PREP Highschool

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

Asami smiles at Juibi. "I haven't missed until the ball lands!"

But suddenly, Asami takes on a surprisingly serious demeanor as Bismuth inquires as to Darko's magic. "Bismuth. Darko's magic is outside your realm of understanding. It does what it wants with no regard for worldly life. And for some wacky reason, Darko feels guilty about the things it does."

[Hunting Class]

Agate tries to catch a mouse with her bare hands! That goes about as well as one would expect. The mouse scampers far away, getting into a tiny hole in the concrete floor of the nearby greenhouse. "Nyo... don't trouble yourselves. I can still *huff* catch it," the cat says, standing up straight, "Oh, where'd it go?" The cat frantically looks around for a few seconds before throwing its paws down in defeat. "Don't tell meow it got away..."

[quillpleasant]

[Cafeteria]

"It will be a little tricky, won't it? But it's all an adventure! Splitting is just something I do so I'll have to learn to live with it. It just means I'll have lots of siblings, right? I won't have to worry about being lonely," Bismuth laughs, her 'halo' glittering with a prism of colors. "I think sharing could work. But since there are more of me it'll be easier to do more delves! And more delves means more loot. And more loot means more stuff we can buy! It's a problem that solves itself, see? More people isn't bad, especially if those people all have the same goals."

That's really Juiblex' strength, isn't it?

They might not all be the same person, but they all feel like they have the same purpose.

"The best part is I can do group projects by myself, now," Bismuth slyly adds.

Then she perks up at the magical bag talk, already thinking with that alchemist's mind of hers. "So ANYTHING you keep with you has some magic leak into it? That's pretty neat! If they stay magical you could make neat magical stuff for people and sell it! Like what I do with oils and potions and things. Except you wouldn't have to worry about gathering reagents to make magical bags full of surprises."

A beat.

"...do you have another magical bag in your magic bag?"

If he does Bismuth will find this very amusing.

But then! An important question!

Bismuth bounces her tail back and forth a few times thoughtfully.

"Oh, that's a really good question, isn't it? I like alchemy just as much as the rest of me. What I like and dislike really hasn't change. But I suppose we'll grow apart the longer we're around."
"I feel really bouncy! I'm going to bounce a lot," Juibi supplies as she rolls up in a ball and begins rolling around on the floor.
Bismuth stifles a giggle at the display, keeping her attention on Darko. "What sort of other things were you thinking about? What do YOU like?"

Cafeteria

Darko perks up a little at the mention of delving. "Hey, if you ever want someone to come along on an expedition, let me know. I have some good experience through Action Archaeology." Okay, so he's been on one expedition, and he caused more problems than he fixed. But she doesn't need to know that!

"And the group project thing is smart, I wish I could do that. No one ever takes assignments as seriously as me."

The most difficult thing about group projects is fighting off everyone else's bad ideas, of course.

He screws up his face a little at the idea of selling his magic. "Ehhh... I don't know if that would work. Stuff won't usually stay magic if I stop using it, and I guess it's not everything that gets magical around me. It's really unpredictable, and I don't want to encourage it. But it was a good thought!" he adds hurriedly, "Just not super feasible unfortunately."

Then the second bag question. It's a good question. Darko reaches into the bag, rummages around- and comes out with a second identical bag, balled up and creased. He unfolds it, and it suddenly seems identically full to the first one.

"Well I guess I do now. Oh geez." That's just doubled his encumbrance for the day!

Leaning forward, he rests his chin in his hand as he considers Bismuth's question. "Yeah, I imagine you'll become more different the more time passes. I mean, even right now you're each having different experiences, and therefor different memories." It's enough to boggle the mind. "But as for me, that's easy. I like doing magic tricks, and performing, and reading, and exploring. I guess reading is exploring, in a way? And sometimes exploration is a performance."

He nods at Asami's interjection, but holds up a placating hand. "You're right, but Bismuth hasn't even heard it fully explained. It's also outside the realm of my understanding, and I have it. It's my responsibility, since it's tied to me." Whether or not that's true would take some considerable debate.

[Rebonack]

[Cafeteria]

"That's true but I think the planet rotating is going to mess up the return trip. Unless you were aiming at a hoop outside," Juibi replies to Asami.

"Oh! Action Archeology! That's a good subject. Heroic Delving is similar but the goal is to save the day instead of learning ancient secrets," Bismuth says. "I'll remember that. Usually I've done the delves solo but having a partner that isn't me could be fun."

Bismuth watches the bag multiplying display with interest. "Do you mind if I take the extra bag?"

She's definitely curious!

When the subject of INEFFABLE MAGIC comes up Bismuth laughs. "I don't know a thing about wild sorcery; I'm an alchemist. OH! But hey! I've got an idea! You can't control your magic, right? I think I could whip up some special potions for you if you decide to come on a delve with me that could be really handy!"

Juibi looks curious for a moment, then gasps! "Oh! Are you thinking arcane grenades?"

Bismuth nods to her sister. Juibi grins a wide grin. "Haha that's a great idea!"

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

Asami puts her hands in her pockets, puffing out her cheeks. "Darko-senpai... how you felt about your magic should be obvious. I could tell from the look on your face before I even met you. You'd have to be pretty 'in-son-sid-ah-rate'," she pauses, a proud smile on her face, "To just completely miss the glaring signs you give off."

Asami crosses her arms, flashing a defiant frown at Bismuth for a second. "AND DO NOT GIVE HIM ANYTHING HE CAN BLOW HIMSELF UP WITH!" Asami shouts, nearly immediately afterwards turning to Darko and planting a finger on the table, "Anyways, under what law would you be responsible here? You're a minor, baka, the wizards are responsible for you and your magic."

[Artemis]

[Hunting Class]

"Sorry Sir." Landon says to the cat, lowering his bow. "We weren't fast enough."

He frowns, thinking. "You didn't happen to see Mr. Huntsworth come this way, did you?"

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

"Ooh... saving the day sounds fun. I wouldn't mind being a hero." Darko smiles shyly at the idea. "Maybe I'll take that next school year." There's too many good classes- if he could, he'd take them all.

The moment Bismuth requests the bag, it's handed over. "Please, it's yours." He wasn't relishing the thought of carrying them both back to the dorm. One is bad enough.

Darko tilts his head at Asami. "You're right, but counterpoint- Bismuth can't exactly see facial expressions, right? And even though I'm usually worried about my magic, right now I'm feeling other stuff more, so she wouldn't be able to read my emotions about it either." Check and mate.

"But uh, grenades? Are they safe?" He's not immediately discounting the idea, since it might be something different from what it sounds. But it does sound a little worrying. Still, he does want to be useful if he went on a delve. Maybe he could even be impressive.

He looks a little confused at Asami's last point. "It's not about laws. The Wizards are helping, but they can't leave the Theatre, so they're not responsible for anything I do outside of it." Not to mention, legally they're not his guardians at all. No one is.

[Earl of Purple]

Hunting Class

Agate picks herself up off the floor and brushes grass off her outfit. "It went through that hole in the greenhouse." Agate points at the hole, since she had a pretty good view of where it went from the floor.

She also dismisses her transformation, her pendant gleaming before sending out a pulse of light that spreads across her body and outfit, dismissing the fancy dress and replacing it with her usual school uniform. The soulgem is back in Agate's hand, until she quickly puts it in her pocket.

[Rebonack]

[Cafeteria]

"It's true, my vision isn't very good," Bismuth confirms as she accepts the bag and begins digging through it for anything that smells interesting. Does it come pre-loaded with an assortment of random trinkets and baubles and maybe a pickle ball? There's only one way to find out! As to the question of safety Bismuth replies in an impish tone, "Safe for you."

"It's a great trick where you make a potion that's kind of like an 'empty' mana potion. Then you toss it at a magical monster and it'll drain some magic from it. They're great for stopping a dragon from using their breath weapon," Juibi clarifies. "But if Darko used one like mouth-wash it would drain some magic from HIM. No big deal since it's wild-magic, right? You can't control it. So the magic gets stored in the potion as raw arcane power and you can toss the potion bottle at a monster! PTZZZBT! They get a face full of arcane discharge! The best part is that since it's YOUR magic it wouldn't react with you if you accidentally poured it all over yourself."

Bismuth perks up at the mention of the Wizards. "Who are the Wizards? And why can't they leave the Theater? That sounds mysterious!"

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

Feelings at this time of the year? Of course, Asami completely misinterprets what Darko says and zeroes in on it, getting uncomfortably close. "Oh? Other stuff, huh? So there is someone you like! Who is!? Tellmetellmetellmetellme!" she exclaims, drawing the attention of the surrounding tables. Despite her vigourousness, she still manages to get in an aside to Juibi, "Won't work. Its not even his magic."

[Hunting Class]

The cat has a dejected look on its face, shrugging off Landon's apology. "Its nyot your fault... Don't apologize for my failings, meow."

But then! Landon asks a very important question, to which the cat tilts his head and thinks. "Meowster... Huntsworth? I'm sorry, I only got here recently and haven't familiarized meowself with the rest of the staff yet, so I really can't say."

Finally, the cat turns towards the greenhouse building, tilting his head. "Well, I can't quite fit in there, nya... Perhaps I can fire a shotgun into it?"

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

The bag seems to contain a copy of all of Darko's stuff. That being, a crumpled up magician's costume, several decks of cards, a collapsible cane, school textbooks, several old fantasy and romance novels, a journal with a plush rabbit on it, a pair of boots, several rocks and crystals, a rather well made knife in a sheath, a human skull, what seems to be a jar of pickled onions, a fake beard, a glass eye, a taxidermy cat, a live snake that slithers deeper into the bag, a ladder that leads further in...

Actually, some of these things are probably not Darko's at all, and this bag might not be an exact copy. After all, it does seem to be a lot bigger on the inside.

The moment Jubi says the words 'drain some magic' Darko is already nodding. "Yeah, absolutely! It's worth a shot, right? And anything that helps get rid of some excess magic is a good thing in my book." And if it did allow him to weaponize his magic without it 'counting' as actually using it, well...

He's not surprised at Bismuth's question, but he does have to think for a moment on how to answer it without raising too many more questions. "The Wizards are a group of creatures that have kind of looked after me the last few years. Until moving to PREP I was staying in their Theatre. They can move it different places, but they're trapped inside, so I run errands for them and in exchange they're working on absorbing all my magic. Eventually." It's been about five years and there's been very little progress made.

Asami's barrage earns a scowl. "Nooo not this again. Even if I did like someone I wouldn't tell you." Plus, there's no way anyone would ever like him back, although he doesn't say that bit out loud.

[Rebonack]

[Cafeteria]

"Maybe it won't work, but we should still try! It's a learning experience," Bismuth says with one very sparkly bounce. "We can meet by the creepy doll tree after classes today. Technically I don't have any yet so I'm spend the rest of the afternoon working on the mana potions. And maybe exploring all the neat stuff in this bag."

Bismuth hefts the bag onto her back where it's immediately stained with glassy clear, glitter filled slime. It's like being covered in glitter glue all the time.

"The Wizards definitely sound like a mystery! And the theater sounds neat, too. Maybe you can show me after our experiment is done?" Bismuth asks. Once she has an answer she'll bound away! "Later!"

As for Juibi?

"I'm going to keep up my flying practice. I'll crash lots of times before I learn so I had better get to crashing!" she laughs before likewise taking her leave.


Several hours later-

[The Creepy Doll Tree]

-will be waiting.

No one really knows what the CDT's deal is. The tree is perpetually leafless and doll arms and legs and heads dangling from its branches from thick twine. People have tried removing its spooky decorations but there are always new ones the next morning.

It's a pretty good location to meet if you don't want to be bothered since the spooky tree is largely shunned by the portion of the student population that isn't creepy or cursed themselves.

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

"I wouldn't say its worth a shot. It will likely retaliate if you do this. Separate your emotions from the situation for a second. You're weighing a solution with a low chance of incomplete success coupled with a high risk of harming innocents. Anyways..."

Asami stares face-to-face with Darko. "Since you're not telling me, there must be someone! Come on! Please tell me! Even a little hint." She gives her best puppy dog eyes.

[Artemis]

[Hunting Class]

"I don't think that would work, sir." Landon supplies. "It'd do all sorts of damage to the outside, but wouldn't get far in. We could flood it with that hose? Force him out without damaging the building."

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

"Yeah, I can show you the Wizards! They love meeting new people." Also, Bismuth meeting them would allow Darko to test something. He's never been quite sure how incorporeal the Wizards are, so whether or not she's able to sense them would put that mystery to rest. "Bye you two!"

And then Asami is uncomfortably close to him. Well, he's kind of used to that at this point. "Ehh... it might retaliate, but every time it's done so, my friends have helped me beat it. Like you at the Arcade, or Mac at the library. I'm sure Bismuth can handle anything that happens." And at this point, he'll take even a low chance of success.

But then there's the other question. Darko shifts back, reddening. "There's seriously no one! I wish there was, but-" Then he has a sudden daring thought, that just might get Asami off his case about the grenade plan.

"Okay, you got me. I like Bismuth, and this is all an excuse to spend more time with her, which is why I want to go alone. So don't follow me!" There! A foolproof plan to distract Asami that will definitely not have any consequences.

---

The Creepy Doll Tree

Darko has heard of the Tree, but hasn't been yet. But he's been meaning to- as a cursed child with a lot of creepy friends, he's not particularly bothered by the spooky factor. In fact, it's kind of cool. Why hasn't he gotten into weird doll parts? A lot of guys are getting into weird doll parts these days and he should probably hop on that trend.

Dressed in an oversized black peacoat to block out the cold, Darko walks up to the tree, staring up at the swinging pieces. Neat! He's so absorbed in watching them sway in the breeze that he won't notice anyone else approach. Until it's too late.

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

Asami seems pretty placated by Darko's reasoning, getting out of his face and back to her seat. She smiles appeased until Darko makes his confession, to her expression changes to one of surprise. "What!? How are you even willing to be alone with her that quickly? I'd trip up just introducing myself..."

She plants her face down on the table, supporting it with her arms. "I could never be as brave as you, Darko-senpai."

[Rebonack]

[The Creepy Doll Tree]

There's just enough wind to get the dangling parts knocking into each other, filling the air around the tree with a hollow, mournful sound not unlike muted chimes. It definitely helps with the creepy factor, not that the tree needed greater creep than it already has.

It isn't too long before Bismuth sets off from her own dorm room, wearing a fluffy powder blue coat with furry trim over her skin suit to ward off the cold. Just like the rest of Juiblex she hasn't ended up with a slime variation that doesn't have to worry too much about low temperatures, but this fantastic fluffy coat they found on their last delve really helps on that front! And its color goes nicely with her own snow white and icy clear tones. She's wearing her mobile alchemy station hip packs since this will be a time for experimentation!

Bismuth catches Darko's scent in the crisp air well before she actually sees him and goes trotting over to the tree, waving one of her tentacles as she approaches. "Hey Darko! You made it, great! We should get right down to the test!"

That said, she reaches into her coat to the bandoleer of potion bottles under it and pulls out a small stoppered wide-mouthed vial that holds about as much liquid as a shot glass. Bismuth holds it out to Darko, allowing him to see the contents.

Really, it just looks like water with a slightly silver sparkle to it.

"Alright so THIS!" she waggles the potion. "Is the the uncharged potion. All you need to do is use it like mouth wash and then spit it back into the vial after about thirty seconds. If it works then it should turn florescent blue. You don't want to swallow it, but it won't really hurt you if you swallow some on accident."

[Earl of Purple]

Hunting Class

"We'd need to figure out the other exits first, so we know where the mouse will come out when the tunnels are flooded. It's not going to have just one way in or out, that's... that's not smart for any prey animal." They have other exits in case a cat lurks around one all the time trying to catch it on its way out, for example. Also, filling the tunnels with water might be a bad idea if there's an exit somewhere in somebody's room or something.

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

To his credit, Darko does feel a bit bad lying to Asami. But is it a lie? He's pretty sure it is, anyway.

"What? You're like, the bravest person I know. I've seen you deal with way crazier stuff completely unphased." He reaches over to pat her shoulder. "I'm sure that you'd handle a crush just fine."

A thought occurs to him. "Hey, speaking of, fair's fair. Do you like anyone? I saw you hug Cheasadh an awful long time at that Thanksmas party." But then again, she's a very huggy person, so it might not mean anything.

---

Creepy Doll Tree

Darko turns at the sound of Bismuth's voice, waving cheerfully. "Hey yourself! Nice jacket." Very fluffy, and much more fashionable than he could ever be.

He listens to the explanation, taking the vial and giving it a little shake. Big things in small packages? Perhaps. He hesitates for a moment- even though he was dismissive of the possibility of his magic doing something bad, now that he's faced with it, that idea is still a little worrying. But screw it, what's the worst that can happen?

"Okay cool, here goes nothing!" He follows Bismuth's instructions, tipping back the potion and swishing before spitting it back into the bottle. That's a little gross.

But it seems to have worked. Darko's excessive arcane energy seems to be easy to drain, so it turns the regular blue color- although it glows even brighter than usual. He holds it up, looking at it closely. "Cool..."

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

Asami raises her head a bit, bubbly red question marks materializing in the air. The dealing with crazy stuff unphased point is completely lost on her, as unrelated as it is.

Darko's question would almost fluster Asami, but his further implied accusation calmed her down. "I mean... did you see how she got? Pretty sure she's the one with the crush." She props the side of her head up on one hand, the elbow resting on the table. "What am I supposed to even do about that? Just wait for her to confess? Even then, how can I do dating stuff if I don't have any money? It won't be very fair if Chea-chan has to pay for everything..."

[Hunting Class]

"You raise good points, nya..." the cat replies musingly. "Alright, I guess I have nyo choice but to look around the building!"

All of a sudden, Asami's visible again! "We can help you! We're from the hunting class, so i'm sure it won't be a problem for us," she exclaims strangely giddily.

The cat, in responses, jumps back. "Eep! Where did you come from?"

Asami blinks for a second, turning towards the greenhouse. "Right, well, its a large building so it may take some time to look over it. Lets split up! Agate, you should come with me and we'll circle around."

Without giving any chance for protest, Asami immediately begins skipping towards the greenhouse, beginning to go around the side of the building and carefully looking about for any mouse holes.

[Rebonack]

[Creepy Doll Tree]

"Thanks! I found it on my last delve exploring my old home town. It's got a minor enchantment to keep the wearer nice and warm AND it automatically cleans itself!" Bismuth says cheerfully, doing a little twirl to show off the coat. "Which is great since that means I can't get it all snotty."

Slime resistant clothing is very important to Juiblex.

And then comes the moment of truth! Bismuth holds her breath in eager anticipation while waiting to see what happens and-!

Exactly what she was expecting!

"It worked! Woohoo!"

Always exciting for an alchemist when their potions do what they wanted.

"Okay, now to make sure it discharges properly, too! There aren't many monsters to test arcane grenade on around campus so I brought some dehydrated tardiguards with me," Bismuth says as she removes what LOOKS like a purple potato from one of her pouches and sets it on the ground. Then she takes out an eye dropper and drips a single drop off water onto the potato and-!

PWOMP!

-grows into a dog sized purple water-bear with a shield shaped plate around its head!

The tardiguard begins snuffling around in the snow in search of plants to eat.

Bismuth hurries over to Darko.

"Okay! Put the stopper back in and throw the potion at the tardiguard. It should make an arcane discharge that will zap the monster back into potato form," Bismuth instructs. "And don't worry too much about the tardiguard, they're basically invulnerable."

[Artemis]

[Hunting Class]

"I guess I'll go the other way." Landon decides. "Hmm... might be easier on four legs. You might not want to watch this." He advises, as he sets down his pack and bow.

Rather suddenly, white fur begins to sprout from Landon's skin, his bones crack, and he drops to all fours. Where a boy once stood, there's now a young white wolf. He trots up to the hole in the greenhouse where the mouse slipped through to catch its scent, then starts sniffing around the baseboards trying to find more entrances.

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

Oh no, is Asami asking for dating advice? Darko... definitely knows how to help. He's read plenty of romance, he knows how this goes. Yeah. Absolutely.

"Well... if you don't like her, then you don't need to do anything. Crushes fade. But if you do like her, then you should tell her! Which it sounds like you might, if you're already thinking about dates?" That's a good sign, he thinks. "And there's plenty of dates that don't involve money, like picnics, or adventuring, or... like going to the library or something. But also I can spot you some money if you want to take her out, I have all those cursed coins."

---

Creepy Doll Tree

Wow, a magic coat! That's even more exciting than a regular coat. Darko can't help but think how cute Bismuth is as she twirls around.

Not the time! There's stuff to explode!

Darko's eyes widen in excitement as he sees the tardiguard. "Wh- that's so cool! I love tardigrades!" He read about them in an old science book once and always thought they were extremely cute. Turns out if you magnify them several thousandfold the cuteness level isn't affected at all.

He looks doubtfully at the vial, then the tardiguard. This is where things could go really wrong. "Well... fingers crossed." And he chucks the potion at the little beast.

The magic in the potion has lost its force of will, being thus separated from Darko. What it hasn't lost is its wild and erratic power. As the jar breaks against the tardigard, it will have the desired effect- plus extra. In this case, a sudden and extremely powerful gust of wind batters the ground around the target, flattening grass and tearing up clumps of dirt. The potato will likely go flying. Then the wind is gone as rapidly as it appeared.

"Huh." Darko stares for a moment. "Could have been worse."

[Rebonack]

[Creepy Doll Tree]

Right? Magical coats are VERY exciting. Even if the magic is pretty passive, as far as magic goes. It doesn't shoot fire or make you super strong or anything like that. It just makes it uncannily good at being a warm coat.

"Aren't they? These giant ones get used as test subjects a whole lot since they're harmless and basically impossible to hurt. I hear they work with them over at the Mad Science building, too," Bismuth says. She really hasn't spent much time at the Mad Science building. She's definitely more of an arcanium girl.

And then?

The moment of truth!

With a loud ZAP! and a flash of raw magical power the tardiguard reverts to its dehydrated form only to get launched away and lands in a patch of tall grass over there. The wind is strong enough to kick up quite the little blast of air, too, buffeting Bismuth and making her 'halo' flutter and flash erratically while her coat whips behind her.

She just laughs her bubbly, bouncing laugh, using her tentacles to try to prevent the flapping from being TOO over the top. She doesn't want her mantle hod to get turned inside out. But because it would hurt her or anything, it just looks silly like a dog's ear getting inverted.

"WOW! That was pretty intense!" Bismuth giggles! As she wonders aloud she begins trotting toward the tall grass where the purple potato landed. "Do you think it'll do the same thing each time or will it always be a different wild-magic effect? We should probably try again for science! But first we're going to need to find the tardiguard."

That tall grass is PRETTY TALL.

About waste high, as a matter of fact.

Hopefully there aren't any monsters lurking in it.

[Earl of Purple]

Hunting Class

"She's got light control, don't worry about it. She vanishes sometimes." Agate's pretty sure Asami bends light around her somehow rather than turning totally transparent, but she's not sure and doesn't know much about light-based physics besides.

Agate takes Landon's advice and doesn't watch, grimacing a little at some of the cracks. That sounds a far more unpleasant transformation than her own... though possibly one that hasn't doomed him as hers has. "Will you let me know when I can look again, or no?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

The prospect of Asami being the one to make the first move causes her face to redden. She quickly gets under the table, cowering in fear as she clings to the pole. "You say that like its natural to you. I don't have as much experience as you with this type of thing, Darko." It appears Darko may have missed the part where Asami is a socially anxious mess who spent the better part of her life near entirely isolated.

[Hunting Class

Asami stops in her tracks and turns back curious, a grin forming on her face before she breaks into raucous laughter. "Hahahaha! You're telling me Landon is... pffft. Hold on, I have to record this."

Asami pulls out her phone and holds it sideways, following closely behind Landon and pointing it at him.

The cat, for his part, gesticularly waves a hand in Asami's direction. "That seems like something worth worrying about, nya..."

[Artemis]

[Hunting Class]

Landon lets out a short bark, letting Agate know it was ok. Hopefully she understood.

Then Asami starts recording him. He turns back to look at her and his amber eyes narrow. He lets out a low growl, warning her to back off.

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

Sometimes Darko does forget that, because Asami's devil may care attitude and loudness often make him feel like she's the more outgoing type. But stage performing certainly takes the edge off the fear of crowds and talking to people. He lays stomach down on the cafeteria bench so he can stay at the same level as her.

"I mean, it's easier to suggest than to do it. I would probably get too nervous to confess to someone too. And I don't have any experience, I've never dated anyone!" He thinks for a moment. "You could try putting your feelings into a letter- even if it's too scary to send it, maybe writing them down would help you process them?"

---

Creepy Doll Tree

Darko looks at Bismuth in complete surprise as she laughs. It's not the usual reaction his magic has- people tend to be annoyed at best, or terrified at worst. After a moment he chuckles too- it was pretty intense, but somehow Bismuth makes it less scary.

"My guess is it'll be different- my magic doesn't usually do the same thing more than once. I think it would get bored if it did that." God, he wished his magic was boring. He looks at the tall grass.

It's just grass, right?

"It's gotta be around here somewhere," he mutters, plunging into the grass without hesitation, peering at the ground and feeling around to try to find the shrunken tardiguard.

[Rebonack]

[Creepy Doll Tree]

That seems to be a whole thing with Juiblex, doesn't it? The whole of existence is a fun adventure. So why would Bismuth be intimidated by Darko's magic? It's just one more facet of the grand journey.

"Probably! That's what I think will happen, too, BUT! We never know until we try! It's all part of the discovery," Bismuth says as she uses her tentacles to shove the tall grass aside. Hmm. Nothing in here but cold, slightly snowy grass.

As Darko joins the search he soon discovers exactly what they're looking for.

With one problem.

There's a weird green monkey in the grass that's picked up the purple potato. And it's trying to eat it. Given that tardiguards are, again, invulnerable this isn't working out so well. But the monkey is definitely giving it a go. As soon as the green ape spots Darko it gives him a dirt look and hides the potato behind its back.

Oh no!

The potato has vanished!

Clearly it's gone now.

[Earl of Purple]

Hunting Class

"Asami, I'll let you record my transformation if you don't record Landon's. OK?" Agate's transformation usually shorts out cameras and refuses to be recorded, though she can turn that part of it off.

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

"Uh..." says Asami, nervously pausing, "I haven't even started learning how to write yet."

[Hunting Class]

Asami seems a little unnerved here. Not by Landon's growl, but rather, Agate's expression of disapproval. It takes Asami a few seconds before she can muster a reply more meaningful than "uh", "But... I've never seen a dog in real life before. This is a big moment for me."

She continues to record, but a little more warily now, focusing on Agate's reaction.