[open]

[yaayaa]

Who: yaayaa & you
When: After elemental emotions die down
Where: Shopping district, streets, elsewhere
What: Mostly-aimless wandering around town
Rating/Warning: None, probably

---

[So Cerealia's falling apart, weather's invaded the city, Mosley's a robot, Naki's friends went on a murder spree while he was holed up in his room, etc etc....he's tired. He's not entirely sure why he's tired, after a week of doing nothing but mope (emotional exhaustion is still a foreign thing), but. What he knows is that he should get up, go out, do something, stop lying around. Maybe find something to cheer up the others? What would Ichi-nii like....]

around town

[Naki's in his favorite fox coat, with a matching whiskered face mask, peeking in at various shops in the shopping district. Picking out a notepad at the stationary store! Perusing the snack aisle at...some place that sells snacks! Trying on a scary mask at a costume shop! Staring curiously at a toy store display of plastic jumping beans! Getting ushered out of a store with a NO PETS sign on the door!

Why.....]

But I'm not a pet...! [whines the fox around his neck, as he stares perplexedly at the door.]

other

[wild card? Shopping aside, he can also be found wandering around the gardens, feeding a carrot to the horse near the dojo, sitting by the street somewhere just watching people walk by...playing rhythm games on his cerevice, maybe.]

Comments

around town

[gravesite]

[ ah, poor naki... being ushered out of the jumping bean toy store for trying to bring his fox inside. but tsurumaru actually arrives a few minutes after naki's been kicked out — so all he really understands of the current situation is that naki's standing right outside the shop door for no reason at all... with the saddest expression on his face.

at least, he seems kind of sad? it's hard to tell, under that whiskered fox mask! ]

Ooh, Naki! It's surprising, running into you here.

[ and then he tilts his head to the side, just a bit. ]

What are you standing outside for?

[yaayaa]

Ah, Tsurumaru-dono...

[he's got the saddest invisible expression on his face....naki turns to look at tsuru though, then slowly turns back to the door and...points. at the sign.]

[gravesite]

[ oh no... tsurumaru isn't going to stand there and let his kouhai stand sadly in front of the toy store! he figures that he can just stuff smallest fox into the mysterious compartments of his puffy white jacket, but just to be safe, he'll ask, ever so innocently: ]

Mister fox, how much air do you need? [ aka. will it suffocate in tsuru's jacket, but shh... it doesn't know yet. ] You're also a spirit with Naki, aren't you?

[yaayaa]

Eh? Er, I am a spirit, yes...so I suppose I don't really need much air?

[fox is unsuspecting...naki also tilts his head, making an unspoken question. are they doing something with fox? are they going somewhere without any air? isn't air important?

....is air important?]

[gravesite]

Then... this should be fine — !

[ and just like that, he's going to try to pluck smallest fox off of naki's shoulders! if he's successful, he'll just gently tuck smallest fox into the side of his jacket... an inconspicuous lump under all of his clothing layers. if not, he'll just... try to reach for smallest fox anyway, but shoving him aside should do the trick.

either way, poor fox... and poor naki, left to worry about something as curious as the importance of air. ]

[yaayaa]

Ah--

[imagine that "ah" in two octaves because they both said it at once because TSURUMARU IS SUCCESSFUL in stealing smallest fox...hopefully senpai doesn't mind if he gets scratched in there? a delayed scratch, because though it's hard not to struggle at least a little, the grab was surprising enough he let himself be foxhandled all the way into becoming a lump under clothes....while naki makes an awkward vague reaching motion like "please give it back...!?"]

[gravesite]

[ even if smallest fox scratches at him with all of its tiniest might, he probably wouldn't mind! he does make a note to check his shirt for loose threads after this is all over, though, because fox claws are sharp... even spirit fox claws.

but all naki receives in return for his awkward vague reaching motions is a firm shake of his head. no... you can't have it back! at least, not right now. ]

You'll get him back after we're done shopping. If we hide him, you'll be able to go into the store without being kicked out, right?

[ then again, that leaves the problem of: how will naki talk......... well, he'll deal with it somehow, right! ]

[yaayaa]

[naki slowly lowers his hands in defeat....the fox stays quiet! though he still can't help wriggling a bit in there.

...this would normally be the point where he says "okay" or something, but naki just shuts his mouth, nods, and quietly attaches himself to tsurumaru. follow the leader? you're the new fox? something! draw your own conclusions.]

[gravesite]

[ is this the true joy of being a senpai... having your kouhai attach themselves to you? to say that he's endeared is an understatement — he's practically beaming with endless pride. but he draws a conclusion! and the conclusion is that... he has no conclusion! they'll wing this together, somehow.

so into the store they go, with smallest fox safely hidden away! ]

Is there any toy that you wanted to look at? I mean, I assume that you weren't standing out there for fun, right?

[ hmm... ] You can show me the aisle, and I'll follow after you. How's that?

[yaayaa]

[which toy was he looking at...there were a lot of toys? so many toys! but no, for the moment he focuses on just one thing, leading tsuru-senpai to the object in question and pointing at it in a maybe-possibly-meaningful way.

jumping beans! beans that jump! they've got cartoony faces drawn on them, but that's not quite as important as HOW DO THEY JUMP he's really curious...!]

[gravesite]

[ he's going to follow as naki leads, and finds himself staring at... these curious-looking, colorful beans, trapped in a plastic container. while he does spend a decent amount of time in toy stores, he's never seen anything like this before. ]

What are these?

[ his eyes widen, curiously, as he removes a single pack of them from the shelf to get a closer look. why do they all have faces... it feels like they're staring at him. weird! ]

Do you think they actually jump?

[yaayaa]

[he doesn't knooowww what they aaaarreee that's why he's curious!! they obviously don't look edible, and the faces look kinda weird, but he wants them anyway? to see if they can really jump or not.

he shakes his head at tsuru's last question before realizing that could be construed as a no, hesitating, then--]

I don't know. [it says they do so that means they do...right??]

[gravesite]

[ oh! naki spoke! tsuru will quickly murmur a "good job" and give naki's head a gentle pat, before turning his attention back towards the jumping beans. ]

Then, we won't know until we buy these and find out.

[ taking one container of them off of the shelf! each one has three to five jumping beans, so they'll see... but while they're here — ]

Hmm... is that the only toy you wanted? As for me, Kashuu wants something called "cards against humanity" — so I'm trying to find it for him. It's probably around here somewhere.

[yaayaa]

[it's the only toy he wanted at this particular moment, at least! naki looks around at the question, wondering if there's anything else he wants, but then tsuru mentions what kashuu wanted, and--]

Against humanity?

[that sounds like bad cards!?]

[gravesite]

I know, I know. Sounds like something the KBC would play, right? I'm sure it's just a card game, so it's probably not too bad...

[ hopefully... he doesn't even know what it is, aside from some card game that should probably be located in the card aisle. ]

What do we do if it really is against humanity, though... well, as long as we don't let Chihiro know, it'll be fine, right?

[ no chihiwas are allowed to know about bad cards!! ]

[yaayaa]

[does this mean they'll play it anyway...secret humanity-destroying card games!

how do cards even destroy anything



ugh he's curious now? and fox is struggling again, he's reaching his limit...]

[gravesite]

[ they'll give it a test run while they chew on their jumping beans!!

but he does feel smallest fox struggling for its smallest freedom, so tsurumaru will quickly glance around for any employees...

and sees none in sight, so he's going to open up a small corner of his jacket, enough for the fox to breathe, stick its head out, read naki's thoughts, and speak.

though, nonetheless — ] Shh, mister fox. Use your best inside voice, okay?

[yaayaa]

[does it count as an inside voice if the fox just let out a kinda-loud GASP because gosh your clothes sure are stuffy, tsurumaru!!]

--Aah...is--is it safe to come out, now? This position is rather uncomfortable...

[he wiggles some more, a tiny paw sticking out along with his head.] And playing against humanity sounds dangerous, regardless of whether or not the human knows!

[party-pooper fox!]

[gravesite]

[ as long as it was a quiet gasp, then it counts as an inside voice!! he reaches to give smallest fox's paw a squeeze, though, because beans... ]

Of course it's not, but if I kept you hidden during this entire trip, I don't think Naki would last.

[ because even though he likes hearing naki use his voice, he also knows that naki would much rather prefer smallest fox to speak for him, even if he poops parties. ]

But do you think it matters if there aren't any humans playing? We'll just keep it hidden from Chihiro, and humanity will definitely be safe.

[ he even makes a thumbs up gesture, because...yeah!! that's how it works!! ]

[yaayaa]

[smallest fox will allow your squeezes...for now.

and it's true, seeing fox out in the open does make naki relax a bit.....his security fox!]

Ah, that might be true...if no humans are involved, I suppose it might not hurt them. [though it all depends on how the game works, in the end....fox still looks unsure, but he'll give it the nod anyway.]

But speaking of Chihiro, perhaps we could find something more human-friendly here, for her?

[gravesite]

[ the fiercest smallest fox... sadly, no one seems to know how this game works — even kashuu, probably, who suggested it in the first place.

but since he's managed to earn smallest fox's approval, he quickly picks up a box of Cards Against Humanity and holds onto it, putting it next to the carton of jumping beans. no takebacks!! this game is coming home with them, rip humanity. ]

Oh, you're right! That sounds like a good idea. She's always helping us and taking care of chores, so I don't think I've ever seen her playing with toys before.

[ hmm... ] Do you think she'd like dolls? Or... something more interactive, like a slinky?

[yaayaa]

[goodbye humanity...good thing we're not human. also, dolls are kinda boring, but naki approves of slinkies?]

A slinky does sound interesting! Or perhaps something a little shinier...or both!

[gravesite]

[ no one needs humans anyway, swords can be their own masters... right? that's definitely how it works. ]

What about... shiny slinkies? From what I've seen, they have those colored plastic ones, but then they also have ones made out of metal. Those are the shiniest.

[ looking around, looking around... and pointing in a certain direction once he's figured out where they are. what a big toy store, gosh ]

I think there's some over here. I'm sure that they sell the metal ones, but if we find one in your favorite color, we can buy it, too!

[ does naki have a favorite color — ]

[yaayaa]

[swords can totally be their own masters! somehow! yeah!!

...they can already wield themselves, what if they really do decide to go rogue!?]

Well then, we should definitely choose a metal one! The shinier the better, after all! And being metal makes it reminiscent of a blade, when you think of it.]

[how is this toy store so big...it's amazing! also there's a gigantic collection of squashables near where tsuru just pointed, naki's staring at them instead...and oh, are those plastic lightup bright sabers? and those battery-powered toy dogs that go bark bark bark bark bark and kinda shuffle around in a cheap attempt at walking and don't do much else but they're really cool anyway for some reason!]

.....Okay.

[he didn't actually hear that last part, but at least he's looking in the right direction, more or less?]

[gravesite]

[ naki no... don't get sucked in by all of those cheap distractions? but since it's obvious that naki is, in fact, being sucked in by these cheap distractions, tsurumaru gives his sleeve a gentle tug — moreso to get his attention. ]

Over here, Naki.

[ but tsurumaru is also not very immune to the charm of toys, so after he picks up the box that contains the metal slinky, he pauses, turning back towards naki. ]

On second thought, well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to buy one more thing.

[ naki's his sword kouhai, right? so it's only natural to want to spoil him... even if it's with cheap distractions. quick, bring him your favorite one! ]