Help, It's Spring and A Drama Student Has Appeared

[thestarknows]

⭐ Who: Junna Hoshimi... and you!
⭐ When: Throughout April!
⭐ Where: Throughout Yumemigaoka!
⭐ What: Various prompts within.

Comments

[thestarknows]

Not how I want to go.

[She groans and... and makes a bit of a face. Quite the mental image.]

[shrieking_violet]

[ Chris winces too. ]

So, we're staying put unless something bursts into flames.

[ That thought makes her wince... more? A stopped train shouldn't be enough to have her imagining Horrible Death this vividly should it? ]

[thestarknows]

Ch-Chris. Maybe we don't imagine unlikely but plausible worst case scenarios?

[Her eyebrow twitches a little.]

P-Please?

[shrieking_violet]

Y-yeah, we're totally safe!

[ At least she's not the only one getting nervous about nothing. ]

[thestarknows]

Yes. We just have... to sit here.

[a beat]

...for hours.

[another beat]

...and nothing to do.

[...sigh.]

[shrieking_violet]

[ Maybe Chris can just knock herself out to pass the time. ]

...sooo. ...up to... anything interesting lately?

[thestarknows]

Well... I... looked at auditions for a musical. I didn't audition. But I looked at them!

[Small victories.

She pauses, though, because it sounds lame.]

What about you?

[shrieking_violet]

Oh! ...I'm glad you're keeping it in mind.

[ It perks her up a little. ]

I've had enough on my plate with classes.

[thestarknows]

Yeah. I'm not sure, it's a big time commitment. But...

[She wants to. That much is clear. She looks a little distant, for a moment, then her eyebrows lift.

She nods.]

Yeah. New year and all, right? How do they look?

[shrieking_violet]

I'm managing.

[ Which is honestly already an achievement. ]

It's been cutting into Dreamer... stuff though.

[thestarknows]

It's hard to do both?

[There's a sympathetic look. Yeah, Junna does it...

By not quite sleeping enough and pushing herself harder than she neds to.]

[shrieking_violet]

...maybe if I was smarter I wouldn't need so much time for school.

[ Chris frowns. Asking for tutoring would sting too. ]

[thestarknows]

[Junna frowns. She hesitates. Maybe it's too much to say, but -- but after seeing everything Amane went through, after seeing the way Lisa could push herself so hard...

She should speak up, when she thinks it's right.]

...You're not lacking in smarts. It's okay to struggle with something and need help. It doesn't mean you've done something wrong.

[shrieking_violet]

[ Chris takes a deep breath. ]

Figured you'd say that.

[ She says it pretty neutrally. It doesn't feel like it should be true, but needs to remember to believe that Junna means it. ]'

...d'you think we could study together a little?

[thestarknows]

Figured you needed to hear it. But it's still true.

[She smiles a little bit.

Then, she blinks -- and, well, she wouldn't ever turn her away. But it is a surprise to hear Chris ask for help. Junna nods.]

Of course! Of course. I'd be happy to.

[shrieking_violet]

[ It's odd that Junna's the person she likes the most here so far - but the whole thing is odd. ]

Thanks. ...not much we can do about that here though.

[thestarknows]

...not so much, unless you happened to bring all of your books with you.

[...probably not. Junna smiles a bit.] Kidding!

[shrieking_violet]

Yeah, those don't go with me anywhere they don't have to.

[thestarknows]

[She laughs at that.

Then she looks around the train car. It looks like people are starting to move between the train cars. The doors were opened, at least.

Junna hesitates. It's technically breaking the rules, but...]

Want to walk around the train? We can at least stretch our legs.

[shrieking_violet]

I'm gonna get a cramp otherwise, sure.

[ Rules are dumb, unless they're keeping you from dying. ]

[thestarknows]

Yeah. And with how long it's been down... ah, I imagine there'll be lots of announcements when it's ready to move again.

[She stands up, dusting off her skirt.]

[shrieking_violet]

[ Chris stands with her, sticking close. ]

They'll be prepared for us to be all mixed up anyways.

[thestarknows]

That's true...

[She starts walking, glancing over her shoulder at Chris.] I've never had this happen to me before. Delays, sure, but never on the one that broke down.

[shrieking_violet]

Nothing like this, no.

[ Chris follows, as people around them start to do the same. ]

Had a lot of firsts here though.

[thestarknows]

[Guilelessly:]

Firsts?