bills, bills, bills...

[itsgunnabe_mei]

Sender: Meilin "Mei" Lee
To: All
Subject: $$$ For Warm Fuzzies

So, sending out a quick question to all my homies and newbies.

How much would you pay to hug a gigantic red panda? Use whatever currency you feel comfortable with, just tell me if it's high or low.

I may have a business opportunity in the works.

Comments

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ Hug a corpse?! Ewww! He might be smelly and sticky... But. Mei does not go back on her word!

She hesitates, then shakes her head, and closes her eyes -

POOF!

... and the panda returns! ]

... Hugs will be had! I can do this!

[refantasma]

Apparently, his son's favorite animal was a red panda. [He looked at his chauffeur.] You never told me you had a kid. [Jules-Albert chatters at him.] Well, you're not exactly the most forthcoming of my zombies!

[He stares in mild disbelief as his chauffeur goes up to Mei in her giant red panda form and hugs her.

He wonders what that's like. His zombies aren't sticky, though they do smell, though because of magic, it's not as obvious as normal corpses.]

[itsgunnabe_mei]

Awww...

[ Okay, that revelation does help. She hopes the man can reunite with his son!

... Her senses are a bit heightened due to being a Panda, so there's a small wince with the smell, but she works through it to hug him back. ]

... You want in on this, Nico? Plenty of room for everyone!

[refantasma]

[Jules-Albert was a race car driver in the eighties, so his son was probably in his twenties or thirties by now if he was still alive. He could be in New Rome for all Nico knew.]

No.

[He shakes head.]

I'm not the hugging type. Only my sister gets hugs.

[itsgunnabe_mei]

Well, if you ever change your mind, the offer's always available! Free of charge, since I... screamed at the both of you like a crazy person.

[ She still feels it was a sensible reaction, but at the same time feels super guilty, so... all's well that ends well? ]

[refantasma]

I'm used to it.

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ She's not terribly surprised, yet - ]

That doesn't make it right! I'm gunna do my best to spread the word that you're both good guys and not scary at all!

[refantasma]

[Nico scowls.]

I am scary! I'm a necromancer! The dead are mine to command.

[He crosses his arms over his chest and doesn't pout. He glares. It's a bit of both]

I'm the scariest person you'll ever meet.

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ ... Eyebrow quirk? She's a little confused. ]

... You don't want me to be scared of the zombie, but you want me to be scared of you?

[refantasma]

[Like most fourteen-year-old boys, Nico doesn't know what he wants.]

I'm just saying. You should be scared of me.

[He wants that. And he doesn't want that. Life is hard.]

[itsgunnabe_mei]

... Yeaaaah, no go. No offense, but telling me you prefer sister hugs and like to give your chauffer cookies kinda makes you adorable, not scary. Plus, I've been, like, kidnapped by dragons and I'm besties with demons. You're not really near scare-material for me.

[ That's the way the cookie crumbles. ]

[refantasma]

[Nope. Nico decided. He wants to be scary.

So he scowls harder and narrows his eyes.]

I've fought in two wars and have zombies scarier than Jules-Albert under my command. I ride into battle on hellhounds.

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ Nope. Not happening. She glances over at Jules-Albert, and even pats his head. ]

Is he always like this? It's like he's a tsundere... which is its own brand of cute!

[refantasma]

[Jules-Albert chooses that moment to turn into a pile of bones and sink back into the earth. Mostly to escape Nico's annoyance.

He does, however, give a nod in answer to Mei's question before falling apart.

Nico glares at his chauffeur's remains. Guess who won't be getting cookies for a while.]

What the hell is a tsundere?

Anyway, I feed my zombies out of respect for the service they provide. It's not cute!

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ POOF!

Mei returns back to normal, since this is a silly conversation to have as a panda... well, it's a silly conversation period. ]

Oh, you see them all over in anime! People who are like, all mean on the surface, tsuntsun, but then you get to know them and they have a cute side,deredere~!

[refantasma]

What's anime?

I'm not even mean! I'm just a realist and treat people with respect! And I'm not cute!

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ A sad little sigh. ]

So many worlds without anime... it's just so sad! It's awesome! And we're in a world without TV and internet, such a bummer...

[ Tsk tsk. And still not scared of him. ]

[refantasma]

[His world has anime. He just hasn't encountered it due to not having access to technology since he was eleven, and no one's shown it to him yet.]

That doesn't answer my question.