prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .011

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You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ There and Back Again
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

B As a Remooning gift from the Lunar Scientia Headquarters, the dedicated team from the Amphoria Room has released their latest perfected technology: Amphoria Pods. These VR Pods, which can fit up to four people at a time, have been set up in the gaming hub within Level 1’s PrismaPlace. They allow users to upload sceneries of their world in order to create a realistic holographic landscape of their homes that others can access and play around with, granting everyone the means to relive past memories with their loved ones as well as interact with the bestiary of other worlds. The pods also use the same technology that enhanced the popular virtual game, League Match Action Online (LmaO), which means you’re liable to feel the chill of cold environments, the burning heat from boiling water, the hard slap of your ex-lover, or the biting sting of a stray wasp. All who use the Amphoria Pods for the first time this year will also receive a small amount of Chroma in case things get too real.

▶ God Save Us from the Queen
Level 1, PrismaPlace and Level 2, Greatmoon Groves | top

The first month of the year is packed with two of the most important winter events this season: Queen Elara’s birthday and the League Match Action Online (LmaO) PVP semi-finals. It just so happens that the Queen of Lunatia is also a huge LmaO fan. Coincidence? Definitely not! LmaO players and royal family fans alike can meet her at PrismaPlace, where she will be appearing in cosplay of her favorite hero, Ah-Kari, while holding a body pillow of Commander GareBear. You, too, can get an autograph or selfie with the birthday girl if you’re willing to fall in line! Her bodyguards will also be in LmaO cosplay, keeping the crowd under control during the long wait.

Queen Elara

Good day to you all! This may come as a surprise to our guests the Moonblessed, but I am a normal person despite my exalted position. Please do not think of me today as Queen Elara. Instead... my name is Ah-Kari, sorceress of the crystal! With my soul fan blades, through the darkness, I shall slice all who dare hurt my commander in twain!

But when she is not meeting and greeting...

Queen Elara

My comrades, we're going to make history today. We're going for a new record. Perhaps the highest kill counts or the fastest clear for this map — it matters not. We’ve practiced day and night for this tournament, so let us show everyone that we’re not to be taken lightly! Also, the livestream is going in the royal archive, so make your successors proud!!

... she will be furiously grinding her character and training her skills in LmaO in the hopes of qualifying for the finals. Spectators will see her bring her own team full of hapless palace attendants who are there to either serve as her practice match partners or provide support to the one-woman army that is Queen Elara.

PrismaPlace is packed with giant crowds, many of them also in cosplay. While the semi-finals are taking place, new and old LmaO players alike can participate in the game’s current campaign: players who form teams get an improved chance of spawning unique monsters as well as winning rare items and skins in those prized lootboxes! Teams can also try to clear the event’s story together, featuring an aerial battle fought on griffin-back, which is heavily inspired by the popular Lunatian epic, The Battle of Abraxas, a colorful and complex story about the conflict between two families fighting over the fictional land of griffins, Abraxas.

A Progression in the event requires acquiring a griffin mount and getting it ready for battle. You can lure a wild one to yourself with a special veggie pie on a fishing pole. Should the griffin reject the lure, your character will be caught in a wind gaol and can only break out with the help of other players. Should you succeed, raising the griffin is a tedious task that involves players training alongside their respective griffins, running laps with them, taking them to hunt monsters, and feeding them properly. Depending on their diet, the food you give them will affect the color of its plumage and their battle stats.

Or you can skip the hard work and simply moonlace with your teammates through all the progression bars and required materials to save time. Once finished, you’ll be able to battle one another through the thunderous aerial domain of Abraxas. Clearing the event will net you an event-exclusive skin inspired by the royal family’s shining celestial robes and a weapon skin of a body pillow with your favorite character, so do your best!

B In celebration of Queen Elara’s birthday, the office of the royal household is hosting a modest tea party in the Greatmoon Groves. Swiffy bots that are normally programmed to remind visitors to keep the groves clean are now playing a birthday jingle on repeat. For people who prefer to be away from the blinding neon lights and the thumping techno music of PrismaPlace, this is the ideal escape. Unlimited tea and cookies are being served!

The tea is a soft-colored lilac concoction made from Ehrysian tea leaves that are known to cause a huge spike of alertness and is popular to Moon Knights and office workers with long night shifts as well as gamers for those all-night grinding sessions. The assorted cookies have either Ah-Kari or Commander GareBear printed on them. In case it isn't obvious yet, both are the birthday girl’s favorite LmaO characters.

Any Moonblessed looking for extra income is welcome to be royal attendants for the day; the hours are paid by Demichroma. They must be properly dressed up as maids or butlers (outfits provided by the royal household) as they serve tables.

▶ Say Cheese
Level 3, Caihong | top

Meanwhile, Caihong is in the midst of Remooning festivities in celebration of the new year, and merriment usually lasts a fortnight, filled with fireworks in the sky. Upon entering the district, beautiful Prismals with rat ears and tails greet you with a Happy Remooning and eagerly tug you along to join in.

Those welcomed will receive a pack of multi-colored sparklers, mooncakes topped with cheese, and a glowing drink called Champagne Supernova, poured in a thin glass in your hand. If you are over eighteen, the rat Prismals will ask if you prefer your drink with a kick. If you say yes, then they will add flavorful ice that causes extreme intoxication and might leave you to be susceptible to all levels of suggestion. Saying no (or if you’re under 18) will simply leave it as a sweet drink.

A One of the party games being played by the locals is called Lucky Tail, which is basically pinning the tail on the holographic rat stand-in — with a twist, it must be played with a partner! Another participant will blindfold you, spin you around, then push you forward. The stand-in is located at the end of unsteady elevated platforms forming a maze, filled to the brim with distracting objects underneath. They’re long, they’re thick, and they’re vibrating furiously in an attempt to knock you off the platforms.

Your partner must guide you by voice to successfully navigate through the maze! The game is rigged with various mechanisms, so stepping on specific platforms will activate a number of traps against you or your partner: machines that may tickle, drop colorful slime, or cause the platform to repetitively spin, and who knows what else?

Should you manage to get through the obstacle course and pin the tail successfully, you and your partner will win copious amounts of Demichroma, courtesy of Buwan from Buwan’s Stop.

B Another attraction is a fun magic glamour booth known for its face or body swap features. The booth staff, clad in their festive rat paraphernalia, will encourage you and your friends to take aesthetic shots using an illusion generator. The effects last an hour. Photographed images can be instantly uploaded and shared in Prismagram. New year, new you! Why not take the chance to celebrate this momentous occasion in a unique fashion? It’s all in good humor.

There are two buttons to press: (A) CUSTOM or (B) RANDOM. Pressing A will allow participants to customize their desired effects. Pressing B will cause the illusion magic to randomly rearrange participants in questionable positions, new outfits (or lack thereof), and you may even come out of the booth looking like your best friend or your worst rival. The possibilities are endless!

▶ Questions
If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

▶ As a reminder, test drive memes are for new characters only. However, current players are more than welcome to use these prompts for their own posts in the IC communities, personal inboxes, catch-all posts, etc.!
▶ As our test drive memes are game canon, feel free to keep any threads that happen here as canon for your character should they be accepted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( legosi hadn't been thinking much of haru since he'd arrived here. actually, no. no, no, no. of course that was a lie, but it probably would have been easier. the truth was that he was trying not to think of her all the time (and failing), the reason simply being that it was too distressing and upsetting to dwell on it. it was miracle enough that louis and juno were here, so he was not completely lonely and isolated here among all these humans, but to be separated from haru...

well... they had spent time apart before, but it had never been where he didn't even have the ability to text her or call her. it was enough to make his tail droop. but he had soldiered on.

but throughout all of these weeks, a part of him had been vigilant, wary, watchful. so, this one early afternoon when, from a very far distance, he gets the faintest hint of a familiar scent — it feels like an electric shock passes through him. haru. he knows for certain. his scent vault doesn't lie! she was far away, he knew it, but he would find her. he had to!

legosi lurches into movement from a shocked stand-still to an all-out sprint. he does his best to avoid people on the streets, at first shouting apologies or "excuse me"s over his shoulder, but as time passed and he got more tired, he had to forego manners.

she had been a long way away, at the very furthest extent of his powerful sense of smell. he has to have been running for something like... fifteen, twenty minutes? more? but finally he finds her, predatory eyes locking onto her small form in a way he would be a little ashamed of later, but it gives him the last burst of energy he needs to run up to her. )

Haru! ( he tries to say something else, say how happy he is to see her, something, but — he's panting so hard, and he begins to list to one side. he has to reach out to brace himself against a wall with a hand, his other moving instinctually to his chest as he fights to catch his breath. )

I - ( pant ) I foun— ( pant pant ) you...

( okay, he has to stop trying to talk or he will just pass out. )

[What does it say about a rabbit who no longer cares much about being tracked and hunted down by a predator? After all, she's heard it through the grapevine that Legosi is here, from both animals she knows and others she's just met. She could easily just try to seek him out. Figure out which room he lives in and knock on his door, invite herself in. Reach out to him onto those devices all Moonblessed are given. But she intentionally chooses to not do anything active in looking for him.

Knowing that, because of how he is and who she is, he'll somehow get to her eventually. And besides, she's a just a rabbit. It's not an instinct to track others down.

Instead, by the time Legosi catches wind of her, she's out and about shopping. Trying to satiate this weird...need for liquids she's started to feel every since waking up in this place. Maybe the type of air here is different, where she feels more easily dehydrated. Maybe it has something to do with the changes that reportedly happen the longer it is you stay here. Who knows! She's not going to think too hard about it.

She's standing outside a Lunatian version of a Boba Tea shop, bundled up in a coat and scarf she's managed to procure, drinking a mixed fruit-and-vegetable drink with oat milk. She knows she's being watched, almost painfully aware of the fact that she's being stared down by a predator.

But she knows she's in no danger. And when Legosi does finally run up to her, panting, she smiles, mouth on straw, sucking up and chewing a tapioca ball.]

I was wondering when you would. [It's said slyly, and after a moment she approaches him, offering up her tea.] Here, have a drink before you pass out.

( he would be ashamed to admit later that he does feel the fringe of that in his mind when tracking her scent. no matter how much he trained his mind or his body, no matter how much he pondered deeply the philosophy of the nature of their world and their relationships among so many different species, he could not erase what he was at a genetic and biological level. part of this worries him. it would be best for haru if he could completely move past that, right? but, at the very least, he can control and channel it in a way he would have never been able to dream of just a short year ago. it's a start. hopefully he would only continue to get better with time and practice.

thankfully, those carnivorous itches up and down his spine diminish once he slows down and he begins to try to catch his breath, willing his heart to slow to a more normal rate.

she observes their meeting with a level of certainty that other meetings had offered to her. but for legosi, he's a mingling mess of relief and joy. his tail is wagging furiously, even if he fights for enough breath to string words together. when offered the tea, he looks at it for a moment and then takes it with a breathy "thank you."

assuming the boba tea was a typical human-sized beverage, it would have been a pretty large drink for a small rabbit like haru, but for a large wolf like legosi, in a state like he is right now... well, he basically drains half of the drink in a single gulp. a few tapioca pearls follow, inevitably, and legosi had not been anticipating such a thing. he splutters, lowering the cup. he offers it back — by this point, he's at least to a point where he's functional, even though he's still recovering. )

Haru-chan... Did you arrive here recently? Don't tell me I've been missing you for a few days...

[Her tea was definitely much too large for her to finish on her own, the straw almost comically too big for her and having to hold it with both her hands. But, such is the life of a dwarf rabbit, even if there are plenty of smaller animals out there.

And for all this time knowing him, being around him, she will always marvel the way the world shapes around him as a large predator. Large drinks for her appearing small and inconsequential even if the tapioca pearls trip him up. And her black eyes will always instinctively hone in to his jaws, no matter how careful he is and knowing full well that he wears dentures like some kind of old man instead of an 18-year-old "delinquent."

Even after all this time knowing him, there is always going to be that more feral part inside her telling her this is dangerous, but Haru wouldn't be Haru if she listened to her instincts.

She takes the cup back, having another sip even though she's already pretty full.]

I've been here for a few days! Long enough where I was planning on finding you if you didn't find me by the end of the week. [She's being half-serious, because there's always truth in what she says.] Come on, we can sit in the café. Now that I see you, I feel kind of bad wanting you to track me down.

( with the way their world and their society is, it's inevitable and inescapable that each and every animal would be very aware of what they were and how they were perceived by others. that was one side of it: on one side of the glass, looking out, but then again each animal also performed the opposite role as the one on the other side looking in. legosi certainly wasn't immune to this. having grown up not only a large-breed carnivore, a grey wolf, but also an abnormally large one at that, he had been almost painfully aware of his presence and the impact it could have. because of that, he had been almost envious of creatures who were (comparatively) smaller and less intimidating, thinking they would at least not have the same problems.

though, in retrospect, smaller animals only had a different set of problems, especially if they were herbivores.

he thinks about apologizing for nearly finishing the drink, but decides against it. it's only a half-measure, as there's a heaviness to his brows over his eyes that alludes to it enough he scarcely had to say anything. )

Oh. I'm sorry to keep you waiting... ( he scratches at the back of his neck, feeling foolish. if only he had known! if he had picked up her scent days ago, he would have done the same thing, but he simply hadn't been within radius...

by this point he's mostly caught his breath. he glances up to the cafe indicated and then back down to haru; he gives a nod. ) Okay. I'm sure you have lots of questions... This place is pretty strange, isn't it? ( he begins walking towards the cafe, though his steps are always slower when he's with haru, taking into account how she has to take multiple to match one of his strides. ) What do you think?

I'm just teasing you, Legosi-kun! [She would wave her hand dismissively if she could, but there really isn't a way for her to hold her boba tea with one hand and not have it fall. Instead, she keeps close to him as she walks back to the café, mouth back on the straw of her drink, but chewing on it instead of actually drinking.

She may not wag her tail, but rabbits have other means of giving tell to their contentedness of being around someone they like. The desire to chew on something being one of them.]

What I do know about this place is strange. The whole three moons thing for example? Weird. Isn't one moon enough? I'm not sure what to think! [When they enter the cafe, she's going to just make herself at home in one of the booths, sitting up on her knees to avoid the need for a booster seat.] And, is it true what they say? That when "your" moon is full, you go through some sort of...heat?

[Not that the concept of going in heat is likely foreign to her!! It all just sounds very primordial to her.

But leave it to Haru to just get right to the point.]

( he gives a small, warm smile. ) Well, still... I would have liked to have known you were here earlier, even if it was just a few days.

( a month wasn't even a long time to be without someone. it's not as though they hadn't spent similar amounts of time apart (the time he had spent going through meat withdrawals had been one among several, especially after he dropped out of school), but it hadn't been as oppressive simply because he had known she would be there when he was ready to reach out. here... he had been forced to worry, would he ever see her again? if he didn't, what would that even mean for him?

she hadn't experienced that gap in time, but even if she had, it's remarkable how quickly they fall into their rapport as if nothing odd had warped the time and space around them. he sits down at a booth in the cafe, taking note of how she's sitting and... knowing that she wouldn't want a booster seat or anything, but wishing he had something like his backpack she could use instead. )

It is strange. Did you wake up on one of them as well...? ( he puts his hands on the table, one over the other, claws carefully folded inward and out of the way. one of his ears flaps before he speaks. ) I thought it was a dream at first. Except... it was even weirder than my dreams are normally. Most things here are...

( his ears perk up at the question, and then they slowly... begin to droop, a look of faint embarrassment on his face as he searches for an answer. ) I've... heard that something like that can happen, yes... It hasn't happened to me, ( yet (???). ugh its hard enough to deal with what he already has to as a young male, let alone one with some kind of weird supernatural "heat," ) but... strange things happen when the moons are out, even separate from that. Louis, um... -

( his muzzle falls into one of his hands, elbow leveraged against the surface of the table as he tries to figure out how to explain that. )

Louis looked very different, when his moon was out... ( makes him worry about what will happen for him? if it ever does? )

[It's a bit funny, coming from a guy who's gone dark on her countless times, but not unexpected considering how he's always been the sort of person to keep track of her. It can be annoying, especially whenever they're apart long enough for her to think about it and be annoyed by it, but whenever they're together her annoyance always goes to the wayside.

And besides, it does please her that she had the upper hand in knowing he was here, and him not knowing until he finally caught scent of her and gave chase.

As they sit across from each other, watching him and his usual carefulness he keeps around her, she can't help but mentally chide herself that she finds some sort of messed up thrill being chased down and caught by him.]

I did! The crystals were kind of pretty...I thought it was a dream too until I cut myself on a shard. [Still sitting up on her knees, she puts her elbows on the table, chin resting in her hands. She looks a bit annoyed admitting to hurting herself first thing upon waking up, because it's just so typical.] It's nice knowing they have people combing the place up there; I hate being lost and confused.

[It's instinct, and though she knows he knows full well how an herbivore feels when alone and lost, she's not about to go into how she was actually panicking the longer she was stuck on the moon until the knights found her. It's not something she wants to talk about. Instead she's curious about how this place had affected him, and she's relieved to hear nothing's happened to him.]

Kind of surprised to hear that. Normally there always seems to be something up with you. [She eyes him, in an almost accusatory sort of way, and then sits back onto her heels, grabbing her drink as a server comes around to offer Legosi a menu.]

Louis told me something happened to him during the full moon. Juno too... [just going to accidentally admit that she's met up with everyone but Legosi upon arriving.] How...did he look?

( well, there was a difference between him going dark on her and her suddenly disappearing! given the last year or so, the latter usually meant she had been kidnapped or was in some sort of dire, life-threatening trouble (not that the same hadn't occurred to legosi regularly, but it was more that he tended to put himself into such situations). it's a bit of a double standard, sure, and he doesn't really think that's great, but it's just kind of how things are!

at least she gets to have this moment now, secure these last few days that legosi was here and would come and find her eventually, while legosi still placed his worries on the back-burner for what he would do if he was trapped here for a long period of time and haru never made her way here.

his eyes are wide as she recounts how she had woken up on the moon, similar to how he had, about a month or so ago. he's... just happy she had managed to get free and get planetside without anything worse happening than just a single cut. ) Yeah... I felt the same way, up there. But it seems this has been happening for a while, so they've got, um... something of a system set up for it.

( for finding strangers wandering around on their moon and bringing them back down to the city for free room and board? it's strange, but... really the tip of the "strangeness" iceberg around here.

he huffs once at the extremely accurate and yet extremely piercing personal observation, wincing and leaning forward as if it had been a dart thrown. ) Haru-chan... ( he entreats quietly, but he doesn't complain any further — she's right, after all, and he should probably feel twice as guilty as he does for getting into all the trouble he does (and oftentimes dragging her into it, directly or indirectly).

but there will still be time for him to find himself in moon trouble. )

He, um... ( legosi's head falls into his hands, and he ponders over the best way to put it. ) Well, he still had his horns, and he still looked mostly like himself, but... his - muzzle, teeth, size, um, things like that... he looked more like a wolf. ( he sits back up and drops his hands back into his lap, sighing. ) He acted more like a wolf, too! So these moons, um... I guess we can't underestimate what they are capable of.

A system set up to meet and greet those of us dumped here, but no way of going home when we want, hm? [She's not asking him, just being thoughtful and annoyed about it. Louis and a few others told her that time sorts itself out here and back home differently, but she can't help but think about her classes and the waste of time it is to be brought here with no sense of rhyme or reason.

Not like her life back home has much purpose, but she was feeling like she was beginning to sort herself out a bit.]

They need to sort themselves out.

[As though their world is all sorted out. At least here there isn't that tension between prey and predator, which is still a startling revelation whenever she looks at a menu and sees meat offered plain as day, out in the open. Free for anyone to eat.

And she knows she's right to scrutinize Legosi and whatever he's been getting himself up to here. His quiet entreatment doesn't lessen her scrutiny, trying to see if he's gotten any new scars or ripped out anymore teeth somehow...

But it's only half-serious and dissipates when he begins to answer her question her ears perked forward and nose twitching slightly. Trying to picture it all in her head.]

So it's true...this place really can change you. [She seems...almost disturbed by it. Quiet for a moment. And then--] I wonder what I'll change into. You won't stop liking me if I started looking like a weird rabbit-wolf, would you?

[because of your. herbivore fetish.]

( he... understands where she's coming from. it doesn't seem the prismals know where they, the moonblessed, come from, or how it is they appear on the moon (if they are to be believed when they say as much). given that, how they were treated was far more kind than he feels they should be able to expect, as they are basically uninvited guests, but... the thought of not being able to return home at any time he could control had been a stressful one in the past few weeks. even if louis and now haru were here, there were still so many they left behind. that and it's a little difficult to feel like you really belong here when all the people who live here are so different from those that you grew up around... )

You're not wrong, but... they don't seem to understand it much more than we do, so... we have to make the best of it that we can, I think.

( what a terribly legosi-like way of approaching such an uncertain situation.

he quietly surveys the menu; even having been here about a month, he still feels the uncomfortable prickle at the back of his neck when seeing descriptions and images of items that include meat. even with that supposed "freedom," he had maintained his meat-free diet, learning very quickly the important words to use, like "vegetarian."

he looks back up to her as she continues, expression vaguely worried. then it shifts abruptly to shock, his eyes widening and his ears standing up straight on top of his head. ) O - Of course not! ( even if there is the smallest shred of doubt, knowing exactly what kind of weirdo, perverted wolf he is, but... no. this is haru! no matter what she looked like, he would still love her. that's... how this sort of thing works, right?

(that, and he knows the moon effects are temporary --)

he moves on, not really enjoying what thoughts were circling in his brain on that particular subject. ) What about me? If I turned into ... a deer, or - an alligator? Or... an insect...? Would that be too weird?

( he doesn't even know if that's possible, but he's just free-wheeling at this point, resting his head against the palm of one of his hands. )

[It's an incredibly Legosi-way of putting this whole situation into perspective, but...it's a warm familiarity too in a very strange place. It's not like they even understand their situations back home, still figuring thing how things work out in their own society that still doesn't know how to balance itself between predator and prey.

So she smiles a bit, thoughtfully, watching him as he surveys the menu in his usual quiet, contemplative way, sucking up the remaining balls of tapioca through her straw.]

I'd make a pretty terrible wolf, honestly... [she half-mumbles it, reveling in his shock.

But when he turns the question to himself, she thinks it over, sitting back with her chin in her hand, going over how he'd look as each. Legosi-kun with antlers, Legosi-kun with scales and a longer mouth.....Legosi with a giant beetle face complete with pinchers...

It's, uh, not pretty.]

You're already pretty weird. [It's not like I'm attracted to him because he's a wolf. Maybe that's part of it, but--] You turning into a deer or an alligator might change how you are, but not who you are. So, yes. I'd still like you, no matter how you'd look. Because you'd still be you.

[She fiddles with her straw a bit, pulling it out of the top and then pushing it back in.]

I don't know about a bug though. That's kind of gross. What kind of insect would you want to be, anyway?

( give him just a little more time — perhaps in a few months he will have a far more complex and developed idea of a specific section of philosophy he would need to understand and contend with the new realities that this world placed upon them. like... being able to change what they understand to be naturally immutable about themselves: their species, their instincts. so ironic that legosi had what felt like just a month or so ago been thinking vague hypotheticals of what might have happened if haru had been the carnivore and himself the herbivore, their roles summarily reversed...

well, that might just become a reality here. which is a bit of a sobering thought, considering what legosi had been thinking at time time —

he's distracted by haru's reply. he tilts his head to one side, thoughtful. he looks down at the menu for a moment longer before replying himself. ) I think you'd make a very... unpredictable wolf.

( herbivores could get away with a certain amount of spontaneity and impulsiveness just because they weren't physically capable of too much damage accidentally. but haru, suddenly in control of a large carnivore body...? hm...

at least he already knows he's a weirdo and haru isn't quite ready to give up on him because of that — otherwise her words might've elicited more from him than a single flap of his ear. what she says is comforting, though, especially with him tangled up in thoughts of changes that seem really difficult to field. so for a moment he says nothing, too busy listening to his heightening heart-rate cause the blood to make a muffled roar in his ears.

it's just the kind of guy legosi is, not to bat an eye at his girlfriend calling him weird but then flinching when she said that bugs were gross. he knows most animals think so, but...! ) Hm... I don't know. There are so many insects that are interesting or cool for unique ways. Like - hercules beetles can carry over eight hundred times their weight, you know. And some insects don't even need to breathe.

( maybe he's just rambling to try to distract from how flustered he was, or maybe he really is just a huge nerd (it's both). )

[She knows Legosi well enough to know he's probably mulling over everything but what's on the menu, and while he's lost in thought she simply watches him, resting her elbow on the table, leaning her cheek against her hand as she continues fiddling with the straw of her cup.

This is a date, or what is a date for the likes of them. Maybe here it can be a regular thing too, considering the way the locals of this world don't stare at them the way people from their home do of a herbivore/carnivore duo.]

Unpredictable, huh? [That's a nice way of putting it. She's a pretty unpredictable rabbit, that's for sure.

But now she's got him rambling about bugs, and it's cute. Maybe if he didn't become a drop out and a delinquent and predatory offender he could have gone to university and become an entomologist. Though Haru knows that sort of life just...wouldn't exactly fit Legosi. At least, not as he currently is.

And besides, Haru isn't exactly one to think too deeply about the future. She's too busy living in the moment. And right now, that moment is listening to her boyfriend ramble and nerd out about insects.]

Hmm, that doesn't answer my question, Legosi-kun. What kind of bug would you want to be? [She threads her fingers together, propping her chin up on them.] In my botany classes we learn about the bugs that help plants flourish, and the ones that hurt them.

I like bumblebees but you're too quiet to be a bee. Maybe...hm...a mantis!

[but maybe that's not what he wants.]

( he can feel her attention on him, as bright and hot as the spotlights that he had once trained on the actors in the drama club. he's known her long enough and been with her enough times not to get as sweaty and/or flustered as he might have once done, but it still dominated his attention, making it hard for any other thought to make its way through the sieve of his brain. so she's right — he's staring, unseeing, at the menu, scarcely comprehending words or images, merely sifting through the enormous deluge of emotions he found himself beset with once again being back with haru. )

Yeah... And you'd have the strength of a carnivore, then, so you'd have to be more careful. ( herbivores must think about it as often as carnivores do, though from the opposite perspective — carnivores are taught to mind their strength from a young age, so they don't accidentally hurt their herbivore friends. but to live with the constant fear of accidentally being bodily hurt?

legosi had never really thought it was wrong, why so many herbivores are wary of carnivores...

maybe not an entomologist, but legosi had had dreams of being a terrarium keeper, or perhaps like someone who would maintain a zoo of sorts (did their world even have zoos??? probably not) for insects. but with everything that had happened in the fall out of last new year's, he had kind of sunk that dream before it could even leave the harbor. maybe here, though...? would anyone even come to hear him talk about a bunch of weird bugs in glass cases...

legosi can have an evasive way of speaking, but haru was expert in pinning him down; she wouldn't allow him to escape a question with circuitous speech. he gives up immediately, looking up to her with a look of uncertainty as she mentions mantises. ) Female mantises kill male mantises... ( he murmurs it quietly, shaking his head. ) How about... a moth? That wouldn't be too gross, would it?

( kinda fluffy, with big wings...

hm, what would haru think if she learned that legosi had had received a spiritual revelation from a moth after he ate a moth larva. things he gets into when he goes off on his own. )

[She does think on it. What it would be like to have the strength of a carnivore, having to be the opposite and be careful of her strength as opposed to simply having to be careful.

It is something she's thought about in the past, when she really was at her lowest and most confused. Something a lot of herbivores probably think about, honestly, when looking to their carnivore classmates.]

Guess I'm lucky you're the carnivore then, huh Legosi-kun? [she looks down at her hands, then back up at him.] Because you're careful, and I'm not. Heck, if I were a carnivore and you were a herbivore, I might have accidentally eaten you!

[She laughs at that, thinking back to her night with him before arriving here. Knowing that unlike Legosi she is someone who has a tough time with being careful even when she should be. Even though she knows Legosi also sucks at keeping careful.

He always is with her. And with him she just...doesn't exactly want to be careful, but goes at his pace because she wants what's best for him. He's the one setting boundaries after all. If she had her way, she probably would have slept with him on their technically second encounter.

Then things would maybe not be this way...

She doesn't really hear his comment about the female mantis, but she does perk up at the mention of a moth.]

Moths? Hm...not really. They're definitely cuter than mantises. With their big eyes and fuzzy wings and antennae.

( he chuckles, though the sound is a little nervous. he rubs at the back of his knuckles with the pads of his fingers, fidgeting. ) You're right, but... mm, well, it's not like I've never made any mistakes in that regard.

( it's how they'd met, after all. he's made so much progress personally since then, but he's unable to completely leave it behind. he had been so completely overwhelmed by his feral instincts in that moment, on the cusp of adulthood and so directionless and listless in the world. he's so happy he met haru, so happy she helped him see that there were indeed things to look forward to in life, but... he does wish that their first meeting hadn't been so frightening and dire for her. )

But if you were the carnivore... yeah. I'm not sure that would have gone very well for me. How much time thinking about philosophy would you have been willing to spend? ( it's mostly a joke, even though that is exactly one of the pillars by which legosi strengthened his self-control and resolve now.

of course, the other half of it is that if she were the carnivore and he the herbivore, he probably wouldn't have put up very much of a fight if she had ever really tried to eat him... hmm... what does that say about him... not too much, since he already knows he's a no-good perverted wolf.

and besides, it's not as though their having not slept together yet was entirely on him. he had been just flushed with testosterone and adrenaline after rescuing her from the shishigumi enough to go through with it, probably, but then she'd had to go and stick her entire arm down his throat... (of course, he'd called off trying again after that, but it'd probably killed off that adrenaline.)

anyways. )

Well... If I must turn into a bug, I will do my best to turn into a moth, or something cute like that. And maybe you can try to turn into something not so big and scary that I'll have to worry about predation... ( he's smiling... it's a joke? because with a relationship like theirs you just have to be able to joke about certain things. )

That's true. But you've come really far since then, and maybe...it wasn't a mistake... [Not that she really believes much in destiny or stars aligning or that sort of thing. But things happen as they happen, and it is part of what brought them together in the beginning. She's glad for it, honestly, having been walking around feeling sorry for herself.

Him attacking her on instinct had helped her realized that she did like being alive, that she didn't just want to die. And as complicated as this predator-prey relationship has been, and the instances she's seen fellow college-mates partake in it as though it's just a light, uncomplicated thing...she does know her life is better with Legosi in it.

She smiles a bit.] I may not be like you, but I can be philosophical for a rabbit sometimes! Maybe living in the moment is my philosophy.

But you're right, I probably would eat you if I could. [She goes back to leaning her cheek against her hand.] I definitely would have slept with you by now, if you'd have let me.

[Then again that still applies even as a herbivore. Between their second encounter in the gardening club, and after nearly shoving herself in his mouth. It's still a bit embarrassing to think how her body had reacted in such a way when a carnivore was on top of her. To think, things could have been different between them had he taken her up on her first offer like other males. They probably wouldn't have been like this. He might not have even rescued her from the Shishigumi...

His joke does have her smiling, those thoughts trailing away as she instead focuses on him and what they are. Even in these hypothetical transformation scenarios.]

If you did turn into a bug I don't think I would eat you even if I did turn into a big predator! Unless I was a lizard or a frog, I guess.

( even with her encouraging words, legosi looks deflated. it seems a little forced, to tell a wolf that he's doing a good job simply because he isn't attacking strangers (or loved ones) and trying to eat them. isn't that kind of the bare minimum of being a kind and respectable carnivore in their society? it shouldn't really be celebrated... but regardless, he is still aware of how much he has improved in his discipline and self-control, even if his internal view also is just enough to keep him wary of potential slip-ups. if there was anything he had learned from his researching herbivore and carnivore couples, it was that one must always be aware... )

It was just good that something happened before I could make a mistake I couldn't take back later. ( even if that occurrence had ironically been louis injuring his leg. hm -- was it the same leg? legosi can't remember clearly, but it's funny how things work out.

she's right, though. haru has her own philosophy, her own way of living her life shaped by who she was, what she was, what hardships she had been forced to face while growing up... everyone does, whether they contemplate them or not. he gives a faint smile at her admission, and is unfortunately mid-way through taking a sip of water when she continues. surprise causes him to splutter, then cough; he sets the glass of water down and is forced to recompose himself, muzzle uncomfortably and embarrassingly wet from the water and sweating faintly besides. ) I - It wasn't really about letting you, Haru-chan...

( as if he didn't really, really, really want to?? but legosi's just not the kind of guy who can set aside very serious and very real concerns about what he might be tempted to do (what he might do without even being able to think through it), and not to mention how even if all went well -- would it even work? did they come to a conclusion on whether or not they were even physically compatible? she was still talking to him about it, so he has to think she isn't that concerned, but...???

a lizard or a frog? hm... he tries to imagine haru as a komodo dragon, but the image just doesn't materialize in his mind. it seems to incompatible. )

Mm... I'm just going to not be worried, I think. Even if you end up much bigger than me, I'll be able to hold my own, you know. ( what with all of that training that he did with gouhin. he smiles, though, intending it a joke; if such a thing happened he's pretty sure he wouldn't put up a fight for real...

and speaking of food -- the server stops by to talk to them, their gaze a little over-interested but not in a way that seemed overbearing. though legosi does have to be careful in telling them that he doesn't eat any meat ("vegetarian" as they said here), causing them to point out the parts of the menu that were meat-free... he ends up ordering a very veggie-heavy omelette before the server turns their attention towards haru. )

[It wouldn't have been a mistake if you did eat me...

She goes back to fiddling with her straw, not going to voice the automatic response that comes to her. It's still natural, ingrained in every fiber of her being to feel that way even when she so desperately wants to live too.

Honestly, she'd have no idea what her life would be like if Legosi didn't suddenly come into it. They are where they are now, but had he eaten her...it would have definitely been better than not having met him at all. She'd have still been pining after Louis, she would have certainly been eaten by the Shishigumi. And she certainly wants to be alive, and yet--

Haru remains smiling though, laughing genuinely at his sputtering, and leaning forward she offers him a napkin for his wet muzzle.]

I know! You dropped out of school and are holding your own with your own place and are living like an adult already, after all. Even if I did wind up super big, I'm still just a female who graduated normally and went to college.

[She's about to say something else, but it's then the server stops by, and Haru does take notice of the way they're looking at both her and Legosi. She sits up on her knees once Legosi is done with the meticulous explanation of his order, and looks over the menu.

The boba has made her quite full, and she knows too much sweets is awful for a rabbit in one go. So she gets a light salad with some sunflower seeds and seasonal veggies. And unlike Legosi she's taken at her word without any need for explanation.

As the server takes the menu and leaves, Haru looks at the server and towards the small kitchen just past them.]

...do you think the rabbit-like Prismals here eat meat?

[Pardon her morbid curiosity.]

( they tend to differ on their stringent views of requisite biology and personal philosophy. for legosi, it absolutely would have been a mistake. not only would he have never really met haru, he also would have never "awoken" from the long, drawn out episode of sleepwalking that had been his life up until that point. that, and he fears he would have ended up something, like, well...

a monster. a monster just like riz.

he carefully dabs at his damp muzzle, feeling simultaneously as though he should've given up long ago at caring that he looked so silly in front of her so often but also unable to completely shed that self-awareness. ) Mm... But graduating normally and going to college is still special and impressive, in its own way.

( his ears droop slightly at the thought. not really at that thought, but at thoughts connected to it by fibrous tissue. he had felt confident in his decision to drop out, and he still largely does, but even if he had wanted to finish school, it would have been difficult or impossible (certainly at cherryton). "predatory offender" is a dangerous label to wear, and the tendrils that it reached into his life and his hopes and his dreams were the reason why he was pursuing a dangerous criminal in order to expunge his record.

well, that, and the fact that he felt the same about melon as he did riz: facing off against him was a battle of mindsets, standpoints, philosophies. it would be impossible for him to stand down even if his future with haru wasn't on the line.

it all comes with its own disappointments. he had to bid farewell to childhood dreams of becoming an entomologist or terrarium-keeper. he assumes they need more schooling than this delinquent wolf had...

there's a moment of silence in the wake of the server's departure, though haru fills it with a curiosity that he had felt once or twice upon arriving here.

legosi shifts awkwardly in his seat, and then he leans forward, one hand to the side of his muzzle to aid in his conspiratorially-given answer. ) Probably. I don't think changing would make them less inclined to eat it... I think it only might make them more so...

( he frowns, settling back, still seeming unsettled by it. he's spent enough time in the back alley market to come to terms with the reality of their world, but how brazen it is here... how little the humans and prismals seem to think about the things they eat... )

I've talked to a few humans about it. It's not something they usually think about... and when I talk about how things are back where we're from, they start to feel guilty. But - ... I don't know. I don't think they should have to change how they are just because of that.

( legosi's of the belief that it has to be a conviction that comes from within. so many of the meat-crazed animals that he had helped rehabilitate with gouhin had become that way because of conflict in their lives around what they were doing. to either eat meat or not... it just took an awareness of what you were doing. )

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