OPEN ✿ June Catch-All

[hanamane]

⭐ Who: Amane and YOU
⭐ When: Throughout June
⭐ Where: Moon Bunny Market (namely @ Camellia), Riverwalk Theater, Dream Sphere (Slumbering City and N E W L O C A T I O N)
⭐ What: PLANT GAYS, Kaiju movies, Hanako being sulky about missing Dreamer-versary things and a Completely Normal Dreamer bonding trip gone horribly, terribly wrong
⭐ Warnings: Possible mentions of chronic illness in meta text, spiders, Dream Sphere death by miasma poisoning; will update with top-levels and further warnings if need be!

Comments

[flatcola]

[ It's just donuts. Who even likes parties? They're full of people. ]

They weren't the best in the world or anything.

[hanamane]

[Easy to say when you have the opportunity to go to parties!!!]

... if this is your way of making me feel better, it's not really working. Like AT ALL.

[flatcola]

Yeah, well, that's not my job.

[ She shrugs. They pay her to understand brain stuff - she'd have a job here even if she wasn't a Dreamer herself at this point. ]

I'll make sure you get invited to the next one.

[hanamane]

It's not that I wasn't invited, it's just...

[He trails off, not really sure if he wanted to elaborate on it further. The less he spoke about his non-Dreamer life, even the mundane details like getting sick, the better. He uncurls himself a little to tilt his head back, getting a better look at Dreamer Mind as a thought suddenly occurs to him.]

Wait... what sort of thing would they be inviting you to and not me, though? I mean, you're my age, aren't you?

[OH HONEY. OH NO]

[flatcola]

We'll pull strings. Or something, I dunno.

[ But yeah, he looks really young.

...it's obvious in his face, although you do have to look closely at Kozakura's face to see the lines from how old she actually is. ]

I'm thirty. You?

[hanamane]

[He just-- stares. And stares some more. Was this a bit? It's true she looked a little more stressed compared to some of his peers, but...]

... thirty-five.

[More like thirteen, six months, and a handful of days, but if she was gonna pretend she was that old, he may as well go all in with it!!]

[flatcola]

Uh-huh, sure, we'll roll with that.

[ She sighs. Kids these days. ]

I'm not one to even jokingly offer to buy alcohol for kids or else I'd see how long you wanna keep this up.

[hanamane]

Eh, that's fine, I'm not much of a booze guy, anyway ☆

[LIKE HE'S EVEN HAD ANY IN HIS LIFE....]

Anyway, you're right, I lied.

I'm actually sixty three.

[WHY DID HE JUST DOUBLE IT]

[flatcola]

And I'm secretly the queen of France, alright, good, let's move on.

[ Brat! Little brat! Resist urge to lay into him! ]

[hanamane]

[He cackles a bit, but relents, juuuust a little. On the upside, he doesn't seem like he's on the verge of manifesting a Torment anymore, so... yay for small victories?? (even if it comes at the cost of him being a pain in the ass)]

Aw, c'mon, you really don't think I could be a guy in his sixties? I wouldn't be the first. And Dreamers change in all sorts of ways when they get over here!

[flatcola]

[ Mission accomplished she is SO good at talking to kids. ]

It's shameful to make yourself look that much younger, then. Unless you just want an excuse to come here and pout.

[hanamane]

[He pats his face, squishing his cheeks a little as he does so.]

I mean, maybe I just have a really good skin routine back in the Waking World...? Doctors must hate me!

[WITHOUT BATTING A FUCKING EYE]

[flatcola]

[ Ugh, clever little shit. ]

Oh yeah, one of those celebrity dreamers huh?

[hanamane]

[He tries!!]

Yup, I'm totally famous! So famous I gotta keep my identity under wraps here or else everyone'll want to get into my business. Kinda annoying, really!

[Amazingly, there's one nugget of truth under that steaming pile of lies, but he'll be damned if he admits that to a random stranger!]

[flatcola]

Well... whatever. Take care of your needs and stuff, then, mister famous.

[hanamane]

Okaaaaay ♪

[The bit's kind of run it's course, however, so Hanako floats on over to Mind, his head tilted like a kitten trying to puzzle out a toy.]

Seriously, though, how old are you, for real?

[ARE YOU SERIOUSLY CYCLING BACK TO THIS, BOY]

[flatcola]

...I am actually, literally thirty years old though.

[ Mind leans in closer. ]

Look. Look at these wrinkles.

[ Okay she's pretty babyfaced but she has lines around her eyes and mouth befitting someone... closer to her age than not? ]

[hanamane]

... wooooooooow.

[HE'S NOT... EVEN SURE WHAT TO SAY TO THIS RIGHT NOW]

You must get carded all the time, don't you?

[flatcola]

You're damn right I do.

[ Japanese businesses tend to be pretty lax on that, unless you look like her. ]