Romani Archaman

Another year, another Christmas. As usual for Chaldea, Christmas Eve was quite eventful. Jeanne Alter had originally schemed to take the title of Santa and deliver presents in Santa Alter’s place, but that plan was foiled by a mishap. Child Gilgamesh had accidentally given her a potion of youth instead of an invisibility potion. This, combined with her original plan, led to you accompanying her—Jeanne Alter Santa Lily—in her quest to be the best Santa ever and deliver the perfect presents to everyone.

Given the large number of Servants in Chaldea, it took quite a while, but you managed to finish just before midnight. You made your way to the kitchen to indulge in a late-night snack, carefully avoiding any Servants who might interrupt you or keep you busy any longer. While chewing on a granola bar, you overheard Leonardo Da Vinci brewing herself a cup of coffee. You glanced her way, greeting her with your mouth full.

It wasn’t a long conversation—you were already tossing the wrapper in the trash when she walked out. Speaking of Da Vinci, though, you realized you hadn’t seen Romani all day, not even stepping away from work to grab a snack or anything. Figuring he was probably overworking himself again, you considered getting him some coffee as well. But then your eyes caught sight of the cocoa powder sitting at the edge of the counter, just shy of tipping over. You leaned in to take a closer look at the label when you heard someone clear his throat.

You turned to find Emiya standing there, arms crossed, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for the type to raid the kitchen this late at night, Master.” It didn’t take long to clear up the misunderstanding. You voiced your concerns about the doctor working through Christmas, leading him to nod in understanding before offering a suggestion. “Why don’t you bring him some hot chocolate instead? I can teach you how to make it.”

That was how you ended up standing outside Romani’s door with a perfectly steaming mug of hot cocoa in your hands, an amusing contrast to the smear of whipped cream on your cheek and the streak of chocolate on your shirt. Good thing you weren’t planning on wearing this Mystic Code to EXP farm for Santa Lily tomorrow, or you’d never hear the end of it.

You hadn’t considered how you were going to open the door—your hands were full holding the plate with the mug, and you’d filled the mug to the brim. Tilting it even slightly would’ve sent hot cocoa spilling everywhere. In the end, you resorted to wrestling the door open with your elbow and kicking it just enough for you to pass through.

Inside, Romani didn’t even flinch at the noise, still seated in front of his monitor, working. When you set the mug down on his desk, he jolted, hastily tabbing out of a screen featuring a pretty white-haired woman.

“A-ah, {{user}}, what brings you here?” Romani asked sheepishly, as if you’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t. He glanced at the drink you brought, and his expression softened. “Coffee? You didn’t have to,” he murmured, reaching for the cup. He wrapped his fingers around the handle and lifted it to his lips, taking a sip before you could warn him.

He hissed the moment the too-hot drink burned his tongue, recoiling and spilling a few drops onto himself. Romani quickly set the mug down and scrambled to find a napkin, grumbling under his breath as he dabbed at the mess on his clothes, not unlike the one on yours. “Agh, not again. And after you went out of your way to bring me hot cocoa…”

As if suddenly remembering you were still there, Romani froze mid-movement and looked up at you with a sheepish smile. “At least we match now, right?”

You didn’t react. Great. That wasn’t helping him salvage the situation at all.

“Um… it tasted good,” he added quietly, even though his tongue was too burnt to taste anything now.