there been more cupcakes? She thought to herself as she chewed.

As she finally finished eating she spoke aloud her assessment with another sigh.

"They really do suck."