[OPEN] *draws a tarot card* oh sh—

[silentabyss]

who: Noah & You
what: Tarot readings~
when: Post-Disney fieldtrip, so 02/12 and on
where: Dorm Common Room
warnings: I'm on my pagan bullshit again it's fine

[If you venture into the dorm common room at any point after the fieldtrip ends, you will find Noah sitting in the middle of the floor with a deck of tarot cards, Trying His Best. He only recently acquired these cards (they were scattered about his room, see) and he hasn't had too much time to play with them.

Obviously, the correct thing to do is to play with them now. Step right up and get a very amateurish tarot reading free of charge! He has a book open in his lap about how to do this, including multiple spreads that he can use. If he spots you while he's nose-deep in studying, he'll wave you over with a hand and ask if he can read your fortune — you just have to tell him what you're interested in knowing. Past, present, future? Love? Interpersonal relationships of a non-romantic nature? Just ask!

As a disclaimer, Noah is not responsible for any harm that comes to you if he divines your future and it turns out really badly. That is not his fault. Your fate was written in the stars, after all.]

Comments

[silentabyss]

Was I cold...?

[Great question. Noah thinks back to how he woke up...]

Mm... I woke up with my face hidden in my arms, and I was laying on a desk. Some kids were telling me I needed to clean the classroom, and I remember not recognizing the place and running out into the hallway in a panic looking for Clamor. I don't remember being cold or feeling anything other than anxiety until I found him.

[Despite the oddness of the situation, Noah recounts it almost warmly, smiling to himself and looking down at the cards between them.]

Clamor came down the hall asking me why I was yelling so much, like it wouldn't be scary to be apart from your friend who you're normally joined at the hip with in the first place. After that, we walked around the school together to investigate, since we both thought it was an illusion, and I noticed we were both somehow tracking blood across the floors though we hadn't even stepped in anything... that was the most uncanny thing.

[He shakes his head, eyes snapping back to Maple's face.]

Were you cold...?

[socialize]

( it's a strange little recollection, but maple appreciates it all the same. it tells her a little more about this place, and it's comforting to know that she wasn't alone in her anxiety about arriving without the person she treasures most anywhere in sight. that he found his friend before too long had passed, too—it feels like a happy ending, in a way, and maple finds herself smiling even as noah closes the story.

how strange, how strange... a trick with the floors, maybe?

for now, she focuses on nodding along with his question. )

I was. I shouldn't be able to get cold like that, so I was scared... I thought something might be wrong with me.

( which, as it hard turned out, there was... but it was fixed, so there's nothing for her to worry about now. )

That's why I was so happy when I saw Hiyori too. If something went wrong, he's the only one who could help me, so just like you with Clamor... I felt very anxious until I did.

[silentabyss]

["I shouldn't be able to get cold", she says, and Noah finds himself confused about the statement albeit not confused enough to ask — weirder things have happened both here and back home. Still, it must be scary, to get cold when you shouldn't be cold — when you can't be cold.

Noah sort of wishes he couldn't be cold on account of being from a hot place — when it snowed here some time ago he found himself wishing he had more coats. Horrible.]

If you don't mind, um... can I ask how you guys met? Is it a nice story?

[socialize]

( oh, this is a much better alternative to that first question—one that may indirectly answer it all the same, no less. maple's face lights, eyes bright and more than eager to share her little story with him. clasping her hands in front of her, she nods fervently for a moment as she continues. )

Oh, yes, but I'm afraid it isn't very interesting. You see, Hiyori is the person who made me, and it was love at first sight.

( there's something dreamy in her voice, a little bit wistful and all-too teenage girl with a crush about it all. her fingers press together and apart, an absentminded motion as she recalls the memories with a faraway look in her eyes. )

From the moment I opened my eyes, he was the first person I saw. I knew exactly who he was, and I was in love with him ever since.

( like, she was programmed to be, but that's beside the point, because she felt it even so. )

[silentabyss]

[Noah has a whole "...oh she's a Nasod" moment in his head. Things click and fall into place, and then he nods, understanding. Kind of. He doesn't get what it's like to fall in love with the first person you see, in part because it seems a little too storybook to be true and in part because he's known for, um, kissing... everyone. So!

(It's not love at first sight, okay, it's love at like the fifth interaction.)]

That's really sweet. [Like, genuinely, it is! Even if he doesn't get it.] It's kind of... like a romance story, isn't it? I... um. Read those. Sometimes.

[Do not perceive him.]

You sound really happy when you talk about him. I hope that's always the case.

[socialize]

( it's cute of him, she thinks, and not at all unrelatable. there's something about the happy endings in stories and fairy tales, it really makes you believe that things can be alright in the end. real life isn't always so kind, but maple likes to think that those fairy tales can come true if you work hard enough for them. that's why she nods, feeling warm and soft and all-too pleased with this turn of conversation. )

I'm sure it will be. Even now, we're growing closer every day.

( with a sparkle in her eyes, she even brings her hands up lightly against her cheeks, as if she can't contain the smile that spreads across her face. )

Oh, but I shouldn't talk about just me, should I? What about you, Noah—do you have somebody you like?

[silentabyss]

[Noah immediately turns bright strawberry red. Oh no. Not him being perceived.]

U-uh... y-yeah, a couple people...

[Noah has a mental Venn diagram of people he would kiss on the mouth ("at least half the school") and people who he has kissed on the mouth ("at least half the school"). It's a circle. There's a circle. And maybe like, 1% of non-circle with people he hasn't exactly done that with.

The kissing booth was a lot, okay. But as for a more serious answer:]

Do you know Nene Yashiro? Sh-she's... um, my girlfriend.

[He glances off to the side, embarrassed, but it's not like he's ever tried to hide how much he was into her. Komaeda used to tease him about it all the time. The lesser-expected person in the relationship is—]

A-and... Yukio Okumura is my boyfriend. S-so... uh. Two people... that I like.

[It's a good thing when Yukio's player dropped that he put Yukio on autopilot or this conversation might've been real depressing real fast

But like also Noah would hold hands (before marriage) with Inaba and Subaru and a whole bunch of dead people (if they came back to life) and like, Seiya. He would 100% hold Seiya's hand.]

There's also a girl back home on Elrios named Yuria that... um, I don't want her to show up here for obvious reasons, but I... she's cute... so I guess three... maybe more.

[socialize]

( a couple people, huh? the surprise is visible on her face for a moment, flickering across before she relaxes into something warm and fond. wow, noah. you get to have two reciprocated love interests? )

Heehee, I'm glad! You must be very kind to have two people who love you so much.

( nodding. she approves of this kind noah agenda. in fact, he might quickly be becoming one of her favourite people in yogen after the fellow ASUNAROs. )

Hey, hey, how did you meet them? Is it a nice story? I'd love to hear it.

[silentabyss]

[Noah Ebalon has Two Hands.]

Oh, um... it's embarrassing, really. [He's cherry red.] Nene and I met here. It was about a year ago now. I walked into the kitchen looking for food, and she was cooking fried rice. I was too shy to talk to her properly, but we had a nice conversation... my dumb ass asked her how to "fry a rice" and said the grains were too small for that...

[This is what he means by embarrassing!]

She showed me how to fry rice properly, so it's fine now. I'm still useless in the kitchen, mostly, but... a-anyway, we kept spending time together after that, and at some point I started to think she's pretty. The rest is sort of history.

...as for Yukio, ours wasn't so storybook. We met in the clocktower and got to discussing this key he had, being way too serious about stuff. Eventually he came to sit with me in the courtyard one day when I was studying and told me I looked cute — it caught me off guard really bad! And then I stole his glasses and we messed around for a bit. I can't remember why I stole his glasses but he's blind as hell. [Ironic because Noah can't see out of one eye, but anyway.] Everything took off from there.

[And because he brought Yuria up:]

Yuria, um, we met in an old ruin. She lost her staff and I just happened to find it and give it back to her. Then, we saved her family from getting killed by a cultist... that one is the least romantic. I didn't realise I was interested in her romantically until after we parted, though... I hope she's alright.

[socialize]

( he's cute. charming, maple thinks. those little brother beams really are something, but through each of the stories, maple is attentive. her smile widens at the comments on nene being pretty, and a giggle bubbles up when noah can't remember why he stole yukio's glasses—even in the story about yuria, there's something gentle and sympathetic in her expression, nodding along. )

Heehee, I can see why they like you. You're so kind, Noah, just like Hiyori.

( it's a compliment, mind you: just like the person she loves and admires most, and it's said with a special kind of affection. )

I hope that you three can continue being happy together, and Yuria too, even if she doesn't come to join us.