[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

[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. ]

[passio]

[ maybe he does want to do it very badly, or maybe he’s just eager to get this fishing show on the road!! both are equally possible, but either way, the hook is baited, and he offers it back to maya with a friendly smile. ]

Ready.

[scooptimistic]

Thanks a lot, Dextera.

[ An equally friendly smile in response, and she'll take the line back and turn to face the water. ]

Now--!! Let's go reel us in some fish!

[passio]

[ dextera nods! it’s hard not to feel excited when maya looks so prepared for this. he wants to watch her cast, though, because he has faith in her—when you’re bad at something the way he is, it’s easy to feel as if everyone else must be way better.

show him your excellent fishing moves, maya!!! ]

[scooptimistic]

[ She will! She'll reel it back and fling it forward--

But maybe a little too hard, because not only is the line sailing forward, but so is the pole?!

Don't mind Maya, making a lunge for it.

Actually, maybe mind her because that might really end up in a flat-out dive. ]

[passio]

W—!

[ habit means that he tries to call out to her even as his voice dies in his throat, and it takes his body a moment to catch up with the near-tragedy of maya’s leap for the pole.

he lunges, too, suddenly panicked as he puts his weight behind grabbing her—but realistically, probably both of them are going to go into the water. ]

[scooptimistic]

[ Both of them are going to go into the water.

Like champions.

Maya, at least, can swim, and she's sputtering her way to the surface while simultaneously trying to make sure Dextera is similarly above the water.

If nothing else, she's also got the pole, so hey. Victory?! ]

[passio]

[ dextera can………… not swim, so god forgive him as he flails in the water, not for the first or even the second or the third time since he’s arrived in this town. someone should really teach him how to swim, eventually, but until that day comes, enjoy the sad sight of an adult man floundering in the water and trying to reach for the pier.

please… maya. ]

[scooptimistic]

Dext--!

[ oh shit. Maya's definitely making a strong grab for him, wrapping an arm around his chest to keep him close and not sinking, as she pushes forward.

Hopefully no one else is seeing this woman lugging both a swimming pole and a grown man in the water, but she's doing her best. ]

[passio]

[ maya did not have to carry the pole to safety, but she did, and dextera will appreciate it later when he doesn’t have a mouthful of salt water he’s tying to spit out.

once they’re close enough to the edge of the old dock that’s been set up, he slams his hand on the boards like a sea monster, splattering the water across the wood. it feels like there’s some kind of weight on his coat, but he’ll figure that out once he’s not actively drowning. ]

[scooptimistic]

You got it? Need a boost?

[ she will unceremoniously shove him up there if he needs it!! ]

[passio]

[ that’s probably a nod, so when he gets maya’s help and hauls his body back onto the dock—the clacking sound behind him suggests that there is actually a crab that has clawed onto the hem of his coat.

hey, look at that! the fishing was somewhat successful after all, albeit in a roundabout way.

he doesn’t notice it for even a second, however, too busy coughing up the water he swallowed. ]