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[phantasmagorial]

Limbo – Executor House

[ So with the Destroy Esme plan well underway, Rei's decided it's time for her to buckle down and get busy too. She's more or less fully recovered from Esme's last attempt to get rid of the group and knowing that makes her even more determined to actually help out, rather than just lay around being a burden. How she's actually going to do that, though...

Uh, she'll figure it out as she goes.

The fellow occupants of Executor House will find Rei's back in her usual spot in the room with All Her Idol Material and this time she's taking furious notes. She's got a couple of fashion magazines too, that she's tabbed and highlighted like a goddamn college textbook and she's muttering to herself over her notes as she goes. ]

Maybe... rainbows? No, there's not enough of us for that... but Autumn and Clocks both said colours would be good...

[ Please get her out of her head. ]

Invidia – Mall

[ Rei's second least favourite place in all of Purgatory! Yay! But she's got to at least get an outfit together if they're going to perform as idols so here she is. She's got a little list in hand of everyone's colours and what she thinks they might look good in and she's hauling a whole backpack full of random crud from Limbo to trade for it. She's fully prepared!

... Except she's also a little paralyzed for choice. She's glancing back and forth between all the billion and one shops, list clutched in an iron grip, and starting to look a little panicked. ]

Where am I even supposed to start?

Invidia – Streets

[ So. Now she's all dressed up, Rei know what she needs to do. She's made up and photocopied a bunch of fliers for the group and now she's stood anywhere that looks busy and is doing her best to hand them out. What? They do it on TV! She's seen it herself! So it's certain to work.

... is what she's like to think, but even in her very cutest idol getup, none of the Spectres are paying attention to her, even as she tries to hand them fliers. It's maybe not helped by the fact that Rei... has anxiety. ]

Um... hello? Excuse me, I was hoping you... ah... sorry... U–um! Excuse me please take one of– ... never mind then... Hello...? Excuse me...?

[ This goes on for a bit, until Rei finally reaches the end of her patience. She sucks in a breath and then, without looking, she thrusts out a flier directly into a passer-by and just... yells at them. ]

HELLO! EXCUSE ME! PLEASE TAKE ONE OF THESE AND SUPPORT OUR GROUP WE'RE WORKING VERY HARD THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[ This all comes out in a rush, like she's worried whoever she's managed to stop will just walk off before she can finish. A little out of breath, she looks up to see who it is that's finally stopped to pay attention and...

Oh. That's just one of her fellow Executors. ]

... ah...

Invidia – Park

[ After a long hard day of being social and accidentally yelling at her friends, Rei's still not done. She takes herself over to the park where it's... relatively quiet compared to the rest of the city and sets her phone up on one of the benches to play what looks like a video – some idol choreography it looks like. She watches it a few times to try and get it down and then she backs up a bit and tries to follow along. She's certainly not bad – she's got the athletics side of dancing down, but she's sort of missing some of the natural grace she usually has as an Executor. Thanks to that, she trips and stumbles a few times when going over the more tricky parts of the footwork and every time she flushes red with transparent frustration.

She has to get this right. There's no other way she can help right now, so she has to. ]

Comments

Mall

[twibeast]

[ Beast is somewhat out of it today, his mind elsewhere. But the little figure of Rei catches his eye right away. For the second time since meeting her, he briefly sees someone else in her stead; a different child, equally unsure and paralyzed by choices before them.

“Father... what should I do?”
“...I won’t always be here to help you make every decision, Odile. What does your heart tell you to do?”
“I...”

He blinks and it’s gone. For a moment he feels some shame for seeing Rei as someone she wasn’t again, and because of that he finds himself approaching her now. ]

Lady Rei? What are you out here for today?

[phantasmagorial]

[ Even though it's only Beast's familiar voice, Rei's so keyed up that she still finds herself leaping a foot in the air when he speaks up. She whips around and before she even answers, she hurries over to his side. Moral support!! ]

I was trying to see if I could find us some things to wear for this... idol plan.

[ She doesn't think she needs to explain the part where she got too stressed out to actually get on doing that. ]

[twibeast]

[ Awwww that’s so cute. He smiles. ]

Some things to wear, you say? Would you like some company? I actually have a surprisingly good eye for dresses, you know.

[phantasmagorial]

[ She looks very visibly relieved at the offer. ]

Are you sure you wouldn't mind? I sort of have an idea of where to start, but it'd be good to have a second opinion before I actually start buying things.

[twibeast]

I don't mind. I wasn't doing anything today anyway, and I'm in a nostalgic mood.

[ "Nostalgic"... whatever that means.

He starts walking ahead. ]

What kind of outfits were you girls thinking of? Frills or something more sleek?

house

[crypddyd]

[Lion tries not to disturb her, but he's not exactly stealthy or quiet just by nature of his.... well, nature. So she likely hears him as he comes in, and if not hear then smells what he brings.

He carefully moves aside a few books and sets a cup of tea down for her (just the slightest scent of honey coming from it) and a cut diagonally toasted sandwich (buttery. Ham and some pale cheese of a sort) before stepping back.]

[phantasmagorial]

[ She's so deep in focus that she almost doesn't notice him come in – but the smell of food makes her glance up when her stomach very pointedly reminds her she hasn't had anything to eat all day. But she still looks a little surprised to see the food set out for her and she blinks a bit before reaching out, just in case she's seeing things. ]

Ah... Lion, y–you really didn't have to bring me anything... but thank you!

[crypddyd]

There is not much I can do to assist all of you with this plan, so let me support you in other ways.

...ah, though I can't say for sure that the food is tasty. But I can say the butter gives it a pleasant crispy outside and the cheese is very smooth. So I hope it's acceptable.

[phantasmagorial]

[ She's surprised at how touched she is, that Lion would go to this effort for her – between his taste and all the modern appliances, she knows cooking probably isn't the easiest thing in the world for him but to know he's done it for her puts a smile on her face. ]

Since you made it for me, I'm sure it'll be delicious.

[ She's... maybe got a little too much confidence in him there, but she seriously can't resist that sandwich. She hasn't eaten all day, so she'll go ahead and start eating. ]

Streets

[callbacks]

[Hard to tell with the sunglasses, of course, but it seems like Clocks has to blink off the surprise for a second before his expression eases. He takes the flier without complaint.]

Okay. Will you sign it for me?

[phantasmagorial]

[ Her face flushes red. ]

Oh, don't. This is hard enough without you making jokes about it.

[ what part of that sounded like a JOKE, Rei?? ]

[callbacks]

Hey, I'm not. Look me deep in the eyes and tell me I'm joking, kid.

[Again, he does not move his sunglasses one shade, but he does wave the flyer at her a little.]

C'mon. Sign it and I'll show you something to knock the strawberries right off your lolita pleats.

[phantasmagorial]

[ Rei gives him a deeply skeptical look but then she sighs and acquiesces. Why not! It's the most attention anyone's paid all day. She pats herself downfor a second, feeling for her pockets before pulling out a pen and just... writing her name like it ain't no thing. No flair, no swish, no energy. Go, girl, give us nothing! ]

Like this, right? Is this what you wanted?

fliers

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane raises her eyebrows. She takes the flier and looks it over.]

I do hope you've gotten some attention.

[phantasmagorial]

[ She droops visibly. ]

I've gotten a few people to take fliers, but they're not really paying much attention.

[emberserker]

That's certainly not helping. Well, how did Esme get popular? She was manufactured. It would seem the rest of us ought to put in the work spreading your word, too. Amid guerilla concerts and such, of course, given you're still underground.

[phantasmagorial]

You really sound like you know what you're talking about...

[ Has Wolfsbane secretly been an idol this whole time?? ]

Park

[pride_of_amarcia]

[... A light shuffling noise presages the arrival of Brainiac... Walking through some bushes as she passes by Rei.]

Oh, hey Rei! What'cha doing?

[phantasmagorial]

Ah, Brainiac!

[ She sounds caught between surprise and a bit of embarrassment. ]

I was just practicing...

[pride_of_amarcia]

Ah, yeah.

It's surprisingly tricky to get right, honestly. Like, I can see the moves in my head, but I can't quite get them out right.

[phantasmagorial]

Me too. I have to focus so I can get the timing right, but the more I try and focus, the more it feels like I mess up...

[ She sighs. ]

I don't understand how professional idols make it looks so easy... but I guess they wouldn't be the professionals if they didn't.

streets

[seasharp]

[well, this is awkward... Sup, Rei.]

...

[takes. the flier.]

Well, that's one, isn't it?

[YOU'RE IN THE SAME IDOL GROUP.......]

[phantasmagorial]

[ IS IT ANY WONDER SHE'S FACEPALMING RIGHT NOW!! ]

I really didn't want to think things would turn out as bad as I expected and I was right. They're worse.

[seasharp]

Well, it's not like we've got any experience with this...

[...or she hopes not, anyway. If it turns out she was an idol in life, she'll lose it.]

Anyway, come on, don't look like that! We're idols now, right? It's important to keep smiling.

[phantasmagorial]

[ the last thing i ever wanted to imagine was an urobuchi written idol anime ]

I've been smiling this whole time and it doesn't feel like it's helping much. People are just walking right past me.