closed, just silly shenanigans

[strawsandals]

In which three boys meet a cat boy for the first (???) time. Sorry, Sayaka. This is stupid.

Comments

[strawsandals]

[ In the lobby, there are two (2) fumbling teenagers trying to figure out how to put on suits. Arven and Yoon are currently in the midst of figuring out the tie thing - ]

Okay, wait, it should go like this-

[ ...sorry, Arven, hope you don't mind a little tightness around your neck?? ]

No, that's not right. Here, I need a break.

[ Yoon then proceeds to bend down to try and put on his shoes, but the tightness of the suit means he feels stiff in his movements and that gets him to fall over. ]

Gah-!

[supherb]

Ghk—!

[Arven makes a pathetic strained noise as Yoon makes an attempt to fix his tie.]

This is why I said I could do it myself! Ties are part of my school uniform!

[Did he already forget he said Yoon could practice on him…

He goes to loosen the tie when Yoon topples over and nearly brings him down with him.]

H-Hey—!

[strawsandals]

Ugh...

[ He hates this! Thanks! Why did Arven agree to let him practice on him again- ]

L-look, I need to figure this out, okay? Come on, let me try it one more time! I'll get it, I swear!

[supherb]

[He thinks very hard with his arms crossed…then he lowers them.]

Fine, just don’t choke me this time.

[townmusician]

[...do you ever just stumble across something happening and wonder if it would be better to pretend you didn't see anything? Perhaps, but Haruka comes across Yoon and Arven...

Well.

He's honestly not sure what they're doing. Yoon is on the floor and Arven doesn't look much better.]

...What are you doing?

[strawsandals]

Ah, Haruka-

[ His ass is still on the floor. He is. He is going through something, alright. Time for another Palace- no. ]

N-nothing! I was just -- trying to get some wardrobe...practice...in.

[townmusician]

[...





There is a very, very long pause.]

Wardrobe practice.

[You realize how dumb that sounds, right?]

[strawsandals]

I don't know how to tie a tie, okay?!

[ STOP THIS. DO NOT JUDGE HIM ]

[townmusician]

They make clip-ons, you know.

[...that also doesn't explain why he was on the floor?!]

[strawsandals]

Arven's wasn't!

[ or was it a clip on and we're just being silly guys right now- ]

A-aren't you supposed to be getting ready, too?!

[townmusician]

I will, but I don't need the help of other people to look good.

[He glances over at Arven.]

Where are your masks?

[supherb]

[Also looking Haruka’s way…]

We’re getting ready for the ball, duh.

[townmusician]

By sitting on the floor?

[...]

Your tie looks awful.

[supherb]

[With a grumble, he starts undoing it some more.]

Yoon’s working on it…

[More like an attempt sure is being made.]

He’s never tied a tie before.

[townmusician]

Is now really the time for practice...? We don't have much time to get ready.

[Learning something new is... probably commendable? But.]

What is he even trying to learn from? Youtube?

[bloodweapon]

[He was getting ready, but now that there's noise outside, Fray pokes his head out. Who's this catboy??]

Are you all alright?

[...The voice and light gold eyes might be familiar, at least?]

[supherb]

[Arven hears Fray’s voice and waves in his direction.]

We’re fine, we’re fine…!

[But when he looks at him, he stops and stares with furrowed eyebrows. Wait, he heard Fray. Who’s this catboy?

…Catboy…? And the gold eyes…?

…

His jaw drops.]

Fray?

[bloodweapon]

[Fray's ears twitch backwards for a moment before settling.]

...Yes, that's correct.

[Right, Arven didn't see All Of That.]

I do hope my appearance isn't too surprising.

[fray you're a catboy, of course it's surprising.]

1/2

[strawsandals]

....Fray?!

[ The...the ears? The FACE? HE HAS A FACE???? ]

[strawsandals]

You're very handsome.

[bloodweapon]

[shouldn't the ears be more surprising than the face????

Anyway, to no one's surprise, Fray turns pink. He is so bad at taking compliments and even worse at not doing anything with his face while dealing with it.]

...Thank you, I suppose.

[He did try to dress up nicely for the ball today so that's a good thing! But also: it's a compliment and he will Die.]

[supherb]

[Arven looks at Yoon with a raised eyebrow. That’s the first thing he thought of??

Anyway,]

Dude, you’ve got real cat ears and a tail! That’s surprising as heck!

[bloodweapon]

I'm a Miqo'te; we're fairly common in Eorzea, though it would seem that might not be the case in other worlds.

[Thank you, Arven, he can settle down when he's not being complimented!!!]

[supherb]

Common? Seriously? You’d stand out like a sore thumb where I’m from! There aren’t any people like you there!

N-Not like that’s a bad thing or anything, just… Whenever I learn something new about you all, I feel like the universe gets a whole lot bigger.

[Case in point: catboy is somehow less wild than whatever Celeste and Eli have going on.]

[bloodweapon]

I've felt the same way about quite a lot of things I've learned here.

[The multiverse is absolutely wild.]

There are also Au Ra, who you might call "lizard people", or Viera, who might be considered "bunny people". And there are the Hrothgar, who are even more cat-like than the Miqo'te...

[He'd be here forever listing everyone, though...]

[supherb]

Really… Eorzea sounds like quite the place! And like something I’d really have to see for myself.

[Bunny people especially sound kinda cute. Too bad he’d be disappointed to learn how scantily clad they’re known for dressing.]

So, wait, then you’ve had to hide your ears in your helmet this whole time? Was that…y’know, uncomfortable?

[bloodweapon]

It can be a difficult place to live, but there are a wide variety of interesting people there.

[Some are easier to deal with than others, but that's true of anywhere, he thinks.]

...I'm used to it. Though it isn't particularly comfortable.

[In a way he's sort of glad this happened, though maybe... not like that... he's still going to die of embarrassment about it.]

[townmusician]

So Hrothgars would be, like, legit furries? And you're just otakubait.

[hi, fray.]

[bloodweapon]

[????????????]

Well, they are furry, so I suppose...? What is "otakubait"?

[this is so cursed]

[townmusician]

[i'm here to provide cursed content!]

Well, it's something meant to appeal to otakus so they spend all their money trying to get their perfect 2d love.

[bloodweapon]

[out here doing god's work]

...I have no idea what that means.

[townmusician]

Haha, oh no.

[That's more at the realization he now has to explain what an otaku is to a fantasy world catboy.]

An otaku is like... have you ever met anyone who's like, super into fictional characters? Like, they like characters from [...] books more than people? But they're kind of like... creepy, no-life weirdos

[bloodweapon]

[Considering the blank staring, no. He has never met anyone like that.]

Are there people that obsessed with fiction? I suppose there wouldn't be a word for it if there aren't, but... That sounds dreadfully lonely.

[the poor otakus :( ]

[townmusician]

I guess...? Except most otakus don't care about real people and look down on them for being normies, so they do it to themselves.

[He's had to deal with his fair share of otakus, what with being in the entertainment biz and being signed to one of the biggest labels... Not all of them are as charming and emotionally intelligent as Rokuya. He's a rarity, honestly.]

[bloodweapon]

Ah, so it's an endless cycle they perpetuate.

[Nods, that makes sense. Some people do be like that.]

What do they have against real people?

[destage]

[...Sayaka is taking one look at this conversation and shaking her head. Haruka how could you do this--]

Usually, at...least from what I've heard, it's because they don't think that real people live up to the expectations that they've gotten from their books and fantasies. They think real people should live up to those standards, and when they can't, they can get a little...

[said in the tone of someone who has ABSOLUTELY dealt with her fair share of them--]

...Opinionated. I don't know if that's a universal experience, though; Isumi-kun could probably give you a different answer.

[bloodweapon]

[Ah, so Sayaka has had to deal with them personally...]

Ah, so they place their expectations on others and get angry when other people have their own thoughts and feelings.

[That makes more sense! Though also: what the fuck.]

I am sorry you've had to deal with such a thing in the past.

idol industry talk cw

[destage]

It's okay. They're unfortunately the people we've had to play to the most; they're the ones who drive our sales and line the managers pockets, so the managers just love them dearly and insist that we have to be perfect for them.

[do not get her STARTED on gachikoi and unicorns. the worst types of people around.]

...I'm so glad I can be honest about how I feel about them. They can be pretty awful sometimes, but they're mostly just...kind of pathetic deep down.

[townmusician]

[Shrug!]

I couldn't tell you. I think some of them just look down on real people for just being... average. Don't know for sure.

[bloodweapon]

They certainly sound like... interesting individuals.

["interesting (negative)"]

Have you dealt with many of them?

[destage]

[It takes a bit for Sayaka to come down; indecisive as ever, it's taken her this long to choose her dress and mask for this part of the shindig. Bright pink and frilly as ever, she's got her makeup kit with her and sees...]

Oh, gosh--are you guys okay?

[...Y'ALL SEEM TO BE ON THE STRUGGLE BUS HERE, YOU GOOD?]