dollmaxing | Inbox & In-person meetups

"As for my friend," he chuckles as he lets their linked hands settle comfortably and raises his glass to her. "You don't have to worry- it doesn't sound like him at all."

"Well, then I'm glad to be a standout amongst your friend group," she smiled a bit more in reply, raising her cup and gently clinking it against his.

"To us, and our ways of giving our worlds a joyful existence."

"To us," he gleefully follows. ...and saving our worlds.

"Kanpai-!"

Their glasses clink as he giggles and downs the whole glass in a single go. His head spikes with a familiar ache, but he simply ignores it while keeping their hands linked. He can pull away anytime when they prepare to write down more points for their little shared project.

"Huh...sorry, I completely forgot you threw me a question before. What was it about?" He shakes his head and grabs his chopsticks to do a little swirl gesture with the glass to the side. "I am afraid you are going to lose me in the next half a dozen few glasses."

"Oooh, another drinking night! Fun~" she giggled, going in for a bottoms up! on her cup as well. His hand was warm, and he seemed to need a hand to hold. Poor sensitive heart.

"I was asking who else around here is any good with hacking and code! I'm curious how they measure up."

He quickly went back to chomping on more of the sushi. He was not done yet and he was going to make full use of this opportunity- if possible.

"Oh right-! I was thinking about Wolf-kun, actually."

He pauses for a bit to chew before pointing out again with his chopsticks. "Not talking about Hasegawa-san here, or his daughter, Akane though both of them are also extremely proficient with technology. Ones to hack into systems without looking. "

"Wolf-kun isn't a persona user. Perhaps...have you heard of Digimon?"

More sushi is laid out, and Kuon delights in the freshly sliced and sauced eel. SOOO good. Hopefully she could get some of the yellowtail that the big Wolf had stolen from her.

"Digimon... nope. Something like Dokemon, maybe? One of those monster collector games?"

"Its similar to that, yes," he nods. "I was not as much of a fan of it either. I am more familiar with featherman if anything. "

He adjusts his glasses on his nose with his knuckles. "Digimon usually refers to creatures you find in a digital space. The boy here, who is an Akechi that goes by the codename Wolf recently had something going on with his dungeon, right?"

"Yeah, well- what I have read from public posts is that he might have intuitive knowledge about technology given he's familiar with it in a physical sense. Like Akane Hasegawa."

"Oh also, maybe I should have mentioned this before but he does have a version of EMMA on his phone. They deleted the files and attachments that were sent over the public network though so you could approach him personally."

That is if Hasegawa-san hasn't already thought of the same thing. He wouldn't underestimate his intelligence on the matter.

Edited 2025-06-22 23:52 (UTC)

"He has an EMMA?" Oh?

Another Ichinose... and another EMMA. Not hers, but...

There's a clear glimmer of excitement in the surprise of her expression.

"And he's familiar firsthand with the digital world, fascinating... I wonder what we could teach each other. I may have to talk with him - if he still uses EMMA, does that mean that his world's Kuon isn't a failure like the one in Hasegawa's world?"

"Only the Hasegawas would probably know the detailed history behind it...I am not too sure since it's been so long. That Akechi didn’t seem to recognise there was anything off-putting about that EMMA in the first place." He finally allows himself to let go of her hand.

He reaches into his pocket to open up Flutter.

"From what I can discern, it's probably clean from anything that involves what they are searching for."

"Heh heh, well, that does make sense... if his world isn't one where cognitive psience has been researched, the factor EMMA explored wouldn't be the same. Ohh, but I am curious how she might interface with a literal digital world and sapient digital entities..."

Fascinating!! Oh, that will be MUCH too fun.

"And who knows! Maybe I can bribe him with some of what I know about coding to boost his own skills, so he might let me peek..."

"And snacks," he points out with an index, still clutching the phone before shaking his head. "You are naturally stepping forward to assist others and protecting yourself, it's a handy skill."

"If it weren't for what you said earlier, I might have considered a career change."

He stops, recognizing a familiar name in last year's network post. "Oh! There we go."

He turns the phone screen before setting it down before Kuon. "Their conversation should be in the comments. Think its locked after a certain point."

[OOC: i am guessing since falcon sees the text we can have it make it seem that their convo got locked after his reaction]

"Hmm...! Okay, fascinating. Thanks for tracking that down specifically," she hummed in amusement. It was nice to see some skepticism about EMMA from someone, but skepticism didn't mean a complete buy-in... especially if EMMA was from an earlier or more basic build.

"I'll definitely have to see if he's interested in chatting."

He brings his glass to his lips again, drinking most of the sake as he smiles at her earnestly. "It's my pleasure. If I can make your stay easier here with giving you as much context as you need- I would be happy to."

No one should be living here with zero support, If he can step forward and take some pressure off of her shoulders (or completely if she would allow him to tap into her heart); he would do it in a heartbeat.

Ooh!! Yellowtail!!! Kuon perks up and almost doesn't wait for the plate to be set down before digging in with her chopsticks.

"Hmmhmm! My hero. And I'm still here to keep you motivated."

With the sake finished, Maruki decides to take a break and focus on the sushi again. Or, well, the lack thereof. There's a firm blush on his face as he hears those words again. Hero...yes. He would like to be her hero. He would be her hero and so much more.

"Uh...yeah, I-"

He chuckles lightly, covering his mouth. Wow, did he drink that much in the process.

As he's about to pocket his phone, he pauses as his fingers hold its body while Ichinose digs away at the yellowtail like someone who hasn't had anything to eat in the past few hours. He grins.

"If we are talking about motivation...I’m pretty sure your excitement alone could power the entire palace on its own."

With his hands free and mind slightly caught in a haze, he straightens out his phone to take a quick snapshot.

Which...again, wasn't very subtle- given the bright flash.

"!" Kuon glanced over at the flash, smile shifting from joyful to amused as she gave Takuto's side a poke. "Don't make fun of how a lady eats, that's rude~"

"You're prompting me to take more," he teases with an almost mushy smile as he lowers his phone to look at the picture.

"You really like Yellowtail sushi, huh? Or did they add something else?"

"It is one of my favorites, but it's more of a victory lap. I didn't get any since the whole platter got eaten by one man last time," she hummed, taking another piece 'triumphantly'.

Takuto seemed so sincere though... what a contrast. He's cute.

"Sometimes a little petty victory is the best spice!"

"I am sure that's what he was going with, too," he laughs along- light and breezy with how much freer he felt being around her as is. "I am more of the Tamago enthusiast, but the yellowtail here, really is quite rich."

He quickly picks off some of the sushi with chopsticks as he finds himself scrolling through past pictures and videos.

"Guess what? Turns out Azathoth had actually recorded a video that day. I didn't even realise it until I checked my phone recently after the Hasegawas visited us. I think it might be an invasion of privacy...ugh, but seriously I don't think I have laughed like that in ages."

Edited 2025-06-25 19:53 (UTC)

"Tsk! Azathoth, how mischievous. What was he snooping about that was so funny?" she asked, leaning over already to see if he was going to pull it up.

Wait...

"Is that Zenkichi Hasegawa drunk off his ass and singing a Queen song?" HILARIOUS...

Edited 2025-06-25 20:31 (UTC)

Maruki for sure did pull it up, leaning forward and turning his phone to the side so that both of them could take a look at it.

He giggles still when Ichinose, evidently glowing up while Hasegawa goes along to sing his heart out on the stage. Honestly? The performance itself wasn't bad itself, whatever he was singing seemed to come from the bottom of his heart.

"Wait for the good part," he says the moment Zenkichi manages to convince Phoenix, the demon-bird from hell join the stage.

When the skies shifted. The song permeated the very air. Even the video itself captured the reverberations following through.

♪ So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?
So you think you can love me and leave me to die?!! ♪♪

And Zenkichi actually screamed into his microphone, tearing through as he moves in almost, casually like he's trying to do the moonwalk.

♪♪Ohhhhhhhh, baby-! Can't do this to me, baby
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here ♪♪

"Well, he's not doing a bad job. For someone who drank a dozen shots of sake."

Edited 2025-06-25 22:10 (UTC)

"What is that?? A demon that has magic just to make dramatic lighting? Hahahah!" Ichinose laughed aloud, getting a few glances from the cognitive people around them. They were getting a little rowdy and rude...

"I have got to play this when he comes for the next update. I wonder if his face still turns red from embarrassment? Hahah!"

"Ah, Phoenix-! Yes, he's...yeah, he's apparently from some musical version of hell? Hahaha!" He laughs along with her, not even noticing the cognitive guests. "I mean- I do quite respect him. Even if he sent me to the jaws of death by working for that Drake of all people-!"

"Ugh." He doesn't want to think about him. Welp, bottom's up.

"Can you imagine? I wonder if he even knows he has the moves for it, but I can't help but find it endearing! It's a good look on him." His grin becomes lopsided. "You can see the blush when he actually gets drunk and doesn't just sober up right away. Damn...I don't think we will get that video from him again, though." He claps his hands together in a prayer-like gesture by putting his phone down. "Thank you, Azathoth. Lifesaver as always."

Oh? Ooooh?

Kuon's grin turned a bit mischievous. She rested her cheek on her hand and leaned in a bit.

"Do you find him attractive, Takuto~?"

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