Panic! at the Jacy's | Arty + Asuka | The Segway Car

Arty Takenaka

Arty might be forced to play the role of a robber, but that doesn’t mean she has to have criminal intent all the time. In fact, she would resent that assumption. Rather than trying to steal from each store she comes across, Arty is… doing the exact opposite of that, actually. Some might say going ten stores in a row with no robbery attempts qualifies as ‘procrastinating,’ considering the fact that Arty has to commit a theft at some point if she wants to leave. But those people are wrong, because Arty is just scouting for the perfect crime, that’s all.

Except that by the time she gets to the department store—she doesn’t even look up to see which knockoff it is at this point; it could be Macy’s or JC Penney’s or who the heck knows they all look the same to her—Arty’s barely even trying anymore. Like what is she gonna do, stuff some pants in her shirt? Steal makeup? Ridiculous. She can only steal something if it’s super easy and makes her look cool, which, under these fluorescents, is pretty impossible.

But while she’s here, she might as well look at clothes, since someone had gone to the trouble of pointing out her fashion recently. Arty still doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her wardrobe that can’t be attributed simply to being poor, but whatever. At the very least, she’s curious as to what people her age are… supposedly wearing. (Maybe a department store isn’t the best indicator of that, though.)

Asuka Fukuda

Asuka might have to play the role of a mall cop, but that doesn’t mean she has to actually want to do her job! It was boring, and it restricted Asuka’s freedom, and she should be encouraged to shoplift to begin with. However, Asuka still has to actually participate if she wants to get out of here, so…. Ugh. Here she is, doing mall cop stuff. She can get away with patrolling though, and that should at least give her a chance to check out some of her favorite stores!

By favorite stores, for the record, Asuka means stores where she was repeatedly banned yet still managed to sneak back in. Those were absolutely priceless.

“Oh. Wooooooow. Didn’t expect you of all people to end up being here, y’know?” There’s a small snicker as Asuka speaks, although she doesn’t make any other cruel statements. It seems she really was just poorly attempting what must be an everyday greeting for her, as awful as that is. “Are you here to actually take my advice, hm? I mean, mall clothing sucks half the time, and I usually stick to jewelry, but it could put a little personality in!”

There’s another pause, before Asuka suddenly sounds excited. “Wait, are you stealing!? You look way too lame for it, but if you’re stealing that’s even better!!! I mean, clearly you suck at it if you are because you seem soooo out of place, but whatever! Maybe just try going into a store that’s more your vibe next time. ….Not that there are actually any official guards, so…Whatevs.”

Is she trying to insult Arty, or be friendly? Jury’s out still.

Arty Takenaka

Oh, it’s Asuka. Arty actually is kind of relieved to see her… for about half a second, before she opens her mouth. For all her looking for a chance to speak to the perfumer post-trial, Arty sure did forget how grating she could be. She closes her eyes very briefly, for another half second, as a less sassy alternative to rolling them.

“I still don’t think clothes are the most important thing to be worrying about right now.” This is the truth, even if it’s not the full story. (If Arty had said she wasn’t at all curious about clothes shopping, that would be lying. Historically clothes shopping, for her, has been limited to finding her size and getting things that covered her body that didn’t cost a lot. Certainly nothing like shopping montages in movies.) “Plus, I don’t think I can wear them right now anyway.” She raises her arms loosely, alluding to the black uniform she wore. “These things are pretty tacky, right…?” This observation is 100% judgmental fashion girl bait; she figures they’ll at least be able to commiserate together even if Arty’s objections are more about what the uniform stands for than what it actually looks like.

“And no, I wasn’t stealing, okay. I don’t really feel like it right now. This whole thing is stupid.” As for stores that were more her vibe… she has no idea what Asuka means by that. Like, tool stores? She’s never seen one of those in a mall in her life.

Asuka Fukuda

Arty Takenaka “I still don’t think clothes are the most important thing to be worrying about right now.” This is the truth, even if it’s not the full story. (If Arty had said she wasn’t at all curious about clothes shopping, that would be lying.

“Please, you can always worry about clothes. Clothes kind of, like, define you, y’know?” Asuka does a twirl to properly show off her own look, which does nothing to really indicate her grating personality considering what she’s currently wearing.“If people saw me normally, they’d know I was totes awesome and worth their time. They’d know I like pink, that I have a great fashion sense, and that I could probably win a fight!” The last one is highly debatable. “It’s about adding that little character to your outfit!”

“The uniforms do suck, but like… you can probably wear them over the uniforms? Anything you try, I mean. It’d proooobbbaaably be fine?” It may not be, but Asuka isn’t going to actually consider any consequences or anything. That’s not her style. “They’re mostly…without personality. You’d think they’d try to add a bit more spice for everybody, but no! Like, if there’s even a chance I die wearing one of those, I’mma flip. Keep the colors, but add pins or something, I dunno! Maybe modifications on pants and stuff, or sleeves. Anything that makes it not boring.” The ploy worked. “I bet even you can think of ways to make them better, huh?” And now’s your chance to try to impress Asuka - if you even want to bother trying.

Still, all things considered…

“You should steal. I wish I could steal - instead I have to, like, actually go and stop crime. Which is lame.” How can she do crime if she’s the one supposed to stop crime for the most part? “…Do you have any ideas on anything cool to actually do? Because like…To be entirely honest? I’m sooooo bored. Please, you may be my last chance for entertainment here who isn’t somebody who freaked out way too hard during that trial.”