2018-10-26 - Meet The Yagamis
| Meet The Yagamis | |
|---|---|
| Summary: The Midchildans, and friends, pay a visit to the Yagami family. | |
| Who: Fate Testarossa, Lera Camry, Setsuna Higashi, Signum Yagami, Vita Yagami, Hayate Yagami, Shamal Yagami, Zafira Yagami, Reinforce GM: Hotaru Tomoe | |
| Where: Yamanote High City | |
| OOC - IC Date: 10/26/2018 - 05-23-15 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Yamanote High City +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Tokyo is so large that it has no real "downtown," as it sustains a great
number of such areas. Yamanote taken as a whole, however, has many of the
traits one associates with that term, with dense commercial zoning, prices
as steep as the skyscrapers, and a vibrant mix of subcultures. Yamanote
represents the most Westernized part of Tokyo, and its people are considered
fashionable, sophisticated, and worldly. Their educated dialect forms the
basis of standard Japanese, and their area contains Tokyo's municipal
government, as well as the lion's share of its corporate headquarters. This
area's frantic capitalism keeps Japan on the world stage, but in losing
touch with traditional culture, the people here have gained a reputation for
cynicism, arrogance, and lack of empathy. Yamanote is surely to blame for
Tokyo's reputation as a place where one can purchase a tube instead of a
motel room, or experience the joy of being gently compressed into a crowded
subway car by white-gloved attendants.
The Yamanote area is large enough that it is difficult to generalize its
visual appearance. Western influence is, of course, generally stronger than
anywhere else in Japan, and this is reflected in the architecture,
especially the many corporate towers. High-rise apartment buildings are
common in the residential areas, both the glossy expensive type and the
distinctively Asian raw grey tower blocks favored by lower income citizens.
Parks are less common here than elsewhere, but their greenery crops up
surprisingly often nonetheless, especially where Yamanote borders the bay.
Reclaimed land and the natural Southern Cross Island are considered part of
the district as well, and the Ohtori campus that dominates the latter is
strongly influenced by Yamanote culture.
<Pose Tracker> Vita Yagami [None] has posed.
It's been a long, long journey. Many difficult fights. Many people hurt, some nearly permanently. Hayate Yagami and her army of muppets^h^h^h^h^h dear, precious children have had to contend with complications both mundane and magical - Tuners and Magic Association hovering overhead worriedly, pressing for the group to put in some community service, the floating worry of whether their mysterious benefactors in Ends of the World would come claiming any more favors...and formally getting the flotilla of 'cousins' of Hayate Yagami adopted into the family proper, using buraucratic sorcery more powerful than any laser Vita's seen a magical girl produce.
But it's done, now. Tokyo is safe, and a pure and simple wish has come to pass.
Which is to say, Vita Yagami is now sitting at the Yagami house on a couch, surrounded by plush dolls, dressed in her favorite skirt and skull tanktop because it makes Hayate happy and that's THE ONLY REASON SHE NEEDS, and wrestling with a Wii U gamepad.
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
The bell tolls...!
Wait that's just the doorbell. The group is gathered at their door step. When the door opens, Fate is dressed in yellow and white striped shirt, a dark jacket, and white denim shorts and standing with the others.
"Fate Testarossa, Lera Camry, Setsuna Higashi, and Endo Naoki are here on invitation to visit the Yagami household."
Is that really how she announces herself and her friends?
Maybe she's just a little nervous as she really wants this to go well - which is why she's being this formal.
Clasping her hands together tightly she makes a small dip of the head with a bow, "Please take care of us."
You almost wouldn't know she was here...
...for fun.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjoNucs20Vw
Lera Camry stands just a little behind Fate.
The orange-haired girl is dressed for the occasion and the season: an orange tanktop, a pair of khaki shorts, and sandals. She has a bag over her shoulder, and bright orange sunglasses that have yellow sunflower decorations on them, perched atop her head. Her expression is beaming.
So while Fate is bowing and serious, Lera is jovial -- maybe a little too jovial, determined to have fun and think about something happy.
"Heyyyyy!" she calls out. "I brought the traditional American greeting dish--" She holds out a tray full of a light brown, sandwich cookie, which has an off-white cream filling. Each is in the shape of a maple leaf. "--maple cookies!"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna Higashi is at the side of the group, beside Lera, waiting with the others as the doorbell rings. Her expression is as placid as ever, though she smiles when the door opens. She also matches! Well, sort of; she's dressed in a red tanktop and long dark pants, but she has sunglasses on her head too, these in dark red, with roses in the same places as Lera's sunflowers.
"Hello!" Setsuna adds to the greeting, still smiling for a moment--until Lera and her joviality bring out the cookies--and Setsuna gigles lightly.
"They're very good," Setsuna offers. Then she pauses. "..." She seems to be making sure there's enough of them as she glances to the tray, suddenly thoughtful. A sign... of someone's guilt???
<Pose Tracker> Signum Yagami [None] has posed.
SIGNUM YAGAMI had just arisen from the couch after placing her WiiU controller down. She had in fact been in the moment of mid-stretch, hands laced together and arched above her head. She is clad in a pair of comfortable yoga-style pants and a somewhat too-long T-shirt.
The doorbell rings.
"Ah," she says, stepping forwards. She is, thereby, the one to open the door - and she witnesses the energetic greeting of Fate, to whom she bows deeply, almost to the waist.
Then she looks to Lera. Signum bobs up and down again, enough that her ponytail splays out a little over her neck. "- Ah," she says then, reaching out to accept the dish with both hands as if it were a great treasure or sacred scroll. As she gazes on the American leaves within, in cookie format, she turns her attention back to Lera. "Thank you very much. We will be certain to enjoy them."
Setsuna is also bowed towards. THREE bows - count 'em. "I appreciate your confirmation," Signum tells her, with every sign of total sincerity. "Please, come inside."
Signum steps backwards two paces with neat ease and then pivots round to place the treats on a table in the borderlands of the kitchen. Thus unencumbered, she speaks aloud: "Vita; they are here."
"Please, come and make yourselves at ease," Signum tells the group.
<Pose Tracker> Vita Yagami [None] has posed.
Vita looks up with a start as the doorbell rings. "Oh. ...oh wait. That's--"
A high "That's today!?" squawked from the broad open-plan living room echoes through the small greeting nook.
And as Signum invites their guests inside, Vita, precocious child that she is--has vanished completely!!
Freeze-frame photography, or the application of basic human eyeballs, may have observed a series of bunnies being piled on top of one another around a set of fire-engine red pigtails. The mountain quivers a little, then lurches to turn a tiny gap in the plush pack to the door to allow blue eyes to peer out.
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
"It's good to see you again Signum." She says after they bow.
Traditional American Greeting... Dish?
Fate's head nearly turns three hundred and sixty degrees to eye Lera's dish. No not really, but she's eyeing it really hard. Then sorta nervously laughing, "Well they do... look... very good."
She doesn't know where they came from, but she does know Lera is wrong about America most of the time. Could this be one of the few times she gets this right?
Well what does it matter if they taste good?
Fate's eyes pass over Setsuna as she looks suddenly pensive, but she doesn't say anything for now.
Once inside, Fate looks around in wonder. She hadn't been to the Yagami household and it just seems so normal. Yet it explains so much at the same time...
When Signum calls out to Vita that they're there - Fate thought she heard something, but doesn't see her suddenly burying herself in the plushie mountain. "You have a lovely home." Waiting patiently a moment or three, she stands there fidgeting - before curiosity takes over. Wandering over to the pile of plushies.
Fate reaches like she's going to pick one up off the top. To stare into their soulful(Or perhaps non-existent) eyes. Yet she stops before she does. After all... she remembers how Vita defended her hat to the death and she doesn't want the first thing Vita does when she comes down to be 'tackling her house guest.'
One can imagine her thoughts right now. Though one doesn't have to. "So cute... she has a whole family of them." She murmurs quietly, perhaps wondering if Vita rotates bunnies in and out of her hat as it suits her. Bardiche pings. <Yes sir. Sensors indicate signs of life.>
Fate smiles, but doesn't laugh, thinking her device is just teasing her, "That can't be true Bardiche. Next you'll be telling me they're multiplying on their own."
Before long though, she's stepping over alongside to the couch and looking at the gamepad, waiting for Vita to come down, "Oh...! Do all of you like playing games together Signum?" Fate idly asks. "Do you have any favorites?"
Fate Testarossa (Fate) pages Endo Naoki, Lera Camry, Signum Yagami, and Hotaru Tomoe: Awww get better soon. :(
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"You're welcome!" Lera says, flashing a bright, big smile in Signum's direction. She takes a step back, though, to give them a little space. "This is a really nice house, y'know? I never knew you all lived in a place like this! Hayate's loaded..."
She trails off, a moment, and then she stands up on her tip-toes to peer over Signum's shoulder. She is, briefly, tickled at the fact there is someone with the height and physicality that is required to stand on her tip-toes to look over their shoulder. She spots the pile of bunnies, and then she waves eagerly with a hand.
Lera glances sideways, at Setsuna, and meets her eyes. She flashes a big, bright grin at her girlfriend -- and then she steps into the house. Her eyes drift around the room, for a moment, over the pile of bunnies.
Then, she looks at the controllers. "Oh, that looks fun..." She looks at Setsuna. "Th-they'd probably beat me at video games, y'know?"
Most people do.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Many bows! The truth is that Signum's formality isn't at all strange to Setsuna; she watches her comfortably for the moment, and then as they're allowed in, steps inside with the group. ...It's a new place, of course, new people... But Setsuna is making a point of being as relaxed as she can. This is important!
...But Setsuna finds herself meeting Fate's eyes and, when Fate looks subdued, looking after her for a moment, as if wondering.
"Yes," Setsuna agrees as they step inside, "It's very nice." But... The rabbits. The rabbits, super cute. It quivers a little. Hmm.
Setsuna is watching the pile thoughtfully when she hears Lera talking to her, and looks right back at her girlfriend.
"That's true," Setsuna replies pleasantly to Lera, though she tilts her head a moment later, thoughtful. "...But then, most people would beat you at video games."
She glances towards the plushies. "...? Is that a comfortable place to sit...?"
<Pose Tracker> Signum Yagami [None] has posed.
Signum seems to stand just that little bit straighter at Fate's words. "Thank you," she says, "but I can take no credit. Though, I did replace the ceiling fixture, it was only due to a manufacturer's defect."
The pride in her voice cannot be entirely concealed. Then she smiles at Lera momentarily, confused at the peek over her shoulder before -
"Ah," Signum says. A moment later, she says unconvincingly, "I wonder where she had gone. I had thought she was here, a moment ago."
Then she answers Fate: "We have, yes. The 'Wii U' is an enjoyable device. We have only lost one controlling item in the course of our recreational use of it..."
To Lera, she explains, "I understand it is an unusually large habitation by Tokyo's standards. Do you reside in a school dormitory...?" That wasn't much of an explanation, but the tone was explainey. As Setsuna moves forth, and speaks of the plushies, Signum contemplates.
> I do not think your camouflage has been successful, she informs Vita telepathically.
"It can be precarious," she tells Setsuna. "High risk, high reward."
Back to Lera. "Do you have a favored game?"
<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.
The door opens a second time, and a chorus of one woof and an almost perfect major triad of feminine "Tadaimaa!"s fills the air. They are seen, but not heard, on account of the slightly separated foyer.
"Wow, look at all the shoes!" comes Hayate's voice, which sounds overjoyed and excited.
"Yes, Mistress Hayate," Reinforce agrees, gravely. "I did suggest a faster route home so we could be here when they arrived."
Shamal's blush is almost audible. "I'm -- I'm going to the kitchen," she murmurs.
Her smile is almost audible too, when Hayate eagerly chimes in, "I'll go with you!"
Zafira is the first one to actually make an appearance, the huge blue-and-white wolfhound(...ish) padding lightly into the living room. He sniffs at everyone's ankles, the very tip of his tail wagging slightly.
He turns a big-pawed circle at the end of the couch, then LEAPS bodily onto the pile of bunnies, sending them flying everywhere and revealing the girl beneath. Stretching out, he looks like he could get quite comfortable with Vita as his pillow... if she doesn't move first.
Reinforce follows in his wake. She isn't wearing Earth clothes, like the others; she still cuts a strange appearance, indeed, in what can most generously be called a little black dress on a tall, silver-haired, red-eyed woman. Those eyes, thoughtful and knowing, take in the room in a single glance. "Thank you all for coming," she intones, like someone about to address a conference.
But then she doesn't, instead just taking up a position against a wall, leaning very lightly upon it with her hip, one arm loose and relaxed alongside her, the other one cocked against the other hip, and a stark reminder, though not an intentional one, that the Tome of the Night Sky is ripped. Look at that bicep.
After just long enough to remind everyone that she isn't a very skilled conversationalist, she clears her throat. "Refreshments will be arriving soon, almont with our Mistress."
Then she falls silent once more. It will be up to the others to drive this party vessel into more fun waters. The Good Ship Reinforce only sails on dark seas, though she seems relatively untroubled. Just out of place.
<Pose Tracker> Vita Yagami [None] has posed.
The eyes in the blinds follow them, clear and soulful and blue. The eyes of the bunnies themselves are a blank red, their mouths marked with an unusual detail of being apparently stitched shut. It's cute, in a slightly goth kind of way, which is maybe just Vita's entire aesthetic actually.
>My camouflage technique is flawless, Vita silently insists to Signum, in clear defiance of all available data. Well, it worked on Fate anyway.
But then her scheme is foiled by the most chaotic of agents, the family dog.
Vita's bunnies scatter across the room, revealing a wide-eyed and startled Wolkenritter child, hands up in surprise as Zafira easily makes to settle in on her lap. "....'sup!!" she yelps, in a futile attempt to act like this was at all planned.
She would get mad at Zafira but he is entirely too fluffy. Her hand reflexively rests on his back as he gets comfortable instead. "Hayate!" she adds, afterward, her embarrassment replaced with a wide smile. "Welcome back!"
Vita wants to be as ripped as Reinforce one day. It's a nice dream, but she's decided to savor her most recently granted miracle before setting her eyes on the next. She waves, though, because some part of her feels like part of Reinforce's awkwardness is that, maybe somewhat like Signum, or vampires, she needs to be invited in. "We were playing!" she clarifies for the group. "Because, uhm, we were, waiting, and not because I completely forgot...."
Her eyes find Lera's plate of offerings midway through that sentence and then entirely stop moving, zeroing in on the object like a locked missile. "...about... .... ...what did you say those are.....?"
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
Signum takes the comment so literally, and Fate just smiles, "Well maintenance is important." She points out. "I'm sure everyone appreciates the work you do."
Signum explains that they've only lost one Wii U controller, and Fate's head might as well have ??? over it since she's used to pretty friendly competitions. "How would that even happen...?" However then she starts to consider the idea of Zafira playing in his wolf form... or Vita getting extra competitive. She imagines the controller getting broken or lost in a variety of cute chibi pantomimes - trying not to comment.
Until Lera brings up her experiences in gaming. "I'm sure you can get better. You just need to branch out more Lera when we race in Mario Kart..." Fate offers her sympathy to Lera's lack of gamer adroitness. Then she nudges, "... try other characters."
However Hayate's arrival demands her attention, "Oh they're here!" At least she can hear them. Fate's excitement changes to wonder as Shamal sounds like she's excusing herself, she leans over and whispers to the other two. "... do you think she's shy or just embarrassed...?"
Zafira though definitely isn't, "Welcome home Zafi-" Zafira's bunny scattering entrance though causes her to put a hand up to scattered bunny projectiles as she giggles lightly. "-ra!" However this reveals the red-head beneath her, and having not seen the transition due to shielding her face, she says lightly: "Oh Vita! When'd you come down?"
Reinforce though... "We're grateful for the invitation. It's good to see you again - Reinforce." Fate's not exactly guarded, though she can at least understand why Reinforce might feel out of place.
Vita explains and... "Ohhh I see!" ... Fate can definitely relate to playing with their special doggo. Vita hones in on the treats and...
"I... I think I'm going to let Lera explain that one."
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"...w-well... yeah," Lera says to Setsuna, with a good-natured sigh. Then, she reaches out, elbowing the purple-haired girl in the ribs. "Except I seem to win against you sometimes. I wonder if you're letting me."
She winks. And then flusters, when Fate nudges her. "I-I just like Donkey Kong! He's the traditional American one! And he throws barrels at people, y'know?"
With a sigh, she keys back into the talking between Fate and Signum, though. Her head nods along, until her eyes widen a little -- and she laughs. "A-ah, well, no. My mom got me an apartment. But... my mom's kinda loaded, too?"
Which is when Zafira enters. She blinks; she stares for a moment, and then she reaches down -- a little hesitantly, like he might bite -- and scritches behind his ears. Her eyes lift, to meet Reinforce's. She blinks at her, in surprise, and then she smiles at her.
"Thanks! Nice to see you again, um, Reinforce!"
Which is when Zafira leaps into the pile of bunnies, and a Vita is revealed. She yelps, a little stumble in her footstep, though she rights herself quickly. "W-whoa! I--" She meets those blue eyes.
She nods, knowingly. "Traditional American maple cookies!" she says. "They're really good, y'know? They're, um, the traditional... coming over... to say hi... cookie?"
Seems legit, she decides.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna glances to Lera with a 'hmm' sort of look that's halfway to a laugh but not quite there at the elbow. "Hmmm? I don't know anything about that..." She nudges Lera back and--and Fate finishes things, making Setsuna laugh. She does not answer about barrels."
Setsuna's shoes, of course, are lined up perfectly! She doesn't have to try very hard to stay neat. ...Unlike some people...
But Setsuna turns at the noises, and lights up at the appearance of Zafira in wolfhound(ish) form, for all that she often has mixed feelings. "Hello," she greets him quite seriously, and then turns at the leap--And--
"Oh," Setsuna answers, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Yes," she says to Signum, "I see what you mean. A dangerous place to sit..."
She smiles and nods to Reinforce, too. ...Maybe she's not a very skilled conversationalist, but that's the last thing Setsuna's going to bother someone about. "Thank you for the invitation," she says instead, and... well, does glance just once towards said bicep before flicking her eyes back upward. "It's nice to see you," Setsuna says. ...She may have practiced.
"I live with my parents," she ventures, quietly, on the subject of apartments richness, though she doesn't... elaborate, for the moment--she just starts to, and--Fate explains...
No, Fate doesn't explain. Lera explains. Setsuna peers at Lera for a moment before looking to Vita and--
"A better tradition than thinking about cookies is eating cookies." She nods, firmly, as if this is sage wisdom.
<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.
Shamal emerges from the kitchen in record time, carrying a tray of little pastry-wrapped sausages, each one bite sized, and furthermore encrusted in some kind of cheese, which has been baked on.
They smell very good. Zafira's tongue starts lolling out immediately.
They were not made by Shamal, but She Helped and is appropriately proud. "Hello, everyone! A...peretif?"
Coming up behind her, a bowl of something rather chiplike balanced carefully on her lap, is Hayate, who is spinning her own wheels rather than using anything electronic. Her favorite chair, the one that never leaves the house, is a beautiful wooden thing, straight out of dreams of the Swiss Alps.
Her smile is splitting her face. Her navy blue eyes are shining. "Welcome to our home!"
Espying Lera's offering, she adds, "Ooo, omiyage!" This is obviously a teaching moment; Vita has zeroed in on it and she has zeroed in on her, though there's a wholly pleasant and nonjudgemental way in which her voice is pitched to anyone who wants to hear her tiny explanation.
"Remember, Vita-chan, to be a good hostess, when a guest brings you omiyage when they visit your house the first time, you have to thank them very kindly... and then offer them some of their own gift, to eat first. It's by sharing it together that you are celebrating their arrival in your home."
She rolls the rest of the way into the group, taking a place between the couch and an empty chair that is clearly Her Spot. There are grooves in the carpet that further indicate this.
There's an expectant expression on her face as she awaits Vita's performance.
Reinforce has faded into the background; she inclined her head to each greeting, but has said nothing more. There is a quiet happiness, though, as she watches the energetic gathering. It gathers around her like a golden cloud.
<Pose Tracker> Signum Yagami [None] has posed.
"Welcome home!" Signum calls in greeting. Hayate's energy passes through Signum with a warm blooming, even as Zafira is the first one to arrive. Signum nods to the large canine, and when he immediataely busts through the Vita Blind, Signum nods again to herself, once.
> As expected.
Her attention turns to Reinforce, to whom she says aloud, "Thank you for your efforts." Back to Lera. "Mm," she states: "That sounds convenient. Is apartment living comfortable compared to a detached dwelling in this city? I have not had the opportunity to visit many apartments." Well, Lindy's, but:
"Donkey Kong...? I am unfamiliar. Would it be in the system already?" Signum says, but her attention lands once again on Setsuna, whom she weighs. So many calm figures, Signum thinks: She likes it, but what she likes even more is - "Thank you very much," she tells Shamal.
Sausage get... even as Hayate speaks and that warm feeling in Signum's heart rises in delight.
She also looks at Vita after the traditionalist prompting. No pressure.
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
"Setsuna. Is that true?" Fate sounds scandalized at the idea of letting Lera win. "Well that's fine if you like him." Fate smiles ~mysteriously~ at Lera's like of Donkey Kong. And to Setsuna again... "Is that really a tradition?" She questions, suspiciously, before deciding, "... well if it is I could get on board."
However then everyone else leaves the kitchen, and Fate stands a little straighter. "Hayate!" She seems happy that Hayate is out of the hospital, however she's not about to call attention to that fact. "We're very glad to be her-Oh?" As Shamal offers the tray, Fate seems to be eating the little pastry sausages with her eyes, "They look really good Shamal."
She's just watching though as Hayate zeroes in on Vita and explains - Fate listening in wonder. She learns bits and pieces of Japanese culture from her friends, classmates, and her Guardian. She's pieced together her knowledge through several filters... and... she's enjoying hearing it.
Talking about being a good hostess, running a household, teaching the Wolkenritter... it's almost dizzying how mature Hayate is. "Is that how it's supposed to be?" Fate says to herself in wonder. Now knowing why everyone asks her to bring souvenirs back from trips.
Sensing that she should let Vita's performance play out, she instead sidles over to Signum and murmurs quietly enough not to interrupt, "We can try playing it some time if you'd like." Perhaps she has the impression that Signum would enjoy that kind of competition. "I like Rosalina myself."
... Maybe she just enjoys thinking of herself as a star princess.
<Pose Tracker> Vita Yagami [None] has posed.
That time they went to Lindy's apartment didn't really go so well.
Vita's head moves with the tray like a cat following a mouse. Vita, of course, is a nigh-immortal, unaccountably old space wizard-slash-warrior-slash-knight of unimaginable darkness, but when Hayate gently lectures her, she perks up like the six year old she looks like, and listens with the wide, invested eyes of a child listening to their very literal parent. "Oh! Uhm! Okay!" she says, eagerly, and then looks down at the dog in her lap. Then back up to Lera. "Uhm," she says. line. line! "Thank you for your gift!" she says, and produces a megawatt smile out of apparently nowhere that her usual sour expression would make you think she could never wear. "Uhm. Please....sample....the goods??"
... "no that's not it," she mutters, looking to Zafira as if the DOG will have a better idea.
To be fair: Probably, actually.
<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.
Hayate claps her hands together once. "Pretty good, actually! We can talk more about it later if you want."
She reaches out with her arms to settle that big bowl of chips on the controller-strewn coffee table, and looks around at the group. In tones of true wonder -- like this is an unexpected joy brought into her life, something she'd never imagined -- "Did you all... want to... play?"
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Lera's grin lingers at Setsuna for a moment, but not for too long. She looks back at the door as soon as she smells what Shamal is bringing out. Her eyes widen -- and she starts forward. She pauses, though, once Hayate rolls in. She actually looks over the wheelchair for a moment; she may not be the engineer that her mother was, but she has an eye for the aesthetics of the craftsmanship.
Even if Lera hasn't the foggiest how to navigate complimenting someone's assistive technology in a sensitive way. She flusters, a little, with the thought. "Om...iyage...?" Lera mouths to Setsuna, turning and looking at her with a perplexed look. She is, however, starting to understand from Hayate's explanation. She grins, sheepishly, scratching at the back of her head.
Her eyes glance at Signum, and she shakes her head. "It's a little smaller than here," she says. "And a lot smaller than my family's home back on Midchilda. But... it's comfortable, and it's my home! I like it, y'know?"
And, then, Vita comes up to her. Lera turns down, looking at her with wide eyes. She looks, momentarily, awed by that brilliant smile. She takes one of her own cookies. "U--um!"
She lifts it up, and then looks down at Vita. Then, with her other hand, she presents Vita with a thumbs-up.
"Da da da-daaaa, I'm loving it!" she says, earnestly. Then, in a stage whisper: "Sky, was that the right etiquette?"
<Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.>
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
The scent of delicious food wafts by Setsuna Higashi before she even registers what it is. ...Before she can reply to it, however, there is the matter of a scandalized Fate. ...Conveniently, before she has to reply to Fate, there is the matter of delicious food, and Setsuna perhaps conspicuously turns towards the arrivals instead of answering that. She greets Shamal and Hayate both pleasantly, happy to see such a smile--and while she does look to the chair for a moment, she doesn't focus on it either. She simply finds herself looking at Lera's perplexion, and--And, well, Hayate has it covered which is... for the best, really. "Oh!"
But she can at least help Signum by answering, "Donkey Kong is a character in many video games. He's a large primate and..." She taps her cheek, "He wears a tie. ...I'm not sure why he wears a tie..."
This seems to weigh on her, for a moment.
"Oh," she answers Fate, Yes. That might be fun." She pauses, considering--and shows some obvious enthusiasm to Hayate's answer. "Ah! Yes," she answers, and beams at Fate. "I like--" She stops short, again, realization dawning as she imagines something quickly--and then laughs faintly. "But yes, that would be nice!"
She sees nothing wrong with the enthusiasm at hand, though she does move over to sit near Hayate.
<Pose Tracker> Signum Yagami [None] has posed.
"... You do?" Signum murmurs to Fate. For secretly...
Deep within her soul of courage and honor...
... Signum does too.
Vita's performance is passingly passable, as expected. To Lera she replies, "I would hope so. Do you miss it often?"
Lera then busts out a jingle.
Seared into the data-structure of Signum's soul, now, is that jingle. Thanks, Lera.
"Yes," Signum says decisively. "Let us play. I think that I recognize him now that you have described him, Higashi-san," Signum says as she crouches down and pulls out the drawer that contains a vast supply of controllers and additional accessories.
"But his name is confusing. He is a great ape of some sort," Signum muses. "Perhaps his father's name?"
One of the controllers has also been obviously repaired. How DID that happen? Did Zafira chew on it? (Zafira is offered a controller by Signum, though without great force. She is aware of his preference.)
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
Vita's display of trying it, just makes Fate smile. "Thank you for for your hospitality." Fate replies then uses this opportunity to sample a little pastry off Shamal's plate, taking the first bite just as Lera goes Da-da-da...
Fate makes a sound almost like she's choking. Then pounds her fist against her chest once to force the food down, "D-Delicious!" She beams at Shamal. She means it sincerely... it's just... Lera's response startled her.
And then Hayate... "I'd love to. Nanoha, Arisa, Suzuka and I play all the time." And as far as she's concerned, she'd love to initiate Hayate into that circle too.
As well the others of course - it's just... different when it's someone your own age. "So that'd be wonderful."
Answering to Setsuna... "Maybe he has a job. Amy has mentioned that a tie can make anyone look more professional." Before she suggests an alternative to Signum, "Or his mother's."
She doesn't know the answer. It's just a guess.
All Fate knows is she's lowering herself on the sofa near Hayate's position, as she takes a controller from Signum, "Thank you Signum."
<Pose Tracker> Vita Yagami [None] has posed.
Vita beams unbelievably at Hayate's praise. "Eeeheeheee..." she giggles, excitedly. "Sure!" Any chance for personal attention from Hayate is something Vita will accept, of course.
Vita even very patiently waits for Lera to respond before--
.... .... ...
She looks to Zafira for help. A chime bongs out from her neck, where Graf Eisen hangs.
It is followed by a boisterous laugh.
Vita then zooms off to collect a few snack samples by the medium of making watery eyes at Shamal before she scampers right back over to her plush crash spot, letting Zafira reclaim lap space afterward. Then she claims the gamepad, because screens have a terrible power. "Yeah!" she chimes loudly. "Let's play, let's play! We have all sorts of stuff so let's play!" she cheers.
She is going to pick Bowser Jr. and this is probably the smallest surprise of the evening.
<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.
Shamal settles onto a backless lounge and pulls her feet under her skirt, knees off to one side. "Oh, I'll just watch," she tries to demur, but she cannot resist the yearning in Hayate's eyes and in short order is clutching a controller white-knuckled with determination to make a good showing in the name of the Lake she's Lady of. She picks Toad.
Reinforce stays standing and is a little more impassive about joining. Until...
"Help me play?" Hayate asks, hopefully.
It turns out that this involves Reinforce scooping her out of the chair like a sack of potatoes and settling them both down together in an overstuffed recliner, with her as much on the Tome's lap as Zafira is on Vita's (he is the only one who actually succeeds at declining, giving the controller a friendly lick but then ignoring it). Reinforce's arms slide past hers like the frame of a racecar, and they seem to have kind of a novel way to play, with Hayate's right hand and Rein's left, sharing the controller.
This seems unlikely to go well, but there's a certain practiced motion to it, as though they've done it before (they have) and as though really it's just one person's hands anyway (it sort of is).
They pick Bowser Sr. on a teeny tiny bike and this is the first clue that, perhaps, there's a reason that Hayate Yagami, lonely nerd, is 'forced' to play with a handicap.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Lera looks to Fate, then to Setsuna. She finds no clue as to whether that was the right answer. She opens her mouth, then closes it, as Vita bolts off to help. She scratches at the back of her head, before she nods to Hayate. "I'd love to play!" she says. "And, um... I think Donkey Kong's got a tie to show he's middle-aged. There's some other game, where his kid shows up. And his granpda. It's a little weird."
She plops down onto the couch, and grabs a controller. She lifts it, then slides her selection over to Donkey Kong. "Let's go, barrel man! I believe in you!"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna, meanwhile, somehow has acquired snacks while no one was watching without actually leaving the conversation. ...They're already mostly gone, of course, the ones she took, with only a faint remainder of chewing the clue that she was here at all. Once she's done with that--
"A tie..." Setsuna nods thoughtfully, "Yes, he's professional. And... running his parents' business? It's probably just a name. Like how a lot of Japanese names refer to colors or flowers even though humans aren't green or made or roses at all." She... seems to be working it out, at least. But--
Once Hayate is settled, Setsuna beams, and takes a controller of her own. "And I'll..."
She picks Peach. Peach, on a motorcycle. "Yes!" She seems terribly pleased.
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
"Huh... he sounds very responsible." Fate indicates to Setsuna.
Fate selects Rosalina. Then skims through the bikes until she settles on the Comet.
It doesn't make her the fastest but she knows what she's about aesthetically.
"... you might not want to think of it as a comment on anyone's age Lera..."
Mostly because she's seen Lindy wear a tie more sharply than any salaryman.
"... even a monkey's."
<Pose Tracker> Signum Yagami [None] has posed.
"True," Signum answers Fate. "The naming conventions of his people may be different than those of Japan or Belka..."
Should I wear a tie? Signum considers the matter.
Signum acquires her own controller and moves round to obtain one of Lera's cookies before moving to a position that, from a certain perspective, protects the flank position of Hayate and her so-lovely chair from enemy action, and from another perspective lets her be present without crowding, from behind. With the advantages of height and a wireless controller, this position is unbeatable. She eats her cookie.
And she selects...
Mario. He has no weaknesses, after all (other than spaghetti, but this is cryptic.)
"'Junior'... it is a name that indicates a family connection."
(Signum also chooses the Bull Track. They seem consonant to her. Or maybe she thinks cows are cute.)
<Pose Tracker> Vita Yagami [None] has posed.
The first time this particular set of picks happened, Vita was quietly elated. Even now, when Signum says that out loud, she blushes furiously. "Y, yeah! I guess so!"
But by this point the familial warmth has waned from this dance and she knows that Hayate has just declared war.
She rolls her shoulders a bit, limbering up. "Okay..." she says, and confirms a kart for herself. That excited childlike grin slowly curls to something a bit more familiar to people who've tasted hammer. She pops a final sausage snack into her mouth before she picks a track - it's Bowser's Castle because Vita finds it entertaining in context - and then...
the race...........
................BEGINS "Ah dangit!!" Vita yelps, immediately, because she messed up the start boost.
<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.
"It's true!" Hayate chirps in agreement. "I guess that means we should call all of you Jr., since you are all my children~" She sits back and admires peoples' choices of character and kart. And then it's time to race!
The initial boost, they get correctly, but after that there's a lot of fairly comical falling off of ledges and generally getting turned around and blown up.
Hayate and Reinforce are the perfect team, but not, it seems, at Mario Kart.
That doesn't stop them from having fun. Every once in a while they smile, identically, this beautiful cryptic smile that's like a shared secret. They don't look at each other when it happens (they can't, Reinforce is behind Hayate). It tends to be right before a particularly magnificent pratfall.
Shamal doesn't need to only have control of half of her kart to suck at the game, but she does her best to make up for this deficiency with judicious use of items. Beware the banana traps. You don't have to be fast to lay them wisely.
Dinner, by the way, is homemade lasagna they (Hayate) made earlier and kept in the fridge to be popped in the oven when they got home, which is why they are free to play now. As the games progress, the smell becomes stronger and stronger, an ever-more intoxicating blend of garlic, cheese, basil, and meat, wafting through the house, tantalizing the senses.
