[ Look he—okay, yes he kind of forgot and he kind of didn't at the same time. Subete wins this battle because Hikage just kind of huffs and tries to move past it. This whole situation is a disastrous mix of Hikage refusing to admit he doesn't know how to do something and his heeled stumbled into real relationships romantic or not. Speaking of things he doesn't know how to do, extensive international travel is one of them, but he does manage to grumble out that the distance between the coasts is large. Is that admitting he probably would have gotten lost? Shh.

Anyway, he does indeed hand Saphir the bag of gifts! As previously mentioned everything in here is ridiculously wrapped and very luxurious, even the cockatoo's omiyage. ]

I'm not. [ That comes out as blunt as his usual fanfare, but he waits until they're inside the house to pick up his trail of words again. He's not oblivious and he can read the room, just usually it's not arranged in this way in both the physical and metaphysical sense. He may have misjudged how clear he was the last time they met, but maybe this is situation is as simple as Saphir expecting one guest and getting two. Feelings don't necessarily need to be involved here, so he tries again. ]

It'd be crowded if we did and there's no reason to displace you or Marona when there's a better alternative. I should have told you in hindsight, but I didn't think it would affect the plans much. There should be enough food for all of us too, and I did want to spend time with both you and her. [ Of note here is how smooth the "we" is, because he's had several weeks to get used to it. Just explaining it is a different story. ]

I wouldn't be much competition in Mario Kart anyway, but I'm sure Subete will be.