[WEEK 2, WEDNESDAY SOMETIME: Lucina and Akira]

[spinatalltale]

[at some point!! on Wednesday!! Magilou is going to drag Akira and Lucina to the beach for ~rehearsal~. the whole performance with Laphicet had been lackluster because she had relied on improv and improv only, so she wouldn't make that mistake twice!! she'd drill the fundamentals of comedy into both of her new employees' heads if it took alllll evening]

[when they arrive, Magilou hands each one of them a piece of paper torn out of her handy dandy journal]

Here you go! ☆ Make sure you sign on the dotted line. It's a liability waiver.

[. . . the only thing on the paper is a crudely drawn picture of this thing]

[there is no dotted line]

Comments

[rightfully]

[ Lucina looks down at the paper now in her hand.

... Ah. ]

Yes, of course.

[ She folds it up and hands it back to Magilou, because what the fuck -- all while glancing over at Akira to see what he makes of this. ]

[jokered]

[akira's helping!

not by signing his name, but by drawing this and handing it back to magilou.

c:]

[spinatalltale]

[she accepts Akira's paper because he actually wrote something on it, and. . . what the fuck that's cute]

Acceptable!

[to Lucina, whose paper she does not accept because you gotta sign your liability waiver!!]

Your turn. The lessons cannot commence until all of my legal bases are covered.

[rightfully]

[ Her outstretched, proffering arm falls back down after a moment, and she unfolds the paper from its quarters.

A sigh, and then...



Disproportionately, she sketches out her father. It takes a few minutes. ]

[jokered]

[akira's learned pretty quickly that the easiest way to deal with magilou is to play by her weird rules, so he's content to just shove his hands in his pockets while they wait for lucina.

it's fine, this is fine.]

[spinatalltale]

[Akira has figured out the answer]

[she takes Lucina's paper and inspects it, before she gives an approving nod, her other hand coming to rest on her hip]

Very good! That takes care of the boring part.

[what is she even going to do with those papers, anyway. . .]

[rightfully]

[ Lucina hasn't really figured that out yet. That is to say, she's a bit less in the habit of going along with nonsense for no reason, especially considering the climate they're in.

That said, she has like, zero desire to make this a contest of wills. ]

Oh. Um, what's next?

[jokered]

[akira's using things like this to deal with how heavy the atmosphere has been—for himself, especially.

it's one way of coping with the pain, right?

either way, he's just looking at magilou expectantly here.]

[spinatalltale]

Why, I'm glad you asked, Lucina! Because I have an answer.

[a wave of her hand, and those folded up pieces of paper disappear into her sleeves. she props both hands on her hips now and pulls up a grin]

Now comes the motivational speech. The part where I tell you that comedy isn't a hobby, isn't a pastime.

It's a living.

[rightfully]

[ ... Yeah, she's just staring. ]

[jokered]

[it's okay, lucina.]

I'm waiting for the motivational part.

[he's got you.]

[spinatalltale]

[jabs a finger at Akira]

I'm getting there!

[don't rush her, she has to make this appropriately dramatic]

As I was saying, a comedian's job can be considered the most important job in the world. No, the known universe! Life is full of tragedy-- of people kicking puppies, of ice cream falling from the tops of our cones, of papercuts and stubbed toes and other unpleasant things.

[THOSE ARE ALL VERY MILD THINGS COMPARED TO LIKE, MURDER, MAGILOU]

People need a reason to smile in tragedy. A reason to keep going, when their hearts have shriveled up and died! That's what a comedian does.

A comedian balances out despair with light! Darkness with hope! [wait those aren't exact opposites] A comedian gives people a reason to live again!!

[this is ridiculous, does she even believe what she's saying]

[rightfully]

[ Super patiently, she waits out this speech unto its end.

Time for the most important question in history. ]

Wait. A moment, please.

...

What is "ice cream" and why is it on a cone?

[ Nailed it. ]

[jokered]

[yeah, akira doesn't really care about the speech. comedy's not his true strong suit and after the haru murder situation, he's not feeling that comedic.

he's really just helping magilou with this because he asked and that's what you do with confidants. if he could pretend to be on a crucifix in a church for yusuke, he could probably help magilou with her dumb comedy routine.

but because the speech isn't too motivating? he's going to help lucina out here.]

It's a frozen dairy dessert. It's sweet, and you put it in a sweet crunchy waffle-like cone that you can also eat without making a mess.

[thumbs up.]

[spinatalltale]

[THANKS AKIRA. but she bends over, arms hanging in front of her, and sulks]

T-that's it? That's how you both react to my motivational speech? Did I fail to touch your hearts with the power of my words?

[rightfully]

[ She supposes she ought to comfort Magilou after failing to be so moved by her speech, but Lucina has said over and over that comedy is not her strong suit.

So. Here's the attempt. ]

No, Magilou. Of course not. I found the sad ice cream tale to be very motivating.

[ It's like she's forgotten every other word in it. ]

I would certainly not wish for my toe to be stubbed.

[ That was the point, right? ]

[jokered]

[well, at least one of them is trying.]

I'm pretty sure you should be the one cheering me up in this situation.

[he says it dryly to magilou—he doesn't really mean much by it, but honestly!!! he's the one who's already been through some shit here, how is he supposed to be bringing cheer?]

[spinatalltale]

. . .

Oh, brother.

[just. presses a hand against her face]

I'm beginning to think I need to seriously start exploring new career paths.

[rightfully]

[ While Magilou is doing that particular thing, Lucina is going to turn her attention back to Akira. ]

Actually, I would like to hear more about this ice cream.

[ Surprise, she's a stealth weirdo. ]

Does it come in different flavours?

[jokered]

[akira's not very stealth about being a weirdo, so it's fine. at least this is par for the course with magilou's menagerie.]

Tons of them. I don't even think I could name all the ones that exist.

[spinatalltale]

[and Magilou is the most blatant weirdo of them all, so. you know. it works]

And knowing someone's favorite ice cream flavor is equivalent to knowing their darkest, most intimate and saucy secrets.

[NO. . . DON'T LET HER PULL THIS ONE OVER LUCINA'S EYES. . .]

[rightfully]

[ Be...lieving it...

(help her.) ]

Is ice cream an inherently intimate food?

[ At this rate, she might blush. She hadn't known that when she had begun asking about it!! ]

[jokered]

[...]

Only if you consider something you give to little kids in the summertime something intimate.

[magilou, stop this.]

[spinatalltale]

. . .

Way to burst my bubble, Newt.

[rightfully]

[ Looks from one... to the other...

?????? ]

... Perhaps we should begin.