CATS

[soulping]

[VP-tan ushers you into your color-coded team rooms, before bowing respectfully.]

Please start out by telling each member of your team something you like about them, while I finish up. It should only take a moment.

Comments

[soulping]

Then, moving on to something else...

Does anyone here have concerns about the structure of your team? Or that it may fall apart?

[justichthys]

[ Oh, this is a familiar sentiment. ]

I think a lot of people on our team have worried about this at some point.

[appleofhiseye]

Fall apart...? Is there some reason it would?

[justichthys]

I can think of a few … uhm, it used to be a bigger problem than it is right now, though. Or at least, that's how I've come to see it.

[appleofhiseye]

Oh, I see. If it's not a problem now, then it doesn't seem like something that needs to be discussed. If someone does think it's an issue, though, then we could try to come up with a solution for it.

[justichthys]

Mm! I think that'd be a nice idea.

It'd be nice if everyone could spend a little more time together.

[appleofhiseye]

There's a lot of us, so maybe it's just harder to get everyone together.

[justichthys]

Mm, there's that.

It could be fun to try anyway …? I think I'd like to.

[tormado]

...

Well I was kind of thinking we should practice with our pendants more often...

[But that doesn't sound like what this one's about.]

[appleofhiseye]

If you think that would help, then it could be good to try. I'm certainly open to suggestions.

[tormado]

[He kind of shrugs.] I just figured that since they're kind of our most important tool for doing our duties...practicing using them and like. Knowing who's set to what ability at what time'd be a good idea? So we know who to get if we need a specific ability or something.

But that's not really...something that'd make us fall apart. [He blinks.]

[appleofhiseye]

It might be a way to let everyone get to know each other, though. Maybe. It's an idea. It might help if I had a better idea of why things would fall apart.

[nodo]

[ Ah...it was a matter of time, right? ]

I do.

[ Since someone has to face this head on. ]

[appleofhiseye]

Ah.

[surprised, and it shows on her face]

Is it okay to ask why? Not that you have to say, but...if I understood better, maybe we could help.

[nodo]

I don't mind, this is what the room is all about, isn't it?

[ Sides on the grand scheme of things, he doesn't mind this too much. ]

But it's about when I arrived. I mentioned it earlier, didn't I? I was told that Cats aren't close and that there's nothing about us that really solidifies us as a team. I hated the idea.

[appleofhiseye]

[fiddling with her hands, pressing fingers together and trying to smooth down nails absently]

...Would you prefer that we have more of an obligation to one another, then?

[nodo]

Not exactly. I don't want to force anything unnatural.

[ Sorry for the slight chatter... ]

My first game here was barely after I arrived and I shared the room with Amalthea and Alectryon. They were a team that taught me a little about what a "team" should be. I thought that things would be better if we were more like that—closer.

If we could talk to each other. Be friends.

[tormado]

[Oh. Tama stares for a couple seconds, confused.]

...You do?

[nodo]

Yeah, as "teams" go, we're not exactly the most stable of them.

[tormado]

What do you mean?

[nodo]

We come and go a lot—in games we're rarely placed together.

[ You know, those sort of things. ]

I remember the look on Vash's face when I came back from my mini exploration trip of the realm when it was still new.

[justichthys]

[ Aoko's still feeling kinda stung, and is therefore keeping her distance, but. She speaks up, quietly. ]

… Is it because our team was never close, historically?

[nodo]

Yeah, that's the reason for it and doubly because of how it's handled.

[ Clearly there was a reason why he got worked up there. ]

[justichthys]

Mmmn … I can understand that—I've had similar thoughts for a long time now.

[ trying to fix it has never worked tho ]

It's one of the reasons why I got that quest from Haunt-san—for the food, y'know? I thought that, maybe, working together as a team for that could help us get to know each other.

[nodo]

It's not a bad start but then... We should be able to do other things that aren't so quest or obligatory. I don't approve of it, but when Vash brought out his stash for us to drink... Simple things like that should also be looked into.

There's no reason why we have to stick to doing things that are required for us to function and not for pleasure.