2017-05-20 - Emergency at Meioh Tower!
| Title: Emergency at Meioh Tower! | |
|---|---|
| Summary: In which Michiru Kaioh comes to the rescue of a desperate Setsuna Meioh | |
| Who: Michiru Kaioh, Setsuna Meioh | |
| Where: Meioh Tower, before the action moves | |
| OOC - IC Date: <05-20-2017 - 01-20-2015> | |
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
Bracketing the imposing grounds of the Infinity Institute rise three dark monoliths, shiny black towers set in an evenly spaced triad like great sentinels. Do they guard Infinity from the rest of the world, or the other way around...?
The number of dire situations the eternal Sailor Pluto has faced down nearly match the uncountable years of her long life. Her composure in the face of overwhelming odds matches the titanium of the Garnet Rod she wields. Since coming to the Tokyo of here and now, she's encountered even more challenging and strange circumstances and foes, and has handled each with more or less the same steady confidence in herself and her abilities, and with nary a quaver in her smooth low voice.
This morning, though, she is panicking. By now Setsuna should be in her advanced astrophysics class at Infinity University, contributing her occasional insights to the weekly discussions on timescales in pulsar observation and the potential gravitic interactions between neighboring singularities. Instead she's flying about her lavish sub-penthouse apartment in Meioh Tower, still in her dark crimson silk pajamas with long hair forgotten in bedhead tangles.
She briefly considers how she might get in touch with Eri Shimanouchi, but knows it would never be in time. Matters are far too pressing to wait for the Puella Magi to check their shared dead drop.
Setsuna completes a few more frenzied orbits, looping between bathroom and bedroom and living room, before realizing the obvious course of action. Moments later she is dialing out on an obsidian-shiny telephone to the private line at Kaioh Tower.
"Please, pick up, please, be there... Ah! Michiru, please, I need your help. How soon can you be here?"
Oh, there are quavers, all right.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Of course, Kaioh Tower is not presently occupied by the person in question, but it's easy enough to have things bounce around. The signal from Setsuna Meioh bounces from that luxurious apartment to a personal phone currently tucked...
In the purse of Michiru Kaioh...
Which is sitting in her belongings locker...
Just as her pilates class is about to begin. "Oh! Well, I'll catch up," she says when her purse begins to buzz angrily just as she was closing the locker. She tips the purse forwards, checks her phone - it's not Haruka, which means she can't just send out the 'lunch on second shelf, keys in counter bowl, socks in drawer' text she has pre-emptively cued up for just this purpose.
She opts to answer it herself. Her voice comes through. "Ah, Setsuna," she says, sounding soft and somewhat concerned. "I didn't expect-"
There is a heartbeat's pause. "It's something I can skip... If you truly need me, within -" Her mind wheels over it. If she drove this would take perhaps five minutes at this hour, but Michiru has thoroughly outsourced this task. "The half-hour?"
"It's a shame you didn't call me half an hour earlier," Michiru adds. "I could have used Kaiomaru."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
"As soon as you can, yes... I think I can manage for half an hour. I hope. Thank you, I'll see you in a half hour, thank you so much..." It's not like Setsuna to repeat herself, she's nearly babbling. She spends the intervening time split evenly between further fruitless flailing and some perfunctory stabs at preparing herself to face down the day as well as this crisis.
Meioh Tower's facade is as modern and minimalist as the interior; an oversized set of darkly-paned revolving doors grants entrance. Within Michiru is met by the tower's doorwoman, Etsuko, dressed in a smart suit and a smarter cap.
"The Tower's mistress asked that you go right on up, Kaioh-sama." Her bow is deep; no matter how many times she greets the glamorous friends of Meioh-sama, Michiru Kaioh's beauty and mystery never fail to capture her imagination. Etsuko's dreams that night, inexplicably (to her, at least), are of night-swimming, with the ocean bounding every star-touched horizon.
She's dutiful despite distraction, though, and is sure to press the button at her security console to grant Michiru elevator access to the Tower's topmost floors. The obsidian motif of the three towers echoes within the elevator, its inner walls glossy black and without handrail. The doors whisper apart at P2, just below P1.
By the time Michiru arrives, Setsuna has managed a pair of black corduroy pants and a thick woollen sweater that matches the cloudless winter sky. She stands barefoot at the elevator's exit in her apartment's antechamber, hair a touch disheveled, eyes a bit wide.
"I'm so glad you came." The immediate panic has gone out of her voice -- that's a hard state to sustain -- but the crisis is clearly not yet past. "My apologies for pulling you away from class. I just... I did not know what to do... She's, she's in here." She's apparently still rattled, by how poorly she is explaining things.
Setsuna leads the way to the bathroom wing of her spacious suite -- exactly as large as Meioh Tower is wide, taking an entire floor -- across deep wine carpets that feel like clouds underfoot, past minimalist, modern ornamentation. The bathroom itself is floored in dark matte tiling, the subtle crimson-and-grey pattern currently marred by a gross little wet pile of regurgitate.
Its point of genesis sits a meter or so away, bemused and mewling: a small grey fuzzball of a kitten, about seven weeks old and still a bit bumbly. She peers up as the two enter and emits an inquisitive little sound.
"Mii~?"
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Michiru is not at her most glamorous as she gets out of a taxi in front of Meioh Tower. She is in fact still in her pilates gear because she didn't want to take five minutes to change back out. A windbreaker and stretchy pants nonetheless sit on her quite gracefully, and her smile, of course, is winning. "I understand. Thank you for your hard work.... Etsuko."
The elevator foyer is filled with a golden and memorable light, subtle and yet soothing, for a moment.
Then Michiru gets in an elevator. As it goes up, she digs in her purse for something. Then she glances up and hangs her windbreaker up in the corner of the elevator. And as it rises upwards into the depths and heights of this glorious building:
"Neptune Planet Power--"
The door goes 'ding' and discharges Sailor Neptune, heralding a new age. Her expression is stern and concerned, and she steps in with her heels clicking once on the metal gap between elevator and carpet, and then sinking inwards. She meets Setsuna's gaze. Stepping forwards, her concern grows, and the tiling, and then:
Revealed to the gaze of Sailor Neptune...
A kitten.
There is a strong sea breeze and Michiru Kaioh is back here again in her workout clothes. Michiru decides immediately to pretend that nothing had happened, and does this by diving - metaphorically! - on the kitten. Sinking to her knees, Michiru says, "Oh - The poor thing - how did you make your way all the way up here, my poor little kitten?" The throw-up is artfully neglected as it is on tile.
"Please, don't apologize," Michiru tells Setsuna. "I'll be transferring after the spring anyway." Michiru sidles slightly, nearer to the kitten, proffering a hand. "You poor little thing. Was it the vessel for an attack? If so you contained it quite ably..."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
When Sailor Neptune makes her noble and glamorous entrance, the signature garnet color missing from Setsuna's hastily thrown together outfit makes its appearance: across her dark cheeks, a deep blush so intense it practically radiates heat. It persists all the way to the bathroom (a room so large it could contain a handful of standard Tokyo apartments) and beyond. If anything, it deepens when Michiru makes her reasonably business-oriented assumptions.
And she's not /so/ far off track. Every one of this kitten's siblings became a horrible, demonic familiar...
The questions echo off of tile and porcelain for an awkward number of seconds before Setsuna finds her voice. "She's... her name is Sheratan."
The grey-furred creature in question mewls again, this time directly at the pretty aqua-haired human kneeling before her, and toddles her way, clearly seeking attention. She doesn't seem out of sorts. But that is an awfully big pile of grossness.
"I've had her a little while now. Since Charlotte."
Setsuna sinks down beside Michiru, watching Sheratan bump up against her friend's knees. "This is the first cat I've ever cared for. Will she be all right, Michiru?"
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Michiru says nothing for exactly long enough for Setsuna to die inwardly.
"Sheratan," she says then. Extending a hand forwards, to let the kitten smell it, Michiru does not object further. She runs fingers over the kitten's oh so terribly soft fur, being silent for long seconds. Looking down with some intensity at her.
"Mm... let's see..."
Michiru turns her head away as if to consider things, artfully veiling her face. (In her free hand she has crooked her phone and she is trying to look at it, but it becomes clear to her that she is going to get no data reception. And if I ask her for her wi-fi password, she'll know, Michiru thinks. Besides which, can I really trust the internet on this matter? I should listen to her heart...)
"I've never kept a cat... but she's moving on her own, and she can see the world around her and react to it. That's an encouraging sign... Setsuna, could you tell me: Is there any sign of blood, in..." Michiru tilts her head so she doesn't have to look at the grossness, which she is now realizing has a bouquet of its own.
She's so terribly soft, Michiru thinks.
"I don't think she's in any immediate danger, at least. She doesn't seem afraid..."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
Unperturbed, Sheratan butts her downy head into Michiru's palm. Her whiskers are like tickly little feathers, bright white against the grey fur they sprout from. Her tail doesn't have its full length yet and crooks into half a question mark (all it can manage), then twitches a bit.
"O-oh." Setsuna's mouth is as round as the sound it makes. "I... checked."
How to phrase this delicately? The elegant Michiru deserves that courtesy.
"The only thing present in addition to what you might expect was a small little ball of... I do not know what. Right at the center. Hard. That is..." Setsuna halts, this time more to fight the memory of checking than any lingering embarrassment. "That is all I could manage."
Sheratan begins to thrum audibly, her little motor running at full speed. It's a tactile thing for Michiru to experience, vibrating the kitten's entire bird-framed little body.
"She does seem lively."
Setsuna feels her cheeks alight once more. Has she... "Have I dragged you out here for nothing? I am so sorry, Michiru."
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Michiru briefly curls her fingers around Sheratan's little head, wondering internally at how tiny, how precious this kitten is. She strokes along the kitten's back, before frowning thoughtfully.
Hard. Dense. Something about that is peculiar. "Did you save it?" Michiru asks, looking over towards her with a frown. "No - Don't apologize. I'm glad for the chance." Her lips quirk up into a smile. "I don't care to sweat that much, anyway."
"My dear little kitten, your engine is idling," she addresses Sheratan. "Just what have you been eating?" With this she looks back to Setsuna.
"Do you have a - " Michiru reaches inwardly for a moment, into unfamiliar vocabulary. Her free hand gestures a little bit. "A cage for her to travel in," she concludes, the concept of 'cat carrier' eluding her. But only for now.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
Gradually, gradually, Setsuna feels the hard tight knots in her hunched shoulders unwind. By slow increments she finds her way to calm, inspired by the unruffled competence of her fellow soldier. Inhaling, she holds the breath deep in her belly before releasing it, and does her best to expel anxiety with it.
"I did save it, it is all still there." A quick gesture toward the pile is eloquent enough. "If necessary, I can..." It's only a short pause; she's tough, this Guardian of Time. "...prepare it for travel. Sheratan has a small carrier, I'll fetch it."
It's in a bathroom cabinet, so quickly enough Setsuna has a plastic green hard-bodied cat carrier at hand. "We'll get her checked out, then?" This idea appeals to her. She's just too worried to let this mystery go unexamined.
"Thank you. I called the right person." She manages a small smile. "But, ah." Briefly, she considers asking Michiru not to tell Haruka, but realizes how unlikely that is, and swallows the thought. She will face her fate bravely... "Well. Let me get a container."
She does so, and tries to make the cleanup as quick as possible, putting herself between Michiru and the kitten puke -- both to shield her from the view and to hide her own expression as she tries not to add to the collection, grossed out.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Yes... The veterinarian may want to examine it," says Michiru, considering the kitten. She looks in that green carrier and thinks to herself: I would hate to be shut into something like that. "Can you please pass me that towel?"
SOON: There is an artfully folded bed inside of the carrier, with a twisting little overhang for snuggling made from the guest towel. Michiru gently places Sheratan right in the middle and closes the door before she can attempt to escape. She lets herself endure the mewing for a moment, and then raises up the carrier. It seems she will bear this burden for Setsuna, and with happiness.
"I'm glad I've been able to help you," she tells Setsuna. "Now, let's be on our way. It could be something serious, even if she's not suffering yet..."
SOON AGAIN: As the comfortable black car pulls out of the Meioh Tower parking garage, Michiru sits on the left hand side of the carrier. She has her pinky finger inside of the vents, where she had been gently stroking the kitten's ears.
Her expression becomes suddenly solemn.
"Setsuna," Michiru says, softly.
After there is acknowledgement, Michiru says quietly, "I've been bitten."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
"Mii~?" Sheratan seems more curious than put-out at her new surroundings, at least at first. That is, until she has thoroughly explored them. That doesn't take long; they're not very expansive.
Bored kittens always find a way to amuse themselves. A bit riled, Sheratan finds hers in that cherished kitten pasttime: stalking whatever wiggles.
Michiru's fingertip does nicely. Kitten teeth are sharp little needles!
Still a bit wound up herself, Setsuna's been staring out of the tinted limosine window, watching Tokyo go by at a startling clip. Etsuko takes orders to "Get there quickly!" rather seriously. She looks over at the sound of her name.
"Hm?"
She blinks.
"Oh no! Sheratan...!" Chagrin fills her voice. "She gets antsy when she's bored, you would not believe the number of times she has woken me that way. Except it is always my toes."
"Mii~!" If kittens can be indignant, this one sure is.
-=-=-=-
The animal hospital is an unremarkable sort of place, sharing in that tradition of veterinary establishments the world over: running on a shoestring budget due to their overly generous hearts. The walls have photos of furry and feathered patients, along with the occasional scaly fellow, in lieu of purchased decorations. A cheerful, if tired-seeming, old man behind the counter looks up from some paperwork as they walk in.
It takes him a moment to recover. Were those rose petals...? No... no, that's just his imagination. How stylish these two are, though, far moreso than the hospital's usual patrons.
"Hello, how can we help you and your--" He peers over the edge of the counter at the green carrier Michiru clutches. It mews at him. "--your kitten?" He addresses her rather naturally, since she's the one with the animal.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Perhaps," Michiru says, slightly ashen, "she smells what I made for lunch."
SOON
Michiru gently sets down the kitten on the counter, as if she expects Sheratan to get inspected immediately. "This is Sheratan," Michiru explains. "I'm the representative for Miss Meioh," indicating Setsuna, "who is the owner. Sheratan has been vomiting and showed digestive upset, though we aren't sure what he swallowed."
"Setsuna," this over her shoulder, quite breezily, "do you have the sample...?"
Michiru considers then. Her eyes glance to Setsuna as if to say - has she been here before? - but she also asks the receptionist gently, "And do you have a bandage...?"
She extends her elegant hand. "I may have suffered in the course of capturing our wild beast, you see." Michiru smiles, but weakly.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
Setsuna is carrying a far less cute burden, which she sets on the counter beside the green carrier. Mercifully, the plastic container (usually used for food, never again) is opaque. "It is here." She shakes her head minutely at Michiru, reading the question easily enough in her old friend's expression.
Behind round-lensed glasses whose bridge consists of tape, the old man's eyes take on a similar roundess, growing more owlish by the second. Michiru's elegant bearing and mannerly approach far surpass anything he's ever experienced in this humble animal hospital, with its shiny-from-years-of-being-buffed-within-an-inch-of-its-life linoleum and mismatched second-hand chairs. His jaw actually physically drops a little, only to be remembered and snapped shut in a self-conscious reaction when the lovely lady before him asks for a bandage.
"Of-of course we do, miss." He ignores Setsuna's tub of grossness in favor of tending to the dainty hand before him, and rummages beneath the counter, emerging soon enough with a box of band-aids.
They're bright blue and printed with cheerful puppies and kitties.
Setsuna isn't the only person to blush today. But he soldiers onward. "Here you go, miss." He tugs the box open and offers its bounty to her with dignity, as if they are fine linen wraps.
"Mii... mii~!" The cat carrier rattles a bit on the counter, and Setsuna dips down to put her face to its opening.
"Shhh, soon, little star." She wisely opts to keep her fingers to herself.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Thank you very much," Michiru says with a genuine if soft smile.
She considers, but... he seems a little flustered, and they need him to be alert, Michiru thinks. "Setsuna, could you...?" She slides the bandage over and extends her finger out for bandaging. It's hard to do this yourself.
"Miss Meioh adopted Sheratan from work," she explains to the older man in a casual style - resisting, if anything, the urge to lean an elbow against the counter. "So I suppose this will be her first time here. Is there paperwork we'll need to fill out...? I have my stamp if we're in a hurry. I don't mind taking responsibility for such a darling for a moment."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
He whisks the plastic container away and out of sight. "I'll get this to the veterinarian."
Ah, good, something she can do. "Of course." Setsuna takes up the bright little bandage and peels away its backings. With care and warm fingertips, she presses one adhesive end to the outside of Michiru's finger and then wraps it around, placing the cushioned bit directly over the little red puncture marks. "There." It's snug, but won't cut off circulation. As it turns out, skill at binding one's own wounds mid-battle extends to the application of band-aids, too.
"Mii~."
The receptionist listens, attentive, and grabs a clipboard from a stack, already loaded with forms. "Yes, yes, I have it here. We'll get you right back, let me just..." He whips out a yellow highlighter, its tip frayed from use, and scribbles over a few key sections. "All we need are these. The rest can wait until you're done. I would not keep either of you, surely you have important things to do today..."
"Miiiiii~." She's getting plaintive.
"Is Sheratan getting worse?" Setsuna is visibly fretting, now. "May we see the veterinarian?" She grabs up the clipboard and starts ticking boxes, or tries. The tethered pen doesn't work. After digging a few hopeful furrows into the paper, she grabs another and gets to work.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Michiru flexes her finger a little bit and looks at it thoughtfully. Fortunately, she was bit on her bowing hand, or at least her usual bowing hand, so it won't be a big bother for the day or two. She had no recitals scheduled, anyway.
"Oh, I'm glad to be here, honestly," Michiru tells the receptionist. "Honestly, it's a nice Change Of Pace." That was a gratuitous English phrase. You're welcome.
After this the papers are handed over and Setsuna, after some struggles, begins filling in the key information. Michiru remains on hand, nearby and looking into the carrier, studying Sheratan.
"... I don't know if she is getting worse... She does seem... frightened, perhaps? I imagine she would rather be at home in your lovely house and relaxing in a sunbeam," Michiru says, aiming to conclude on an upnote. She has, after all, mostly a vague empathic feeling from the cat.
I do hope you'll be fine, you fuzzball, Michiru thinks, fondly. It would hurt her now, if you weren't.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (U)] has posed.
Setsuna tears through the paperwork with all the speed of a university student faced with final exams, and possibly twice as much nervous energy. The clipboard clatters to the counter once she's done, right as the receptionist returns from delivering his repulsive burden around the corner. The whole time, Sheratan presses her pink little nose out between the criss-crossed metal bars of the carrier door, intent on Michiru. "Mii~." What a dejected little meow that was.
"She's ready to see you, misses. Just down that hall, first door on your left." It's right where he says, with a big iguana poster stretching nearly the full height of the door.
-=-=-=-
It's a quick visit, both mercifully (for the implications on Sheratan's health) and unmercifully (for the subsequent ones on Setsuna's panicked response). The veterinarian is a kind woman, a few grey hairs just showing at the edges of a sloppy black bun, who has all the patience in the world for two worried young women and the adorable grey kitten they've brought. She kindly educates them on hairballs and when it is appropriate to worry.
In fact, she's /so/ nice she doesn't even pull out that little tupperware of horror for a demonstration.
Sheratan earns full marks for weight and attitude, receives her first set of vaccinations, and comes away with a brand new pet license. Setsuna gets to reposition her heart where it belongs from its temporary residence in her throat.
-=-=-=-
"I named her for a binary star, in the Ares constellation. It's one of the Ram's horns." The limo ride back is much more relaxed, and the topic of conversation sleeps off a stressful visit to the doctor in her carrier. "She's tough, survived what her brothers and sisters did not and came up swinging. It seemed right."
Setsuna smiles over at Michiru, also a bit worn out, too much so to maintain her embarrassment. "Thank you, my friend. I do not know what I would have done without your cool head, in the absence of my own."
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Kaioh [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"I'd feed you but that may be what got you in trouble in the first place," Michiru tells Sheratan, but also adds, "You'll have to wait until later for petting."
Michiru slides in and stays alongside Setsuna even as the education comes. "Oh, really - from the action of the tongue?" Michiru asks, but then she smiles as there's assessment of the kitten as being of the topmost class. "As I expected from Miss Meioh," Michiru concurs.
And then on the way back, things are much easier. Michiru tosses back her hair and lets herself slouch.
"It's a noble name," Michiru agrees. "Though I did wonder for a moment if you'd just named her 'Shera'!" And with that moment of mirth done, she demurs slightly, eyes going down to her knees. "It wasn't any trouble. I'm only pleased it was something that was so simple to do to help."
"If only all of our problems were as simple as you, my little kitten," Michiru addresses Sheratan.
