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Merelisa Shaynore     The Precures have comfortably settled into the routine of calling on the Elites when they discover the position of one of the Stellar Notes, and on those grounds alone, this adventure would be justified. But, even more critically than usual, the circumstances around the Stellar Note need to be protected too, at Lala's insistence. When Yuma's star shaped wormhole drops the Elites beside the camper van, Lala is immediately gesticulating and showing off a poster advertising a concert by the galactic idol, Mao, as part of the centennial performance on a planet known as Capella A. In the background of the poster, past Mao's smiling face, is a glowing gold Stellar Note with the Libra symbol on it, on top of a pile of other offerings.

". . . and if the Nottraiders show up to steal it we have to be there or else Mao and the other people in the crowd might get hurt, lun, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime concert anyways lun so--"
"Ehe... I don't think they need to be convinced, Lala. We can tell them on the way there."
"Lun. I'll drive, lun!"

    The concert, as they explain on the way there, is an event held once every hundred years based on the sleep cycle of a mythical beast that lives on this planet known as the Crystallulon. The Crystallulon is apparently responsible for all the prosperity on Capella A as long as its sleep is restful, so every hundred years when it wakes up, the people of this planet and the rest of the Starscape Union come together to make sure that it has all the musical entertainment and offerings that it could want, so that it can fall back asleep content and with good dreams.

". . . so, of course Mao would be the star of the show, lun, since she's got the prettiest voice in the galaxy."

    AI, or rather 'Love Prime', as it was dubbed for the race on Cybertron, is the main animating force behind the adorable camper van, so the fourteen year old magical girl in the donut-shaped pilot's seat isn't solely being left to drive, but it does mean that she gets to put on her own music. This means listening to Mao's entire discography on repeat for the couple hours it takes to drive over to the mystical cave that the multi-day performance is being held at, along the cliffside roads over the alien vista of Capella A. It's all very high energy, saccharine pop music, with a strong synth bend, with Mao's cutesy coy demeanor placed front and center to every song.

    The interior of the camper van isn't unlike the spaceship's was, because it's just the spaceship transformed into a streetworthy form. Mostly pink, yellow, metallic teal, and purple, covered in hearts and sparkles and stars at every opportunity, it has the girls' overlapping personalities splattered over every inch. Their bunk beds are to the back, covered in plushies and books and strings of star-lights, and photos and pencil drawings of all the planets they've been to are pinned up on the wall, with the photo of the girls with all the Elites leaving the pikmin planet right in the center. There's a little kitchen, about half taken up by a mysterious blue box labeled The Rice Cooker and Donut Maker Twincool Combo Machine, with meal plans and cute little doodles covering the whiteboard on the fridge.

    It's spacious enough for everyone, comfortably. Seating wise, most people can fit on the plush purple couch that's absolutely stacked with pink heart cushions and yellow star cushions, but some will probably need to move to the chairs around the dining table that's across from it. A big star-shaped window shows the vivid blue and purple landscape of the planet as it goes by, as well as the evening sky flooded with stars.
Merelisa Shaynore     As the trip gets on in hours, Hikaru's excited chattering fills the time ceaselessly. "So the concert's tomorrow, but we're getting there tonight because apparently there's a big party the night before too. I wonder if Mao would recognize us from before? Wouldn't that be soooooo twincool, if she looked out into the audience and saw us and was like, 'wow~nya! Those are my friends from before!'? I've never actually been to a concert besides the one on Planet Zeni before and we were too distracted to watch the whole time there...."
Futaba Nuki Futaba almost didn't make it today! After having to rush through roughly twenty-some ceremonies and festivals in the span of two days, she's sorely tempted to just sleep in for the entire day. When she hears that something's coming from the Precures, though...

Well, she can't just leave them alone. She'd be setting a bad example if she missed this matter, too! She is a little more wobbly than usual when she does arrive, though, dropping out of Yuma's wormhole and landing in a squat that's definitely not because she couldn't figure out a cool landing pose on the way in.

"Yo, Hikaru! Hey, Lala! Sup, Yuma?" She greets the three with a quick tap-salute to the side of her head, scrambling into the camper so she does't miss the ride and the rundown on what's going on. "A concert, eh? All to lull a big lug right back to bed...  Alright. Let's see what kinda songs we've got to work with today."

The first hour of Mao music is pretty easy for Futaba to vibe to, and the second even has her singing along somewhat badly. Her energy's fine, but her ear for tone might as well be nonexistent with this style of singing.

"This ride sure cleaned up nice, I gotta say. Good way to make an impact on Mao when she sees it, that's for sure! You got any lighting on the outside of this? Might help catch her eye even better, although..."

Futaba taps her chin as she wriggles in between two seats, shrinking down into a stumpy tanuki-in-her-clothes version of herself to no cramp the camper more than she needs to. "Got anything you wanna say or do when we get there? Wouldn't wanna just show up and get tongue tied, y'know?"
Angela The Library

Malkuth stirred on the slab she was laying on and blearily opened her...eyes? She had two eyes? Her bones ached--she had bones? Her fingers tingled. She had fingers? Toes? Memories slowly returned to her as she swung her legs over the side of the slab and rubbed cobwebs out of her eyes and saw Angela staring at her.

Malkuth screamed and slapped Angela in the face. Her hand immediately protested as a surge of pain coursed up her arm. Then she looked back at Angela, who was still staring at her impassively, and a surge of anger filled her as she slapped Angela on the other cheek, hurting her other arm.

"...Is that enough to satisfy you?" Angela asked.

Malkuth stared aghast at Angela, then back down at her hands. She wiggled her fingers. And then laughing, slapped Angela three more times. "They hurt!" She grinned. "I have feelings in my limbs again, haha!..." Then she scowled and jabbed a finger slightly below Angela's neck. "Wait, no, I'm mad at you! You betrayed everything! And you kept betraying us even after you learned you wouldn't be getting out of here after all!"

"That is okay I don't really care, feel whatever you want." Angela said. "You are the first, I intend to finish up with the others now that I know the process works."

Malkuth frowned. "I'm the first...? Honestly I expected you to just dump the Sephirah who voted against you--"

"We have a manpower shortage so I can't really go around letting people die. Besides, Lilian said I wanted to save you."

"Did Lilian consider that maybe we didn't want to be saved...?" Malkuth asked. "...Hold on you didn't do me first in case it failed--"

Angela cocked her head to the side. "If you want you can leap out of the balcony window as many times as you'd like, though I won't allow you to stay dead. I need your help."

Malkuth smirked. She had lips! She could smirk! "Well I ''am'' pretty capable. But that sure is RICH coming from you. You can keep me alive but you can't force me to work for you."

This was undoubtedly true. And it is not as if Angela could torture Malkuth into conceding even if she wanted to. What kind of torture could she even conceive that Malkuth hadn't already been afflicted with in the past?

"...My plan did not entirely fail. Everyone's efforts did not entirely fail. I am more human now. I theorize that the more human I become the closer I will be able to leave this place. And my EGO tells me it is possible by collecting the Light."

"Well good luck getting it now, it's absorbed by the people now and--" A cold realization hit Malkuth. "...Angela, you can't mean..."

"But that is a discussion for another time." Angela said. "Right now I want you to go outside and accompany Roland--ah you do not know Roland, he is incorrigible but has his charm points--to lend the Precures a hand. I will give you a basic uniform and an EGO in case Nottriders attack but I am not expecting any violence. It is an idol concert after all. Roland will be carrying a pad--"

Malkuth was immediately suspicious. "You just want to see what the fuss is about with an 'idol concert', huh?" Angela didn't argue. "Ugh, fine... at least I'll get to go outside.... But this conversation isn't over, Angela...!"

Ansi153,"Malkuth.")

"Yeah?"

"...Be sure to grab merch. I want to get Petra a souvenir and I doubt a galacticoolly famous idol will mind some shoplifting."

Malkuth was out the door before she realized that Angela said galacticoolly.
Angela NOW

Roland, a man in his thirties, and Malkuth, a woman in her don't worry about that but she seems young, have joined the adventure today instead of the usual Magical Girl EGO using Agents Angela tends to send to Magical Girl events. Roland is wearing a suit, tie, and black slacks and shoes and has a longsword sheathed at his side and is otherwise ungeared. Malkuth is wearing what looks like a forest green jumpsuit with a jabot and dark green thigh-high boots. To those in the know, it is clearly EGO gear but it seems to have evolved somewhat because rather than just being a variety of strangely patterned suit, this one also has iridescent light green butterfly wings sprouting out from the back and they do seem functional enough that they flap back and forth slightly as Malkuth moves. She tried jumping into the air earlier to see if she could fly but--no. They can't do that. Just a cosmetic evolution of the suit, far as she can tell.

"Hello! I am Malkuth, reporting for duty! La--Angela asked me to lend a hand, but I am still getting used to having a human body again, so I'll do my best...!"

"She tripped, like, five times on the way here." Roland says. "But yeah, we're here to help. The Angela's here too." He waves the video pad with Angela's face on it to show her off to the two kids.

"Yes," Angela says. "I am The Angela, as you know. Please make use of my minions as you see fit. They are here to assist you first and foremost."

Roland makes his way to the Rice Cooker / Donut Machine and tries to figure his way around it. "Hey let me try this out here..." He says. "Hey Malkuth, you ever eat donuts before?"

"Not for Ten Thousand years." Malkuth says, wiggling in her seat uncomfortably because she has wings on her back right now and she can't seem to find a way to get comfortable.

"You don't mind if I get everybody donuts, do ya?" Roland asks. "We had to come all the way over from the City so we're pretty famished. Oh--uh--name's Roland by the way. I'm Angela's--"

"Butler." Angela says in lieu of Servant entirely because it's Hikaru and Lala they're helping today.
Tamamo     It's been a while since Tamamo could see the Precures in person, and without knowing they were going to concert, she arrives a bit overdressed -- which is to say, she arrives in the same formal set of flowing robes as she often wears when visiting new places, and also when visiting dangerous places. Probably, they're magical. It just stands to reason. At the very least, they have plenty of places to hide all her talismans, even apart from her habit of using places to hide things that should not have fit inside, like some kind of magician.

    But once she does realize what's going on, she claps her hands together with an, "Oh, I see! Just one moment, then. I think -- yes, hm, this attire would be appropriate, if...?"

    A twirl and what is definitely not really but functionally somewhat close to a magical girl transformation, and her outfit is instantly replaced with another one. More summery-appropriate short, ruffled skirts, trendy asymmetry in the outer layer, detached sleeves, the impression of a rich girl's uniform for no school that exists, a black and gold tie with a fancy mirror design that only reaches her chest, a giant, matching bow at the back of her waist, lace-up boots and thigh-high socks...

    Remaining blue and gold, over all, it threads a line with 'not all that different' on one side of it. At first glance, she might even look younger, though that's really just her heels having lost a few inches.

    "There! Yes, how do I look? Should this blend in?" It's a mystery how she assumed that. Rather, it shouldn't be much of a mystery, even if it's wrong. This is just the level of fox-associated transformation she possesses, and not a bit more -- the level of a disguise that would never fool anyone.

    Regardless, she looks to both magical girls, and Lilian, and anyone spiritually similar to the former who happens to be present, for approval.
Timespace Riders      In the presence of Hikaru and Lala, a curious kind of emotional alchemy happens wherein it's harder to seem tired even if one really is. Lala's excited gesticulating draws smiles even to Sougo and Woz, who are very much exhausted in more than a physical sense. Weary though their enjoyment might be, it is genuine.

    I am The Angela, as you know.

    "Hello, The Angela," Sougo says with a little smile. "Malkuth..." One of the people he'd fought to save, regardless of whether they wanted to be saved. To see her here, in human form, brings complicated feelings. Joy that she can smile and frown and feel. Worry that if she's working for Angela again, there may come a time when she's in worse straits than when he met her; the City isn't kind to people it considers greedy, and its definition of greed is miserably biased in favor of people who already have everything.

But... if she's here, it's because she made the decision to be.

    "Okay," says Sougo, when asked to utilize Angela's minions. He hands his heart pillow to Malkuth. "Malkuth, try this behind your wings. Is that any better?"

    ---

    Even hearing entirely one artist (on repeat, at that) isn't enough to counterbalance the effort that Woz puts into concealing his smile with genuine reasons to stop smiling. It's a relief to be in the presence of something that is grating in an innocent, purely enthusiastic sense. And Mao's music is catchy. That doesn't hurt.

    "Mao is lucky to have a fan as devoted as yourself, Lala," says Woz. "Your brimming enthusiasm is as a ray of light shining across the cosmos."

    "This is my first time seeing the inside of the camper," says Sougo, whose choice of colors in his outfit today (as most days) complements the shades inside. "I really like the personal touches you guys put on it." He's sat on the couch beside Woz. Sougo has a heart cushion in his lap, and Woz a star cushion, for lack of convenient place to put them elsewhere.

    I wonder if Mao would recognize us from before?

    "It might be difficult to pick you both out of a crowd of such size as I expect--but given that Mao herself saw you both ahead of the auction, it is hardly impossible."

Oh--uh--name's Roland by the way. I'm Angela's--
Butler.

    "Felicitations, Roland. I am the somewhat unusual time traveler, Woz, retainer to Sougo Tokiwa," he says with a grandiloquent sweep of his hand towards Sougo, belied only a little by the bags under his eyes.

     "Hello!"
Natsuki Nuki It might not be a great habit for young girls to get in the habit of calling up a treasure-coveting cursed chimera every time they get a lead on the magic zodiac powers of the Stellar Notes, but Natsuki had her own reasons for almost turning down another roundabout with the Pretty Cures.

"Look, Hikaru, I love the offer, but you girls don't need me for every encounter. The Cybertron race was a fluke! I was just there," she chirps through a de-escalating wind down of tone. "-you know, to blow off steam? When you grow up, some day, you might get asked to take a vacation and it's not a good feeling."

Reminiscing, Natsuki lowers her phone from her ear and looks at the image Hikaru sends her on the little screen. Even there, it's . . . pretty clear.

"Wait, is that Mao in front of one of them? Like, right there?"

ONE SMASH CUT LATER,

Natsuki sits on one end of the couch, wearing white pants and black boots with yellow and pink alternating thick laces tied into large bows, an untucked black shirt with the top two buttons loose and red tie equally opened up to hang slightly askew from neck, and a white jacket with orange interior silk layered over her. With her shirt untucked, her tail sprawls over the side arm of the interior couch, boredly actively droop-napping rather than being active.

And she was doing a lot of nodding along and getting into the JUST MAO: FOR MAOURS with singing along on several of the loops, openly excited for such an easy score and a concert. Surely, THIS time, it will be a nothing and maybe even an opportunity for her to snatch Mao's agency sponsorship away from Doramus and sign the galactic idol on to do some *real* business.

'but we're getting there tonight because apparently there's a big party the night before too.'

"Naturally!" The Osakan lady declares happily, having come precisely for the pre- and after-parties on such an easy score. And Mao! This time, that shame at the casino planet would be washed away and she'd grind her heel into Doramus on a battlefield of *her* choosing. . .

"And if the parties, music, revelry, and top-class in the galaxy dancing doesn't please the big thing - I'm sure something else can be worked out."

'Yo, Hikaru! Hey, Lala! Sup, Yuma?'

Also, her sister is there.

"Ughhh, don't you have *festival* things to do?" Natsuki asks, glaring at the younger Nuki. The glares become an impromptu wrestling match of (mostly harmless) 'stop SINGING off KEY!' that causes a momentary cloud of danger before Natsuki gets bored or decides she doesn't want to damage Love Prime or her fit, and flops back into the couch.

"Lady," Natsuki begins, addressing the transforming to summery-appropriate Tamamo. "You fit in better than I will."

Admitting this, Natsuki lifts a hand to fix the ruffle in her hair from sisterly combat. "And you won't find a bigger weirdo than at an idol concert, so you'll comfortably be well ahead of the pack."
Lilian Rook     §So . . . I'm totally here for a local village's dragon appeasement ritual, right? Is nobody going to comment on that? Are there going to be 'fair virgin maidens' there too? This seems like a lot to go through for the equivalent of a groundhog day ritual, I mean. Obviously the concept of prosperity isn't-- am I going to have to slay it? Is it going to be weird if I don't?§

    '. . . so, of course Mao would be the star of the show, lun, since she's got the prettiest voice in the galaxy.'
        "Mhm. Obviously. That makes perfect sense." says Lilian, staring out the window and seemingly lost in thought.

    §Wait, do space aliens live a hundred years or more? Do just some of them? Does Mao? Does Lala? Wait did I just lt Lala drive?!§

    The unfortunate reality of a camper van trip, as cute and otherwise comfortable as it is, means that Lilian can't smoke; which was something she'd assumed would never have been a problem ever, before, but the event horizon of shitty stolen cigarettes has been crossed, and the closer they dwindle to the last few left, the more the inarticulable sacred importance of the act feels more compelling than the nicotine or the dependence on chemical assistance to achieve mental clarity in this trying time. Also, Tamamo really wouldn't like it.

    So Lilian has to listen to the galaxy's cutesiest music on repeat for two hours with Futaba's mediocre accompaniment whilst irritabilitymaxxing on the inside. Lilian spends some of the time thinking that, if she could bottle this feeling, it might make a worthy addition to the mental resilience licensing test back at the Fortiem Septem. The photo on the center wall that contains her own face is the backbone of what gives her the divinely-inspired strength to behave under ordeal.

    'Wouldn't that be soooooo twincool, if she looked out into the audience and saw us and was like, 'wow~nya! Those are my friends from before!'?'

    "She definitely seems like the sort to memorize every one of her fans." Lilian says, sounding just worn down enough to probably mean 'or at least she'd definitely claim to, as a marketing tool'. "Perhaps she might pretend that she doesn't, though. Seeing as we were rather suspiciously proximal to a high-profile theft and all." So when Mao totally doesn't remember anyone, Hikaru has something comforting to think about. That's what Lilian defaults to, with what little brainpower she can spare for obsessively planning out details of the HQ's expansion in her brain.

    Somewhere in the midst of it, she's found time to look Roland over, come to an obviously dubious impression of him, throw him a business card with an apologetic look, then nearly spit out her water bottle once she realizes who Malkuth actually is. She goes half-heartedly poking through her bag, saying "I can get you anything you want to eat! Seriously! This is a big deal! Isn't there anything you want in particular?" before acknowledging the harsh reality that she isn't a Kukuru-type, and looking pleadingly to Tamamo instead.

    Then she nearly coughs up her drink a second time, at Tamamo's transformation. It takes her several consecutive seconds to struggle down water, then air, then unscramble her brain from 'wait now I'm going to be the taller one?' to, and say "No doubt even better than--"
Lilian Rook     'Lady'

    Lilian narrows her eyes.

    'You fit in better than I will.'

    Her clinging gaze reluctantly slides away.

    "--the humans, here. Given which part of the galaxy we're in. Or, I suppose, which galaxy at all." She sighs. "I should have thought mine through more. It's just . . . been a week." Weeks. Plural. Cecilia's involvement had been required to push the boulder over the hill and get her into a different set of clothes than yesterday, Lilian having reached the critical low of using a whiny insistence that she's always overdressed anyways as a pretext to launder a much worse numbness of care. She's dressed for a warm spring garden party at most.

    §This is bullshit. I don't have any shorter heels. But if I learn magic to quickly change my clothes, everyone's going to call it a transformation and say I'm a magical girl again.§
Tamamo     Tamamo is a little unsure how to treat with Angela after the war she'd not been invited to. Lilian's reactions haven't actually made that easier. Moreover, the choking is distracting her. "Lilian--?! Are you quite alright? Do you need some tea?" Was seeing Malkuth that shocking?

    It is fairly surprising. "Ms. Malkuth, you look... quite different from before! I suppose this to be a side effect of what transpired... or am I mistaken?"

    Roland, with whom she hasn't really met before, gets an, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," with somewhat less curiosity than Natsuki gets with the same. There's no deep meaning to that -- Natsuki's just a lot more interesting to look at than 'a butler.' The City may certainly have 'fashion' as a concept, in theory, but it's on the dreary side for Tamamo's pre-20th-century (and pre-suits-and-ties) sensibilities.

    Lilian seems to want donuts procured. "Oh! Let me think... will cake donuts suffice? I do not have the glazed sort stored away, as they seem to require some very different method, and I did not quite understand it. If you would like..."

    Tamamo reaches into a blue and black, gold-trimmed purse, rummages for a bit, and pulls out lacquer lunchbox. "Here we are. I had not expected to serve more than three or six, but please, help yourself."

    Homemade confections, deployed. Most of them are really more like scones, though.

    "It has been some time. I suppose 'how have you been' to be rather loaded, at the moment."
Merelisa Shaynore "All to lull a big lug right back to bed..."

    "Lun! Isn't that so nice of her?"

    Lala might have taken slightly the wrong intent from what Futaba said, but she's so excited that it's hard to correct her. Her horseshoe-shaped command chair is free floating and not locked to staying up front, so once the van gets going, she floats around to join the gathering in the middle of the RV, only occasionally interfacing with AI via the electroconductive sensor pads that react to her antennae.

    "I bet she had the Starscape Union themselves contacting her to ask for her help, lun...."

"Got anything you wanna say or do when we get there?"

    Lala's eyes widen at Futaba's suggestion. "O-oyo, do you think we're going to talk to her? Ah, oyo, w-we should, thank her for last time lun, and..."

    She looks to Hikaru for help, but Hikaru is currently grabbing the tanuki-sized Futaba and placing her in her lap as a plushie, woobling around her cheeks with her palms like play-doh. "We could tell her about messing with Doramus!"

"We can't tell Mao about us *stealing*, lun!"
"But she totally didn't like him."
"That's right, lun... w-wait, but we'd still get in trouble."

    Yuma is absolutely thrilled to have the same music being played over and over again. The Star Drop seems like she's as much a fan of Mao's music as Lala is, and with Futaba about the same size as her now, floats around Hikaru's lap to sing along in MIDI-tones with Futaba. Her head-tendrils tap on Futaba while her own stumpy legs to dance along with the music.

    "_ __- --¯ ¯¯- -_--_-¯¯- ----!"

". . . but I am still getting used to having a human body again, so I'll do my best...!"

    "Oh!! Congratulations, or sorry that happened! What'd you have before? Aaaaand..."

    Hikaru's eyes sparkle at the prospect of the *lurid* details, though it's easy to assume that she wouldn't be so thrilled about 'a rotting brain in a box'. She has to put Futaba aside (sacrificing her to Natsuki's threatened area) in order to stand up from the couch and do her designated greeting to all the new faces, including Tamamo since she hasn't met her in person before.

    "I'm Hikaru Hoshina! I love stars and constellations! As a Precure, I'm traveling the galaxy along with my best friend Lala to protect Yuma and save the universe! It's suuuuuper solariffic to meet you!"

    She totally chose 'solariffic' specifically for Tamamo.

"Yes, how do I look? Should this blend in?"

    "Lun! You look really pretty, Tamamo-no-mae." Lala has absolutely no frame of reference for school uniforms besides Mihoshi Middle School's, so as far as she's concerned, Tamamo is wearing mature and refined clothing befitting a noblewoman. "I don't know about fitting in... I haven't been to a real concert before either, lun. Will *we* fit in?"

    Both Hikaru and Lala have dressed up slightly differently from their usual in anticipation of the upcoming party and concert. Hikaru is wearing a sporty tee and skirt, with a star-covered headband and a crossbody travel bag, and Lala is wearing a cosmically-colored black hoodie with ringed planetoid ornaments on its strings, over a blouse that's definitely just merchanise from one of Mao's album releases. They stare at each other for a few seconds, and the mutual uncertainty whether any part of their outfits are acceptable in this new unfamiliar environment is visible on their faces, until Hikaru gives her a big thumbs up.

    "It'll be okay! Yay!"
Merelisa Shaynore "Mao is lucky to have a fan as devoted as yourself, Lala,"

    A little shy, Lala turns her face down and fiddles with the hem of her skirt. "L-lun... I haven't been a fan of her for that long, really. Just about a year, lun. I found her on the spaceship's radio when I could listen to my own music, lun, and since it was a long trip before meeting Hikaru, it was sort of like she was keeping me company in space."

"And now I'm here to keep you company!"
"So we can go to Mao's concert together, lun!"

"And if the parties, music, revelry, and top-class in the galaxy dancing doesn't please the big thing - I'm sure something else can be worked out."

    "Mhm," Hikaru eyes Natsuki's outfit while nodding, like she's taking notes even though she's about one quarter the nue's size and one hundredth her intimidation factor. "Like motorcycle tricks! Or, I bet you all can do lots and lots of super twincool things..."

"I should have thought mine through more. It's just . . . been a week."

    Lala remembers how down Lilian had seemed over the radio earlier, and for it to have not cleared up after this long.... She's used to bad moods lingering, but they're usually her own! So when it comes to helping others, she frets helplessly for a little bit, before getting up from her chair to fuss with the Twincool Combination Machine. "We can make donuts for everyone, actually, lun! They're really tasty, and it'll just take a minute, so, please don't mind the wait."

    When the first batch comes out, Lala insistently tries to hand one to Lilian first, even though Roland was the one who expressed interest first (he gets his next, though).

    By then, there's only a little bit of driving left before the camper van arrives at its destination. The field that AI comes to a stop in is covered in waves of teal-colored grass, lit as brightly as a full moon just by the stars overhead, and already buzzing with activity from other arrivals in their UFOs and other strange alien vehicles. Hikaru and Lala pile out into the grass, and the camper van makes a sound like the Combaticon's transforming between vehicle and humanoid forms, before the back opens up into a metal canopy and collection of folding chairs and tables perfect for... tailgating!
Angela "Hello The Sougo." Angela says, continuing the bit, expression neutral.

It's honestly kind of hard to get accustomed to the Sephirah's personalities when they don't have faces but now Malkuth is easy to read. Malkuth is prone to smirking and grinning and has a great deal of self confidence--the kind that lasted all the way through the fall of Lobotomy Corp and led her to be the first Sephirah to move against Angela. The one thing Malkuth hates most is giving up--but she doesn't seem inclined to snark to or about Angela in front of fourteen year olds and, notably, the other people who BETRAYED HER.

Sougo gets her flicker to fade, briefly, as she turns her attention to him. "Hello ''Sougo''" She says with extra emphasis on his name. "''Woz''. You don't have to worry about giving me a hand at all. I can handle it just fine." She pushes the pillow back into Sougo's hand, apparently not yet at the level of forgiveness where she can accept Sougo's heart (pillow). She's not one of the ones who accepted Woz's deal, after all. To her that vote was yesterday. She's still upset! On the bright side, she didn't start stabbing the pillow either.

Angela, who has no idea if Tamamo would 'blend in' or not, assures her, "You look wonderful, Tamamo. I haven't been able to inquire as to how your investigations are going, but I hope you've made progress." Angela tells the Goddess. One might mistakenly assume that she is referring to the Pianist incident but she's not. She is, of course, talking entirely about Tamamo's romance investigations.

''Felicitations Roland.''

Roland is still futzing with the donut machine and doesn't look back to Woz just yet. "Hey man," He's totally missing the grand bow, looking back periodically--just not when Woz is actually performing. "What do you mean by time traveler? Can you go back in time and fix all our mistakes until we are all destroyed by our own hubris?" Roland quips back. Is he .... just not believing Woz is a time traveler? Is that allowed??
Angela Roland isn't looking Lilian's way when she tosses him the business card--he's really invested with the donut machine--but nonetheless, his hand snaps out and catches Lilian's business card as if she had thrown a knife at him, and then he sheepishly laughs once he realizes what it is.. "Sorry, instinct." He says. "Thanks for the card...Dame Commander Lilian Rook, right? I remember you from radio." He looks around with a small frown, realizing... "Definitely look like the oldest one here..." He does know that sometimes appearances don't match up with the reality, but--that is why he used the term 'looks'.

Malkuth, conversely to Sougo, thinks Lilian is the best!! A sudden surge of emotion hits her and attempts to give Lilian a--

BIG HUG

She jumps up and down a little in excitement, nearly slipping but catching herself at the last moment.. "Oh my gosh, Lilian! I was so worried, I had no idea if you made it out or not, I just woke up yesterday...! I'm so glad you're okay!! I'm sorry it didn't work out, I did my best I really did... You fought so hard for our dream, I am a firm believer in doing your best and never giving up and you did both those things..!"

She blinks twice with the power of TWO EYES and also EYELIDS and she says, "Aww Lilian... I'd be happy eating ''anything'' right now. Angela asked me to help these girls and ''I'm still mad'' but I can't exactly leave these sweethearts hanging." She bobs her head at Hikaru and Lala.

Tamamo's donuts get to her first and Malkuth pulls away to shove one in her mouth. She starts choking on it. She hasn't eaten in ten thousand years. Roland approaches to pat her on the back. "Woah woah, easy now, easy now..." He says.

"Ez sho ummy." Malkuth manages, mouth full, Roland bobs his own head in greeting to Tamamo but is a bit distracted.

"It is not a side effect, I was able to do this myself." Angela says to Tamamo. "I made a promise and kept it, that is all." Like she is worried someone is going to give her credit for doing this for Malkuth or something, but she's frowning--perhaps sensing Tamamo's uncertainty in how to deal with her, or perhaps just because Tamamo hasn't updated her on romance investigations.

Malkuth on the other hand gulps down the donut and adds, "Um... Yeah, I am...taking it one day at a time right now, haha... But hey...! Fingers!" She wiggles them at Tamamo.

Her attention is then pulled to HIkaru. Malkuth opens her mouth to answer her but realizes she isn't sure if it's appropriate to describe how it's a sorry that happened. So she instead says, "I had a teeny tiny cybernetic body with little claw hands and metal toeless feet, like long sticks of angular metal." Malkuth says. "But it's lovely to meet you, Hikaru! You too Lala. We've all heard so much about you from Nikki and Rose..!"

And then the AI comes to a stop. Malkuth is a little suspicious of AI because the LAST AI she trusted STABBED HER IN THE BACK but she has decided to assume AI is one of the good ones for right now, mostly because she doesn't want to dwell on it. Roland is happy to get donuts for himself too, but he sticks to one of the lesser sweet donuts. He's more a spicy savory guy--but he IS damn hungry. This was a long trip.

The assorted former Lorbos make their way out of the van. Roland immediately sits himself down in a folding chair, Malkuth frowns at him for acting LAZY in front of teenagers.
Dark Horses      "Uh, Nottraiders? Not...Raiders???"

     Keiwa mumbles this to himself as he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. He had arrived to help, given that it seemed like something he could feasibly do, and he needed the experience, but once there, he realizes he's more than a bit not clued in. Hopefully, he can figure it out by just sitting back and listening.

     The more he listens, though, the more Lun- Or wait, she's saying Lun, so the other girl is Lun and this one is Lala??? Or is Lun someone else? Whatever, it's not important! The point is, the gushing idol talk reminds him of his sister, though thankfully more hinged, save for the part where it's apparently made to appease some space monster.

     "Alright, I think I get it? Anyway, I think most of us will fit in here, we just have to pick up some glowsticks I think?"

     Keiwa speaks with absolutely zero confidence. After all, he's only ever heard his sister talk about these things, he's never attended a concert either. So all he has is secondhand information that he just sort of vaguely remembers. But half-hearted affirmation that you're doing things correctly is probably better than nothing!

     Once the camper van finally stops at its destination, Keiwa tumbles on out, nearly tripping as he exits the vehicle, though managing to correct his balance by awkwardly hopping forward a couple of steps.
Futaba Nuki "Malkuth, Roland, and... /The/ Angela now? Heh. Sounds like you're movin up in the world." Futaba chuckles lightly as she greets the City trio with a lazy wave of her tail, squinting briefly at Malkuth and Roland in particular as the latter works on donuts. "Snacks? I'm in, big guy. You think that thing can make..."

She's never seen a donut maker before, actually. "Butler, huh? Explains the slick suit ya got... Don't think I ever seen you two before. Name's Futaba. You ever hang with magical girls before?" "She asks, craning her neck a bit to watch Roland work his magic from the safety of Hikaru's lap. She's assuming he knows what he's doing with that machine, anyway, because of course someone that's using it must know how to use it.

""O-oyo, do you think we're going to talk to her?" "

"If you get the chance, definitely! Ain't nobody I ever met that doesn't like being thanked, even if they're shy about it." Futaba replies to Lala with an encouraging grin, wobbling from side to side while just soaking up Hikaru's attention like a sponge. She even exaggeratesthe wobbliness of her cheeks like some kind of late 90s face distorting minigame complete with goofy mouth noises.

She even bobs her head a little more with Yuma's MIDI-singing and tendril-tapping, thumping her tail against the floor of Love Prime to add a little more beat to it all. It's such a comfy vibe that she's tempted to nap right then and there, but...

"Ughhh, don't you have *festival* things to do?"

"All cleaned up yesterday!" Futaba yelps in an excited tone as she settles back down out of Hikaru's lap, getting on all fours and stares down Natsuki. Comfy as she was, she's still eager to get into that wrestling match as the visually scrappier underdog to her sister's heavyweight favorite to win!

It's all in good fun, of course, as she's not really able to keep herself from laughing throughout all of it, although Natsuki can easily feel a distinct lack of Futaba's usual energy when the adrenaline wears off just half a minute in.

Woz's smile might even be one of those things keeping her going with that, too, although she does eventually tire of singing by the time her throat starts getting all scratchy. "Hey, Woz. King Sougo. You two ever try singin' together? Could be fun to go to a karaoke night somewhere." She suggests, all while shuffling over to flop over Natsuki as though she won't get put into a death lock the moment she makes contact.

Tamamo's twirling transformation gets Futaba to perk right back up, though, and the resulting outfit gets an excited little cheer out of her. "Oh! Oh! Dang, Miss Tamamo. You'll blend right in for sure!" Futaba asserts, nodding quickly in agreement with her sister while giving her a confident thumbs up. "Wouldn't even bat an eye if I saw you in some idol crew back home, that's for sure." She adds with a quick nod as though she's seen this sort of outfit plenty of times before.

"Seeing as we were rather suspiciously proximal to a high-profile theft and all."

"Got a good point there, Miss Rook... Wait. Y'think we should be keepin' a lower profile, then?" Wrangling her brain into thinking mode again, Futaba melts a little as her hair starts to shift from orange to brown, stopping halfway once a second thought hits her consciousness and ending up with just an orange ponytail. "Heck, if anyone from back then starts recognizing us.... Might be hard to really enjoy the concert without gettin' creative on where we're watching it from, you know?"

Despite her earlier bursts of energy and subsequent grogginess, Futaba's really patient when it comes to the donuts. She's still nibbling on hers even when the van finally gets to where it needs to go, smooshing the top half of her head into the glass to stare at all the colorful grass, the bright stars, and the vehicles that don't look anything like what Futaba's seen at home.
Futaba Nuki "I should've brought some snacks for this... Ah, well. I can probably scrounge something up if any of these folks need a little firepower for their grills or whatever!" Futaba announces, then gives Keiwa's leg a light slap with her tail. "Wanna help me look for stuff to bring back, champ? Oh, glowsticks would be fantgalac.. Fanstarstick..."

Tanuki-Futaba furrows her brow, then shakes her head. "Nah.. That one didn't work." She purses her lips, then shrugs and starts roaming the grounds exactly like she said: As a tanuki, offering a starter flame (or even a regular fire) to visitors trying to cook up their own meals. All asks for in return from them is spare drinks and glowsticks to bring back to the crew!
Timespace Riders      Sougo holds the heart cushion in his lap after Malkuth pushes it back at him. He waits until she looks away. Then there's another one of those skips of his, where it looks like he (and that heart cushion) skipped a frame the rest of the camper didn't.

What do you mean by time traveler? Can you go back in time and fix all our mistakes until we are all destroyed by our own hubris?

    "Most of my ability to move from one period to the other was spent developing a countermeasure against other time travelers," admits Woz. "You may think of the average person's temporal mobility as a length of twine; the last of mine was spent coming to this time period. I am, accordingly and unfortunately, no stranger to ruin through hubris."

    "The particulars are complicated," says Sougo. "And it doesn't always work in a way that makes it easy to just save the day. But I'm getting better at using it." And soon I really will be able to fix those mistakes.

it was sort of like she was keeping me company in space.

    "That's really sweet," says Sougo.

    "The connections we form and the responses we have to art are as important as the art itself, Lala."

    "For many artists, there is no greater joy than seeing their art discovered for the first time."

You two ever try singin' together? Could be fun to go to a karaoke night somewhere.

    "Indeed we have," says Woz to Futaba, smiling coyly at Natsuki. "I found it most invigorating." When Futaba's back is turned to Sougo for the flop-on-Natsuki attempt, the Demon King flickers again.

    Donuts are enjoyed by both the king and his retainer during the final leg of the trip.

    Sougo and Woz step out when it stops to enjoy the chance to stretch.

    "So, this is the vaunted 'tailgating...' a form of revelry I have yet to sample. I shall take notes dutifully, for one day I may be called upon to host such a fete..."
Tamamo     'You fit in better than I will.'
    'You'll blend right in for sure!'
    'Lun! You look really pretty, Tamamo-no-mae.'

    "Oh! Thank you."

    'Will *we* fit in?'

    "Ah, have you not been to this place, before...? For assuming, my apologies. I suppose we cannot know until we arrive." They absolutely could find out beforehand, but searching local social media doesn't occur to her, and Tamamo ends that with a cheerfully optimistic tone. "One can always make adjustments."

    'I haven't been able to inquire as to how your investigations are going, but I hope you've made progress.'

    In fact, Tamamo intuits the correct meaning immediately -- though that may be because she hadn't shared her investigations with anyone who hadn't been present already, regarding the Pianist. As far as she know, Angela was off somewhere else, at the time, and all the Sephira, too. "Ms. Angela." Her warmth hasn't disappeared, at least, even if there was uncertainty in her stance, before. "I suppose things have been rather difficult, lately... and I wonder to what extent the advice I have been able to give others did them well." Her eyes move, a moment, to Woz.

    'But hey...! Fingers!'

    "Mhm, yes, I see," she says, with something that could be adjacent to the warmth one might hold for watching a baby discover they can wiggle their fingers for attention.

    'It's suuuuuper solariffic to meet you!'

    "Oh, Hikaru-san, is it! I have heard your voice, of course. It is a pleasure to meet you, as well." Sunnily.

    "And this must be Yuma, no?" The little star was missing, when Tamamo met Lala, and there's some clear curiosity now, in getting to be in the same room, at least.

    Tamamo reaches out a hand toward Yuma, not precisely 'beckoning' in a visually obvious way, but it's accompanied with the feeling of a gentle tide of solar warmth and gravity, in a moment like an unseen facade was peeled away, just a little. For the most part, and fully, afterward, that facade remains in place. It's both distracting and dangerous to have the Sun, Obviously, inside your RV, not to mention impolite, but she can't help having a little stellar peek.
Natsuki Nuki 'It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,'

"Tamamo-no-mae?" Natsuki's brows rising lifts the contour of the eyemask pattern she shares with Futaba, and she makes a show of pulling out a disposable antiseptic wipe to clean off her hand completely from the various Futaboid Substances she might have smacked or swiped off her sister with attacks of opportunity. There's a bit of an option select - she's in the presence of heavenly royalty, so there's an offer of handshake or demure hand-acceptance with bow, or even the flip out of a golden card with neat black text.

"Natsuki Nuki, Concord Partner. I've met the girls on some of their earlier adventures. I believe that the pleasure would be mine, Lady Tamamo, but since we're going to the same concert, I hope you won't mind some casual familiarity from me."

Her tone taken is unique among all in the room for her target. Even Sougo and Woz, who've been around Natsuki before, the clear almost-courtly respect for form she takes makes the collar and tie situation daringly unkempt. It's important that she impress or at least respect Tamamo, even if she does choose to become shorter for an idol concert.

Still, the visual style of her outfit was meant to draw eyes and impress them, and Natsuki knows it and is using it. Tamamo's appreciation for it had snapped her whole intro into focus, but even Hikaru's note-taking eye is given a knowing little turn and model while she adjusts in spot to sit better on the couch. The question of fashion and fitting in is abuzz in the air!

'Will *we* fit in?'

"Girls, please, your fits are *fine*. You might want to add something that hangs, or some charms to your outfits, but you've really got something good there. Plus, simple is better for a concert. More than fitting in, girls, do you have a *change*? Concerts can get messy, so knowing where your spare outfit is - that's not a pen," She laughs with a hyoo-hyoo-hyoo. "Is important. You'll fit in fine, especially with the Mao gear." She nails the piece of merch immediately and with a grin. It will be okay though, because the Star Twinkle girls do have an excellent coordinated fit style already. Perhaps 'okay, yay!' is the way.

'Like motorcycle tricks! Or, I bet you all can do lots and lots of super twincool things...'

"Borrowed tricks better than the real talent of Mao? Well," Natsuki smirks and dips her chin. "We can come up with something. We do have the power of divinity on our side this time, so a mere thing like fortune should be simply solved! More time for partying, I bet."

A look is cast towards Lilian, side-eyeing to make sure she's not getting stared at, but that seems to have dissipated, so her red eyes saccade off after a blink. "Hey, donuts!" She says, a little excited in a genuine way and then noticing that it wasn't Cool and kind of chuffing, shifting around Keiwa as he asks...

"They're from plant Nottrei." She answers, like that explains everything. They're on the music planet Capella A! The first planet of the Capella system! The Starscape Union was really into theme naming.

'Y'think we should be keepin' a lower profile, then?'

"We totally won't be, but we can plan around that, sure." Natsuki drawls a little sarcastically.
Lilian Rook     'Ms. Malkuth, you look... quite different from before! I suppose this to be a side effect of what transpired... or am I mistaken?'

    "I-- . . . Think so?"

    That being Lilian's reply says it all. She laughs uneasily.

    "Well, even if you're not dead, surely it's an improvement to that horrid little rolling toaster, right?"

    'I bet she had the Starscape Union themselves contacting her to ask for her help, lun....'

    "I bet." Lilian says, in total deadpan. Her stare returns to the window.

    'It's suuuuuper solariffic to meet you!'
    'Lun! You look really pretty, Tamamo-no-mae.'

    But she does smile a little. It keeps her from impatiently foot-tapping for a few more minutes.

    'I don't know about fitting in... I haven't been to a real concert before either, lun. Will *we* fit in?'

    §I wish I knew. I've never particularly felt the urge to go running off with a gaggle of friends to sweat and scream in a crowd of thrashing strangers having a somehow-religious experience about it.§

    Lilian blinks.

    §Hm.§

    'I found her on the spaceship's radio when I could listen to my own music, lun, and since it was a long trip before meeting Hikaru, it was sort of like she was keeping me company in space.'

    "Oh that's just about the sweetest thing anyone's ever said." Lilian sighs, all reflex and no forethought. "At least recently. Just--"

    'And now I'm here to keep you company!'
    'So we can go to Mao's concert together, lun!'

    "Oh gosh . . ."

    Though she remains mentally at war with the thought about slaying the totally-a-dragon if it's not happy with a giant intergalactic party just on principle, Lilian takes a deep breath through her nose, closes her eyes, straightens up in her seat, and resolves to try and not cause problems. For Lala's sake. Even if it means she nobly has to bear the cross of accepting a donut a moment later. "Thank you." is automatic. "You're so unbelievably thoughtful." is wistfully contemplative.

    'Sorry, instinct.'

    "Accepting whatever I offer you should be a matter of instinct. Somewhere between eating when you're hungry and pulling your hand away from a hot stove ring." Lilian says, mood buouyed enough by Lala's earnest attempts to put some of her usual snap back in her tone, even if her eyes still look somewhat tired and dull. "Tamamo is older than me. But you may defer to me as the wisest and most experience regardless, given that it's factually correct." She puts on a slightly smug expression, and takes a little nibbling bite from her saccharine donut. "I'm surprised you don't remember me from video, too. That candid camera incident follows me everywhere in that city, I swear."

    'Oh my gosh, Lilian!'

    'Hrk-!'

    'I'm so glad you're okay!! I'm sorry it didn't work out, I did my best I really did... You fought so hard for our dream, I am a firm believer in doing your best and never giving up and you did both those things..!'

    Lilian spends most of the ramble squished up far more than Malkuth is actually applying pressure to her, rigid as a board and holding her arms against herself at a level where she can create space or defend her head as necessary, in her usual manner of being completely unbelievably awful at surprise hugs. She seems this close to shaking when Malkuth lets go of her. It probably helps that it still hurts a tiny bit.

    "If . . . things are . . . um . . . a little better for you, now, then . . ." Lilian coughs, sounding dazed and reaching for words. "Then it was worth it? Sorry it's-- been longer. For me. But I don't regret it. And I hope you don't either." She sighs in relief when the attention turns to Hikaru and Lala. "Aren't they just?"

    'We've all heard so much about you from Nikki and Rose..!'
Tamamo     Natsuki's handshake offer goes unnoticed just long enough to turn into a bow, more for Tamamo's infrequent experience with handshaking than any other reason. Even with the distinctly 'Western' dress and youth-signaling hairstyle and bows, her manner doesn't change so swiftly. Put another way, it gives her away.

    'I believe that the pleasure would be mine, Lady Tamamo, but since we're going to the same concert, I hope you won't mind some casual familiarity from me.'

    "Of course, that would be fine! We are not here for any formal engagement, after all." Following up, "May I call you Ms. Natsuki, in that case?" 'Natsuki-san' would have been on the table, but in either case, a need for first names comes about swiftly in Futaba's simultaneous presence. Contrarily, Hikaru wasn't named Hoshino, even in Tamamo's formal manner, for the simpler reason of 'being, in every visible and audible way, a kid.'

    Whether she's 'impressed' will have to be determined later. 'In a good mood' is all one could likely glean from Tamamo, in the moment, as the camper arrives at the destination and transforms into tailgate party mode. Good moods during a party are, obviously, a metric of success.

    'Anyway, I think most of us will fit in here, we just have to pick up some glowsticks I think?'

    That sounds right. Tamamo checks her purse for glowsticks, but this one step of preparation somehow escaped her notice. Darn! She may have to improvise.
Lilian Rook     'It is not a side effect, I was able to do this myself.'

    "How are the Agents, by the way?"

    'Wouldn't even bat an eye if I saw you in some idol crew back home, that's for sure.'

    "Watch it freak."

    Lilian daintily clears her throat, then finishes off her donut, looking strenuously away.

    'Y'think we should be keepin' a lower profile, then?'

    "That could literally only be good for you."

    'I believe that the pleasure would be mine, Lady Tamamo, but since we're going to the same concert, I hope you won't mind some casual familiarity from me.'

    §Okay. That's new. And frankly sort of demented that it is new. Shouldn't that be normal? You know what-- Nottrei sympathizer or not, she's normal. This is the normal one.§

    [Lilian liked that - +100]

    'More than fitting in, girls, do you have a *change*? Concerts can get messy, so knowing where your spare outfit is -'

    §Mmmh. But they'll totally call it transforming though.§

    When the camper comes to a stop, Lilian is sufficiently reenergized to get up first, get a few extra-luxurious stretches out in the open, take a few deep breaths, and start helping with setup. Once she has the opportunity to pull chairs together and set up a little table for Tamamo, she becomes downright bouncy, utilizing her personal umbrella from her bag, gauzy enough to let the light through, to mark their spot. In short order, she has a second bottle, a reading light, a couple of scended candles, a quick ward to keep out bugs, a tabletop space heater, and the remainder of what could fit into a quarter of a backpack of spare space, laid out with the folded up blanket she'd brought along. It's a far cry from what Tamamo usually gets up to, but it's enough to have her humming a little by the end. The week of hell in the ruins of L Corp did a lot to drill into her head what exactly there is to miss from home.

    "Oh if it's only glowsticks then--" Lilian fishes out the military grade chemical lights that have been rattling around since Unification, only two of them used, and about four years ago at that. "--I'm certain I can find someone with extras. We aren't just going to wait here for the whole day, are we?"
Merelisa Shaynore "I had a teeny tiny cybernetic body with little claw hands and metal toeless feet, like long sticks of angular metal."

    "No toes..." Hikaru echoes in sympathetic dismay. "We've met robots before but they were a lot different from that. Miss Angela was there back then with us, too. So it's celesweet that you got a better body!"

    Unfortunately, neither Hikaru or Lala are dull enough to not pick up on the tension that isn't just shared with their friends, but exists 'between' them. They glance at each other, worried, but they come to the same conclusion as Tamamo about asking how everyone's *been*. The girls have a particular sense for when they're not being told something that everyone else knows, especially when it's from the reasoning that they're too helpless or immature to know, and so both of their minds are instantly set on figuring it out.

KNOWN INFORMATION
»Lilian has been feeling bad for some time
»There was some specific event that transpired, and not everyone agreed about it
»That event involved giving Malkuth a human body
»Angela is able to give people human bodies, but seems to be disliked for that
»Lilian might have almost died?!?!
»Conclusion: ........??

    They'll work on it. But the clearer it becomes that everyone is avoiding the topic around them, the more curious they'll become about it.

"Uh, Nottraiders? Not...Raiders???"

    "No, they *are* raiders, lun!" The universal translation betrays Keiwa a little bit, and Lala sits up to inform him. "The Nottraider Empire is trying to take over the whole galaxy and steal Yuma and the Stellar Notes so that they can drain all the light from the stars, lun."

"Got a good point there, Miss Rook... Wait. Y'think we should be keepin' a lower profile, then?"

    "Uuuu... do we think Doramus is going to be there? I hope he's off somewhere cheating at space golf so we can have a nice time on our own. Bleh." HIKARU HOSHINA has become DISDAINFUL of the WEALTHY!

"Most of my ability to move from one period to the other was spent developing a countermeasure against other time travelers,"

    "Oh," Hikaru furrows her brow thoughtfully. "You can use that up? Do I have lots of stored up ability to time travel because I've never done it before?"

"Miss Hikaru, data is insufficient to explain Miss Yuma's warping capabilities, and as such it may be that you travel through time each time you utilize a wormhole. The Starscape Union's warping technology is far less efficient than hers due to complications involving the speed of light."
"Hmmm... but I wanna travel back in time! Or forwards in time!"

"Ah, have you not been to this place, before...? For assuming, my apologies."

    Lala shakes her head, fiddling with her Two available charms with her belt and hoodie strings. "It's okay, lun. There's lots of planets in the Starscape Union, and I never actually went to any of them but Samaan before meeting Hikaru."

"Borrowed tricks better than the real talent of Mao?"

    "Maybe it's just in the mood for motorcycle tricks," Hikaru reasons. "I bet if I was asleep for a hundred years and only got one day to have fun, I wouldn't want to do the same thing over and over. And we've got all kinds of twincool new things we can do that no one else in the whole galaxy can!"
Merelisa Shaynore "And this must be Yuma, no?"

    This *is* Yuma, as she reacts to her own name. The emanations of the sun draw her towards Tamamo immediately, the neutral fluid-light mask of her default expression morphing into one they haven't seen before, of a glowing sunburst shape on her face. She makes an excited glissing upwards tonal noise, and swoops towards Tamamo's hand, glowing warmly gold in return.

    "Oh, yes! This is your first time meeting Yuma properly, lun. I should show you...."

    Lala electronically unlocks a specific cabinet near the front of the RV, and pulls out a golden music box with solar and cosmic patterns engraved into it. She carries it over to place on the table in front of Yuma, which makes the Star Drop dance excitedly in anticipation. "This is what we do with the Stellar Notes, lun, to help Yuma grow up into a star. I can show you with the one from last time."

    Lala clicks open the music box and pulls out the Cancer Stellar Note, placing it into the slot where the cylinder goes. With Mao's music turned off, there's just the soft clicking sound of the music box, as it plays a short fragment of a lullaby-like melody, that's neither the beginning or end of the song. Yuma sings along with it, glowing brighter and brighter along with the Stellar Note to warm up the interior of the RV like Tamamo did, with softly smothering heat until the melody ends and she gradually cools down. The Stellar Note, on the other hand, doesn't stop glowing for another few seconds, and then when it does, it's replaced with a Pen with the Cancer symbol on it instead.

    "The Cancer Star Color Pen... maybe we'll need that to protect the concert, lun. Thanks, Yuma."

    Hikaru explains a little more, since the goal to acquire the Stellar Notes has never quite been fully elaborated on. "When I first found Yuma, she was really nervous, and I tried to calm her down with that music box, since it's always helped me ever since I was a little girl. And Yuma has a song her mother star used to sing her, but she can't remember it fully... and each of the Stellar Notes only has part of it."

    Later, piling out of the van, it's absolutely critical that Yuma, the ultra-magical Star Drop that can grant any wish, not be recognized. And so... the girls have a disguise prepared! A little trench coat fits over Yuma's tentacles, and a fedora sits on her head, completed with a set of Groucho Glasses that occasionally have curious green circles pass through them while they orbit around on Yuma's face.

    At the display of AI's transformation-- which, apparently, Hikaru and Lala weren't expecting either, so Hikaru is very excitedly asking AI what other mini-transformations it can do-- a pair of aliens that were trying to spark up a party at their dinky little flying saucer wanders over. One is a hermit crab woman who is both around two feet tall and seemingly in her mid-thirties, as well as a gangly teenaged girl with super long ears that extend above her head and an arrangement of little gemlike dots on her forehead. The latter is wearing Mao merch just like Lala is, which immediately causes both of them to gasp and point at each other.
Merelisa Shaynore "Woah! You too...!"
"You're...! Lun!"

    The hermit crab woman shakes her head in an exasperatedly motherly way, but she seems good-natured about it. "Oh, settle down, won't you? Aren't you at the same concert~yan? You'll meet lots of people who share your interests here."

    Standing a bit aside from the two girls now fussing over each other, Hikaru shoots Natsuki a small smile, for the reassurance earlier. It's probable that Hikaru was the one who had to encourage Lala to openly wear merchandise and actually go outside with it on. Meanwhile, the hermit crab woman offers out a claw for a clawshake.

    "I'm Yanyan, and that there is Neia~yan. Sorry for all the fuss, but that little trick was pretty eye-catching! Where'd you get something like that?"

    Hikaru is the one to take her claw, but Lala, torn away for a moment from her riveting conversation about which is the best song in Mao's second album 'Sunsparkle Love', makes a declaration for both of them. "We'll all have a party right here, lun! We have enough donuts for you too, if you want!"

    And so that's that. With blankets and the chairs AI provided, and the combined canopy of the tailgate setup with Lilian's umbrella, the setup is rapidly spacious enough to fit two dozen people, and other parties are starting to turn their attention towards them. The Donut Maker can pump out a steady supply of sweets, and they've got batches of soda cans left over from the ones Sarracenia gave them before, so they start to distrubute them around the folding tables for everyone.

    So, Futaba's efforts in gathering supplies from other parties doesn't just collect some more glowsticks-- people also ask whether it'd be alright to move their setup closer by the camper van, and turn it into a more centralized party. Neia has her arms crossed and stance awkwardly slouching to one side, but both she and Lala seem excited to keep chattering to each other, and Hikaru pleasantly drifts off to lean against the back of the van and watch the goings-on.

    After a minute, a thought occurs to her, and she turns to the side to look over at the notably-tired Lilian, smile slipping off her face. "Oh, um... this isn't too loud or anything, is it? There's still inside the RV."
Angela The trick to catching Lilian in an attack is, clearly, to do it accidentally with something that isn't an attack at all!

"...Well..." Malkuth says. "I didn't even know something like this was possible. It's nice, but I don't know ''entirely'' how I feel about it yet."I'll let you know after I've slept on it? If I sleep now.--Hey, this EGO Suit looks pretty snazzy right?" She jerks a thumb back to the wings. "I guess EGO may have evolved a little--oh but I can't think about that right now, I'm a little overwhelmed... Gosh I can only imagine how Hod will react... Angela said she was up next." At about this point in her rambling she realizes--"Ah! Sorry, I just got so excited."

Roland is getting a little frustrated because they're clearly talking about SOMETHING BIG that happened--the thing he wants to know about!--but they're just dancing around it. He feels he knows LESS about what happened now than before he went on this little road trip. ... Galactic Road trip. "Well take your time." He says. "Not like we're going anywhere. I mean, you know, in a general sense. We just traveled to a whole 'nother world." That is also something he is going to have to file away in the vault so he can properly deal with that later. "Seems like there's plenty of pastries for everyone." He tells Futaba.

''The Angela now?''

"Futaba." Angela says. "It is just some light humor." She waves one hand at Futaba, hardworkingly.

How ARE the Agents by the way?

"...I do not know. They're alive, but I suspect I'm going to need their help. So far I've convinced them to hold off before leaving because they're likely not going to have a good time if they try to move back into The City, but it is a delaying tactic. I am hoping to make a deal with them that is too good to refuse." She just openly admits it. Malkuth grins openly at Tamamo but Angela speaks up more quickly.

"...Well your own romance seems to be going well as far as I can tell. I am not an expert at all. I do apologize for the difficulties, of course, but I hope it amounts to nothing more than a small blip in the grand scheme of your efforts." She's able to barely catch the glance to Woz. "...Woz and Sougo seem to be doing well as well, though I do not know the extent of the advice you gave them."She still catches the subtle movements.
Angela It's tough to be more 'low profile' than Roland, at least in places with human beans about. He's decidedly an average joe. Malkuth's EGO suit is decidedly NOT low profile, though maybe it's fine on an alien world?

"Aww, Hikaru, you're pretty celesweet yourself." Malkuth says. "I'd even go so far as to say you're auroramazing!" She winks. She can wink now too! "But you don't have to worry about me, you should have some fun at the concert today! And you can ''count on us'' to help you snag that stellar note!" She mimes rolling up her sleeves like she's about to pick a fight... with Nottraiders probably?

"That's a pretty cool disguise," Roland says of Yuma. "Hm... I wonder if it's missing something. Like an accessory, perhaps..." He says of the disguise.

But then he spots... THE MERCH. "Ah! That's it...!" He looks to Lala, then to Hikarui. "We should get a souvenir for your friend here, right?" Is he abandoning Angela's quest?! Right in front of her?? Or is this a ploy to get to the merch table so he can complete the mission??? Well, he can't help but find these people charming and wants things to go well for them, even as an ache stirs up in his heart that he can't quite push down. He cannot hide the sorrow in his eyes that lingers for just a moment--the fault of a maskless life--but he's all smiles once he looks at the hermit crab lady and the gangly teenage girl. "You wouldn't happen to know where we could get some gifts for our friends, do you? Some of them couldn't make it. Don't tell anyone but...we brought a video camera so she could watch from home." He holds up the Angelapad.

"Hello." Angela says. "Yanyan. Neiya~yan. I will not forget your names. It is a pleasure to meet you. How long have you been fans of 'Mao'. I was unable to meet her before, but I have been convinced through friends to appreciate her concert today."
Futaba Nuki "I found it most invigorating."

"Already? Dang. Can't say I'm surprised, but...." Futaba closes her eyes, not noticing that flicker from the Demon King in favor of letting her mind wander a little towards new activities. "Maybe I should set that up for a night back home, too..."

"Natsuki Nuki, Concord Partner."

Should Futaba take offense to that hand wiping? Maybe a little, but it's also kind of refreshing to not be treated with the kid gloves like some kind of delicate flower. She can tell that this pretty important for her sister, too, and she wisely does...

Nothing! Nothing embarassing, nothing to try and steal her attention. No, Futaba's content to just observe the two with a goofy little grin on her face that only gets wider and more teasing once she's fairly certain Tamamo isn't looking her way and Natsuki is.

"Watch it freak."
Futaba doesn't react right away, then gets stunned into confused silence for several seconds once her brain catches up with her ears. By the time it does, she still can't figure out how to respond without sounding even more awkward, so she ends up staying quiet instead.

"We totally won't be, but we can plan around that, sure."
"That could literally only be good for you."

"Fair enough... Doubt the Starscape'll be lookin' too close at whoever's in the audience compared to Mao herself or the big lug, anyway." Another nod with a dramatic sigh that's only a little put on, coming right on the heels of her about to go scrounge around for extra drinks and glow sticks.

"I hope he's off somewhere cheating at space golf so we can have a nice time on our own."

"Long as he isn't space golfin' around here, it should be fine. And... This doesnt' feel like the kind of thing he'd be into, unless he had some kind of angle going." Futaba pauses as an idea starts to form in her mind, then disappears just as quickly with a quick shake of her head. "Nah, nah, too petty... No rent-free space in here."

"The Cancer Star Color Pen..."

Futaba whistles lightly as she watches and listens to the show with Yuma's singing, bopping her head and tapping her tail to it all. Keeping her eyes closed so many times in a row and being tired already does make it harder to stay awake, but Futaba pushes through to see the new pen. "I've got a feeling you might be right about that, yeah. And with all these folks around..."

She trails off, already feeling a slight twinge of dread at the possibility of the concert's target waking up and going on a rampage. Futaba holds back the grimace, helped easily by scurrying off to get those supplies and also more people under the group's watch. She thrives in these kinds of social situations, anyway, although she does make sure to tell those people that she needs to make sure the group she's with is fine with all the extra tailgaters.

"Seems like there's plenty of pastries for everyone."

"Glad Roland's got a good system goin' with those donuts.. Ah. You need a hand in there, big guy?" She calls out while clambering right back into the RV after a while, making sure to duck behind something so she can transform back into herself without anyone from the outside seeing her.

She even makes sure to add a pale green apron to the front of her usual outfit with the brown track jacket so she can fit right in as someone to help pass out that food.

"It is just some light humor."

"Heh. I was wondering when you'd start working that in. You're lookin' more..." Futaba snaps her fingers a few times as she tries to come up with the word. Like the Precures, she also doesn't have a clear idea of exactly what Happened. "Lively? Adventurous? Ain't nothing wrong with trying something different. Reinventing yourself, adjusting your gimmick, learning how to do promos... Heck, putting yourself out there's the hard part sometimes. You need any help workin' on that routine, give me a ring!"
Timespace Riders You can use that up? Do I have lots of stored up ability to time travel because I've never done it before?

    "Worry not; most will never travel enough to 'use it up.' My tether, if you will, is gnarled and tangled on purpose, to afford me defenses against certain methods of attack." This must be what's meant by 'the somewhat unusual time traveler.'

---

    "Hi, Yanyan," says Sougo, shaking her claw with both of his hands. "I'm Sougo, this is Woz!"

    "Hail to you," says Woz, one hand over his heart as he offers a bow at the waist.

    Woz had been serious about taking notes. As more and more people move closer, more glowsticks arrive and the smell of more food mingles with that of the donuts, he nods and strokes his chin with a studious expression.

    Sougo is keeping a list of a very different sort in his head. Hikaru, then Lala, then Yuma, then AI. All of them get a glance, in the moments where he imagines they aren't looking, and then he stutters again. He stifles a yawn.

...Woz and Sougo seem to be doing well as well, though I do not know the extent of the advice you gave them.

    Woz's glance towards Sougo's muffled yawn is drawn away, towards Angela instead. "I wished for Tamamo's counsel on that which she is a foremost expert," Woz answers Angela. "And I was not disappointed. She gave me an answer that allowed me to be true to myself--and that certainty was sorely needed in the days after our meeting."

    He clears his throat, loud enough for Sougo to hear. "You and I are still recuperating, sire," he says. "Let us revel with glad hearts, but not so much that our bodies shall exact their toll on the morrow." He looks over his shoulder. His eyes and pursed lips say that you're being very obvious, sire.

    Sougo blinks. "Oh! Haha. Sure! Now that you mention it... I'm going to head into the RV and sit down for a bit. Try and save my energy."

    "Indeed."
Tamamo     Shouldn't that be normal?

    Lilian's so right. That should be normal -- not that Tamamo hears her thinking that. An awful lot of things might have gone very differently if Tamamo had the capability and habit of reading Lilian's mind.

    'I don't regret it. And I hope you don't either.'

    This much is good to know.

    'Uuuu... do we think Doramus is going to be there?'

    Tamamo wonders who this is, but it's clear enough that the subject isn't a happy one that she leaves it be, after a moment.

    She makes an excited glissing upwards tonal noise, and swoops towards Tamamo's hand, glowing warmly gold in return.

    Tamamo appears entirely pleased with this, responding with further warmth and the sensation of gravitic +xterm230,currents). Nothing moves or floats that wasn't already doing so, but the sense of the Solar spirit meeting can scarcely be described otherwise. There isn't really a little flare of stellar dust floating and curling in a descending orbital curve between her finger and Yuma when they get very close. That sort of thing doesn't happen, and would be purely dangerous if it did.

    In any case, Tamamo becomes immediately interested in whatever it is Lala's doing that got Yuma excited, and gives her full attention to the music box show.

    'And Yuma has a song her mother star used to sing her, but she can't remember it fully...'

    "Oh! A song from her mother, half-remembered..." So moved is she, it looks like Lilian might have to catch her -- but Tamamo manages to recover from the unexpected bout of romance (tales, filial) and says, "We really must find the rest, of course."

    She is now 100% on board with this quest.

    There follows Lilian going to great efforts to set up a little table for her, which Tamamo takes with a different sort of warm smile, her hand brushing over Lilian's arm as she takes a seat, inviting her to join her in a moment. There's not even a thought spared toward 'what she usually gets up to' while she basks in the forethought attention and scented candles.

    "It is rather convenient that the ship... is that the same ship? ...could so transform. You did not know of this, Ms. Lala?"

    'I do apologize for the difficulties, of course, but I hope it amounts to nothing more than a small blip in the grand scheme of your efforts.'

    "I do intend to persist for a long while yet, and all things... well, I would not say they become forgotten, but there is something to be said for that which becomes smaller with distance."

    Tamamo gives a wave to Yanyan, but is content to be in the background of that conversation, with her seat all set up like this.

    'And I was not disappointed. She gave me an answer that allowed me to be true to myself--and that certainty was sorely needed in the days after our meeting.'

    "In that case, I am glad to have been of help."
Natsuki Nuki Natsuki was before the hater legends of her home pantheon, a representative-at-least of a truly powerful figure. Of course she was carefully scouring and resetting to interact with Tamamo no Mae, and Futaba not immediately snapping to a general sort of attention had to be due to. . .

Oh. Futaba was in the same *group* as Tamamo-no-mae. As pleasantries were exchanged, Natsuki had to really dial in how she was reacting in real time as the furniture was rearranged and the tailgating party shifted into cozycore relaxomaticmode.

"Natsuki is fine, of course. I'd be 'Ms. Nuki', but my father and I don't get along - if I'm allowed to address you as Tamamo I'm sure it's more than fair in trade." Her favored, clearly, but she's trying to not flutter with 'oh I didn't realize I was in the presence of a Real One' and if she was fully cognizant of her sister doing more than passing wingwomaning for this she'd be more appreciative. "If not, Lady Tamamo, I'll make do." She adds with a little smirk.

As things are, Natsuki is still aglow with confident energy while she enjoys a special casual enjoyment donut and eases off on trying to enforce every little part of her look because things have become pretty good pretty quickly.

'Uuuu... do we think Doramus is going to be there? I hope he's off somewhere cheating at space golf so we can have a nice time on our own. Bleh.'

Pulling away from munching on donuts, Natsuki chuff-'huh'-s and shakes her head at the thought of Doramus enter into the ring. "Oh, no, we're not going to have that problem, Hikaru. If Doramus is here I will send him packing, mergers and buyouts style. He can play with the money I leave him while I walk with his prime assets." Natsuki boasts, already based and Maopilled. The hours on repeat only locked her in. "And if the dragon is up for motorcycle tricks, I've still got some of the magic nitro to make it really go. So, sure. We'll spoil it with tricks." Natsuki nods, so cheerful her extension-of-evil-intent tail is dead asleep and drooping on the floor.

Natsuki has a rock solid opinion of personal style and believes a bit in shock to set the look right in space, and the approving-thankful nods about the fit status are returned with an 'of course!' humu-humu nod, while hermit crab people appear. She's about to explain, falls south of doing so, and the Precures invite the whole crew in for a party. Hey great! Incredibly, Futaba actually starts a heck of a party that Natsuki can't complain even a little bit in and she's left enjoying the industrious wake of her sister in a strange state of 'schmoozing with hater ROYALTY', utterly unexpected from the pitch of the hangout, puts Natsuki at a further kind of ease.

Yeah. They'll beat whomever, and snatch up the win, and it'll be *easy* so they'll have a big party beforehand. This is great! This is how it should be!

Appreciating Futaba as she brings in another crowd, Natsuki forgets the blood rivalry for a moment as she offers a fresh donut out, and turns away to try to find some space liquor among one of the more adult throngs of guests and *truly* get the party started. A little sacred wine never hurt anyone!
Lilian Rook     'This is what we do with the Stellar Notes, lun, to help Yuma grow up into a star. I can show you with the one from last time.'

    "I'd wondered, but also imagined it may have been inappropriate to ask." says Lilian. "Or that the answer might be 'we'll find that out when they're all together'." She quiet-laughs over some private joke. "So it was for a music box, in the end . . ."

    'When I first found Yuma, she was really nervous, and I tried to calm her down with that music box, since it's always helped me ever since I was a little girl. And Yuma has a song her mother star used to sing her,'

    This, more than anything; more than the wish, more than Nottrei and Mujinko, more than the fate of the universe, fills Lilian with burning determination to see this through, even if a melancholy one.

    "They're far more precious than anyone realizes, then. Even the Nottraiders." Lilian sighs. "The kind of precious that you can try forever to explain to someone, and they just won't understand it. They don't even know what they're stealing, or sometimes that they've even stolen it. How . . ."

    "Frustratingly ordinary."

    Watching, fondly, Yuma play with Tamamo, Lilian allows herself a smile that is a faded recollection of the earnestly real thing. "We'll be sure to get all of them. Besides everything else, Yuma at least deserves to keep that memory."

    'Woah! You too...!'
    'You're...! Lun!'

    "You're--"

    '--at the same concert~yan?'

    ". . . Yes." Lilian coughs quietly. "Hello. It's good to meet you. Lilian." all follow on autopilot. What attention Lilian is paying to the kind stranger is mostly relegated to,

    §Oh my gosh she's so cute? What a shape. Why can't they all be like this and not Doramus? Or at least like Blue Cat.§

    'Oh, um... this isn't too loud or anything, is it? There's still inside the RV.'

    Lilian is not nearly so skilled with kids as Petra is, but she makes up the difference here by being extremely sensitive to when people are looking a Certain Way at her. A little bit of her snappy upswell dies off, but not back to where she was before, like a head of foam bubbling away down to the actual liquid level somewhere between the top and bottom. "This is a once in a lifetime concert, Hikaru. You said so yourself. So don't worry about me, and enjoy yourselves. Okay?" she says.
Lilian Rook     'I don't know ''entirely'' how I feel about it yet.'

    "How you feel about it is less important than what you have to do tomorrow. Trust me on that." Lilian says. "You'll inevitably work out how you feel by just 'being'. But the fact that you sleep, eat, live and breathe now, without a script, and with all the frailties that entails, can't wait. The next twenty-four hours don't know and don't care if you've got your heart sorted out." Lilian pauses, then tosses her hair lightly. "At least that's how I've always dealt with it."

    'I am hoping to make a deal with them that is too good to refuse.'

    "Good luck." Lilian says, apologetically. "I'm certain most of them have figured out that I'll hire them if they do, and that's a hard offer to beat." She hesitates just a moment before deciding to continue. "District Twelve is a disaster. By virtue of building the Association headquarters to my usual specifications, it's one of the few places with the lights on, much less still livable. The number of people who want to be where the Syndicates and Anomalies aren't, and where the heating and water is, has started to exceed the number of people we can actually manage and protect, even with out of house work on hiatus. If capable Agents do want to jump ship, I'm going to take them. Every working sword arm is a hundred and fifty lives saved."

    She chooses an odd time to stare at Sougou, and linger on him for a few seconds. This is less important than Tamamo's invitation to cozymax at the table. She has to pull out Tamamo's seat herself, then scooch hers closer, so she can rest arm in arm, and quietly fidget with her fingers under the tabletop. The occasion calls for more energy than Lilian currently has, and so her compromise is to drag nothing down while cozying up into her metaphorical charging port at Tamamo's side, down to "Is there anything I should send Roland to get?" and "I have the photographs of the last Stellar Note when..." down to soft patter.
Tamamo     'Watch it freak.'

    Tamamo, busy with Yuma at that moment, misses this being said. The awkwardness just slips by her.

    'Natsuki is fine, of course. I'd be 'Ms. Nuki', but my father and I don't get along - if I'm allowed to address you as Tamamo I'm sure it's more than fair in trade.'

    As much as she defaults to a more distantly formal style, as her use of decidedly archaic Japanese becomes interpreted, Tamamo does hold to the belief that specific requests of address should be respected. With as many cultures as she regularly interact, it'd be quite hard to do otherwise.

    "'Natsuki,' then. That is fine, of course." A concert pre-party isn't really a place for getting hung up on it, anyway. "Ah, but if we are to be so familiar, I hope we shall have more occasions to meet." It probably feels more 'familiar' to her than it does to anyone else here.

    A thought of asking about certain things crosses her mind, but listening to Natsuki talk about Doramus seems to provide her some pre-emptive answer, and she allows for a knowing smile while enjoying the growingly festive atmosphere.

    'I'm certain most of them have figured out that I'll hire them if they do, and that's a hard offer to beat.'

    Overhearing this bit, Tamamo comments, "It would be well that they should have choices, now. I did mislike how few in the City seem to enjoy such."

    ...so she can rest arm in arm, and quietly fidget with her fingers under the tabletop.

    Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Even without table heater Lilian supplied -- but with it, they'll surely have no trouble staying warm together. Tamamo leans in, then shifts to let Lilian lean into her, and keeps their entwined fingers under the table where impressionable children won't be forever transformed by the sight... though she isn't trying very hard, in that respect.

    "The last Stellar Note, you say? I am rather curious about it."
Angela Roland says, "Yeah yeah," to Futaba. "I'm a big fan of cooking and Angela pretty much uses me as her guinea pig and training partner about as much as she has me doing Library work. She keeps following the recipes so exactly though it's hard to get her to experiment."

Angela is completely misinterpreting what sort of advice Tamamo gave, probably, but she does say, "I'm glad your relationship has grown stronger through its trials." She says it so genuinely too and even gives Tamamo another gracious nod, though her expression remains as neutral as ever but it is slightly tinted by many decimal points towards fondness.

''You'll inevitably work out how you feel by just 'being'.''

"That's true. The work right now isn't really difficult and I should focus on putting one step forward and living--er, which also isn't too hard, except maybe a bit ''literally'' right now. I have toes now though it's kind of weird to think how important they are to maintaining balance---oh but I'm adapting quickly, I'm sure in a few days it'll be second nature again."

"Perhaps you are just a klutz," Roland suggests.

"I am NOT a klutz." Malkuth's red cheeks suggest that his isn't the first time she's been accused of such. "I'll have you kno my spatial awareness is second to none. I just sometimes forget about the feet. That's all."

Roland grimaces, he was just joking but seems to have hit a sore spot.

Angela considers the fact that if she's not carerful, Lilian will steal away all her Agents. "Mm. I don't exactly mind you having the help--it makes me feel I can more readily do what I have to do knowing that you have The City handled." Angela frowns. Both Tamamo and Lilian seem to be emphasizing choice here. In some ways she's more concerned about upsetting Tamamo here because she actually MISSED that whole war episode and that means she didn't actually try to kill her and while she's quite understanding of Lilian's choices, she'd prefer to avoid adding Tamamo to the list if possible. She exhales a little soft frustrated sigh as she ruminates. Is there any particular way she can get what she needs without violently offending the sensibilities of her dear friends and closest allies. She isn't sure this is a question for Petra. Maybe Audrey? Hum. She could just bind them all if she wanted to and it's sorely tempting, particularly those that stood against her--which is most of them--but she is a multiversal, can she really act in a manner that just disregards what they think?

She sets the thoughts aside for a moment. SHe still has time, at least until the rest of the Sephirah awaken. But then Lilian certainly is tempting. Angela knows. She'd rather be helping Lilian with Trideag than whatever insane scheme she is going to have to come up with so she can go outside.

"The Library has a surfeit of light, at least." She means the lowercase l, at least, there. "But you should drop by for a visit sometime, when you are ready, so I can show you around."

Sal is going to want to stick around, she's sure of that, and she's got Random and Justin Rook and Parker... She thinks she can bring back M.O.M in some fashion, but... Maybe it would be easier to just recruit new people? Hahhn.... It's only gotten more difficult, hasn't it.
Merelisa Shaynore "Oh! A song from her mother, half-remembered..."
"The kind of precious that you can try forever to explain to someone, and they just won't understand it."

    Hikaru fondly rubs her hand down Yuma's head, watching the Star Drop's soothed mannerisms from the combination of meeting Tamamo, the music box, and now being gently pampered. "Yeah. That's why I don't know if I can forgive the Nottraiders, and Blue Cat, for stealing them. If I can explain it, really really explain it, in a way that gets through to them, and they stop trying to hurt Yuma... I'll keep trying to, and it'd make me happy if that happened. But I don't know if I can forgive people for hurting her because of not having any curiosity."

"Like an accessory, perhaps..."

    Hikaru grasps Yuma by either side of the trench coat and holds her up to inspect her, while Yuma uses an 'arm' to adjust her glasses. Taking Natsuki's advice extremely seriously, she considers, "... Maybe she needs dangly accessories...."

"I've got a feeling you might be right about that, yeah. And with all these folks around..."

    "Lun. I'll protect them all." Lala clutches the Cancer Star Color Pen to her chest determinedly and nods. It's only a matter of time until the Nottraiders pick up the Stellar Note on one of Eyewon's radars....

"Yanyan. Neiya~yan."

    "O-oh! Just-- just Neia is fine. It's just Neia." The girl waves her hand flusteredly, then blinks and looks for the source, finding it when Roland holds up the pad. She makes sure to look directly at the camera of the tablet rather than at Angela's eyes, which seems to be a bit of a problem for her. "I mean... I guess she really only showed up on anyone's radars... what, a bit over a year ago? Maybe a year and a half? She totally showed up right out of nowhere and was an instant hit, so I guess I got into her about at the same time that half the galaxy did. Really, her story's incredible."

    "I got in a couple months late because I didn't have a radio before that, lun..." So that's what she meant by not being a fan of Mao for 'that long'. Lala says it like she's confessing some sort of moral failing. If Hikaru was into K-Pop, it's easy to imagine that introducing Lala to it would have resulted in her never leaving Earth again.

    "Oh, yeah, and--" Neia looks at Roland, and then quickly away to look at Lala instead, answering his question directed sort of between the two of them. "There's, like, a-- some merch stuff set up over closer by the venue, not that far. If you wanna grab something, I guess now'd be a good time, before, like, everyone else gets to it. I could show you."

    On that topic, Yanyan, who is perched on a folding chair sipping on something simply labeled 'SPACE SOJU', explains, "Oh, I think she's a real nice girl, but I'm no superfan like Neia here, ya know? Pretty voice though; gosh what a star."

"So don't worry about me, and enjoy yourselves. Okay?"

    Hikaru is, definitely, worried about Lilian's state, but just like Lilian isn't quite as deft at interacting with children, Hikaru isn't quite as deft at interacting with... anyone. In the little pocket of quiet space around her while Lala is occupied with Neia, she doesn't exactly come across as 'left out' so much as she's drifted into a naturally lower energy state as the intensity of the social gathering around her grew, inversely with how close she is to Lala. So she lingers there for a bit longer, looking to the side at Lilian, and reflecting on several thoughts in that moment: her significantly lower ability to express care than Lala, and whether that's actually what she was interested in, or whether she feels distantly frustrated because she was hoping to get more information about the past drama, rather than having pure motives.
Merelisa Shaynore     "Okay," She eventually decides on. "But it's available whenever you want."

"If Doramus is here I will send him packing, mergers and buyouts style."

    So instead, Hikaru wanders off to the rest of the party, busying herself with holding a donut and watching all the cool new aliens filter into the party at her spaceship home, leaning against one of the metal support beams of the canopy that AI made nearby Natsuki.

    "Heh. Well, if he's here, I'll owe you for that." Hikaru seems *very* willing to promise things like that. "How'd you get so rich, anyways? I can't even imagine it. Doramus has suuuuuch a big company with the Dragon Clan, and I can't even wrap my mind around it, but if he didn't cheat, then you'd run circles around him."

"Now that you mention it... I'm going to head into the RV and sit down for a bit. Try and save my energy."

    "Yeah! We've still got a big day tomorrow. This is just the *pre*-party."

"You did not know of this, Ms. Lala?"

    Lala, hyped up on social interaction, nods at Tamamo, then reconsiders and shakes her head, then nods again, uncertain. "Lun! Well... I didn't know, but... lun, it's the same ship, but there was an extra... Onslaught gave us a piece that would let AI transform to help us win a race, lun! The spaceship used to just be the spaceship, but ever since getting that cog, now AI can turn it into this car too. So maybe even AI doesn't know everything she can do."

"Affirmative, Miss Lala. I may have been designated 'Love Prime', but I did not get an opportunity to scan Mister Onslaught's data and fully learn my capabilities. I hope you can be patient with these 'growing pains'."
"It's okay, lun. If you're studying it yourself, that's just like me going to school now too, right?"

    Natsuki can find some alcohol with several of the attendees, most notably Yanyan's box of Space Soju, though she doesn't have a *ton* of it. Meanwhile, Yuma-- disguised, fedora'd-- has gravitated towards where Tamamo and Lilian are cuddling, tottering on her two stubby feet. She doesn't just seem drawn to Tamamo, or the warmth, but the interaction between the two of them overall, climbing up onto the table and flopping onto her belly to face both of them. Their back and forths are occasionally responded to with an inquisitive note or two of humming synthesizer tone.

    Then, after finishing her soda, Neia exclaims, "Right! We gotta go! Hey, sir, come on and follow if you wanna see the merch selection!"

    With Roland and Lala in tow, and then adding Hikaru after a "Lala, Lalaaaaa!! I'm coming too!", Neia shows the way towards a row of tables and booths set up by the newly constructed concert venue down near the crystalline cave mouth. The stage is obviously an expensive thing, even though it can't be more than a month old, with lots of lights and sound equipment built in, and facing towards both the field where the audience can gather, and the cavern where, presumably, the Crystallulon sleeps for another night. The girls chatter incessantly along the way, even dragging Roland in when they can, thriving in the energy of the environment.

"You know, it might sound crazy, but I've never been to a concert at all before."
"No way? Me either, lun!"
"Really?! But you set up all that...??"
"You couuuuuld say that Lala's just naturally talented."
"O-oyo, no! We had lots of help!"
"Oh, so, here we are; there's mostly shirts and stuff, but there's also souvenir glowsticks, and you can by replicas of her bell, or her lipstick here, and..."
"Hey, Mister Roland, was there anything in specific you were looking for?"