★ 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]

Hmm, I wonder...

[ She says it with a grin that makes it clear that the answer is yes but that she's going to play a little coy about giving it anyway. Not for any reason – not because it's embarrassing or anything like that, but because she's Ai and that's what Ai does. At least when she pulls this on Amane, it's just something playful between senpai and kouhai, anyway. ]

I wouldn't say it's one place in particular... I guess since I've been exploring so much since I awakened, I've seen a little bit of everything. Or well, it feels like everything sometimes! But that's why it's so much fun exploring with my trainees – maybe I've seen some of it before but to you guys it's all brand new. It's like getting to see it with fresh eyes all over again. But if I did have to pick...

[ She trails off and her smile goes a little wistful. ]

I'd really like to see some of it with Aqua and Ruby.

[hanamane]

[Ah, so they were playing that game now, were they? Amane almost expected as much-- Ai was a master of never quite giving anything away, and honestly? He could learn a thing or two from it, especially when people got too nosy with him about the non-Dreamer aspects of his life. He eyes her as she answers-but-not-really answers, ready to whine that it wasn't what he asked--

But then she finally admits to that, and it's like everything goes still. Hanako's quiet for a long moment, before he finally sets his feet back to the ground, gently nudging her shoulder with his own.]

... you never know. Stranger things have happened before.

[After all, no one had expected Amane to be the one in the family to Awaken first, and here he is now, giving everybody headaches!! Genetics and talent had no say in who became a Dreamer or not, but there was a part of him that hoped, regardless, that those two would make it over here someday to give them more time to be together. There was, of course, a childish and selfish part of him that didn't want for it to happen, either-- he liked the attention that came with being her sole Dreamer kiddo (even if not by blood), and he knew if her own kids ever joined in, her focus would be more on them and not him, and he wasn't really sure if he wanted that. But knowing how happy it'd make Ai to have her children here... how could he not wish for that for her?

Because Hanako is uncapable of keeping a serious moment going for long, however, he then proceeds to set his head against her shoulder, pretending to dramatically wipe away a tear as he adds:]

But what'll you do if Aqua claims he's too much of a big boy to be going on adventures with you, though? He's getting to be that age, after all...!

[AS IF AQUA'S NOT LIKE THREE OR FOUR YEARS OLDER THAN HIM ALREADY.....]

[liedol]

[ In contrast, Ai's laugh in response is light and airy, like she doesn't have a care in the world - the way she always laughs, of course, practiced and pretty. Stranger things have happened, huh? Well, it's not like he's wrong. When it comes to Dreamers, strange is the baseline. ]

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. It all comes down to chance, really. I just hope if it does ever happen that it's both of them at the same time - can you imagine the sort of arguments they'd have otherwise?

[ She says it lightly but even as the words come out, something unpleasant curdles in her heart. It's a little selfish to want them here, even if nobody would ever tell her to her face. After all, to be here, to be a Dreamer... even if you choose not to fight, having that choice put into your hands in the first place means you'd have to fight your way to it in the first place. What sort of mother would she be if she wished a Nightmare on the two of them, just for the chance to see them here, to share this part of herself with them?

It's selfish. And yet, a little part of her can't help but wish for it anyway. ]

But I'm sure I could talk him into coming along. I'd just have to tell him he'd be missing out on an exclusive live performance and he'd be there before you could blink.

[hanamane]

[There's something about that laugh that makes him wonder, for a moment, whether he tread on something delicate by accident. It was Ai's usual laugh, of course, but it felt... different somehow. Perhaps it was his age (and with it the inability to yet fully grasp the larger, darker nature of this life), but the notion of the Hoshino twins being put into danger just to be with her hadn't even crossed his mind. Of course, that was how he had Awakened, and countless others before him, but... somehow that didn't even occur to him that would be the same for Ai's children too, should they ever become Dreamers.

So, very much ignorant to the turmoil in his Senpai's heart, he straightens back up, removing his head from her shoulder as he does so (and probably leaving some remnant glitter there too, that lil shit)]

Oof, yep, that's true. Ruby would probably manifest a whooooole lot of Torments in grudges alone if she got left out. And I don't even want to think about Aqua...

[That boy could be super intense sometimes!! And no doubt any creatures his bad feelings would spawn over here would be nasty. Hanako cackles a little at her plan to win Aqua over, however, knowing full well it would work like a charm.]

You could even tempt him with a personal duet! Ah... not that he seems like he's all that into the dancing stuff, but he'd definitely make an exception for you, at least.

[He slips his hands into his pockets, idly toeing at the sparkling dust on the ground (what did these manifest from, anyway? A fear of microplastics?), moving for the sake of moving... until he pipes up, tone deceptively innocent:]

Hmm... Senpai, the stuff Torments leave behind... it's not really toxic is it?

[... Hanako. Hanako, what are you planning--]

[liedol]

You can just imagine it, right? A whole herd of Torments all spawning out of pure jealousy and all the complaining about whoever got left behind making their job harder...

[ See? When she says it like that, isn't it a funny joke?

Casually dusting off her shoulder (and all that glitter onto his head), she jumps at the chance to change the topic. Too much vulnerability today!! ]

I've ever heard of anyone getting sick... but I also can't say I've ever really tried messing with it. What've you got up your sleeve, huh?

[hanamane]

[Yes, too much vulnerability!! There's been a distinct lack of staying silly here, and they need to rectify it immediately. So the moment Ai asks him that question, he immediately has an answer at the ready, barely batting an eye as he replies:]

Glitter bombs! ☆

[The absolute lack of shame in his voice when he says that, oh my god--]

I mean... those guys went and had a big ol' party without us around, so I was thinking, maaaaaybe we can get a little revenge of our own? Just a little, though.

[Amane, it was not the Union's fault that you got sick and she went on vacation when the Dreamerversary happened, just let it go already]

[liedol]

[ Should she be encouraging this behaviour? Absolutely not, especially not given how much trouble Hanako gets into as it is. But does she actually plan to intervene? ]

Ohh, do you really think you could pull that off? I'd never thought of trying to make anything like that from what gets left behind...

[ of course not. ]

How would you make sure it doesn't disappear when you go back, though?

[hanamane]

Mmm... I guess I can put some of it in my pockets, and just... throw it at folks? [Pocket sand, but make it sparkle] It's not like I'm going to the actual offices or anything any time soon, so as long as I can get it out of this place, I think it could work.

[Because unless he pulls an Ai Hoshino himself and goes into the real world DU building in a hat and shades, he's pretty much blowing his cover by stepping in there, so any and all revenge had to happen while he was in the Dream Sphere. Though that does beg the question whether anything on his person while he was here last time disappears when he comes back again-- all the battle damage to his outfit usually gets repaired when he returns, so presumably things get reset to a degree, but...]

Or!! I can just roll around in it and throw myself at people instead!

[Like a cat running around the house covered in flour, but instead of a cat, it's a 90 pound boy dusted in glitter °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° Whether he's serious or not is... debatable, but BOY does he look thrilled at the idea of being a walking sparkle menace]

[liedol]

Hmm... [ Ai makes a point of looking him up and down, gauging his height and overall Troublemaking Boy Size. ] That's probably not the best idea for a whole lot of reasons but most of all...

[ She brushes a little glitter off his hat, where it was just... sitting in a pile... ]

Most people around here who see something small and sparkly diving at them are gonna think it's a Torment. You might end up getting smacked around before people realize what's going on.

[ It would not be entirely undeserved, given that this would be A Prank In Process, but still. ]

[hanamane]

[He sneezes as Ai sweeps off some of that build-up on his hat, the sparkly debris swirling up in little clouds as it drifts back down onto the ground. There is no doubt going to be some inexplicable glitter dust in Amane's bed for WEEKS once he wakes up from all of this, but... STILL. Worth it. A part of him wants to point out the irony of that statement of hers, when he's only really a centimeter smaller than she is these days (an incredible feat, when he's still one of the shortest boys in his middle school class!!), but he's gonna set that aside for the more important matter at hand here:]

Soooo... you're saying the pocket sand is the better idea, then?

[... no. That's not what she's saying AT ALL???]

[liedol]

I'm saying that if you're going to prank people on this side, you'd better be ready for the consequences.

[ So she's not encouraging this behaviour but she's also... NOT... not encouraging this behaviour........ ]