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[ Venti is busy rubbernecking at every little thing ]

You know . . . I've never actually been in here before!

...Yeah, that makes sense.

[ Had to think about it for a second, but. It makes complete sense. ]

—Fair warning, it's creepy.

[ Enjoy the conveyor belt,,,, ]

[ ABOUT THAT ]

Um . . . am I supposed to lay down on that for this?

...Yep. You pick out the earring you want and the ear you want pierced up front, [ there's probably like a touch screen helpfully currently showing them in a pinch-and-zoomable format, ] then you lie down and it carries you into the next room where a robot arm handles the actual piercing.

[ is he about to get drafted into piercing your ear after all ]

[ yes ]

. . . I'd definitely rather you do it!

[ sob ]

—Long as they've got the equipment here I can use.

[ He'll take a sterile needle. And luckily for Venti, being one of those ridiculous Good At All Things Physical people, he's going to get it on center and stuff. ]

...Just, what, in the middle of your earlobe?

Yup. This one.

[ Brushing his hand over his right ear. ]

You've got experience stabbing stuff, so I'm not worried.

Ominous.

[ But maybe he would've taken this route if he'd had the option.

He rifles around the shop, then comes back with a needle the right size for a dangly earring.

~~Our shenanigans are mod-approved!~~ ]

Tilt your head back and to the left.

Edited 2022-09-15 02:48 (UTC)

[ He does as he's asked, surprisingly calm all things considered.

Maybe needles just aren't a god phobia ]

[ ...........a pause, then a very amused look. ]

Not gonna numb your ear up first?

[ LISTEN, ]

That's cheating! Then I'm not having the experience.

I should really tease you about this.

[ But he gets a good grip on Venti's earlobe and in goes the needle. Nice and straight. Unlike anything else in this tattoo parlor or probably most of Imeeji. ]

[ He scrunches his face up a little at the stab, but takes it like a CHAMP.

Somehow he thought it would be way worse . . . ]

Is that it?

[ Tiniest snort. ]

Almost. Still need to get the actual earring in here. Heal up the hole so I can take the needle out?

Oh! Right.

[ Reaching up to heal the wound

BOOM

INSTA-PIERCING ]

[ ... ]

You know, I've gotta give you this: that was a lot easier.

[ For all his nerves about piercing you, it wasn't so bad on his end, either. ]

[ ...and now Venti will pick out a nice earring to match Zhongli, so that'll probably take a minute or two.

But that's — fine, obviously. He can wait. They'll make conversation.

And then, hey, experiments in bondage. That'll be nicely distracting.

No reason why any of this has to be anything but nicely distracting. ]

[ And yet, as he leans back against the nearest counter to get out of Venti's way, he still finds himself saying, ]

So. Lumine on ZRAEL doesn't — remember you, does she.

[ He does indeed go off to examine the available jewelry, but he pauses and glances over his shoulder in surprise. ]

Well, she's not an audition . . . so I guess that's true.

And that's not — weird? Awkward? I mean, maybe if you didn't know her all that well before, it wouldn't matter...

[ —Tail sure is flicking kind of a lot. Heaves himself up on the counter to sit on it! Problem solved. ]

Edited 2022-09-15 22:07 (UTC)

[ ??? Lupine?? ]

Not really. Should it be?

It's not even the first time she's forgotten, but either way, nothing can be done about it. So why not just start again?

[ if a tail is being sat on is it really giving away your emotional state to other people?? checkmate ]

...Right. Thousands of years old. You've had weirder.

[ His shoulders curve in a little more with every word. ]

[ Studying him for a long moment ]

But you haven't.

Is this about your friend from home?

[ Well, he does go pretty still. Head tipped back to look up at the ceiling. ]

That's half the question, isn't it.

[ Bingo ]

And the other half?

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