1164/Blue and Gold

Blue and Gold
Date of Scene:	23 February 2024
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Ami and Tadase, at the mall.
Cast of Characters:	Ami Mizuno, Tadase Hotori

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Ami Mizuno has posed:
After school left a lot of time in the day for running errands, hanging with friends, or just shopping in general. Ami makes her way through the familiar paths of the mall already burdened with the weight of a few book-laden shopping bags along with her bookbag still on her back. At least in here she had been able to temporarily shed her Winter coat which was tucked into her bookbag as well for the moment.

Almost passing by a stationary store she pauses to glance in the window with a thoughtful expression as she looks over the notebooks, pen and pencil sets, and similar study items on ready display to draw in students looking to replace or update their learning tools.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    For once, Kiskei didn't actually get to dictate Tadase's after school plans. Tadase was actually somewhere he wanted to be for his own reasons! A friend of his from far away had recently made more than a passing visit to the school but was going to attend as well, and friends moving into the dorms means dorm-warming presents, so Tadase is walking with a bag which has a bunch of things in it - most notably a baseball bat that is sticking out of it - and Kiseki currently nowhere to be seen.

    He, too pauses and stops to look at the stationary store - standing on the opposite side of the entryway looking in and wondering if he should get some things for himself as opposed to using the Student Council's papers and pens for everything - what happens if he finds he needs to do something important and isn't there? Then again, when isn't he...

    He hasn't noticed the girl from the other day standing directly across from him because Tadase is not good at noticing, since he's outsourced a lot of that to the currently-AWOL flying version of himself that usually looking around on his own.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno stands there equally unaware of the blonde she'd been speaking with at the Shed the other day while she regards the rather nice new pens. Hers worked perfectly fine of course, but these were blue with gold accents. A bit fancier than usual certainly. How often of late has everyone been encouraging her to do things for herself besides just study, though? Plus it had interchangable nibs, and refillable ink, and a window to the ink cartridge to show how much was left. It was practical!

Slowly her weight shifts to one foot as she gives one last half-hearted attempt at talking herself out of it. Or for it? "... It couldn't hurt," Ami finally murmers to herself quietly. One foot is already twisting to turn her in the direction of the entrance.

It's only then that her sharp, blue eyed gaze skims over the blonde school council member with a look of surprised recognition.

"Ah, Hotori-kun." Her hands shift to clasp in front of her skirt hanging onto the bags from the bookstore by their handles as she does. "Are you here to pick up some supplies, too? I just thought I might get myself a new pen."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "Mmm - Oh, hello... Mizuno-san." Tadase says as he turns to face her. It only takes him a moment, and that's because he didn't know her name already upon meeting her, since she wasn't in his grade directly. For a moment he wishes Kiseki was here, but he'll never grow if he can't learn to have conversations without the Safety King around.

    "Actually, I was picking up some gifts for a friend who's arriving and... I got distracted." he admits. "I kept wondering if I should pick something else up for me, too. Normally my little friend would be whining about spending money on something like this, but with him not here I can actually hear myself think about it." he says, smiling a little bit. "Maybe get a... second opinion from someone who has a much better scholastic bent than my personality shard?" he asks.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
With the explanation of what was actually going on given, Ami can't resist chuckling over it. Her head ducks faintly in a single dip, not quite a nod, but perhaps a gesture of understanding at least. "That's very nice of you, I'm sure your friend will appreciate it. I admit I was a bit distracted myself by the store."

"I don't really *need* a new pen of course." A glance is cast to the side to steal a glimpse of what had originally caught her eye in the first place. "My friends have been trying to urge me to, ah, 'have more fun' and 'be more selfish' on occasion though. In a good way," she hastens to add. Who after all would encourage someone to be selfish? "I thought it might be a nice treat to get one."

"I'd be happy to help you pick some things out if you'd like? I'd feel a bit less guilty just getting myself something on a whim that way, honestly."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "Well, I think you can be 'too selfish; but I think there's also a risk of being 'too selfless' in a sense... that's something my grandmother taught me. You have to make sure you're taking care of yourself, too - that's how you make sure you keeep mentally healthy enough to help more people over time. Or something close to that, anyways. I think she was telling me not to spread myself too thin at the time." he admits.

    "But the point is, there's nothing wrong with doing nice things for yourself every now and then too, instead of just focusing on doing nice things for everyone else all the time." he says, nodding. "But if it means you'll do something nice for yourself, then I'm perfectly happy to accompany you." he notes.

    "And you know, fun is important too. There's a saying about that in English, about all work and no play..." he notes. "... not that I'm great at following my own advice like that or anything, so maybe we should both do something nice for ourselves today."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"That's very true. You can't help anyone if you're too tired or worn out to do it in the first place," Ami has to agree. "Shall we, then?" A little tip of her head indicates the store itself. With a smile she turns to walk in already shifting the bags to her other hand so she doesn't risk accidentally bumping them against Tadase in the process.

"What was it you were considering getting? I was looking at the fountain pen in the window. I really shouldn't get anymore paper for the moment, and I'm well stocked on notebooks."

A bit curiously she also asks, "Do you study English as well? I know it's a required class of course. I'm rather fond of languages myself."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase nods and walks with her into the store. "Honestly... I was thinking I should probably get a pen for myself because I can't always rely on being near all the Student Council's stuff, especially not if I'm going to take Konishi-san's advice and get a hobby that isn't just more work disguised as a hobby." he admits, looking down and away. "Well, that was her words not mine."

    "And you know, I think having some degree of style or flourish isn't too much, so I was thinking about... caligraphy. Which needs a nice pen. You know?" he asks. "I'm alright at English. And a little bit of french." The French came from studying kings and royalty, of course. "You know for a long time in Europe, French was the court language for royals even very far away..." and then he pauses.

    "Oh I guess I forgot who I was talking to for a moment. I'm pretty sure you know more about than than I do..." he admits, scratching the back of his head.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno smiles reassuringly toward Tadase with a little shake of her head when he trails off. "It's okay. I know history, but I admit it's not my main area of interest. Besides, there's so much to cover the entire world that I'm certain there's information even I don't know yet." Yet. She could learn it of course.

"Pens, then. If you're going for caligraphy there's Tombow brush pens which are nice for learning forms first. I've used them before in the past." Not for caligraphy though. It was just one of those things that she's stumbled upon and found useful.

Coming to a pause at the aisle with pens she starts to look over the offerings quietly. "I suppose I prefer science and computers. I'll likely end up a doctor or a lawyer. Or maybe a professor." Teaching wouldn't be too bad.

Lifting a hand she tucks her bangs back behind her ear only to pause, turning to regard Tadase. The gesture reminded her of something she'd considered. "By the way, I had thought of something that might help your, ah, occasional issue. If you were interested in trying."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "I admit that my grasp on history once you get outside of royalty is... not as strong as it is within those confines?" He says, shrugging. "It's easier to maintain interest when you've got a reason though. Or at least it is for me."

    "I don't know where I'm headed. Ask other people and they'll assume politics or something. And I used to, but I'm not sure I want to get into that... arena." Tadase says. "It kind of is a little bit more... muddy. I'd like to do something where I'm sure I'm helping." he says.

    "You mean the 'rant and rave' issue?" he asks. Well, maybe it's some other issue he doesn't know about.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno smiles knowingly. Helping. That she could understand rather well having such a similar drive herself. "Hmm, you don't have to do politics to help people. There's charity work as well, or even just administrative duties that can help others in the long run. There really are a lot of options." And at least there was still time to make those decisions. "It's not as exciting as what we currently do, certainly, but it's necessary."

A single quick bob of her head is given along with a sheepish smile. "Yes, that issue." Crouching down she sets the bag of books down, only to reach back for her bag. It's swung in front of her so she can quickly rummage through the pockets looking for what she had in mind. A little plain white oblong box is pulled out like something an accessory might come in.

"I know you said no to hats so I was trying to think of something else. They didn't really have what I was looking for at the store so I borrowed the schools' 3D printer to make a charm for it," she rattles away in explanation while rising to her feet again. The lid of the small paper box is pulled off to show two gold hair pins. Thin, basic smooth line barrettes, really, though these had been altered so that at one end there was a little charm of royal blue with a little ... bucket. It might not even be recognized as one by someone not knowing exactly what it was, really, and might just be seen as some kind of geometric charm with rounded edges.

"I know it's not very common for boys. Your hair is a bit on the longer side so I thought, perhaps, it might help keep your bangs out of your eyes while you're studying too." She'd apparently thought of many ways to try and make this useful.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "Well, I'm not expecting to be able to do the whole... King thing... for very long. My understanding is most adults forget all about this part. So while I can help people now, and that's great - I want to make sure I can help people when I'm mundane and you know, my power is something like administrative work, yeah." he agrees.

    Then Ami agrees with him on what issue she's trying to solve and out come hair clips and... he looks at them curious. And a little bit... squirmy. "I dunno, my hair isn't that long, is it?" He asks, looking up and kind of pulling on the blonde locks.

    "Do you... really think I can just wear something like that all the time? Can pull it off?" It's not a hostile question, it's more curious. "And we have to test it too, and we probably don't want to test it by saying that word right here in the store, do we?" he asks. "Like... if it works then maybe... but..."

    Oh he is absolutely adorably discomforted looking at the clips. But then he tentatively reaches out for them anyways. "...Still, you went to the trouble and I don't want you to think I don't appreciate it."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Of course!" Ami assures as he reaches for the clips. "You have such pretty hair, Hotori-kun. I'm sure you could pull it off with no problem. You're right though," she adds with a little nod. "We will need to test it out. Oh."

Pausing she lifts one hand to point toward the little charm as she explains, "If it doesn't work though, I made the charm so it can be removed. You could still use them just if you want to get your hair out of your eyes while studying, perhaps. If you want," she hastens to add. "Or it could double as a tie clip? I'm not sure if that would work--If it does work at all, I mean."

Looking at Tadase she bites at her lower lip. "Maybe I should have tried to make them the same color as your eyes. Blue is just... That's kind of my color, I suppose. If it does work and you want to keep it up I can always make another."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "You... you think my hair is pretty?" he asks, a little bit staggered by that. "I... uh... you... too." he says, blinking. "It's very... pretty blue." he says and then catches what's left of his few non-panicking braincells.

    "Oh! the little bucket. That's... clever. I hope it does work. Uhhh. We should test it. But not in a store. I really don't want to like... jump on the shelves and knock all of the stuff down and have to explain it. They might throw me off the council." he admits.

    "Oh, it's a miracle I don't end up in more trouble..." he says, looking over things. "Oh, the blue is fine, Mizuno-san. One it'll go with the uniform, two it can remind me of yo... uhhh yeah I should get one of those pens right?" he shifts quickly into a sort of nervous laughter and over-scanning of the nearby racks which have become VERY INTERESTING.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno can only blink at the question of his hair realizing that maybe she'd said too much. A bit red-faced suddenly she turns to the side and reaches up to tuck her hair behind her ear again. "Yes, it is, I mean if it's okay to say that?" Oh no. Is he upset she said pretty? Is that insulting to a guy? What other word would work though?

While such worries run through her the retaliatory compliment is almost missed. The little sweep of her hair behind her ear turns into her fist in front of her mouth as she starts to feel a bit nervous over this situation. It had just been an experiment! Not whatever this was turning into! Right?

"Thank you. It's just okay though I don't do much with it, it's much easier to take care of short."

Abruptly her hand lowers to grab the pen she'd been eyeing rather decisively. "I'm going to get this," she declares as she pauses to scoop up her bags again with her free hand. "I'll be at the registers if you need me!"

A hasty retreat is started, only to pause at the end of the aisle. Without looking back she takes a deep, calming breath. There was still things that needed to be done.

"We could... We could go to the park after, and try to see if it works?"

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    It's not that Tadase is insulted, it's that he was complimented and he is used to having Kiseki around to deal with this (generally, by turning girls down) and so not only is Kiseki not around but Tadase (whether he realizes it or not) doesn't want to give the girl in front of him that response. Ergo, Abort Retry Fail.

    And then Ami is gone and the panic is gone and then she asks and the panic is back but why is he panicking she is only asking about an experiment to see if he turns into the Imperial Rant Box which is legitimate.

    "Uhhmm. Yeah. We should. Cause you went to the effort. So. It would be bad if we um. Didn't. I'm gonna. Buy one of these. To take it up as a hobby. The caligraphy pens. Not the... Hair clips. Yeah."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno bobs her head in a quick, curt nod at the response. At least it's easier not looking at him for the moment to deal with the conversation. "Fantastic. I'll see you there, then? Right." Awkwardly she continues on for the registers to make her purchase. THAT at least is blessedly fast as it was a simple, regular, not at all stressful transaction.

Rather than add another bag to the ones she already carries the pen with it's little case is tucked into one of the current ones she carries. Satisfied with that her steps take her closer to the exit... Only to pause, lingering as she finally turns to the side to watch for Tadase and wait for him to finish his own purchase.

It gives her some time to calm herself down from being nervous for no good reason. Her bag is sat down again to withdraw her jacket which she slips on, zips up, and feels like a blue marshmallow in. A warm blue marshmallow at least! By the time he finishes she's ready to march herself out of the mall to the little parklette across the street where they could try their experiment.