★ my genius, flawless idol for life

[liedol]

⭐ Who: Ai and you!
⭐ When: its fucking dember
⭐ Where: Mostly in Yumemigaoka, with some planned Hunts and stuff in the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: Wow, that was pretty decidedly awful!!! Unfortunately, there's no rest for the wicked OR the DU's idol so even though she's a little running on fumes, Ai's still got a busy December ahead of her...! With DU work and idol work and holiday obligations all on her plate, the real question is: how does she ever find time to sleep???

Comments

[liedol]

[ Would you look at that - it's a newbie who isn't too jittery to talk to her like that. That's a surprisingly nice change. ]

If there's anything that important in there, then I sure don't know about it. [ That's said with a little puff of laughter and a wry smile. Truthfully speaking, there probably are a few contracts and sponsorship things in there that are, uh, at least a little confidential but that's not quite the same as them being important, at least as far as the DU goes. ] The most you have to do is just not mention you've seen a brand or a name on any paperwork until it's official that they want to do something with us.

[ She goes back to her desk, shuffling through papers as she goes so things can be moderately organized when she hands them off to him. ]

We tend to get a lot of things going into Christmas and Golden Week — that's when people do the most shopping and browsing, so companies reeeeeeally want to make sure they've got eyes on their ads.

[ruinedsky]

[What's a little open-secret sponsorships between coworkers? That isn't something entirely new to Sylvain, having dealt with being part of a famous family. Not that he ever did much grunt work like this before, if it could be helped. He liked having some basic, helpful tasks to do, though.]

Sounds easy enough. Then again, I doubt I'll be the first person to hear about any new business partnerships the DU has gotten.

[He shrugs mildly. Not his division, and he's new.]

Oh yeah, I'm sure that's a whole big thing for everyone. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing all the events and such for myself.

[liedol]

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get enough free time for it, then. — ah, here...

[ She plops another stack of papers (w—was she really not filing any of this before??) on top of the cabinet for him to sort through when he's done with the first before taking a seat at her desk and going back to her coffee. Aah... life really is easier when you have someone to do things for you. Really, she should probably look into getting an assistant for this kind of thing but knowing herself and her own bad habits, she'd probably just take back whatever jobs she was supposed to be giving them... ]

Are you new to Yumemigaoka, then? Or just this branch of the DU?

[ruinedsky]

[The subtle irony is not lost on him, and his smile down at the fresh stack is a little sardonic. Ah, well, it's an excuse to stand here and chat with his hot boss for awhile longer.]

[Hey, there's an idea. She should hire him as her personal admin assistant. Get you a hot younger secretary, Ms. Hoshino.]

Both. I was only a little bit involved with the Dreamer Union in London before I transferred here, though, so I would say I'm pretty fresh to how DUs work in general.

[liedol]

London, huh... [ Her smile goes a little faraway for a second — almost nostalgic. ] That's really wild to think about. I don't go overseas at all, so the only part of the DU — or the Dream Sphere in general that I see is around here in Yumemigaoka. I forget sometimes but we're really from all over the place...

[ She wonders if Odette had suspected for a second how far her own dream would spread and how many people it would end up reaching. Everything she's done since she stumbled into the DU's doors all those years ago has been to keep it in motion but its scope and scale has spread so far at this point that she doesn't think she could stop it even if she wanted to. ]

So! How would you rate us so far, then? Settling in okay?

[ruinedsky]

[He feels a twinge of sadness. He would have assumed someone as powerful in the DU as her, and a popular idol to boot, would have had opportunities to travel.]

Yeah, it really is a global, international thing. It really hit home for me too, when I came to Yumemigaoka and saw all this for myself.

[He smiles down at his pile, stopping to stare at the paper he's meant to file, but not really looking at it.]

I hope you get the chance to see some of the other cities involved, at least for a conference or something.

[He turns to smile at her, polished and perfect.]

Moving is always pretty hectic, but this is an easy city to settle into. I'm lucky my japanese is good enough to get around with, but I have had some bloopers.

[liedol]

I've thought about it! But you see, I'm a total homebody - or I am nowadays at least. Back in my old group, we used to do a ton of touring up and down Japan and it was kind of...

[ She wrinkles up her nose. ]

Don't get me wrong, it was cool to be able to say I'd been to so many different cities! But you don't really get to see much of them when you're there for work. And all the travelling gets so stressful that by the time I had my solo debut I was like "forget this! I just wanna stay home!".

[ Her laugh is merry, though, so she doesn't seem all that bitter. ]

Yumemigaoka's definitely not a bad place to be, though. Even if you did come here just in time for basically the worst kind of weather...!

[ruinedsky]

[That polished, playful smile softens into something else for a moment. Sylvain nods, to show he's listening, before he goes back to focusing on sorting the paperwork. He needs to get that done, after all! Nothing suspicious here!]

I can understand that. I guess I'm a little surprised, from what little I knew of you. I think that's great that you've really made a home for yourself here.

[An unexpected part of her, how exciting! Her being a homebody is actually... so cute. He won't patronize her by saying so, though.]

Well, it doesn't really bother me too much. My family spent a lot of time in the north of England, basically Scotland, and it can get bitingly cold up there.

[liedol]

Ooh, does it really get that cold up there? Ah, it does always look like it's raining over there when you see it on TV so I guess that explains it...

[ even i can't tell you whether or not this is a bit ]

You must be all prepped for the snow then, huh? [ another cheery laugh. ] I wish I was! I've lived here for more than ten years now and I still get all like "hold on, where'd this come from?" everytime we get some. It just has a way of catching you by surprise, right?

[ruinedsky]

[He chuckles, pleasant but clearly the chuckle of someone who has heard too many rainy UK jokes in his life to really be charmed anymore.]

Well, I brought my bike with me, but not my car, so maybe not as prepped as I could be.

[But well, he never really owned the car he drove anyway...]

The end of the year does seem to come all in a rush, with the weather and the darkness and the holidays. You better keep your coat ready, Hoshino-san, [He scolds playfully, like the mom friend he secretly is,] the last thing we need is for you to catch a cold.

[liedol]

[ She laughs. ]

Oh, I wish I could tell you that never happens but it does! Since the station's so close and I've got the train schedules basically memorized at this point, there's been so many times I'll just grab a cardigan or a sweater since I'm not going to be out in the cold for that long — and then, whoops, I have to stay late or a train goes missing and I'm all out of luck.

[ Not that she ever learns. She'll make the same mistake every winter, complain about it and then go right back to doing it again the next time it gets cold. Guaranteed. ]

At least the coffee place by the station stays open late. Though I definitely have a moment every time I have to go in with no winter coat where I'm thinking — "they're judging me right now and I totally deserve it!".

[ruinedsky]

[There goes the mom friend sigh! He's pausing what he's doing to give her a pose, even. Hand on the hip, a frown that threatens to turn into an indulgent smile.]

And you being an idol no less! I would have thought you'd take better care to not catch a cold!

[He playfully tsk tsk's before taking up his filing again. He's almost through with the most recent stack. He's... very efficient at this.]

[liedol]

[ H-hold on, is that what being subjected to the Mom Energy is like?! She'd have thought she was pretty immune to it but it's still enough to make her feel just a little guilty and she's so surprised and delighted that a laugh comes bubbling out of her. ]

Hey now! Hasn't anyone ever told you that idols can never catch colds? [ that's 'idiots' but. you know, same difference. ] We're tougher than you'd think!

[ This is absolutely not the case, but it makes for a good line, anyway. ]

[ruinedsky]

[Her reply is so unexpected it startles a laugh out of him.]

Ohhh, is that what they say?

[His tone is teasing but indulgent, like she's a sassy child... or a longtime friend. Either he is a great faker or he's gotten very familiar with her very quickly]

I don't doubt that second part, at least.