Owlbears! Cembra loved everything strigiform, and she had also been saving up her allowance for quite some time now. After having to wait impatiently in line, the sound of the coin going in, then the feeling of the pull of the crank-turn was something positively magical. First one, plucked out, then a second, and a third!
She was quick to shuffle away with her prizes– three was enough to fit nicely in her bag, and not too many! That way, she wouldn't not risk anyone getting squished or lost, but not before peeking at their contents! the opaque capsules gave way to three different little critters. What a delight!
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Once the young Fallen had safely stowed her new friends on a safe shelf in her dorm, Cembra made a beeline back towards the machine. What treasures would they relinquish this time? She bounced on the balls of her feet throughout the seemingly endless wait, scurrying up and carefully measuring her motions as she pulled out her little clamshell purse.
One coin... one turn! Pop! A bright yellow capsule came rolling out. She pulled it down and dropped it into her bag, then immediately slid the next coin in, this time beginning to turn the big knob as soon as the metal finished sliding into place with a satisfying slotty noise.
The next two capsules were blue! She moved beside the machine and sat, cracking them open carefully to get a peek at the tiny plushes. All three were doubles, but it wasn't as bad as it could be, really. It just meant she had to trade.
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The third trip yielded two new gachas! Two of them, and an extra of one. This was quickly becoming a habit that would be hard to kick– not that the girl ever had any intention of stopping, really. She counted her allowance, and counted it again, considering how to maximize her owl plushes. If she stopped playing games, and started eating back at the Academy instead of buying festival stand food... she could get a whole bunch more chances to complete her set, and maybe even get a whole second one, or even a third! The Fallen freshling was considering the merits of a second set of the eight owlbears advertised when she read something very interesting on the tags: limited edition.
Limited? That meant 'for a short time'. They... they were only going to be sold for a short time? This, instead of upsetting or offending her, put a fire in her step and a sudden realization, at that. She had to go back to the machine now, with a big extra bag, and get all of the bean-filled babies she could possibly afford!
She had to collect them all.
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"In conclusion, that's when I decided I was gonna be a collector when I grow up!" Cembra crowed, voice a little too loud for indoors. As proud of her presentation she was, not to mention the veritable piles of gacha behind her, the teacher probably decided not to chastise her, given that she was presenting.
"I have some extra fours and sevens, if someone wants to trade after class!"
