While the rest of the girls were dancing enthusiastically, Beep
seemed a bit surprised that Cat Slime chose her. “Oh- Oh! You’re asking
me?” she asked. “Well, it’s been a while, but…”

She looked back at him. Of course, she was his guest after all. How could she say no to that?

She then extended out her own tiny paw, taking Cat Slime’s nub hand.
“Well, I’ll try not to step on you too much,” she said, half-jokingly.

Cat Slime beamed, squeaking joyfully as he took Beep to the middle of the dance floor.

He decided to start slowly, by raising the roof to the beat of the music. He waved, encouraging Beep to do it with him. He smiled, barely able to contain his enthusiasm to ramp it up once he felt comfortable.

“Whoa- Hey!” Susumu was already liking what she was hearing. “It’s
not like our music, but it’s great!” She then looked at the other girls
to see what they thought.

Bowyetta, Bonk and Quartz seemed to be enjoying the music as much as
Susumu was. Beep, however, was hanging back slightly. She looked up when
she noticed Cat Slime looking at her. “Ah- I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“I’m not much good at dancing myself…”

Cat Slime squeaked loud, hype-inducing cheers as he continued to dance. It was so nice to have someone over in his pet house for once!

Though, Beep was hanging back a little…

He squeaked reassuringly, trying to coax her to at least try to dance and have fun. He even offered a little nub of a hand to her. Maybe she just needed someone else…?

Susumu seemed interested in the CD Cat Slime had chosen. “Hey, what’s that one?” she asked.

“Susumu,
Quartz and Bowyetta mostly listen to J-Pop,” Beep explained. “But they
also really like electronic music. I prefer a much softer tune myself,
and Bonk… I don’t even know what to call what she listens to.”

If
Bonk’s eyes were visible under her glasses, she’d have given Beep an odd
side-eyed glance. “It’s called Denpa-core,” she said.

“Anyway, that CD should be just fine,” Susumu continued. “We’re always up for trying something new.”

Cat Slime nodded, listening to Beep. He turned and gave a brief inquisitive squeak at “Denpa-Core,” but shrugged. He could ask later.

He could not have made it to the turntable fast enough. He slammed the CD in and soon, a soft, flowing song was playing, gaining a heftier beat as it went on.

He swayed and bounced happily, occasionally stopping to see the Denpas’ reactions.

“…Eh?”

Susumu looked up, just realizing what she had been
doing. “…Oh! I… I-I was just…” Her face was starting to turn as red as
her hair. “I got… Erm, never mind.”

“What Susumu means is, she has a tendency to get ahead of things,” Beep sighed.

Susumu
then stepped up to Cat Slime, trying to shake off her embarrassment.
“Anyway, uh,” she began. “Gosh, you’ve got a lot of cool stuff in here,
don’t you? What kind of music do you have in there? Anything by Princess
C?”

Cat Slime shrugged. No harm done.

“Miiiiiii….”

He looked on the shelf for anything by “Princess C”, muttering to himself.

Eventually, he turned, shrugged, and squeaked if a cd from “DJ Boppin’ Flight” was okay, explaining that it was soft electronic music with a fast tempo.

He also took a moment to ask if anyone else had suggestions.

“Oh, well, that’s alright,” Konade replied, putting the phone down. “Well, the phone’s over here when you’re ready to order.”

Susumu
stopped to think for a moment. “Well, let’s see…’ she said. “She’s made
of blue paint, so something in a warmer color would look nice on her.
Purple or blue would blend together too much.” She flipped through a few
more pages, before looking back up. “Hey! How about a red one? I think
you’re right, she might like something in a new color, and I think she’d
look good in red…”

She looked at Mr. Sir and Konade, to see what the answer would be.

“Red, you say…?”

The Repairman looked at the page Susumu had open. Slowly, he began to place the photograph of Marie over the red bow.

“…Hey, I think she’d like that, too!”

He stroked where his chin would be.

“So…a few spare green bows…a red Wooly bow, a couple of Debutantes…”

He looked back up at Susumu, and then at Konade. He wondered if they had further thoughts on this.

“Anything else you think I should get her…? I’m gonna get a few basic bows somewhere else, too…”

Susumu nodded. “Something with more of a simple pattern then?” she
asked. “I don’t think any of them really have any flat colors…”

After a few minutes of thinking and flipping through pages, Susumu
spoke up once more. “Well, let’s see… I don’t know about bow shapes,
but…  The Wooly Bow is the most simple design, but I think she’d look
good in the Debutante Bow too. Is green her favorite color? They both
come in green…”

Konade, meanwhile, had prepared to pick up the phone. “We can order
it for you when you decide,” she said. “We’ve got the money to cover it,
so don’t worry about it.”

“…Yeah, I think you’re right,” the Repairman said, nodding. “Those two should work…”

He blinked as Susumu asked about Marie’s favorite color.

“…Um…I think so. She usually goes for orange and green…”

He looked at the catalog again.

“Oh, but what if she wants more colors to branch out? What then…?”

He looked up suddenly, and turned to Konade.

“Thank you,” he said, “but…”

He pulled a large sack of coins from assorted worlds from his hammerspace.

“…I’d feel better if I paid for it…”

Susumu looked down at the source of the voice. “Oh, hey, Mr. Sir!”
she greeted her old friend. “Gosh, how long as it been? Seeing you
really takes me back…”

She paused for a minute, before looking back to the blob. “Erm,
right. Anyway, you said you’re looking for a bow for your sister, huh?”
she asked. “Luckily, as a Pop Star, I am an expert of bows.”

Susumu then walked over to a small table near the door, picking up a
large catalogue and bringing it back. “What sort of thing does she like
in bows?” she asked. “A Strawberry Bow? Or maybe an Aurora Bow?”

The Repairman gulped as he saw the huge catalogue. He knew every niche had a lot to it, but this was getting pretty hefty.

“Um…” he started, pulling out a photograph of Marie, with her simple green bow. He had hoped this would help reference-wise. As it was, he was flipping uncertainly through the pages, glancing back and forth between the catalogue and the picture.

“…Well, I’ve heard her talk about bows with flat colors or simple patterns…? I think…?”

He sighed as he placed sticky notes next to everything he saw that looked promising. After a minute or two, he had made it through a mere few pages.

He turned to Susumu, showing her what he had noted. So far, he had the Wooly Bow, the Kimono Bow, the Aurora Bow, and the Debutante bow.

“…I don’t know, what do you think? Should I choose a different bow shape? Do these designs work?”

monokuro-adventures:

Konade was sitting at the table in the meantime, and she rocked back in her seat. “Well,” she began. “If you need someone who knows about bows, we DO have a Pop Star on our team-”

At that moment, Susumu rushed down the stairs. “Did someone say bows?!”

“Oh, right! Susumu!”

He quickly moved to meet her, mentally kicking himself for forgetting she had a bow.

“Yeah, um, I need a bit of help. Marie’s birthday is coming up, and I think she might appreciate a few extra ribbons. I don’t know enough about this kind of thing to find a good one, though…could you help me out?”