Chapter Text
How much did Hoshimi Miyabi REALLY like and trust Wise? And would she entertain his... *niche* tendencies? These were the questions to which he sought the answer. The sticking point being that Wise had a very particular interest, and for all her absent-mindedness, he wasn't entirely sure exactly what the boundaries were. Today... today was the day he found out. Heavens help him.
He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts. Dozens of people he had met in his travails as New Eridu's secret protector... cops and construction workers, butlers and bikers, mercenaries and military personnel... Finally, as he passed the cute or interesting avatars and glamor shot profile pictures, he saw what he was searching for: A bland, frontal-profile picture of a fox thiren young woman. Was it just her work ID photo? Gotta remember to ask.
Wise opened up the ongoing conversation he had with Miyabi. The last thing he had done with her was take a stroll on the pier at Port Elpis. He cringed as he scrolled up a bit, remembering that he had opened that conversation by blurting out that he had dreamed of her. It was literally true - but it had been just a cool action setpiece of her slaying Ethereals. Fortunately, this was Miyabi he was talking to - she merely thanked him for having the dream as if there was nothing creepy about it at all (which there wasn't!), before moving onto asking about what plans he had in mind. Anyways.
He thought for a moment, playing over how to put his bizarre plan into motion once more, then began typing:
He waited for a moment. No immediate response. She could be busy in a Hollow operation, or simply 'training' (aggressively daydreaming). He certainly didn't want to rush this particular... social interaction. The less inconvenienced she felt, the better. After about a minute, he sent another couple messages:
The 'typing' indicator appeared. Oh, good, she was available.
He laughed softly to himself.
And there it was. The moment of truth. He had a fallback plan - ask her if she wanted to go have a bite to eat somewhere - but dammit, this was something he really wanted. So, taking a breath, he let his fingers dance over the touchscreen once more:
No, nope, nah, this was NOT something he wanted to do anywhere but safe in the walls of his castle, where it'd just be him... and Eous. And the other Bangboos. And Belle.
His breath caught. This WAS only stage 1... it's not like she hadn't come to the store before, so this wasn't anything to be TOO excited about. Regardless...:
'Come... up wi-' oh, right, the entire BS excuse this whole thing was based around:
This girl... Deadly serious when lives were on the line, oddly earnest in her social interactions. The dichotomy was, as ever, striking.
Right. The plan was set in motion. Nothing to do but wait, now. Belle had said nothing when Wise and Miyabi had squirreled away in his room to watch Black Tales... then again, it would be a shorter list of who in his list of contacts DIDN'T come hang out in his room to watch a movie. Come to think of it, it was kinda weird how it felt like pretty much every agent he knew had some reason that they couldn't watch whatever obscure film they had each asked about at their own place.
Regardless, Belle didn't seem too keen on needling him about the TV-and-chill time he spent with virtually everyone he knew, which worked just fine. The less she paid attention, the better. The last thing he needed was her taking shots at him for his strange inclinations. Besides, he could hear her playing with her guitar in her room, and she'd be at that for HOURS if he knew her. Nice and distracted, the way he wanted her to be. By the Hollows, she'd be INSUFFERABLE if she knew.