[OPEN] rei tried so hard and got so far

[flowerclips]

ɪ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɪᴅ ᴄᴀғᴇ ʜᴀs ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴇᴍᴘʟᴏʏᴇᴇ (8/23)

[ guess who got a job at the maid cafe? heck yeah, rei did!! and she's going to be the best gosh darn maid that hirajiro has ever seen. ]

[ ... though she's actually not serving. she's just been put on flyer duty so she stands outside the cafe, dressed in a cute maid outfit (though hm, the skirt seems a little longer than it should be for maids?), her hair tied up, and holding an armful of flyers. she'll hand them out to each person who passes by. ]

Hello! Please come visit our cafe!

[ a) you can be right there when she's handing out the flyers or maybe you're the one she hands the flyer to! ]
[ b) or you can find her when a particularly sudden gust of wind blows past and she drops her flyers everywhere :( now she has to scramble across the floor to grab them. her first day of the job isn't going as well as she thought. ]

ɪɪ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ɪsɴ'ᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ sʜᴏʀᴛ (8/24 ~ 8/27)

[ things continue to go badly for rei because for some reason, she is now a tiny kid who stands at small 3'0" height, which is quite impressive because she was already tiny at 4'9" but now she's a little kid that you could probably trample over and not even realize it. well, at least luck is on her side because raiding the lost-and-found at the inn nets her a t-shirt and pair of shorts that kind of fit her. why were children's clothes in the lost-and-found at this haunted and ominous inn... hey, don't think about it and come join rei on her adventures as a kid as she can be doing anything of the following for the next three days: ]

[ a) being this short sucks! she can't reach any of the vending machines anymore :( she jumps hopelessly while holding her coins so she can try and throw them into the slot. so far, she is not succeeding... ]
[ b) being this short still sucks! she's now attempting to grab something at the market but, of course, it's on the top shelf that's way higher than she can reach. there's no one around to help so she has to take matters into her own hands... and start climbing the shelves like some kind of gremlin child. she's going to get her delicious cookies one way or another :/ ]
[ c) she still has to go to work! but her maid outfit doesn't fit her anymore... so she now stands outside the maid cafe, wearing an outfit that's far too big on her and still trying to hand out flyers. she looks like one of those kids who tries to wear their mom and dad's clothes and act like a grown-up. luckily, the manager is out so she can kind of get away with this because the other employees are very much ??? about this. do they stop this child who looks just like rei from doing real rei's job or just let fake child rei do her thing if it makes her happy... this scenario isn't in the employee handbook. ]

ɪɪɪ. ғᴜᴄᴋ ʏᴏᴜ, ʜᴀᴜɴᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴɴ!!!! (8/28)

[ rei's finally had it. things have been going out of control the past week and this is the final straw. she can't stay at the inn anymore. she has been sleeping in her room with the lamp on every single night, but no more. there are now ghost cats in the inn and she can't do it anymore so she has packed up her bags and moved out!! goodbye, inn, you were terrible!! ]

[ ... the only problem is that she doesn't really know where to go. ]

[ she can't stay out in the forest and she can't sleep on the streets. her options are limited so she is either: ]

[ a: wandering the streets while wearing three layers of clothes and then a cape and carrying a heavy backpack and tote bag. she is dying in the heat but she doesn't have enough room in her bags to carry everything so she just decided to wear as many things at once. this is just like what you do at the airport when you don't want luggage over the weight limit. she just layers up and i guess that's just how she's walking in the streets. nice. ]
[ b: ... she doesn't get far in those clothes and with everything because she passes out a few minutes later and lies on the very nice and cool floor. ]
[ c: the velvet room is now her home. she can chill in here until she can find a place to go. she just claims a part of the lounge as her own and has taken all of her layers but one, placing the clothes over her newly claimed couch since she still doesn't have space in her bags for them. this is her domain. ]

ɪᴠ. ᴡɪʟᴅᴄᴀʀᴅ ғᴏʀ sʟᴇᴇᴘʏ ɪᴄʜɪ

[ i typed out all this while really sleepy and tired and on a yolo so if you'd like to do something else, ignore everything above and let's start something new!! ]

Comments

iii.b

[reveilation]

[ Kido's outside coming home from grocery shopping and spots yet another kid passed out on the middle of the street. First it was Sasuke and now this kid. Why aren't any of them supervised?? ]

Hey, come on, now...

[ "Please be alive please be alive please be alive," she chants in her mind as she runs over to Rei, not recognizing her with how the clothes and the cape cover up her distinctive hair. ]

Are you sick? What's wrong?

[flowerclips]

[ everything is hot and dizzy and hm, when did everything start spinning and feeling weird? hm, borderline heat exhaustion isn't great. she doesn't even lift her head when she hears a voice (hmm, whose voice is that again?) and just mumbles into the ground. ]

I feel sick...

[ ... with her face planted right into the ground, though, kido might not be able to hear her little mumble. ]

[reveilation]

[ She barely hears anything at all, yeah, but it was the same thing with Sasuke and Kido actually stops and looks around for the black cat.

But there isn't and the first thing she does is call Nekogami out so the cat can sit by Rei's head and cool her down, casting a quick dia that Kido isn't sure will do anything anyways, but it's something to do while she kneels down next to her and looks her over for blood before turning her over and—- ]

Rei?! What happened? Did you get mugged??

[ Kido will destroy however mugged Rei, already glancing up again as if the culprit would linger. ]

[flowerclips]

[ ahh, that feels nice... nekogami's cool presence is welcomed and she starts to feel a bit better already, though she doesn't really make an effort to get up or anything. she still feels kind of nauseous and dizzy so she continues to lie down on the nice floor after kido flips her over. once she hears her name, she opens her eyes a bit. ]

Oh, neechan...

[ oh, so that's who was talking to her earlier. aha, now she feels better. well, only mentally and emotionally. that's nice. neechan is here with her. her speech is a little light and it sways. ]

Mugged...? Ah, um, mmhm, I got mugged not too long ago.

[ mugged = using a mug, right? she drank out of a mug earlier that day so yeah, she got mugged earlier. ]

[reveilation]

[ She's never been so livid so quickly, having to clench her fists to keep herself from grabbing Rei by the shoulders and shaking the answer out of her. ]

Where was this? Do you who was there?

[flowerclips]

In... in the inn but was there someone with me...?

[ the world is still spinning slightly around her so it's hard to think. ah, was she alone at that time? or were there ghosts there with her... ahhhh, this is hard and scary. ]

I don't know...

[reveilation]

Rei..... You're living alone in the inn, right? You don't let anybody inside your room that you don't know?

[ She did tell Sasuke to look after Rei, but wasn't sure if they're that familiar... Maybe it was Sasuke. Kido's going to kill him. ]

iii.c

[compendiem]

[ The Velvet Room is taking in so many strays, lately. Sometimes it's fun having lots of people over, and they talk amongst themselves or play with the cats and Minato likes watching all of the interaction. But still!!! This place isn't meant to be a hotel, a place people stay long term in a dream-like state to avoid the waking world.

With a sigh, Minato trots over to where Rei's staked her spot, and goes ahead and sits on the arm of the couch so he can have his feet up and lean his elbows on his legs and disregard the fact that Rei claimed this couch as hers. ]

You know... when we say "welcome to the Velvet Room," there's sorta an unspoken time limit... Something happen out there you're running away from?

[flowerclips]

[ rei has opened a bag of shrimp crackers just before minato has come on over. she has begun to munch on them already. ]

Oh, Vice Leader. [ because she's nice, she'll hold out the bag for him so he can take some. ] Um, don't worry! I'll leave soon. I just need to find somewhere new to live until I can move in with neechan and T-chan.

[ please be soon so minato doesn't have to kick her out :( ]

I just couldn't live at the inn anymore...

[compendiem]

[ Shrimp crackers... He will take a handful as payment for staying in the Velvet Room, and throws one in his mouth to eat in one bite. Can you air fry shrimp crackers? He needs to bother Terry to find out. ]

What's wrong with the inn? I got to visit for a bit, and it looks like a pretty nice place.

[ Somebody might have gotten murdered in one of the rooms! Isn't that exciting, Rei? ]

[flowerclips]

It looks nice but it's...

[ suddenly, she stops munching on her shrimp crackers and shakes a bit. murder isn't exciting at all!!! ]

I-It's haunted! There are ghosts!

[compendiem]

[ That... sounds like the wrong conjunction to Minato, who would have phrased it as "It looks nice, and it's haunted and there's ghosts." ]

Oh, I get it. It's their home and they lived there first, so it kinda feels rude to barge into their space, huh?

[ Rei's so considerate, moving out to give the ghosts their space back. ]

[flowerclips]

N-No! It's because it's really scary!!

[ ... though when she thinks about the way that minato worded it, hm, maybe that is right. maybe they should live there because they got there first... ]

ii-c, 8/24

[overstrain]

[ It may not be in the employee handbook, but Terry is sure controlling the cafe behind the scenes while the owner is gone, despite having to work for no pay for a week. Despite being a part-timer who's generally unreliable at showing up lately (though he does call in for absence beforehand when he can), he's still really good at his job and coaxes the customers to come back, which in return, makes more sales.

He notices that Rei is supposed to be on shift right now, so he walks outside to check on her (he didn't get to see her before), but where... is she--

He looks down.

...

Maybe he's having vertigo or something that messes up with perspective, but Rei sure looks... shorter...? ]

Rei...? I thought they gave you the uniform for your size.

[flowerclips]

[ rei looks up at terry, but she really has to crane her entire body to look at him. look at this size difference. it's blowing my mind. ]

Um, it was in my size yesterday!

[ hm, her voice is higher in pitch. her voice was already pretty high in pitch but this is just squeaky. ]

I'll probably grow back into it.

[overstrain]

You'll grow back... what?

[ Terry sounds like he's in such disbelief. Rei might as well be half his size and it's really bad that he has to tilt his head down to actually see her. ]

Is someone... bullying you...?

[ Terry glances over at the maid who's been working alongside Rei, also passing out flyers. Natsuki, the same one that did Terry's makeup before, looks over at him in response.

"You're such a siscon, Nowell-kun. Rei-chan is an independent girl now! She doesn't need help from you!"

Terry looks at Natsuki for a good moment before lifting Rei by the sides up to his eye level. ]

Look at her! How can she work like this?!

[ He totally ignored the siscon comment. ]

[flowerclips]

[ rei is suddenly lifted up?! and not in a doki-doki way like when someone carries you in their arms or with sweet romantic intent. no, she's being lifted up like a child and oh wow, this is suddenly high up, hm, this is concerning. ]

T-- T-chan--! L-Let me down!

[ she squirms a little in his hands. her outfit practically is draping over her and flies around as she struggles. ]

[overstrain]

[ "You're scaring her, Nowell-kun! Let her down!"

Terry sighs and lets Rei down on the ground gently. ]

Do you get it now?

[ "No. Besides, she wants to work, so let her work! She's been fantastic and she catches everyone's attention from how cute she is! Even I'm a bit jealous, but maybe I should just make her look even cuter."

Terry just raises an eyebrow at that... ]

[flowerclips]

[ she lets out a breath of relief once she's back on the ground. that's better... she doesn't really understand what natsuki meant by the "siscon" part but since terry didn't address it, she won't address it either. instead, another part catches her attention instead. ]

Cuter? I can be cuter?

[ she looks up at natsuki. what does that mean? ]

i-b

[16lab]

[ One of those flyers smacks RO in the face because of the wind, but she seems to be unaffected by it other than prying it off her face. She's missing a left hand though. The hole can be seen inside with mechanical bits. No bleeding. She doesn't seem to mind much of that either and looks down at Rei who seems to be picking up the other flyers. She walks over to her and helps with that with the single hand she has available. ]

It'll get better.

[flowerclips]

[ rei is busy in the process of picking up the flyers when, oh, someone is helping her. she looks up and it's that nice lady from before! the one whose name is based off a gun and grilled fish! ]

Thank yo--

[ ... but then she notices the missing hand and minato... why would you do this to poor sweet ro ]

Y-Your hand! What happened to it?!

[16lab]

A battle wound. It isn't anything serious.

[ She seems to be doing fine anyway. No pain shown on her face and efficiently picking up flyers and holding them to her chest with the arm with no hand. Easy. ]

I don't believe healing magic can do anything either.

[ Since... she knows that Rei is a healer. ]

[flowerclips]

[ rei moves closer so she can look at the hand, almost not believing ro about how it's not anything serious at all. ]

It's not bleeding and there are all these funny machine parts.

[ she turns her head trying to get a better angle to look at the missing hand... ]

Are you a robot?

[16lab]

I'm a combat tactical doll... an android.

[ Not a robot. RO even waves her hand-less arm a bit casually. ]

[flowerclips]

[ all she hears is "doll" and "android" because she has no idea what "combat tactical" means, but she does know those two words. ]

An android... [ she has to try and remember where she heard that word. then, like a lightbulb, she realizes the moment. ] Oh! Like Ai-chan! She was an android as well!

[ something about shadows android. she doesn't remember the full name. ]

She shot out of her fingers and spoke really funny.