Title: Peculiarum
Fandom: Monster Musume
Rating: PG-13
Length: 845 Words
Content Notes: For the uninitiated, yes, Lala has a detachable head.
Author Notes: This most likely takes place after the manga ends.
Summary: Taking a Dullahan on a date can be a little complicated.

* * * *

Lala sat across from Kimihito, her black-gloved hands folded on the table – or, rather, her body sat across from Kimihito. Her head rested on the table in front of him, situated next to the silver teapot – the center of a vintage set that she had brought from her home – that they had been sharing before. She had a neutral expression, as per usual, but the blush on her blue cheeks betrayed her emotions, sound accompaniment to the fact that her body had its hands folded because Kimihito suspected it might fidget as another tell. What did she wish of him? She never did tell him anything direct.

"If ye kiss me," she said, her black-and-gold eyes averted from his face, "and I am attached t'me body, there is the chance that me head might fall off. It rattles me nerves." He nodded, and the pause between them stretched for a moment before she added, "And it might be odd if ye had to pick me head up. Might ruin the moment for ye. So here I am. We've had tea, and we've had a chat. So why not give it a try?" As she spoke, her voice gradually lost volume until her last question barely rated a whisper. All doom, Lala, but she had a deep-seated shyness that Kimihito found endearing.

"All right," he said, "I'd love to." He placed one hand on the back of her head, the other on the side of the table, and leaned down to meet her lips as both of them closed their eyes. Her white hair had the feel of corn silk to it, and her lips had a warmth to them that belied the superficial cold of her appearance. I guess this means it's for real, huh? Hard to tell when the two of them became more than friends, but they had been moving in that direction for ... months? Years? And the others had, one by one, stepped back to let it happen, until they had a chance for a dinner alone together ... and a kiss, too.

After they separated, Lala said, her blush so fierce that it made her blue skin look almost purple, "Ye can put me back on me body now. I don't think there's a danger to be had in ... holding hands and things." The others still had the downstairs, since they could not leave the house unescorted, but they had made certain to leave the upstairs unoccupied for the time being (except for Rachnee in her attic). After a little decoration, it made a serviceable setting for a dinner date, though Kimihito had done the bulk of the cooking himself. Except for the tea. No one had Lala beat when it came to fixing that.

But the funny thing about Lala, and it became clear again as he escorted her from the table to the upright futon on the other side of the room, was that her body seemed to have a personality of its own, a personality whose body language tended to be oddly bubbly and expressive, all the more so when her head was not attached to give it a little restraint. And, as soon as he returned her head to her body, the body in question immediately took him by the arm and leaned into him as if they were walking down the street in public. And her head looked to be more than a little taken aback by that.

"D-Don't think I'm aimin' t'be so forward!" Lala said, quickly separating from him again. "Me body gets ... ideas." And she blushed again. "Not that they're bad ideas, mind ye, but she does like t'get ahead of me." She coughed. "No pun intended. Don't start." Not that he had any intention of starting. "Let's sit, the two of us. Ye can put on a motion picture, if ye like, or ye can just sit with me. Either way'd be ... nice." She said the nice very softly. "Be good, and maybe I'll let ye see my hands ungloved. 'Tis a rare privilege." She held out a hand, shaking almost unnoticeably, and he gently took it.

"There's no hurry for anything," Kimihito told her, "so don't feel pressured." A soft laugh. Was it the surface absurdity of the situation, or was it that her shyness was so damn cute? "This is just our first date, after all. I'm sure there'll be plenty of others." The hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth – the closest she came to a real smile. And he returned it with a full smile of his own. It was a quirky relationship, even a strange one, but there was much about it that was quite normal. They had to take their time, become more comfortable with each other, and work towards understanding what they had.

And if she occasionally misplaced her head, well, all he had to do was go and find it again. After all, that was how they first met, as he remembered it ....

END.