flameinthedarkness

"It's not that bad," Cater says with a shrug, breaking into his snack and taking a second to munch. "It's a pretty short drive and there's plenty to do that I think you'd like. Awesome hole-in-the-wall ramen place that's super low key."

And they make it just as spicy as he likes it, too! Still, if it's outside of Idia's comfort zone there's no helping it.

"Makes me wish I had a magical wheel or something." Not that he'd have been allowed to bring it on campus if he did. And anyway he was more into skating. "But we can find tucked away places around here to hang out, too. I can think of a few places that are usually empty."

"Wish I had my chariot..." Idia muttered to himself, meaning for it only for him to hear rather than Cater, but also not thinking that he shouldn't had said it, maybe getting a bit too comfortable around him now to not even consider it.

Should... should he do this? He would have to bring Ortho, right? For him to be close enough? Then again, Ortho would encourage him to go alone, he had already picked up something was different in Idia and just asked him outright and... well, Idia might have to tell Cater that sometime. He really can't hide anything from Ortho, even if he wanted to. Ortho was good at respecting Idia's privacy, but not if it might be a threat to him, and his brother acting differently was, well, off. So he had to tell him. Just, town would be far away for his 'bodyguard' to get to him if needed, then again, Ortho could fly faster than anything really around...

Hmmmm... plus, ramen and arcade, that's tempting... plus, well, maybe if it's off campus Cater would be more, well, Cater, not Cay-Cay. Eehhhh.... "Ah, can, ah... we," Hmmm. "I heard some of the dorm saying there's an arcade there too... somewhere..." Not fully coming out and saying he wants to go... but he does.

Chariot...?

Although he does hear it and notes it, Cater just figures it's some kind of nickname he calls his own magical wheel or something and doesn't outright question it. He's already kind of resigned himself to the idea that Idia doesn't want to venture outside NRC's grounds, and is trying to brainstorm where they can chill in private when Idia speaks up again. Or, well, attempts to.

"Oh, yeah, the arcade! I've played some Groove Groove Rebellion there. It's not as big as a place you can find in the Shaftlands but or other big cities but it's still a blast. Some really fun racing games and dungeon crawlers, too." Plenty of fun he can think of to play with Idia directly, but if they went off and did their own machines, too, that would also be fine. "Actually, I'd kind of like watching you game in real time."

Oh. Oh, wow, that got a reaction, didn't it? Idia's eyes going wide for a moment, before relaxing again and a touch of a smile. Huh, yeah that, that might sound like fun. Although, "Don't put pressure on me to do that, you'll jinx me and I'll suck at them." Just the pressure of being watched in person.

Hmm, they were third years, it would be less difficult for them to head off campus than the other years, but even still... "You even going to be able to, consider, well, your Tyrant?" Yeah, not sorry Riddle, but you got the reputation for a reason. Hell, so does Idia, but in the 'never comes out of his room' reputation, so him leaving the school... ehh, it'll be a thing. Not like it's anyone's business what he does or where he goes.

Cater puts his free hand to his chest, looking mock aghast. "The great Gloomurai, sucking at a game? Impossible!"

He's still grinning when Idia brings up Riddle, but he does a one-shoulder shrug as he tosses another snack into his mouth. "Nah, it's fine. As long as I'm not causing trouble or have other responsibilities to take care of he doesn't mind us going into town." Almost conspiratorially, he adds, "if we promise to bring him back something from the local pâtisserie, he goes totally soft about it."

"Yeah, no, totally possible." Well, maybe not totally horrible at them, Idia has a good understanding of game mechanics across most genres, just... being watched irl makes it totally different.

Idia opens his own snacks, a wave of a finger letting his drink float down to the ground so he could grab it later and have both of his hands free to eat. "Eh, thought would be some... weird rule or something. Like... gotta go backwards to go forward or... something." It sounds like something that would be in Heartslabyul's rule book.

Hmmm, so... "Ah... this, ah, weekend then?" Idia's tone making him sound not so sure, as if doubting this all, but also... he's still asking as if going to do this, right? Munching away on a couple of those snacks as he rubs his fingers together where he had held the snacks, trying to brush the crumbs off his fingers. "Ah, hot." He gets out between holding a snack between his teeth before crunching down on it.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

All teasing aside, it's hard for Cater not to be excited, and he does his best to keep it a bit more low key. The last thing he wants is to make Idia regret pursuing this and cancelling abruptly. A smile is stuck on his face as he nods along.

"He used to be worse about that kind of thing, but lately..."

Since he went full overblot, but Cater's not about to talk about that to anyone who wasn't there when it happened. "Well, he's chilled out a lot. Really realized that he was making everyone miserable in Heartslabyul and is trying to do better. I mean, he still encourages us to follow all those nonsense rules but it's not all off with your head when you don't have all 800 memorized or aren't really willing to sleep on your head when the moon's full or whatever." Enough about Riddle, though.

"This weekend," Cater agrees. And then, without thinking: "It's a date."

Hmmm, yeah, if Idia thinks about it Riddle has seemed to chill out. A bit. Not a lot. He was still bossy as all hell, but well, organized, and Idia can appreciate it. Just not when it's aimed at him. He does things in a different way to how Riddle works, and he would still get the same outcome, just take a different path. Riddle can also be super full on sometimes. And a lot of stuff goes over his head... and not just in the physical sense. He needs to get out more, and that's saying something coming from Idia.

There's a pause with how Cater worded that, before, "Pffftt, ok." Idia not taking it seriously at all as he assumed it was a slip of the tongue by Cater. One he could tease him about, but, eh, not really feeling it. Maybe over IM later, but not in person, shoving another couple of snacks in his mouth before once again cleaning off his fingers and bending down to grab his drink. "Eh, guess I should actually start on my project. You on tonight?" Not outright asking about streaming, just in case someone does hear them, though Idia is pretty sure no one is around at this time, but they are in front of the vending machines so who knows.

Later, he'll think back on how the conversation went and wildly overthink every piece of it. For now, his mood is too good to dwell on anything. He nods. "Yeah, in about an hour--oh, hey, I didn't want to overstep since it's your thing and all, but would it be cool with you if I streamed the MMO you introduced me to? I've been wanting to level a bit more."

And, naturally, most of his online time is also his streaming time. Cater's never going to be an intense gamer like Idia, but he's been having enough fun lately that he'd like to spend a bit more time. Still, it somehow feels like something he shouldn't do without permission, even if the two of them hadn't been playing it together.

Oh, oh. Oh. "Ah, yeah, yeah, just... I won't help out during it, sorry. Name too known in it..." A pause then... "Ah fuuuccckk," Idia whined out, "I should had used a different username for streams, not my account name. Fuck." Ehh, he had a whole website linked to that name too. What an amateur move. "Eh, whatever, done now." Not like he can change it at this point. "Sure, sure, have fun. Careful of stream snipers if you go PVP mode." Because of course that's a thing that happens.

Oh, "I think there's an event on for lower levels right now, should make the most of it. Get some unique appearance items and XP boost." Then... hmmm, "And, ah... if you get stuck, let me know, can jump on." Where's all that talk from before, Idia? Then again, he wants Cater to have fun in it, and hey, he can easily carry if Cater wants the help, or to show areas he might not know already.

"Eeeeh, I didn't think about that! It's not a big deal, really! I'm happy to stick to off stream." Idia, or Gloomurai at least, is the one who introduced it to him, after all. "I'd rather be able to play it with you sometime than put you in a weird position."

He shrugs, not terribly bothered either way. "It would've been something new, anyway, since my channel is more music than gaming--and everyone likes the party style games I host where everyone has opportunities to jump in."

Hmm the thing is, Cater had a point, Cinder was music more than games, though still games, but he has a target audience. However, "It's your stream, you should do what you find fun. If people don't like it, who cares." And if Cater was doing it for madol then he wasn't going about it the right way, there was a lot of better ways to make it than how he is.

...ehhhh, a sigh then. "I-I'll help. I'll run as bodyguard for you. Doubt people will try something if I'm around. And if they do, I'll handle them." Might be fun to wipe the floor with some stream snipers actually. Be real funny to have it clipped with their names on stream. Though, hmm, if they gaming they would have to talk, which was fine in typing but, well... Cater had shown Idia it was easier to chat over voice chat while gaming. But he's only done that with Cater, not anyone else, even Crimson Muscle. Idia really didn't want his voice out there online.

Maybe he could... heh, yeah, ok, lets see how Cater reacts to this later. "Let me go prep some stuff for it, ok? I'll see you when you start up stream."

You're not just other people, is the thought that comes immediately to Cater's mind. Even as Gloomurai, he was a standout in Cinder's audience, more than just a viewer or fan. As Idia, that distinction was even more prominent. He shakes away the thought, not knowing what to do with it, exactly, and scratches the back of his leg with the opposite foot.

"If you're sure! As long as you're having fun, too," he says, not certain exactly what it is Idia's planning. Cater's noticing he has a habit of that: thinking out loud, but only giving half the context. "Sounds good. I look forward to seeing you there!"

It's kind of nice, knowing that they can keep hanging out, even if it's in a much different capacity.

wwww this is going to be fun. Mean, but fun. Sorry Cater, no, Cinder, the idea cracks him up too much. "Yeah yeah," Idia replies with a bit of a smirk, before letting it settle back down again, raising the drink Cater got him. "Thanks for the snacks, will get the next lot." After all, he's now got to quickly put something together. It won't take long, really, he's got the program set up, just has to pick the right feel to go along with the joke...

"Don't stress if not on right away, need to do some stuff." Planning to just wave and head off, then realizing... "I guess we both heading to the Hall of Mirrors, huh?" It's there they would split ways.

"Ha!" Cater laughs as Idia points it out. "We almost just did the whole 'seeya later!' and then kept walking schtick." Already a comedy duo and they don't even know it. Guess their audience will be the ones to judge their (somewhat) unplanned upcoming debut.

"Well, I'll let the surprise be a surprise," he agrees as they both start to head toward the Hall of Mirrors. "So you can keep smirking like that the whole way and I'll even keep the whining to a minimum."

"Right?" Idia not even questioning as they headed off in the same direction, still chatting away and not thinking about what if they ran across others. After all, it was a main hub to all the dorms, it wouldn't be unusual for others to be around. He however lets out a 'pffft' at that all.

"WTF? What you even mean by that?" Both the request for the smile and saying he's a whiner.

At this point, Cater's having too much fun to even think about what others might think, either. Not that he cares to be seen with Idia, of course. Everyone tends to see him as a chatterbox, after all, so the only strange thing about the two of them walking together to such an integral part of the campus is the smile on Idia's face.

"Come on," he laughs, ribbing him gently with an elbow. "You're so totally up to something--and I really wanna know what it is...but I'll spare you my begging, even though I'm absolutely picture perfect on my knees."

"What, you do that often? What you getting up to that I don't know?" A pause for dramatics. "You know what, I don't wanna know. Keep it to yourself." Still grinning all the way through this, even the little bump from Cater, though it's not something Idia was expecting at all, in some ways amazed that... he didn't mind too much, having his personal space invaded. Ortho is really the only one who can get within it normally.

Laughing, Cater winks. "It's for the best. I don't kiss and tell."

And, really, he does have his stories...but all his jokes and performance aside, he's hardly the type to gossip about something that involves his own moments that are that private.

By the time they're at the Hall of Mirrors, there's a definite bounce in his step, and before they duck into their own mirrors he tosses a "TTYL!" at Idia before disappearing into the Heartslabyul dimension. He smiles all the way to his dorm, keeping an eye on the time as he winds down and prepares the setup and intro for his stream.

"O.M.G..." Really Cater, really? Really?

Idia seems to return a bit closer to 'normal' with their dorm mirrors in sight, knowing the role he has to fall back in, and leaving with a slight nod of his head back to Cater before stepping into Ignihyde. Still... he's excited for what's to come... and hoping he won't chicken out. Ehhh, he really, really is going to try not to. But hey, that's part of the plan, right? Something to hide behind, like a Halloween mask.

And for him it doesn't take long to put stuff into practice, though he is racing through, but also taking times for double checking everything and triple-proofing the set up, so there is no way any accident will drop his plan. He would never live it down if this failed while he was talking... just bury him now if it does. But no, no, that's why he's set it up this way... but one more test, just in case...

It does mean he's a little slow to the stream, which is fine, he did warn Cater, no, Cinder about this. Eventually though, in the chat,

o/

The stream's off to a chill start when Gloomurai makes an appearance in the chatroom. Cinder doesn't take any real break from chatting as the other regulars give their greetings. Since his avatar doesn't show him typing, he can reach over with ease to send Idia a whisper.

Welcome in! How's your secret plan shaping up?

Edited 2023-02-04 11:05 (UTC)

fuck y did i agree to this?! _(:Ⅰ」∠)_ i got it, i got it tho, im good. logging in now

HE'S SO NERVOUS! What if something fucks up?! Idia tested it over and over again... but what if something went wrong! Ehhhhh! He's panicking! He's panicking!

Cater's definitely excited to be able to play what he wants to play with his friend on stream instead of sacrificing the time to do other things. When he'd mentioned that he was going to be doing something different, the chat seemed pretty excited about watching him dive further into the world of such a popular MMO on screen...but just in case, he hasn't mentioned whether or not he was going to have a guest partying up with him or not.

Now, as he boots everything up, he gives Idia one final out.

sure? Still time 2 back out if u need
no pressure!!! :)

no no i said i would so i will. So um... i guess... be in VC in a moment?

A couple of breaths from the other side of the screen... and one last check on his own system his side to really make sure he's ready... before getting into game and setting himself up in the voice chat they use and... leaving it up to Cinder to sort out how this will work...

KK but if u need 2 bounce just lmk

At the end of it all, nothing's worth making Idia feel uncomfortable. He knows this is out of his classmate's general comfort zone, so he doesn't want to push him too far. But with that reassurance, Cater finishes getting the game set up on the stream's end before he announces to the chat:

"I've got another surprise, actually. I have a friend joining us to party up with me. Let me just patch them in with us..."

A couple more clicks and he's in voice chat, knowing that Idia's well aware he can be heard on stream and greets him like normal. Which, Cinder normal is starting to sound a lot like Cater's usual voice when gaming privately.

"Hey there, gamer! Ready to get another workout in keeping me boosted?"

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you get all my new icons heh

I savor each one like a badge of pride for my heart

omg...

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