London

[Bloodedge]

"It wasn't that long ago. Not as far as your video sponsors go, at least," Ozzy mentioned, having a decent memory of her advertisements over the online portion of her blossoming career. Speaking of that particular sponsor, he'd given it a try several months ago. It was actually a decent product, and now that he thought about it, there wasn't a bad sponsor associated with Blue Lotus that he could recall. "Actually, you're pretty good at picking stuff in general, not just fashion-related. You never seem to take any random sponsor either, which is pretty rare for people trying to make a name for themselves. It's honestly hard to see someone respectable enough to avoid the easy route."

Did he hear that properly? She said she was into archaeology and video games as well; now that was news to him. "Bloody hell," he said in shock. Mention of The Sims was almost laughable. From just that, he imagined they could have a single conversation drag on all day, and never see the end of it due to how many things there were to address. "Don't even start! You could be a gamer on stream, and you'd do a bang-up job of it too! Lots of people love to watch build videos, whether it's Sims or Minecraft. I had to stop playing Sims on my channel a while back, all because the stream would go on until I passed out in front of my chat. Same thing happened last year when No Man's Sky got popular again..." Ah, the memories. More importantly, there was conjecture. Ozzy was mentally checked-out, already living out a fantastical future in which Nikki and himself could enjoy each other's company playing video games, streaming cooperatively, shopping and showcasing new would-be trendy outfits, and so on. If he was dreaming up this date, then he was also presently suffering inception. Oh well; maybe doing so would lock him in properly, so he could never go back to that terrible, Nikoletaless life. Oh. Damn. She was talking about her luck just now, huh? He heard her, but... he was a bit late on the response, despite the fact that he was unabashedly staring a hole in her face while that stupid, absent smile remained plastered on his own. "... Sorry. Went a bit silent for a bit there, didn't I? I was... sort of... daydreaming. I heard everything you said, I just sorta skipped ahead mentally to the part of this dream where we're married and like... well, you know. Life. The short of it is, if I could be overexposed when it comes to you... trust me luv, I'd have done that to myself ages ago."

[Apollymi]

"Considering the contingency on staying relevant, it was ages ago~" she mused. This was quite true, one could go from the most important and highest streamed and watched to almost no one in a matter of a week with the wrong step. As such having any fans from earlier times in her work was rare, even for someone like Nikki. What was more, Ozzy went on to compliment her ability to pick things, she couldn't help but chuckle. "I didn't know being picky could be counted as a favorable personality trait. To be honest, I just don't back anything I don't try and like. I also don't really want anything backing me if I don't like it either, I can tell a lot about the company by the sorts of reps they send to talk to me, so that is where it usually starts. Well, that and some deep dives on the internet. If I'm going to build my name the way I want... I don't want to regret anything or anyone attached to it. That's all," she mentioned. Her own form of branding went this way.

As they moved beyond that point in their conversation, it seemed that her mention of their other shared interests was enough to spark some extra conversation. Apparently Ozzy also enjoyed the kinds of games she did, and claimed that she'd be good at making them as content. "Blimey that's a lot of faith. I can't imagine falling asleep on a stream though, must have been an all day event~" she mused. Whatever this game called No Man's Sky was, she'd never heard of it, but if it had build potential she might look into it a bit. After all, she had basically a week with pre-recorded content up, she might as well have a pretty good time in her hotel room. Hm, soon after she'd said several things but Ozzy had been pretty quiet, by the time she looked up from her fries she found him staring at her face with an expression most vacant. But he soon recovered enough to speak... He made the claim that he'd been daydreaming about the future of the pair of them. Her eyes widened. He'd taking a bit of a jab earlier and now he was admitting to being just as outlandishly focused as she had been in the moments before. "Blimey, I thought I lost you for a second there..." she said with a bit of a smirk. He imagined them married and enjoying a life together? Did he have any idea how outlandish that was as a thing to hear from an attractive man without associated psychotic tendencies? "Well, as long as you won't be overexposed, I wouldn't mind spending the rest of this time getting to know you... and who knows," she said as she picked up her last chip. "Maybe we can walk you out of this daydreaming phase and into the living one. This really isn't a dream you know?~" she gently teased. Actually, she could see herself liking this man far beyond their 'working' relationship. Beyond all of that, his interest in her was refreshing and after chatting with him quite a bit, she could see that he was quite beyond the first few levels of her scrutiny anyway.

[Bloodedge]

"Sure, guess I can't really disagree with that. Just trying to make it less awkward, but I'm guessing that's not so necessary~" Ozzy said while waving a chip about in the air, prior to throwing it into his mouth. He had another victory to count today. As of these last few moments, he'd learned more about Nikki, whom he could be called the leading expert on as things were already. This wasn't the same, though; this was a more personal conversation than he could have ever imagined himself having. It was such a good feeling though, going beyond existing knowledge and any would-be scripted speeches based on prior information. Behind it all, they were two people just having a conversation... though Ozzy remained the likes of a lovestruck teen regardless of how the picture was painted.

"It wasn't much of an event, really. I just get that into building stuff, so the stream went on too long. That's why I went to doing it in my free time; nobody needs to see me passed out and drooling all over myself on camera. Not good for appearances, that," he said in a lighthearted manner. Ozzy was back in the realm of the living now, though just slightly lost to the world still. It would take some doing to convince him this was all completely real, but that didn't matter, considering how much he wanted to believe it. "Dream or real, I ain't backing down. Besides, there's no way I've gone mad now; that's the second or third time marriage popped up, and you've not said a thing against it. If nothing else, that says I've got a pretty good chance of not just being some bloke. Heading back then?"

[Apollymi]

Just trying to keep the conversation from being awkward. He had no idea how very comfortable Nikki was in the current moment. She'd been sitting, eating and even chatting about her personal interests for quite a long while without real fear of backlash. That was a level of comfort young women in her position didn't normally get. He had no idea, how many points were in his favor at present that he hadn't pressed her about the sorts of video games she liked. Claimed the ones she played took no skills nor accused her of being a 'gamer girl' all things which had happened with the last few blokes who'd made it to a simple date stage. "Hm, compared to how my last say 10 dates have gone. I'd say you are the least awkward person I've shared a bite with in a while... Not to mention being surprisingly easy to talk to. No need to worry so much~" she mused, willing to share that much about his current abilities as far as general conversation were concerned.

"Really?! Just so distracted by building things you fell asleep? Wicked!" she seemed amused and she was. She thought she was the only person who did stuff like that. "I'm sure the look was fine..." she mentioned not seeming to think of a way in which the man wouldn't look gorgeous. Besides all of that he claimed he wouldn't be backing down anytime soon. A happy chuckle came from Nikki in this moment as he truly had no real idea. "Definitely not just some bloke, but I knew that by the time I finished scanning your Twitter... talking to you just confirmed it," she mentioned fairly honestly. She still wasn't sure if there was some sort of catch, but over the surrealness of this meal, she was almost certain this man was just really normal and basically custom made to her liking. Even she wasn't one to turn down a gift from the universe, especially not after scrutinizing him the way she had. "Yeah, it's about that time... and I still have to get changed. Apparently, I'm doing a live character reveal... that's why the ears are Limited Edition by the way, the custom for the character," she said playfully. Tea had been fun, but it was time to get to the show at hand.

[Bloodedge]

As it seemed, things were much more in Ozzy's favor than he could have realized. The previous ten or so dates Nikki had been on, were all allegedly more awkward than he was managing to be. To this, he had only one thing to say. "Wow. Those guys must've been rubbish," he stated with an unusual amount of seriousness in the claim. Surely those ten or so others had to be morons of some sort, or... maybe they weren't; maybe they were just worse than Ozzy when it came to being nervous wrecks in this woman's presence. Whatever the case, he was winning, and that was the important thing! Eyes on the prey, not the horizon! Something along those lines was what Ozzy had to keep telling himself, lest he become too engrossed in the fantasy of Nikoleta, and lose his grasp on the potential reality in his immediate future.

Speaking of the immediate future, there was a convention ahead of them. They had at least the whole week to talk about their similar gaming habits, life experiences, the incredible life they could have together, and so on. Yes, all of those things were worth addressing! First though, Nikki had to be back in time to redress as her character from the upcoming manga. "Live reveal, huh? I had one of those on release day last year. We've got to get you sorted right away then!" he said, knowing the appearance of Nikki's character was unknown even to him, despite there being some sort of connection between the two. Rising from his chair and extending his hand once more, he gave consideration to something particular. "I've got my costume here again as well. Am I meant to put that on? Do you have an idea how our characters are related?"

[Apollymi]

"The lot was pretty rubbish. I almost swore off dating, and joined a convent..." she agreed without much hesitation. Between dates where guys claimed in the future she'd have to give up on her dreams. To the ones where it was obvious that they were only trying shag, Nikki had experienced a medley of different disaster dates. Perhaps all of that bad karma was finally turning and around and she'd earned herself a single gem in a sea of rubbish. It was at least a thought worth entertaining, and with Ozzy being the type of man he was seeming to be, she was more than content.

What was more, as she mentioned that she'd be doing the live reveal of her upcoming character, it seemed that Ozzy was more excited than he had been initially. He truly was a fan with a response like that. "Yes, they claimed that live reveals for certain characters was becoming the standard, especially for helping boost the individual brands of their face claims. Since they gave me so much creative freedom I don't really mind... it was pretty fun working with them..." she gushed about her own experience with the Aeons. She reached out and took that extended hand of his, seeming to find comfort in it as they headed back for the venue. "I suppose you could if you wanted to, a bit of extra publicity wouldn't hurt either of us... and the Aeons expect stuff like that, giving fans faces in their works~" she said about the costume change that he could also participate in. "According to the Aeons, my character used to work for yours. She worked in an equivalent position to what Benihime had, before she became Kazekage." she said she'd only recently started reading the series so she hadn't gotten back to Benihime's complete former history or anything like that. "Wait, but no spoilers, I haven't caught up just yet... I don't really know what that means completely. But they said they could make my whole look work with their ideas. Or rather they said they'd figure out her abilities after I came up with her look~" she mused. She really wasn't completely caught up, but she knew at least what the character would look like. She also knew which look the Aeons ended up settling on, and today was going to be very interesting, at the very least.

[Bloodedge]

"Even better for me, innit? Go ahead and swear off dating. No convent, just start dating me first~" he said in decent enough humor. That would be an incredible step in the perfect direction for Ozzy. Hell, the male himself never gave consideration to dating, always being the approached since discovering and obsessing over Blue Lotus. Though he never imagined himself having a chance to both meet and woo her, there was no one else meeting enough of his standards to be worth going after himself. He thought someone might randomly fit the bill one day, but never pictured himself in this situation within any version of reality.

Those Aeons were the strangest of people, as Ozzy himself recalled. He'd never worked with, or even met others who so freely sacrificed any of their own potential ideals to those who assisted them. Ozzy himself had some small amount of creative freedom with his own character in their works, though obviously not as much as Nikki... yet it was still so much more to work with than any other offers he'd received over the past few years. What sort of look did Nikki's character have though, he wondered. Whatever it was, it was sure to be incredible as far as he was concerned. "Hmm. I'll wear it then. Might as well give the people as much hype as possible, right? Besides, I've always wanted to cosplay in group! Let's make a big deal out of it!" he said excitedly as they made way for the convention. This was going to be an even more interesting day, though poor Oliver Williams had no idea what he was in for. . .

[Apollymi]

Oh? What was this... Ozzy claimed she should swear off dating, but not join a convent. He instead thought she should simply start dating him first. Another laugh escaped Nikki as they walked together hand in hand towards their venue. "Blimey, that's a pretty brilliant idea, mate. Why didn't I think of that?~" she said almost sarcastically. Still it wasn't a very bad one in truth. She could actually see herself enjoying spending a lot of time with Ozzy. In truth, she was already enjoying spending time with him. The idea of dating him was seeming like it could come together pretty nicely.

It seemed that Ozzy had also worked a bit with the Aeons so he knew a bit what Nikki meant about her gushing review. She'd given a lot of input about her character, she'd even been allowed to keep her ears for the look. A chuckle escaped her as a small gag was even inserted pertaining to said character she was about to showcase it'd be a good time. "Alright then, let's have a go. Cosplay groups are notoriously hard to get together and coordinated properly," she said having some idea of what such a thing was like. "Still, we can have a great time with it," she said. Soon after they'd part to get changed, and this would involve rather reluctantly letting go of Ozzy's hand at some point. Oh well, she could always pick it up again.

When next seen her big panel would be starting and one of the coordinators of the event would be announcing some unveiling. "Alright guys, we have a treat for you today. Our two panel guests for the Aeons work are coming out. Along with them a new character reveal and a connected former favorite!~" the announcer mentioned. Ah, yes it would be time for Ozzy to make his appearance however he was dressed for this. The coordinator realized he was supposed to be the former 'Kazekage' in one of the Aeon's series. Whatever the case, he was definitely a fan favorite and would draw a crowd regardless. "First up, a favored streamer and Instagram model, known to most of you as God-King. He's featured as his revealed character from the last cycle, the Nidaime Kazekage: Hiyama Machi~" the crowd would be cheering for such a thing. The Sunagakure in the series Naruto featured all of the main characters, so everyone from there was popular. After that, the announcement of the newest character would come and that was going to be interesting.

[Bloodedge]

"Right? Stroke of proper genius on my part, if I do say so myself~" he joked. Luckily, there was no need to worry about coordination or anything else, since their outfits for this little cosplay session were... well, literally them. There was also no need to think about getting costumes together, or any of that nonsense; they could just get dressed as if they were going out on the town. It just so happened that the 'town' in this case was a convention panel, which Ozzy could almost consider part two of this date they were on.

A most momentous day already, would only become more wonderful over time. The moment their hands separated, the time had come to get into costume and character. Minutes passed, and an announcer heralded in Ozzy under the guise of Hiyama Machi. He emerged in full glory, sporting a balooning pair of black pants with openings to expose his shins, large golden armor segments at his waist, at his otherwise bare ribcage, and on his forearms. His torso remained mostly exposed, aside from a large, white cape, and the strangest form of compression top that covered only his neck and arms. He even had an additional accessory beyond his sapphire jewels, which happened to be a shepherd's staff, blue and gold to match his ensemble. "Oi, oi! I'm not meant to be working still, y'know? Where's my retainer?!" he shouted to the surprisingly large crowd ahead, slipping in a reference to the position of Nikoleta's character as he now understood it. Hopefully, that much information would not be considered a spoiler for the lass. She said she wasn't caught up, but he wondered how far behind she was in the series─

[Apollymi]

Another smile, how fun. Ozzy was already shaping up to be a great deal of fun to one like Nikki. Going beyond even that... very soon they'd be having a bit more fun of a different type. The announcer at the event made a speech which introduced the cosplaying Ozzy as the character, created by the Aeons who bore his face. How very interesting. Having met Ozzy now, Nikki could somewhat see the similarities between his own personality and that one created by the two writers. Still there was some extra fun coming and none would know about it. Nikki was allowed a great deal of creative freedom here and now. Her character was created with a certain humor, or disposition. And now she was being announced. "Where is the 2nd retainer of the Nidaime Kazekage? The one mentioned as having the same job title as the titular Benihime in the past? Who returned from a long mission to find an old yet familiar face?" the announcer was having a bit of fun with this. Such was simply the nature of all who participated actively in the Aeons' projects. "The one known to their enemies as the Ghost of the Sands, is the administrative linchpin keeping the Sunagakure up and running...." a long pause took place there was a certain thing happening behind Ozzy much to the crowds surprise.

A large sheet like cloaked figure appeared with two large deep black eyes drawn in the whiteness. It seemed to be something of an apparition but not in a way which was remotely scary. After a second or two something strange could be noticed about this 'ghost'. It had two distinct rabbit ears appearing from the top of its head. The crowd boomed, this was interesting and so mysterious. What would her costume look like? Everyone was curious about it. "Oh? last I checked, I was doing my job, but what kind of time do you call this, Nidaime?" asked Nikki from beneath the cloak only in a moment would she be showing herself when the announcer said her name she'd be revealing herself beneath that sheet like cloak. "Announcing the arrival of Okazaki Kouto~" the announcer mentioned. Still in that sheet the hands would come up and a little devious smirk would appear on the face of Nikki beneath the sheet. She'd lift it gently flipping it over her own ears to reveal a look befitting of the Sunagkure in general. The high ponytail she'd put in remained as did the red marks on her cheeks. Those specialty ears of hers donned, they came with a gold and blue motif not unlike that of Ozzy's gold and sapphire jeweled look, but instead triangles. Her actual look was bikini clad covered in chains of gold with black wedge gladiator sandals. Beyond this strips of leather and open handed gloves. There were golden bangles and chains and a nice choker in gold holding together tiny pieces of black cloth which covered everything of importance but was definitely fitting of a character to be kept by the Aeons. The crowd was stunned and then cheering as she came into view.