Work Text:
♫A time that seemed like a dream~♫
As Rui finished off the end song of Wonderlands x Showtime's newest act, he had already begun thinking about the next. They had about a week until their next show, but they couldn’t seem to agree on the next act. Emu had been talking about doing some sort of animal show, while Tsukasa had brought up the idea of pirates (with him as the star, of course). Nene had offered her rare opinion, speaking about an idea with aliens and video games. Rui himself was good with any ideas, as long as they involved some crazy stunt (most likely done by Tsukasa). He tucked the decision into the back of his mind for later, he still had to thank the crowd, after all.
They didn’t end up talking about the upcoming show ideas until practice the next day. However, upon Rui’s late arrival, it seems the other three still hadn't resolved the issue yet. Emu was talking excitedly about all sorts of different animals, while Tsukasa seemed to have picked up a pirate accent. Nene was not participating in their antics; however, it seemed she still stood by her decision, if the handheld game she was playing was anything to go by. Rui sighed to himself. How was he supposed to begin thinking of stunts when they couldn’t even decide on an act?
Rui’s arrival did not go unnoticed for long, with Emu calling out to him the second she saw him.
"Rui-kun! Wouldn’t an animal show be absolutely wonderhoy!?"
"Ah, well-" Rui started, but was interrupted.
"Rui! Pirates! Pirates would be perfect for a star like me!" Tsukasa had gotten up to join the conversation as well.
As they both crowded around him, Rui cast a glance over at Nene. Her only response was to send a glare back. Clearly, she was sticking by her decision as well.
"Now, now. I’m sure we can figure out something." Rui said, skillfully stepping out of Emu’s grasp. He walked over and took a seat next to Nene, who paused her game. (A rare occurrence to be sure, she must be serious about this act.) Emu and Tsukasa followed shortly after, also taking a seat near Rui and Nene.
Rui took a breath in, and prepared to diffuse the situation between the three of them. He had already begun to think of an idea that would appease all three of them (and let Rui create some new stage items, of course).
"I think I have an idea on how we can do all your shows." Rui said, glancing between his friends and fellow troupe members.
They all shared a confused look and glanced toward him, clearly waiting for an explanation.
"How about a show about alien-animals fighting pirates?"
There was a beat of silence before Tsukasa and Emu burst into laughter. Even Nene was chuckling to herself.
Tsukasa was the first to recover from his laughter. "Rui that-" Tsukasa was interrupted by his own laughter again. After a moment, he regained his composure, "that has to be the craziest idea yet!"
Emu nodded her agreement. "Yeah, Rui-kun! Who would think of anything like that?"
Nene had stopped chuckling by now and cast a glance at Emu, muttering something under her breath about how "Emu herself wasn’t much better."
Rui stood and gave a small frown, "Aww, not a fan? What do you suggest then?"
Nene also stood, walking over to Tsukasa and Emu from where she had previously been sitting. "Why don’t we just play a game to decide which idea we do first?"
Emu nodded her agreement, and Tsukasa did as well. "As long as it's a game of chance." He said, "Nene, you’re too good at anything else!"
"It's just because you’re so bad at video games," she said.
"H-hey! I’m not that bad!" His denial went unnoticed as Emu suggested rock, paper, scissors to decide the first show. Tsukasa managed to win, much to Emu’s dismay, but upon the promise of getting to do her show soon, she calmed down. Tsukasa began to excitedly discuss his ideas with the two girls, with Emu listening intently and Nene half paying attention.
Behind them, Rui smirked to himself. This went better than expected, he thought. Now that there was a plan, he had already begun thinking of an idea for an amazing stunt that involved Tsukasa and a canon. He may begin to regret his choice of a pirate show very soon.