[Recommended OST: Comet Observatory 1]
Erie looked around at the themed surroundings, amusement clear on her face.
'Red mushrooms, power stars, power moons hanging from the ceiling... Yep. Mushrooms Kingdom alright.'
It was almost a one-to-one recreation of the palace from the game. Specifically, the room where the princess lived. The only difference was that everything had been cleared out for dining, with a fancy dark oak round table, matching chairs, and a towering dessert display in front of them.
Hope's sky blue eyes glittered as she grabbed a sugar cookie that looked like a mushroom powerup, munching on it. "This is so fun! Look, Julie! It's just like from the game!"
Juliet adjusted her dress, face still a bit flushed from embarrassment. "I guess it's cool. I've never been much of a gamer though."
Erie blinked when she heard Juliet say that and looked over. "Really? I would've thought that you'd have like all the consoles, rich girl."
Juliet shook her head and said, "I collected cards and toys, but I could never really sit down to play games. I always felt like it was a waste of time."
Erie gave Juliet a blank stare. "...I like, 100% cannot relate."
Not liking video games... not wanting to just sit down and spend hours exploring a whole other world...
Erie couldn't understand it. No, she could kind of understand it. Juliet had all sorts of money and probably a fancy life. So she probably thought games were boring since she could do things in real life.
'Even so...'
Hope must have been thinking along the same lines as Erie since she frowned and said, "You never wanted to be something else, Julie? Or explore a fantasy world?"
Juliet shook her head. "I didn't say that. I just never liked doing it with games. If I wanted to escape, I usually watched movies or read books."
Erie blinked. Then it clicked and said, "Oh, you're the artsy type. Right, I forgot... Juliet. Duh."
Juliet laughed and said, "Yeah. My parents forced me to read Shakespeare and stuff when I was young. I hated it at first, but I eventually liked it." She grabbed a star-shaped sugar cookie and nibbled on it. "I don't know what it is, but that always pulled me more than games. I get why people like them, but it's a bit weird for me."
Hope furrowed her brow, confused. But then her eyes widened and she said, "Do you daydream a lot, Julie?"
"Huh? Yeah." Juliet nodded. "Do you not?"
Hope nodded. "That makes sense then..." She giggled and continued taking bites out of her mushroom sugar cookie. After wiping off the crumbs with a napkin, she said, "If you can daydream, it's probably more fun than a game."
Erie looked at Juliet and said, "No wonder you space out a lot..."
Juliet blushed. "I do not space out."
Hope giggled and said, "Oh, you definitely do, Julie! Your eyes get a bit hazy sometimes, you know? Like you're lost in your own world."
Juliet's face turned even more red and she said, "W-Well, you do too, Hope!"
"Hm?" Hope blinked. "Oh! No, my eyes just hurt, so I defocus them."
"...What?" Juliet blinked. "What do you mean defocus your eyes?"
Erie's eyes lit up and she said, "Oh my god, finally! Someone else who gets it!"
Juliet looked confused. "Gets what?"
Hope gasped and said, "You can do it too, Erie?!"
"Yeah! My eyes hurt when I'm on a screen too long, so sometimes I just let everything blur like 360p."
"That's it!" Hope let out a happy smile and pointed at Erie. "That's exactly it! It's like turning down the quality in real life to save data! But the data's your brain!"
Erie laughed. "Never thought of it like that... but I guess that's right." She let out a soft smile and said, "...Sometimes there's too much going on inside. So it's nice to just... decrease the bandwidth a bit and slow down."
For a brief moment, Erie remembered the days she spent streaming as Meryl Kodomo. How she always had to be 'on' for the stream and play up a character. How the company always pinged her with notices about this or that. How the only real rest she had was when she was asleep or the brief moments she had just letting everything blur for a bit...
Hope gave Erie a sad smile. "Erie..."
Erie blinked and realized her eyes were tearing up. She laughed and brushed the tears away. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine... No, better than fine." She grabbed a power moon cookie and licked a stripe of the frosting off. After tasting the sweetness, she smiled and said, "You need a bit of bitter to appreciate the sweetness in life, right?"
Hope still looked a bit concerned. But she nodded and said, "It'll be all sweet from now on, so don't worry." She placed her hand on Erie's arm and said, "We've got each other now. Right? All three of us."
Erie smiled. "Yeah. We do... but could you like, not touch my suit with your sugar covered hands?"
"O-Oh my gosh!" Hope quickly pulled her hand back. "I'm sorry, Erie! Here, let me get that..." She grabbed a napkin and started carefully dusting off the sugar.
Erie was going to tease Hope for that. But then she realized that it was the first time someone had taken the time to care for her appearance. "...Huh."
Hope tilted her head. "What is it, Erie?"
"...Nothing. Just not used to people caring for me."
Hope finished cleaning Erie off and let out a bright smile. "Well, get used to it! We'll all be taking care of each other from here on out!"
Juliet looked between Hope and Erie, amused. "...Am I third-wheeling on your date?"
Erie blushed and said, "Julie, really?"
Hope laughed. "It's not a date, Julie. If it was, we'd be dressed better."
Juliet blinked and looked at Hope's outfit. Then she slowly said, "I'm somewhat concerned on what you consider 'dressed better' when you're already dolled up like that."
"Well, I haven't even used make up!"
Erie gasped and did a double take at Hope's face. "...No way." She reached out and poked Hope's pristine skin and her fluttering lashes. "THIS IS YOUR NORMAL?!"
Hope giggled and leaned back. "That tickles, Erie!"
Juliet looked amazed too and said, "Wow. No wonder you had so much trouble... If you put on make up, won't you look like an AI image?"
Hope shook her head. "I'm not THAT pretty. That's Alphy, Betty, and Meggie!"
Juliet waved her hand and said, "They don't count. I'm still not convinced that they aren't some sort of genetic experiment to optimize beauty. But you're naturally pretty... Wow." Juliet rested her elbow on the table and then leaned her chin against her hand. "...I think you're the real Cinderella here, Hope."
Hope puffed her cheeks and said, "Hey! You can't talk down on yourself like that! You two are pretty too!"
Erie rolled her eyes and gestured at her still thin body. "Pretty... sure. Pretty close to the grave."
Hope picked up another mushroom sugar cookie and handed it to Erie. "That's why you have to eat more, Erie! Calories in!"
Juliet smiled and said, "Hope's right, you know? I've been around a lot of dolled up gals. And you're prettier than most of them even like you are now, Erie."
Erie blushed, feeling embarrassed. But she couldn't help the smile on her face. "...Thanks. But do you really have to say that in public?"
"Considering you fell off both in real life and as Meryl Kodomo, yes."
"Wooow." Erie laughed. "Dark. True, but dark."
"But funny, right?" Juliet winked.
Erie looked amused and said, "Are you SURE you don't like girls? Because you sure know how to flirt with them, Julie..."
"Oh, it's habit." Juliet shrugged. "You won't believe how many rich gals in New York are repressed or open to exploring that stuff. If you do a bit of flirting, you get a lot of free stuff."
Erie gave Juliet a blank stare.
Hope gasped and covered her mouth, though traces of her smile could be seen through her fingers. "Julie! That's terrible!"
Juliet shrugged. "Free stuff is free stuff. Half the cards in my collection come from girls spending their daddy's money to impress me."
Erie paused. "Wait." She gave Juliet a once over. Then her eyes widened and she said, "Oh my god, does that mean you know how to dress up like a bishounen? A pretty boy?"
Juliet paused, looking at Erie with concern in her eyes. "...I'm scared what will happen if I answer yes."
Hope let out a happy squeal and said, "We HAVE to dress you up as a guy! You'll look so handsome!"
Juliet crossed her arms. "Nope! Denied! I'm not wearing a tux again!"
"Again?" Erie's eyes lit up.
"Again?!" Hope looked excited.
Juliet groaned. "This is for my birthday celebration, isn't it? Could we not tease me...?"
"Nope~" Hope giggled.
"Denied." Erie laughed and leaned forward. "Now. About the tuxedo incident..."