Lucky you, Salty Sol ☼

👚= Does your muse prefer long sleeved or short sleeved clothing? Why? 

👕 = Does your muse have a colour preference on their clothes? If so, what colour and why? 

👖 = What fabric of clothing does your muse prefer? Silk, cotton, etc. 

👔 = Does your muse always wear their best clothes or do they prefer casual clothes? 

👗 = What kind of dress does your muse prefer? 

👙 = Does your muse prefer a one piece of a two-piece when going to the beach or pool? 

👘 = Does your muse try to keep up with fashion trends, or do they wear whatever they want? 

👠 = Does your muse prefer high heels or no heels at all? 

👒 = Does your muse like to wear hats? If so, what kind? 

👑 = Does your muse always spend a lot of money on their clothes, or do they buy cheap clothes? 

⛑ = Does your muse wear all safety gear in applicable places, or do they not bother? 

🕶 = Does your muse like to show off skin, or hide it? 

While Haru did admittedly take note of the slight accent underlying Leah’s speech–which, given her name and appearance, made some sense–it wasn’t enough that it severely bothered him. Despite general Japanese attitude toward foreigners, he personally had no problem with having fans from outside of Japan–probably because it was no different from, and indeed sometimes better than, the Earth animal-like aliens that formerly made up the biggest audience of his and Aki’s performances as Galaxy Idols.

With that in mind, his outward reaction didn’t really change much, save for his smile starting to slip again and the eyebrow twitch quirk that he’d never quite ridded himself of. This was, of course, more due to his patience running out–he could only endure the spotlight for so long at times–than anything on Leah’s part. (It wasn’t like her statement bothered him; if anything, it highlighted his unspoken feelings about idoldom at times that he longed to voice. For as blunt as Haru could be, there were still some things on his career that he was contractually forbidden to openly complain about, especially around fans.)

“You’re not wrong by a long shot, there,” Haru replied, making sure to sound as though he didn’t fully agree with her assessment. (When, in fact, he fully did. No amount of fan attention and, starting now, promises of bathhouse time made up for the stress and annoyances of his and Aki’s idol career.) It was incredibly difficult to sound that way while keeping things seemingly lighthearted, though. “I wouldn’t have made it far if it hadn’t been for the fans!”

Upon being shown both the CD of their latest release and the special access pass, Haru naturally didn’t hesitate to pull out his pen. Autographing CDs was nothing new to him for sure. “Sure thing!” was his seemingly easy reply, already going through the familiar motions of signing his name with the usual flourishes. As for the special pass Leah asked about, he already had an answer ready for that as well. It was evident by how he held out his hand immediately for them after handing back the now-signed CD. “I can take that right now–it won’t be any longer till you can use it, anyway.”

Though, while these special passes’ events should be nothing new, Haru had to admit he still felt like a fish out of water with Earth’s equivalent. At least with aliens, he knew what he could get away with in the few minutes he had with the VIP alien fans. With Earth fans, however… well, he was still getting used to Earth customs and trying to hide the ‘eccentricities’ that were the mark of his Andromedan upbringing. Even a slipping of one Andromedan swear word could give Leah enough to be curious about, and Haru was not in the mood to have to cover that up with a lie.

⚖ — She could understand that idols had it hard; behind all the glamour and glitz surrounding the profession, they did have to put up with the worst beings of all: humans. Hoards of them, at that. 

     That was why, her pointing out of such a thing must have been rather welcomed, especially when it was clear to her that the ideas were mutual. Not to mention, not all idols were in it for the same reason…heck, some probably want nothing to do with it and were forced into it or something, the possibilities were endless in this world of mysteries. 

     She gave the male a knowing look, ❝It’s true, your fans may be your support, but some of them may be a hindrance more than others…it’s okay, that’s just how crowds of people work.❞ Whoops, there she goes spouting negativity again; some could say it was another profession of hers…though there was rarely an apology to accompany such mentions. After all, she didn’t see anything wrong with it for the most part.

     He had taken her CD and went through on signing it like he had probably done a thousand times already, and she just waited; talking here wasn’t of interest to her, truth be told. If she truly admired someone, she’d much rather see their true self when speaking, it was just a bad habit…analyzing others was a hobby of hers too, whether or not she knew it. 

As much as he wished there wasn't, as exemplified by the pinch in his eyebrows as he said so, he couldn't exactly make a direct agreement with Leah's sentiments aloud. That would cause far more trouble than is worth; it hadn't been long since they started out on Earth, after all. They had a reputation to maintain for the time being if they wanted to climb the ladder of Earth's idoldom and become true idols.

That didn't stop him from shrugging in agreement to the next few statements as Leah turned to put her CD away, though--as well as cringing. Haru knew exactly what she was talking about in terms of such fans--although he'd seen more than one with similar signs held up, at different concerts and on different planets even. Granted, they didn't always say the exact same thing as "marriage"--mating rituals between different species of aliens varied widely--but the sentiment remained the same, and so was the uncomfortable feeling that welled up in him at the thought.

Thankfully, however, he wouldn't have to deal with them until tomorrow. Dealing with honest characters like Leah's was a nicer change of pace than those kinds of fans, even considering how blunt she seemed. In fact, this kind of honesty was somewhat reminiscent of how Haru was off-stage, so the mirror image was hardly unwelcome.

"A relief for the next day, yeah. Those more--" he paused, trying to keep the harsher adjective he would normally use in check, "--interesting fans will be back tomorrow." Almost as though he were reflexively looking for approval, his eyes briefly flitted over to Aki, who was similarly closing up the last of the meet-and-greets. The action was entirely a subconscious habit from their early days, however, as his gaze returned to Leah as quickly as they'd gone. "I expect you'll be different, though."

It didn’t take much to notice that this particular fan–Leah, was it? It was unusually foreign of a name, not that he could really say much–was none too enthusiastic about the atmosphere herself; it was something Haru had to sympathize with in some ways. Her next words, in particular, definitely resonated with him in some way. After all, it was some sort of miracle in itself that he and Aki had made it out of the idol industry with their sanity even semi-intact, with all the chaos at these kind of concerts alone.

(That’s not, of course, even counting the insanities of being an idol that was hidden from public eye. He might revel in some of the attention he gets, but a lot of it was rather unwelcome attention.)

Unfortunately, no matter how badly he wanted to blatantly agree with Leah’s assessment of the atmosphere, he couldn’t just break out of his stage persona on a whim. Even backstage behavior was generally monitored in some way, after all. It wouldn’t be until he was out of the eye of the industry–like, say, at the bathhouse–that he could really express his honest opinion of things.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t be low-key agreeing, though, if his slightly more acerbic smile was any indication. Not directed at Leah herself, of course, but from an outsider’s perspective that was hard to tell.

“Leah, huh?” Making sure to tilt his head to the side in an almost playful manner, mirroring the look in Leah’s eyes, Haru continued, “You must be new here, then. That kind of insanity from the A–fans is par the course, unfortunately.” The last part was added under his breath, practically inaudible. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Aki’s glance from a few feet away and imperceptibly shrugged in response. He wasn’t going to apologize for being possibly too abrupt unless it was a genuine problem with Leah. “What else do you want? Autographs? A few minutes?”

⚖ — He could probably tell she was a foreigner, if her accent didn’t give it away already, that is. She tried hard to mask it, but being that she spoke a few different languages, it wasn’t easy to make everything perfect all around - she was only human. 

     A trained gaze like hers could see things that perhaps others may miss or simply dismiss…a good example being the twitch at the corner of his lips which must mean he was sick of smiling, she almost wanted to say something but there was no way to make such an observation sound normal.

     Even what was said at the last moment by Haruhiko wasn’t missed, and she gave a knowing smile,  ❝No, I get it…but I can’t help but think it’s annoying and stressful.❞ She can barely stand it for this long, and the pale girl had only been here for a matter of hours.

      ❝Ah…can you sign this?❞ She then asked, pulling out a CD of theirs she had purchased. Then, producing the pass from her pocket that allowed her the special access, she showed it to the younger twin, ❝And…do I wait to use this until after this session?❞ She had been much later in line, so she wasn’t sure after all. Though, if the security ushering devastated-looking fans to back off was anything to go by, then perhaps it would be sooner than she thought…

With that in mind, his outward reaction didn't really change much, save for his smile starting to slip again and the eyebrow twitch quirk that he’d never quite ridded himself of. This was, of course, more due to his patience running out--he could only endure the spotlight for so long at times--than anything on Leah's part. (It wasn't like her statement bothered him; if anything, it highlighted his unspoken feelings about idoldom at times that he longed to voice. For as blunt as Haru could be, there were still some things on his career that he was contractually forbidden to openly complain about, especially around fans.)

"You're not wrong by a long shot, there," Haru replied, making sure to sound as though he didn't fully agree with her assessment. (When, in fact, he fully did. No amount of fan attention and, starting now, promises of bathhouse time made up for the stress and annoyances of his and Aki's idol career.) It was incredibly difficult to sound that way while keeping things seemingly lighthearted, though. "I wouldn't have made it far if it hadn't been for the fans!"

Upon being shown both the CD of their latest release and the special access pass, Haru naturally didn't hesitate to pull out his pen. Autographing CDs was nothing new to him for sure. "Sure thing!" was his seemingly easy reply, already going through the familiar motions of signing his name with the usual flourishes. As for the special pass Leah asked about, he already had an answer ready for that as well. It was evident by how he held out his hand immediately for them after handing back the now-signed CD. "I can take that right now--it won't be any longer till you can use it, anyway."

Meet and greet events after concerts had always been the most exhausting part of the idol career.

Or at least, that’s what Haruhiko thought. He’d never been a fan of those due to his general aversion to small talk–and unfortunately, post-concert events like these involved a lot of these from fans. His and Akihiko’s fans generally had a tendency to dive straight into talking about everything and nothing with them, so he’d grown somewhat used to it, but still. It wasn’t his forte, unlike how it was with Aki.

(Really, the only thing keeping him from just abandoning events like these altogether for their image was the prospect of going to the Kurotama later to see Goura (and Yumoto), not to mention catching up with the rest of the Defense Club and Student Council. That was something to look forward to, if nothing else.)

Still, despite the prospect of better things after these somewhat necessary events, Haru could feel his patience coming pretty close to wearing thin and his smile slipping. His lips were already aching at the corners from having to curl them up in a smile for so long, so it was no surprise that when the next person stepped up he’d almost dropped it for good. It took an elbow jab from Aki in the side to remind him to try to be friendly for the time being.

(Try, of course, being the keyword.)

“Hey!” Haru managed in greeting, trying to keep the eyebrow twitch he could practically sense was coming on from his irritation. This particular individual didn’t look like any fan that he’d met so far, but it wasn’t like he made a habit to memorize his audience’s individual faces. That would take more memory than he could muster up normally. “What’s your name?”

⚖ — Leah Faryn was now reminded about why she had never bothered to go to concerts before, even ones where she admired the talent like in this case.

     The screaming girls all around, some crying children here and there, just all this damn racket was driving her mad - not to mention the close proximity of herself to others, being squeezed here and there and occasionally elbowed or something.

     If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d most surely get arrested or something, the ravenette wouldn’t mind doing something kind of drastic to keep others out of her bubble of space. Something like attaching pins to herself…

     Pulling her out of these thoughts was the realization that she had come to the front of the line, and was faced with the younger twin, Haruhiko - Salty Sol. Her expression relaxed a bit, a tiny smile appearing as those sapphire eyes looked upon him with a twinkle, ❝My name is Leah…also, I’m amazed you’re able to put up with all of this…it’s insane here.❞ She managed to be totally honest, though it was doubtful he’d break his idol persona to agree. 

(That's not, of course, even counting the insanities of being an idol that was hidden from public eye. He might revel in some of the attention he gets, but a lot of it was rather unwelcome attention.)

Unfortunately, no matter how badly he wanted to blatantly agree with Leah's assessment of the atmosphere, he couldn't just break out of his stage persona on a whim. Even backstage behavior was generally monitored in some way, after all. It wouldn't be until he was out of the eye of the industry--like, say, at the bathhouse--that he could really express his honest opinion of things.

That didn't mean he couldn't be low-key agreeing, though, if his slightly more acerbic smile was any indication. Not directed at Leah herself, of course, but from an outsider's perspective that was hard to tell.

((S o–it’s been a while since I’ve done anything on here. Months, in fact. And I’m so sorry for that, but…))

((I’m actually considering putting this blog on an unofficial semi-hiatus or hiatus, because the muse and motivation for RP on here (and @saltysol–haru) has been ridiculously low or even nonexistent. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy roleplaying when I did–I do, I really do. I just didn’t have the drive for it these past few months, what with new interests and the like.))

Beppu Haruhiko CG

From boueibu puzzle game~