#moraypower

send "alt!" and i'll introduce you to a character i've messed with the idea about writing

" WOW-WEE!

talk about a two-in-one combo! you're a kid and a squid, now that's versatile! double the capabilities, double the possibilities, double the adventure -- i can see it now!"

legs kick beneath the floating maw giddily, gloved hands held against arched teeth as if to contain this newly found flood of excitement. oh, just think of all the places and ways he might entice an adoration out of this one, surely she'd love a go-around of what this ring leader could cook up! what could go wrong?

peripherals catch frye's mouth opening, ready to speak. ( a complaint, no doubt. we couldn't be having any of those. ) without an ounce of warning, he's swooped down with an enlarged index finger pressed firmly against those protesting lips.

"hold those thoughts, now! we'll be accepting user feedback after the show. don't want to spoil our eggs before they hatch!"

offering a quick snap! of fingers, an oval-shaped portal springs to life beside him, its view that of spirales swirling gulf! not...quite what he had in mind but, close enough!

"now, let's get out there my goopy, better-fried friend! your aquatic deep-dive adventure awaits!" ...what was she trying to say before? something about not being able to swim? oh, well. who cares! she's getting tossed in regardless.

“Hmm?” He leaned his beaked face in close, almost being nose-tip to nose-tip with the curious teacher, a feeling of faint, distant familiarity overcoming him when looking at her face. A feeling he quickly cast aside - it didn’t really matter to or stirred anything in him anyway.

Holding her by the neck and swaying her gently around, he added, “you don’t look like a moon resident, and you’re an organic life form at that. Hmm…what are you?”

While interesting, she didn’t look that much fun to dissect.

"Frye! Are you ready for this? Just focus on your song!" Octavo arms himself with a violet fireball in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. "Let's fry this halibut!"

Sunset Circuit is crawling with these hideous, coral-bladed fish with distended jaws. Many of them are sprouting mechanical spikes as well, ones they can reload and fire. Octavo hurls the bottle at one as it lunges for him, teleporting back and setting it ablaze. It screams and thrashes; Octavo pulls another bottle from his bag.

"This is not the first time I have seen a city so abundant with machines. Even your 'cars' are reminiscent of the great shells of beasts in my land. This, though..."

She looks back from the creature to the large machine in front of her: a large metal box with a stick to control a claw-like mechanism in a case full of... very fluffy toys.

Clearly, her kingdoms were lacking these "claw machines".

"How does one activate this device."

Well, there's a first time for everything, she thinks. Maria's restless dreams led her out to the keep, and her reluctance to bring Blue along led her to find a horse sitter.

Armed with her Calamity Rifle and whatever supplies she could bring along, she hopes things will go well without the rest of her posse. Frye will have to do her best to fill in for the other three.

Past the entry room, there's a wizened old man with a long white beard sitting by himself. He's too busy pondering the orb on the table to pay attention to Maria and Frye.

Maria glances at her new companion, then takes a step closer to the old man. Frye's got plenty of time to run past her if she wants to try to get his attention first.

College administration had given him some background on the case—this was an exchange student who seemed to have trouble adjusting to the rigors of Ofiuco U's academic schedule. She had no issue connecting to the community or befriending her peers, but her classes were falling behind enough to raise some red flags at the academics office.

"My goal for our sessions is to help you achieve a healthier school-life balance. I'm happy that you agreed to see me today."

"Do you have any goals for yourself this coming semester? Any will do—I'd like to hear more about your interests and passions."

"So humans aren't really, um... It's mostly just... seafolk? Where you come from?"

Which does sound hard to believe, but it's not like Alphys hadn't researched alternate universes before. Though she hadn't imagined there'd be anything like this...

"And you're not monsters, or, m... made of magic. Here, let me, um..."

She rummages through her bag, then offers the young woman a bandage to cover a scrape she saw on her earlier.