1055/Unicorns and Dreams

Unicorns and Dreams
Date of Scene:	28 January 2024
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Emi decides to keep an eye out for those with nightmares and runs into a literal night-mare, Hinoiri... who takes her slurping personally.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Emi Hoshino

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
If you asked Hinoiri if she had nightmares she'd.... say to go away because she was busy. BUT! If you asked her if she had nightmares and she was in a particularly good mood? She'd admit that, yeah. She did from time to time. Usually about Sora. Sometimes about herself. But... usually about home. It was where the heart was, right?

And now, more than ever, she wasn't entirely sure where her heart was. She was at the food court today, drinking a shake and playing on her phone. Lost in thought.

Namely, about a certain twin-tailed magical girl. Usagi was obviously upset about Mamoru, but hiding it so well. Was it just a minor blowout the other day when they fought? Or was there something deeper under the surface?

Alas, if she only knew the correct answer was C, none of the above as she had the WRONG PERSON.

She was wearing her normal spiked, leather jacket today. But... she did have something new she hadn't worn often. A puella's ring. Namely, the imitation she'd gotten from Sayaka's little mascot. It was... just something she'd thrown on. And was still a bit wary of trying around people she knew. So why not at the mall? You could get away with anything at the mall.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Emi Hoshino, you've got a lot to learn about people, and how better to learn it than by observing them at the mall? Well, in truth, there are probably better places, she muses to herself, as she observes them. Things here are just *so* superficial, right?

Well, not really. If you watch out of the corner of your eye, like she does, you can see moments of truth that you can identify, she thinks, here and there. Just when nobvody's looking directly at you -- and looking indirectly at things is a part of her job. Her blue eye stays out of focus, letting people pass by her as she observes the shadowed few that draw her actual attention.

Dressed in an ornately gothic-lolita outfit -- definitely a part of that particular subculture with a spider-web adorned scard completing her It's Halloween But Not Really ensemble, she peruses the crowd.

Until her eyes catch a shadow, a flickering nimbus of darkness on a girl in a leather jacket. Then she focuses. Focuses on the girl.

She raises her boba tea to her mouth and *slurp*. Delinquents gotta be rude, you know.

It's a whole thing. She picks at her straw and scrapes it in and out of the cup. Noisy.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara took another small sip of her shake, rather enjoying it. Was it as good as the ones back home? Nope. Was anything? Gosh no.

But it was passable. And she could enjoy passable right now.

Maybe she'd best--

And then the sluuuuuuuuurping sound. Geez. She didn't look out of the corner of her eyes. she glanced over to the girl. Not out of the corner of her eyes. Just full on turned to look at her. The tartarus?

Didn't she know there were... oh, forget it. It didn't matter. It only--

She then glanced back to her phone. Maybe she should--

SCRAAAAAAAPE!

Okay, that was it. Maybe it was the dark energy. Maybe it was the fact she missed the shakes from home or... maybe... she just wasn't a very nice person. But she got to her feet and walked over to the girl, slamming her palm down on the table. "Do you *mind*? Were you raised in a barn or is the mechanisms of a straw really that foreign to you?"

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Ah, there we go.

While Emi wasn't expecting to get the fullness of Hinoiri's attention, she did at least expect her to turn and look at her. A better way to evaluate her. Still, interaction is *better yet*. Having locked onto the darkness clinging about Hinoiri. It's palpable to her, now, those nightmares. The slamming of her palm on the table, however, still causes a slight start. Still, to her credit, she keeps it under control. Keeps it cool. Keeps it chilly and goth.

She's only missing having a cigarette in her hand to blow smoke in someone's face; literally the only advantage that this habit has for her.

"Wow. Seems like someone's in a tender mood. Did a *straw* really break your camel back?" She tilts her head slightly, "No. That's not it -- though I was maybe close. You look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed ... every day, actually."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara probably would have hit her with something off the table if she'd blown smoke in her face, so it was likely good for that. Sure, it probably would have resulted in Hinoiri getting kicked out of the mall, but well... villains gonna villain. Though technically she might not be the villain in that situation?

She was going to say something to thast, about to comment on how she'd never hurt any camel's back, but well... "Every.... day... are you hinting at something?" she asked.

... Admittedly, she wanted to know. It seemed like such a weird thing to say, to her. And frankly.... she didn't get it. She wanted to, but she didn't. And now she was confused. "Is that a threat or something?"

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Emi Hoshino is about to say something more. She had a game plan. A response she expected.

"Yeah, I be-- wait, what?"

She's flummoxed momentarily and sets her drink back down and straw. She just winds up staring at her, clearly at a loss for words momentarily. The confusion confused her.

"...that you ... you don't ... uh... "

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed. "Well? 'Every day'. Woke up. Wrong. You said it, should I ask you to repeat it to yourself slower so you can catch up?" she asked, the annoyance clear in her voice.

"If you're not threatening me, what exactly are you trying to imply?" She reached out and would poke her on the forehead if she didn't pull back or move away. "Frankly, you're just being obnoxious and I'm trying to find out if you're just an idiot, or intentionally getting on my nerves because you're looking for trouble."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Emi Hoshino allows the poke -- mostly because she's confused it was even attempted. Excuse me! Personal space here!

She swats at her hand absently then gives her own head a shake, curled tips bobbing as she does.

"Excuse me, you approached /me/, remember?" She huffs, huffily.

"I'm suggesting you're very delicate and need to get more -- what do the Americans call it," she switches to english, "'beauty sleep?'" She wiggles her fingers.

"You look tired, though, for real."

That last one is a little more sincere than just about everything out of her mouth so far.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara narrowed her eyes even more, while it was true that she, well... she was a little.... she had bags under her eyes, she shook her head. "Because *you* were making a racket like a barnyard filled with three cows and a ti-- wolf," she snapped.

"Maybe mind your own business, I handle my sleep schedule just fine." HA! Dee would have LAUGHED at that. Probably. After all, they kept trying to get her to 'relax' a bit more.

She then stood up straight, cocking her eyes and looking down at the girl. For a moment, there was suspicion on her face... But... Then she shook her head. "Oh, forget it." She turned and started to walk away. Ugh. She had a headache already. She really needed to get all this dark energy under control before she DID hurt somebody...