1947/Idol Chatter

Idol Chatter
Date of Scene:	14 September 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower
Synopsis:	Glimmer pops into Ryoko's office to get the sewists opinion on her new idol costume. Then the two friends get to catching up, so of course it's all about Ryoko and Sarah and how their relationship is doing, and it's doing great! So why is Ryoko crying?
Cast of Characters:	Ryoko Gushiken, Glimmer Brightmoon

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Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
It was a Saturday, which meant Ryoko was at the office. Her work responsibilities did not diminish just because school was back in session, and so she had to come in on the weekend just to get everything that needed doing done. DUST Entertainment wasn't going to run itself, and it had never been busier than it was now. So Ryoko was sitting at her desk, battling with a spreadsheet.

Her desk was situated in a the small office that served as an antechamber to Akari Hokori's office. Hokori-sama often would emerge just to give Ryoko more work. The Grim Queen could not be bothered with such mundane things as running a business. She was too busy pursuing much more pressing goals. But still, Ryoko had an office, and she was pretty proud of that.

Even if she hated spreadsheets.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was suddenly THERE! Appearing in a flash.

And oh. Oh my gosh she was STILL flashing. Her outfit was pink and looked like it was made by an eight year old who had found the bedazzler gun. And just. Went ham. She sparkled. She glimmered. She shimmered. She sparkled. She had strings of shimmering down her arms.

And now? She was sitting on the end of Ryoko's desk, legs crossed, hands on her knees, looking as regal as could be while simultaneously hard to look at without burning ones retinas. "So, be honest. How do I look? Easter said it might be a little much but, well, if I'm going to be a Queen, I figure I should properly shine. Also, heyyyyyyy. How you beeeeeeen?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
No matter how many times Glimmer just appeared, Ryoko was never going to get used to it. But she could act like it didn't bother her. Or at least she could try. Glimmer, as always, made it a challenge for Ryoko to keep her composure. The pinkette appears and Ryoko's eyes snap to her, and then she does her best not to cringe as she quickly averts her eyes back to the comfort of her rows and columns.

"It hurts less to look at my spreadsheet," Ryoko says drily before locking her computer screen and slowly, and more deliberately turning to look at Glimmer. "Easter? They gonna have you sing?" She gives the Queen a more discerning look, and then smirks. "Does anybody from Etheria know how to be subtle and covert?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a small nod. "Catra," Glimmer said.

And one might think that was Glimmer giving Catra some praise... it really wasn't. Because while Catra did, sometimes, 'subtle', she didn't do subtle. She did... She had some issues. And those issues were far, far from subtle. And she had... well...

All in all, Catra was a mess. Who from Etheria wasn't?

"But yeah, apparently they need some people on their side who know how to do magic. I know magic and can sing. They're manipulating me by making me a star and in return I'll totally give in to anything they want and grow so enamored by the spotlight that I'll be more than happy to do their bidding. At least I thiiiiiiink that's their ploy? I can sing okay, but I'm hardly the world's best."

"Apparently one of their scouts were at our singing contest. Don't be surprised if you get an offer soon, too."

She then looked down at herself and hmmed. "So, over the top. Is it like, over the top in a good way or in a 'quick, don't make eye contact' way?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
"Over the top in a it hurts to look at you too long kind of way," Ryoko says as she fixes her eyes on Glimmer's. The pinkette's face is slightly less bright. Slightly less shiny. But only slightly. Ryoko leans back in her seat and crosses her arms over her chest and she smirks. "You know those ploys work on people, even if those people know they're ploys, right? You go in thinking you're gonna get one over on 'em and before you know it they've got you." She uses third-person pronouns like it's not something she's done herself.

Upon hearing just what's happened, that Glimmer got scouted at karaoke, her eyebrows arch. Her girlfriend could sing. She could sing really well. Ryoko had been meaning to take her out for karaoke ever since she went with Glimmer. But now? Now that she knows Easter was watching. Well, that's a little different. Sarah wanted to be good, but Ryoko was not sure how well she could resist the pull of the stage. "It's a good thing Sarah didn't come with us, then," she says.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon nodded. "Oh, I know. That's part of the fun. I wanna see who'll win in the end. Or maybe nobody wins. I don't know. It's allowing me to have all kinds of fun, though, so I'm cool with it. That and I think I miiiiiight be driving Takashi just a tiny hint mad. He doesn't say it, but I noticed how quickly he told me that I should give Easter a shot."

"And... probably. I think the guy was only watching because they knew I had magic and heard about it, so they decided to watch us sing. They might not think you're magic, though. Aside from like... basic stuff. I'm pretty hard to miss. I tend to be very razzle dazzle." She hopped off the desk, teleporting away before hitting the ground, just so she could land across the room and pick something up that was shiny.

... Leaving magic glitter *everywhere*. "So, other than the sparkles, it look fine? I maaaaaay have gone over the top on the bedazzler. Never got to play with something like that before."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
"Your opinion is the one that matters here," Ryoko says with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You're pretty, energetic, and sing better than a lot of folks. So long as people can look at you, they will, and the more attention they pay to you, the more Easter's goals get furthered," she says simply.

"If they don't understand that, you're always welcome to come work for DUST Entertainment," she says with a shrug. "We could put you on TV doing something, but I bet you'll have more fun with this." She gestures with that same hand in a little circle toward Glimmer.

Ryoko straightens her back as she watches Glimmer flit over to the other end of her office. "So what are your ulterior motives here? Or are you just bored?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
"Boredom, mostly. I'm working on my own things, totally hush hush and whatnot. But a lot of them are 'hurry up and wait' kinds of things. I used to haaaaaaate doing that stuff back home."

She teleported again, now holding a paperweight, and now sitting on the OTHER side of Ryoko's desk. "So, like, it's like back home. When there's no impending battle, you can just relax and rest and fix things up. But when the enemies are at the door or there's something that you need fixed but you're not the one who CAN fix it and you just need to wait for the blacksmith to do his job and whatnot? And so you can't relax because you don't KNOW if it'll work out or not? It's like one of THOSE times. And it's borrrrrring," Glimmer whined.

"So... yeah. A lot of that. Hurry up and wait. So this seems like a fun time to spend my time. How are you and Sarah doing? Are you two being adooooooooorable?" she asked, teleporting back around (the paperweight left on the desk), so she can now be on the opposite side of the desk, elbows ON said desk, resting her face in her hands and watching her closely.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko watched Glimmer as she teleported around the office. It was never boring being around the pinkette. Perhaps because the girl was allergic to boredom. Finally she appears on Ryoko's desk, just inches from the computer monitor and the raven-haired girl flinches before she realizes everything is okay. Her computer is safe. She need not worry about yet another thing.

And then Glimmer just smash-cuts into a topic change. It should be a totally safe topic to talk about. It's girl talk. Ryoko's dating Glimmer's friend, so of course she wants to know how it's going, but it's a complicated situation. "We're doing great. We're disgustingly sweet and adorable," Ryoko says, after thinking entirely too long about the question for that kind of answer. "We're growing closer every day."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a small nod, smiling up at her. "That sounds really good! Just what I'd love to hear!"

And then she cocked her head to the side. "Soooo, why don't you tell me the truuuuuuuth? Come on, I'm not going to get mad." Pause. "Okay, I might get mad. Ugggggh. You didn't break her heart or anything, did you? Cause like, you're pretty cool, look great in a pair of hot pants, but I will punch you if I gotta. Princesses gotta represent, you know? Nothing personal."

"... Wait, she didn't hurt you, did she? Cause I could punch her too. It wouldn't be the first time I punched her."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko's lips press together. Of course Glimmer didn't buy that. Why would this be easy? She takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh shaking her head. "That's the truth. We are disgustingly sweet and adorable. We are getting closer every day."

She waves one hand as if to just gesture to a random event. As if it isn't the only event she's thought about since it happened. "Take the other day for example. She came home to our room in tears because someone told her who I work for," she says, her voice a little tight as she tries to keep a handle on her emotions.

Her hand rests on the desk and her fingertips drum out a little rhythm on its surface before she goes on to say, "She knows who I really am now. She knows what I've done." She looks up to meet Glimmer's eyes and shakes her head. "I have no idea how that's going to work, but she seems to think it will."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a soft sigh and then, well, her gaze softened. "I see. So she knows, then?" She teleported, moving behind Ryoko. Her hands reached out, gripping her shoulders and gave them a little squeeze. Awwww. She was giving her a shoulder massage.

"That's... a type of closeness, of course," Glimmer said. "But I imagine that can't be easy. Tears, though? I'm surprised. After all the stuff with her and Catra and Adora, I figured she'd just be more annoyed. Does she really think you're a monster?"

Then she was sitting on the desk again, directly in front of Ryoko. Barrrrrely managing to NOT hit her keyboard but DAMN if it wasn't a tight fit. "Does she think everyone in Obsidian is a monster? Does she know *exactly* who you are, what you do? Or does she just know you work for evil dot corp dot fancy business suit dot company? Cause like. While I don't doubt your ability to file evil paperwork, working as a secretary doesn't exactly strike fear and suffering in the hearts of children everywhere." Pause. "Wait, does it here?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
There really was no anticipating what Glimmer would do. Ryoko had known her long enough to know that the easiest path was to just let her. Besides, the shoulder massage felt good. She leaned back in her seat and let her eyes close, listening to Glimmer's voice. The girl was really the closest thing she had to a friend besides Sarah. She had always been so nice. So kind. So good.

But as soon as the words make their way into Ryoko's consciousness and she realizes there's a connection between Scorpia and Catra, her eyes shoot open. Glimmer is right there in front of her, nearly in her lap because she's sitting right in front of her on the desk. But before Ryoko can ask any questions, Glimmer has half a dozen more. Of course she does.

"She doesn't think I'm a monster. She doesn't think I'm evil. I'm pretty sure she thinks she can save me," Ryoko says and then snorts, shaking her head. As if that's possible.

Making eye contact, she says, "Tell me more about the stuff with her and Catra."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon cocked an eye. "Hmmm? She hasn't told you? Catra and her used to be like, best buddies 5 eva." Oh gosh she was learning text slang. Poorly.

"But then Sarah ended up joining us, gave this whooooole big speech about how 'Catra isn't evil, she's just confused, please be gentle with her'... annoyingly, she was right..." Glimmer kind of grumbled that bit. "But she also like. Was besties with her for a bit. Then Catra joined us, Sarah got brainwashed back to their side, threw a tank at She-ra, bam. Everyone lives happily ever after, Horde Prime diiiiies, we all sing and dance."

"... Why, you jealous that Sarah had another 'friend' before you?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Whether it's jealousy or not, by the time Glimmer asks the question one thing is clear. Ryoko feels rage. That girl sat across from her baby and acted like she didn't know her that entire time. Ryoko was certain that Catra knew who Sarah was despite the Veil, and so it was a choice. So of course, the first words out of her mouth are an ice cold, "What a bitch."

She pushes back from her desk and gets up. She can't teleport so instead she stalks across the office. Every step is heavy making it easy to imagine sparks flying from every impact of her stiletto heels. At the other end of the room she spins around and fixes her eyes on Glimmer--wherever she happens to be by then--and says, "We went to Korma the three of us just like you suggested, and she sat there the whole time as Rachel and didn't say a damned thing. There is no way she didn't know who Sarah was because that henshin doesn't hide anything except her pincers."

She's not jealous at all. She's protective.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon nodded and gave a small shrug. "Yeah, that sounds about right. That's kind of what Catra does? Believe it or not, I wanted to kill the girl. If not for the fact I *know* she can be better and *not* a pain in the ass I'd blast her? Buuuut, believe it or not, she's got just a smidge of good in her."

Then she sighed. "She, also, killed my mother. So trust me. I *get* wanting to kick her ass. Or hurt her. Or any of that. But that's the kicker. You can't!" She made a small burst of sparkles, sending glitter all over. At least it would fade.

"Because, like it or not? Adora cares about her and so does Sarah. So if you hurt her, you'll break their hearts. So yayyyyy. So you just need to swallow it down and accept that there's some good deeeeep down there..."

She then teleported back across the room, arms crossed, glancing away. "Besides... for all the terrible, awful, just... vicious things that Catra did? When I had to? When she pushed me? I was every bit as nasty. So... I get some of it."

"... But no. Catra's a bitch. If you give her half an inch of rope, she will hang herself on it just to *spite* you. And if she thought Sarah... oh *crap!*" Glimmer face palmed. "UGH! Right. So, Sarah joined us *right* before Catra did. So in CATRA'S timeline, she never joined us! Damn it! I forgot because, well, Catra joined us RIGHT after! But to Catra this is likely all new and ughhhhh. She's going to throw SUCH a hissy fit over it. How's Sarah taking it? Does she know who Catra is?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
"Of course she doesn't know," Ryoko snaps. "I don't go around outing people, and I didn't know the significance of their connection, so I didn't press it." The fires of her rage were practically visible through the windows of her eyes.

And then they flicker out as she lets out a long sigh. She walks back over toward her desk, leaning against the front of it, facing Glimmer. "She'll be gutted, I'm sure. The look of betrayal on her face, Glimmer, when she came into our room. And that was just at the notion that I worked for the bad guys, not even knowing who I was."

She shakes her head and sighs again, looking back up to the pinkette, "You tell her."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon nodded. "Ahhhh. Great. So Sarah doesn't know that Catra is a part of Obsidian? Wait, she knows I am, doesn't she? I... yeah. I think I told her when I met with you. Didn't I? Dang it..." She sighed and started pacing a little, teleporting every few steps to pick up a random thing.

Then she finally shook her head. "Yeah, I'll tell her, though. I'm keeping an eye on Catra, making sure she doesn't do anything too stupid. Blow up the world. Oh. By the way. So. If the people on this world found out about Catra... the whole thing about them trying to strap her down and like, dissect her. Was that... hyperbole, or is that really the kind of thing that people on this world would do?"

"... Also, wow. You got it baaaaaad for her, don't you? That's going to be so cute. She's gonna saaaaave you. You're her Catra~" she actually SANG those words.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko scrunches up her mouth and admits, "If you didn't tell her, I did. She didn't even comment. She was way too focused on me at the time." She shakes her head and sighs, rolling her eyes at Glimmer's comment about just how bad she has it. The girl's not wrong. She does have it bad for Sarah.

"I'm sure there are people who would do that. Americans, probably," she says, wrinkling her nose again. She's not a fan. "People who'd want to know why, and how, and all of those things. Especially if it got out she's from another world. Same for Sarah. The henshins are really important for them both."

She sighs and shakes her head, pushing off from her desk, and walking around it to sit back down in her seat. "She knows who I am and I've still got a job to do. It was hard enough when I knew I was fighting my girlfriend, but now that she knows too, she's gonna be trying so hard to save me while stopping me." She sighs and shakes her head again.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon nodded. "Oh, totally. Nooooothing got Adora fighting like, twice as hard as knowing Catra was at the other end of the battle. I swear like, half our fights? She only went into them because she figured she'd find and either beat or save Catra. Half the time I don't think even she knew which it would be."

"... But yeah, I don't exactly like Catra. But if anyone ever tries to do that to either of them, they're eating ALL of the sparkles. What makes anyone think they can do ANYTHING like that to another person? Monsters. That's who. Hmph."

"... Wait, she didn't mention Catra? Like, at all? Wowwwww. She must really like you, too. She's got it baaaad. But... yeah. I guess you'll just have to do the worst possible thing."

"Make sure that no matter what terrible, horrible, awful thing you do? It's not so bad that you can't look your girlfriend in the eye. You'll need to have limits. Oh, won't THAT be fun? How you feeling about the whole thing so far? What's it like to be in loooooove?" And back to teleporting onto the desk and using it like a chair. "Go on girl, spill. I want all the gossip."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko looks up, meeting Glimmer's eyes, and speaks barely above a whisper, "I bared my soul to her, Glimmer. I told her my darkest secret, and she still wrapped me up in a hug and kissed me and told me that she loves me."

She takes a deep, shaky breath and starts to blink away tears that well up as the realization just spills out of her mouth. "I've never been loved, Glimmer. Not until her."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon slowly the smile on her face faded and she looked at Ryoko with... well...

It wasn't pity. It was sadness. Understanding.

And then she was behind Ryoko. And she was hugging her. "I'm sorry. You never should have felt that way. You're worthy of love, Ryoko, and I'm sorry it took Sarah to make you feel like someone could."

And then she was gone, back across the room, against the door, giving a soft sigh. "... Catra's got a similiar deal. Adora too, believe it or not. Another reason the cat is hard to hate and Adora just... wow. Adora. But... I'm... sorry you feel that way. You deserve to be loved. And.... Scorpia? Well, she's full of love. And she'll mean it, too. So... just let her love you, okay? Don't go all Catra on her and 'rawr', you'll just light yourself on fire trying to drive her away. Then feel like an absolute tool when you come to your senses."

"... And like it or not, I don't know you well enough to say if I love you or not. But I do see you as a friend... so if you ever need any help? Don't forget you can always count on me, okay? Etherians, well... we're good friends. Or we try to be. I... am going to try and tone down the sparkles on this. Later."

And then she disappeared, leaving a temporary, shimmering hole in Ryoko's life that would definitely be filled when she came back to harass Ryoko again later.