1821/Takoyaki Talk Time!

Takoyaki Talk Time!
Date of Scene:	02 August 2024
Location:	Tokyo
Synopsis:	Following Hinoiri's rescue in scene 1820, her brave rescuers go out for some takoyaki.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Molly Skyline, Rashmi Terios, Laura La Mer, Hinote Kagari, Hinoiri Kirara, Amanda Faust

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Okay, so now that we're here, does everyone actually know what kind of Takoyaki they want? Molly-chan, you've never had it before, right? This stand is one of my favorites for after patrol snacks, they've got a bunch of fillings besides octopus!"

Traveling in henshin means that they've moved... pretty fast, honestly, and now Sailor Moon has led everyone to a much beloved takoyaki stand. The shopkeeper nods in greeting, and she offers a cheerful nod in return, before turning to the group.

"So, they have the usual octopus, plus cheese, shrimp, mushroom, kimchi, and tofu. What are you in the mood for?"

She still has Hinoiri in her arms. Out of pity, on the way here she'd ducked into a conbini and gotten Hinoiri a chocolate taiyaki, though of course, the fresh ones by campus would be better.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is back out of henshin, now that she's landed, which means she's back to being a purple-haired British girl with round spectacles (new ones since SOMEONE broke her old ones), a raggedy denim jacket with patches sewn all over it, and a bit of a scrappy disposition, like she'll probably hug you unless you upset her friends in which case she might just knuckle your dentures.

She listens raptly as Usagi lists off the possible fillings for these glorious things that she's never tried before. And, really, it sounds awesome. "Uhm, honestly..." She taps her chin, considering the options. And for a moment, it's like her brain just kind of engages think-mode, and there's some deep math going on behind the eyeballs.

"I can't choose. They all sound great! Would it be piggy to try one of each?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"One regular, one kimchi please!" Rashmi chimes in, likewise in her summer civvies now that they've arrived at their first destination. "Thing is Molly-chan, they come in skewers of three, so... You *could,* but you'd have to be really hungry unless there's a sampler deal. Which I mean if they do, *defintiely* go for that!

This particular takoyaki stand is not known to Rashmi, but you can bet your boots she's locking the location in mind, and filing it under 'Best Places to Eat In Tokyo.'

One of these days she'll write a Mahou Survival Guide, and volume 2 will be places like this, for the best post-fight snacks.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura ended up following everyone to the tako place they had meant to use, though, since everyone was relying on henshin speed, she had to enter the Aqua Pot to have any chance at keeping up. She may have been her own kind of magical, but certain privileges she doesn't have. For the duration of the trip, she had it fly alongside Hinoiri, having wanted to tell her a few things.

"I don't see why you can't call yourself proud. It all comes from believing in yourself, and your plumage is quite pretty", Laura smiles at the small alicorn (though, the dimensions looked quite different from inside her flying home). "And a unicorn and a fairy are not dissimilar. Kururun, want to come here?" At her call, her pink friend swims close, peeking out of the Aqua Pot.

"See, Kururun here is both a seal and a fairy", Laura clarifies to Hinoiri, and she clearly expects the small alicorn not to be too different. Turning to Hinoiri, Kururun raises a paw and cheerfully greets Hinoiri. "Kururun!" In her own way at least.

"Kururun! Kururun!", she adds indicating the Aqua Pot and herself. "Oh, you want a photo? Sure! We can take one once we get at the tako place, if Hinoiri is good to go then."

Listening to the various options Sailor Moon has laid out, the mermaid jumps out of the Aqua Pot and flips her hair back before replying. "I would take one with cheese, if that's available", Laura expresses her request, rummaging in the purse for money. "How much are we talking about?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote dropped out of henshin when they got closer, which means Tracy is here. But he's chara-changed. Which means he has that ridiculous fedora on. Worse? He didn't initiate it so he's still talking like a hard-boiled 1920's private eye. "Case closed." he says. "This calls for a little grub." he says as he orders the usual octopus, and some shrimp ones as he looks over to Molly.

"Yeah, you're gonna need to be really hungry, doll. Like dollface over here, says." he says as he feeds Tracy some of his Takoyaki. Like one ball is huuuuge to him. "Here ya go, partner." he says as Tracy, the tiny detective, eats his Takoyaki.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just eyed Laura, cocking an eye. At least this wasn't so hard, being carried around. "Honestly, I think it's going to be a while before I can feel 'proud' after that. Also, I really need to figure out if there were any other youma I left about... ugh. This is the problem with having my lab cut off like that. I kept all my notes there and now who knows what's going to..." She then trailed off. "Oh... nah, I'm sure it'll be fine," she said with a shrug.

"But, no. A fairy is a mascot thing, who comes from another world and is small and helpless. I am..." Pause. "Oh buck I'm a fairy. But normally I'm a human!" she said quickly. "Oh buck, wait, what if I can give people magic now? I don't know if that would be better or worse," she grumbled. "Did you know Kyubey JUMPED on me? As if I wasn't even there. Just, BAM! Stomped on me like I was one of those mushrooms in the game with the guy with blue overalls! Just BAM! Almost concussed me! I should have punted him harder."

"... But yeah, me being... overly prideful has led to disasters in the past. This, at least, is just a mild inconvenience. Kirakirafantastica magic is powerful stuff, it seems. And who knows? Maybe this will help me get actual magic again someday. Like, real magic."

As they approached the stand, however, she would quickly go still and pretend to just be a toy. If for nothing else than the stand operator's mental wellbeing.

"... Honestly, it's not so bad. It feels a lot like when I visited the dragon lands. Just with less lava and fire breathing. And I guess the dragons are... mostly nicer."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Traveling in henshin is faster! Although, when others pause to drop out of it while Sailor Moon runs ahead to the takoyaki place, Amy hesitates and considers. After a moment she switches outfits to a different type of cosplay but doesn't stay out of henshin. Stepping out of the alley and walking towards the tako place, she stops and briefly glances at her reflection in the glass. ...A [Disturbing Magical Girl] looks back. Yeah, she's not sure what she expected. Now she looks like a middling gothloli cosplayer. Is that better? Uh...

    Amy shakes her head. Overthinking! She hurries over to the stand. "Umm... hmm, you know, I haven't tried a cheese one? I guess I'll try a cheese one. ...And a shrimp one. I'll share some of each with Molly."

    She blinks at Hinote. "I'm not a doll this time. Otherwise I couldn't eat..."

    Oh buck I'm a fairy. "RIGHT?! It's a freaking trip to realize you've become a mascot for a few days..."

    "...Wait, you ran into Kyubey?! He's found new prey around here??" she asks in concern

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I can split one of everything with you, Molly-chan, and if anyone else wants to share, they can just chip in?" Usagi announces it cheerfully.

She's the only one still in henshin, but she hadn't felt like dropping henshin around Laura - no offense to her, but she liked knowing the people she revealed herself to - or when there was every chance she'd need to carry Hinoiri around somewhere, since her roommate, Dia-chan, probably didn't know about magic.

...Definitely something to ask Hinoiri about, actually. "Hey, Hinoiri-chan, aside from you know, fairy stuff, do you... know where you want to go after this? Is your roommate home?"

With that said? She goes ahead and orders, asking for two octopus skewers, two shrimp, and one each of cheese, mushroom, kimchi, and tofu.

Everyone else, who have already ordered, is given their takoyaki in quick order, the little balls of goodness made right before their eyes on the stand.

"...I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Kyubey is still around..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You know I've never actually seen Kyubey?" Rashmi says, then chomps on a kimchi-filled takoyaki, covered in goopy sauce. "He's the one who gives Puella their wishes, right? Well... I mean *Tokyo,* there's so many of us all running around it's probably still a good place to recruit..."

Aaaand that's as much as Rashmi knows about *that* subject.

"...Oh that's just his Chara's thing, Hinoiri-chan," Rashmi says of the 'doll' and 'dollface.' "He talks like one of those old detective stories, calling people 'dollface' and 'doll' is just part of the bit. Personally I just think it's funny."

With that, she holds out her untouched skewer of regular takoyaki out to Hinoiri. "Want one? It'll probably be messy, but it's just octopus. Or I've got two more kimchi if you'd rather."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is just figuring out what to narrow it down to to try, after a grateful look to Rashmi for the clarification on how this works. "I've been here for... less than a year," she admits, "So there's still an absolute *ton* of new food that I haven't tried or even really heard of yet." She pauses, and sighs softly, "But I still want to share a Steak and Kidney Pie with someone again someday. Oh, the things that I miss..." She trails off, watching the food being made right there in front of everyone, and brightens right back up again.

"But I miss it less, when I see stuff like that getting made," she declares. "Thank you for splitting with me!" she adds, beaming at Sailor Moon, who's managed to take care of the problem.

"Hinoiri," she starts, pauses, and humms softly. "I really appreciated your apology, back there. And I want you to know that I forgive you." She smiles pleasantly, "Saying you're sorry takes courage, and you did it. I think you can be proud of that."

And then, to Amy, she points at a new patch, under her Glitter Boy emblem. "See? New patches!" she beams, the one she's pointing at being a humanoid marsupial, with the word 'SHOFIXTI' emblazoned under it.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"You were a human, really!?", Laura questions, wide-eyed. Is this her punishment then? For whatever misdeeds she did? If permanent it would be a bit eccessive, but on the other hand, that youma was hers, so there is clearly much more to the situation than that.

"I am guessing Kyubey is the type that's hard to pin down", she comments on that, biting her lips in thought. "I have only been hearing about him from Amy, but that has been enough to give me a clear image of the situation."

Taking a bite into her takoyaki, she stops right there, the little piece burning her tongue a little. Wincing, she starts blowing on it. "My Queen has given me a similar mission: alongside finding Pretty Cures and other magical warriors, she has entrusted me Tropical Pacts to grant special humans powers, and when I think how Kyubey is desecrating his position..." She takes a deep breath, to avoid burning up as much as her takoyaki.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara glanced up at Sailor Moon and shrugged. "Home will be fine. I know how to dodge Dianora if it comes down to it. I'll leave her a note and then just hide in stuffed animal mountain if I have to. With all the other stuffed animals she has, it's not like that'll be hard. And of course Kyubey's around. He's always around. Life isn't good enough for him of all people to be dead for good. Trust me, I've tried," Hinoiri grumbled with sparkly rage.

She eyed the octopus. Ehhhhh... She didn't... really like meat. But... she did sniff it. It smelled fine. "Well... I guess I'll try it..." she mumbled. And she even took a bite out of it!

... It wasn't a big bite. It was like. An eighth of a takoyaki ball. "Huh. Not bad. And doesn't induce vomiting. Nice."

She then glanced to Laura. "Well, I mean. I am a unicorn, normally. But, ummmm. I was... banished... for ummmm..." She sighed. "Reasons that, in retrospect, were probably fair. Honestly, some of the stuff I was trying to dabble with... probably wasn't a good idea," she muttered. "So... now I'm here. A human. And now I'm this. This isn't so bad, though. Aside from the... voice. It feels so squeaky. Does it sound squeaky?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Things are discussed back and forth with Hinoiri and Laura. "Right?" To Hinoiri, she observes: "We're humans -- or people, anyway -- who got temporarily fairy-shaped at one point or another, but she's a person with the powers of a fairy instead of of a magical girl. Her fairy uh..." She looks at Kururun and then back at Hinoiri. "You can see how he'd have trouble with the whole 'explaining stuff to new magical girls' thing, right?" She then looks at Laura. "How's that going, by the way? Did you find any of your magical girls yet?"

    Molly has a new patch! Amy leans in slightly to look at it, while holding up her takoyaki skewers so Molly can take one of each (cheese, shrimp). "Shofixti... is that an After the Bomb thing? I never actually read those books all the way through..."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara then turned to Molly and... sighed. "Yeah. Believe it or not? What I did? I... did think I was doing what was right. I figured, well. You were kind of... dumb... to fight me alone. Like, real dumb. Like. I was wayyyyyy stronger than any of you spark--" And stopped. "Aaaaanyway. I just... I was worried if you were reckless, you'd end up hurting yourself. Or worse. So I figured, hey, I'd scare you a bit, you'd never fight someone alone, and you'd get a like... one time 'I didn't actually die' card."

"... But looking back... I realize it was kind of cruel of me to do. And... thanks. For ummm... not holding it against me."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The topic of forgiveness for crimes past is not one Usagi engages with - instead, she accepts their snacks and helps everyone move along, biting into a savory octopus ball of her own.

"I've only seen him once," she tells Rashmi, "I think he's only really interested in Puella Magi..."

For reasons that... only Amy and Hinoiri know, here.

"You can try a kimchi one too, Hinoiri; I got plenty!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi's face is practically *shining* at that admission, and the only thing keeping her from saying something utterly undignified is the fact that she has, purposefully, stuffed both of the remaining kimchi balls into her mouth.

If it's impolite to talk with your mouth full, it's a great excuse, right?

"So," she says, finally, when her food is swallowed, "Laura-chan? What exactly are you *looking* for, in a Pretty Cure? Like... this is something I've wondered for a long time, what even *is* the qualifier?"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"I can't really speak for the kind of person you were before, but good on you for learning from it. Just I don't really like the concept of changing form as a punishment. Getting used to having legs was a pain at first, and my case is voluntary and plus, it lets me have fun as a human, so it's a bit different from yours. I hope you can adapt well."

"Kururun?" the seal fairy tilts her head to the side when Amy looks at her, a small confused smile, not sure what would be the problem. She has stumbled in any obstacle, though she has always Laura with her anyway.

A shrug is given to Amy from the pinkette. "Really no success in getting someone to awaken a Tropical Pact, but at least, people willing to oppose the Witch of Delays aren't few at all around here, so I have got to be thankful for that", she says, smiling at Amy, who is one of those very same people. "The Queen has told me to at least aim for one Pretty Cure, just like the legendary Pretty Cure of our stories."

"Grand Ocean's Queen says there are two aspects to it", Laura turns to Rashmi after a bite. "I have to find humans with sunshine in their heart, brimming with motivation, and their heart has to resonate with that of a mermaid. Which would be me", she clarifies to the group of people present, who may have not caught a glimpse of her when she was inside the Aqua Pot earlier.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy quirks an eyebrow at Hinoiri's mention of some previous incident with Molly, but decides not to pry. She assumes that Pretty Cures just are or aren't Chosen Ones and their fairy will Know when finding them, but... i'll be interesting to hear what Laura says. Sunshine? Resonate with your heart? "What does that actually mean, though?"

    Kyubey's the only matter she can speak on. "Only Puella Magi, and people who can become Puella Magi, are of any use to him. He's no reason to be interested in anyone else."

    Although, discussing Kyubey with Sailor Moon around reminds her of something, and she looks to the Princess-Reincarnated-to-Magical Girl. "Wait, you said he was an alien? Like, from another solar system? How much do you... do you know any more about that?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"No problem, Molly-chan," Sailor Moon says cheerfully, continuing to nibble on her Takoyaki options, before she blinks at Red, casting her memory back -

"Oh, Hope-chan said that, I think? But he wasn't on Earth, way back when. He came after our time."

She can be sure of that, because there were no Puella Magi, back then.

As for Laura's quest... "I have to admit that isn't super specific... I guess you know them when you see them?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"It *sort* of makes sense," Rashmi hazards. "You need people who're good at being motivated, and helping others get motivated, right? Because that's the best way to fight the... Witch of Delays, you said? 'Sunshine in their heart' sounds pretty cheerful and energizing to me, so..."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly has plenty of options for Takoyaki to try, and she's going to take full advantage! But of course, she starts with the octopus. When you're trying something new, definitely jump straight in with both feet. This is the way.

And. It is. Delicious. "oh my god this is amazing," she declares, hastily stuffing the rest of the one she bit in half into her mouth and chewing it up. "Is there like. Any food in this country that's bad?! I mean, Britain has Haggis, and I don't miss Haggis, but so far everything I've had here is basically just delicious."

She tilts her smile back to Hinoiri, and shakes her head, "It's okay, no permanent harm done. And I was kinda stupid to fight you alone, but then I'm like that. I really just don't know when to back down from a fight until someone demonstates to me why I should, usually by giving me a bloody nose or, like, a two week hospital stay, or something." She shrugs her shoulders, giving Rashmi a knowing look at her reaction to Hinoiri's admission.

"Oh! Amy, the Shofixti. They're actually from this *really old* video game called Star Control, but if you're gonna check it out get Star Control Two, it's got an actual story. The Shofixti are these fuzzy little aliens with really small ships, but they all have this thing called a Glory Device, where if they think they're losing they set it off and blow themselves up and take their enemies out with them! Kaboom!" She throws her hands up in the air, "And they're my favorites and I love them."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Ohhhhhhh, Star Control! I never did play it... wasn't there like, some big fan remake or something?" She smiles at Molly's enthusiasm. "That does sound fun to play as."

    She blinks confusedly at Usagi's response. "Wait, she did?" Amy also casts her memory back. It's a bit for her to recall Madoka saying something weird, though, and only because of that weirdness does it stick in her memory:

    'Y-yeah... he's... not from around here.' Madoka laughs awkwardly. 'I kinda forgot he hasn't mentioned that yet.'

    "Ohhhhhhhhhh." Amy says, at something of significance to only her. She mutters quietly, "Guess we sequence broke that... now will we never hear him say it?" Gods, being a time traveler must be confusing, she thinks. Or anyone remembering multiple timelines...

    "I guess I'll have to ask her about it. Or... maybe he'll tell me, if I ever see him again."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded. "Yeah. And there's... a lot of things I did back then that were really cruel," she muttered, rubbing her shoulder. Which was kind of impressive, on account of being a pony. "I... got lost, I guess. I... think I've apologized to most people now. I've probably missed a few."

"... Turns out being without magic really gives you perspective, I guess. I was kind of a bl... an arrogant brat. Just because I was better than everyone else didn't mean I could rub it in their face."

Blink. "Just because I was more importa-- just because... buck... Just because I had more power didn't mean I could hurt whoever I wanted with it. That was what led to Sunset."

And she'd even take one of the kimchi! They weren't so bad! "Hm. Mmmm..."

She totally missed the look on rashmi's face. Prooooobably for the best.

"And you'll all be happy to know that I have NOT tried to move your sun in any way since becoming an alicorn. Because while I doubt I could, magic is ble-- is nonsense and you never know."

".... Sadly, I don't know much about the pretty cures. And this isn't a punishment. This is just an experiment gone wrong. It'll be fine. It just reverted me to my natural form, obviously, just... smaller. Believe it or not, this is how most people in my world look." Pause. "Well, okay, not exactly like me. We have a lot of different colors."

She took another bite of her takoyaki, before giving a light yawn...

"But... yeah. Don't like... go fighting dark people alone. Magic can be dangerous, but you magical people spawn so often it's like... no matter what we tried you lot always just... poof. Appeared. Like daisies..." She kind of nestled down in the arms of Usagi, ruffling her wings a little.

"It's the leylines, you see. All the magic in this world is focused in these three cities. It makes it so much more likely a magical person will pop in and then, bam, foil all the magical badguy stuff. It's why Obsidian is doomed and they don't realize it yet..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's new," Usagi says, looking down at Hinoiri, and maybe there's the faintest smile as the alicorn version snuggles down in her arms, clearly falling asleep bit by bit. "That's probably why they haven't gotten used to it, yet. Before like, three years ago, there were hardly any mahou. Inai-sensei says when she was our age, there were like, twelve of them in all of Tokyo - not just the wards, but the whole of the region."

There had been almost that many of them gathered just to rescue Hinoiri from a situation that had turned out to be not that bad. It puts it in perspective how many of them there are, and how few there had been before.

"Which... is still weird to me. The leylines weren't moved that recently, right?"

She is talkign to the closest thing they have to an expert, after all.

She looks towards Amy and nods, "Hope-chan would probably be the closest thing to an expert besides her friend with the dark hair. They both seem to know an awful lot about a lot."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Hinoiri. "I'm sorry, you have some kind of like... sun magic? Hey, if you know about that... How long are stars supposed to last? According to your world's like, magic scientists?" She furrows her brow and mutters. "Although maybe that's not the best measure, just the most poetic. Hmm..."

    She glances back up to Usagi. "I'm starting to think maybe we should have a support group for everyone who remembers multiple versions of their life. Or more than they look like they should. There might be... a lot... of people like that. Come to think of it."

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Your name was Molly, right?" Laura turns to the girl in question. "That video game seems excessive, is losing your life like that really necessary when you can keep fighting for what you believe in? What was your thought while you were playing?"

"I have to admit your voice is a bit squeaky, but there is actually nothing wrong with it. It is perfectly fine aside from when you scream. Good thing it's not a punishment though, different forms are such a bother", the pinkette tells Hinoiri. "You actually got something useful there if somebody is bothering you. Along with your wings, you can fly away then."

"Having sunshine is essentially being pumped up with the will to do things, to be full of motivation and cheerful. Rashmi is right. The Witch of Delays is trying to drain the motivation power from people, so you want someone who can recover from that and inspire that in others. It's kind of like this season we are in, and that's why it's called the Tropical Pact."

The second ball of cheese is gone before Laura continues explaining. "To resonate with someone is to become friends. It's a bond that will last through adversity." She has at least made friends here, but that doesn't matter much since everyone has already sent their magic potential in a different direction.

"Magic in Grand Ocean thrives perfectly well, and the same goes for other mermaid kingdoms", she brings up when Hinoiri raises the matter of the leylines. "But I am actually curious about that. What exactly happened here? I hadn't expected something so....warped." That was almost a shock. She had only been aware of the Veil and the Fade.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Awwww, she eepy..."

Rashmi *did* do hinoiri the courtesy of trying to say that as quietly as possible, but like... come on. How can you *not?*

"Amy-chan... Different world, remember? Gonna be totally different rules, especially if their day cycle is manually operated. It's like comparing apples and Prince of High School manga."

Pleased that Molly's enjoying the takoyaki, Rashmi reaches out and gives her friend's shoulder a squeeze. At Laura's confirmation of her theory, she nods, then considers the facts laid out before them. "I mean, if they're supposed to be a world's natural magic, then I'm not sure *what* happened to move them, or why. But I get the feeling we're gonna get closer to that answer in the near future," she says, giving Sailor Moon a meaningful look.

They do, after all, have some of the same friends.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small shrug. "The leylines were moved centuries, possibly millenia ago. Long, long before anyone here could ever begin to imagine. Sora could know if she'd been here, which I doubt she had," Hinoiri muttered. "She wasn't really the 'go into magic portals' type."

"As for stars... I don't know. Like.... a long time? The stars in my world are a lot different from yours, after all. Sora raised it for the last... thousand years. And before her, the unicorns did as a group. I don't know where it came from. We probably made it, honestly..."

"Magic isn't as weird back home, it makes more sense. Here, sometimes it just goes in wild, random directions. But no, the leylines... definitely moved. I ran tests. No way they could have done that without someone purposely directing them there. It was part of why my Eclipse Zones were so effective. The leylines here were so strong I could do a lot of things I couldn't in normal ones." Pause. "Oh, and like. Very few people in Obsidian know this. They're doomed to lose, with the way magic works here. But it's probably good they don't know that. They can keep trying inefficient and impractical methods. If they knew exactly how it worked, well..."

"There's a reason I put limits in place. Destroying a world was... never part of the arrangment..." she mumbled. Tucking a wing against her side, eyes drooping. And she was so, so eepy. "Not eepy... just getting used to my wings..."

Oh she was TOTALLY eepy.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly's trying a different Takoyaki by now; one of the cheese ones, and judging by the look on her face, it's equally delicious. She is, most definitely, enjoying herself greatly, and it doesn't look like eating really slows down her appetite all that much. Apparently whatever conventional wisdom that says girls are supposed to be dainty eaters or something is either entirely wrong, or just doesn't apply to Molly at the very least.

"Yeah! I'm Molly Skyline, and I don't think we've met before," she replies. "Laura-San, right? And I mean, it's just a video game, but..." She pauses, thinking it through before she answers, while also taking a bite of the Takoyaki, so she can chew on both food and thoughts. Rashmi's hand on her shoulder earns a grateful look and a smile, befor she shifts her gaze back to Laura.

"They're a warrior culture. They consider losing or fleeing to be dishonorable, so they stand their ground no matter *what*. Even if it means blowing themselves up to beat their enemy." She shrugs her shoulders lightly. "I guess I admire that? Being willing to sacrifice yourself to save your friends, I mean, which is really what they do. Being willing to lay it all on the line, so someone else doesn't have to."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Different forms are such a bother. "Now I feel more at home and less weird, thanks." Amy relaxes from tension she didn't notice she had and pulls a shrimp takoyaki ball into her mouth, chewing contentedly. "Mmm..."

    What happened here? "We don't know." Amy admits. "Humans don't have magicologists. Hinoiri here is the only actual scholar of magic we know, and she didn't get here until after whatever it was happened."

    Like comparing apples to manga. "Yeah, you're probably right..." Hinoiri thinks they made their star. "Yup. You were right..."

    The leylines are so powerful here what's impossible in other worlds is possible here! "...So we're in frikkin' RIFTS Earth but only these three cities? Great." She blinks. "Oh shit. Yeah, I actually know multiple D-Bees. Damn. Did not expect that to be an accurate predictor of reality at all." Although she frowns at some unstated thought.

    And Molly's words are a little concerning. "You shouldn't throw your life away. No... none of us should. Next time I'm talking about how I'm like, more expendable or something, someone talk some sense into me."

    She looks at Hinoiri curiously. "So what's that like? Getting used to wings."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well, a lot of things happened to this planet," is the unhelpful but honest answer, "Everything from the end of everything to being torched in unnatural to like, floods and earthquakes, and tragedies. Someone or something changed the leylines, but it could have been in service to like... any kind of goal."

So many evils! All rushing around!

However, the pegasus - uh, alicorn - getting cozy in her arms absolutely is eepy - she shoots Rashmi a conspirational grin.

"Hinoiri-chan's falling asleep," Usagi says with a little laugh, "So I think I'll take her home, okay? It was good to do some rescuing with all of you, even if Songstopper was... a little bit undercooked."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small shrug. "No idea... it's like... directing all of the rivers to one big lake. The rivers, as they get closer to the point, will get stronger as all the water gathers. But it's magic. So... you can do more with it. But it means everywhere else gets a drought..."

"I can't say why they did it, but it means... magical people just pop up..." she mumbled. "And I don't know... they're... warm. I guess. Like... I imagine it's like getting a hug is whenever you need one. Kind of makes me think of... Sora..."

And she was too tired to realize just how needy that sounded.

"Not... eepy... just... focusing. Takoyaki is good... Probably... some old, old mage... just... doing things and... needed... a magic ocean or something... I'm... working on a report for you girls. Yellow voice... hired me to... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...." And then she finally conked out. She had a big day. She had a hamster ball and some water and kept getting put on the kidnapping bed...

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Wings are warm and like getting a hug. Huh, neat! She briefly pictures herself with wings. Like, cool bat wings... wait, then she'd look like a demon... u_u

    Well, Hinoiri's tired, and Amy can understand just wanting to relax after... everything.

    She smiles back at Sailor Moon. "It was good rescuing with you, too!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Who is that someone else here?", Laura clarifies, taking Kururun in her arms and petting her. "I understand wanting to fight for your friends, I would never forgive somebody trying to harm them, but what are they or me supposed to do with a bitter result that has people gone? I fight to bring our happy days back, and how can they be happy I am just gone? In that scenario, I am going to fight, and I am going to win" she replies without hesitation.

"There you have it, I will never agree with what that video game has to say about desperate situations, and if a friend tried doing something like that, I would put some sense into them first, and then I am going to tell them to fight at my side."

"I really hope whoever did that knew what they were doing. I don't want to imagine what would have happened to our fairy population if it had affected Grand Ocean", she frowns, imagining a Grand Ocean without anyone she knew of the fairies there. It was bad enough there after what the Witch had done, but that would be so much worse.