2014-08-10 - Comforter
| Title: Comforter | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Follows 2014-08-09 - Withstand. Makoto drags herself back to Usagi's house after the altercation with Nephrite, and the two girls just kind of... take a moment. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Usagi's room, the Tsukino house. | |
| OOC - IC Date: 23 February 2014 - 8/10/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
It's late. Maybe Usagi is asleep. She has to sleep sometime, right? She can't run on totally zero sleep. Then again, maybe she really does do all her sleeping in other places. How many times has she been caught taking an after-school nap in Sailor Soldier HQ?
(a lot.)
The light in her room is out. That's promising, but not too promising. The window is unlocked.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The strange thing is that by the time Makoto has made it back to the Tsukinos' house, she doesn't really even feel all that upset. She's pretty sure she should. She should be furious that Nephrite, the same Dark General who's already hurt two of her friends, has invaded her apartment to attack her in her own home. Mostly, though, she feels tired. A little bewildered. A little sad.
Getting back up to Usagi's window is an uncomfortable experience - she aches where Nephrite hit her and in several spots where she hit him, although Mamoru insisted on healing her enough that she can at least move freely. She left him passed out soundly on her sofa, not sure if it's the wisest thing to do under the circumstances but unable to come up with a single better option.
In a tiny treacherous place in the back of her heart, Makoto is kind of hoping - as she hauls her sore and tired body in through the window into her friend's room, as quietly as she can manage - that Usagi might actually be asleep.
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
One of the strangest things about Usagi is that her room is clean. Like, really clean. Everything is put away in exactly the right spot. As messy as things can get while she is in the process of some activity, Usagi proved to be somewhat inflexible on allowing a mess to persist--in her room, anyway.
Her window faces the street and the city. There's always a fair amount of light coming in, even when it's dark. It softens the pinks and whites and casts the world in blues and blacks. There are still bunnies.
Makoto has time to set foot into the room and look around. An Usagi-shaped lump is in bed. A second after this is confirmed, the lump transforms into Actual Usagi by sitting up.
"Mako-chan?"
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"Usagi-chan." Despite Makoto's faint hope, it's not really surprising to find her friend still awake. Mako finds that she can smile as she closes the window behind her. "I'm back," she says, voice soft in the darkened room. "Sorry it took so long."
She takes a few steps across the room, and then Mako just kind of sinks down to sit on the floor, tucking her legs up underneath her. The floor's good enough for the moment. She draws in a long, slow breath, lets it out again.
It's been a heck of an evening.
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Usagi is motionless on the bed for a long, silent moment. Makoto has time to fall and sigh and sit alone in the darkness. The house is very quiet. Even then, it's difficult to hear Usagi sneaking up.
The blonde girl drapes her blanket over Makoto's shoulders, then steps around and slides up underneath them herself. She sits alongside the other girl, both of them wrapped in the pink bunny-and-moon comforter that got a little too real when all this magical business started.
"It's okay," Usagi says, her voice small and faint.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"...Yeah." It's okay.
She's grateful for the warmth of the comforter, and for Usagi's presence beside her. Makoto almost seems to deflate a bit, settling down a little more to lean against her friend. She stays like this for a while, not saying anything more yet, just taking reassurance in having her friend next to her in this little oasis of warmth and quiet.
(The princess of Jupiter wept on Serenity's shoulder, silently grieving for the love that had bloomed in her heart, for all the things that might have been.)
"Nephrite showed up," Mako says at last, speaking quietly for Usagi alone to hear. "It's okay, though. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any idea that either one of us have anything to do with the Sailor Senshi or Tuxedo Mask."
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Usagi makes a "nnf!" sound, leaning in to brace herself against Makoto. She valiantly holds the taller girl up, wrapping her arms around her for balance. She is the strongest bunny in the world.
Long ago,
Serenity sat still and motionless. She could remain like that for hours or perhaps forever, unbreathing and unmoving, a perfect statue of a girl. Her inhuman, crystal-bright eyes caught the light. A change in how they shone was the only hint that something caught her attention.
The princess among princesses reached up, and a moon-pale finger brushed Jupiter's cheek. It was the sadness that she saw.
"Tears?" she murmured with honest confusion. She did not know how to lie. "I thought only the Earth people wept."
A fairy of the Eternity Main System flit over. It chimed, its holographic shell brightening as the system focused more attention.
"Jupiter," Princess Serenity said, and then stopped. Alarm had already taken hold of her heart. Her voice became halting. "Are you sad?"
"Luna," the fairy chimed. More fairies fluttered in, swirling around the two. They saw every angle. Serenity did not mind them. They always watched her, save when she was on Earth. Others picked up the word. "Luna. Luna. Luna."
Another fairy grew bright and zipped out the door and down the hall.
"Why are you sad?!"
Now,
"Luna's gonna be mad," Usagi laments. The same tone and sentence has been used with Haruna-sensei's name. "I think she had an argument with Mamoru-san about something like this." She bites her lip, chewing for a tense second.
"This is getting kind of serious, isn't it. It used to be something we could forget about during the day. Still..."
She squeezes Makoto's arm. "I feel like... maybe we can handle it now."
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Poor Luna. They certainly don't make things easy on their space cat, do they? "Mamoru-san mentioned something about that too," she murmurs, her tone contrite. "I'll have to say sorry to Luna. I think this time was probably my fault."
Makoto is quiet for a moment, almost meditative. Then Usagi squeezes her arm, and Mako finds herself smiling a little, shifting her position a little so that her friend isn't having to bear up quite so much of her weight. She should be more afraid, after what just happened... but when Usagi says it like that, it sounds like something true.
She wants it to be true.
"I think you're right," she says. "We should be careful for a while... Nephrite left, but he might come back again."
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"If he does, we'll beat him up! Creepy dudes shouldn't menace cute girls in their own homes! OR EVER."
The door cracks open. A dark shape peeks in. Luna.
Long ago,
"Princess Jupiter," a voice called. Luna stood in the archway, dressed in white. Her hands were folded behind her back. Even in a human shape, her eyes were strangely keen. "Would you help me with something for a moment?"
Princess Serenity turned with urgency beyond the situation, her voice strained with emotion. "Luna, Jupiter is--"
"Alright," Luna interrupted. "Everything is alright."
Now,
"Go to bed, girls," Luna says. "You have school tomorrow. You'll have extra time to talk while you walk there."
"Hey, that's right," Usagi beams. "C'mon, Mako-chan. We'll share the bed."
Luna turns her gaze to Makoto. She watches for a moment, and then looks away. She shuts the door behind her.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"Okay," Makoto says, and carefully begins to disentangle herself from Usagi's comforter so that she can get back up onto her feet. She doesn't look at Luna, so she doesn't see the way the cat's eyes stay on her for that moment before Luna leaves the room.
She changes into her pajamas, and then Makoto climbs into the bed next to Usagi, snuggling down into the covers and trying to find a comfortable way to lie that won't remind her of her sore stomach. She's taken her hair out of its usual ponytail and it falls all around her face, spreading over the pillow.
"Good night, Usagi-chan," she whispers. "Sleep well, okay?" A momentary pause, then: "...thank you."
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Usagi's already in her pajamas. She's very good at sleeping. She does have to take her own hair out of her ponytails, though, and that takes a little time. Before she goes to bed, she latches her window shut. The night is outside.
"I'll sleep well if you do, Mako-chan," Usagi whispers back. She snuggles in.
The blonde girl doesn't answer. She's already asleep, curled up next to Makoto, vulnerable but safe.
