About fifteen minutes after that, Cricket can be heard rummaging around in the kitchen.

Some company! Jaeha has something he wants to talk to Cricket about, actually. And has to have lunch, too, so that's an excuse. "Hello. Do you want to be shown where anything is?"

Haru's already installed the strap that lets Cricket pull the fridge open. "Do you know where he put my plates?"

"I don't, but I'll help you look." He gets on that.

Cricket's plates have handles on them, like shallow pails, and they're made of plastic. He can pick them up and carry them around with or without food on them without much spill risk as long as the food is placed centrally. He serves himself rabbit hearts and salmon from the fridge and trots the plate over to the table, which he sits on as well as eating from.

"So, you mentioned you dislike my smell," he says as he grabs some ingredients to start making his own lunch. "I don't know if Haru told you about my power? I can do illusions, and if it would make you more comfortable I could get rid of the smell of smoke." He's gonna try to stick to nicotine gum for longer to see if he can develop a habit and quit but the smell of smoke takes a while to go away.

"You could do that but it has nothing to do with illusions. Doing it with illusions would be even stupider than I thought you were." Nom nom.

"I know it would not improve the actual underlying issue. I'm trying nicotine gum to see if I can replace it. The illusions would be just so that you will feel less uncomfortable, personally. Up to you."

"I'm going to tell Haru on you," says Cricket conversationally.

"...I was not planning to do this behind his back." Though he supposes that's kind of frivolous power use? It's a really small amount of it though.

"Weren't you."

"Of course not. Why would I expect you to keep a secret from him? I'm just trying to—be kind."

"Then I will tell him and this will make no difference to you at all." Nom.

"...sure. But is that a yes or a no on the wanting the smell to be gone?"

"No, because I like Haru." He bleps, which is rather less insult-looking on a cat but communicates the intent.

That's what he gets for trying to be nice.

"...I like him too." Which does have some different connotations when the language they're speaking is Japanese, doesn't it.

"That's what he thinks too."

"Well, I guess I haven't been subtle about it."

It's obviously ridiculous for him to like someone after knowing them for three weeks but he's not so stupid as to keep misinterpreting the signs of his own feelings. Not for so long, not when they're this obvious.

It just keeps tripping him up, that "feelings" bit.

"I think you might like him but by sheer luck and not because you are truly discriminating."

"...I'm not sure I understand what your mean by that." It was sheer luck that they met, but feeling this drawn towards someone—that's definitionally about them, isn't it?

"That is because you are not very smart." Nom nom.

"I would appreciate it if you could enlighten me, then."

"I would rather watch television." He gobbles up his last bite of salmon and puts his plate in the sink and glides out of the kitchen.

...haah...

He spent that entire conversation sitting on the desire to erase Cricket's memories. He is praising himself in his head for not doing that, because nobody else will. 

Now he is sitting on the desire to smoke. He will instead grab his pack of nicotine gums and chew and try not to grind his teeth too much.

"Tadaima!" calls Haru, when his second dungeon is over with. "I'm starving, what's around, I'm not picky."