★ blind the masses with a grin, stir up the media

[liedol]

⭐ Who: Ai and you!
⭐ When: End of May through July
⭐ Where: Various prompts around Yumemigaoka and the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: An Ai catchall for the next month! After a suspiciously well timed vacation out to Hokkaido, Ai's back in Yumemigaoka and ready to catch up on everything she missed. I'm also down for doing closed/private prompts so hit me up on Discord if you'd like to plan something!

Comments

[saynotobugs]

[When most people are thrown off by Ai, it's usually because they're starstruck. There might even be some of that in Maki's blink and half-second stare, just because it's Ai. You don't shrug someone like that off so easily. But the immediate, room-filling aura of someone who not only managed to make it in show business but became a top star and gets to do what she loves... Well, it fills Maki with things she doesn't like to think about.

But that's not fair to Ai, so she just smiles and waves from where she's fixing someone's computer.]

Well, I saw some poor sap get chased up a tree at the anniversary. [Maki shakes her head and laughs.] Glad you had a good time out there.

[liedol]

If that's all that went wrong, it's a big step up from last year! I had bruises up and down my arms from that display coming down for weeks...

[ Put like that it's uh, not really any wonder she decided to adios out of there and take a vacation this time around.

Bag mostly unpacked, Ai scoops up a little bundle of food and hurries over to Maki to start making snack deliveries. ]

And this one's for you! [ She hands over a bulging pack of fancy rice crackers in a few different flavours. ] I wasn't sure what sweets you'd like but then I thought – if it's Maki-chan, you can't go wrong with rice!

[saynotobugs]

For real? Thanks.

[She takes the rice crackers and looks the pack over before setting it down on her desk.]

Everyone missed you around here, but you gotta take a break some time. Did you seriously get something for everyone at head office?

[liedol]

Not everyone. Or at least not everyone personally. I did my best to make sure there'd be enough to go around. That way, nobody gets to complain if I'm playing favourites a bit.

[ Not that getting something for Maki is exactly 'playing favourites'. Ai just thinks it's wise to keep herself in the good books of the girl who carries the entire IT infrastructure of this office on her back. ]

It's nice to hear I was missed, though! To be honest [ She Is Literally Lying Right Now ] I got a little bit lonely when I was out there as well. Vacations are fun, but there's really no place like home.

[saynotobugs]

[She laughs and shakes her head.] Glad you had fun, though. You take any of your friends with you out there?

[liedol]

Nope! Just me myself and I. Sometimes you need a little time by yourself to recharge. Saves a little money when it's just one person, too!

[ One person not counting Ruby and Aqua, obviously. The entire reason she took a whole-ass month off in the first place was to spend as much of it with them as possible – and if it means skipping out on actually doing her job over Golden Week and the anniversary then that's a necessary casualty. ]

What about you, Maki-chan? It's been a while since you were out on vacation last – did you do anything for Golden Week?

[saynotobugs]

Worked, mostly. Worth it for the holiday pay. [She shrugs with a smile.] Most I did was get a new rice cooker. Work went decently well, though. Only weird thing here was some kid fresh out of her first dream came in declaring she had to lead the DU herself to "save Yumemigaoka." Tourism department, now that's where all the fires were. I'd bet everyone in this office was probably jealous of you getting all that time to relax.

[liedol]

I guess it's good that she's coming into things motivated but... maybe not that motivated.

[ Then again, who knows? In Dreamer terms, Ai was more or less a nobody when she first turned up at the DU and it was only thanks to the kindness of people who took her under their wings that she'd been able to spread hers in turn. Suddenly, she's a little curious about this girl... ]

Did you hear who she was?

[saynotobugs]

The D'Arc kid, you know her? I told her to try and find some friends and make up a team. Maybe that'll give her some direction. [Maki scrolls through a file on one of her monitors.] Always good to see someone who has the motivation, but she's gonna need more than that. I figure if she scrounges up a team, they're likely to balance each other out.

[liedol]

D'Arc...? I don't think I do. But if she's that new, then we could have just missed each other while I was out of the office.

[ Of course, Ai being Ai, that probably would have been her response even if it turned out she and Jeanne had been next door neighbours for the last fifteen years. ]

D'Arc, huh... [ A little smile starts to curl up her lips. ] I'll have to keep that in mind. Does she have a Mentor yet?

[saynotobugs]

Lemme check the database.

[Maki types something in and looks over the list with an idle hum.]

Not finding her. I know she goes to Promised Morning, though, so it's probably a matter of time. Lots of opportunity there.

[liedol]

Hmm, hmm. I'll definitely have to keep an eye out, then. If she doesn't have a Mentor then nobody can accuse me of poaching her.

[ Does Ai already have her own hands full with her own trainees? Yes. Is she considering getting Jeanne under her wing anyway? Unfortunately, again, yes. ]

Hey, Maki-chan, if you see her around the office, would you let her know I'd like to talk to her?

[saynotobugs]

[Maki looks up in surprise, but she just blinks and notes it down on a piece of paper.]

Not balancing too many trainees as it is, huh? As long as you know your limits. I'll pass it on to her. Your contact information's still the same as on file, right?

[liedol]

Don't worry about it. If anybody can handle a few extra kids on their plate, it's me. [ sometimes you tell little jokes for an audience and yourself and nobody else. ] Besides, I'm already down one – Hanako-kun just graduated, so I've got a slot open.

[ She peers over Maki's shoulder so she can give the file a quick scan herself. ]

What's her name over there, anyway? La Pu... something?

[ y'all can't expect her to read katakana french when she's still getting her head around kanji some days ]

[saynotobugs]

Dreamer La Pucelle. It's a French and Old English word, usually means "girl" or "virgin" or both at once. Think it's some kind of military badge, too. She sure came up with a fancy title.

[Maki tilts the monitor so Ai will have an easier time.]

You know, if you weren't an idol, I could imagine you working in child care or something, with how good you're doing with the Mentor thing. Then again, you look pretty happy where you are now, so maybe it all worked out.

[liedol]

Childcare? No thanks! Looking after them on the other side is one thing – can you imagine how much pressure it would be to keep someone else's kids alive?

[ 'someone else's' being the load bearing point here, presumably. ]

I'm just happy teaching them how to spread their wings and watching them fly.

[saynotobugs]

Heh, you've got a point there. Turn your back to grab one off the tower of chairs they're climbing, turn back around and another one's eating podge. I did a lot of babysitting way back when. [She shakes her head and smiles.] The kids you train are lucky to have you, though. Bet they all appreciate it, too.

[liedol]

I should probably say something modest like "I'm lucky to have them" but...

[ Hoh hoh hoh. We have fun here. ]

I guess at this point I'm just glad we still have so many volunteers who sign up even after Awakening.

[saynotobugs]

Maybe they feel like it's their civic duty. The Dreamer Union's PR machine is pretty good, unless you're an edgy teenager. Then again, saw a couple of those actually show up and do things, too, so never say never.

[liedol]

[ Oh, now Maki has visibly got her Having An Idea... ]

I wonder if we could put together some kind of advertisement line to appeal to them as well, though...

[saynotobugs]

I mean, it's worth a try. Something where they tend to hang out, you mean?

[liedol]

That's a good start, but... where would that even be?

[ maybe she can quiz aqua...... ]

[saynotobugs]

You have a point... Going to schools might not work. Online games, maybe, but I have a feeling they're just going to call that "cringe." I know I should leave this to advertising, but even just checking out where the kids who avoid the DU hang out might do something. In and out of the Dream Sphere.

[liedol]

In the Dream Sphere...

[ Now she's really thinking. ]

They'd have to pass through the City no matter where they were going, right? So long as they're living here in Yumemigaoka, at least.

[saynotobugs]

That's still a lot of space for you to cover, but it's a start, I assume. Course, I'm just going off secondhand words.