[Rina]

Wandering around the shopping mall had some...weird vibes to him. On one hand, the town square had a myriad of shops to get all that's warranted. On the other hand, seeing a place so huge and indoors feels...weird to him. He's not here to buy a thing, but, he's merely looking for ideas. Sure, he's kinda ahead of himself, but to be honest, he has no idea what Schezo likes. On top of that, he's going to be planning something for him later. What he's planning might be difficult to do within a week.

...Never mind the fact crazier things happened prior to his first visit.

"I'm been roommates with him for quite some time, but he's still a mystery to me. What is he interested in? I pegged him to be the kind of guy that's not interested in cute things. Though that scene he had with the whole Super Bell thing questions it. What does he like?"

And what are these odd flashing contraptions I see here and there?

If only there was someone he's familiar with and knows Schezo quite a bit to help answer that question...

[Mari]

Looking rather happy off to the side away from the congestion of the evening crowds was perhaps the only familiar face amongst the mall's visitors. It was Arle! The mage was nursing what might appear to be a soda cup full of water over by a by a lonely corner of the mall. It looked like she was deliberately avoiding the crowds, watching a decorative fountain from a distance. She was alone, and it didn't look like she had anything better to do. Perhaps Lemres could ask her for help!

[Rina]

He continued to browse through the windows and into the more calm part of the mall.

"No...I'm not sure of his taste in clothing..."

Though, as he ventured on, he came across a familiar blue-armored girl. It's been a while since they last saw each other, only meeting once during that crazy birthday party last July. Wondering how she's doing, he approached her and called her out to say hello. The moment his presence is recognized, he would approach her. If there was anyone that knew Schezo, it'd be her.

"Arle! Good to see you. How you been?"

[Mari]

Arle seemed to be in her own little world, tuning out the commotion around her up until a familia name was called, drawing her attention. Oh hey--That was Lemres! Always happy to see a familiar face, Arle lowered her drink to her side and waved. "Hi Lemres~! What brings you to the mall?" Arle asked rather curiously. "Hey--Have you ever tried Seltzer Water? It pops in your mouth~!" Arle went on to remark, offering Lemres her drink rather enthusiastically. It was a small wonder what had drawn her to the mall. Beware, Lemres. Though the drink may tickle your throat, it's actually quite bitter compared to water or regular soda due to the lack of any sugar.

[Rina]

"I'm doing alright. It's been a while since we last saw each other. And uh..."

Lemres the smile on his face shifted from happy and cheery to a look of concern. Now that he has Arle's attention, he can ask her about Schezo. He would take the seltzer water, but it's not exactly to his taste. Too bitter. Any information he can learn from her, he can take, thus leading to him asking the question.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know Schezo, would you? I know this is sudden, but I'm at a loss on how to cheer him up."

[Mari]

"Oh yeah, it has hasn't it. Now that I'm here I realize I really lucked out when I wound up on Primp"" Arle mused aloud rather thoughtfuly. "Huh, Schezo?" she went on to ask, a bit perplexed to be asked about the dark wizard at a time like this. Arle seemed to consider this for a long moment. "...I remember he was really fond of this little acorn frog. Somehow I doubt the mall has toys of him though." Arle remarked, trying to piece two and two together

[Rina]

"Acorn...Oh! You mean Dongurigaeru! Those frogs are rather cute and..."

"...Eh? He likes those? I didn't peg him to be the guy that'd like that."

That little factoid surprised him. As Schezo behaves very to-the-point and serious, he expected him to be the last guy that'd be into cute things. Guess he still has much to learn about his roommate. Confusion aside, Lemres went on to explain himself for popping the question out of the blue. Seeing as she knows Schezo well, he could request some advice and help.

"Allow me to explain myself for asking that out of nowhere. See, Schezo's...been feeling rather mopey lately. He's always at our room, and he makes almost no effort to even hold a conversation with me. Sometimes he mutters things about 'everyone being all the same'. And it's only just now that I learned when his birthday is, when I know next to nothing about him. I'm taking the time to know what he likes so I can set up a birthday party for him to cheer him up."

[Mari]

Arle shrugged her shoulders rather helplessly in response to Lemres' surprise. She herself hadn't expected Schezo to be that way, but then again he'd been pretty into her and she was pretty cute. Uhuhuhu~ That silly thought aside, the mention of Schezo's birthday was another surprise to Arle. Knowing about his age as well as she did by this point, she had reason to question this. "You know Schezo's birthday..?" Arle asked. A part of her was almost surprised Schezo himself remembered his birthday. He couldn't remember how old he was, after all, but she guessed that keeping track of an eternity was harder than keeping track of a single day of the year. Boy, thinking about all this timey wimey stuff was going to make her head hurt. Quickly dismissing that thought, she lolled her head at Lemres questioningly. "Is it going to be, like... a party party like mine?" Arle would go on to ask somewhat curiously.

[Rina]

"There's a calendar in our room, and when I leafed through it, 'March 16' was the only one that was circled. I assumed it was very important to him because of that and it seems too arbitrary to be anything else but a birthday."

Lemres tapped the wand to his hat, trying to consider how to organize the party. He's attended one, but running one is a very different story. Not wanting to leave Arle hanging, he proceeded to continue his discussion on birthday plans, not really knowing too well how old Schezo actually is. Then again, Schezo's age is all over the place. He's technically 180, looks around to be his 20s, yet assumed to be eternally 14. Let's not think about it too heavily, lest headaches will happen.

"A bit of a surprise, but something more private. Having firsthand experience with what yours turned out to be, I didn't want to take chances."

[Mari]

. . . A birthday? Arle wasn't so sure, but then again--If he didn't remember his birthday, chances were it wouldn't matter when they celebrated it. Perhaps this party was a good idea either way. "Hehe, yeah... I guess I could see why you'd do that. I just wanted to make some new friends, but I wasn't expecting so many people to have nothing better to do than crash my party. ...Or that jerk fish. That was special." Arle would remark somewhat dryly. "But yeah! I think that could be nice. I don't think he's had a birthday in a really long time. ...Who are you going to invite, though?" Arle would go on to remark and ask, a little curious. A part of her was immediately dismissing the idea that she should be there, but on the other hand Schezo... Well, she kinda questioned what friends he actually had? Maybe she wasn't giving herself enough credit for tolerating the guy. That might mean more to him than it might appear.

[Rina]

Good question.

Lemres doesn't know anyone that knows Schezo. And if they did, they likely didn't hit it off too well due to how standoff-ish he is at heart. He put his hand to his chin to think about who he knows, but... With a sigh, he admitted that he was at a loss right now, and slightly frustrated he's stuck.

"Hmm...I only know the Primp Magic School student well enough to ask them myself, but thinking about how Schezo behaves, I'm not sure if he knows any of them too well. When I talk to him, he always has this distant vibe to him, as well as a front that hides himself. Amitie and Sig are too oblivious to notice it, I can't imagine Rider approaching him too well, I haven't seen Klug at all, and I don't think Raffine will spare time to talk to him."

That last part is so full of irony, it's practically hard as steel.

"Besides the school, I know of a frog ninja that can't speak words, a pink puffball that gobbled me up like a gumdrop, a well-seasoned fighter, and a rather unhinged dark mage."

[Mari]

Arle considered Lemres' words for a moment as he spoke. She was just about ready to jump in when Lemres brought up a puffball. The mage visibly flinched. That didn't sound like her kind of party. ...Well, actually, it kind of did. She didn't want to have another party where something tried to eat her, though. That was for sure. "Hehe~ ...I think I met that puffball. I'm kind of hoping I don't have to meet it again." Arle would reply rather anxiously. She saw where that interaction was going and wasn't having it. "But anyway, I think you might be surprised! Up until about a week ago, Raffina was going on about 'Prince Schezo' for a while. It was kind of annoying, to be honest." Arle explained, rolling her eyes at the term. It was a bit too cheesy for her tastes, but Raffina seemed kinda boy crazy to her, so whatever made her happy she guessed. She just wished Raffina wouldn't talk to her that way as if she was supposed to get it. ...Or maybe she just wanted someone to get her. Ever since she found out Viridi's dark little secret, Arle had been feeling a little lost about her feelings. Two conflicting parts of her both really didn't want to talk about it but really kinda did. Regardless, the former part of her easily won out here. This wasn't the time for that. "We've uh... been staying together for a little while now." Arle went on to explain in passing, not wanting to get into the details of how exactly she'd found herself without a home. She'd mostly been disguising her desire not to return to the sanctum by keeping herself busy, though she knew Viridi must have clued into something being wrong by now. "I guess I could come too. We've known each other for what feels like a lot longer than it has. That seems like a decent party already. Maybe with one or two more people...?" Arle went on to offer.

[Rina]

"Eh!?"

Lemres was genuinely surprised upon hearing that last bit about Raffina. That...that is rather unexpected to be honest. Raffina, a rather snobbish girl, having eyes for someone?

"Well...I kinda can't blame her. Schezo does have quite good looks."

....moving on. This is getting a little bit awkward. So Arle's been hanging around here for a while? The reasons she has, however, are unbeknownst to the comet warlock. Oh...and things got a little quiet and awkward. The good news is that at least she's interested in coming over.

"Oh that's great! I didn't know you had a long history with him. Do you happen to know anyone else though?"

[Mari]

Arle gave Lemres a knowing look. ...Huh! It wasn't like most boys she knew to recognize another man's looks like that. She hadn't been expecting it, ...buuut he wasn't wrong and she did appreciate the change of pace, so she gave him a silent nod of approval. But--...Who else could she invite? Arle's thoughts trailed off to a certain strikingly beautiful woman, but was there anyone else? ...Perhaps Lagnus? Eh. That seemed like a bad idea. His relationship with Schezo was rather complicated, kind of like Schezo's relationship with her. The thing about that though, was that she wasn't qualified to make that judgement call. ...And also she had no idea where Lagnus was, so y'know. Welp. "I could invite Rulue! And I could ask Raffina and Rulue whether they know anyone while I'm getting them... That's about it, as far as I know anyway." Arle would go on to suggest and admit, holding out her arms in a helpless shrug.

[Rina]

"Oh, Rulue? You mean that strikingly beautiful fighter? If you know her, then perhaps I'll let her in too."

He nodded as he responded. Lemres is not too familiar with Rulue, but with what little he knows of her, she's a nice lady when she's given her boundaries. So...it's just Arle, Rulue, Raffina, and...that's it. Ah well, it'll have to do for now. A smaller party should be alright for someone like Schezo. He might not be the type of guy that'd do really well in large crowds.

"It isn't a huge party, but I think it's fine. It could be a little house party, actually! Actually, what kind of cake he'll like?"