OPEN

[lovelledup]

Who: Asher Gutermuth (Gladion) and YOU!
When: Any time in the week or so after the app appears
Where: Places Asher usually hangs out
What: Catch-all for AU CR stuff. Different prompt options inside.

A. Classroom, Lower Cycle Third Year

Class has just ended, and after everything that's happened recently, he's curious to check in on that bizarre chatroom. He pulls out his phone, a bit careful to set it so most other people shouldn't be able to see the screen, since he found out about that whole "really seriously private" thing after talking to the one person on the chat.

It doesn't seem to be any good, though, no matter how he holds the thing. There's too many people around and it just won't open. After a possibly weird looking few seconds of him trying different things, he gives up and drops the phone on his desk.

"Ugh, really?"

B. A School Courtyard

[At this point, he's trying to get his mind off of that weird app. Besides, whatever's going on, he still has homework to do, and since he doesn't have anything better to be doing at the moment, he may as well work on that. Time to plop himself down on a bench and pull out whatever that book is that he's supposed to be reading for his English class.]

C. Martial Arts Dojo

He shows up to his usual class, and goes about doing whatever exercises he's given as usual. And at first he seems just as laid back about it all as usual, but somewhere in the middle he remembers talking with someone on the chat about how being able to defend himself might be more relevant now than it has been. This class, he might be a little more invested in practicing that punch just a few more times.

D. His neighborhood

[Asher is out in his front yard, and so is a cat. It's not one he recognises, and he can't help wondering where it belongs. There's a bunch of strays around his neighborhood, so it could be one of them, but it seems pretty friendly for that. In any case, since the cat pretty happily came over to him, he kneels down in the yard to pet it.]

I don't have any food for you, though...

E. Wildcard

Anything else I haven't covered here, go for it.

[ooc: I wrote this with established AU CR in mind, but feel free to come at him with anyone. It's just as good for him meeting someone for the first time. I'm also good with writing in whatever format so I'll match how people respond.]

Comments

sorry for the slow aahhh my inbox got away from me

[probablynoteren]

[Honestly, it wouldn't be entirely out there for a couple of Haruka's classes to assign books like this -- his history teacher likes to go off on wild tangents, and his English teacher doesn't bear mentioning at this point -- but, while his reason for picking up pagan religion for reading is much less studious, he isn't really trying to hide it.

So the book stays with Asher without any particular fuss, and Haruka gratefully shuffles aside to let him get at the fertilizer before it falls over. He'll start leading them across campus in the original direction he was heading whenever Asher's ready.]

Usually I'd have someone at the club to help me with this part, but everyone's studying or busy right now.

[Hell, Haruka is supposed to be either studying or otherwise doing his best to ignore the possibly omnipotent new app in his phone, but he's also definitively the type to throw himself harder into his work the more stressed he is.]

[lovelledup]

[He grabs the fertilzer and follows Haruka's lead.]

Oh that's why you were wearing pots on your head.

[No, he's probably not going to let him forget that any time soon, since it was such a weird sight.]

So you're just doing all this because you didn't have anything better to do?

[He supposes that's about the same as him using this time to start reading that book, now that he says it.]

[probablynoteren]

In some places, they traditionally carry pots on their head.

[Putting the dead in deadpan here, he isn't even looking back at Asher right now but Haruka is already resigned to not living this down. Well, he can live with it, at least; he's probably done even more ridiculous things in his various duties for the club. Usually only club members get to see those, though.]

I have things to do, but... this is a thing to do, too.

[He's generally terrible at explanations but that was a bit off-kilter even for him. Thanks, app, he didn't need much sleep anyway.]

[lovelledup]

[Well. Okay. Asher gives him a bit of a skeptical look at that explanation, but he's not going to question it further.]

I guess that makes sense...

[Not coming up with anything else to say, he just follows for now, waiting to find out where this bag of fertilizer is supposed to go.]

[probablynoteren]

[Haruka isn't given to a great deal of idle conversation, especially when he's focusing on the good handful of things he needs to accomplish next (he still has classes, no matter how much sleep is lost, the blossom festival is suddenly way too close, he needs to double check some greenhouse supplies, the list goes on), so they reach the greenhouses in relatively companionable silence.

He can't exactly open doors in his current state unless he wants to drop everything or grow an extra arm, so Haruka is forced to let Asher take care of that too -- there's a lot of apologetic flower pot waving involved, probably. It does take him a moment or two to remember exactly what part of the complex they're headed to.]

Oh. Yes. These are for the butterfly garden, if you've been there.

[So they still have a little ways farther to go, though they can shortcut through some of the greenhouses themselves from here. A few club members greet them on sight, but it's much more deserted than it would usually be at lunch. There are countless signs of works in progress, though, so it's a bit of an adventure not to trip over some half-finished displays for the flower contest or the parade float, among other things.]

[lovelledup]

Yeah, I've been there before.

[With multiple friends in the gardening club, he's at least semi-familiar with most of the stuff. He just gets enough at home with his dad being a florist and them having their own garden that he didn't feel any need to join himself. He nearly trips over some flower-covered boards that seem like they might be part of the float, catching himself at the last second and briefly pausing before stepping over them instead.]

You guys really have a lot going on for the festival, huh?

[Not that he hadn't already heard that from Ciro.]

[probablynoteren]

[It's certainly understandable that Asher wants to escape flowers and green things at some point in his life; Haruka is quite possibly the problematic opposite, given that he occasionally does a delivery or two at the selfsame florist. He doesn't actually expect everyone to dedicate themselves to plants the way he does, though. That would just be silly.

He reaches out with one foot to nudge the flowerboards out of the path. No sense in having the next person actually trip over them. There's enough hazards in here without that.]

I think this year is even busier than other years.

[Though he's not entirely sure why. This year feels different, quite apart from the fact that his phone has been acting up (and his himself has been acting up in tandem with his phone, but that's neither here nor there), and centennials notwithstanding. Everything feels a little off-kilter, like most of Eddan has been moved about five millimeters to the left.

It's not something he's really bothered to think through or bring up, though, especially not with those he knows offline.]

We're adding a butterfly exhibit, too...