#conduitshipping

Like look at this interaction (excuse the quality)

That is a diabolical eyebrow raise.

Like, again I know you’re not meant to take it that way, but I feel it’s funnier to interpret it as Lloyd show active dislike. And it feels even funnier if you apply it to what happens afterwards.

Like I think he has a favorite child you guys.

And also upon seeing Frak promise to train really hard, his first thought is of Arin like, dude we know you miss him, but give Frak some personal positive attention man.

It’s like he got stuck with one of Ras’s affair kids, and he’s and he’s also still pressed about Ras getting Arin in the divorce.

Well this took a bit to start but it was fun. Not incredibly shippy, though. (also, good ship)

Prompts still open here

—

“Ema, would it kill you to not raid the liquor cabinet for once?” Akira blandly asked as he heard the telltale sound of a cupboard opening.

“What?” Ema scoffed. “Are you trying to delude yourself into thinking that you’ll ever drink it? In the years I’ve known you I’ve only ever seen you drink alcohol once. Let’s not pretend you don’t buy it so that I can drink it when I come around. Who else will? Aoi?”

“Absolutely not. Not on my watch.” Akira’s hands slammed the table as he made the statement.

Shoichi laughed as Ema returned with a bottle of wine and some glasses. “Come on, Akira, the kids have already gone away, it’s time for us to have some fun!”

“This party was for them, so they could relax after everything. Not for us.” Akira said.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun ourselves!” Ema grinned, taking her seat at the table once more. She gave the two men a glass each, then poured herself a glass.

Akira stared at them, then at the glass in front of him.

“Oh, to hell with it.” He said, reaching for the bottle.

—

“You know,” Shoichi said, vaguely pointing his empty glass forward. “I didn’t think I would like either of you.”

Akira, the least drunk of the three, set his own glass down in confusion. “Why would that be?”

His first target chosen, Shoichi moved his glass to point it more towards Akira. “You’re less uptight than I thought you would be. You seemed like you would be a stickler for rules.”

Ema laughed. “No, you’d be right. After he joined SOL, until recently, he was definitely a lot more uptight than he is now. He had to get those promotions somehow.”

“And you!” Shoichi turned to Ema.

Ema grinned. “Me?”

“What kind of a nickname is Daddy Long Legs?”

Instant silence.

“That’s it?” Ema asked. “That’s your problem with me?”

Shoichi gave a slow, serious nod, which only caused Ema to laugh even louder.

“You’re joking! You’ve got to be joking, right?” She reached for the nearly empty second bottle, only to have it snatched out of her reach.

“That’s it!” Aoi screamed. “It’s two in the morning! Some of us are trying to sleep!”

Akira glanced at the clock. She was right. “Oh, sorry. I think we lost track of time.”

Aoi huffed, then walked back to her room, bottle in hand.

Ema flopped forward onto the table, head facing Akira. “She reminds me of you from a few years ago.”

Akira frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Boring.”

Shoichi nodded in agreement. “I can see that.”

Akira flushed. “Anyway. It’s time for you to go.” He stood up, grabbing the other two by their arms and pulling them out of their seats.

“Nope.” The word popped out of Ema’s mouth. “I think I’ll just crash on your couch. Sounds good? Sounds good.” Decision made, she stumbled over to the couch, letting herself fall onto it.

“We should do this again sometime.” Shoichi began, and his words were immediately followed by a half-hearted shout of agreement and an arm pump from where Ema laid on the couch. “This was fun.”

His piece said, he took the same decision as Ema, falling onto one of the other couches in the room. “Night.”

Day 13 / Jan 04 - Wedding / First Date

·         Ship: Shoichi/Ema/Akira

  To call it “a date” would be a generous assertion as to what it exactly was.

  It was the first time that they had all been under the same roof together and it was as chaotic as you would expect for three adults all to be crammed under the same roof of a hot dog van and were trying their best to rally around the youths they warded. Well, with exception of Ema. She didn’t quite have the familial connection to Yusaku and Aoi like Shoichi and Akira did respectively but, given that this is “a date”, she might get there eventually as some sort of sister figure eventually. Or worse, and Ema shudders at this thought, as an aunt or mother figure. Disgusting.

  Well, she could handle mentor figure. She was Aoi’s mentor figure, after all. She would become a right proper treasure hunter one day underneath Ema’s guidance, but she was still hesitant to want to chalk the role up as sisterly or, worse yet, maternally. She wasn’t exactly the world’s best sister; just look at her feud with her brother, after all.

  Nonetheless, she enjoyed how the teenagers had wormed into her life as it had certainly given her new connections. She enjoyed having something renewed in common with Akira and chasing Playmaker had landed her with Shoichi and she liked Shoichi. He amused her.

  Though what they were doing was messy and untidy and all around unpleasant due to the hot dog smell and burning computers, it was a date. After all, they were all there – physically – under one roof and they were doing activities together. Said activities were illegal and whatnot but still, it counts. Probably. And they had food too. It wasn’t good food, but it was food and it as stressful as this whole “trying to save the Link Vrains” gig was, it was still fun to pig out and play games. Well, what were essentially games. They were trying to bypass a good many firewalls.

requests: closed

   Ema’s ears pricked up. Reddened even, and given that she had rather unusual, and therefore eye-catching, ears, Akira noticed. 

   “What was he like?” she asked. Then, she corrected herself, perhaps fearing some bluster that Akira hadn’t even noticed and therefore had long forgiven. “You know, is he as good as an ally to us as he is to Playmaker.”

   “He is someone whom I respect rather deeply now. It took a lot out of me to support my healthy sister, something I feel like I don’t even have to actively do now that someone is teaching her all sorts of modes of independence.” Akira said and his tone turned playfully accusatory.

   Ema smirked, a suppressed chortle, and brought her mug of coffee to her lips. 

   “And he supports Playmaker no differently, I feel, than his own brother, I think.” Akira continued. “So, he is someone whom I can respect. Not to mention the fact he started his own business, something I struggled to do and in my opinion, I think it’s taken off quite well for him.”

   “Ever the pragmatist.” Ema replied, amused.

   “I hope that you and he have the opportunity to cross paths as well. I think it would be good for all of us to be able to network outside of the internet and telecommunication. Being able to talk frankly face to face will help foster trust and whatnot.” Akira said.

   Ema sat down her coffee. “I believe I’ve already met the man. He owns the hot dog stand in the City Plaza, correct? He gets the spice just right in his chilli dogs, I think.”

   “Y-Yes, how did you know?” Akira asked, turning red.

   “Women’s intuitition. I mean, from his duel with Playmaker, to the fact that he’s a business owner, and so on and so forth. Hm, I would never have guessed though that such an innocuous person would be so deeply interconnected into things.” Ema replied.

   “Well, I recommend you pay him another visit then.” Akira said.

   “I shall.” Ema said, a touch uppity.

   “Oh, and buy the veggie dog. It’s so much better for you than a chill dog.” Akira replied and Ema felt as though she was being scolded.

   “Whatever you say, Father.” Ema retorted.

Akira: She's sleeping.

Akira: [sends selfie]

Akira: It's me, her boyfriend.