yumemigaoka | ★ my genius, flawless idol for life

[Lisa's cheeks pink a bit, but she understands she's not being laughed at, so she just smiles through it. Still, the question's posed, and she hums.] Hmm. Let me think for a second... [She closes her eyes and lets herself sink back into her chair, a soft puff escaping her as she lets her mind drift, just a little. A name, right...? Or at least some kind of keyword. Something musical. Three of them, with space for one more. Bright and peppy. Spontaneous, or maybe reckless. One well known ~~legend~~ artist grouping up with two newbies.

Her tone is a little dreamy - slower, almost distant - as she lets her thoughts just float out of her mouth.] Mm... Symphony is good. Trinity. Chorus. Harmony... harmonics? Synthesize. Synchronize. Unit- no. Amplifier. Spotlight... shooting star....? [Her brow creases, and she seems to wake up, eyes fluttering open again as she shakes her head softly.] Sorry, I lost my train of thought, and I feel like most of that wasn't helpful. Um... I'm thinking something, I don't know, cute? Sparkly? But I could also do something more energetic? [A beat.] Dissonance, between being cute on the outside and being able to punch things anyway? Bleh, I can't really settle on anything...

[ Ai writes all these down as they go, nodding along with a little smile - they're already speeding along with ideas at the slightest push which is good because she had absolutely no clue where to start herself. Three heads really are better than one, even in the Waking World. ]

This is a really good start...! I think staying away from anything that's specific to there being three of us would be a good idea in case our lineup ever changes but the idea of us all matching or syncing up...

[ She circles a few more words - 'music', 'harmony', synchronize. ]

Harmonic something-or-other might be a good start... hm, how does 'Harmonic Blend' sound?

Ah! That sounds really good! Cuz' we all blend our styles together and stuff! Plus, it's cute, too!

[ Lisa especially had plenty of good ideas, especially since Hibiki was struggling in that regard. ]

I like it! What about you, Lisa-chan?

[She'd just been throwing out words a second ago, so Lisa's happy they got something useful out of it! Leave it to Ai to be good at teen-wrangling.]

Blend... yeah, I could see that. I like it, I think!

[Someone else made a decision she can work with! This will do.]

Heehee, alright. We'll go with that for now. If we come up with something we all like a little better, we can use that but until then, it's not bad, is it?

[ She jots that down in some of the paperwork - there's a few more forms she has to fill out back at her desk, but this is mostly just so it feels nice and official for the girls. She turns the paper around and pushes it and the pen across the table towards them. ]

Just sign here and it'll all be official! And then we can get to chatting about training and schedules.

Mm, not bad at all!

[ Hibiki quickly takes the pen and signs her name without any hesitation... which when concerning putting her signature on paper, probably isn't the best habit, but oh well. ]

Ah, that's right... what kind of training will we be doing? Singing stuff? I already train pretty regularly.

No, it sounds good!

[Lisa is not quite so cavalier; after Hibiki is done with the document, she takes it and gives it a somewhat more detailed scan. She does trust Ai, but she isn't going to agree to something without understanding what she's signing herself up for. It doesn't take terribly long, but it's visibly a fair bit longer than Hibiki took. She has enough attention to spare, though, that she can add a small comment:]

Singing practice would be fun but I can't promise I'll get very good. Teamwork training, maybe? [She has a free moment to give Hibiki a lopsided smile.]

Actually, it's a little bit of both. This is technically the kind of thing idols do, which is how I got the idea... but I was thinking that the two of you could do some dance practice. On this side.

[ Ai gives them what she hopes is a reassuring smile. ]

I don't have any plans on turning us into B-Komachi or anything like that, so don't worry! But dancers — and idols especially — have to do a lot of things while they're active on stage. It's not exactly the same but you have to split your attention while you're fighting Torments on the other side, right? So I want to help you two really nail down how it feels to do that so you can take it into the Dream Sphere with you.

Dance practice? Ah, that sounds like fun!

[ She can remember watching some of Kanade's own dance practices back when she was being trained by her. She hadn't participated... but still! For once, Hibiki actually completely understands what she's hearing. ]

Mm, that makes sense! I've always thought that the way idols are all so coordinated is super incredible! I never thought about it that way, though!

[Lisa's kneejerk reaction is to frown and raise an eyebrow, but she does her best to suppress it; if anyone knows about idol-grade training, it's Ai, and given Ai-Doll's well-earned celebrity status on the other side, it must be more than talk.]

I could... see that, I think. And you're right that coordination and multitasking could only help us. I have a sinking feeling it's going to take me a little while to catch up to Hibiki-chan, though. [Lisa is not a dancer; she's used to making the music, not performing in time to it. Still, she agreed to give Ai a chance, and she can't go back on that in the first sixty seconds.] That's not a no, that's just a... please be patient with me.

Even if it does, is that so bad? I'm not asking you to practice because I want you to be perfect right away — I want to try because I know we won't be. Rehearsing things without the same kind of immediate pressure as a Torment Hunt should be good for getting you used to moving like that and it'll help you feel a lot more confident when it comes time to do the real thing. That's what rehearsals are all about.

[ And if she's right... Lisa definitely needs a bit of a confidence boost. As the senior Dreamer here, it's Ai's job to figure out how to do that. ]

We'll learn some super simple choreography and then a few other exercises as well. We don't need to get them done perfectly — just good enough that we feel pretty sure about what we're doing.

Mm, exactly! Besides, I train a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna be great at dancing right away either! We'll get better together!

[ She scoots closer to Lisa and leans up against her, all sunshine and smiles. ]

Plus, it'll be fun! Right?

Together, huh... [It all... sounds reasonable enough. And Lisa spent long enough talking to Ai about her hangups before - never mind the hangups Ai-Doll saw the hard way, back in the Sanctum that time - that she's pretty sure Ai's seen through her at least a little bit, and so the fact that she's suggested this plan means she thinks she can make it work... and that's circular enough logic that she can feel she's brushing up against a headache, so she lets the thought go.

By all rights, Hibiki coming into her bubble should put her hackles up, but... the positivity is something Lisa desperately needs in her life, and it doesn't quite push her out of her comfort zone. She doesn't quite relax, but she lets herself put some of her weight back against Hibiki, attempting to communicate her acceptance - of the idea and of Hibiki, herself - without words, in case she tries and doesn't make herself understood.]

Right! It'll be good to learn something new. If I can keep myself from getting distracted, anyway. Dance practice with Ai-san is somewhere on my bucket list. [She gives Ai a sunny smile of her own; despite her misgivings about being able to keep up, she's on board.]

Heehee. I'm not exactly as good a dance teacher as I am at training Dreamers, but I'll definitely do my best. You guys can let me know if there's any songs you really really like and I'll see if I can't come up with something for you based on them. If it's something you're already into, it should be more fun to learn things for it!

[ Motivation! Maybe she won't be as bad at this whole dance teacher thing as she's expecting. ]

Speaking of Dreamer work, though... since we're going to be working together, do either of you have any trouble spots you'd like to have covered? Or something you'd like to work a bit harder at learning, maybe?

[ Hibiki's positivity remains just as infectious as ever, giggling cheerfully as Lisa leans back against her. ]

Ehehe...!

[ Hibiki doesn't really mind whatever music they use, but she does think a little about the question on anything she could use help with in terms of Dreamer things... ]

Mnn... I dunno! I'm pretty good at working with others, but I've been doing pretty well as a solo act so far... I guess I mostly wanna see what kind of combination moves we can pull off together!

Eh, I'll let you pick the music. I can always use exposure to more music. It's... professional development, let's say. [Read: you pick, and if she hears something catchy she'll look it up later to steal.

She thinks longer on how to prioritize her learning for Dreams, though.]

I'm kind of the opposite - I've been working solo - kinda badly - but my magic really isn't... made for that? So I need to learn how to work together better, even before I start thinking about collab moves. That doesn't mean I don't want them! I super do. But I need to work on some of my basics first, or I'm going to get smacked in the face before I can do the cool stuff... or one of you will because I missed something, and then I still can't do the cool stuff. [The comment isn't as self-deprecating this time - just an open acknowledgement of what she needs.]

[ Ai's smile is encouraging, as is her answering nod. ]

That's good! The first step to learning is really nailing down where you need to improve. This'll really help me along in working out what we want to focus on and where we want to get started.

[ Lisa's better than she thinks she is, at least as far as Ai's seen — but being overly aware of her flaws can be just as much of a detriment as being totally blind to them. Hibiki's main problem is going to be balancing teamwork — she's explosively good as a solo attacker, but that isn't going to carry her in situations where 'hitting something harder' doesn't always solve the problem. ]

For now, I'm thinking we'll start with a couple smaller scale Torment hunts after the holidays and we'll see how we work together in practice so we can nail down our problem spots. Sound good?

Mm, sounds good!

[ It's true... generally speaking, Hibiki's solution to most things is to hit it harder. Barring that, hit something else harder that could possibly lead into something happening to the main problem. Admittedly, it's worked pretty well! Except for when it hasn't. ]

Then, for now... how about some karaoke? Y'know, to celebrate!

Yes, that sounds good! [Hunts are good. She can handle Hunts. And she knows how to work with Ai-Doll, and to a somewhat lesser extent Gungnir. No problem. Probably.]

Ahaha... I'm game for karaoke, but, well. [An amused look at Hibiki, then an uncertain glance at Ai; her image of her senpai is that there's no way whatsoever she has enough free time for something like that on a whim. She's been wrong before - in the last few minutes, even - but it seems too easy?]

Oh, am I invited too?

[ She says that with a bit of a sparkle and her smile is, all at once, warm and playful. Is she technically too busy for karaoke right now? Yes, absolutely. But that cautious look from Lisa was just a little too easy to read. So instead: ]

If you don't mind waiting on me for about ten minutes, I'd love to come along. Wow, I don't think I've done karaoke for fun in forever...

Mm, of course! Why not? It's lots of fun, a great way to bond, and the food is great! It's perfect!

[ They're going to be working together, so they have to start bonding right away, right? That just about sums up all of the thoughts going on in Hibiki's head about it. Nevermind that she's inviting an idol to karaoke, but that's kind of just a bonus, isn't it? ]

Yay! Then it's time for Team Harmonic Blend's first karaoke outing!

[......yeah, she's too obvious, but still. Lisa's not used to having nice things, she defaulted to "I have another meeting in ten minues". Mind, it'd have been nice to have an excuse to get to know Hibiki in a structured social setting anyway. So Ai deciding she has time in her busy schedule...]

W-well, of course you are... um, yes, we'd be happy to have you! [She feels zero reservation assuming on this one; Hibiki is not subtle.] Man. I wasn't expecting... [Nah, not worth trying to dig out here. Shaking her head as she trails off, Lisa just relaxes a little, eyes brightening.] Eh, it's fine. Let's have a good time!

[She pumps a fist in the air; despite her earlier nerves, she is excited, both about the Unit and about their impromptu karaoke trip.]

★ my genius, flawless idol for life

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