December Catchall!

[hgs]

⭐ Who: Shinsha and YOU!
⭐ When: Througout December

1. HOUSEPLANT HOSPITAL

⭐ When: Early December
⭐ Where: Camellia

[Now that it's officially winter, all the potted plants that spent the summer on sunny balconies have been brought indoors... so if your succulents are looking sickly and your philodendron has peaked, you're not alone! Bring your haggard houseplants in to Camellia to have them assessed by Promised Morning Academy's Gardening Club president, Shinsha! Even if your green thumb is withered and brown, they won't judge you... too much.

Shinsha has set up their plant clinic at a quiet table in the corner of Camellia, the charmingly retro cafe/flower shop located on a side street at Moon Bunny Market. They're sipping a cup of coffee (black with just a pinch of sugar) and trying not to look too disgruntled about the fact that Amane put them up to this. They haven't gotten any better about saying "no" to things they don't want to do, but they are becoming a little more sociable, so... progress?]

...That plant is dead. You need a priest, not a gardener.


2. CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

⭐ When: December 15th
⭐ Where: Koubai

[Even though Pure Candy's indefinite hiatus was only announced this morning, the big music shop in Koubai is quick to capitalize with a large display of fan merchandise, ready for the Friday afternoon rush of students on their way home from school for winter holidays. Sure enough, there's already a crowd forming on the sidewalk outside the music shop, so Shinsha is forced to trudge through the gutter snow to avoid them. Shinsha can't really enjoy the idol group's music after knowing how much pain it brought to Mio Kasuga, but they can't exactly tell her fans about that. Hopefully, if Mio-san ever returns to making the kind of music that she wants to make, her fans will still be there for her.]

Still... it feels wrong.

[Shinsha mutters to themself before turning back to their last-minute holiday shopping. Christmas is a romantic holiday in Japan, and a family-oriented holiday overseas, but Shinsha has neither a romantic partner (ugh) nor any close relatives... but it might be nice to give gifts to Sensei and a few friends.

Friends... they have some of those now, don't they?]


3. DREAM SPHERE

⭐ When: Late December
⭐ Where: Reflection Glades

[Cinnabar doesn't - can't - come here often. The Reflection Glades are warm and sunny, a welcome respite from Yumemigaoka's winter gloom, but even a relatively safe part of the Dream Sphere isn't entirely free from Torments... and if Cinnabar fights here, their mercury will poison the vegetation, leaving dead zones that persist for weeks. But this time of year, the Torments are unusually quiet, so Cinnabar can risk enjoying one of the few truly nice parts of the Dream Sphere. There are flowers here that have never existed in the real world, untouched by the seasons.]

It's beautiful...

[Belatedly, Cinnabar realizes that they aren't alone. Embarrassed to be caught off guard when they're supposed to be an experienced professional Dreamer, they begin to stammer.]

I-I'm sorry! I didn't realize that anyone else was here!

Comments

3

[timelessmage]

[Frieren, for her part, likes hanging around the Reflection Glades. Any Dream Sphere location is preferable to the Waking World by default, and this one staying significantly warmer year-round has been a boon for her cold-averse self. Not only that, it's been her favorite spot in Yumemigaoka's Dream Sphere so far, as well as her spell practice grounds of choice. (…Not that she's been getting anywhere with it.) She's sure that Flamme would have liked it there.

Cinnabar's sudden outburst drags her from her idle thoughts. Despite having spotted them a while back and even taken the time to use her Analysis on them, she hadn't felt the need to reveal herself. But now that they've seen her… She walks into clearer view, taking care not to step on the flowers swaying gently in the breeze.]

It really is, though. [Without even acknowledging Cinnabar's fluster, Frieren carries on.] Do you come here often?

[Wording, Frieren…]

[hgs]

N-no, hardly ever, in fact... it's not that I don't like it here, but...

[Cinnabar tilts their head towards the floating blobs of liquid mercury that orbit around them like a miniature asteroid belt. Unlike most Dreamers, they don't summon their power with a Sandglass weapon... the mercury is their weapon, so they can't rid themself of it any more than Frieren could lose her staff.]

My powers are toxic to all living things, and I don't want to risk ruining something so beautiful with my presence. But it's so quiet at this time of year, I thought it might be safe...

[Cinnabar is usually more blunt and businesslike than their shy real-world counterpart, but for once they aren't in the Dream Sphere to work. For a moment, they could almost relax.]

1 because where else would he be--

[hanamane]

[With Katakuri leaving town back in October, and Finley taking time off to deal with his mother's illness, Camellia had found itself abruptly down to one employee, much to their surprise. Not that the store got too terribly busy, and Keiwa was a good, reliable employee, but it did leave them a little short-handed, especially now that the holidays were rapidly approaching. Perhaps it was a stroke of luck (or just good timing) that Amane managed to convince Shinsha to help out on such short notice-- normally it was his dad who took care of the plant assessments, but now that Nagisa Yugi was doing the work of two other people...

... although, from the looks of things from his perch a few tables away, perhaps Amane was a bit hasty in this decision of his. Shinsha definitely knew their stuff when it came to plants, no doubt about it, but their people skills left a lot to be desired. Not that he was particularly surprised about that, though...

He waits until the owner of the poor, withered cactus leaves the shop before he sidles up to their table, expression wry.]

... you do know what "bedside manner" is, right...?

[hgs]

["Bedside manner?" While Shinsha has studied English since elementary school, there are still English idioms they aren't familiar with... perhaps Amane meant the Buddhist practice of reciting holy texts at the bedside of a recently deceased person to ensure their smooth passage into the next life? Yes, that must be it. Sensei performs such rituals for elderly temple parishioners from time to time...]

...Exactly. That's why I said she needed a priest for that plant, not a gardener. Someone has to recite the deathbed sutras so that poor overwatered cactus will reincarnate into something harder to kill, like a spider plant or a pothos.

[Shinsha's deadpan expression is so flat that it's impossible to tell whether they're making a joke.]

[hanamane]

[... does Shinsha ever tell jokes?? At this point, Amane can't even tell, with that flat expression of theirs, though he wants to hope against all odds they were kidding about this. Granted, he's only familiar with the term after hearing it tossed around in his youth (mostly from his parents, criticizing some of the more blunt doctors he'd had), but how exactly they got to "last rites" from there, he'll never know...]

... please tell me you're never getting into actual medicine. Even if it's a lie, I just need that for my peace of mind.

[HE WOULD ACTUALLY CRY IF YOU WERE EVER HIS DOCTOR, SHINSHA....]

What I'm trying to say is... maybe you need to work on your customer service skills a little? Or at least phrase things a little nicer.

[Ironic coming from Amane, of course, whose social skills probably aren't all that much better than Shinsha's, but still!!!]

[hgs]

...I haven't told anyone else about it yet, but I applied to study horticulture at the local university, so you don't have to worry about that.

[Being estranged from their birth family, Shinsha never thought they'd have enough money to attend university, even with a scholarship... but not long after they officially joined the DU, someone dropped a pamphlet about Dreamer Union student grants in their mailbox. Between their Dreamer work and a part-time job, they should be able to manage it.]

...The nice thing about plants is that they don't get hurt as easily as people.

1, not sorry;

[traceofeffort]

[Lisa's face falls at this proclamation. She's brought in the small rosemary plant she'd picked up, ah, right about six weeks ago, at the counter just over there. While there's been one successful harvest - the initial one - it's just kind of... suffered? Some of that is Lisa forgetting to take care of herself and so this herb's been even further back on the priority list, and some of it is just honest mistakes. The result is that it's... not looking so hot, to the point even Lisa can tell her poor herb plant is in a bad way. Lisa is also in a bad way at the moment, mind!]

N-no, Akashi-san, don't tell me that! You've gotta help me with this, I definitely can't let Amane-kun see this plant like this!

[There's a touch of mild panic in her expression that she isn't afraid to show them. Surely it's not that important... right?]

[hgs]

Ah... I see. So you got the plant here...

[While rosemary isn't well suited to Yumemigaoka's chilly climate, it's a common enough kitchen herb that Lisa could probably find a replacement plant at a grocery store... but that wouldn't ease the pain of seeing something suffer when it's supposed to be under her care. Shinsha is a little too familiar with that feeling. The strain in Lisa's voice hints that there's more going on than a sickly houseplant, but Shinsha is better at dealing with plant problems than people problems. Still, sometimes the two overlap.]

...Then really, it's Amane's fault anyway. This pot is all wrong for rosemary - it has a pretty design, but it's made of glazed ceramic that won't allow water to drain properly. Rosemary prefers dry soil, so a plain terracotta pot is best, especially in the winter when it won't be growing as quickly.

[traceofeffort]

[Some of her tension drains away at their straightforward explanation - even if it throws Amane under the bus a little bit, which she'll come back to - and her fretting is replaced with visible confusion.]

Wait. Hold on a second. The, uh. The pot matters? Soil, I get, water as directed and don't drown the poor thing. Sunlight, sure, it's been by the window. Was, um, I supposed to re-pot it?

[Lisa's green thumb is more like an image she found on Pinterest. She's trying? The orchid she tended over the summer gave her false hope.]

[hgs]

Normally it would be fine, but plants can be a little touchy in the winter when they aren't getting as much sunlight. It's alright, though. I expected that this might be a problem, so I brought extra pots.

[Shinsha spreads a clean sheet of old newspaper across the table, then carefully extracts the rosemary from its current pot. As anticipated, there are signs of root rot at the bottom, so they carefully trim the unhealthy roots with a pair of scissors before packing it back into a plain clay pot filled with loose soil. They move with the confidence of experience, so there's very little mess.]

There. It should start to rebound in a few weeks.

1.

[i_peace]

[he can recognize Cinnabar easily enough. It's hard not to, when two of the most prominent encounters that he's had with them can be summed up as "so that boss fight right?". But in the Waking World, Keiwa's never actually seen a lot of the Dreamers he's run into. (well, he suspects one but until Amane chooses to tell him, Keiwa will try to respect the other's privacy)

Keiwa himself is happy enough to help around the store. Though... He hadn't expected Amane to bring a friend to help with the plants. He's kept to himself mostly, handling the kissaten aspect of the store and maybe sending people off with a gentle if not slightly awkward apology. After a while, Keiwa comes back to where Shinsha is sitting with a coffee carafe]

... Was that last plant that bad off? [he's looking towards the door where the last customer went before turning his attention back to Shinsha, raising the carafe in his hand] Refill?

[hgs]

It was frozen solid - they must have forgotten to bring it inside before the frost. With some luck, though, it might grow back...

[Shinsha reaches for their empty coffee cup, then turns their gaze upward towards the waiter. Wait, is that... Tycoon!?]

S-Sakurai-san!? I didn't realize that you worked here...

[It's not like Shinsha doesn't visit Camellia often, either. The quiet table in the back of the kissaten is one of their favorite places to study. But since they almost always have an oversized hoodie pulled over their head, and they usually sip the same pot of lukewarm herbal tea for hours, they've managed to avoid actually making eye contact with Keiwa until now.]

[i_peace]

Eh? [he flinches at the exclamation and yup, that is indeed Tycoon's usual flinch! Though it's a little more restrained, considering the coffee pot in his hands]

I-I've been working here part time for a couple of months now... But I'm usually in front- [he points to the entrance] -doing greetings and taking orders.

Um... Have we met?

[they look familiar enough, but he never really knows with Dreamers. Better to ask first than to jump to conclusions?]

[hgs]

[Keiwa doesn't seem like the type to hide his Dreamer identity, but everyone has their own circumstances... although surely even Amane has realized by now that all of Camellia's part-timers are Dreamers, so it can't be that much of a secret.]

Um... through your other part-time job, right...? Unless I have the wrong person...

[Seriously, how many sets of twins can there be in Yumemigaoka? But Shinsha, who can even tell the Yugi siblings apart at a glance, is almost 100% sure that they're talking to Tycoon...]

3

[predecir]

[Omen, in fact, comes here quite a bit when he isn't off trying to help in various other peoples' Torment hunts. When you live in the Dream Sphere, you've kinda got to have a peaceful place to retreat to, or you'll never even have a second to sit down!

But usually he's a little more cautious about not venturing close enough to anyone to be noticed. The seven-foot spectre isn't super close, but certainly near enough to hear and be heard. He darts backwards immediately, as smoothly as if he were a ghost.]

Oh! No, I'm sorry, I'll go!

[His voice is......nowhere near as ominous as his general appearance and vibes.]

[hgs]

[Cinnabar is used to being the tall, thin spectre haunting other people's dreams... ever since they Awakened five years ago, they've been avoiding other Dreamers and hunting Torments alone in distant parts of the Dream Sphere. But even on their longest rangings, they've never encountered anyone like Omen. Plenty of Dreamers gain a few inches of height when they transform (supposedly because one's Dreamer form is an idealized version of one's real-world self, although Cinnabar has never felt that way) but seven feet is certainly a bit more than average.]

No, it's fine, I'll go!

[Both Cinnabar and Omen are dressed in stark black, so it's impossible for them to hide in such a bright and colorful place. They stick out like sore thumbs amid the pastel tones of the Dream Sphere... it's enough to make Cinnabar give a small, rueful smile.]

...Although I think this place is probably big enough for both of us.

[predecir]

[Bruno stops mid-turning to flee, and wavers for a moment.]

Uh....heh, yeah. I...guess it probably is.

[He doesn't usually make a point of speaking with other Dreamers, but it happens sometimes - at least to make sure everybody is okay after a fight. Most of the others are...so much younger than him these days, after all. It'd feel wrong to just run away. It's hard to tell, Dreamers being what they are, but this person seems young. Way too young to have any idea who Bruno is, probably!

That and, well...he rarely sees other Dreamers with color palettes as dark as his. He's a little curious. Maybe a little bit concerned, too.]

I'm usually further out, I don't really come here all that often. It's just...nice to be somewhere warm again, you know?

[hgs]

[Cinnabar was a fan of Japanese celebrities like Dreamer Crimson when they were younger, but luckily for Bruno, the Madrigals were never well-known in Japan outside of the most obsessive Dreamer otaku. Even in a city with as many international connections as Yumemigaoka, there's often litte awareness of Dreamers from other countries.]

...I don't care much for winter, either.

[If hibernating through the entire season were an option, Cinnabar would strongly consider it. No matter how many layers of gloves and scaves they wear, the cold is inescapable in northern Japan. Maybe this Dreamer is from someplace with a milder climate.]

But it's too risky for me to come here at any other time of year... so...

[Cinnabar glances towards the silvery blobs of mercury that float around them, pulsing gently in time with their thoughts.]

Maybe it's not entirely bad.

3

[coorow]

[Untethered and unsupervised, Crow's adventures in the Dream Sphere lead him to the Reflection Glades. It's a nice place; far unlike anything he's encountered in the waking world. He doesn't mind the winter, so long as he's wrapped up warm, but the sun here just can't be beat.

Idly basking in the sun and taking in the wonder of the plants around him, he'd made no effort to keep any distance from Cinnabar. When he startles them, he doesn't appear to be too concerned about it.]

That's okay! [He announces, chipper as ever. Though, their words lead him to wonder, with a tilt of his head...] Did you want to be alone?

[hgs]

N-no, it's not that...

[Cinnabar doesn't know the winged Dreamer's name, but they recognize him as one of the Novices that joined in on last month's Disturbance mission. In their opinion, it was far too dark a dream for the younger Dreamers, but the boy seems emotionally unscathed, at least... which is more than they can say for some of the others.]

I just... I don't want to accidentally hurt anyone, so I need to be careful wherever I go.

[Even standing in one place for too long in a place as verdant as this can't be safe.]

[coorow]

[Crow takes that as good as an invitation as any to stick around, then, and tilts his head in confusion at Cinnabar’s statement.]

Huh? Why’s that?

[hgs]

...My powers are poisonous, so I just ruin everything wherever I go.

[Even though their toxic ablities are a source of immense shame, it's surprisingly easy to talk to Crow about it. His open, guileless face bears no hint of judgement or fear.]

2

[flatcola]

The gears of the idol industry never stop grinding.

[ Kozakura is distantly related through her secret side gig as a vtuber; her popularity is impeded, and her mental health kept intact, by tamping down the parasocial aspect as hard as possible.

Granted, going out shopping in the holiday season isn't good for her mental health. Maybe she's a fool. ]

[hgs]

[Shinsha jumps a little, embarrassed at having been caught talking to themself in public, but they recover their composure quickly.]

...I suppose not. At least Mio-san had the good sense to quit.

[Shinsha can't imagine many things worse than a job where one has to constantly smile and pretend to like other people. It's enough to make them want to retreat back to their comfortable introvert cave and hibernate until the holiday shopping season is over.]

[flatcola]

[ It's fine, Kozakura is tiny, pale, melts into crowds like a ghost. It's kind of funny when she can sneak up on people even though she hates being sneaked up on. ]

For a lot of girls it's just a youthful experience. Maybe not the best use of your youth, but there's no use in bemoaning that once it's over.