500/Pajama-Rama Party: The Pajama-ing

Pajama-Rama Party: The Pajama-ing
Date of Scene:	17 October 2023
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Usagi Tsukino is throwing a slumber party, and everyone at RHA is invited!
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba, Koji Silvia, Ami Mizuno, Sayaka Miki, Miya Sakamoto, Hannah Steiner, Naru Osaka, Amanda Faust, Kyouka Inai, Itsuki Inubouzaki, Fu Inubouzaki, Yuna Yuki, Togo, Hotaru Tomoe, Takashi Agera, Takuto Tsunashi, Adrien Agreste, Adora Rainbowfist, Chrono Harlaown

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Let's face it. The fall term at Radiant Heart Academy is off to a rough start, if you're a magical student: there's people with soul-shooting guns running around, there are terrifying folklore youkai running around, there's a messed up uncle with an axe to grind against his niece, a series of mysterious circumstances at shrines, a pyromaniac unicorn running around, heck, a space ship fell out of the sky this summer! And that's just the 'good guys'. Don't forget about the stress of being the kid with the soul-shooting gun, the mastermind behind the shrine disasters, the pyromaniac unicorn, the lover of ducks who keeps having to deal with the youkai she may or may not be responsible for...

And if you're not magical, if you're totally unaware of all that stuff? If you're just here, vibing? Well then you're probably still stressed, because you're in school and school is the worst.

Given the state of things, there is really only one thing to do: party! Party! PARTY!!!

At least, that's what Usagi Tsukino thought, when she approached the dorm heads and asked permission to host just that: a pajama party, in the huge lounge of her dorm building. The tables and chairs have all been removed to make room for sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets. The couches and more comfortable arm chairs are still available, if people want to claim those - and well, one table has survived the purge, a long one currently laden with snacks! Popcorn with different flavorings, rice balls with different fillings, chicken karaage ordered special from the cafeteria, and tons of wrapped candies and cookies, plus juices and cans of soda, and room for anyone to add anything else they want to bring.

The big TV in the lounge is playing music, something light-hearted and familiar, nothing too distracting. Just enough to keep the mood light and warm. There are board games set up in one corner, and the dorm kitchen is nearby, the oven and microwave the perfect place to heat more snacks.

Usagi Tsukino is dressed in her pajamas, of course, staying perfectly on theme - her twintails have bows in them, at strategic lengths, all the better for not tangling, and her pajamas are long-sleeved and long-legged, in acknowledgement of the cold; little bunnies dance around them. What can she say? She has a brand!

"Welcome everyone! I hope you're ready to have fun! We've got music and board games and snacks, and I figure when we're ready to go to bed we can put a movie on maybe? Anyway, come in! If this isn't your usual dorm building, the layouts the same as all the others!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Down from upstairs on the boys' side of the dormitory building, Darien Shields -- still fully dressed, the boring jerk -- waves Usagi down before anyone gets loud. "Usako! Let me know if you run out of anything, I'll make snack runs. Also, did you want any canned coffee, or is that asking for trouble?"

At least he's not overdressed today, so he's apparently not working. Just... not participating in life to the fullest.

Koji Silvia has posed:
On the otherhand, Koji has both dressed for the occasion, and is carrying a few 'necessary' extras to add to the table.

Wearing a half-faded and cracked Mobile Suit Gundam logo'd t-shirt, a pair of green PJ Pants, and a set of sandals... he's carrying with him three 12-packs of classic chicken Cup Noddle (LEGALLY DISTINCT! THANK YOU FOR NOT SUEING THE SHOW!) and a couple large jugs of apple cider.

Those are plopped onto the table right by the microwave, and he looks over his shoulder towards Mamoru and Usagi, his hair up in a bun, "Usagi, if you want... I can go bring up a few of the old refurbished game systems from the Computer Club stores and some portable monitors. It'll just take up a corner for people who want to video game in peace."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno brought her Switch. Because it's times like this that call for the practice of fighting tactics. And by this, she means she's gonna try to rule the roost with Smash Bros. This will be a futile effort because she's only a marginal player, but gdammit, they're here to have fun.

So Ami has hooked it up to the TV, while it plays music and has set it aside for later.

She's also brought some more health concious options that will probably not be touched. But more importantly. There's a large plate of hamburgers from the local 'Dark Burger' stacked up high that Ami brought that's less healthy. Look.

Good and bad sides.

She places the plate of burgers down next to her fruit bowl. "I brought things. Hi Usagi-chan!" she says.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka does in fact, need to unwind, and strongly so. She is coming to terms with the fact she got lied to for months, that her best friend was kept away from her for false pretenses of this being for her protection, that she tied a bomb to herself despite knowing the consequences, that monsters keep attacking and that she doesn't know if her magic will ever fail her at a critical moment, that Kyousuke's mood had been quite sour, no thanks to those stupid doctors that kept stressing him with the fact his hand will never heal...

The last one has improved in some ways: his hand is back at full health, but now doctors are swarming around him like bees trying to understand the miraculous healing of his hand.

So when she heard that a student was holding a pajama party, she wasted no time informing herself of all the details, and so there she is, approaching the lounge with a smile, dressed in flannel pajamas with a pastel azure colour and with pastel purple and yellow stripes.At her finger is her Soul Gem in ring form, even if it can't be recognised as such.

She waves to the four people present and bows, introducing herself as Miki Sayaka, Grade 8.

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
Miya lingers in the corridor, just outside the room.

Fidgeting, she observes the luminous silhouette of the dorm door against the darker surroundings. Noises of life and joy pour out -- or rather, leak out: sounds are dimmed, the light somewhat soffused.

"What are you waiting for, Miya?"

"I... I..."

The teen brunette with a ponytail bites her nail. She's theoretically ready to join: she has a baggy onesie on, light blue, that imitates overalls in a cartoonish way, and she is wearing what looks like a plushie beaver with thick eyebrows, in a hard hat and overalls lying prone on her head, like a hat.

"I am... not sure I have a good reason to be here, really," Miya finally admits with a sigh.

"You're overthinking this, Miya. You don't need a -reason-. This party is open to you as well!", says the first voice again, in a lower volume. It turns out it's the beaver 'plushie' who spoke.

"Yes, Enji, but... but... what if... I... what if they..."

"Just. Go," urges the beaver, in a whisper.

Miya bites her nail a little longer, then stops, pulls down her hand, inhales while she raises her chin in one swift motion, and marches in.

She crosses the threshold with the confidence of someone who owns the place, looks around, and promptly panics as soon as someone as much as looks her way.

"H-hello," she exclaims, stiffening, and beginning to sweat. "I- I- I-" Gulp. Feeling the dark cloud of judgement looming closer, she panics.

Quick, Miya, quick! Say something! Anything!

"I am a member of the Shop Club! I am well versed in the language of beating things against other things! If... if you'll allow me to stay here, I can provide my services as interpreter of people banging against the wall, the floor, or the ceiling! Are we being too loud? Are they too persnickety? Are they objecting to our musical tastes and asking for something more hip? I can tell by the number, frequency, and intensity of blows! P- please let me stay!", she exclaims, and bows in humble request.

Still holding up the pretense of being a plushie, as soon as his face is concealed by the angle of Miya's head, Enji grimaces.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
A big fluffy pile of dog opens the door to the party, and uses her bulk to act like the world's fluffiest door stop. BARK! Comes one Lyra of the House of Steiner. The guide secret-lizard does a good ol' wag or two, and then Hannah wanders on in a moment later, one hand tapping away with her Device. The other is occupied with her carry-on for the venture of 'actually flipping relaxing'. Between school, her many failed attempts at a summer job, and of course her attempts at scouting regarding the Dark Tokyo project for Kyouka as well as her searching for the location of her Uncle? Everywhere is an assassination attempt in waiting. Her smile is just as bright, but the young woman may just seem a bit more wary than usual.

She grips her cane tighter, and Lyra is just a little more visibly around her in loyal paranoia.

Rather than food or something nerdy, Hannah's bounty is a free-standing punching bag slung over her shoulder. Clearly she's looking out for the more physical of those around!

Or maybe she's just that Belkan.

"Eingehend, mein freunds! Where would you like the punch-sack Usagi?" Comes Hannah, hearing the familiar odango'd voice, actual warmth floated over to the girl.

Vaguely, she catches the voice of a young man, and who speaks so /familiarly/ with Usa. Her smile twitches a little. Oh yes, she'll have to interrogate this one.

"I smell delicious food! Acht, yes, Lyra is fair bets for pettings! She only bites idiots!" Comes Hannah cheerily to the assembled group, heading off the usual questions.

Pause. Hannah turns, regards the sound of a very anxious Miya, and her grin goes practically to Cheshire levels!

"Truly, your ears are so sensitive!? By the Sankt, such a UNIQUE talent mein freund!" She'll let Usagi do the honors, but she instantly pivots to try to raise that rock-bottom self esteem, as a good ruler does.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Loitering in the background, puttering about making sure there's cups and napkins and paper plates is Naru. She's also on brand in pjs, although hers are short sleeved and covered in little cups of coffee.

Because of course they are.

She smiles to those she recognizes, and to those she doesn't.. and one can be sure she'll get to making more friends in a little while. For now, however, she's still puttering about.

Amanda Faust has posed:
--- Earlier ---
    Amy's reading her mangas, as one does. Aha, yes, she sees that Guilty Gear Strive reference! But then the story gets weird. Entirely off-track. The author is talking to themself, in the manga's world. Suddenly she's getting up out of bed. Getting dressed. Mio is saying they have the day off from school or something. Amy gets a DM from one of Mallory's online acquaintances. 'Dude, the author put you in the comic!' What.

    What follows feels like several minutes of fighting with uncooperative computer interfaces. The wrong websites keep opening. Lists of bookmarks are weirdly filtered and missing the one she's looking for. Eventually she finds it. The latest chapter has the author avatar talking to arms dealers -- what does any of this have to do with the main story?! -- about getting new missiles for 'that person'. And then a helicopter lands, and Puella Magi Amy steps out, acting like a bigshot businesswoman as someone announces, "Welcome, Amanda Faustus!" What. The hell.

    Amanda wakes up. She kinda has to pee but first she goes over as much of the dream as she can recall in her head. What the fudge. Did she eat anything weird last night? She looks at her watch. Damn, she overslept! But after class today... She smiles. Pajama partyyyyy! YESSSS! She never got to do something like this the first time around!

--- Now ---
    Amy comes into the designated space wearing her Aperture Laboratories T-shirt and a pair of light blue pyjama pants, and cheap moccasins. She's weighed down by bags, a US military surplus backpack stuffed with her blankets and a portable game console that can plug into the TV, and a laptop bag, just in case she needs to help put a movie on or something.
    The redhead smiles and waves to others as she sees them. She's a little surprised to see boys here -- she may have jumped to some conclusions about a 'pajama party' -- but hey, that's still cool, it can be co-ed, she's still getting to have a teenage experience she sadly missed the first time around. She needs to socialize with her non-magical-girl peers more anyway!

    And the computer club is here talking about setting up videogames YES. Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY VIDEOGAMES. When she was in high school they were still pretty niche, although in the later years occasionally people would talk about Xbox and Halo, but not like she got to play with any of them until college. It almost brings tears to her eyes to see the next generation interested in the once-nerdy hobby.

    Also burgers! Yum! She can... have one cheat day of not worrying about healthy food, right?

    She thinks this evening couldn't get any better.

    She's wrong.

    HANNAH IS HERE!

    Amy slips off her bags in a corner of the room and runs up to glomp her girlfriend. "Hannah! It's so good to see you!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Darikun! Canned coffee would be great - we should let everyone make good and bad choices, haha!" Coffee at a sleepover is asking for trouble from everyone but Naru-chan, but Usagi is a big fan of sleepover trouble. No problems, only joy! Only fun!

She's weaving in and out of the crowd, greeting people here and there -"Hi Sayaka-chan! I'm glad you could make it!" - responding to questions about set up and put down and all of that - "Koji-kun, that would be great! Ami-chan brought her Switch, too, so a gaming station over there, so people could play together or alone would be really great! Thanks for the noodles! Ami-chan, this is Koji-kun! He's in the gymnastics and computer clubs, I bet you two would have a lot in common! Hannah-chan!!!! I'm so glad you made it!! You can put the punching bag in that corner, I bet people will really get a kick out of it!" (pun not intended!) - and generally trying to put some life into the party, as the host.

She's here and there and everywhere, and hugs Ami, Hannah, Darien, and Koji, in the lightning fast seconds that she spoke with them all - Darien the longest, Hannah the tightest - before she wheels around, hearing the sound of an anxious new voice above the crowd. Before poor Miya can blink, woe, Usagi be upon her!

"Hi! I'm Usagi Tsukino, grade 9, and I organized this party, so let me be the first to tell you that you can definitely stay! You don't have to do anything for anyone to have to stay either; we're all here to have fun and relax! Have you eaten anything? Do you want a snack? Do you want to play video games, or board games, or try the punching bag Hannah-chan is setting up?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka Inai was 'volunteered' to be the chaperone for this event. Which is to say, she's (one of) the lowest faculty members on the totem pole, so when permission was given for this event she was told it would be really cool if she would volunteer some of her time to make sure it didn't get out of hand, with the sort of smile that said 'you have no choice'.

    She is absolutely not in pajamas, but instead is wearing a long-sleeved black-and-red t-shirt and distressed black jeans, with thick-soled boots. And her sunglasses. And, like Darien, she doesn't look like she plans to stay. She opens the door from the outside and sticks her head in, tilting the sunglasses down her nose enough to cast her grey-eyed gaze around the room. Standing in the doorframe with the door held open (blocking the way out), she spots Usagi and yells, "Tsukino! I'm going to the conbenie to get.... snacks." She was going to say 'beer' but changed her mind at the last moment. (Not beer to give the kids, obviously, beer for /herself/. She just decided that saying that out loud was probably not a good idea). "Don't burn the place down." She pauses, looks around, then adds, "No canoodling!"

    Then she turns and walks back out the door.

Koji Silvia has posed:
For everyone else, it can be an experience to watch a proper IT Ninja at work... for others it's probably refreshing.

As if expecting a 'Yes' from Usagi and no glare-face from MISS Inai... Koji silently slips out of the lounge space and rolls back in with a rather large cart that says 'PROPERTY OF RHM COMPUTER CLUB' on the side of it. Taking the unoccupied corner of the room between the kitchen entrance and the TV, he stops, and proceeds to set up...

How did three folding tables fit on tha... wait... six chairs too?!

That's not even counting the game systems... a PS1, a Gamecube, and even... *GASP*... a Sega Dreamcast!

Controllers, cables, it's all brought out and arranged with the precision of a studious young master, until there's setups for all systems and a final larger monitor on the floor next to it for Ami's switch.

and...

AND...

He PRINTED A SIGN-UP SHEET FOR A TOURNAMENT GAME...

Exhaling, Koji walks over to sit down on the couch and pull out his phone to read something.

Just like that.

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
"It kind of comes with the job, really...", Miya replies to Hannah, with the humility that is usually expected when receiving praises in Japanese etiquette. "When you hang around people hitting things with other things the whole day, one starts to pick up nuances even if they don't want to. I'm sure you probably can understand a lot about the mood of a person by the way they..."

Miya cranes her neck. Takes a look at the bag Hannah is carring.

"...Punch?", Miya hazards.

"Miya Sakamoto, grade 9, pleased to make your acquaintance, thanks for organizing this party, thank you for letting me stay, that is a relief, no, yes, yes, and possibly, respectively!", Miya replies, in one breath. After a moment of hesitation, she hurries to add, "I mean... board games sound pretty nice! They-"

And that is when the IT Ninja shows up, causing Miya to drop silent all of a sudden. She watches in reverent silence as the magic take place before her eyes, after which she adds,"Videogames look good too... maybe I will give those a look before I decide?"

"Don't worry, Inai-sensei!", Miya is quick to reassure the teacher, with a respectful bow for good measure. "I am pretty sure there is going to be no sign of canoes here, nor noodles."

Miya is obviously engaging in wordplay, perfectly aware of what 'canoodling' means. But the certainty with which she denies it doesn't quite fit in the nudge-nudge-wink-wink area where she's merely reassuring the teacher -- she means it. If there was any doubt as to her lack of social experience, this should dissipate it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Conversely, Usagi is the only person Darien hugs! Unsurprisingly. "You got it," he tells her with a little laugh, and slips back out after wrinkling his nose at Kyouka. It's a co-ed dorm, even if there are different floors, but some people just aren't pajama party people.

He comes back in maybe five minutes later with two flats of canned coffee, one of which he sets on the floor under the snack tables, and one of which he quietly takes apart to stack cans next to the soda and juice. He extremely lightly 'punches' Koji's arm in passing, looks back and smiles at him, and then heads out.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Usagi-chan hugs get!!! She leans into it happily, and some of that tension in her body relaxes from a good ol' squeezin'. And then, AMY! Truly, the Sankt is looking upon her, because there's two of her favorite people here, and as she hears Ami's name mentioned? That count goes up to three! She'll absolutely greet the others she knows, Koji especially! After wobbling a bit to make sure she doesn't drop a punching bad on her beloved's face, she leans down.

"Und /you/, mein deific angel und songbird! Hah! I fear Lyra would utterly crush me in /that/ competition mein sweet."

"Whom would dream of such things, frau Inai!" Then, slapping down the weight, she takes the opportunity to hug her girlfriend back, and take her for a quick turn and dip, both to show how much she's enjoying Amy's presence, but to jab warmly at her ally and counselor friend!

"Usagi-chan, whom is your new freund?" She means Darien, but doesn't exactly elaborate.

Also she raises a brow towards Miya.

"Indeed! One may learn much with fist und blade clashes against an honored comrade! ...I should like to learn how one does so using sound however." Sorry Miya, you are now Interesting to a Belkan.

Koji Silvia has posed:
After getting punched, Koji shoots back by pulling down one eyelid and sticking his tongue out at Darien!

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah's also notably wearing a deep blue kigu for her pajamas, apparently deciding to ditch her massive robe for once. On the front? It has a rather bulky looking mecha in blacks and blues. Strangely, it's blocky. And...has a skull face????

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    A tiny imouto appears. No, not that one, the other one. Timidly she opens the front doors and looks into the lobby area, one arm held close to her body as she leans forwards a bit as if she expects a dragon to appear and tell her she's not invited. She is wearing a windbreaker and a long skirt over her very light-green pajamas, with navy green collar and a band of the same color on the sleeves and legs. "Eeto..." she says quietly, intimidated by the large number of people and all of the noise. It's not too late to just close the door and go home, is it?

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Suddenly an Oni-chan appears! With great gusto, Fu Inubouzaki slams open the door one-handed, as she stands in the entranceway, her hand on her hip, and a gleam in her eyes, as she announces, "Oi, oi, oi! Guess who has appeared? Yes, it's the long-awaited Demon King--" Then she pauses and turns back to Itsuki. "The script calls for a Demon King, right?" Then she turns back to the crowd. "I'll start over! It is me, Fu Inubouzaki! I have come to inspect your udon by taste test! Dozo yoroshiku!" She is wearing a powder-blue version of the same pajamas as her little sister, and she has a pair of chopsticks in the hand she is thrusting forwards at everyone!

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka snickers at the mention of Miya being able to be of help by analysing those sounds. She is not the host of the party, but even so the bluenette moves to take charge of that. "I doubt anything like that is required, Sakamoto-san, everyone is just here to relax, not to get charged with even more homework."

She recognises the Belkan next and moves forward to give Lyra some energetic pettings. "Welcome, Steiner-san, how are things going? She gives a playful punch to the sack with her other hand before checking the assortment of food and taking a few riceballs for herself and some karaage for Hannah while she is at it. "Do you like Karaage, Steiner-san?" she asks, bringing the food to the noble.

She waves at Amy too when the redhead glomps Hannah. "You are quite energetic today, Faust-senpai."

"I am glad to be here, Tsukino-senpai", she mentions. "Thanks for the snacks", she mentions, the riceballs already partially eaten in between breaks of chats. She brings out a music player and a few cds from a bag she has with her. "I brought these. There are some of my favourite music tracks in it. How has the weekend been for you?"

Then Sayaka spots Itsuki at the door and grins, motioning at her to come on it. "Hello, we are just starting, come in. I am Miki Sayaka, nice to meet you."

"A demon king?" Sayaka inquires towards Fu, assuming a steadfast pose. "You have crashed the wrong party for that. I Miki Sayaka, defender of justice, will save everyone's peace and all the savory food", she grins playfully.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Who'd want to canoodle with this many people around anyway?!" Is what Usagi calls over to Kyouka, grinning into her hug with Darien. She's not surprised he doesn't plan to stick around - but she is delighted when he brings around the canned coffee. She takes one before she gets back to her hosting duties.

"Ah, that's Darien, Hannah-chan! He's my boyfriend~" she is delighted. She is missing the danger signs! She is pleased to see Miya and Hannah getting along, and nod-nod-nods at the idea of video games being played and enjoyed, though. "You should play! And eat a snack, seriously! My friend Naru-chan introduced me to this idea once, you can't panic if you're eating, cause you gotta chew~"

And with a quick pat on the shoulder, she is off, heading for the other newcomers! After her races for a bit anyway, having heard the words Demon King, but it's - ahaha! It's a joke! A bit! "Oh great Demon King Fu-chan, we don't have any udon! Just cup noodles so far, for noodles! We have karaage and candy and popcorn, though?"

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
"It's all about awareness of context, of your location's noise level, the rhythm and tempo of your music, and your neighbor's personality and motivation," Miya begins to rattle out, happy to nerd out about her hobby. "Your average annoyed neigbor just waits a specific amount of time after the volume increases from-" and at this point she gives out the exact value of the variation in decibels, before and after, and an approximate range of time to wait for. " It's quick, and to-the-point." She demonstrates by hitting her hand on the table the way a neighbour would complain. "The insistence of the beating is indicative of their level of annoyance. A few intense blows, an outburst, likely especially after a long-ish delay following the rise in the party's volume." She demonstrates again, palm against table. "A long, sustained beating means your neighbor's losing their sanity." Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. "You really messed up this time."

She hunches over, and lowers the volume of her voice, conspirationally, while her tone becomes more determined, "Now, if you hear a clear rhythmic pattern, they are judging your taste in music, -negatively-. You can tell by the complex beat, the more it resembles a drum solo, the more likely this scenario is. They will literally start playing a rhythm pattern from the kind of genre they expect you to switch to." This time she pretty much bongos on the table, a slow, rich sequence of beats at different pitches, intertwined. "Cut that J-pop, put on some -jazz-, they're telling you." She looks around, "Between you and me, I don't expect anyone to ask a group of teens to ditch J-pop at a party for jazz, but, hey, you never know!"

She looks at Itsuki's enterance. Then at Fu's.

Itsuki, Fu.

She then turns to Amy, who has recently joined Hannah, "...is that a representation of the 'before' and 'after' stage of meeting Usagi?"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna is just outside, held up and prevented from coming inside by a Fu in the way. She is at her usual place, hands on the bars of her best friend's wheelchair, eyes all O_O and says, "Fu-senpai! Are pajama parties usually a place to hoard udon? But more importantly, you just ate before we came here!" Unlike Fu, Yuna wore actual clothes on the way over to the pajama party instead of walking all the way from home in her sleepwear. So she's still in her school uniform. She can't believe this is the first impression she's making on all of these students after the hectic year since moving here from Shinkoku Island. "Also, why introduce yourself as a Demon King? The puppet show isn't until November, is it?" She is now seriously worrying she was supposed to bring her puppet to this party.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Were this a manga Amy might well be drawn with ears and a wagging tail for a couple of panels, hugging Hannah tight and pressing close and feeling those strong protective arms wrap around her and then suddenly getting dipped (but not smooched, no canoodling) and her insides go all fluttery for a moment. She doesn't realize how much she's smiling as Hannah talks to others, but her cheeks might be sore in a bit.

    There *are* other things going on around her. Her eyes briefly meet Itsuki's as the younger girl looks around the room. Now someone's seen you! You can't leave now!

    "Well, as long as the Demon King is here to party, I guess she's allowed!" Amy is in a good mood.

    Also as she looks around, she spies "IS THAT A DREAMCAST?! I'll take anyone on at Virtual On! Or KOF!"

    Sayaka calls her energetic, and she just smiles back. "It's a good day, isn't it? Ooh, we have karaage?"

    So that's Usagi's boyfriend! Amy has seen him around campus but not really talked to him, unaware of course that he's the Hematite Sailor Moon is both enemies with and helping out. "You have a boyfriend? Congratulations!"

    Miya asks if she's the before and after stages of meeting Usagi. "...What?" She cocks her head to one side cluelessly.

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
"It's... it's not really homework," Miya explains to Sayaka, apologetic. "It's more like... a thing I do?"

Short pause.

"...There's a class that assigns interpretation of neighbors beating on walls as homework?", she asks in a slightly lower volume.

Silence.

"How do I sign up for it?"

Togo has posed:
    Togo is trying very hard to keep her mind off of what happened at the hospital. It should be easy, since so much of it is a blur, but enough stands out to have given her nightmares. But, as always, she is the very picture of inner peace. On the outside. However that works. "Fu-senpai, people probably want to get through~! Also, holding us up here is no different from a gang of bandits in the Sengoku Era guarding a mountain pass and demanding travelers to pay a toll if they wish to complete their journey!" She cups her chin as she imagines Fu in a traditional oni get up, with spiked club over her shoulder. Oni-chan indeed!

    She, like Yuna, did not come all the way here in her pajamas like some weirdo.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
The karage goes down almost instantly, that Belkan maw sawing its' way into foodstuffs. Device Mages eat /a lot/ on the whole after all. "Hah! I shall be energetic so long as I am not a corpse, frau Miki! One may sleep in the realm of the Sankt Kaiser, as they say!"

Lyra also assaults Saya with licks and wags like a good lizard!

Luckily before Hannah can answer the question 'who'd want to canoodle with this many people around', she gets the answer she's been worrying about. Smiiiiile. There's this...feeling of a glare even though Hannah's smile is still there.

"Ahh-hah! You should introduce me once he returns!" Oh yes. She's going to have a Talk (tm) with Usagi later! But for now, she's not doing to assault a dear heart in her life when she has food to consume and people to bother!

As for the duo of Hero Club members? "Welcome, welcome mein freunds! Acht, I should have brought a foil, we could have slain a Demon King for entertainment!" Comes Hannah, before she reluctantly releases her girlfriend as Amy gawps at a dreamcast! A wink to her love, and then she's off to get more food, and something for Lyra!

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe didn't dorm at the school, but she DID go to the school. That meant she was totally invited, right?

...

Right?

At least, Takashi said so. But she was scared. Because she was scary to a lot of people. And she was a weirdo. And she didn't really have friends before Takashi. And she was a woobie. So, eventually, the kicked puppy dog eyes won out and he agreed that he'd go with her. And no, it really wasn't an inconvenience, honest, I was going anyway. Totally.

Of course, when she walked into the dorm hallway, she... was hugging a big stuffed teddy bear that was nearly as big as her in one arm. She was even wearing pajamas. Big, pink ones that looked like they might be a size (possibly two) too big for her. Or like she needed to eat a gosh darn sandwich.

But she was here. Her other hand, the one not holding the big doll... was holding Takashi's 'hand'. By hand, it meant she had a hand holding onto like... his pinkie and ring finger.

Because his other arm was holding LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE. Why? Because Hotaru weighed in the double digits soaking wet while holding dumbbells. HER carrying stuff was out of the question. More importantly, well... she was his responsibility. Telling her dad wasn't an option and Kaolinite, HA! Of course... once they arrived... now she wanted to go. Because she was scared. What if she had a seizure? What if she hurt someone? What if what if what if...

And Takashi could already feel her hand starting to shake. Where should they even setup? In the corner? Away from everyone? What if she had an episode? Should she was Usagi that was a problem?

And once more, she looked to Takashi as her mentor/caregiver/emotional support villain.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Amidst all of the movement and the chatter, and the little social circles forming and dissolving, people gravitating towards certain areas to do things like negotiate over what to watch on TV, or what games to play, or what food to eat... Koji moves like a silent 'predator'...

...right up to the food table to nuke himself some Cup Noddle, drop in two pieces of Karaage, and grab a soda to carry back to his oasis of calm in the sea of chatter.

Settling back in place, in his little oasis of calm, he goes back to reading a Manga online, leaving two other spots on this couch unattended.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi is... apparently not super great at pajama parties. Or maybe he doesn't have pajamas. He has sweatpants, that's the closest thing. And the standard oversized shirt, that says 'You matter. Unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared. Then You Energy.' And he is absolutely here for Hotaru, if the armload of stuff he's carrying isn't an indication.

    Some standard chips so that he was bringing something, bread-like slices of cake from a conbennie, and all of Hotaru's stuff (and presumably some of his own). And he looked down at her. "I didn't carry all of this so you could not go do the thing you wanted to do." he tells her, his voice low. "You've got Luminous, right?" he whispers. "So if anything happens I'll know and we'll make an exit." he says.

    "Come on," he says louder "... let's go see Tsukino-san. You've talked with her a little bit, right? Easier to start with someone you know." Takashi says, looking around. It's not like he really knows most of the people here. And he feels like he stands out a little bit. Or a lot. He's far too tall, and maybe too boy. At least being with Hotaru gives him the excuse to be here. Spotting Koji by the microwave gives him at least a moment to exhale on one of those fronts.

    He heads over to the spaghetti-and-meatballs-hair-girl. "Hey, it's Tsukino-san, right? We brought some chips and some sweetcake." he notes. And kind of nudges Hotaru. "Please give Tsukino-san the chips, I don't want to drop the rest of our stuff trying."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Thank you, thank you," Usagi says to Amy, delighted and smug to receive praise on her relationship - of course she is, her boyfriend is the most perfect and special boy ever -

And she also says, to the crowd of people coming in, "Welcome, welcome! The public bathroom on this floor is that way, if you want to change, but there's also my room if you don't like the public bathroom, Naru-chan and I don't mind anyone changing in there!" Especially since they have covered up their conspiracy board tracking all the information they had about the different apocalypses covered with pink curtains and a Luna to guard them.

But she doesn't spend too long with the lingerers, because there are snacks to try - karaage! - and a Hannah to smile brightly at even as she internally sweats, sensing Danger Danger Danger -

And then there's an enormous stuffed animal, held by a familiar face, and another less familair but still vaguely familiar greeting her. "That's me! You're... Takashi-kun, right? Darikun's friend who tutors for the school! And you're Hotaru-chan's friend too? That's so nice! Hotaru-chan, it's good to see you again!"

Hotaru is not going to be giving Usagi any chips for a moment, because Usagi is hugging her, a quick, excited so good to see you ahhhh you're so adorable!!!! hug.

"Chips would be great! I brought popcorn and cookies and Darikun brough canned coffee and Koji-kun brought noodles and I also brought karaage from the cafeteria and Ami-chan brought burgers and some other people brought other snacks but I don't think anyone rememebered chips!" She said that all in one breath. Aamazing.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Amidst all the commotion, Hannah has moved herself over to the punching bag, amusing herself with firm punches and kicks, occasionally stopping to sip some of that apple cider that's been set out. She's even using the obligatory party red plastic cup to sip from. The day is good.

Luckily for Hotaru, no Belkan assaults of friendliness yet. There is a looming Belkan though, not that she recognizes Takashi in /this/ form!

BELKAN PUNCH!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles at the thought of some sort of improv game of make-believe going on where they fight Demon King Fu. That would be fun, she didn't really... have friends growing up. Hannah goes to get some food. More people arrive.

    When she sees Takashi's shirt she reads it and then gives a short, sharp "uh-Ha!" of a laugh. And offers a smile and a wave to the tiny shy girl to show she's friendly.

    She sees the hardworking IT ninja has retired to read manga on the couch, and walks up behind said couch curiously. "You read manga too? Watcha readin'?"

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
"E-eeeh? But you're the one writing the script, onee-chan!" she protests. She slips inside in the gap between doorframe and big sister, and gives a quick greeting bob of her head. "D-domo...!" she calls out in a thin, wispy voice, and immediately blushes a deep red at how her voice went weird when trying to talk in front of a lot of people. A chronic issue for her. She moves back behind her sister while she recovers.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gulped and, very slowly, she started to reach up up. Taking her hand off his. "H-he. I mean, h-hi. Hello. Usagi-chan. We ummm--"

Like a frightened puppy, just waiting to be yelled at. 'You weren't invited!' 'You don't even dorm here.' 'Huh, you're here? Why?' All these words playing out in her mind while she stared at the older girl...

But she was cut off mid sentence. She wasn't the uninvited guest. Nobody was unhappy to see her. In fact, she was welcomed. WANTED! It made her heart soar.

Though, the moment was, eventually, broken when there was a BELKAN PUNCH and she jumped a little, giving a small yelp.

But she did hug Usagi back with her free arm.

Once she pulled back from it, now smiling, She took the chips and held them out to Usagi. She'd been welcomed. Wanted. And now she felt a little stronger. Still... if not for the chips, she might have hidden behind Takashi. Probably his plan. FORCE her to be out and hold out the chips, then BAM! Friendshippening. Or something akin to that. Either way, she held the chips. "Can I go put them on the table?" she asked. "And, ummmm, where should we setup our sleeping bags? Is anywhere good? Or... or is there a specific place you'd like us?"

If only she went to business meetings like this, she might not have annoyed Zoisite as much. Then again, this wasn't a business meeting. This was socializing with other students. THIS actually MATTERED.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi, on the other hand, recognizes Hannah, but he is not stupid enough to start anything in the dorms. For one thing, he's got to figure that at least 1/5 of the ladies here are magical girls. For another thing, Mamoru's squeeze is here. For the last thing, he is pretty sure he likes Hannah more than her uncle anyways, and is in no hurry to start anything on his behalf. Also Hotaru would probably be sad if he interrupted her pajama party for business. All of this goes through his head as he watches Hannah go after the bag. He knows how the bag feels.

    "Yeah, I think we met once, at the Khorma." When he ditched the two of them to force them into duo social interaction thanks to someone's plan. Oh! That's where he rememebrs that boy from. Mamoru's roommate, got it. "Something like that. I keep her out of trouble." he says, warmly. And in trouble. And sometimes she gets him out of trouble. "How's Mamoru-san, anyways? He's been very busy from my perspective but something tells me he's found time for you." He says it in a teasing manner, not one filled with bitterness. It's not like he hasn't been busy with his own... work... too.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto Tsunashi has arrived! Even when he's behaving himself, he's unmissable with his tallness and his plurf of fire-engine-red hair, and he has come prepared with a bedroll, his toothbrush, and a big container of curry chip dip -- and his pajamas, worn through the halls with no self-consciousness whatsoever, are also red and have yellow stars all over them. "Ohhhh, Wako-chan's not here yet..." he says to the air, shoulders drooping very slightly.

He rallies very quickly, though, and drop-kicks his bedroll into a likely corner before heading toward Usagi, Takashi, and Hotaru -- because he sees chips. "Hi, Tsukino-san! I brought curry dip, so--" he grins down at Hotaru. "--hey, do you want to put those chips on the table next to this stuff? Come on! We can push stuff around and make a spot."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru, unsurprisingly, has a canned coffee in hand as she ensures the snack table is topped up for the umpteenth time and finally actually emerges to do some socialization. At least a little bit.

She catches just a little bit of Hotaru's quesitons and gestures. "Sleeping bags anywhere over there." There's a pile, and there's probably some people sprawled in the pile.

Students are more like cats than one gives them credit for. Provide soft surface, it will probably sprout a lounging student or three.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka shakes her head amused at Miya. "No, there is not, so relax and enjoy your time", she declares, bringing up some riceballs for Miya to enjoy "Why don't you take these?" she offers before addressing Miya's volume sensitivity. "How far does your talent go? Would you be able to discern every note if I played you something on a piano?"

"Who is the Sankt Kaiser?" Sayaka asks. Hannah's strong reaction isn't a surprise, and she is glad the karaage was the right choice, but she knows nothing of the figure she named.

Her focus changes to the new arrivals, giving a quick presentation of her surname, name, and grade to Hotaru and Takashi. "How much stuff are you carrying? It seems quite dangerous" she judges the content of Takashi's arms.

She is surprised something hasn't fallen to the ground yet, either hurting him or Hotaru next to her. And he only gives the latter a light package of chips off his arms. Unlike his easygoing attitude, Hotaru is quite nervous, so she decides to bring her some apple cider to break the ice. "I hope you like this. What is your name?"

Sayaka also spots Naru when she approaches Hotaru and gives her a grin. "Hello, Osaka-san, how is it going?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"The table would be a perfect place! You can leave them next to the karaage, I think chips and karaaage sound like they would go good together - oh! Takuto-kun! Yes, I think you're right, the chips would go well with your snacks!" She pats Hotaru on the shoulder - the girl isn't actually that much younger than her, but she feels like an adorable little child, and that means patpat times, you know? Takuto is offered a quick hug as well, and then Usagi has a bright smile for Takashi too, her old annoyance at being set up at Korma totally gone by now - her friends had been wrong to do it, but right about their motivation, so that kind of all evens out, right? Right!

Being asked about what's keeping Mamoru busy however, makes her tense for a moment, the memory of youkai and hauntings and entirely too much spookiness for her making her mentally BSOD for a moment, before she hastily laughs, ahahahaha, "Yeah, he's been good! I've seen him recently, he's been looking out for Himeko-chan, she's like, playing hide and seek or something, but he was here earlier! He's not really one for parties though..."

And then she skedaddles a little, escaping for just a moment - "Sayaka-chan, you mentioned something about music, right? Go ahead! I just put on something to start, but as long as it's not Inai-sensei would yell at us for playing, it's good with me!"

And then on to the next guest - Usagi will be cycling through greeting and chatting with everyone for a few minutes, settling into the background for a bit!

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was, well, not used to being invited or asked to do things. Primarily because, well. When you were weak and sickly and had 'protective' caretakers... Socializing was hard. But when Usagi befriended you, it was hard to NOT get caught up in her energy. At least for a few moments. So when Takuto was suddenly there, her eyes went wide, but she nodded. "O-okay," she said.

And then there was another one! A blue haired one. Oh my gosh. Blue hair. Red hair. So much pretty hair. Clutching the bear in one hand, she held the cup and chips in one hand and nodded to Sayaka. "I... I'm Hotaru Tomoe," she said with a weak little smile. People. People were scary. But they were also nice! PEOPLE WERE NICE! "I'm Hotaru Tomoe, grade 7! Nice to meet you! You... you can call me Hotaru-chan!" she said, trying to put a tiny bit of Usagi's enthusiasm into her voice. People liked Usagi, they could like her, too! Then she followed after Takuto, letting him guide her to where to put the chips! She was not putting her bear down...

But this did mean she wasn't clinging to Takashi's arm, either. And she could even sip the cider once the chips were set!

Koji Silvia has posed:
Tapping his phone to pause the page turn and save his spot, Koji looks up and back at Amy for a moment to say, "I'm doing a re-read of The Exiled Reincarnated Heavy Knight Is Unrivaled In Game Knowledge. It's pretty much what you'd expect out of an isekai series, but at least in this one the main protagonist isn't deliberately given god-tier power by the quote-unquote God of this world. He just exploits the fact that the entire world is based on his favorite MMO and chooses his build from there."

He gives a faint smile and a shrug, "Plus the art is decent and the world is sorta fleshed out? Authors seem to always take one of two stances... either learn as the protagonist does, or lore drop on you for a sense of omniscience. I prefer the former."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Another has joined the party! Carry an armload of a pillow and rolled up sleeping bag hugged to his chest is none other than Snorlax!

At least that's the 'face' that appears first over the armload of soft bedding as Adrien enters having decided that if he were going to sleep around a bunch of other students, he was going to be have some silly fun with it. Comfortably adorned in a Snorlax kigurumi the blonde French student flashes a grin at those gathered here already enjoying the evening in one way or another. The fact that there's more than a few familiar faces among the bunch made it all the better as he gives a general greeting of, "Good evening, everyone! Where do I put--Oh over there," he spots the general 'dump the bedding' area and makes a beeline there to free his arms up so that he can do other things. Like hit the snack table!

Takashi Agera has posed:
"I can carry it. Takashi Agera." He says to Sayaka, by way of greeting and nods. With all of the people paying attention to Hotaru, Takashi smiles, and starts to slooooooowly walk backwards, putting a finger to his lips as he looks around in explanation for why he's not answering everybody who spoke to him or carrying on a further conversation - it's not rudeness, but he sees a chance for Hotaru to be on her own a bit, and he is very pro giving Hotaru some space to socialize, to be a kid. He's not going to leave her alone entirely, as in leaving the room. But he does go to put their stuff down nearish the other bedroll-fort-residents.

    He looks around, finally, not focusing on Hotaru but on actually seeing the room. And takes a moment to focus on committing Miki Sayaka's name to memory when he pauses to really look at the girl.

    Arms now free of both bedrolls, pillows, and Hotaru, he starts trying to figure out how he's actually going to spend this time. Silva-kun and the other girl are talking about manga, so that's out... if he stops moving, and actuallyy relaxes, there's a serious risk of him immediately falling alseep... and so he does, in fact, start to gravitate towards the video games.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
There's definitely a hug back from Takuto to Usagi, brief and gentle, and then he gives her a thumbs-up-- and salutes Takashi cheerily on his way with Hotaru to the table with the chips and dip. He sees Koji on the couch over there and the corner of his mouth twitches a little; he waves to the bun-haired boy with his toothbrush but otherwise concentrates on his self-appointed task. "Excellent," he tells Hotaru, then says, "I'm Takuto Tsunashi, grade 10. It's nice to meet you too, Hotaru-chan! Please excuse me, Hotaru-chan and Miki-san and Naru-san, I have to text my girlfriend to see if she needs help hauling her contribution to the snacks."

And then, bright red yellow-starred pajamas and plurf hair and all, he scoots off in the direction of the closest windows to get the best texting signal. (He could just go knock on her door, but texting is the sport of the future.)

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A smile steadily creeps onto Amy's face as Koji talks about his manga of choice. "Yeah, it seems like there's a lot of isekai lately, and it can be hard to find the good ones. You end up reading some mediocre ones wishing for gems... KenjaDeshi and Reborn To Master The Blade were so disappointing, just OP protagonists who always have some answer and are never really challenged. Netachara's been kinda fun all the same though... I tried to read So I'm A Spider but I kinda wanna know more about what's going on with the rest of her class more than Wakaba's continued evolution into an OP monster..."

    And then she realizes what three of those have in common, all of them if you count side characters, and maybe she should talk about more general isekai.

    "But like... I dunno. Jobless Reincarnation is kinda straddling a line with some good ideas but a jerk protagonist... at least he gets punished for it a bit. But ooh, there's Bookworm, that one was really good, have you read it? It's about a little, I mean it's about a woman who wakes up as a little girl in a fantasy city and she doesn't grow up to be a hero or anything, she's just, trying to reinvent the printing press so that there can be books again, because she loves books."

    She's smiling and bouncing on her feet a bit as *gosh she hasn't gotten to just talk to someone about manga in forever!*

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru snags herself a few snacks, to have coffee in one hand and a bowl of chips in the other. It is the way.

Unlikely Takashi's desire not to fall asleep, Naru is indulging in heading straight for the pile of sleeping bags. She pauses a moment, considering the pile and giving Adrien a grin after he adds his contribution to the pile. "Hold these for a sec would you?" She offers him her chips and can of coffee.

Assuming that Adrien is kind enough to hold her snacks for her, Naru considers the most poofy chunk of the pile of bedding and then...

literally flops herself into it, as one might do a giant pile of leaves in the autumn. POOF! Ahhhh. She giggles as she ends up sprawled in far far too much bedding.

Koji Silvia has posed:
The phone slides back into his pocket, and Koji has a rather serious look on his face, "Okay, I do not talk Jobless Reincarnation because most people fail to grasp that the overarching story has very little to do with what's being seen on the pages. In fact, most of what we read is an after-effect of what actually happens. The story is a time loop and the protagonist was actually brought into it a few cycles BEFORE we meet him in his current state. But most people skip over the massive plot inferences because of a pervy guy with a..."

He trails off, and exhales, "The reason why isekai is so popular is because by far and large it's talking to a culture of guys who grew up expecting something and ended up being handed a pile of empty promises. So they want a world where they feel powerful and seen. Who wouldn't? High school kids who get to ditch on life and become the hero? What's not to love."

Shaking his head, "Bookworm is a slight exception, so is How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom... since they both put the reliance on the characters life-skills rather than anything inherently powerful about them. Despite the fact that Myne could level a city block."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks, eyes widening. "There's a *timeloop*?! Yeah, I misspoke, I've actually only seen the anime... Maybe I'll have to check out the original... Probably a better use of time than hoping Dungeon Unchain Online will go anywhere interesting." Oops?

    She nods along at the explanation of isekai's popularity. "Yeah." BOY IS THAT A MOOD. Although after the pile of empty promises she was handed being a magical girl, so. She hehs and scratches at her neck awkwardly, "I mean, manga *is* about escapism sometimes. Stories of heroes and villains, or of becoming a magical girl involved in a secret war against evil, it's not just isekai. ...Although I guess some isekai is really blatant and uninspired."

    She nods at the assessment of more unusual Isekai. "Realist Hero... I think that one's on my to-read list?" She pulls her phone from her pocket and flips through it. "I've seen a couple of times when it *almost* seems like a manga is going to become Bookworm but Cooking, and that seems like it'd be pretty cool, actually."

    Tap at screen. Swipe, swipe, swipe. Tap. Swipe, swipe. Tap. "Huh, maybe I *don't* have that one..." she's clearly tapping into a search. "Ohh, sounds intriguing. So it's like MaoYuu but flipped and isekai and like... actually interesting instead of the Maoh always just having the answer because of rare demon knowledge?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
All of this banter over the topic, and Koji says after a long moment, "Pardon me. We're having an otaku debate and I've not been polite enough to introduce myself."

"Koji Silvia, 10th Grade. I'm dormmates with our host's boyfriend Darien. You just missed him a few moments ago. Pleased to meet you."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was, well, socializing. Getting food, enjoying her apple cider. Talking with people. It actually took her a few minutes to see that Takashi had left her... but he was there. He was her comfort. If she needed it. And she likely would, soon. But for now, a few people had even approached her and while she was one of the younger people here...

She wasn't the only young one. She could meet and talk with other people, make friends, socialize. She could... be around other people.

And for once, she didn't fade away into the background, instead talking and meeting others. Making friends. Probably some mistakes... but she wasn't the uninvited this time.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. And then laughs lightly, "Oh my gosh, we *did* forget names! It's fine. I'm Amy Faust... Well, Amanda, but Amy for short." She holds out a hand to shake, smiling. "Ninth grade. My roommate's not here, but Hannah's my girlfriend. I'm very lucky..."

    "I guess I've kept missing you in computer club, sorry about that. Gods it's nice to... to talk to someone else besides text on a screen about this stuff for a bit. Do you have any particular favorites or favorite genres besides isekai?"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste has already dropped his load of fluffy stuff. When Naru asks that he take hold of her snacks he obliges without even thinking. It was Naru after all. He'd probably take a grenade if she asked him to before even thinking that it might be a bad idea.

Holding the snack in one hand, and the coffee in the other, he watches with an easy grin as Naru simply FLOPS into the pile. "And it's an eight point nine from the French judge," he declares. "Can she go all the way? Will she make it to the end of the night? Or is her coffee about to be stolen?" His own antics earn a little chuckle before he assures, "Not that I'd really steal it." Looking over the others he asks, "So is it just kind of... Free for all? I wasn't sure if there would be any type of sleep over games or something. ... Is that even a thing?" The last is asked a bit quieter just in case.

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
"Oh, absolutely not!", Miya replies to Sayaka on the subject of pitch sensitivity. "I'm just a construction nut, not a musician. It's just the percussion section I'm familiar with." A moment of awkward silence ensues, and then Miya follows up with what sounds like a sudden realization, "But I guess that.. I could tell you if something is wrong with an electric drill by listening to its whirr?" She scratches her head, displacing Enji slightly in the process. "If... that counts?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Ahh!" Naru laughs, holding her arm up towards Adrien in hopes that her coffee will return to her rather than get stolen. "So far there's a geek fest about video games.. I /think/ going on over by the IT magic that Koji did by the TV, I'm not sure what happened, but he brought in a cart and then there was like a million video games."

Naru clearly has no plans to get up anytime soon, she wriggles in the bedding to nestle in properly. "There's food. Ther'es social. I'm being lazy and lounging and others are welcome to lounge with me."

Naru looks around again. "Hannah brought a punching bag, because of course she did. There will probably be games later, unless we all just lounge until we're asleep. May be sooner for others than later."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The enthusiasm Hotaru is demonstrating (or at least showing) is enough to convince the bluenette that her presence is not unwelcome, so she shows her the music player she is carrying. "Do you like classical music? How about you choose one?" she says, showing her the cds she is carrying.

She nods at Miya. "Sure, I will show you my piano one of these days, and see if it's up to your interest."

Sayaka has chosen a pretty wide selection, so there should be something there for everyone, assuming classical music was to one taste. "Hey, Hotaru-chan, what would you choose between these? I have various pieces by Mozart, a bit of Haydn, Brahms, in particular his Clarinet Sonata, Schumann's Piano Quintet, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Beethoven and Spohr."

At Hotaru's comment, she picks Bruch's "Max Bruch Romance in F major for Viola and Orchestra, op. 85". Sayaka places the music player where Usagi told her to and the composition Hotaru chose starts playing. She can always turn it off if others are bothered by it.

Done that, she approaches Adrien who is the only one she hasn't met yet. "Hello, I am Miki Sayaka, grade 8, what are you and Osaka-san discussing?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Taking a deep breath and adjusting his glasses, Koji says, "I have a decent collection of romance manga. My claim to fame is owning a collector's edition set of The Prince of High School. All 40 volumes. I have a second set I brought to school and am lending out by school years."

There's a trace of a grin from the bunned-up boy as he adds, "I got them at first to tick off my dad. He's huge into stuff like Fist of the North Star, Lone Wolf and Cub, Baki the Grappler... you know... macho guy stuff. But to be honest? Shojo a LOT more upbeat than shonen. I mean... yes... girls seem to be a lot meaner in Shojo than I've ever seen, but it's a nice relaxing read. My friend Chiyo is in the manga club and it's her favorite too. If she had her way, I'd probably be in the manga club too."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste chuckles knowingly at Naru's grabby hands for her coffee. He obliges offering it down careful so as to not spill it on her or the blankets she'd claimed to lounge on. The snacks are offered soon after. "Snacks do sound good, but I also try not to eat after dinner usually. It's a special occasion though." That means popcorn at least should be okay, right? Darn his diet.

Sayaka's approach earns a warm smile toward her as well as a dip of his head. The Snorlax hood falls down over his eyes from the motion. It's swept back over his hair and off completely leaving his regular blonde hair on display. "Adrien Agreste, grade nine. Pleased to meet you Miki-san. Naru-chan was just catching me up on what was going on since I just managed to get in. I had to do a bit of work after class today."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The Prince of High School... "I've never actually read that one... romance, huh? Gosh, that takes me back, I used to love romantic comedies and stuff! Although it's been awhile... I think the first shoujo I ever read was some Fushigi Yuugi, a friend had the english translation of the first volume or first few volumes... More recently, uh... I really liked Metamo Kiss though it's kinda obscure..." Did she maybe mean Mischievous Kiss? Maybe that's obscure to their generation. "Ooh! ReLife was good, although you have to read to the second half for the reveal that makes it *really* good."

    Amy leans against the couch looking thoughtful. "You know, maybe a trope that shoujo would handle *better*, is the whole, guy-turns-girl-and-befriends-his-crush thing. Like there's so much *promise* there, of developing the love interest and her friends beyond objects, as characters, but they never *do* it, it's always they just talk about how much she likes the guy she doesn't know is talking with her and either the 'friendship' is barely developed at best or at worst it gets creepy and skeevy. I dunno if shoujo's ever tried it. I guess Cute X Guy flipped it but it wasn't exactly great..."

    She blinks as she realizes what she's rambled on to. "But uh. Y'know. I've read Fullmetal Alchemist. And Ranma. And seen a lot of Slayers and Dragonball. Com, completely normal stuff! Scrapped Princess was great! And Erased, though it was really dark. And uhhh...." She scrambles to think of something *recent* and *normal*.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka nods. "With the autumn season and school back in sessions, it feels like teachers are really doing their worst to cover us with homework." She is quite annoyed at that. Her free time is scarce and precious now, and she isn't really in the mood for homework. 'I know I can't expect the teachers to know what is going on in our private lives, but that's still excessive!', she thinks to herself. "At least Saotome-sensei gets into tangents that are quite funny. Oh, she is our homeroom teacher."

She also looks over at where Takashi is playing. She isn't sure if he is engrossed in the video game or not, but worst thing he can do is tell her he doesn't want to talk. She looks at the screen in his corner, not recognising the video game, and asks "What are you playing?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji nods... and nods... continuing to listen, and the reflection of the light off his glasses does a good job of hiding the fact that he's now being overwhelmed in an onslought of titles and other information. But in lieu of anything else, he says, "I hope you don't mind, Miss Faust. But I need to use the facilities, and I admit..."

He finally chuckles a little, "I'm a little out of my depth with you, I guess. But that's fine. Anyone who's as close to Hannah as you are doesn't get there without being strong in their own way."

Leaving the bombshell that he NOTICED them, Koji slips up and away from her towards the hallway...

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Hey Sayaka." Naru greets a little belatedly, after Adrien introduces himself. She's quite comfortable where she is, nestled into blankets now with coffee AND snacks. She seems unconcerned by the fact that she's talking to people who are standing, she's used to being short anyhow.

"Homework is eternal." Naru agrees with Sayaka's lament. "Constant and eternal."

"You can totally just nibble at snacks, or steal some of mine." Naru's usual food consumption would make Adrien's model worthy diet pleased, she's fine with sharing. "The popcorn does look good, but I got tempted by the chips first." There's no one having a healthy dinner here tonight, that's for sure.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks increasingly anxious, as if someone would *somehow* draw the logical conclusion from her manga tastes, her exact situation. But... it seems maybe Koji didn't follow all of her rambling? "I, uh, I mean I *am* happy to talk about manga and anime I'm just awkward sometimes..."

    He makes a comment about her being close to Hannah which is *said* like it's supposed to have cryptic meaning or be a reveal or something, but she introduced herself as Hannah's girlfriend earlier, didn't she? She's left watching him go, and then looking over the rest of the party to see what others are doing.

    She glances over at the group by the sleeping bag pile. Damn, that looks comfy. Her eyes follow Sayaka over to the videogames and wanders over that way. Comfortable. Familiar. "Do you play videogames, Sayaka?"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"Homework isn't so bad as long as you keep up on it," Adrien reasons with all the optimism of someone who was probably getting decent grades in the first place. Maybe a bit of that private tutoring he had over in France helped somewhat. He definitely knew how to study on his own, at least.

Naru's offer of sharing the snacks earns a chuckle from him. "I may steal one or two. Though to be fair I think I smell chicken?" Fried chicken at that. There's a little hopeful tone to his voice as he tries to rise up on his toes to peer over at the tables with the food to see the karaage. "There's still a lot of dishes I haven't tried since coming here. I really want to hit up an actual ramen stand at some point." Surely those aren't just movies. "You mentioned one to Hinoiri once that serves vegan, right?" Of course, he'd eat anything.

Breifly he watches as the others move around their groups contemplating what to do, or where to go. Surely hanging out with Naru was perfectly fine but was he just avoiding others by doing that? Looking back he asks, "No one's going to start rumors if I snag some food and sit near you, right?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru giggles softly at Adrien's theory. "You've met this school, right?" She wriggles up out of the blankets, leaving her snacks unguarded. "There's going to be gossip."

"But I will save you from the gossip for just a little while." Naru also goes to set her coffee down. "Need something from my room. I'll be back shortly."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The bluenette makes a trip for some more rice balls while she speaks with Naru, who has turned herself into quite the warm bundle. Despite her having her own pile already, she opts to bring some riceballs to her too. "I thought you would like some, for variety", she explains herself, giving Naru the food she gathered.

"A few", she confirms to Amy. "Mostly platform fighting games and things like Guilty Gear - Strive. It's not really something that I do often, though. Overall I like playing around with Ky Kiske. Do you play Strive?"

She looks towards Adrien at the mention of Hinoiri. "Can you tell me the name of the place if you remember? The other day, she offered me a lift, so if she likes that place, that's a great way to pay her back."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste steps over to the snack table to procure some of the karaage, and a decent bit of napkins as well. Just because he wants to make sure to stay as clean as possible (especially while wearing a Snorlax pajama onesie). He would just catch up with Naru later once she'd returned from her task.

The talk about videogames, and Miki's question, garner his attention. "No, sorry," he responds with a shake of his head. "Naru would know when she gets back. I haven't been there myself. Though anything vegan will probably be good for Hinoiri, I don't think she's picky past the origins of the food itself."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Guilty Gear? "I've played one of the older Guilty Gears, and a bunch of the older King of Fighters's, I haven't tried Strive yet. It and BlazBlue I'm waiting to go on sale cheap, you know? I never really... had anyone to play with. Smash Brothers is great too! I liked Fox before he was cool!" Wait. "I mean, before I found out that he's got a reputation in tournaments... Although honestly I think Final Destination, No Items is a really boring way to play, you know?"

    Amy's nerves are a bit rattled. She has no idea if she's seeming like a normal teenager or not. At least she'll just seem weird at worst, right?

Sayaka Miki has posed:
This should be a subject Amy likes, why is she so nervous all of a sudden. She even brought it up herself. Sayaka focuses her attention on the redhead, trying to discern the reason behind the sudden change of behaviour. She doesn't want to make her uncomfortable, so the sooner they can get back to how it started, the better.

"Faust-senpai, have people annoyed you because you like to play older games?" Sayaka tentatively proposes. She did place quite a bit of emphasis on "older" this and older "that", and she mentioned thinking she was the only one to like a character.

Sayaka points her finger towards her schoolmate. "It doesn't matter if you focused your time on digging up a bunch of older games compared to your classmates. I wouldn't have any leg to stand on on that front", she says, pointing to the music player still going through Hotaru's selection. "Madoka-chan and Kyousuke like listening to that music too, but how many people besides them, do you think? You don't have to feel nervous about things like that, Faust-senpai."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda relaxes a little bit as Sayaka hits the nail close enough. "...No one's said it was weird *yet*, but, I'm a bit worried about seeming weird here at my new school... I'm already a foreigner, and... well. I was 'the weird one' at home."

    She looks down at the floor. "So far everyone's been nice. But old habits and anxiety... they don't go away so quickly, you know?" She looks up at Sayaka and smiles. "Thank you. For... being concerned and wanting to reassure me." She steps forward and tries to hug Sayaka. "Everyone here has been so nice..."

    If the hug was accepted, she lets go and steps back after, and smiles. "Radiant Heart is really friendly, thanks."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"There's absolutely nothing wrong with liking classics, or older games," Adrien has to agree with a reassuring smile toward Amy. He hadn't meant to pry into the conversation but it was hard not to overhear it either. "Honestly, with how frequently games get published these days it's not a bad idea to wait awhile and see what has actual good reviews. No shame in that."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"I once met someone with a similarly anxious behaviour. Despite that, he put that aside and saved my life even if he could have gone away, so I think you can similarly get over your anxiety with time, Faust-senpai."

Sayaka does accept the hug Amy gives her, and waits until she is done before pulling back. "Radiant Heart really is amazing for getting so many nice people under the same roof. I need to catch up on that since I was particularly busy over the summer despite already being enrolled."

She looks towards Adrien. "That's surprisingly thought out for a videogame, Adrieste-senpai. I never knew they could be so complicated."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The large bavarian girl is late to the sleep-over! To her credit, though, she had a long weekend. 5'7" and quite built, the blonde stands out, even among the weirdos who attend a place like Radiant Heart. She stuck to herself for much of her stay here, but is beginning to slowly try and make friends. Tonight is a big step for her!

She creeps out of her room and down the hall, stepping into the common room. She's dressed for bed, as many here are. Her blonde hair is down, and quite lustrious when not up in her usual hairstyle. She's wearing a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants, and an oversized black t-shirt with a tattooed kitten with a sword in their mouth, squinting. The kanji for 'cat katana' is beside it. She walks gingerly, pausing here and there to rest a hand on her side, as if in a bit of pain from something. Under one fit arm is a pillow, and her blanket. She chews her lip a bit as she glances about.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at Adrien. She blinks at Sayaka. "Your life was in danger?" Like, *besides* magivl girl stuff. "I'm glad you're OK!"

    "Yeah, it's almost like thry're deliberately recruiting nice people..."

    And out of the corner of her eye she sees Adra looking lost, and waves.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
That lost look is one that Adrien had shared not too long ago so it's quite easy to spot Adora wearing it. That, and she was the same height as he was so equally easy to see in that regard. While most had opted for actual pajamas he's gone the touristy/nerd route and is wearing a Snorlax onesie with the hood currently pushed back so his blonde hair isn't too messed up. Mostly because the hood kept falling into his eyes.

It might be a bit 'rude' but he raises his voice just a bit to call out, "Hey! Cat-tana! I love the shirt!" Right before gesturing toward the pile of sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets that many other students had already arranged. "You can toss your things there if you want. The food is great," he assures while lifting up a small plate of karaage chicken of his own in indication.

His attention shifts back to Amy and Sayaka as he'd been speaking with them to flash a grin. "I'm not a serious gamer, but a friend of mine back in France is. That was usually the advice he gave. Wait at least a week to hear reviews on games before diving in. Though," he admits with a chuckle, "He rarely took his own advice."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Thank you, Faust-senpai. We weren't alone that day, but he was a great help."

'Almost like as if they are recruiting nice people'



Sayaka guesses that makes it easier to prey on someone's goodwill, she thinks looking at her Soul Gem ring. Though, at least Kyubey seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

Sayaka waves to Adora when she comes in. 'She is really fit, and tall too. I think she is the same height as Agreste-senpai', she thinks, checking the two of them out. Yep, they could probably start a staring challenge on equal levels if they wanted.

'Maybe she would be interested in a game of soccer? I will try asking her later when we aren't relaxing.' She bows towards Adora, saying her full name and grade.

"Like Agreste-senpai said, we have lots of food and entertainment. I suggest trying out the karaage, and we also have some apple cider back there", Sayaka specifies, indicating a remote corner of the table.

"Your friend being unable to hold back gives you a trusted opinion, at least. Does he send you his recommendations?" Sayaka asks the blonde model.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She spots Amy and beams, recognizing her from briefly meeting before. She heads over in that direction, a bit of a limp to her movements. "Heeeeey! Amy, right? Did I remember that right?," she asks hopefully.

She glances about at anyone else in that gathered group and offers, "Adora Rainbowfist. Grade 8. Sorry I'm late. Had to take my meds and do my routine suture check-up, as per the nurse. Y'know, make sure everything is clean and blah blah."

She sets her pillow and blanket down and moves to sit on her pillow, sitting a bit weirdly with one leg tucked and the other bent. Gays can never sit normal, it is known. She tucks some hair behind her ear and glances about. "Lotsa people! Looks like everyone is having fun. I'm really glad I got to make it. I...really need something like this right now."

She then takes her stuff from under her and skillfully tosses them to the pile from where she's seated. The throw makes her wince, though, and swear under her breath in a ...very unfamiliar language. "T-thanks! Found it in the same shop I got all my American baseball stuff from! My Padres jersey, hat and all that." She looks between the others, then. "Gaming? I keep hearing about that. And anime. And movies. I went to the arcade but it was kinda overwhelming. I need to see movies and anime and stuff for the first time, though. I got into books! Mostly romance," she admits with a lopsided grin. She eyes the food, then and she moves to crawl across the floor to the food. She moves to stand on her knees, piling a plate high with food. With that body she eats a lot of food! She then balances it as she shuffles back over on her knees, letting out a grunt of pain as she flops back into that seated position.

She smiles at Sayaka. "Hi! Sorry for not bowing. Tummy is all stitched up at the moment and you wouldn't believe how bad that hurts. It's nice to meet you, though!"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste grins in amusement toward Sayaka. "Constantly. Video games or his girlfriend are some of the things he talks most about. We usually chat while playing Mario Kart online these days." There was nothing wrong with gamer chat at least, and it also allowed him to keep his roommate Chrono a bit busier with learning how to relax. By making him play with them of course. "That's one of the few I brought with me when I came to Japan."

The mention of needing to take meds and check sutures draws his attention back toward Adora with a wince of sympathy. Especially when she starts wincing from her crawling back and forth to snag food. "Ah, if you want I can grab things for you so you don't stress yourself. Stomach injuries are the worst. Hard to not hit it when you move," he remarks with apparent familiarity to such a situation. "We were just talking about some video games that are older, and how it's okay to like them. I know what you mean though, about wanting to try to see everything you can. Anime, movies, games." A little sheepishly he adds, "My father used to make sure I had everything new that game out, but it's more fun when you have friends to share it with."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"That's sweet," Adora says to Adrien. "That'd...be nice. Grabbing things for me, I mean. And the video game thing is sweet, too. Sounds like a good dad. Never knew my parents, and we didn't have stuff like that where I grew up," she says. "...So I have a lot of catching up to do. I didn't even know what birthdays were till recently!"

She works on her food a bit, letting out pleased little sounds as she does so. "I don't think we've met yet," she says to him. She briefly met his henshin, sure, but not HIM. He'd have seen her pre-Henshin, and her transformation, but he was already Noire when he showed up to the fight.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi Agera had been scooting over to play the video games - but with all of the controllers occupied, he paused to wait for his turn - and that was his fatal mistake. Not because there was anything wrong with waiting his turn, but he had been working himself a little too hard to just come to a stop, particularly resting on his sleeping bag. While Hotaru had socialized, Takashi... slept. The boy was tired. And everyone around was too polite to wake him up - or at least hadn't stepped on him because that might well have been what it would have taken.

    So as Adora comes in and the discussion there deepens, a certain silver-haired boy suddenly wakes up - as though his body had only just been informed it went to sleep.

    The words that come out of his mouth aren't really words at first, but eventually he mumbles something slightly more coherent. "Oh right. Pajama... party... thing." he blinks, and runs his hands through his hair rapidly, trying to straighten what he's sure is some kind of bedhead (it doesn't look as bad as he thinks), and generally feeling a little embarrassed... and subtly scooting closer to the ongoing conversation as a sort of 'I was here all the time' gambit that nobody will believe. Also he's a little too tall to be that sneaky (normally, anyways.)

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste smiles reassuringly to Adora at her request. "Sure, it's not a problem at all. I'm probably going to be hitting up the snack table quite a bit to begin with," he assures so that she doesn't end up feeling he was just going out of his way for her. "I remember how tough it was to move around after I got my appendix out when I was younger."

Realizing that he hadn't introduced himself either he's quick to fix that. "Pleased to meet you, Adora. I'm Adrien Agreste, grade nine. I'd say I'm a friend of Naru's... and that is true... But I think everyone is Naru's friend."

    akashi's reappearance earns a friendly, "Good to see you again, Takashi. My roommate hasn't been giving you any trouble, has he? I know he's a bit hyper."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh, hi! Adora Rainbowfist, Grade 8," the apparently injured girl offers Takashi with a small smile. "Nice to meet you. Pardon the lack of a bow. Stitches." She does offer a wave to him, though! She works more on her food, glancing between the two boys as she does so.

She blinks, then, and glances over at Takashi. "Takashi! I know that name." She considers for a moment, but...she's not the brightest girl. "Probably share a class or something, right?," she asks after a moment, not quite remembering a dockside conversation with a girl in the middle of a break-down.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi looks to Adrien. "Uhhh... who is your roommate again?" he says, not entirely away from the just-woke-up bleariness. "The only roommate I really remember is the expresso machine." he admits.

    Then turns to Adora. That name, Adora, it's familiar too. (Like you could keep it out of Catra's mouth for any amount of time.) "Yeah... maybe. There's more than one Takashi around, though" he says, looking fondly at the table where there is some kind of caffinated beverage that he will assuredly acquire soon. "This one, though, is Takashi Agera, Grade 10." he says, sitting up slowly. "I know a Naru. Osaka-san?" he asks, his brain still catching up with the rest of him. But coming online as he stands up to go grab something caffinated and return.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka waves to Takashi and bows. "Hello, Agera-senpai, how was your game? We were actually discussing games a few moments earlier. Faust-senpai is an expert at digging up old games, and has played quite a few of them."

Sayaka looks at Adora, smiling. "You don't have to worry about your injury. Hope you get better soon. I don't know how bad walking is with that."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste regards the sleepy Takashi with a bemused expression as he seemed a bit out of it. Then again, this entire situation was to let people hang, relax, and just kick back some. If he got to relax there was nothing wrong with that. "Chrono is my roommate, though the espresso machine is the first one," he admits with a grin.

"I was just about to grab myself a drink. Would anyone else like one?" It's an open offer so that he can hopefully make it all in one trip since he had already offered to play errand boy for Adora so she could heal up a bit.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh, duh. It's probably a common name in Japan, huh? Sorry. That was dumb of me," the blonde apologises. She looks over to Adrien, then, finishing her plate and setting it aside. "I thiiiink I met Naru? Lots of people at this school here, though. Trying to get the names straight. Back home the naming style was a lot more...um. Straight-forward?"

She turns to watch Takashi get up, and when she sees what he's grabbing she calls out. "Can I get one of those sodas, please? I could use something sweet and...recharging." She brushes her fingers back through her surprisingly long blonde hair. "My roomie just got moved to another room," she adds on the topic of roommates. "Waiting for them to assign a new one. Get's lonely in there. I've had people around me all my life."

She looks back over at Sayaka and casually pulls the front of her shirt up enough to show. Four long slashes across her tummy, like claws, fairly freshly sutured. "Yeeeeah, it's a bad one." She seems very casual about injuries or similar, and it also draws into display similar older scars on her arm, and the very old slash across her right eyebrow. All look like from whatever did the tummy one. "I stitched it up myself first, then split them and got the wound kicked. It was bad before the nurse made me come in and did it better..."

She really doesn't know or get that Japanese folks might not be as keen on casual tummy, or visible wounds. "...Sparring match with my girlfriend went bad," she tries to explain after a moment. Also, she's a really bad liar!

"Oh! I know Chrono! He's a good friend of mine. Good guy. Tiny, but good." She then nods to Adrien, if Takashi hasn't already grabbed her one.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods to Adrien. "Times have changed since the olden days, apparently. Can't buy used, it all comes with DRM, they have to patch after launch. The games aren't going to release a Game of the Year updated version on a single disc. They'll give you preorder bonuses if you don't even wait for the game to come out. What *happened* to when games just *worked*?" She waves a hand at the pile of jewel cases by the consoles. "It all got so complicated and expensive. Now if you wait *too* long, they'll take the servers down and the game goes away, no matter how much time or money you spent. But, waiting a little while is probably a good idea, though. Wish I hadn't waited so long on Celeste, though. Heard there was a problem with controls shortly after launch so I didn't play it until a couple of years ago."

    She blinks at a thought, running her hand through her long, red hair. "Huh. I guess Madeline's another easy costume... Oh man, Mario Kart! We gotta trade friend codes and play sometime!"

    Heeey, Amy! She jumps a bit and turns back to Adora. And grins, "Yeah, that's right! ...Grade *8*?" She looks UP at Adora the Tall, but then remembers that, right, her assigned age and grade are kind of arbitrary anyway. "...Oh right."

    She blinks. "Stitched up?! What *happened*?!"

    She does look appropriately proud when Sayaka describes her tastes as 'an expert at digging up old games'. Dang, she'll have to remember that phrasing!

    "Aren't, uh... aren't we a little young for espresso? Grown-ups always say coffee will stunt our growth..." Wait, she actually kinda likes being short. Maybe she should take up coffee?

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi turns to Sayaka as he returns with two cans of caffiene - of which he opens one and just immediately drinks like this an entirely different kind of party, and then looks at the other one and debates drinking it too, until he remembers that he brought it over for Adora - so he somewhat regretfully passes it to her, though if anybody comes back with one for her on top of his, he'll glady grab it to have some caffiene to slowly drink as he talks.

    Then he answers Sayaka. "I uh.. didn't get that far." he notes. He pauses and decides to drop the facade; sighing. "I guess I've been overworking myself in classes and all. Again." he pauses, the 'again' being dragged out of him by a rather insistent device. "I crashed for a little bit there."

    And then his face flattens just a moment. "Oh." he says. And then in an almost monotone voice. "Yeah I haven't met any chronos. What an odd name." he notes. Nope, certainly haven't fought him twice. He's grateful to Amy for the comment about expresso. "Well, good news is I'm already plenty tall enough for this side of the globe." he notes. He's about the same height slouching as most of the others are sitting straight up, so the notation does have some truth to it. "So maybe it's fine for my growth to stop here."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
A re-emergence of Takuto! He always looks like he has bedhead, but he's not normally in red pajamas (they match his hair!) with yellow stars (...they match his henshin hair!) all over them, and he shuffles tiredly over to where the liveliest conversation is. Well, by way of the snacks table, where he grabs some onigiri and a canned coffee.

"Hi!" he says to the group of people that he mostly doesn't know. "I'm Tsunashi Takuto, grade 10. Sorry I shuffled off like that earlier, Miki-san." He'd apologized to her for running off to text his girlfriend. Now, he takes a seat in the sorta-circle, right on the floor with everyone else. "Turns out Wako-chan got sleepy and didn't want to move."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She takes the can from Takashi with a small thank you and chugs a bit of it. "I think I'm tall enough," she replies with a grin.

Her attention returns to Amy as her shirt settles back into place, covering the wound again. "Girlfriend, like I said. We spar a bunch, and...there was an accident. It's fine, though. Chicks dig scars, right?" She shrugs a shoulder and takes another swig from her drink. She looks to the approaching Takuto and waves to him. "Hey! Adora Rainbowfist, grade 8."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste glances over at Takashi who beat him to the drinks. It doesn't matter too much though, so he strides over to snag a few drinks too. More than a few it seems as he comes back with four cans clutched between both hands; two in each. They're set down near the group that had formed so that they were readily available to any who might like while he keeps only one for himself.

"That'd be great, Amy! I'm trying to teach Chrono how to play Mario Kart, too, so having more players would be good," he agrees when it comes to swapping gamer tags. "And that's just a myth to keep kids from being too hyper. Besides, I'm from France. We like our coffee there."

Takuto joining in is accepted easily enough by the model-turned-Snorlax-pajama-wearer. "Nice to meet you, Takuto. I'm Adrien Agreste, grade nine."

His thoughts are distracted as Adora shows off her scars and the current cuts with a wince. "Ah... Swords? Or..." There were too many scratches for that! "Wait, is that the Indian claw weapon? The Wagh Nakh? I'm probably not getting the pronunciation right," he admits with a bit of a sigh. "That wasn't among the onees I had to study." The thought trails off though at Adora's remark.

"... Girls like scars?" He seems contemplative.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy shrugs to Takuto. Such a response suggests height isn't a goal of his, either!

    Chicks dig scars, right? Amy smiles and holds out a thumbs-up. "And giant robots!" No one here has seen Megas XLR, sorry Amy.

    She nods to Adrien, "The more the merrier!" ...ABOUT MARIO KART. Not scars.

    When he asks if chicks dig scars, she shrugs. "I'm not a good judge. I'm uh... ace and gay, or something? But like. If you're *goin'* for that 'tough guy' thing, it'd fit, right?" Then she realizes what this is implying. "But uh, don't just be reckless! Then you'll just seem clumsy and like you're always hurting yourself, you know?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh, uh. Yeah, that's the one," she replies to Adrien about the used weapon. Once again, she is a really terrible liar. "That's what my girlfriend uses. Catra." And there's her daily mention of the cat! Good for you, Adora. "I use a sword, mainly..."

"Oh, totally. My girlfriend has scars and they look super cute on her," the blonde explains. "Is Mario Kart a video game?," she asks after a moment of considering. "I'm down to try it, if it is. It'd be my first one." She offers a high-five to Amy. "Yay, more lesbians at the school. I'm...not ace, though. Far from it. But...yay gay?" She smiles at her.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"I would love some of that Apple cider, Agreste-senpai", Sayaka requests, turning towards the French guy.

"Yeah... I can see it's a terrible one", Sayaka comments, diverting her eyes from the injury. "So, your girlfriend, right? Are you really sure you should be around her? It doesn't really seem she loves you much." Frankly, she is not sure what is going on here. Is the girlfriend a bad person? Or is Adora an admirer that won't take no for an answer?

Sayaka nods at Takashi. "Yes, homework have been terrible. I wish the teachers considered our life in whatever metric they use to dish out homework. How do you relax, Agera-senpai?" she asks curiously. "Is it with videogames?"

Sayaka nods and grins. "I understand, it's nice for you to be so premurous towards your girlfriend. Is she alright now?" Considering they are both mahous, it's probably fair to assume they are feeling the weight of homework too.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"She's asleep now, I think," Takuto laughs. "We finished up all her snacks, but I'm still hungry."

"Adora Rainbowfist! What an excellent name!" cheers Takuto before shaking his coffee can and setting it down in front of himself. And then he snap-points at her. "Sorry I heard as I was coming over -- you're right! I've been told scars are mysterious and badass, definitely attractive," he adds to Adrien. "You're interested in swords?"

And then he speedily slow-turns +_+ to Amy. "You like giant robots?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi shrugs at all of this as he does grab one of those drinks, and raises it in a sort of hybrid toast-hello to the joining Takuto. "I think it depends on what kind of chick you're wanting to dig you. Maybe they like scars, maybe not. It's not really something you can generalize." He doesn't ask anyone here which they'd like. That would be awkward and blunt. Even if he considered it.

    He looks to Sayaka when she asks how he relaxes and... "Not very well." he admits. "Oh you mean like. What do I do. Don't you?" he realizes, putting a hand on the back of his head and scratching his neck. Yeah, a real genius you are, Takashi, he says to himself. "Right, right. Well, I do sometimes play games, on my switch or on my phone. Or sometimes I read." he says. "Just bad about stopping work to actually... do that."

    And then he pauses. "Who doesn't like giant robots?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora Rainbowfist blinks at Sayaka and looks to bristle a little bit. "It's more complicated then that," the blonde growls softly. "You don't know her. Nobody...knows her like me. I literally found her in a box when I was five and got the person who adopted me to take her in." Wow, that's weird! She takes a breath, then. "She's just...she fell in with these really crappy people who're manipulating her and she has low self-esteeem. It's -really- complicated," she says again.

The blonde looks over to Takuto. "Oh, thanks. Catra gave it to me. We named eachother as kids, since we didn't have...actual names and nobody else cared enought to give us any. Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist and Catra Applesauce Meowmeow."

For the new people, she's seated with the others, wearing flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt with a tattooed cat with a katana in it's mouth. She is also trying not to put too much pressure on her tummy, which is apparently badly injured. "Oh! I know a bit about giant robots," she offers. Of course, in a different capacity.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste is a bit distracted by such thoughts as 'scars' and 'tough guy' look as he rubs his chin with a hand. He did hear Sayaka though so he moves on automatic to get her the apple cider she requested. It's a quick trip, and he's back by the time the giant robots are being mentioned. "Here you go, Miki-chan," he offers politely.

"Mario Kart is a racing game, yes. Though I do have some giant robot games as well if that's what people are into. They are a lot of fun. I had a VR one I got to play in Paris with my friends there, but unfortunately I couldn't bring that with me."

Absently he finally lifts his own drink to take a sip, murmering, "I don't think the girl I like would like it if I had a scar. She'd probably yell at me for being reckless."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Yay, more lesbians at the school. Amy smiles and raises her hand to enthusiastically high five! ...And then she winces and looks at her hand, "Ow, that stings... I didn't think we high-fived *that* hard..."

    +_+ You like giant robots?

    She *grins* and holds her arm at her side with fist raised. "Plasma stake, set! Jeeeeeet Magnum!" She punches the air next to Takuto, watching him to see if he recognizes, or looks like she's crazy.

    And then she smiles at Takashi. "Right?! Lame people, that's who!" And then looks at Adora in surprise. "You *do*?"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto, his plate of onigiri on the floor in front of him now too, raises his canned coffee back at Takashi and nods a firm greeting before grinning. Then he practically bounces on the floor at Adora. "You named each other, that's very cute! Oof, I know a lot about giant robots, too--"

He's very excited!! at Amy's enthusiasm, but there's a look on his face that she might recognise as 'I'm not sure what she's talking about but I should so I'm gonna pretend I do and hope I don't get called on it'. "Jeeeeeet Magnum!!" he echoes! And then he rubs the back of his neck and looks embarrassed. "I mean I only really know about how to fight them. I didn't watch much TV as a kid."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Speaking of tiny troublemakers... "Hey!" a voice ringed down the hall. "I'm confiscating that!"

... Did Chrono have the authority to do that? It didn't really matter as a moment later Chrono came walking down the hall, in pajamas that... they had to be TSAB pajamas. They looked like the kind of thing you'd see in the military. But not when they go to sleep. But as a comfortable uniform. Or maybe a track uniform. Who else's pajamas buttoned up?

But also in his hand he was holding a stink bomb. And he looked *annoyed*. Instead walking past them, disappearing down the hall...

Then returning a few minutes later, without a stink bomb and... Well... Usagi seemed busy. So instead he glanced around and... "Adora!" he called out, a grin on his lips. He started to make his way over... and... Well. Of the people here, Adora was easilyt recognizable. Even compared to his roommate.

However, he glanced towards the others and gave a small smile, saluting. "Chrono Harlaown, grade 9." He then glanced towards the others and... he knew... some of them. "Faust-san," well, she hadn't told him he preferred to be called something else. "Adrien." well, his roommate. Then.... To Takuto, Takashi and Sayaka. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh. Uh...kinda," Adora replies to Amy. Crap, she briefly forgot about all that 'don't mention magic stuff in front of possible normies' thing. "I mean, my last roommate was really into then, so...," she once again lies badly. She looks over to Adrien and nods. "Oh, racing. Well, I guess that could be fun. Well, when you all play again, I'd be happy to try. Just don't laugh at me since I've never played a video game before."

She winces at Adrien, then. "Sorry. I...well, I'm not into guys so I have no idea what another girl may or may not like in them? Have you tried being...nice? And genuine? I dunno. Some people flirt by trying to be over the top and more then they actually are. Just being -you- and confident in that usually works wonders."

She grins at Amy. "Sorry. Didn't mean to hurt you." She doesn't seem to catch the reference Amy makes, but grins, anyways. She beams at Takuto approving of them naming eachother. When Chrono arrives she smiles warmly and waves, before wincing visibly, as if in pain. "Ow. Hey, Chrono! Good to see you. That...thing happened. And went pretty well," she replies. "Well, as good as it could go. I'll talk to you about in private later." She brushes her hair back and sits there, legs akimbo, and sighs. She takes another long sip of her caffeine. "They're gonna teach me video games," she explains to Chrono. The mention of fighting robots as her peer a bout closer at Takuro, clearly curious.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste stirs himself from his thoughts when Adora offers her own thoughts on the matter. He holds up his hands, one still clutching his own caffienated beverage, and laughs nervously. "Oh! No, I mean I... I've already told her and... It's complicated," he finally lets out in a quiet sigh. "She likes someone else. I just keep hoping." That's really all he can say on the matter so lowers his hands again as well as his gaze to regard the floor. Only breifly, as Chrono's voice jerks his attention back to the here and now.

"Hi Chrono. Adora and Amy are up for Mario Kart with us sometime, too," he remarks trying to shift the attention away from his momentary bit of melancholy. That, and he's EYEING the pajamas Chrono is wearing. He, himself, opted for a Snorlax pajama set with the hood currently pushed back. "Remind me to add 'pajamas' to the shopping list for you, Chrono. Oh, I also need to give you a suit for the upcoming masquerade."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy just stares back at Takuto, then cocks her head to one side a bit. "How to... fight them?"

    OH MY GOD IS THERE A WHOLE OTHER VEIL AND REAL GIANT ROBOT FIGHTS GOING ON?! Is Magical Girl stuff just one of *many* different, isolated types of supernatural craziness going on in Tokyo?!

    Ugggggh part of her feels like she got sorted wrong, but it's not like she'd trade what she has now for anything.

    Chrono greeting her draws her out of that reverie. "Oh, hi Harlaown-san."

    She shakes her head and gives an 'it's ok' wave to Adora. "It's fine. it really didn't feel like we high-fived that hard." She looks, a little mystified, at her hand. And then at her other hand.

                                    *Clap!*                                    

    "Oww, geez!" She shakes her hands as if shaking water, or pain, off of them.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka listens intently at Adora's story, pondering it extensively. Adora seems like a good person, but how much of it is what she believes? "I am sorry that happened to you", she says, pushing her reservations aside. "It must have been horrible. Who are these guys she fell in with?"

"Meowmeow", Sayaka erupts in a laught. "You called her Catra Applesauce Meowmeow", she keeps chuckling, teary-eyed from the laugh. "That's quite impressive. You must really like cats." That solves it for her. Nobody could have accepted being called like that if they didn't get along very well.

Then Takuto and Amy start gushing about giant robots. "Are you imagining yourselves using them to go to space as explorers?"The noise distracts Sayaka from the ongoing conversation. "What happened there?" she asked the guy with a military vibe that came up. "Oh, I am Miki Sayaka, grade 8. Nice to meet you, Harlaown-senpai."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi's spent the last bit greeting people, helping set up the Super Smash tournament with Koji's brackets list, eating snacks, and now, now she is wandering back, because while none of her favorite people are around, there are plenty of of people, and two of them she doesn't know yet! The tall blond and the not-so-tall-and-actually-rather-short boy with blue hair with Adrien, Takuto, Amy, and Sayaka were new, and she could hardly keep a party underway without greeting everyone, right?

"Did someone say something about confiscating things, earlier? It wasn't something you'll haved to tell Inai-sensei about, was it, because I do not want our first slumber party getting busted up!" Usagi Tsukino returns to the crowd, smiling a little. "Usagi Tsukino, grade 9, party organizer extraordinare! I know most of you, but not everyone, which is a surprise to me."

She's just in time to watch Amy clap her own hand, and stares, baffled for a moment. Huh. Alright. She could question that, but she won't. "Has everyone been having a good time?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The blonde nods to Adrien. "That's rough, buddy. I'm sorry. I hope things work out for you. Stuff's complicated for me, too."

She blinks at Amy and ends up covering her mouth to hide her laugh, which turns into her falling on her side and covering her guffaw. It's accompanied by plenty of wincing, though, until she ends up just sprawled there, face red from pain and laughing. "...Worth it." From her new place on the floor she looks over to Sayaka. "I found her in a box marked Applesauce. The rest kinda fell into place. And she's...really sweet and loving. She just puts up this front and these walls..." She shakes her head when asked who she fell in with.

She looks up at Usagi from where she's now laying, and the tall blonde waves. "Was this your idea? It's awesome. Adora Rainbowfist, grade 8." It hurts too much to sit back up, so she stays sprawled for now. "Great time. And oh man, the masquerade. I need an outfit for that."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi sees Chrono walking up and oh, he knows Chrono alright. "No, we haven't met. But I'm next door to you." he says, the words with a little more bite than he meant them.

    Well, he doesn't get Amy and Takuto's shared giant robot thing, but Takashi more likes the idea of giant robots and the occasional video games about them than any specific manga or anime. But what he does hear is 'Applesauce Meowmeow' and oh, Catra is gonna hear about -THAT- soon. He looks up as Usagi walks over. "Hey, Tsukino-san. I don't actually think we've spent a lot of time together, so I'm kinda lookin' forward to seeing if I can figure out what's up with this girl who's got my brother acting all silly over her. Well, moreso than normal." He says with a grin. "Oh... actually. hmm." he says, pulling out his phone. "And meeting people you don't know is kind of what you're expecting when you invite an entire series of dorms." he notes.

    "Mmm, I don't know if I'll go to the masquerade." he notes. "Would feel weird going alone, I think. I don't think my date from the last dance is going to be as available."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown frowned and then narrowed his eyes on Adora. And she probably had a good head or so on him. But in that moment he had an oddly... 'I am your commanding officer and I am about to MAKE you take care of yourself, damn it!' air about him. But then his gaze softened and he just gave Adora a concerned, gentle look. "Just make sure to take care of yourself. We can chat later," he agreed. "You should go do that and have fun, you deserve it." Okay, how did he manage to make THAT sound like an order?

Then his gaze shifted to Adrien and... oh my gosh, Chrono had shifted a bit, standing at attention, hands behind his back, cocking an eye and... "What's wrong with my pajamas?" he asked. "I thought it was supposed to be what I slept in?" ... "Wait, masquerade?"

And then... Amy clapped her hands so hard... she... hurt herself. He opened his mouth, about to say something.... and just noped right out of that.

Moving onto Sayaka, he gave a small nod... and... Ah. Catra... Applesauce... Meowmeow... he remembered that one. She. She was trouble. He was not a fan.

He glanced back to Usagi. "Chrono Harlaown, grade 9. I'm Adrien's roommate. And no, some kids were planning a prank with some stink bombs. I took the bombs and took them to a member of school staff. I've also dealt with the delinquents and they assured me they will try nothing more." Pause. "And if they do, I will deal with them accordingly." Okay, seriously, how did he manage to get drill sergeant voice so perfectly while THAT small? "I'll keep an eye out for them, so there's no need for you to concern yourself."

Then he glanced to Takashi... and... he seemed to be... bitey? How to break the ice... a... Oh. "Heh. Nice shirt, very amusing."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Tsunashi Takuto!" Takuto calls out to Chrono with a wave, "Grade 10." He doesn't pursue trying to get Adrien to talk about swords, because giant robots are on the table now, and they're an even bigger specialty~

"How to fight them, yeah, uhh--" he pauses, remembering how hard Koji ignored him at lunch the other day, and how annoyed Sugata got at Wako for talking about the fights at school, but... he also thinks about his jacket that literally says 'Star Driver' on the back of it and he gives Amy a cheery smile. "I mean, not that anyone reeeeeally fights giant robots, right? Ahahaha--" He lowers his voice so only those in the circle (and Usagi) can hear him, "--uh yes, I mean, I have one but it's back home."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It was! I figured we could probably all use a break, between summer ending and having to jump right to work! A party sounded like a great idea." And she was right, because it is, and no one's even attacked her party! The stars are in alignment, or something. She grins at Adora, because her name is cool, and thinks about asking who she found in an Applesauce box, but figures... eh probably not her business, right? And besides -

"I know almost everyone," she says proudly, "Between Naru-chan and I, anyway, we know most of the middle school and the high school grades, so I feel like I don't run into that many people who don't know at least one of us." If you knew Naru, you knew Usagi. If you knew Usagi, you knew Naru. That was just kind of how it worked, in her book. "And - ahhh, he gets silly over me?"

She's gonna walk on air over that, just you wait. Especially when Chrono mentions - "Oh! I know you - of you, anyway. Naru-chan talks about you a good bit! I'm glad we could finally meet - especially if you stopped a stinkbomb prank!" She makes a face. "That would have been such a waste of food and ruined everyone's good time..."

Good thing Chrono was there to stop it. She does NOT want her party ruined... and then, Takuto is mentioning something about... oh, right. He and Wako-chan didn't really care about the whole, veil and secret identity thing. If he knew Amy's identity, and there were other people here... Well, she probably shouldn't be too risky with her own identity. She'd just nod, waiting to see what other people had to say about that.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste inclines his head toward Adora's sympathies, offering a smile in turn. "I hope things turn out well for you too." When Chrono seems to be glaring at her he steps in at least verbally to assure, "I said I'd grab her any food or drinks she needs tonight so that she can rest up." He just had a feeling Chrono MIGHT be cranky at her about it given that expression. "Ah, just fits in more with your..." He pauses considering, "Military academy was it?" Right, that's right. "We should get you some civilian things."

"Yes, Masquerade. I'll loan you one of my old suits. A good suit never goes out of fashion, and you're about the same size I was a couple years ago."

Awkwardly feeling a bit out of things now, he rubs the back of his neck. "Though if you're ever up for it, once you get better, Adora, I'd love to get to spar with you. You also use a sword, right? I mean I mostly fence, but it's hard to get opponents at times." Mostly because of the small crowd of fangirls that seem to gather now and then for his training times. Though it wasn't as bad as in Paris.

With all that settled he offers Usagi a rather warm grin. "Thank you for holding this, Usagi-chan, it's been a lot of fun so far. And, technically," he adds with a little laugh while rubbing at the back of his own neck, "My first slumber party. I'm glad I was here to join in."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora Rainbowfist makes a bit of a face at Chrono, but then nods. "I -do- deserve it," the blonde grunts. She looks to Takuto, then, and nods. "Right. Cause...giant robots aren't real." It seems like she's stating a fact, but that little eye-twitch happens that comes about whenever the kid tries to lie.

"Yeah, a break is BADLY needed," the floor tomboy responds to Usagi. She smiles, then, at Adrien, and nods. "I do, yes. A big...Bavarian one. Six feet long, four inch blade." That is cartoonishly big. Improbably large, even. "

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That was just a normal high-five and a normal clap, as hard as she usually does it! WTF! Amy is so distracted by this little experiential and scientific puzzle she doesn't notice everyone looking at her funny.

    Something gets her attention and makes her look up, though. "Huh? Masquerade? You mean Trick-or-Treating?"

    "My first slumber party too! Yeah, thanks for organizing this, Usagi-chan!"

    And then Takuto's replying and she's looking at him like someone who has loved giant robots since they were a little kid and now suspects that he knows something about actual factual real ones. "Riiiiight." She *winks* a bit too un-casually.

    And then he lowers his voice and says he has one but left it at home.

    And like.

    THAT COULD BE TRUE FOR ALL SHE KNOWS.

    And if he's joking she'll probably suss that out shortly.

    She steps closer and lowers her voice's volume a little above a whisper. "Reeeally now. I would love to hear more about it."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown glanced back towards Sayaka. "It was a few students planning a prank with a stink bomb. It's taken care of now, though. Nothing to worry about."

He paused when... did Takuto say he had a giant robot? He turned towards the man and his eyes narrowed, suspiciously. Did this person seem like the kind of guy who could be trusted with a giant robot?... Eh. Not his problem. He needed to take it relaxed, anyway. Instead, back to Usagi!

"Oh! You're Osaka-san's friend? Yes, she has been quite helpful to me, a pleasure to meet you as well. She's a good person so I'm sure any friend of hers is worth getting to know."

He then glanced back towards Adrien and... "Sure. Military academy. Odd... I've never had any issues wearing things like this at other slumber parties... then again, we all had them." ... Wait, he'd been to other slumber parties? "I... wasn't aware I was attending? I guess... okay? It sounds... interesting." Perhaps one of the crew would be there.

However, something else clicked in Takuto's words then. Chrono's head whipped around to look at him. "Wait, you're from off-world too?"

... ...... .........

"... I mean... out... of... country... too?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You've definitely got to show us your moves, Adrien-kun! I want to see you fence. And Takuto-kun too, and hmm... maybe we should have a sword fighting party next time, so we can all catch the show you'll put on!"

Because there were a couple of people with swords, and they were all very pretty, which meant that Usagi would have a feast for the eyes and so would everyone else. It would be a win-win! And then she gasps - "Your first slumber party?! What?! Really?!" Shocking! Awe-inspiring! Horri-

"Adora-chan," they are already -chan levels of friendship of course, "Is your sword a buster sword?" What other sword was that big? "Or, is it a Masamune?"

She is frankly in awe. A sword that big!

And also, she thinks... Adora might be in the know? If her twitchy, lying-y face about giant robots being fake meant something, anyway, but she wouldn't be the one to call it out. But also - "It's also your first slumber party, Amy-chan? There has been a criminal lack of slumber parties happening around here!"

What is going on! And then. Military academy. Very helpful to me. Off world -

Oh that's someone exploding their secret identity to bits! But! "Takuto-kun is from an island around here," Usagi says cheerfully, "Not everyone is from Europe Chrono-kun, even if this might be a bad group for me to say that in!"

Because Adora probably is, Adrien definitely is, and Chrono - well, Europe is where Usagi's decided all the aliens are from.

...does this make the Princess of Europe an alien? ...nah!

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi mostly stays quiet, but he pinches the bridge of his nose above his glasses. Obviously he knew Chrono was magic, but just how far in enemy territory was he with all of these little nudges?

    Enemy territory? Was that right? It was just a slumber party. Even if Chrono did try to kill him that one time. That's just part of being on opposite sides of the fence, or something.

    But he knew nobody here was a co-worker - not even Adrien, except in the boring mundane sense. At least Usagi is putting some of the cats back into bags. But wait, does that mean she's aware, too? Mamoru would tell him if he was dating a coworker, or, gods forbid, a Sparkleskirt, right?.

    Perhaps the positive about this might be, they might mistake Takashi's 'oh dear lord' for 'I don't understand the words you're using because I am a normie and it gives me a headache'. But maybe not.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh, absolutely, Usagi-kun," she replies with a smile at the woman above her. "Sounds fun. Can't right now, though." Just like she did earlier, the girl pulls her shirt up a bit. No scandalous stuff is shown, of course, but her toned abs have four long slash marks that are fairly recently sutured. Someone who knows what claw marks look like can make the connhection. "...Sparring accident with my girlfriend. But when I'm healed up enough, that sounds awesome. And...uh. Masamune? No no. I just...call it the Sword of Protection." She furrows her brow. SHOULD she give it a name?

"I'm from Bavaria," she adds, as another obvious lie. "This...little place in the forest. Far away from anyone else. Grew up in a school that was totally isolated. It's why I'm only just finding out about sports, and anime and all that stuff. I -still- don't know when my birthday is."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste smiles in amusement at Chrono's apparent uncertainty because of the masquerade. He's focused on that, at least, and so continues on, "I mean if you don't want to you don't have to? I thought you might be interested in it since it's a diplomatic gesture from D Kingdom to Tokyo... Ah. Maybe I was just assuming," he realizes looking a bit doubtful now. "I'm usually expected to attend things like that back in Paris. It's just second nature for me to expect it. I should check with Father, and see..."

He trails off. Did he hear giant robot? Did Chrono just say 'off planet'? He stares off into space a long moment as if he were just seeing something beyond everything here. Maybe all this talk was a bit much for him and the veil was working overtime on him.

Usagi's gushing about the swords shakes him out of it to flash her a grin. "I'd be up for that. I still want to try to go against Darien-kun sometime. He's the same height as my old teacher so it would be interesting to try. I think they call Adora's type of sword a 'broadsword' though. And, ah, yes," he admits a bit embarassed. "My Father didn't really ever allow anyone to stay the night." Much less let HIM stay out all night. "So this is fun!"

Except for the fact that he stares off into space again, then takes a long, long sip of his drink. "I don't know how Naru does it."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto slow-nods at Adora. "Not real at ~all~," he agrees, and the corner of his mouth is twitching as surely as her lyin' eyes.

He grins up at Usagi, then looks at Adora again, and his eyes get really, really big. "Ohhhhh do you come to self-defense class I haven't been there lately but I need to come back anyway, please say you do, I'd also love to spar!" And he NODS to Usagi's enthusiasm about Adora's sword. Because holy shinola.

"Okay," he whispers to Amy, "his name is Tauburn and I'll tell you about him later."

He gets big-eyed at Chrono, too. "Ah. Right, yes, Southern Cross Island," he says, gesturing broadly to Usagi. "I mean I grew up here on the mainland, but not in the city, and then I was on the island, so Tokyo's all new to me. Oh!" He claps his hands at Adora's birthday knowledge, or lack thereof. "I have the same birthday as my girlfriend's fiance!"

...

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Military Academy? Off-world?" Sayaka repeats confused. "Are you an actual alien on a military expedition?" She looks towards Takuto, who she knows is magic. "What is going on here? Is Harlaown-senpai for real?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> His name is Tauburn and I'll tell you about him later.
    Either there has been a *critical* miscommunication and Takuto thought she was asking about his dog, or it's also a *Super* type. People don't talk about realtypes like that. Amanda nods, only slightly miffed that she'll have to wait to find out if this guy is for real until later.

> A critical lack of slumber parties!
    Amy just nods slightly, then more fervently at her assessment. "I'd be down for more!"

    Oops, poor Chrono. But it humanizes the TSAB officer, doesn't it? He makes mistakes too, just like all of them!

> Not everyone is from Europe Chrono-kun, even if this might be a bad group for me to say that in!
    "I'm from America!" Amy points out.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Adora's definitely another alien. Naru-chan was right. Half the kids in their school were aliens! But also. The Sword of Protection, huh? "That sounds like a good name to me. I mean, a sword that protects is doing a pretty good job!"

Better than the Sword of Being Disarmed, right?

Gaaaasp. "If you don't know when your birthday is, you've got to pick one!" Yes she will just make this her problem because what is better than a birthday?!

And then Adrien catches her attention entirely. "A masquerade ball for the D Kingdom? That's some like... little country, right? They're having a ball here in Tokyo?"

What's that about? Tell her more! She loves parties, and a masquerade ball... but if it was one for a diplomatic event, her papa would probably get to go, not her. She was just a teenager, after all.

There are a few follow up questions she would be asking, except, except, except -

"Wako-chan has a fiance? Is it Sugata-kun?!" She said there wasn't a love triangle! She said! Didn't she say - she did! She said that! She said there was no love triangle... and... hmmm... Sayaka-chan,,, is asking questions,,, but they shouldn't be answered! "Aw, come on Sayaka-chan! There's no such thing as aliens!" hahahahaha.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I do go to self-defense class! Or did. I also started a boxing club, and we have a few members. Hoping to grow, though," Adora replies to Takuto with a grin. She grins at Usagi, then. "Oh, cool. I was just considering giving it another name. Heh."

She blinks a few times as Usagi tells her she needs to choose a birthday. "Oooookay. Um. December 9th. That's the day I found my girlfriend in that box. OH! Or mabye that should be HER birthday! OR BOTH OF OUT BIRTHDAYS!" She shoots back up into a sitting position at her excitement, and lets out a soft yelp of sudden pain, flopping back. "...Crap. Um. December 9th," she finalizes with a grunt.

"There is a Ball here on Saturday," she finally says after a moment of just dwelling in pain. "I'm going stag since my girl doesn't go here," she says sadly. "But it sounds fun. We had this big ball back home we called the Princess Prom. Big, fancy event. I'd never been to anything like it before. It was crazy. Dresses and suits and glitter and amazing food..." She furrows her brow a bit at Takuto's relationship explanation but...who is she to judge?

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi actually does pipe in once more. "Yeah nobody ever told me when my birthday was so some people just... threw me one. Without asking. It was actually kind of awkward." he admits. And then... he is quite well distracted by Usagi's outburtst. "Your girlfriend's... fiance?" he just says, turning those words over in his mind like his brain is a slowly crashing computer.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"Aliens is a really mean way to call those of us from outside the country," Adrien trie to offer hoping, hoping that maybe it might give a bit of a way out for some of them. He chuckles though adding, "It's not as if we're here illegally, so I don't think we'd technically be aliens. That's only used if people sneak into other countries."

He tips back his canned coffee draining the contents entirely to bite back any other remarks.

Usagi's enthusiasm about the ball garners a warm grin. "Yes, the regents are gifting a family heirloom to their daughter. It's going to be a big event since it's such a momentous occasion. You should come, too." There's a momentary glance around before his own voice drops, "If you need help sneaking in, I've helped some friends do that in the past. Things are way more fun when you have friends around, especially stuffy events."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was... was not doing a good job of this. It was a good thing he wasn't a SECRET agent. Stealth was his forte, somewhat. But espionage? NOPE. "I... think at that size it is a 'great' sword. I don't think I've ever heard of a buster sword." Says the guy who dresses up like a final fantasy villain...

He glanced towards Takashi, though. Feeling a little remorse. Oh, poor, poor mundane.

Then glanced back to Adora and... oh, what the heck. He gave her a thumbs up. She did better this time! Sure, he usually did worse. But he also wasn't... really... trying.

He then glanced to Adrien. "I guess I could go. I... haven't been to anything like that in years, though. Perhaps I can invite Terios-san." Pause. "We could do some investigating." Right, every girl's dream. To be invited to a fancy masquerade dance... to investigate missing people.

Then... then just looked to Takuto. And... "Is... is that... you trying to be subtle about... you being engaged to your girlfriend?" he asked.

Then back to Sayaka. "Err... I'm... foreign. And... stuff. So my word choices do not always... match... what should be said. Yes. That's a plausible cover."

Then back to Adora! "Wait, you're going as a deer? Can... can you do that? For a masquerade party?" He had no idea what stag meant.

"... I'm definitely legally allowed to be here. I have paperwork and everything," he mumbled. Of course he did.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto spreads his hands broadly at Sayaka. "No idea! It's fun to think everything's real, though, isn't it? Especially at a slumber party, where people like to tell stories."

Amy nods to him, but then Usagi is exploding, and Takuto...

...explodes into blushing. EXPLoDeS inTO bLuShInG!

"S-sugata-kun, yeah," he says, and then Adora's grinning at him but he's hiding his face in his onigiri because no one will be able to tell where his hair and pajamas end and his skin begins. "No he's also my-- no. It's just. It's not complicated at all," he says to everyone. "Giant robots and swords are really cool."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks at Takashi. "It's 2023. People can have polycules if they want." And then at Adrien, "It's an unusual word choice but I guess technically correct. Those would be illegal aliens, but those of us here legally are still... legal aliens? Resident aliens? Something like that."

    Never mind that Chrono didn't say anything about aliens, he asked if Takuto was from off-world.

    She sidles over to Sayaka and whispers, "Yeah there are totally people from other worlds here. This magic shit is *crazy*."

    Then she steps back towards Takuto. "Maybe it'd be fun, at this party, to... pretend we're all... aliens, or mecha pilots, or magical girls, or something...?"

    She looks to Adora. "The Princess Prom? Why is it called that? Is it hosted by the princess of Bavaria?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
There is no way Sayaka is letting this escape from her. Magic and demons are real, so why not off-world civilisations?

"Harlaown-senpai, I would like to hear more about your story one of these days. Would you mind exchanging phone numbers so we can meet again?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"A masquerade ball for a royal family! That sounds super cool!" Things like that happening now... a part of her wondered if it was secretly some plot to lure people in and steal their energy. The rest of her tried to say, how likely was that, only to immediately recall entirely too many trips ruined by youma - and she smiles at Adrien instead, "If it wouldn't get you in trouble, that could be pretty cool. I mean... plus, you'd have some friends with you."

She's quiet as she says it, respecting his own quiet tone, and before long, her attention is drawn back to Takuto and his red, red, red face. Maybe it's not a love triangle... maybe it's... she thinks about her and Darien and Darien and Kazuo and she hums. Maybe Wako was dating two boys, and that was alright. Or maybe Wako and Takuto and Sugata were all dating each other...? But how would that work out? Usagi shook her head, shaking the thought away in favor of trying to get some attention off poor Takuto-kun! "You're right. It's not that complicated at all. Wako-chan was probably right about what she said!"

What's a polycule, anyway?

"Princess Prom? Like a prom for princesses? Or a princess themed prom? That sounds so nice, Adora-chan! I'm sorry your girl isn't going to go with you, but, maybe she'll come with you to the next dance... I guess she couldn't make it to the party, either?"

She'd kind of like to meet the girl Adora is dating! Especially if she left scratches like that during training... they kind of looked like claw marks.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora Rainbowfist opens and closes her mouth at Amy. "...Yes." She put her foot in her mouth, and has no idea what to say about the Prom now that she's said this. "...Hosted by the Princess of Bavaria." Eye-twitch, eye-twitch. "Our school attended as...guests?" Was that a question or a statement?

She grins at Takuto and Amy, then. "I couldn't handle a polycule. I mean, stuff's complicated enough with my own girlfriend. But I'm happy for you, for real."

She looks to Usagi, then. "A...prom hosted by the Princess. Of Bavaria." She has no idea that Bavaria -does- actually have a royal family, though the monarchy is long dissolved. Lucky her. "She doesn't go here, sadly. If I saw her before the Ball I'd invite her but..." She shrugs.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just looked more confused. Then... "Wait. What? You're not..." Then his cheeks went red. "Wait, what's a polycule?" he asked. Then shook his head. "Nope. Nevermind. Don't want to know. I think this is quickly approaching a need for charts for relationships and I really don't have the energy for that on what is supposed to be a relaxing event."

Then he glanced to Sayaka. "Oh, sure. My number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. Feel free to call me whenever you need help with anything. And I can explain things more... clearly, in private," he offered with a small, genuine smile.

No idea HOW rumors about him started.

"Right. Party. Masquerade. I'm sure we could find a way to ensure Catra knew you would be there. In fact... that sounds almost relaxing in comparison. Adora, would you like me to ensure that Catra knew you'd be waiting there for her?"

... He didn't have a mischievous bone in his body so who knew HOW he intended to let her know...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Blink. Blink. "Your girlfriend's name is Catra? Like, a cat?" That was a name, alright, but the girl named Bunny probably shouldn't judge. All things considered. "Too bad she doesn't go here. My friend Rei-chan doesn't either; I invited her, but I dunno if big events are her thing."

Alas! Though possibly for the best, considering Rei would have definitely joined forces with Hannah in interrogating her about her boyfriend (yes, she's finally realized what those looks were for).

"It's nice of the Bavarian royal family to host a ball like that! That's being hospitable to the people." Who could imagine the emperor holding an open event for school kids?

But yep she is just going to accept that this is happening.

A big yawn bursts from her, and she covers her face with a giggle. "Oh no, I can't believe I'm getting sleepy after all that canned coffee. That's so not fair."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste sets his now empty drink down on the floor next to him to reach instead for one of the other ones he'd brought over not long ago. Since they were still there, and up for grabs, it seemed like a good time to refill.

"I'm not hugely familiar with it, but... A polycule is like a group dating in a way?" He really wasn't entirely sure. "I think a couple of my friends in Paris were one. Paris the 'City of Love' after all."

"And not a problem, Usagi, I usually get away with a fair amount with the connections I have. Or at least I usually do." He wasn't in Paris anymore though. It would likely not be the same here.

"... Maybe I should consider dating someone other than..." He trails off again getting that far off look once more while sipping coffee.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka quickly sends a message to Chrono's phone, so he has her phone number, before saying "I am going to use my sleeping bag now", I am quite tired. Don't mind me though. I think I can sleep just fine even with people speaking as I am now." With that, she drags herself in a corner before closing her eyes and becoming fast asleep.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi's ears perk. "You think you'd want to date someone else?"

This is not for her, of course. But Naru-chan hung out with Adrien a lot, and they both liked fancy coffee, and who is she if not a person to return the favor when she was trapped in a romcom style shenanigan with the boy she liked, huh?

"I don't want to ask too much, but, do you think Naru-chan could come to the masquerade too?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora Rainbowfist blinks at Chrono, then. "...I'd like that, Chrono-san. But, I know you two don't get along. That'd be a lot to ask of you."

She looks to Usagi, then. "Catra Applesauce Meowmeow. And I'm Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist. We were orphans and didn't have names, really, so gave eachother names as kids. Kept them." She nods about how nice it was for the Royal Family hosting the ball, glancing aside.

She looks over to Sayaka, then, and smiles. "Sleep well."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto's about to say-- something, to someone-- when his pajama pocket buzzes and he scrambles to get it, almost dying when he almost spills his coffee all over his favorite pajamas, but he gets it set down safely AND gets the phone out, and finally gets less red as he reads the screen. He smiles, instead, and it's ... soft, around his eyes, and he laughs. "Sorry, everyone, I have to punk out again. And bring more snacks back to Wako-chan. I'm sure I'll be back! I left my sleeping bag here and everything," he says, getting up. He finishes his coffee, crams his last onigiri in his face, and then goes to steal a plate of snacks for his girlfriend (but not her fiance, he's back on the island with their giant robots.)

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown glanced to Adrien. And... his cheeks went scarlet. "W-wait, what? That... that can't be legal. Oh gosh..." And now he looked horrified. "If Amy ever..." And then he shuddered. Nope. Nope nope. OTHER DISTRACTION! "Yes, you should. You should definitely get out there. Somewhere. With other people. Your current, ahem, pursuit is fruitless for now."

Then glanced to Adora. "Don't worry. I won't be anywhere near her at the time. Besides, you're a friend. And I have people on the inside," he said, giving a wink.

He didn't have people on the inside. He had bricks. That could go through windows.

"... I'm going to go on patrol, make sure there aren't any more trouble makers. It has been a wonderful time, Tsukino-san. I hope I can see more of you in the future. You as well, Agera-san."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi, who is clearly mostly asleep - despite his best efforts, something about the concept of not sleeping in his lab but in a comfortable sleeping bag seems to appeal to his body if not his mind - mumbles something to Chrono. It sounds like 'next time bring coffee'.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe had... had been having a wild, exciting today... and she'd talked with people. And had half a bowl of snacks. And hung out with people...

And now, the tiny little thing had passed out, curled up in a little scrunched up ball on one of the chairs, hugging her bear in her lap, conked out with a small smile on her face.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste blinks openly at Usagi's question about Naru coming, too. His grin just broadens of course as he lets out a warm laugh. "Of course! I'd love it if Naru could come too. And, ah. Well." He looks down again while his weight shuffles from one foot to the other scuffing his foot on the floor. "I kind of have a thing for someone who likes someone else. Everyone keeps telling me I should forget her."

"... I will never be able to forget her," he admits rather emphatically if quietly spoken. "But maybe I should consider others, too. If I don't have a chance with her then maybe." He lightly clears his throat looking up again.

"I've been speaking with a friend about it lately so I guess it's on my mind a lot."

He looks up as people start to move off to sleep, or otherwise to check up on their girlfriends/patrol/etc. He lifts a hand in a totally lame wave while wishing them all, "Have a good evening!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at Adrien's explanation. "Since not everyone in the polycule is necessarily dating eachother, a diagram of the relationship showing whose bonded with who, romantically, platonically, and... otherwise, might look like a model of a molecule. I *assume* that's the origin of the term, anyway."

    Beat.

    She looks away awkwardly. "Hannah and I are... open, but... I can't imagine anyone else having an interest in me..." Amy starts blushing a bit, "I still don't get what *she* sees..." Well not sees but you know what she means. "I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with other girlfriends in time, though. 'm really lucky to have someone like her..." .///.

    She heard her name from Chrono's mouth and looks over, "Huh what?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She getsa bit quiet and lets people talk, feeling a bit nauseaus from the strain she's put on her sutures tonight. She rolls over and crawls over to the blankets and pillows, slowly fishing her own out from them. She flops onto her pillow, but doesn't look like she's sleeping yet.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown paused and glanced to Amy. "Oh, uhhh. Different Amy, Faust-san. My fiance from... back home. I... imagine she would have found such things... to be..." And judging by the look on his face. And the paleness...

"... I'm going to go on patrol. Bye!" And then he fled. "I'll return by 2200 hours." AND THEN HE WAS GONE! VROOM!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. "You have a *fiance*?! Aren't you kinda young?! What is this, an anime?!"

    But he's off. Almost blowing his cover must've been scary.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora Rainbowfist is curled on her side, preotecting her sensitive core. Her blanket is over most of her and her head is on her pillow. She wriggles a bit to face Amy a bit more.

"I didn't know Chrono had it in him," she says with a lopsided grin. "I wonder if it's Rashmi? They seem pretty close." She chuckles and brushes a locke of blonde from her big,m blue eyes. now that most folks are asleep, she changes her story a bit. "So, yeah. Princess Prom is when all the Princesses of my world would get together for a huge ball. I got invited cause I'm a Princess, too."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste glances over toward Amy's shock, and Adora as well with a clearing of his throat. It was news to him as well but it DID remind him of something Chrono had told him before. "Actually, Chrono once mentioned something about an arranged marriage in his family. I just... I guess he meant himself?" A bit confused, perhaps, but not entirely in the know on that topic he can only shrug helplessly.

Instead he listens to Adora giving a grin as he hears that. "Ah. Well that's. Definitely worth celebrating then?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    More and more people are going to sleep. Amy finds a spot to get comfy near Adora while they talk. "He just said it's someone named Amy. From his *home*." She lowers her voice. "Meaning, his world." Her eyes widen. "Wait, you're a princess?! But aren't you an orphan? You didn't mention a royal family taking you in... does it mean something else..." She thinks about this. "...I guess there are a *lot* of princesses running around lately... I mean, Hannah's one on her world... people don't just... *become* princesses, do they?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I -am- an orphan. I grew up not knowing where I was from. I found out later that I was transported to my planet...Etheria...from my homeworld of Eternia. A fleeing royal. And then I got the Sword, which is literally being chosen by the planet of Etheria. It made me the Princess of Power. All the Princesses have a ...thing. The sea, winter, light, technology. Mine is a bit more blunt then that. Catra, though? She only ever had me."

She glances at Adrien and grins a bit. "Mmmhm."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "..................So you *did* just become a princess. Dang."

    Beat.

    "I mean, I guess pretty crazy stuff happening is just life. I didn't expect even half a year ago that I'd be fighting Witches as a magical girl..."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste gets that kind of glazed eye look again as the veil just goes 'NOPE' with the continued conversation. As everyone else had drifted off, it felt a bit like he was eavesdropping at this point. Just a little. Another sip of is drink is taken, and that remaining little bit of chicken he'd had on his snack plate is popped into his mouth before using a napkin to wipe his hands clean. Because that's how he rolled: Neat and tidy.

"I'm going to wander off before my poor brain explodes. You ladies have a good night!"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"No no. I was born one. Princess of Eternia. But then I ALSO became the Princess of Power," she explains. "It's...weird to people from this world, I know. She-Ra is this hero that's chosen every generation or...was. The last She-Ra turned on the race that made the Sword when she found out some really bad stuff, and she tried to destroy the sword. I was the first one in hundreds of years after that. Had a lot of good will to regain after all that."

She waves to Adrien. "Nice meeting you."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "...So you're a *double* princess. ...Do you think people become double magical girls?" And apparently there's all this weight with the title. "Damn. That's a lot." She offers a hug, careful to hug around chest and shoulders and not near the injury.

    Oh shit Adrien overheard. Amy sweatdrops. "Uhhhhh. Okayyyy. Have a nice night!"

    She looks back to Adora. "Sooo. What are you gonna do now?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She does her best to lean into the hug from her position. "I dunno. I mean, I was just a normal Princess before the Sword. No magic. Growing up in the Horde we used rifles and tanks and stuff. Not magic. And now my magic is focused around the Sword." She sighs and rolls onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"What am I gonna do now? Well, Chrono is gonna deliver a message to Catra, and I'm gonna try and talk to her at the Masquerade. Try to appeal to her more. But we'll see what happens. It was babysteps getting her to turn good before, and it's gonna be again."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "'Just a normal Princess.'" Amy repeats. And then eyes widen at the mention of the Horde and rifles and tanks. "You were a child soldier?! That's messed up." She glances around the room. How many of these sleeping teenagers are soldiers against the darkness? "...Okay, maybe that's just life actually. Huh."

    Turning Catra good again. She nods. "I really hope you can manage that. I'm just... kinda taking all this stuff as it comes, ya know? I'm in school again, I'm fighting extradimensional horrors, there's an innocent girl turned into a vampire, something about a ghost overflowing into reality... It's a lot. I'm um... honestly I'm not sure what my chances of survival even a year from now are."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Yup. It's why I didn't know about birthdays or sports or...anything like that. All I knew about was our brutal training and...Catra. And then I got out and tried to get her to come with me and..." She shrugs again, grunting softly. She turns to look at Amy.

Her eyes widen as she listens to all of that. "Wow. That sounds like a lot, for real. Well, I've got your back if you need a tomboy who transforms into an eight foot warrior goddess."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Eight feet tall? "Wait, *really*? Damn."

    All I knew about was our brutal training and... Catra.

    Adora *seriously* sounds like someone at the D&D table acting out a mishmash of stereotypical background tropes. Except it's real. That's Adora's *real life*, she *really lived that*.

    Amy lets out a breath and holds a hand to her head. "That's really rough. I gotta admit, to an Earthling this sounds more like a character from a story than real life... but shit, that's... I guess it turns out that real life *is* stories. People gotta deal, with being princesses, and magical girls, and worlds depending on them, all the time."

    Amy puts a hand on Adora's shoulder. "Thanks. Call me any time if you need a, a... well I don't get any taller but I *do* have a rocket launcher. Like, a magic one that runs on magic. I don't know how that works."

    Beat.

    "So, funny thing. I sometimes used to play at... sorta tell cooperative stories about, bein' a hero and all that, but ya know one thing I had then I don't know? Out-of-character notes and session logs and stuff. But it turns out, in real life, doin' this for real? I don't have *any* of that. And my memory is terrible. How much of um... just how much about me did I tell you, before?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Mmmhm. Eight feet tall with a huge sword and super powers," she replies softly, chuckling.

"Now that I'm into reading romance novels I can see my life seems super...tropey? That's the word. But it was what I lived. It was life. -This- world seems absurd and unreal to me, honestly. But it's my home now."

She smiles when Amy puts her hand on her shoulder, and she nods. "Oh! I know what that is. I don't have one here, but I had to train with one for field drills. I was always better at melee combat, though."

"Nothing, honestly. I...don't know much about you? Other then the whole polycule thing."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blushes a bit at the mention of the polycule. "Oh. Uh. Well!" She smiles and speaks frankly: "It's been about three months since I turned into a magical girl. This is allllll new to me. Like um... so yeah. I'm like an ascended fanboy, I mean, I wasn't huge on magical girl stories before or anything, but... like... all this magic, fighting monsters, princesses from other worlds, stuff, that was all fiction for me until it started being life three months ago. So like. I kinda get it? And I'm getting used to it, but my brain's still kinda catching up sometimes, right?"

    She waves a hand over at where Chrono flubbed. "Like 'oh shit, right, *aliens are a real thing*'" and then at where she and Takuto were standing earlier. "That guy has me wondering if there's another, seperate veil and people are having giant robot fights all around us and we don't know it. I *loved* giant robots, ever since I was little!" She blinks. "Wait, didn't you say something about knowing them? Did they have piloted mecha on your world???" She leans forward with interest.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Ooooh, interesting! Well, um...welcome to the magic," she replies with a lopsided grin. "It can be a lot, for sure. I grew up knowing about it, but I was brainwashed to think anyone with magic was some evil insurgent. When I found out I was wrong it...brought everything I knew down around me."

She clears her throat, then, and laughs. "I don't know about a veil hiding giant robots, but I dealt with them back on Etheria. The Horde was big into tech like that, and another friend of mine, Princess Entrapta was all about building robots. She didn't really...doesn't really understant people but really gets technology. Her main robot is this big four legged thing named 'Emily'. Lots of personality for something that just beeps and boops."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Welcome to the magic! Amy gives a short laugh despite herself, "uh-Hah!" But does smile, heart warmed a bit by Adora's sympathy. Although um.

    She looks away awkwardly as Adora goes on. Grew up knowing. Brainwashed to think. Found out I was wrong and everything I knew came down.

    That got real allegorical *real* fast as Amy thousand-yard stares through the floor, lost in thought.

    Talk about building robots draws her gaze, though. "Damn. Everywhere else is cooler than Earth. Although I guess it's also... on other worlds people are dealing with all this magic and war and royal intrigue and stuff..."

    Amy looks down again. "Maybe I never woulda made it. Maybe I just woulda died in childhood anywhere else. Maybe I never woulda found out who I was..." She looks at Adora. "I *still* don't know who I am! It's, this whole situation is *crazy*!"

    The redhead slumps again. "How do I even... Do they have much of a difference between gender roles in your world? I got *no* idea what's goin' on *elsewhere* in space except that Chrono was bullied by girls and now he's scared of them. Of us. Poor guy. S'gotta be rough with the uh... balance of students here." She waves a hand across the room.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She furrows her brow a bit. "...Like being transgender or gender fluid or neutral and all that? It happens on Etheria. Prince Peekablue is a trans man. This...evil, chaos-loving shapeshifter named Double Trouble is gender fluid. Is that what you mean?," she asks softly. "I did notice people react weirldy to that and gay people here. We had wore and evil and stuff back home, but at least nobody through twice about -any- of that-."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Adora just sequence broke the conversation, Amy's eyes widening a bit. "Oh that's right! You mentioned the prince!" She smiles and points at Adora.

    Amy sits up straighter. "Well, I guess I was leading to that. Yeah, I..." She looks around. People are asleep, but she lowers her voice a little again. "I didn't *know*. I was a guy, I mean, thought I was a guy, my whole life, and then..." She gestures down at herself. "I'd read *stories* about this. Had, perhaps, a little bit of an obsession with stories about this. And now, I'm living it. I turned into a girl, and, based on the fact that I'm *not* desperately trying to pass as a guy and keep some semblance of my old self, and that every time I've told someone and they say 'oh maybe we can find a way to turn you back' and I feel this... *visceral fear* at the thought, I may have been a girl on the *inside* all along."

    "...And now I'm this on the outside." She leans back against the couch. "But like, there's magic stuff. So I *mostly* can't tell people. I can't tell people what *really* happened. I can't, like... I can't pretend to be *normal* trans, that's..." She lowers her voice. "That's gonna fall apart when I have to get supplies from the nurse's office once a month, or in front of any doctor. Also it's kinda shitty to appropriate everything they've gone through when I just got... poof! Magic. [Nyo-tai-ka]." She gestures at herself sort of like she's saying 'abracadabra' or the like. "But I'm also bad at like, pretending. To just. Be normal. Like I know what I'm doing."

    "So there's... there's that. On top of all the risking my life fighting monsters stuff. For me to figure out. And somewhere under all of it is figuring out who Amanda Mallory is?"

    She slumps in the couch again. "Sorry, that kinda got away from me. I was gonna say some stuff about how tropes in stories I read became life but... yeah."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora remains on her back, her head turned to face Amy. She listens quietly and does not interrupt.

"Well, I can't speak for trans people, but...I'm happy for you. I think they would be, too. Jealous, sure, but...you know. You should be allowed to be just...happy for yourself. I'm no expert, but I say you lived a life pretending so...don't. Just be you. Love it and live it. I know it's more complicated then that, and I can't pretend to -get- it, you know? But still. As your friend, it sounds like you deserve that happiness."

She yawns mightily and blinks a few times. "I'm down to talk about this sometime, too. If you need someone to...kind of talk at. Just to hear what's going on in your head. But...I think we should hit the sack."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Just be you. Love it and live it. Even though it's more complicated than that...

    Amy smiles at the sentiment, and at someone wishing that for her, all the same. "Thanks. I dunno how well *I* really 'get it'. Life has been insane. But..." She... deserves happiness, huh?

    "People are so... nice, now. They weren't, before. But it's... Eh, we can talk about that another time."

    Amy smiles. "We've barely met but you consider me a friend? Then you're one too. I... I don't know how to help with Catra now, but, in the future, I can lend an ear. And help any way I can. This isn't... this shouldn't be a one-way friendship street, ya know?"

    She looks at her watch. "Damn, it *is* late. I guess we talked for awhile... Goodnight, Adora."

    Words from a distant memory bubble up to the surface of her brain. "Sweet dreams. You deserve them." It's a nice sentiment. That everyone deserves happiness.

    And right now, she's going to find it by... well okay first she has to make a run to the bathroom and also brush her teeth and stuff but THEN she will find happiness by snuggling up to Hannah and Lyra. It's fine, there will be no canoodling, and if they get yelled at for it that is future Amy and Hannah and Lyra's problem. Hannah will probably have a lot to say to anyone who takes issue and she can't help smiling at the thought that Hannah won't let them be pushed around. It's... nice.

    A lot of things are... nice, now.

    It helps make up for all the things that are very much *not*.