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Anming’s ‘project’ had been ambitious enough, but once more she accidentally set herself up for failure.

Anming had wanted to make cookies for Anser, as her way of showing appreciation for the other senshi’s kindness. She had ordered goose cookie cutters online, made a couple batches of different flavored cookies, and was, largely, satisfied with the results, and could only hope her new friend did as well. The problems started, though, when she was ready to deliver them; once more, it occurred to Anming that she knew absolutely nothing about who Anser was outside of her powered identity, nor did she know where the other girl lived. Just as equally, though, Anming wanted to do this without powering up, as she was hoping to avoid having to do so for a time; also, of course she would prefer to avoid powering up in the middle of the daytime.

That was well and all, but it failed to take into account one little thing- the glamour in place that protected their identities from accidentally being revealed. How would she know how to find Anser among the rest of Destiny City’s inhabitants? Certainly she couldn’t go asking about it directly without giving herself away, and there wasn’t a particularly roundabout way to be vague about it, either, or at least not a good one. She was looking for someone who helped her out a couple of weeks ago, of which she knew neither their name nor address? … And she couldn’t give out more details than that?

Reality really began to settle in, of how little she thought this through, as she stepped off the bus at the metro station, a bag full of boxes of carefully packed cookies clutched in her hands. To add insult to injury, it wasn’t until she was staring blankly at the transit map, trying to deduce which route she should take, that Anming realized… she had misplaced her fare card. Could things get any worse? she glumly wondered to herself, as she sadly shuffled her way over to the nearest ticket machine.

She really should have gotten around to downloading the app, though knowing her luck, she’d then proceed to misplace her phone… again.

Having purchased a new fare pass, Anming had been prepared to go downstairs and wait for the next train; to where, she still wasn't sure. That was before she heard the murmurs of there being 'another one of those cosplayers running around', and Anming turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of a familiar fuku, and familiar markings. Anser?

The train could wait. Anming, hoping that no one would pay her much mind, attempted to catch up with Anser, trying not to lose sight of the teen. Thank goodness she dressed practically... though, it was more of a hurried walk than anything, as she wished not to draw too much attention to herself. Or damage the cookies she still carried with her.

"Ah, excuse me, please wait--!" Anming called out, as Anser ducked into a nearby alleyway. Did she miss her chance? She realized Anser wouldn't recognize her in this state, but powering up would definitely draw too much unwanted attention...

“I, ah,” Anming suddenly felt very awkward, as she tried to piece together the right words. Was she interrupting Anser from anything? Suddenly she began to feel a little worried.

“I wanted to thank you. For the kindness you showed me awhile back… that night, during the battle on the hill, and also on the moon. I, well…”

She presented the bag to Anser, because she wasn’t really sure what to say next. Why was saying ‘thank you’ so difficult to get across all of a sudden? Perhaps it was because it had to do with her powered life.

“I thought about writing a note, and giving it to a cat to give to you, but I thought that was too informal…” she explained, awkwardly, “And also… a little impolite? I do a lot of baking, so…”

Well, Anser could figure out what Anming meant, once she looked inside the bag, hopefully.

“Oh! Um, yes, sometimes,” Anming said, still a little awkward, but also, she had begun to allow herself relax a little, now that Anser had recognized her, “I go to culinary school, and they have us try each other’s dishes to judge them…”

Also, because of how easily she could get distracted and misplace things, she did try some of the cookies just to make certain she didn’t get anything mixed up… though she didn’t mention that bit.

“I hope you like them- I made a few different kinds, because I didn’t know what you liked. They didn’t have anything goose-shaped in the places I shop at, so I bought some cute cookie cutters online…”

Well, technically they were for fondant, but it had worked out just as well in the end, so Anming was fine with referring to them as ‘cookie cutters’ because it made more sense in the context of the current topic of conversation.

"Y... yes, I suppose I got a little carried away," Anming admitted, sounding sheepish; certainly it had occurred to her within the last few hours as to how overly ambitious she had been about this project. "I guess... I wanted to do something more than just write a thank you note, but I also didn't want to just make ordinary cookies."

One thing led to another, basically, and resulted in where they were at now. Or, alternatively, she meant well, it was just that she meant too well.

"I made sugar cookies, but I also made chocolate, red velvet, and, ah, since it's so close to the holidays, gingerbread, too...? I thought... it would be nice to have options, in case you didn't like a certain kind," she told Raina, though she was aware that she probably sounded like she was making excuses for how overboard she went, and then.

"I'm sorry, I'm rambling and I haven't told you my name; I'm Anming."

“Ah, yes, I… suppose,” Anming mused; she didn’t necessarily disagree, it was just, well, something that hadn’t come up often, “It’s been a while since I’ve known who someone was both powered up and, well… not powered, to be honest.”

Long enough to where she didn’t know if they were still around, or if they even remembered who she was, anyway. After all, it’d been way back when she was still a high school student, which at this point felt like a lifetime ago. Raina was offering for Anming to take one of the goose cookies she had gifted, and while these had meant to be for Anser/Raina, Anming slowly took one, if only to be polite.

“I try to avoid large gatherings like that, normally; sometimes it can’t be helped either way, but still…”

“You’re the first person to reach out and make sure I was alright, so maybe that’s why I wanted to do something special,” she murmured.

"I would prefer not to get involved in fights, but..." Anming sighed, knowing it was (always) inevitable; trying to avoid conflict only got her drawn into it even more, after all, "Thank you, Raina, I'll try to remember that."

If she had to get involved in battles, then it helped knowing there was someone she could partner up with, after all. Anming fell into a bit of an awkward silence after that, as she ate the cookie she had taken, unsure of what else to say. She had come all this way looking for Anser, which she had accomplished, and had given her the cookies, so was there anything else to talk about...? They knew each other's real names now, so Anming knew who to ask after next time- what more was there to add to the conversation?

Should they exchange addresses- oh, that was probably not necessary, actually. Phone numbers, maybe, but- oh, Anming realized something, just then. She had come all this way out to look for Anser, yes, but what about Raina herself?

"I'm sorry, were you headed somewhere? I just realized... I must be keeping you from going wherever it was you were intending on going," she said, hoping that Raina wouldn't be late, or that she wasn't keeping anyone waiting on her.

Raina’s response wasn’t quite the answer Anming had expected, but it was a relief, at least, that she wasn’t quite holding the teen up either. It wasn’t as if she herself always made it home on time as a teenage senshi either, after all. “That’s good…” she finally said, even though her tone suggested she was on the fence as to whether to truly consider it a ‘good’ thing or not, “I don’t live with my parents right now, but I at least try to check in with them through texts when I’m going out, or coming back.”

Her parents were pretty busy these days but that wasn’t really all that important right now.

“I’m glad you like the cookies, Raina; making them goose-shaped was a very spontaneous idea that I still think I got carried away with, but I’m glad it worked out.”

Also, it’d been awhile since she’d gifted baked goods to a friend, so it was good to know that she still was able to make things edible that said friends enjoyed, of course.