Scene #7443: Kale Crossing: New Horizons

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	"This is Delta Oscar Delta Oscar - preparing for initial approach to landing zone, over..." The bird in the pilot's seat switches over from the radio to the seaplane's PA. "This is your captain speaking - hope this has been a cozy little run on Dodo Airlines, I'm picking up from George and we'll be feet dry in a few shakes. Following that we've got a little pan-pan of a water landing, which is fine because this is a sea plane." Previously, Kale had found a good deal on a seaside home, one that just happened to fit his budget. Previous to that, he'd acquired and then accidentally activated/used up an amount of 'wealth essentia', which was probably related? It seemed like a really good deal, in any case. And then the travel/residential agents told him he should bring some friends (or acquaintences, or random people who've socially forced their way into the group) along, which seemed a bit out of the ordinary for a house showing, but they said the travel costs were included, so here everyone is, on a seaplane going island-hopping off towards who knows where. "Oh - oh, yeah, there it is," says Kale, peering out of the window. "The island - sure looks like a 'deserted island getaway', hah." It's a smaller sort of island - though still large enough that it'd take a few minutes to get across on foot - with a ridge of mountains at the north side that feed an A-shaped river flowing southwards. There's nature aplenty, flowers with butterflies and dragonflies buzzing about, fruit trees with limbs hanging low with oranges... fish leaping out of the river... https://imgur.com/a/cVZGlca "... I see a tent, I think - I don't see any housing, though," adds Kale. Indeed, while the island looks flush and serene, there's not much visible as far as civilization goes. "... Maybe it's on some other part of the island we can't see," he decides, and sits back. The plane continues its flyby, and then turns and descends as it nears the south beach, where there's a small welcoming party of raccoon people waiting...
Hellwarming Trio	Someone had to fill in the role of random people here. Actually, the duo of flying dumbasses had no idea anything was going on, but after hearing that some people they were passingly familiar with would be checking out a strange island, they just sort of forced themselves into the group to take a bit of time away from the sights and smells of their usual work. At least they're easy enough to fit inside the seaplane. Both Utsuho and Rin are in their animal forms on the ride over, the former as a raven with an ominous red eye for a chest and the latter as a black cat with two tails. They'd be pretty bad about staying seated or buckled in, anyway, and they're probably safe enough just floating by the windows. Utsuho: "This place really is kind of empty, huh? But it looks quiet out here. Like..." Rin: "It's fresh! Like a... Like a..." Utsuho: "'Deserted island getaway'. Getaway from where?" Rin: "Yeah! What? Yeah. I can't even think about work here even if I wanted to." Spotting that tent as Kale mentions it, both of the idiots smoosh their faces against the window to peer at the tent, then at the raccoon people waiting further below. They don't even transform back into their people-y forms once it's time to get off the plain, content to just keep floating at around head-or-chest height. It might be to make the raccoon people feel more at ease. Maybe? Maybe.
Strawberry Princess	There's a peculiar tension in Strawberry's body language for most of the flight over. She can lull herself slightly by staring out the window- that pristine sky, those soothing waves- but it always creeps back in unless there's something else to occupy her attention. Her foot taps the floor. Her hands fuss with her jacket, periodically finding their way to her gun before pulling away. After the first half-hour of the flight, she takes to holding her wand's slender carrying case in her lap, bouncing it up and down as she fidgets with her legs or absentmindedly holding it white-knuckled tight. "Dodo Actual, you are fenced-in, ingress confirmed," she mutters quietly, and then laughs softly to herself and shakes her head. On final approach, she comes out of her shell a little: "I didn't think you liked- solitude, Mr. Hearthward. Do you think you'll be happy here?" It's a hopeful tone, not a prying one, but the question's worth asking nonetheless.
Shinnosuke Tomari	Shinnosuke Tomari, after a few hectic days and emotionally falling down stairs due to a purple-haired internet celebrity, needs a break. So when one of the Paladins said he was bringing people on an island adventure, he decided to do it. It should be a good rest! He's looking out the window of the seaplane, dressed in a t-shirt jeans. His work uniform doesn't belong here, after all. "It's nice to meet you, Kale. I know it's awkward to be hopping along as our first meeting, but if the travel company insists, it should be a good way to get to know your coworkers, right?" Tomari's already gotten over the fact that Kale is, in fact, a hawk. Well, mostly. It's a little weird. But, don't judge on appearances! "Just a tent...do you think someone's camping on the island?" Strawberry gets a glance. The carrying case...her wand? Guess she'd take it everywhere.
Go Shijima	Go exits the plane. By 'exit,' 'do an unnecessary but extremely cool backflip' is meant. He's about nineteen, with brown hair of medium length that frames the cocky gleam in his eyes. His white hoodie, and the red 'STATE OF ARIZONA' shirt he wears, briefly reveal a set of bandages around his abdomen, and when he lands, there's a brief flinch. His smile never falters. "Yo!" He gives the raccoon people a Cool Upwards Nod of Recognition. He's brought his camera with him, which somehow survived his flip. It's hung around his neck--black, with a lens that'd likely be intimidating for an amateur. The fact that Kale is a hawk, or that there are raccoon people waiting to receive them, doesn't bother him at all. He peers through the viewfinder, taking note of the light, and begins snapping a few pictures of the treeline past the meeting point. "I don't see any houses," notes Go with some amusement. There was the plane ride here, and... "Kale, looks like you got taken for two rides today!" He laughs.
BB	"Yatta! It's a deserted island getaway with me and--" BB counts, from her position at the front of the aircraft, back along the seats. "--Wow! All of my very closest friends! Let's go to a beautiful, sandy beach, and totally lose ourselves to an island paradise! And once we're done, we can go lose ourselves at another island paradise! Maybe we can make one entirely based on some sort of..." Her eyes light up. "Spider-based economy? I've got a guy who rrrrreally likes..." BB pauses, finger against her lips. A giggle follows, and a knowing smile, and she doesn't finish the thought. BB, who had barged onto the plane, has spent the entire time livestreaming in FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE FAA REGULATIONS, but since all her devices are in 'airplane mode', she's legally allowed to do it! Also every time she's asked to stop, she also turns on Airplane Mode - flight attendant outfit and all - to act dumb and repeat 'that's not really my department...' until people gave up. Dressed with a white '''top''' and a yellow-cream '''skirt''' and '''jacket''', BB is definitely already in an island paradise mood. "If we find a river, everyone, let's name it the BB Channel! Kehehehe, wouldn't that be the BBest?!" She poses for her camera again, winking and idol-handsing at the screen.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry catches Shinnosuke's prying glance. She gives him a sheepish half-smile and a helpless shrug, as if to say: "I'm sorry?" It's almost exactly the demeanor of an adult who's just been caught with their comfort teddy bear. When they get up to exit the plane, she slings it over her back again, but keeps fidgeting subtly with the carrying strap to assure herself that it's still there. As Strawberry descends the ramp, she applauds a little for Go's backflip, splitting into a grin. "Gosh, Mr. Shijima. Now that you don't have that helmet on... am I really older than you, or do you just age well?"
Shinnosuke Tomari	"Ah, no...I was just curious. I was figuring out what was inside. You don't have to be sorry." Tomari responds, awkwardly, as he moves to descend the ramp and- Well, BB is here, so that won't be even more awkward. He avoids her, for the moment, but isn't rude or entirely ignoring her existence. Instead, he approaches Go, glances at his bandages, but notices he's still smiling, and says nothing. "A con job...should we just head back, then? I mean, an island tent isn't a great place to stay, I'm sure we could find him a nicer place to live."
BB	"Wow! Waoh! Maoh!" BB gasps, cartwheeling -- yes -- out of the seaplane and onto the beach to bounce up and down behind Go, in full view of Tomari (and Strawberry). "It's Kamen Rider--" BB plants her feet in the sand, stance wide, and dabs. "Ma-ha!" That's not his pose. "You didn't come in for your special BB-Interview, on +BB Channel! Are you shy in front of a camera?" She teases, dropping her stance and crossing her arms under her chest.
Kale Hearthward	"Nice to meet you too, Shinnosuke, and Go, and...um... Utsuho and Rin," says Kale, who's pretty easy to bully into friendship as long as your name is not Robin Sundance. The two dodos running the plane have long since given up on asking BB to stop, or trying to explain that 'airplane mode' doesn't mean that, or anything else besides pointedly ignoring her. "Isolation - no, not really, um...." "... There's supposed to be this bustling town here, and..." He frowns, and goes to peer through the window again as the seaplane lands. "... Two rides?" There is, at least, a hastily built dock here, so nobody has to wade through the ocean up onto the beach. A bit further up, there's a trio of raccoons - one middle-aged adult, and a pair of teenagers. "Welcome, welcome!" says the adult. "You all ready to start your new lives here away from it all? If you'd just follow me to where we've set up temporary resident services, we'll get you set up with your tents and let you head on out to pick out spots for-" "Yeah, um, Mr. Nook, there's... been a mistake of some kind," says Kale, stepping up to him. "There's supposed to be a bustling town, and a house, and a bunch of other stuff, and this isn't exactly as advertised..." Paperwork is compared. Discussions are had. Foreheads are slapped - mostly Kale, it's Kale who's slapping his own forehead as he sees his signature on the wrong order forms. "Still winds..." he mutters. "Yes, well - it does look like you signed up for the 'deserted island community building package for eight' instead of the 'mayoral-level 'New Leaf' housing package for one'," says the raccoon. "But - satisfaction is guaranteed, and we take pride in what we offer, yes yes... we'll work out a full refund for you and get you set up with something more in line with what you were expecting, Mr. Hearthward and associates." "Very kind of you-" Kale starts to say. "But!" Tom Nook holds up a finger. "I'd still like you to give this experience here a try, just for a while, a little test drive of sorts yes yes... no hooks, no catches, and if this is truly not to your liking I'll personally clear my schedule until you're standing in the home of your dreams. Yes?" Kale exhales, and glances back at the rest, looking for their opinions.
Go Shijima	The camera is lowered, just slightly, and Go looks over his shoulder at Strawberry with a smirk. "'Mister?' Pfft. I'm nineteen. Just 'Go' is fine!" He snaps one of the coastline, where the sunlight is diffused into an army of glimmering white-yellow diamonds upon the surface of the yawning blue expanse. "Eh? Leave? No way," says Go, lowering the camera fully and turning to Tomari. "I brought a whole roll for this place," he says, tapping the film compartment. "Besides, we just got here and I don't wanna be cooped up in that plane so soon." BB knows his name? She was asking for him? He smiles confidently. "You're doing the pose wrong. It's..." He stances low and wide, leanining to one side, arms thrown wide. Light jazz hands. Then he stands back up. "Sorry I missed you, but my radio broke." Kale is indeed out from what he expected. But they're here. "A test drive, huh?" Why not? "Hey, it's your money, but you heard him. Why not give it a whirl, and if you don't like it, ask for that refund? Ever been camping? It's pretty fun!"
Hellwarming Trio	Finally, they transform! The fire is fairly subdued, thankfully, little more than a brief puff rather than a plume or anything super flashy so as to not scare the younger ones while the bird and cat become full-sized people. They're even dressed for the... They're dressed as they always are. They really need to get new clothes some day. At least Utsuho's not wearing that big dumb rod or the concrete boot for once. Rin laughs as Go laughs, apparently getting something that Utsuho doesn't. Utsuho's also confused by the talk of spiders, glancing around shortly afterwards. "No spiders here. And..." Utsuho invades BB's personal space, peering at the screen cluelessly. "Is someone watching this? Can they see me?" There's a pause of the briefest contemplation before she starts making faces at it, apparently doubting it for some reason. And then the confusion is explained! Kind of. Neither of the pair is certain what's actually going on, but they make a strong effort to try and understand! The dabbing is even more confusing, and both Utsuho and Rin are just staring right at BB, utterly confused by the gesture. Utsuho: "... What is that." Rin: "It looks weird. What's it mean?" They had to learn one day. Go's own attempt at it has them mimicking the pose as well, with Utsuho's version taking up way more overall space while Rin's is much closer to the ground. "Is this right?" They both ask. Eventually, things start making a bit more sense once Tom Nook explains just what's happened and what could happen with this mixed up housing situation. "Does this mean we all have to sleep in the same room?" Utsuho asks, sounding strangely okay with that. Rin: "Building a place could be fun. We could build a big hole!" Utsuho: "I thought you wanted to get away from work." Rin: "Yeah, but then we can find buried treasure in it. That's how that works, right?"
BB	Utsuho cannot invade BB's personal space, because BB is absolutely here for someone photobombing her. Leaning a bit and turning her phone so Utsuho can see it, the screen is a strange, head-spinning cherry-pink display which inflicts a skull-throbbing amount of information density into her eye-holes. Looking at BB's phone screen is like taking in all of stream chat, simultaneously, for a hundred simultaneous streams. She can taste the internet in her upper sinuses. BB loops an arm around Utsuho's shoulders, squeezing her close for what appears to be a paired piece/double selfie/internet skull probe with a beaming smile. "They can see you, Utsuho! This special episode of BB Channel is BBrought to you, live and on-location, from Kale Hearthward's new island paradise!" Snaking past Go (and still bombarding Utsuho with as much Internet Light as she can stand), BB goes through a looping 'bouncing up and down' animation (it is a looped animation because the repetition is perfect, an unnatural GIF-like uncanny timeloop). "Fun! Fresh! Friends! Fast! It's the perfection of~!" She holds her phone out to Kale like a microphone, indicating his need to name the place Right Now, Forever. "Oh, you just missed me telling Drive that he was Mach's secondary rider. Kehehehe! Just normal things! Ask him all about it!"
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho is all too glad to photobomb! What should be a skull-fuckening experience for a regular person with a regular person's capacity for information, however, just has the birdbrain staring even longer with both eye-holes. It's still hurting her head, of course, but it may be a little easier for her to swallow since she's going into this without any idea what a tier 3 subscriber is. That, or it's just making it worse because now she has to live with that knowledge. Either way, Utsuho's keeping her energy levels high to match BB's! "Whoa... Hey, Master! Can you see me? I'm on..." She pauses briefly. "BB Channel! Hey, what's BB stand for?" She asks immediately, never looking away from the Internet Light while making the barest attempt at mimicking BB's energetic bouncing. Perhaps she's taking that pain in the back of her head as a challenge. Perhaps she's taking it as an opportunity to strengthen her mind. Perhaps she's just too dumb not to look away.
Kale Hearthward	"All in the same room - no no, hardly, perish the thought... Timmy, Tommy, if you could?" The two teenage raccoons hurry back from the central tent, holding small bags, which they press into hands. "Here, here, full-size tents and starting kits and a few little things," says Timmy. "(Little things.) Camping kits, crafting worktables, some basic tools... FM/casette radios, since a little music adds to the ambience," adds Tommy. "(To the ambience.)" "What - this place has a name already, right?" says Kale, looking into the phone. "No sir - all that's in the system right now for this island is a set of coordinates," says Nook. "Naming rights of course fall to you, the deedholder, yes yes." "Well - wait, these are tents? What?" Kale's been handed one of the bags, and opens it, distracting him from the name question. "These are - these are little models," he says, pulling out a 'full-size tent' that fits in the palm of his hand. "Yes yes," says Timmy (or maybe Tommy). "Just find a good spot, drop it on the ground, and you'll be all set up." "(All set up.)" "Yeah, sure," says Kale, tossing it up and down in his palm, idly. "Like this little thing is going to turn into a full size- oops-" He fumbles it. The raccoons turn and run and dive, trying to get some distance away from him- POMF
Shinnosuke Tomari	As BB talks to Go, telling him about the secondary rider thing and to 'talk to Drive about it', she can see him immediately shift, become lost in his gaze briefly, and then move over towards Kale to distract himself. "So, camping. Well, sounds like fun. Give it a try, I think. I'll help you out." It's genuine, even if it's an opportunity to avoid uncomfortable stuff. And then the tent starts to fall. As the raccoons start running- Tomari grabs Kale, and pulls him back so he doesn't get crushed under the tent. "You alright? That's some sort of storage, alright."
BB	The bright, skull-filling light of unfiltered, unhindered, pure Content that pours from BB's phone screen isn't hypnotic or suggestive -- because it doesn't have to be! It's fun, posing on stage. An instant audience rabidly supporting their 'new goddess'. A subreddit and a fandom page is instantly created - which Utsuho can experience in real time, the strangely fulfilling ways that headcanons are created, arguments are started, and forums devolve into bitter wars over minor and inconsequential details of her backstory. "BB stands for BB~!" BB declares, signing another v-fingered idol selfie with a bright smile into the Infinite Internet. "You've got so much promise - you're hired! Congratulations! The latest goddess on the BB Channel team, Utsuho! Here, here-!" Another phone is produced, this one with an orange-yellow eye styled phone case, and passed to Utsuho. "Here's your affiliate portal! It's connected to the Moon Cell, so don't lose it. Or, if you do - lose it somewhere cool! If you ever want to move up to the BBig leagues, just~ let~ me~ know~!" Her tone drops, as Tom Nook and the Nooklings show off the amazing CAMP ISLAND FEATURES. "Partnering with BB Channel means that everyone will BBask in the light of your sun! Everyone will love what you BBecome~!"
Go Shijima	"You got it!" Yes, Utsuho and Rin are both doing the pose right. He gives them Finger Pointers of Approval. "And so do you!" One pointed BB's way. Yes. Drive is the secondary to Mach. Of course he is. Cops are never primaries, the Mach Driver is the newest system, and besides that, the Mach suit has Protagonist Colors and a Protagonist Shoulder Cape! It's just science, Shinnosuke. Speaking of science, Go is amused by Kale's fumble, accepting his tent and the little details without much fanfare, and making an impressive backwards somersault to get clear. He procures the Mach Shift Bike before he's even hit the ground--a little miniature motorcycle in white with red and blue embellishments--and waggles it at Kale once he lands. "Miniaturization techology, Kale! Just ask Mr. Belt." The bike is pocketed. "I'm gonna find the best spot," he confidently declares, a thumb on his chest. With that, he's off. Literally running. He heads over towards the northwest portion of the river, setting his tent up as quickly as he can. Why is this the best spot, to him? It's got a little pond, a view of the terraced cliffs to the north, of the islet formed by the river's fork to the northeast, and the river's gentle burbling should be quite relaxing for ambience. The map would mark it as D-2.
Hellwarming Trio	Five flowers. Utsuho's easily drawn into just staring at that thing, and the audience cheering her on certainly doesn't hurt. "So it's that easy to get famous, huh? Man.. Wait until they see just what kind of stuff I can do when I'm not just screwing around." She laughs and takes the phone gladly, raising it overhead like some kind of victory trophy. Thankfully, she avoids spiking it into the ground in the heat of the moment. "'Affiliate portal'... 'Moon Cell'. I dunno what any of that means, but sure thing!" Utsuho's going to spend a bit longer messing with that phone, but she has enough sense not to start setting fires or anything particularly crazy like that. Rin, meanwhile, is busty scurrying around to get a better look at what the raccoons are gathering up for everyone. "Like the ones those people use before they get eaten by bears and stuff? I dunno, bro. Kinda dicey to be sleeping in one of those, don't ya think? Especially if it's so tiny." And then the tent explodes in size. She gawks for a while before poking her head right in. "Ooh... Roomy." At Go's suggestion, Rin hurries over to Shinnosuke, then squats in place and peers right at Belt. "Hey, bro. Is that tent stuff the same as that thing Go said?" Whether or not she gets an answer, though, Utsuho's already moving with her own tent capsule in hand. "Last one to get a cool spot gets... Not a cool spot!" She laughs as she flies off, scoping out the island at her own pace. Once she sees it, she dives right towards... E-1. It's by the water, the sandy beach is nothing like home, and there's a nice rock!
Shinnosuke Tomari	Mr. Belt is clipped onto Shinnosuke's waist, in order to help pick a location for his tent. "Yes, that is miniaturization technology." Mr. Belt says with confidence, because what else would it be? The pair seek the best place to put a tent - somewhere near both the river and the beach (walking distance wise), near the airport so he can get to and from easier, and not too far from the others or the town square. The map would mark it as E-3.
Kale Hearthward	Kale gets yanked away from the POMF-ing tent. The tent, set up, is luxurious as far as camping tents go - fun fact, the commonly accepted practice in tent advertising is to grossly overestimate the amount of people that can fit inside of a tent (which is already overestimating how many people can fit comfortably) so these are technically 8- or 10-person tents. "Well I guess... this is as good a spot as any?" says Kale, looking at the tent. "It's near the airport and your HQ place over there..." Other people, likewise, stake claims, near the airport or near the western shore or river. The tents expand nearly instantly (and less dangerously than Kale's fumbled one) and the bags have a few other starting bits of furniture and necessities, as advertised. "A little bit of tanuki magic," says Nook, a glint in his eye. "Makes construction a cinch, too, yes yes..." "... The island is yours, till Mr. Hearthward decides he's had enough of it at least," Nook says with a tone indicating that he believes that's unlikely. "Feel free to spread out, stake your claims, make yourselves at home - or I do have a few more things to show you at the central tent, when you're ready." "Or, of course, you could help Mr. Hearthward come up with a name for the island, if he doesn't have one in mind already, yes yes."
Hellwarming Trio	Rin: "So what's with the phone?" Utsuho: "Something about being a BB Cell affilliate... Portal? Moon stuff." Rin: "Does that mean we can go to the moon?" Utsuho: "No, but we can show off how cool we are to more people. They can see us!" In the middle of getting their tent set up (because of course they're going to shack up together), the duo can be seen just vibing hard with that orange-yellow phone propped up on a rock facing them. Once said vibes are out of their system, Utsuho and Rin return to the gathering point as the topic of deciding on a name is brought up. Utsuho: "Oh! Oh! Let's call it... The..." Rin: "Haunted Island of..." Utsuho: "Popcorn..." Rin: "Chicken." They are very bad at this.
BB	Tom Nook's offer is gobbled up by BB, the BBouncing beach-attired girl bobbing and shaking his hand. "Yes, yes, of course! You and I have an understanding! In fact, Mister Nook -- could I call you Tom? -- I'd like to add you as a sponsor to my BB Channel! I love your attitude, and I think there's just millions of subscribers waiting eagerly for you to help them with their material desires. And you will -- see?" One of BB's shaking hands pulls away, a rainbow prism appearing in her palm like a spring shower's colored arch had been mined out and the raw ore translocated into her fist. In each facet reflects Tom Nook or one of the Nooklings (Nooklings), though it reflects them more completely than as they merely are: each facet reflects a different time-stamp of the character, reflecting their face having gone through events that had come, were present, or would soon be. A crystallization of the Nook Lore. "I'll BBe sharing Nook with everyone I know! Yay! Mercantilism!" She snaps her fingers, and an obsidian tent-pole rises out of the earth at F1, right at the edge of the beach with the pier. A flag unfurls at the top, with a big BB in an action pop spike bubble. "I'm sure BB, the Nooks, and Market Forces will go together like the letters B and B~!"
Kale Hearthward	"I'm not naming it Haunted Popcorn Chicken Island," says Kale. "... Horizon sounds pretty good, though," he adds, in response to Tomari's suggestion. "Maybe needs a little extra something - 'New Horizon' or 'New Horizons'..." He tries the names out, then shakes his head. "Maybe just 'Horizon', then." "A sponsorship would actually be ideal for- ah-" Nook starts to say, before BB pulls the rainbow prism out of him. "Was... that the sponsorship? Ha ha ha!" He laughs, a full-throated belly laugh that has its own sound effect. He's done business with multiversal elites before, he knows to roll with the unexpected happenings. His laugh cuts off abruptly when he sees one of the scenes reflected in the crystal. He's there - a much younger Tom Nook, at an office meeting table, shaking hands with someone with red fur. A reminder of something in the past - certainly not a good reminder, going by the look that briefly crosses the racoon's face. But then the scene fades from view, replaced with something from a happier time. "Ahem - well, then," he says, coughing into the back of a hand. "Whatever that was, an actual sponsorship too, if you would."
Go Shijima	There's a stump near Go's tent. Perfect place for a radio! The cot and lantern which came with the tent are naturally set up inside. There's not much else to do--though he does snap a picture of the tent, with the cliffs rising above the treeline behind it and the river bending around it, standing far back enough to capture the pond and adhere to the rule of thirds. Nice! He's back by the Nooks before long. "Yo, Mr. Nook! I got my spot set up and everything. What now?" He didn't hear that there were Other Things he might be shown. Because he ran off. Because that's how he rolls.
BB	"An actual sponsorship for Tom Nook Overnight Construction LLC, coming right up!" BB cheers, her hand closing around the rainbow prism and the object melting away. A turn of her opposite hand offers Tom a sheaf of very boilerplate terms with reasonable rates and garuntees - one of those formality 'let's get to work' contracts where everyone makes a lot of money and the pennies aren't important. "Ma-ha is back! Yay~!" BB calls, yahoo-waving down the beach. "Now that Kamen Rider is back, I feel so much more safe. Say, Tom..." BB turns back, leaning over. "You wouldn't happen to have forgotten to mention any problems that Kamen Rider could solve for you, did you? They're powersuit protectors with hearts of ~justice~."
Kale Hearthward	Tom gives the sheaf of papers a quick scan over, and then they pomf into his pocket to be read carefully and in detail later before he signs, because Mama Nook didn't raise no fools. "Yes, actually... some problems for Kamen Rider to solve. I have just the thing, yes yes." And then the raccoon produces... a pen, and a stack of prestamped postcards. "How about you write out some letters to the others here? Just write anything nice, really - it'll solve the problem of giving the mailman here something to do, ha ha hah." There's the laughing sound effect again.
Hellwarming Trio	"Aw." Utsuho and Rin both sound disappointed. Not surprised, just disappointed. Utsuho: "Horizon's not bad, though. But if this gonna be a new place, does this mean we're gonna need stands and stuff?" Rin: "Yeah, like with hawkers-" Rin freezes for a moment, being very careful not to look at Kale nor Utsuho. Rin: "-merchants selling cool local stuff?" Utsuho: "Or food! Food's important." With their priorities laid out clearly, Utsuho keeps mulling over and pitching potential names to Kale that are invariably terrible. Said names generally include some combination of 'Hell', 'Sun', 'Meat', and 'Fire'. Rin, meanwhile, borrows Utsuho's phone with little resitance. She's still skeptical about the moon thing, after all, so she's going try opening that connection, poking her head in, and coming right back!
BB	"Great! Postcards! It'll be just like the island getaway everyone dreams about! Let's make it an affordable paradise for everyone, today!" BB's effusiveness manifests as 'shine' effects and sunny rays BBouncing off her skin. Cartoonishly. Clear raytraced beams from the sky look extra fake as they shine off of her. "Coming to you live from New Horizons: It's endless Summer BB Channel~!" She takes that Extremely Online phone window and loops her arm around Tom Nook's shoulder, holding out the screen high to take a selfie with a bright smile and a cute stuck-out tongue. Nook can tell. He can taste the subscribers, the Engagement, the Content in his teeth. "Let's make paradise an affordaBBle reality~!" Meanwhile, Rin presses their face against a phone screen. As a cat, she can smush her face right through the far more mundane BBiOS touchscreen interface, which opens a familiar cherry-pink yawning void of Engagement, that-- Spits her smushed Cat-face into a broad, Extremely Pink room through what appears to be the room's door's key-hole, set up with a pink-with-white-insides bed, RGB rainbow GAMING PC, cat ear GAMER headset, and microphone for the most mundane of streaming setups. It's a vtuber cube. In her phone. It may be connected to the actual moon via physical halls, but apparently Utsuho now has a GAMER APARTMENT on the MOON?
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry Princess's reaction to the raccoon-people is identical to how she first looked at Kale: her smile sets into something just fractionally more distant and artificial as she strains to keep herself from dissociating entirely. It's not a look of disdain, or fear, or even really shock. It's a look of desperately trying wrangle her brain into processing the fact that a short little fuzzy man with a tail is actually talking to her in real life. After a couple moments she fumbles in her pocket, pulls out a chiclet-like tab of nicotine gum, then reconsiders and goes for two. It's gonna be a weird day. All throughout the proceedings, she seems to be having a slight crisis, rubbing her arm and staring out at the forested island's interior with a kind of pensive blankness. The tabula rasa of a wild area doesn't seem to quite connect with her, until her brain finally comes up with an idea she can latch onto: "The water... flows down to the ocean, right? So there must be- a lake, I think, where it starts. Or a spring. That sounds... nice." She starts trudging off to the north with newfound purpose, towards the rivers' origin at B4! Her wiry agility makes it easy(ish) to scrabble up the cliff-faces along the way, with only a couple of dirtied knees to show for it.
Go Shijima	Problems for a Kamen Rider to solve? All the way out here?! There is an 'EH' building up... but it's just letters. Go dramatically snatches a few postcards and the pen with one dexterous swipe. "Write!" The pen is flicked into the air, caught with the other hand. "Commemorate!" The pen is clicked with both hands crossing. "Both done at..." A reverse hand spring pushed off into an incredible corkscrew somersault. "Mach speed!" He waves to BB, then begins writing some letters with his name, his website, how bikes are great because you can feel the open air on you, and how he can't wait to meet everyone.
Shinnosuke Tomari	Tomari ends up grabbing a postcard as well, grabbing a spare pen if there is one, and just kinda stares at Mach, before laughing awkwardly. "Alright, what to write about..." Milk candy. Cars. Something cheerful said by his 'buddy' Kiriko, who he isn't thinking about right now, nope, not at all! And, finally, how he hopes they can all become good friends. Those are all nice for random postcards, right? Once they're done, he returns the pen. "Another job done by Kamen Rider. Don't worry about a thing on this island, I'll help take care of it."
Hellwarming Trio	That's a weird portal alright. Rin can't even tell if this Extremely Pink room is actually on the moon or not, but being able to shove her head in definitely isn't a normal thing. There's a strong temptation to just dive right in there and see where it all leads, but... After she's done messing around on the island. Her head comes back out, and she giggles with childlike glee. "It's so cool and shiny in there! And there's a bunch of stuff I don't really get... hey, Okuu! Let's check it out later!" Utsuho, finally done with suggesting awful names, switches gears to getting that tent set up. Not that there's a lot to really do without decorations on hand. "Yeah, sure! But we gotta get stuff to spruce this place up first. Like..." Utsuho gestures vaguely with her hands, but she seems to be drawing the outline of a tree or a fire hydrant or something in the air. She gives up a few moments later. "... Stuff, you know? The cooler we make this place look, the more impressive it'll be when we start doing bigger things. Like bonfires!" If they're not stopped, Utsuho and Rin are going to start looking for weird stuff to gather for decorations. It'll keep them busy for the night, at least.
Kale Hearthward	In the infinite multiverse of Tom Nooks, there are good Tom Nooks and bad Tom Nooks. This one is one of the former, whose made his money (mostly) honestly and builds and sells homes straight up for cash or 0% loans instead of forcing people into them and putting them in crippling Raccoon Mob Debt. But then again, across the infinite multiverse of Tom Nooks, some things are universal, like eyes turning into dollar signs when he sees the Engagement Metrics. "Oh, well, I guess it is 'New Horizons', then?" says Kale. "New Horizons it is! The Nook Incorporated 'Community Building Island Getaway' package - accept no substitutes, yes yes! Call for more details, operators are standing by, yes yes!" announces the raccoon, making sure he gets The Pitch in on BB's stream. "Ready to take your calls!" "(Take your calls!)" Strawberry Princess finds a perfect spot, next to the spring at the top of the mountains. As she goes to set up, a fish leaps up out of the water and nearly splashes her. "So - yes, yes, sprucing up the place, to the point I was going to make - island improvement. Community building, as promised," says Nook. "Yeah, I know I got the wrong package, but I do distinctly remember reading something about there being more than this," says Kale. "Yes, yes - and so to the point, to get the most out of your new home, you'll be asked to put effort into it. Sort of a points and reward system - well, no 'sort of', it is exactly a points and reward system, yes yes. Do things to 'grow the community' - clean up the island, chat with your neighbors or send letters, plant flowers, tend the fruit trees, find or make or bring in decorations - and you'll be rewarded in the Nook Miles App, which you can use to earn things like... upgrading those tents into houses, and getting new furniture to put in them, all at no additional cost. All part of the Community Building package." Indeed, people writing postcards have their phones ding with incoming points. "... An actual house does sound nice," says Kale, glancing back at his tent. Meanwhile, Utsuho examines a tree and finds a traffic light token... somehow.
Hellwarming Trio	Their job is complete! Utsuho and Rin return from their little adventure with their token prize in tow, not quite sure what to do with it once they return. Rin: "Where should we put it?" Utsuho: "Somewhere everyone can see it, of course. Like..." With their brain cells combined, Rin's already looking over as Utsuho flies over to the their tent, tossing the token right in front of the entrance. They whoop and they holler as it becomes a traffic light, not thinking at all about the logistics of actually trying to get into the tent later. They'll figure it out eventually. Rin: "If you find any trash, bring it to me. I'll keep it gathered in a nice, big pit for when we need to get the big bonfire going!" Utsuho: "And I can look for more cool stuff! Speaking of..." Utsuho turns to Kale, still looking mildly excitable. "You can fly, too, right? We could spot all sorts of weird stuff if we go high." She suggests, flapping her wings once beneath her cloak and then stopping once her stomach grumbles. "... Or food. Food is good.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry pulls herself up the final ledge, dusts her hands off on her jacket, and lets out a deep, deep sigh. The sun's shining down from above. The river's burbling along, flowing from its source down to the ocean. From this vantage point, the rest of the island spreads out before her to the south. A handful of trees sway nearby. The water's source is deep and clear. Something about this feels... wholesome? Satisfying? A fish leaps out of the water and splashes nearby, startling her into covering her face. Then she laughs, which surprises her too. There's nobody here to laugh for. Why'd it come so easily? Something inside of her is unraveling, some tight little braid of stress. Strawberry sets up her tent, and her fire-pit, and then finds a nice rock to sit on and stare down at the island. She can see the others' tents from here; can see them where the trees permit. Her breath's catching just a little, for some reason, and her fidgeting hands find their way to the strawberry pin on her jacket. This is... good? This is good.
Kale Hearthward	"Looks like there's orange trees around, or you could go do the fishing thing?" suggests Kale. He listens to his radio for a moment. "That it?" he asks Nook. "That's it - enjoy your new home... unless you're wanting that refund?" the raccoon says, looking at him expectantly. The hawk sighs. "Fine, fine - you've sold me on it. Staying." "Excellent, then, Mr. Hearthward - the island is yours, yes yes. Go enjoy it." Kale heads up north, activating his jet boots as he goes... ... and closing in on Strawberry's claimed spot at a steady pace, not hurrying, and landing nearby and walking the rest of the way over. "Hey there," he says.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry shifts the gum around in her mouth and stifles a laugh as she waves at Kale flying over. For once, she's not fidgeting with her wand's carrying case. "Hey yourself," she says. "It still... cracks me up, I guess. You're the only bird-person I know to fly with boots. Instead of- you know, flapping your arms." Planting both hands on her knees, she strains to push herself up to standing- a little too much gangly bone, not quite enough muscle on it- and hops down off of her rocky perch to stroll over to the crystal-clear spring. "This is a nice place, Mr. Hearthward. It's- I wasn't sure at first. But I understand now. There's nothing to do except what you make of it, and that's... the point, kind of. It decompresses you. Cycles things down." Both hands slide into her pockets. She catches her reflection in the pond's surface, grimaces a little, and turns to look at Kale instead. "Does that make sense? Or is it- something else, for you?"
Kale Hearthward	"I... don't know? Maybe?" Kale goes to sit down nearby. "I'm a conqueror - that's not all of who I am, but it's a large part, and this opportunity is... asking me to build something, instead? Instead of conquering something?" "At least if you believe Mr. Nook." "So sort of? This place being what we make of it? It's a nice place and there's oranges, but it's not exactly bursting with strategic resources or in a particularly advantageous position, it's just... a nice place."
Strawberry Princess	There it is again- 'conqueror'. If Kale's paying rapt attention, he might notice a brief trace of queasiness pass behind Strawberry's features before she brushes it off. Then again, he might not. "I think they might call this 'man versus nature'," she says slowly, "only it doesn't feel much like 'versus' to me. It's just us." She turns her back on the pond to face Kale more comfortably, her posture straightening out as she takes a deep breath of the cool air. Behind her, a fish splashes at the surface of the water. "I've always liked feeling," she continues, "like my actions have consequences. That they're- important, somehow. And I realize, in a place like this..." Strawberry reaches down, picks up a small rock, and hefts it in her hand. "If I threw this into that pond, how long do you think it'd stay there? If nobody fished it out again... it might stay there until the Sun burned out. And I could walk by every day, and look down into the water, and see it there at the bottom." She turns on her heel and chucks it. Splash. It skips once, then sinks into the depths, falling for a couple of seconds before nestling against the bottom. As she watches it sink, Strawberry says- apropos of seemingly nothing- "Why did you join the Paladins, Mr. Hearthward?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale's not the sort that'd pick up small details, unfortunately. "Hoping it's not man versus nature - I mean if it is and we get a hurricane coming through here or anything, you've got me," he adds, patting a fist to his chest. "... Really, though? I've always just known that. That my actions matter, that they have impacts. That they're important. I've never, really..." He grabs another rock, and chucks it from a seated position, not bothering to wind up. It skips along the river, skip skip skip, and keeps going till it reaches the waterfall at the end. "... never really had doubts," he finishes. The large ripples on the water clearly indicate that he's cheating, though. Also: the fact that the rock's flight path curved backn and forth to follow the bends of the river. "Why'd I join? Because my squad got stood down - and it's looking like it might be permanent, unfortunately - and I needed something to do."
Strawberry Princess	"'Needed something to do,'" Strawberry reiterates softly. She turns the words around in her mouth like they're alien. Her head turns to follow Kale's skipping rock; she laughs just a little, but doesn't bother to compliment. He cheated, and they both know it. She walks over to the tent, pulls a couple of fishing rods out from inside, and sits back down on her rock to start carefully threading some line through the eyes of one of the rods. She's not very good at it; it's obvious that it's her first time. But her hand-eye coordination is, at least, fairly sharp. "The idea of never having doubts. It's..." She trails off for a moment, concentrating to get the thin line through a particularly finicky eyelet. "... What kind of home did you grow up in, Mr. Hearthward? If it's- alright to ask."
Kale Hearthward	"Not... a huge secret, but you know, I don't talk about it much," says Kale. He takes a fishing rod, hesitantly, and then goes to watch Strawberry and try to follow her example. "My family were farmers. I was raised as a farmer. It's why my wind magic is so strong, I got a lot of practice." "Big family, mostly grew grain, lot of... well, not a lot of parental oversight. You got your chores done and got good marks at school and stayed out of trouble and nobody really cared what else you got up to since they were focused on the people who didn't do those things. The most trouble I got into was when I dropped everything and ran to see the traveling theater when it came through." "And... I wasn't fond of it, really. Where I grew up, how I grew up - I ran off to the capital as soon as I felt it was feasable for me to do so. It wasn't really feasable yet, thinking back, but I did it anyway."
Hellwarming Trio	After vibing for a while longer and running amok on the island for the sake of just seeing what the place looks like from ground level, Utsuho and Rin have burnt enough energy that the latter is ready to sleep! Once she figures out how to get around that traffic light in front of their tent, anyway. Utsuho, meanwhile, strolls about the island at a far more relaxed pace with an armful of oranges, and she just so happens to spot Strawberry and Kale having what looks like a heart-to-heart! With all the subtlety of a brick, she heads straight towards the pair and lobs an orange towards each of them before perching upon that same rock. "Hey, Kale. Hey, Strawbre.. Strawberry. Did I miss anything fun?"
BB	From Utsuho's phone, having been returned by Rin, BB's head presses into the screen from the inside suddenly. A glitter star on her cheek is three-quarters applied. ACROSS THE DISTANCE: BB is applying glitter to her cheeks while taking selfies sprawled out on the sand. Engagement is insane. Then, she smushes her phone screen against her face for some reason. Cheek and mouth and one eye sort of bulging out of the screen, BB struggles for a moment before getting her fingers and toes into the screen and pulling it wider (at no apparent ill to the phone) to hook her arm and neck through the hole. When it snaps shut, she makes an annoyed 'aguh' sound when it pinches her neck. "Hey, is your interlude done? I didn't want to BBarge in while you were doing your quiet-by-the-fire scene!"
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry nods along slowly, stringing both fishing rods and tying on the lures as she listens. It's obvious from her quiet consideration that that isn't what she was expecting to hear. When he mentions not being ready, she grimaces sympathetically. "So you've always just... been confident, like that?. Always had that- sense, that you mattered. That's strong." She pushes herself up from the rock, carries the fishing rods over to the edge of the spring, and sits down on a dried-out stump that's close enough to cast from. "Do you ever miss it? The... the farm. Having that life. Your family. It seems like- you're enjoying what you've got now. Being a 'conqueror', being a hero. But does that-" BANG Utsuho- having thus far completely evaded Strawberry's notice- throws an orange at her. As the incoming projectile registers in her peripheral vision, Strawberry draws her glock and squeezes the trigger in one fluid motion. The fruit splatters as it's hit dead-center, covering her in goop anyway like an airburst missile. She blinks and licks her lips in the seconds that follow, consciously processing what just happened. "... It's actually pretty good? I like it. But please- don't throw things at me. It's scary."
Kale Hearthward	"Huh wha-" Kale blinks as the bang goes off. "..." He makes a note not to make any sudden movements around Strawberry. "Um, the interlude's done, I guess? This isn't some theatrical play..." He floats a bit of orange goo over from Strawberry and gives it a taste. "Not bad." "But no I don't miss that much, the farm, that life... not even my family, really... I don't know. Does that make me a bad person?"
Hellwarming Trio	Noticing BB's sudden appearance via her phone, Utsuho watches her new BBenefactor closely with a slow, curious tilt of her head. As she's coming out, Utsuho turns her phone over to make sure she doesn't fall flat on her face, and she's even in position to catch her if she slips badly! Just in case. "Why not? They-" Utsuho stops when she hears that gun go off, jumping somewhat in surprise before realizing what's just happened. Without realizing the significance of all that, she just cheers, pausing only when Strawberry Princess makes that request. "... Really? But you're strong, and your reflexes are crazy good. What's an orange gonna do to you?" Clearly, Utsuho doesn't get it. Kale's question, meanwhile, has Utsuho furrowing her brow. "Do you not have parents or a master or anyone waiting for you?"
BB	BB, once more forced to cartoonishly squeeze and peel Utsuho's phone open to fit herself through, uses her shoulders and arms to widen the gap, and gracefully leaps through it-- For the phone's sides to snap taut on her hair, causing her to '''awkwardly stumble''' directly into Utsuho's arms. For some reason her unwholesome sprawl, one hand cupping the inside of Utsuho's chin, seems very intentional even if the phone dangles off the end of her hair. Spending a moment to return Utsuho's new phone, BB hops out of the bird-demon's arms and strikes a v-fingered pose as if re-introducing herself. "Hit her, I think. Some people have that death maid aura, and it's totally the cutest. The violence makes it interesting!"
Strawberry Princess	"Sorry- give me just a second," Strawberry says, still blinking away the stinging citrus in her eyes. Holstering her handgun again, she unslings the carrying case from her back and slips one hand inside it, toggling her wand on and then off again ever-so-briefly. In the quarter-second of uptime, she's engulfed by two little flickers of pink light. In between the two flashes, she's briefly clothed in her full magical girl outfit- and at the end, she's reverted to wearing her casual clothes again, now perfectly free of orange goop. "A 'fruiting gallery' could be kind of fun," she says hesitantly, obviously so baffled by BB's mode of pseudo-teleportation as to not even try to comprehend it. "But would you just... throw the oranges, or do you have some kind of BB Launcher?" Her expression takes on a grimacing tinge as soon as those words leave her mouth, immediately realizing that the answer must be 'yes'. She bends down to pick up the two fishing rods and toss them back into the tent, now- at least- properly strung. Kale gets a slightly chagrined along the way, as if to say: don't worry! We'll do this later. "I don't think that makes you a bad person, Mr. Hearthward," she says slowly as she closes the tent flap and straightens back up. "I don't- miss home, either. So if that does make you bad... I guess we can be bad together, right?" Finally, she walks over to lean against a tree near Utsuho, outwardly calmed but still just a little jittery in demeanor. Her fingers fidget with her carrying case's strap. "When bad things happen to you, sometimes- you get scared, of stuff that just looks like the bad thing. So I get scared of silly things sometimes. Like an orange thrown at my head. I can be brave, but I'd rather not be scared in the first place. Does that... make sense?"
Kale Hearthward	"I guess we'll be bad together, yeah," says Kale, a little distracted - his thought are elsewhere for a brief bit. "I've got 'masters' - but they're in my squad, so it's not like I don't see them regularly." "... You want to set up a, um, fruiting gallery, you go ahead," he says. "Just pick a spot and... yeah? It's not like there's really anything here yet."
BB	"It's fine. I've got a perfect BB Plan. And yes - it will involve BB Cannons! Minigame corners will be a bright, happy occurrance on my BBoardwalk~!" Answers BB, a confident smirk tugging up the left side of her face and bright red hearts replacing her pupils unnaturally. "But since we don't have any oranges yet, it doesn't need to carve off the beach view. A Bigger-On-The-Inside minigame corner is ideal, because..." Crouching down low, knees together, BB brushes her hand against the stone. "I really do like the BBeach. It's one of my favorite places. The sort of places people give to go to. Simple paradises. It's nice to get away." This somber moment hangs for a few more moments, before BB whips out her phone and glittered q-tip to resume to capturing engagement right where she left off. "And that's why I'm inviting all my very best SuBBscribers to win the new SSR prize on my BB Slots, a trip to New Horizons~! Pull early and often, everyone~!"
Hellwarming Trio	Perhaps fortunately or unfortunately for BB, Utsuho's reactions to the hand on her cheek is entirely plain. No embarassment, no flustered stammering, just plainly helping her back onto her feet (and dabbing behind BB when she goes for the pose). That contrast between might still appeal to some segment of the fanbase, at least! "Careful. If you hit your head on a rock, you might end up even dumber than the weird me." She offers some sage(?)ly advice before listening to the death maid explanation, resting a hand on her chin in deep contemplation. Utsuho closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then nods. "Mhm. That would be cute." She confirms it, then stares at Strawberry Princess when she re-and-de-transforms to get the orange gunk off. A moment later, Utsuho golf-claps! "Ooh... Convenient! Wish I could do that with mine. Not getting scared in the first place, though... That should be easy, right?" Utsuho puffs up her chest proudly. "Strong people like us don't need to be scared of anything. If nothing can stop us, then nothing can scare us. Easy, right? And even the stuff that can stop us doesn't have to scare us. I got beat up by a whole bunch of people a while back, but they didn't scare me then, and they don't scare me now." It seems to make enough sense in her head, at least, and she certainly sounds completely convinced about whatever that logic is. "... Who's pulling what now?"
Hellwarming Trio	To Kale, Utsuho furrows her brow once more. "Multiple masters? Well, if they're with you all the time, then... Yeah, it makes sense not to miss them. I don't miss Master, either, but me and Rin usually go back home, anyway." She glances at her own tent. Rin, thankfully, has finally managed to get inside! "Except tonight, I guess. But she'll be okay."
Kale Hearthward	"A trip to - hey, I didn't authorize - whatever," says Kale, deciding she's making some joke (and also not realizing how rare SSR really is) "Yeah - North Wind and South Wind, my magic trainer and my weapons trainer - also North's the one I would have taken you to if you still wanted flying lessons," he adds to Strawberry. "And then we ended up as the four Regalia, and it's been... not always great, but we're a squad, or at least we were. I'm not sure what they're up to since we've been stood down." "... I also have a steady boyfriend, so I'm good on 'family' there."
BB	"Wow!" BB gasps, her phone nowhere to be seen, as she shuffle-scooches so fast action lines and fastness dust is left in her wake. "What's he like? Is he ~dreamy~?" Knuckles pressed into her cheeks and her chin supported by her wrists, BB is absolutely here for the Hot News on Boys.
Kale Hearthward	"I'd really rather not say anything about him to someone who's broadcasting all over the place, thanks," says Kale, leaning back from BB.
Strawberry Princess	"It's a fringe perk," Strawberry says with a good-natured smile. "But... I'd trade it, I think, for being as fearless as you are. You're not any kind of human, are you, Ms. Reiuji? So I think- we're probably built different, like that. I guess I just get scared easier." BB gets a look of vague mortification. "Wait. You've got- how many 'suBBscriBBers', exactly? And if a lot of them come here... I mean- if they trample everything..." She trails off, gesturing at the wilderness and looking a little helplessly anxious. Clearly, this is a girl who doesn't understand how gachas work. Strawberry ducks into her tent for a moment and comes out with a small survival knife. Grabbing an orange from overhead, she resumes leaning against a tree and starts to peel it bit by bit, being so thorough that it's clearly more a meditative exercise than a practical attempt at securing food. "North Wind... so flying's a sub-thing of magic. I might still like that, Mr. Hearthward. If they taught you, they must be great," she says, concluding with an emphasized sunny quirk to her smile. The talk of a boyfriend elicits a more contemplative tone: "I'm glad that that's something you're able to have," she says earnestly, with no further elaboration.
BB	"Really? That's a shame. My BB Channel reaches across time and space. People you'll never know will, for a few seconds of their lives, hear what you have to say, and live in a timeline where that happened. And you can say anything you want." BB twirls that Extremely Online beaming phone around in her hands, the strange cherry-pink light scattering Internet Photons through the air. "I'm a host, of the greatest content stream. A precursor to all of the interesting things that sparkle in life. I only have time for good memories." Spinning the screen to face Kale, the Extremely Online effect ends. Black screen. Then, like a streaming dashboard, Kale can see himself, on the bottom right corner of a Nook Properties ad. His face tracks to the face on the screen. "You can say anything at all to your boyfriend. How about a 'Hey. I love you.'?" BB winks. "The people want to see it. They crave real passion. And your wonderful partner-to-be gets to know your love was shared across the greatest platform!" Both Strawberry and Kale express worry about Gacha Rates. "Pfff, SSR? Don't worry about it. It'll be a month BBefore people start scraping statistically relevant pull depths. One or two new friends, and we'll have all the money points needed for a forever-vacation! Yatta~!"
Hellwarming Trio	"That's a lotta trainers. So which direction are you out of them?" Utsuho asks Kale, her lack of restraint possibly coming to a head already. "And is the last direction your boyfriend? Although that might be kinda weird if he's your master, too..." Rubbing her head lightly, Utsuho finally remembers to offer BB an orange while grinning at Strawberry Princess. "That's right! I'm strongest hell raven. If you want to get stronger... I think I told you how to work on that already, right?" Did she? Of course she did. "Human, youkai, whatever. If you want it, just take it. If it really was wrong all along, someone'll come by and knock you to your senses." That simple bit of 'wisdom' dispensed, Utsuho turns her attention back to BB's fantastical claims about things the raven clearly doesn't understand the implications of. "So if I said I was the ruler of the planet, then that'd be true somewhere? Or if I said I was an egg farmer and had an unlimited supply of..." She tries to work in some of these weird terms she's eating. "SSR eggs? To... Eat, I guess. Would that work?"
Kale Hearthward	"I've got Tabtrack, a lot of people have gliders or such that they use, but she's just gotten so good at wind magic that she can fly all on her own." The phone is brought up and BB's explanation is given. "I can... ah..." Kale looks at his face on the screen. He composes himself. Dramatic skillset, go. Improvisational skills, go. "Look. I know what you're going through, I know you're having a rough time, I know you still miss the - you miss your dad. And you're really busy." "But - if there's anything I can do, come see you, bring you something from outside of our homelands - there's a lot of neat stuff, even just be someone for you to talk to, a confidant... reach out more? Don't be a stranger?" "I love you," he finishes, and signals for BB to turn the feed elsewhere. "- No, West is a girl, anyway, no. I'm East, North's our mage, South's our weaponry expert, West and I are wildcards. And my boyfriend's neither one of them or one of my masters - that sounds kinda like it's a double entendre, also."
BB	BB flips the phone down in her hands dutifully when Kale signals his completion, pupils still unnaturally red hearts on her pale purple eyes. A watery waver lingers at the edges, an emotional upwelling. "That was really BBeautiful, Kale." She spins the phone back towards her. "And engagement is off the charts! Wahoo!" BB tumbles back and sprawls out on her back, a snowless snow angel of contentedness. "Doubles are better anyway. Entendres, matches, letters. The symmetry is pleasing. It feels right." BB waves her phone like a magic wand towards Rin. "You can say you're anything that the people will take. The best at giving become the best at taking. That's why I'm the Ultimate Five-Star Final BBoss! I'm just so giving I could BBurst!" Her arm falls across her stomach, phonescreen resting face-down against skin so none of the Internet Photons escape. This may or may not be some ASMR degenerate thing. No, now you're sure it is. "I hope you'll all make wonderful wishes on my golden cups, and lead BBeautiful existances."