Reverie Inbox

[fujimaru]

It's Ritsuka! I've either fallen asleep or couldn't find my phone in time, so leave a message.

[ text / action / etc]

Comments

[fanstheflames]

[ There's a kind of thudding sound in a bit at the door. Tsuruno has a bag and is also holding ten plastic balls carefully, either in her arms or tucked under her chin. One is secured by her ponytail band. It's fine. ]

[fujimaru]

[ She opens the door, then affects the most deadpan expression that she can: ]

What's the password?

[fanstheflames]

Eat at Banbanzai.

[ without hesitation. ]

[fujimaru]

That works! Come in.

[ CERBERUS IS CERBERUS the only real difference is that she has in fact left the balls in the pit. They have fifty now!! Yay! ]

[fanstheflames]

Oh, whoa. [ she blinks at the balls. ]

Can I just dump mine in there? Is there an official passing over ceremony I have to do?

[fujimaru]

Go ahead! As a generous contributor, you can have an extra thirty minutes when this thing is finally full.

[ She is, in fact, taking out her phone to make a note. ]

[fanstheflames]

Thanks! I haven't been in a ballpit since I was eight!

[ And she'll carefully make her way over there and dump the balls in, pausing to free the one from her hair tie. ]

[fujimaru]

Neither have I, but when I saw this thing, I couldn't resist.

And anyway, I think it's funny with the rest of the decor. [ a pause as she pitches her voice lower, as much as she can manage ] Ohhhhh, we're the big scary dog from the underworld~ oh no~

[ and then back to normal: ] But a dog has to have balls, right?

[fanstheflames]

I stopped taking it seriously when they added in the cuddle pit. But absolutely, a dog should have balls!

[fujimaru]

I wasn't here for most of the decoration decisions, I can only work with what is given to me.

[ She's very solemn as she says it, then pins Tsuruno with a thoughtful look. ]

How are you doing?

[fanstheflames]

[ She pauses, then offers Ritsuka the bag. Homemade cookies. ]

Do you want the automatic answer or the "give me a second to think about it" answer?

[fujimaru]

I'd prefer the real one, honestly.

[ She peeks into the bag, then looks up again. ]

We can talk over these and milk? Or tea. I have so much tea right now.

[fanstheflames]

[ With a little smile that's half-resigned. ]

Sure. I'll help you get through the tea.

[fujimaru]

I'm okay at it, I promise.

[ She knows that's not the issue, but she keeps her tone light as she leads the way into the kitchen. ]

Li-sensei is a pretty strict teacher about that sort of stuff. You don't know disapproval till an old man looks at you over his sunglasses and shakes his head.

[fanstheflames]

[ And Tsuruno trots after her, head tilted. ]

That kind of sounds like a movie-style training montage.

[fujimaru]

It kind of was? You don't know intense till you get to know tea people.

[ She's selecting a milk oolong, holding the bag out for Tsuruno to sniff and approve/disapprove. ]

Though I guess Li-sensei is just kind of intense period.

[fanstheflames]

Sensei? Did he also train you how to fight, along with tea-brewing?

[ With a thumbs' up once she's sniffed the bag. ]

[fujimaru]

Actually, no. I've asked, but he always refused.

[ She gets the tea brewing, though her expression is thoughtful. ]

"You can barely hold a spear, let alone kill with it." That's what he told me.

[fanstheflames]

...

I can't tell if he was saying it because you have noodle arms or if it was meant to be deeper.

1/2

[fujimaru]

Oh no, he'd make much more explicit fun of me if it was that.

[fujimaru]

[ Deadpan joke aside, she goes solemn again. ]

...Li-sensei once told me that he only knows how to kill. If he takes up a weapon, or if the weapon is just his hands, he goes in with that intent. So he's always refused to teach me how to fight.

Tea, though, tea is fair game.

[fanstheflames]

Tea's more fun than killing any day.

[ A very sage nod, though her expression's also lapsed into something more pensive. ]

I guess technically that's something all of us Magical Girls have to agree to, too. Even if we didn't quite understand at the time.

[fujimaru]

One of those "deal with the devil" kind of things?

[ She might not be familiar with meguca in general, because she was much more of a robot and mech girl than magical girls, but she's not not familiar with the genre. ]

I don't suppose you guys could unionize?

[fanstheflames]

Unfortunately, Kyubey's kind of impossible.

[ Just. Impossible. But she nods, purposely keeping her tone light. She's done this so much that it honestly comes as second nature. ]

"Fight Witches, beings who spread curses and threaten humanity, in exchange for having your wish granted." Looking back on it, no sensible person would agree to that, with all the stuff they say about wishes, but...

[fujimaru]

Aren't most magical girls like... fourteen, in media? I wouldn't trust fourteen-year-old me to make a smart decision.

...On the other hand, fourteen-year-old me would have definitely thought she knew what she was doing.

[ Ritsuka, you were fifteen when you decided to call a number on a beat-up flyer in the subway,,,, ]