♫ 2nd Solo ♫

[ikenai]

who: Mikumo and you!
what: Self-promotion is fun!
when: The entire month of August
where: Around the Quarantine
warnings: Nothing really, except for Mikumo being a troll



Ever since her announcement over the Quarantine's version of social media, Mikumo has been busy with her agent. In the past few weeks, she's been taking photos and meeting as many people as she can. There have been trips to venues, a baseball field, and certain stores to throw together a wardrobe worthy of Riverview's first idol.

In the week leading up to the River festival, posters for her appearances start popping up all over the place. (Samples are here: One, two, three, four, five, and six.) Dates and times are splashed across the posters, drawing attention to her best assets artistically. Of course, she is the one responsible for where they're all placed. She has final say on these sorts of things, agent or not.

After the festival, it's more performing in the clubs at night and plastering the town with her face.

When she's not out promoting herself, she's in her apartment, singing, writing and working on dance moves. To everyone on the third through fifth floors of the communal housing buildings, she's not sorry that her voice carries. However, she does take requests, so that's something.

However, she's so determined to get out there that she's not paying attention to where she's going. On more than one occasion, she bumps into a stranger and sends her papers flying. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you hurt?"

Comments

[yakyuuman]

[ He'd seen the posters stacked up everywhere and, since he knows Mikumo and spoke to her, there's a growth of pride swelling in his chest. She might reach a considerable achievement before he even does, but he's not bothered by that fact, since his own advancement in life had gone so much further in two months here than it ever did back home, and he's also proud of himself for it. He thinks it's still early to dream big.

As he stares at a few posters plastered on a building's wall, admiring Mikumo's beauty and perfect photogenic appearance, he's startled by someone bumping into him. Paper flies in front of his face and scatters to the ground. He looks down at them, then at the girl who's just asked if he's okay, and... oh. ]

Mikumo-chan! [ He brightens up instantly pumping his sleeve-covered fists with excitement. ] Wow, so you're the one putting up all the posters? You're pretty much everywhere!

[ikenai]

[Mikumo has spent more than a few afternoons watching the baseball team practice. Incognito is how she goes more days than not, just because this is something that she hasn't seen before and she doesn't want to distract the players or her number one fan in their jobs.

When she realizes who she's bumped into, her cheeks flush a bit in embarrassment (for only the second time in her entire life.) But she's quick to recover.]

Jyushimatsu-kun. How are you? [She's had years to perfect her slightly teasing tone of voice, and she doesn't waste a second before turning it on.] Well, it's not just me, but yes. This is the only way to get the most exposure without constantly spamming everyone's phones.

[yakyuuman]

[ Jyushimatsu chuckles, blushing a little himself because Mikumo is so much cuter when she's not behind a screen. Talking with a cute girl in general besides Totoko felt like a luxury to him back home, and he could only experience that luxury once when he met Homura.

Now it all seems so much easier. He rubs the back of his head. ]

I'm doing fine! And yeah, that's way more likely to attract people than spamming ads! Most people don't like spam!

[ He then remembers the papers scattered to the ground and hurries to pick them up. ]

Sorry for making you drop these! Give me a sec!

[ikenai]

[Wouldn't he be surprised to know that she really sucks at interpersonal relationships? She tries so hard to cover up her lack of experience by being flirtatious and sweet here in the Quarantine because she can't rely heavily on her whole "Mysterious Venus" persona as she did back in the Globular System. She doesn't have the other girls to bolster her in that way.]

Well, I know that I never really cared to have a lot of ads sent to my home and devices when I never asked for them. I figure that most people are much the same.

[At least she assumes so, because it's only logical.

She chuckles a little as she picks up some of the posters near her and straightens up the stack after he hands her the ones he's retrieved.]

It's quite alright. I really should watch where I'm going. And possibly not text and walk. [She acts as if she has had a great revelation.] Are you free to help me put more of these up by chance?

[yakyuuman]

[ Generally, he's pretty bad with putting things in order, in every sense of the term. His thoughts are messy, his lifestyle is messy, his schedule is erratic, he ends almost every single day covered in dirt, and the way he's stashing those papers causes them to bend and crumple a little because although he's super ready to help, the way he goes about it is quite careless. He'll leave the job of straightening them out to Mikumo, satisfied with himself when he stands up and sees that the ground is now clear. ]

Done! And it's fine, I get distracted all the time!

[ Jyushimatsu nods instantly at the suggestion, so hard and excited he feels dizzy for a few seconds. He doesn't recall what he was even supposed to do for the rest of the day. ]

Free as a bird! I can totally help out! Just tell me where to go!

[ikenai]

[And she's so used to having things in her life taken care of by other people that she doesn't really know what being unorganized really looks like. She doesn't throw things around because it's easier to put it away. It's just a practical thing to do. It makes sense.

Maybe one day she'll even thank Lady M for that.

It doesn't matter if the posters get a little rumpled. She's sure that the wind and rain on the moon will do that anyway. So long as they get posted and seen, that's fine with her.]

I appreciate your excitement. How about you staple the posters to the surfaces and I'll carry them?

[She hates the stapler. It's evil.]

[yakyuuman]

[ Jyushimatsu nods again with more convinction than before. He'll do whatever is asked of him as long as it's an easy to understand task. One could say he really likes being told what to do by the people he likes. Like a faithful dog of sorts. ]

Alrighty, just point me to where I should attach them and I'll do the job in no time at all!

[ikenai]

[Mikumo's never had a pet, but she's dealt with Chuck enough to know what that sort of behaviour is like. Or, well, Messer with Kaname as well. A part of her is worried about someone who is so eager to please, but she's probably going to have to keep an eye out on to make sure that she doesn't take advantage of that sort of attitude.

She knows herself too well.]

Well, mostly street poles and fences. I do have a roll of tape in my bag, but there are more staples at this point.

[She's tried to be organized about this, after all. Oh, and before she forgets, she hands him the stapler, glad to be rid of the thing.]

[yakyuuman]

[ He takes the EVIL stapler from her, running the task through his mind a few times so he won't forget and do something stupid as a result. Once sure he got everything memorized, he gives another enthusiastic nod. Doing a good action for someone sure brings his spirits higher, closer to cloud nine. ]

Stapling is fine! We'll do everything in no time with my speed!

[ When Mikumo is ready to leave, he'll bounce by her side and follow her lead. ]

[11calls]

It's clear that Alex wasn't quite paying attention as she walked briskly towards the coffee shop. Honestly, she always needed coffee and at the moment, there was too much blood in her caffeine delivery system. She almost dropped her bag when the other woman bumped into her, but some quick thinking (and reflexes that she was learning at the end of a stick, honestly) stopped her own papers from mixing with the girl who had talked into her ones.

"Don't worry about it!" Alex's voice is soft but warm, with a hint of a Canadian accent in it before she crouched down in order to help the girl collect her papers from the ground before they could blow away. "I'm fine. Are you okay?" She gave the woman another smile, offering up the papers that she'd saved from being lost to the litter pile.

[ikenai]

Mikumo isn't a huge stimulate fan, so she doesn't understand the desire to plow into people to make sure it's received, but she does get being in a hurry. Which is how this all has started in the first place.

As she tries to get as many of the posters back into her grasp before they fly away, Mikumo manages a smile of her own. "I'm fine. I've just been busy putting these up." She has to straighten a few of the retrieved posters, but they're mostly unharmed and for that she's grateful. "I should have been paying attention. And perhaps I should have brought along a bag to carry theses in."

[11calls]

To be fair, it was entirely an accident, because Alex definitely isn't the sort of person who plows into people on a regular basis. At all, really, and she does look apologetic as she attempts to gather as many of the fliers as she can as well. Holding the posters carefully so that they didn't end up any more crinkled, she offered them to the girl.

"I can imagine. Flyer putting up is never fun." She remembers from when she was in college, actually. "A bag does normally help though." There's a beat and Alex looks at what the flyers are for with a little smile. "If you want, I work for the news network, and I can put a plug in for your show with the community stuff!" A smile comes before Alex adds: "to make up for some of the posters you lost because of me being in a rush!"

[ikenai]

Well, never let it be said that Mikumo would hold anything against anyone. Because, honestly, she's not that girl. If it's not impeding her job, anyway. It's obvious it was an accident and neither is completely guilty.

When there are enough of the posters that only the few that are blowing away aren't much of a loss, the idol stands up. "Well, starting out isn't that easy, I'm finding. Even with being the only idol here, self-promotion is turning out to be more work than actual performance. So, I will gladly take you up on your offer."

She holds out her hand to shake the other woman's. "Mikumo Guynemer." Like her name isn't all over the posters....

[11calls]

Alex takes the girl's hand and gives her a broad smile. "Alex Reagan, nice to meet you." It's clear that Alex means it, even if Alex's gotta Alex and she couldn't stop herself from asking the question that was on the tip of her tongue. At least she'd managed to hold off on it until after the introduction, which wasn't something that Alex was normally good at doing. She was too much of a reporter for that.

"An idol? Is that like being a rock star from where you're from?" It certainly seemed like it to Alex, but given how different worlds could be here, it seemed like the best thing to do was to actually ask the question.

[ikenai]

It's good that the other woman at least gave her her name before questioning Mikumo's profession. She's learning that not everyone is really familiar with it at all.

"Sort of? I sing. I dance. I act. I model. I make appearances on shows and things like that." And as a member of Walküre, she also fought in battles. She's sort of glad that she doesn't really have to worry about the Var here. She can just do the things she loves.

[11calls]

"Oh wow, that's cool. So it's kind of like just being an all around celebrity there?" Alex is thinking of some people like it back home, even if she's failing at putting her finger on exactly one of them. So, instead she just focused on the woman before her.

"So is that like what your show is going to be like? As for the acting, do you know Loki? He owns a theatre here, and maybe someone you want to talk to!"

[ikenai]

"Yes, I suppose that's true. It's a great deal of work, but I think it's worth it." Idol culture demands that she do as much to cultivate fans as is humanly possible. So, if she can manage anything, she has to do it.

"My shows will mostly have singing and dancing, although I do like to interact with the crowds if I can. I'm still working on a new set of songs before my agent gets around to releasing an EP, but I'm also looking into songs from other worlds as well. In the meantime, Otabek Altin has been helping me schedule performances at a few of the establishments around here."

[mutant_messiah]

"I think I'll live." Comes the gruff reply of Cable, the scattered papers lifting off of the ground and rejoining her stack. Yes, that was him that just did that. No he doesn't explain or act like anything is out of place.

"How bout you? Run around not paying attention like that is gonna get you hurt more than someone like me."

[ikenai]

Mikumo looks up and smiles prettily at the familiar voice before blinking rapidly as her posters all sort of magically return to her arms without any effort. (It's good that this is so easy because this is the third time she's walked into someone during the week.) Of course, she doesn't say anything about it because what would she say?

"Thank you, but I'm fine. Years of dancing have made me a little more agile than the average woman. And I'm not as delicate as I look."

[mutant_messiah]

Cable has no issue treating powers/abilities like common occurrences; for him they are exactly that. Instead he engages the lovely pop idol in what is bound to be pleasant conversation.

"Might want to learn a little more dancing then." He's quietly amused--about as amused as a guy walking around with a bunch of guns and ammo strapped to him can be. "Strength of will is probably important in your line of work. It's good that you have it."

[ikenai]

She's really good at ignoring things that have no real effect on her. She's just grateful she doesn't have to dirty her new vintage outfit in trying to retrieve all the posters again.

"I don't think it's the dancing I need to work on." Her smile is a little embarrassed. "It's my walking and texting ability. I seem to have failed in doing both at the same time. But you're right that being strong-willed helps. I don't think I'd survive fourteen hour days without it."

[mutant_messiah]

"Don't think most people would." Cable agrees, content to stay put or move on--depending on what Mikumo wanted to do. "Is by yourself usually how you do things?" He sounds about as close to being impressed as the mutant could; to be honest Cable didn't know much about the world of pop.

It seemed like one of those genres where the less he knew, the better. Then again, he felt that way about a lot of music.

[ikenai]

"You might be right about that, but working hard is the only way to go if you want to be successful." She makes that sound like it's the only option. Because it is.

"What do you mean? I was in a group before, but I've always been responsible for carrying my own weight as the lead vocalist."

When you're the face of the group, everything you do is watched. So, maximum effort is required all the time.

[mutant_messiah]

He won't be telling her any different so long as she works smarter than harder when it's necessary. "Didn't know you were the lead. Like I said, pop isn't my genre." Music in general wasn't his thing; save for the huge names no one could escape.

Cable pauses just long enough to add, "But I should have figured you were."

[ikenai]

Oh, Cable, you're so cute. Mikumo works as hard as she needs to and rests when she can. She's no martyr or idiot. "Well, I wasn't the actual leader of the group. That was someone else. She was the old lead vocalist, but when I joined, she was happy to let me take over."

The rest, as they say, is history. "What makes you think it's only natural?"