[Open] + [Closed] DIVERSITY

[scooptimistic]

WHO: Maya and many individuals
WHERE: All over
WHEN: The month of June
WHAT: Punishment shenanigans, quests, and a catch-all for additional threads?? Closed threads will be added to the post, open prompts will be beneath the cut.
WARNINGS: Talk of nonexistent gruesome injuries, spoilers for both P2 games idk is that a warning!!!!
NOTES: If you'd like to plot anything additional, you can PM me or reach me on plurk at starswept!



[ That first week of June. ]

[ If you are a teenager or younger, regardless of whether or not this young woman has met you, she's looking incredibly upset the minute she gets a good look at you. This is a prelude to her hurrying over, gaze anxious, as she looks you over and-- ]

This is... definitely going to be a weird question, but are you actually hurt?

[ SHE MIGHT LOOK LIKE SHE'S ABOUT TO CRY. ]

[ Alternatively, she can be spotted making a much slower way around the town. Slower because she's apparently decided to use her necktie as a blindfold, and even Maya isn't about to go sprinting about an area where she can't see.

It won't stop her from bumping into someone, or-- ]

Whoops! Sorry!!

[ A tree. Or the well. Or literally anything else, but she doesn't seem keen to take that blindfold off? Wonder why???? ]

Comments

[scooptimistic]

[ That's honestly more than Maya knows about fishing, so really, they're going to do great. Or so she's going to make herself believe as she makes her way down to the harbor.

It occurs to her rather belatedly that she's never actually met Dextera in person, but... well, there can only be so many people waiting to go fishing right now, right? That ought to help narrow it down! ]

... Dextera?

[ And lo and behold, there's a person with fishing supplies, so she's going in strong! ]

[passio]

[ yeah, dextera figured they would get it together one way or another, and when maya calls out his name, he raises a hand in polite greeting. the thing he fairly consistently forgets to tell people, these days, is that he's mute—but she's probably going to figure it out quite quickly when he spells her name in the air. ]

Maya?

[scooptimistic]

[ ... Oh! She can't say she expected that, and for a minute, the only expression she's showing is pure surprise.

But then she beams at him and waves back. ]

Ciao! You know, I was just thinking sign language would be a pretty fun language to learn!

[passio]

[ ciao! dextera knows that one, though he doesn't know if her italian extends much past that. still, he returns her greeting with a ciao of his own, waving his hand in a proper sign this time. still, it's basically just hello, so he breezes right on past it. ]

Still new. [ a sheepish admission. ] Learning, too.

[scooptimistic]

[ ... why on earth can she understand this-- ]

Then we can learn together. Let me know if you need me to slow down, though. I'm told I kind of talk a lot.

[passio]

[ languages are incredible and this town is magic ]

Don't worry. [ a quick assurance, and he gestures to his ear. ] Hearing OK.

[ it's his voice that causes him all the issues, but maya can rest easy knowing that he can follow her no matter how quickly or how much she says. he'd be in trouble if he couldn't hear, though, since he has no clue how to read lips. ]

[scooptimistic]

Oh, good! Then it's nice to properly meet you face-to-face, Dextera! Are you ready to catch some questionable-looking marine life?

[ Because Maya sure is. ]

[passio]

...heh.

[ dextera nods, hoisting the supplies he brought along for this exact purpose. the box is useful for crabs... the net can catch other things... and of course, the fishing line can catch fish. ]

Favorite fish?

[scooptimistic]

I like almost all fish! [ sans mackerel because kusaya is unfortunate. ]

But crabs are my favorite! ... If they count as fish, I guess that's just more along the lines of seafood?

[passio]

[ crabs... they can do crabs!!

estelle said it was easy enough. all they have to do is put the box down and wait for the crabs to wander in, but that also sounds like it might be rather slow-going.

he nods anyway, showing her the box. ]

Crabs, here.

[scooptimistic]

It looks like we've got everything we need.

-- Oh, but what about you? Any kind of fish you want to gun for?

[ share your opinions, Dex! ]

[passio]

…

[ there is a long, long silence.

dextera is genuinely thinking about this question, and it’s probably a solid thirty seconds before he offers any kind of reply at all. that’s probably the most important thing, besides actually bringing the tools, but he doesn’t know shit about shit, so!

the reply he gives is a very gentle shake of the head and this. ]

Fish.

[ …enlightening! ]

[scooptimistic]

...

[ pffffft. ]

Has anyone told you that you're seriously adorable? But you're right, "fish" is a good start!

[passio]

…!

[ adorable, she says. dextera’s ears turn a little red at the compliment—the tease?—and he doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he just awkwardly bobs his head in something that could be a nod or a shake, and hands over a fishing rod.

he can’t make eye contact… he’s embarrassed now. ]

[scooptimistic]

... Was that too much? I meant it, though.

[ Don't mind her, she'll just accept the fishing rod. He really is cute, she thinks. Tatsuya had gotten that flustered too, from time to time. ]

[passio]

[ it wasn’t too much—it’s just that maya is pretty, and near his age, and so it’s not all that strange for him to get flustered when a lovely adult woman with an impressive pair of melons compliments him. ]

OK. [ a shy promise! ] Thank you.

[scooptimistic]

[ shh, we don't talk about the melons-- ]

You're welcome! So are we eating them or doing catch and release? They probably won't be all that edible, huh?

[passio]

[ that’s a good question, but they certainly haven’t been able to fish up everything in this harbor. so dextera pauses, collecting himself while considering their options. ]

Color—eat? [ look at him. the sign for eating is tapping his lips. it’s precious, but he doesn’t know the word for release, so that one just gets spelled out like so. ] Grey—return.

[scooptimistic]

Seems like a solid plan to me. It'll be a new experience either way!

[ why is sign language so cute ]

[passio]

[ dextera nods, encouraged by maya’s cheerfulness in this, and then steps out of the way for her to go first. he’ll set up that crab box...!!

first, though, he offers her some of the bait that estelle and noctis have scrounged up for a purpose exactly as this. there aren’t enough lures to put to use, so. have some worms! ]

...?

[scooptimistic]

Oh-- thanks! I kind of feel bad impaling them, but sacrifices must be made.

[ sorry, worms. ]

[passio]

[ dextera nods. there are more than enough worms in the world for them to be used like this… they do a good service, of course, but maya is right. sacrifices must be made. ]

Circle of life.

[scooptimistic]

Exactly right.

[ as she fusses with this worm-- ]

We'll thank them a ton if we land actual edible fish today!

[passio]

…?

[ how is that worm going, though? dextera reaches out to her, asking for the hook and the little wriggly boi. he’s never put a worm on a hook, no, but he has put a parasite in his body, so it would be silly to be squeamish about bugs. ]

[scooptimistic]

[ honestly, Maya's fought literal crawling chaos, so she's hardly squeamish with a worm.

But maybe Dextera wants to do it very badly, so she'll oblige and hand it over. ]