text; un: archangel | Free Snacks

[thearchangel]

Type: Text
Sender ID: thearchangel (Garrus Vakarian)
To: Everyone
Subject: House cleaning with your neighborhood alien.
Warnings: None

Does anyone want any of this?

[Attached to the message is an image of many, many boxes of Pocky. There's so much. And it's all untouched.]

Before anyone asks "what kind is there", there's all kinds. No, I'm not selling it, just come take it away. Yes, I know there's a lot. No, I'm not going to eat it.

It's not opened, either. I just don't want it.

[Someone finally went back to his hole in the wall apartment after... a long time, and decided to finally clean house.]

Comments

text | un: skypatrol

[playertwotailed]

That's *so many* boxes. How long have you had them all? Because I'll take as much as I can carry, as long as it isn't from a secret stash that's been piling up for years.

[He considers carefully.]

Actually, I might still take some either way. These kinds of snacks usually have crazy long shelf lives.

[thearchangel]

Probably a year. Little less. Packages aren't open.

[Was that really all it was? About a year? It feels like no time at all.]

Can't really tell you how the dates match up with time here, but they're probably fine.

[playertwotailed]

Yeah, if it's just one year they should still be good! I'd be surprised if they've even gone stale inside the package. I'll come and grab a dozen soon.

But I really am curious — why do you have so many?

[thearchangel]

Take as many as you want. There's... a lot more here than I thought there were.

[Crap, maybe he should have just said this up front so people didn't ask -]

Someone left them at my place.

[playertwotailed]

[It's fine, it's a good conversation starter.]

Okay, then. Follow-up question: Why did they have so many?

[thearchangel]

Some vendor gave them to her. Said it was for the holiday. Just not what holiday it was.

[It was Pocky Day.]

[playertwotailed]

A holiday? So, they might give these out annually?

[Perhaps he could build his own needlessly huge stockpile of cookies.]

Any clues at all? Season of the year, colors of the decorations, other gifts being handed out?

[thearchangel]

I didn't see any this year. He could have been making it up because he had too much stock to offload.

... It was snowing. [GARRUS was that SERIOUSLY your only observation??] And after the Ghoul's Moon.

[playertwotailed]

That's odd. If it was a big holiday, you'd likely have noticed something besides the weather, right? Especially the winter holidays, which tend to have a lot of decorations.

[You would have noticed, right??]

I don't suppose you could just ask her? Well, no, if the vendor never said...

[thearchangel]

No, I didn't see anything. Except the snow. Definitely noticed the damned snow...

[He hates that stuff. Viscerally.]

[And then there's a pause. A lengthy one. Until he finally makes himself type it out.]

I can't. She's not here.

[playertwotailed]

I see... and I'm sorry.

[Okay. Tails didn't read the situation well enough to avoid the sensitive topic. But he's picked up on it right away, and now he can at least try to handle it with care.]

Is there anything I can do to help? Not just with snacks, I mean, but... [What is a tactful way to say this?] ... with cleaning up.

[thearchangel]

You didn't know. And I didn't mention it.

[He'd purposefully not mentioned it. But he doesn't want to bring that up too and make this even more awkward.]

Just

Just the cookies.

They're the only thing I want out of the place.

[playertwotailed]

Consider them gone, then. And if you happen to find any others, feel free to send me a message. I'll take care of them right away.

[It isn't often you can do a favor for someone and get sweets out of it.]

[thearchangel]

I doubt I'll go looking for more, sorry.

I'll send you the location.