★ 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

[liedol]

[ Ai-Doll takes her hand and gives it a firm, businesslike shake – but the smile on her face is all warmth. Getting favored with a smile like that at its full brightness really makes you understand how she managed to slip in and fill Odette's role so easily. ]

You're more than welcome. Really, this is a huge bonus for me too – the trainee I used to rely on most just graduated out from under me and he's out there on his own. I'm happy to see him go, but having someone I could trust to look out for my other trainees was a big weight off my shoulders. Since you're already so experienced, could I count on you to help with that too?

[ So she can get a good look at just how this girl manages other Dreamers. ]

[darcangel]

It is good to know I would!

[ oh, drat, that's a saying that goes around the French side of her family and doesn't make much sense to anybody else. Like all the best figures of speech, it's context- and tone-dependent; La Pucelle has heard d'Arcs use it to mean anything from "well, wouldn't you like to know" to "you betcha".

She, in this case, means the latter. ]

- er, yes. Gladly. Who are your other trainees?

[ "How many are there" might have been a good place to start, but if she is going to be bestowed a small Squadron then she must account for how each, individually, can do their best in battle. Dreamers' powers are all so customized, and she's not the sort of person who could ever just think of her army as a single unit, not a bunch of people with their own strengths, hopes, and dreams, who have entrusted her with the faith she'll make the right decisions. ]

[liedol]

[ Ai-Doll just grins and puts a conspiratorial finger to her lips. ]

Sorry, but that's a secret for now. I have to be careful about letting that information out – it can get a bit of a spotlight put on them if the wrong sorts of ears are listening when I talk about it.

[ And then she went and offered the spot to La Pucelle like it was nothing... well, it's not an offer she would've made if she didn't think this girl was up to handling it. ]

But once you're all signed up, I'll introduce you all to each other. How does that sound?

[darcangel]

[ Oh my! La Pucelle's eyes might as well be dinner plates they're so wide. ]

I understand. I beg your pardon for not realizing.

[ She looks around the Dream Sphere. There don't seem to be any other Dreamers about, but...oh, this is a new wrinkle to working in public.

She goes on tiptoe to whisper to Ai-Doll. ]

Should I be on guard against eavesdroppers now, myself?

[liedol]

[ Ai-Doll nods. Some of that teasing tone has left her voice and been replaced by the slightly more serious, reasonably responsible tone of a Mentor looking out for her newest student. ] I'd keep an eye out for them, if nothing else. And try not to tell too many of your friends and family if you can help it. I know they won't spread it on purpose, but the more people who know a secret, the harder it is to keep.

[ If this were any other Dreamer then she might just outright suggest Telling A Lie but one look at La Pucelle has her pretty decisively concluding that is not an option. ]

Will that be okay with you?

[darcangel]

So long as I keep nothing from God or my angel.

[ This is very exciting. If there are forces at work that would undermine Dreamers, which is the only reason secrecy could be necessary, right, then no wonder Angel-sama said the Dreamer Union needed a commander for their army......La Pucelle almost gets carried away into thinking up a code for messages, but that seems like putting the cart before the horse, and she is terribly particular about horses. ]

[liedol]

Oh, I'd never ask you to do that. [ she has not quite clicked onto the fact that one of those is like, an actual real-ass person...... ] It's just my job as your Mentor to make sure you're all as safe in the Waking World as you are over here.

[ She gives La Pucelle a smile, a little warmer and a little less performative than the ones that came before. ]

Should we go back and make everything official now?

[darcangel]

Yes, let's!

[ La Pucelle's smile is so full of pure and holy zest, it could heal leprosy. ]

--Ah, but I will likely wake far from the Dreamer Union building. Shall I meet you there?

[ gurl gets a workout in every day on her bike ]

[liedol]

Uh oh, do you really live that far away? You don't have to rush right over, in that case.

[ What time will it be on the other side right now... over a decade of doing this and she's still not great at keeping track of the way time slides around when you're in the Dream Sphere. ]

How about we meet up tomorrow when we've both had a chance to freshen up and get ourselves ready? That gives you a bit of extra time to come up with any questions you might want to ask.

[darcangel]

[ La Pucelle is THIS CLOSE to gushing about her neighborhood, as it is her favorite secular topic, but she's not completely incapable of reading a room, and is also intent on getting this Sorted. Ai-Doll's introduction to the wonders of Matsuba will have to wait. ]

I would like that very much. Thank you.

[ Her angel....will her angel be in their usual (as much as anything can be "usual" in the Dream Sphere) spot? La Pucelle can take good counsel, if so, and arrive prepared......Though she should not rely on her angel for everything. Perhaps she should merely inform her angel, and then think of the questions herself!

Her cheeks color, hoping Angel-sama will be proud of her. ]