Two Cups of Competition [Vanyel, Natsumi]

In the last week or so, Vanyel had gotten used to not being alone when he went out grocery shopping. He was happy that Violet was so enthused and happy about them now officially being an item, but, he hadn't been expecting her to basically be wrapped around his arm for a week straight. Despite that, however, he honestly didn't mind it much. The fact that she was there, that everything that happened that night was real...made him happy.

But, today, instead of getting ingredients, Vanyel was instead looking for some new recipes to try with Violet, something they could both learn together, and spice things up some in terms of their meals. So, he looked through a few cookbooks in the aisle, skimming through the pages. There were a quite a few of them that he'd already seen and bought, but, these were apparently new editions, despite not enough being changed to warrant basically republishing the damn thing.

As he put one away, he looked to a higher shelf, raising an eyebrow. That was one he hadn't seen before, and it was the last on the shelf. Guess it must be pretty popular. But, just as he was reaching for it, he suddenly saw it...lift up and float away. He blinked a few times, but the item's movement didn't stop as he followed it to the hands of a girl notably shorter than him.

"...Did that just happen?"

Natsumi was sitting on the floor next to some guy that was so lost in his own head that he hadn’t realized she was there. She had six books open, all with different recipe themes. She planned to try as many as she could with Natasha, or make a big surprise for her. She wasn’t sure yet, but she was getting lots of ideas.

Looking up, she saw a book on the top shelf that she hadn’t seen before and got up to grab it, but saw this cottonball trying to grab it first. Nope. The book was lifted out of his reach, moved in an arch, and landed into Natsumi’s hands. She stared at the man, daring him to try and say something about it. He did, causing her to snort.

“Yep, sure did, cottonhead. This is mine now," Natsumi said, waving her hands over the other books and causing them to close up and return to their shelves.

As he looked at the girl on the ground, he noticed the books. Yeesh, and he thought he got obsessed with the hobby. Then, he registered the name. The white hair tended to get him a lot of attention over the years, causing all manners of nicknames and insults, but... 'cottonhead' was definitely a new one. It almost made him forget about the cookbook -- almost. As he looked at the other books floating back to their original places, as well as the one he was looking at now resting in her hands, it didn't take much to figure her out.

"Fuckin' telekinetics...hand it over, brat, I was going for it first."

Normally, he wouldn't be petty like this, but, when it came to something he took pride in and had worked a long time to perfect, it was a different story.

Natsumi began walking away, a smug smirk on her face. It was in her hands and so it belonged to her. It wasn’t her fault he was slow. She waved back at him and began walking to the front of the store, skipping down an aisle of cookware and stopping at a huge Crockpot with lots of gadgets and buttons and knobs.

“Ohhh, Mama’ll love this,” Natsumi, a couple extra stars in her eyes, said and began looking around for a model in a box, not one of the ones they had on display. Those got touched and poked at too much. She looked up, saw Cottonhead still there and stuck her tongue out at him. “It’s mine, go away. Don't follow me.”

This little brat slipped the book with technical bullshit, and now she was just walking away? Vanyel's eye twitched as he followed her, fully intending on getting that book back. But, as the girl slipped down an aisle of cooking utensils and equipment, he saw that she had her eyes on a crockpot. Admittedly, it was a good one...and he was feeling petty today.

So, with a small amount of energy, he pushed the essence into the air, imbuing it into the boxed item and lifting it off the shelf, out of Natsumi's reach, and into his waiting hand, tucking the item safely under his arm. Since she was being a little shit, Vanyel gave her a lightly smug grin.

"Fine, then this is mine."

Natsumi blinked as she watched the Crockpot float without her help. When it landed in his hands though, she narrowed her starry eyes at him and clenched her fist tight. “I was gonna get that for Mama,” Natsumi said, but then he claimed it!

“Give it back! I bet you suck at cooking anyways! I need that!” Natsumi said, pointing at him. She then opened her hand, using her telekinesis to wrap her energy around the box and pull it from his grasp. “Give. It. Back!” she demanded.

Despite her clenching her fist and glaring at him, Vanyel stayed firm, still with that mildly smug grin. As she opened her hand, however, instinct told him to step back. As he did, he felt the new, sudden resistance from the box. So, not just typical telekinetics where she controlled things with only her mind. Seemed like some kind of activation requirement to make a hand gesture.

Despite the pull, he kept his fingers tightly wrapped around the small handle at the top of the box, grunting softly as he felt himself starting to be pulled toward the little gremlin.

"Well, my boss, my girlfriend, and my friends all say I'm pretty damn great at it, you little brat. I'd say I need it more. Besides, I got it first. By your own logic, it's mine."

Natsumi pulled harder and harder, trying not to pull so hard that he went flying, but instead he was dragged toward her as he stubbornly held onto the Crockpot. When he got so close that she could actually just grab the box, she thought about it, but instead, she got a better idea. With a smirk, Natsumi suddenly released her telekinetic hold on the box, hoping it would make him stumble and fall.

“Fine. You know what? We’ll have a competition for it. Winner gets the book and the Crockpot. Deal?” Natsumi smirked, knowing she had this shit in the bag. There was no way he could beat the recipes Natasha taught her. Mama loved her cooking too.

The closer he got, the tighter he tried to make his grip. But, as he saw that smirk, he had a feeling she was going to do something devious, and right he was. The quick release of her invisible hold made him stumble backward, threatening to tip him over, but, using his free hand, he grabbed a nearby shelf, stopping his fall. Pulling himself back up, he raised an eyebrow at the notion of a competition.

So, returning that smirk, Vanyel rested his free hand on his hip as he considered the idea. A competition didn't sound half-bad, and he'd get the cookbook and crockpot once he won? Shit, that sounded good to him. Rita, Violet, Kenichi, even Isamu loved his cooking. He definitely had this in the bag.

"Y'know what? Sure. Let's do this. Not here, though. Obviously."

“Ain’t gonna pop up no workin’ stoves in the middle of a store like this, so I agree,” Natsumi said and began walking toward the front. “I’ll pay for the book. You pay for the Crockpot.” Of course, the Crockpot was over two times more expensive than the recipe book, but Natsumi wouldn’t mention that. He could spend more. Yeah. Fair.

It took a little time to pay for everything and then the two headed out of the store. “So, where you thinkin’ we can do this? I ain’t got a kitchen big enough for two of us to be cookin’ in," she asked, hands behind her head, fingers woven to keep them in place. "You got a place like that?" she asked, an eyebrow raised and fire in her eyes.