who: Joe & Friends (?) what: March catchall (if you'd like a closed prompt, please reach out!) when: All month where: Various warnings: n/a for now! will update as needed!
[ Joe was warned it was a dream. He had heard the voice when he entered the forest, unsure what to think of it at first. But the forest shifts before he understands what's happening, and suddenly he's somewhere familiar. Somewhere warm and safe. A classroom of happy, familiar faces from the past that greet him like he was never gone.
And Joe does not leave the dream from that point on.
At some point, he won't be the only transfer student who gets pulled into his dreamscape. Sou Hiyori, one way or the other, is brought in too. He may appear as he normally does, but he may also be in a familiar teal blazer, checkered green tie, and brown pants. The way the warm sunlight fills the room indicates it's early morning, and it's pleasant contrast to the weather they've been having the past few months.
The classroom is already full of chatting students, waiting for homeroom to start. Most don't seem to notice Sou other than the ones who sit by the door who briefly greet him with an odd familiarity before returning to whatever they were talking about. All and all, it's a seemingly normal classroom with normal kids waiting for the bell to ring. But two things would definitely stand out to Sou: two empty desks and the familiar head of messy hair and gaudy accessories on one of the students.
Joe's turned around in his seat, so he can talk to the girl with long black hair sitting behind him. He's telling a story to her with animated hands and with a voice so full of life. The girl laughs when he nearly falls out of his seat, and he can't help but laugh when she does too.
Finally he notices Sou in the room finally, and he grins brightly at him, waving him over as he calls out. ]
Yo, Sou! C'mere you gotta hear this story haha!
[ The way he says that... it's like he's talking to a good friend, and while it's not like he and Sou are enemies, they haven't been getting along great since the new year. But Joe is all grins when he greets the other, adding to the warm atmosphere of the dream.
The only truly unsettling thing are the blue snake tattoos that are crawling up Joe's arms. Whether he's willfully ignoring them or just hasn't noticed them yet... unclear. ]
[Shin appears in uniform, panting a little and bracing against the doorway, looking into the room to see the teacher hasn't shown up yet either (if they're not here in fifteen minutes we're legally allowed to leave class) in relief and then a very awkward, small return wave at the attention (all those eyes is embarrassing) suddenly on him before hustling to the empty desk that's his. There's no toast in his mouth, but only barely.]
I'm coming, I'm coming...! S-sorry, something came up...
[He's lifting his small bag off of his shoulder and placing it on it's surface, already rummaging through even as his head is turned to Joe and he still sounds out of breath.
He's not wearing a beanie, or a scarf. This place... he doesn't feel cold at all. Even with his nervous shy laugh earlier there's an uncomplicated contentedness to him, to the set of his shoulders like lying on sunwarmed rocks. He's just an ordinary high school student, like you'd find anywhere, chatting to his best friend, comfortable in the shadow of it, reflecting the glow of it.]
So what did I miss? You've practically got Miss Ryoko falling out of her seat already... Not to mention yourself... This has to be good.
[He scoots his chair forward, putting the bag down next to the side of his desk. Something doesn't quite feel right, but looking down reveals all his stationary is right there...]
[ Both Joe and Ryoko greet Sou warmly despite his tardy arrival. Everything falls into routine when he settles in, and they continue on like everything is normal. Joe gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder that matches the smile on his face. ]
You're not really a morning person, are ya, Sou? If you want I can come get you up in the mornin'! Least I can do for all the studying you've been helping me with, right?
[ Ryoko giggles softly, leaning a little closer to Sou as she drops her voice just a tad. ]
"Careful, Sou - he'll make you come clean the classroom in the morning too if you aren't careful."
Heeeeey don't act like I drag you here, haha! You're the one who asked me! [ Joe's grinning despite his whining then turns his attention back to Sou. ] Anyway! Sou! Did you ever hear about the time ƨ̷̓̊ɒ̵̊̋ɿ̴͗͠ɒ̶̈́̍ tried to sit on a traffic cone?
[ ...He sure said something there, but the word is really distorted when he does. Joe doesn't seem to notice though. Not just that, but also how the snakes on his arms seem to grow in length when that happens. Ryoko or the other classmates don't seem to notice either. ]
[He smiles in turn as he's swayed a little by the pat of his shoulder, no discomfort at it at all.]
H-hey, I can get up early... when I need to... there really was something, I swear!
[Even if he can't quite remember what that was, strangely. He blinks a little, a small catch in the otherwise smooth flow of the day because ...Sou? Who is... that's him? It has to be, doesn't it? Right, it has to be... Joe's not the sort to play that kind of prank... or Ryoko either? He is the sort to invite him to classroom-cleaning though, leaning in towards her in turn.]
Urk... Ahaha, maybe I should stop helping him with studying if that's the repayment...
[But it's clear from his tone this is more of him returning the banter in kind. Even in this warm, warm world, he's still a little self conscious about how much physical activity he can't do. But it's easy to let the thought slip away... and now he's realizing a little too late that it would mean getting to spend more time with them. The topic shifts, easily, before he can finish changing his mind.]
Umm... I don't think so. [What was that... he can't have imagined the way that word... a name? Just came out weird. His gaze flicks to Ryoko seeking confirmation but she doesn't seem bothered.] Sorry, who was that again?
[In the standard tone of maybe having misheard something. His gaze falls on the snakes and it feels like something splinters a little, letting in a cold trickle of a draft, his fingers coming up and curling in on his collarbone in a motion strange to himself.]
Hey Joe... when did you get a tattoo? You're not turning into a delinquent are you...?
[ Joe just scoffs in mild annoyance in response to the two of them, but he's still smiling. It's just another day of goofing around with his dumb friends. That's how Joe likes it. ]
You know, ƨ̷̓̊ɒ̵̊̋ɿ̴͗͠ɒ̶̈́̍ !
[ Again, that garbled name unnoticed to everyone around them. But Joe blinks in surprise when he Sou mentions tattoos, looking down at himself. ]
Huh? No- [ His objection stops immediately as he seems to see the snakes on his arms for the first time. ] ...way? No... way...?
[ Ryoko gently tilts her head at both of them, looking over Joe for a moment before blinking toward Sou. ]
"Are you two okay? Joe's a gaudy guy, but he'd never be brave enough to go under the needle! Though one time he did draw that cool S on his arm with a marker for ƨ̷̓̊ɒ̵̊̋ɿ̴͗͠ɒ̶̈́̍ , hee hee!"
[ She says it all so casually despite how weird it all is. Even Joe is staring in disbelief, slightly slack jaw as nothing comes out in the response. But it isn't just the snakes on his arms; there are some starting to move up his neck too. ]
U-Um... yeah... a-anyway Sou if you haven't heard the story, y-you gotta ha!
[ For some reason, he's trying to move on despite things becoming slightly alarming. ]
[It's still garbled, every time... something is very very wrong here, and it's making the hairs on his neck start to stand on end in foreboding. There's a part of him though, a part that in this place and time hasn't been bleached and brittled, that's meeting it with determination. Something's up, with Joe especially and he's going to get to the bottom of it, because it doesn't seem like the sort of thing he can just leave if it's getting worse...]
Guess I must have imagined it... Ahaha, I did stay up a little late...
[He absolutely did not imagine it, and his tone in that first part before lightening in the second has that edge that says as much, the way someone dubiously drops a subject, playing along with Ryoko while letting Joe know he absolutely saw that... still sees it, the way they're moving and growing.]
So what happened? Were you two going past a construction site or something?
[Him and this mysterious person than he should know, should hear the name of... but doesn't. He's trying to think of who it could be, which is tricky because Joe has a lot of friends, he's that kind of person who makes them easily, and he's really happy that he's one of them, surprised that someone who has all these other friends chooses to hang out with him. He can't remember all their names (can he remember any?) but... a cool S... that's all the clues he has so far.]
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Closed to Sou(p Boy) | Dreamscape
And Joe does not leave the dream from that point on.
At some point, he won't be the only transfer student who gets pulled into his dreamscape. Sou Hiyori, one way or the other, is brought in too. He may appear as he normally does, but he may also be in a familiar teal blazer, checkered green tie, and brown pants. The way the warm sunlight fills the room indicates it's early morning, and it's pleasant contrast to the weather they've been having the past few months.
The classroom is already full of chatting students, waiting for homeroom to start. Most don't seem to notice Sou other than the ones who sit by the door who briefly greet him with an odd familiarity before returning to whatever they were talking about. All and all, it's a seemingly normal classroom with normal kids waiting for the bell to ring. But two things would definitely stand out to Sou: two empty desks and the familiar head of messy hair and gaudy accessories on one of the students.
Joe's turned around in his seat, so he can talk to the girl with long black hair sitting behind him. He's telling a story to her with animated hands and with a voice so full of life. The girl laughs when he nearly falls out of his seat, and he can't help but laugh when she does too.
Finally he notices Sou in the room finally, and he grins brightly at him, waving him over as he calls out. ]
Yo, Sou! C'mere you gotta hear this story haha!
[ The way he says that... it's like he's talking to a good friend, and while it's not like he and Sou are enemies, they haven't been getting along great since the new year. But Joe is all grins when he greets the other, adding to the warm atmosphere of the dream.
The only truly unsettling thing are the blue snake tattoos that are crawling up Joe's arms. Whether he's willfully ignoring them or just hasn't noticed them yet... unclear. ]
ayyy soup boy!
I'm coming, I'm coming...! S-sorry, something came up...
[He's lifting his small bag off of his shoulder and placing it on it's surface, already rummaging through even as his head is turned to Joe and he still sounds out of breath.
He's not wearing a beanie, or a scarf. This place... he doesn't feel cold at all. Even with his nervous shy laugh earlier there's an uncomplicated contentedness to him, to the set of his shoulders like lying on sunwarmed rocks. He's just an ordinary high school student, like you'd find anywhere, chatting to his best friend, comfortable in the shadow of it, reflecting the glow of it.]
So what did I miss? You've practically got Miss Ryoko falling out of her seat already... Not to mention yourself... This has to be good.
[He scoots his chair forward, putting the bag down next to the side of his desk. Something doesn't quite feel right, but looking down reveals all his stationary is right there...]
shifting into soup mode
You're not really a morning person, are ya, Sou? If you want I can come get you up in the mornin'! Least I can do for all the studying you've been helping me with, right?
[ Ryoko giggles softly, leaning a little closer to Sou as she drops her voice just a tad. ]
"Careful, Sou - he'll make you come clean the classroom in the morning too if you aren't careful."
Heeeeey don't act like I drag you here, haha! You're the one who asked me! [ Joe's grinning despite his whining then turns his attention back to Sou. ] Anyway! Sou! Did you ever hear about the time ƨ̷̓̊ɒ̵̊̋ɿ̴͗͠ɒ̶̈́̍ tried to sit on a traffic cone?
[ ...He sure said something there, but the word is really distorted when he does. Joe doesn't seem to notice though. Not just that, but also how the snakes on his arms seem to grow in length when that happens. Ryoko or the other classmates don't seem to notice either. ]
(sou)p mode
H-hey, I can get up early... when I need to... there really was something, I swear!
[Even if he can't quite remember what that was, strangely. He blinks a little, a small catch in the otherwise smooth flow of the day because ...Sou? Who is... that's him? It has to be, doesn't it? Right, it has to be... Joe's not the sort to play that kind of prank... or Ryoko either? He is the sort to invite him to classroom-cleaning though, leaning in towards her in turn.]
Urk... Ahaha, maybe I should stop helping him with studying if that's the repayment...
[But it's clear from his tone this is more of him returning the banter in kind. Even in this warm, warm world, he's still a little self conscious about how much physical activity he can't do. But it's easy to let the thought slip away... and now he's realizing a little too late that it would mean getting to spend more time with them. The topic shifts, easily, before he can finish changing his mind.]
Umm... I don't think so. [What was that... he can't have imagined the way that word... a name? Just came out weird. His gaze flicks to Ryoko seeking confirmation but she doesn't seem bothered.] Sorry, who was that again?
[In the standard tone of maybe having misheard something. His gaze falls on the snakes and it feels like something splinters a little, letting in a cold trickle of a draft, his fingers coming up and curling in on his collarbone in a motion strange to himself.]
Hey Joe... when did you get a tattoo? You're not turning into a delinquent are you...?
no subject
You know, ƨ̷̓̊ɒ̵̊̋ɿ̴͗͠ɒ̶̈́̍ !
[ Again, that garbled name unnoticed to everyone around them. But Joe blinks in surprise when he Sou mentions tattoos, looking down at himself. ]
Huh? No- [ His objection stops immediately as he seems to see the snakes on his arms for the first time. ] ...way? No... way...?
[ Ryoko gently tilts her head at both of them, looking over Joe for a moment before blinking toward Sou. ]
"Are you two okay? Joe's a gaudy guy, but he'd never be brave enough to go under the needle! Though one time he did draw that cool S on his arm with a marker for ƨ̷̓̊ɒ̵̊̋ɿ̴͗͠ɒ̶̈́̍ , hee hee!"
[ She says it all so casually despite how weird it all is. Even Joe is staring in disbelief, slightly slack jaw as nothing comes out in the response. But it isn't just the snakes on his arms; there are some starting to move up his neck too. ]
U-Um... yeah... a-anyway Sou if you haven't heard the story, y-you gotta ha!
[ For some reason, he's trying to move on despite things becoming slightly alarming. ]
no subject
Guess I must have imagined it... Ahaha, I did stay up a little late...
[He absolutely did not imagine it, and his tone in that first part before lightening in the second has that edge that says as much, the way someone dubiously drops a subject, playing along with Ryoko while letting Joe know he absolutely saw that... still sees it, the way they're moving and growing.]
So what happened? Were you two going past a construction site or something?
[Him and this mysterious person than he should know, should hear the name of... but doesn't. He's trying to think of who it could be, which is tricky because Joe has a lot of friends, he's that kind of person who makes them easily, and he's really happy that he's one of them, surprised that someone who has all these other friends chooses to hang out with him. He can't remember all their names (can he remember any?) but... a cool S... that's all the clues he has so far.]