2014-09-08 - Not Regular Visiting Hours
| Title: Not Regular Visiting Hours | |
|---|---|
| Summary: In the wake of the karaoke lounge battle, Tuxedo Mask - or Mamoru Chiba - goes to check on its main victim. Unfortunately, she's a bit full of guilt over what had happened in the previous week... | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Mitakihara General Hospital | |
| OOC - IC Date: 11 March 2014 (very AM) - 09/08/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
It's later that night, after Sailor Moon and Mio Kuroki took Mai to the hospital, and after the remaining heroines trashed the crap out of the youma and put some serious hurt on Nephrite, and, in fact, well after visiting hours and after other people have gone back to their various homes. The moon's high in the sky, framed in the hospital window.
Actually it's probably about three in the morning, and Mai's room's a respectable number of floors above ground level.
In silhouette, a dark figure on the window ledge crouches, peering in for a second before tapping on the glass.
<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
It's a private room - a small one, perhaps, but the hospital does offer some privacy. Having been checked in earlier that evening, Mai doesn't have much in the way of personal effects here yet. There's a phone on a side table, and that's about it.
She's been sleeping fitfully at best. Even discounting the energy drain itself - mostly reversed by the youma's defeat - the immediate concern was exhaustion. The week leading up to this pinnacle was not one she'd taken in any moderation whatsoever, and she had surpassed even her normal burnout.
But between the unfamiliar bed, lingering complications from having been a victim of a demonic possession, and her own uncertain thoughts - sleep comes in fleeting stints at best. The light rap on the window is enough to wake her, and she stirs enough to sit up halfway. Who could be there?...she doesn't call out.
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Who could possibly be framed by moonlight and wearing a cape in Mai's window? The hat would be the giveaway, but it's not there. There's the sound of the window unlatching -- isn't the latch on the inside? wait, Arsene Lupin, right -- and the window swings open just wide enough to let a lanky youth in a white tie and tails, trailing the voluminous silk of his cape, pour into the room.
Tuxedo Kamen straightens up, and with the light of the silvery moon at his back, only the bright whites of his ensemble are really distinguishable. The mask, the gloves, the shirt front. He's as still as a statue for a half-second, and then he takes a step further in, and his voice is much smaller than his appearance.
"Mai-chan?" he starts uncertainly.
<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
...it's him. Sleep is banished utterly by the worried thoughts that have been running through her head. If she could just write off the last week as a blur, it might be easier, but...some things she can't forget.
"Ch- Kamen-san." She corrects herself, respecting the suit. Her voice is weak and hoarse - partly the exhaustion, partly strain from singing for a week straight. While she was under the influence, enthusiasm and a touch of magic covered up - but now she's paying the piper. "It's a bit late for a visit - what time is it, anyway?"
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Kamen-san. Despite his own worry, the corner of the masked teenager's mouth crooks upward for a half second. "Three-ish," he answers, taking off the mask and letting the henshin dissolve back into his school uniform. That first uncertainty was the only one: without hesitation, he wanders over to the hospital bed and sits on the edge of it. "I'm not visiting, anyway, I'm checking up on you. Let me take enough of the edge off so you can sleep, ne?"
Ungloved hand, extended; no recrimination in his face. "By the way, you missed Nephrite singing Les Mis. I wish I'd had my phone."
<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mai's hands grip the edge of the blanket. Three AM - she's tired, but unable to sleep, and she can't hide her weariness. Though frankly, the fact that she's in a hospital gown would be a clue to it regardless. She looks down at her lap, and even the mental image of a dark general singing something from a musical doesn't bring a smile to her face.
"...don't. Not tonight. I'm...apparently, I'm in need of rest more than anything. And..." She doesn't reach out for the hand - if anything, she cringes from it a bit. Finally, she looks up, hands tightening into fists full of the light blanket. "...I'm honestly surprised you're still willing to get this close to me, Chiba-san."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
The confusion on Mamoru's face at the 'don't' is writ large, but Mai's not looking at him, and he doesn't ask. He doesn't withdraw his hand, either, though-- whether he doesn't understand or is patiently disregarding what he considers illogical doesn't really matter. By the time Mai looks up again, his expression's a little indignant.
Indignant?!
"I'm sorry," he huffs slightly, "but what do you take me for? I told you there was something wrong with you. The same violent jerkass that messed with Rune-chan and has been harassing Jupiter messed with /you/." That long-fingered hand turns over further, splaying a little, insistent. "You DO need rest. But you need to be able to. I can help. Let me. If you still feel guilty over this once you've slept some, I guess we can talk about it, but I'm fine."
<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Fine? Even through the exhaustion, she musters the energy to meet Mamoru's gaze directly. "You guess? It- I attacked you, Chiba-san. Said horrible things I half-remember, and-" She breaks off, looking away and tugging at her blanket - for all that it's weighed down by the one sitting on the bed. "Even if I was being controlled, you can't seriously not be bothered by..."
She trails off into silence for a moment, looking out the open window at the night sky. "...so, Nephrite again?"
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mamoru sighs a little through his teeth, his patience trickling away a little at a time. It's only an echo of the same mood he was in when the two of them discussed what Rune had said to Mai and Mikoto under Nephrite's influence. She'd hurt him then, too, and he was also impatient with that.
But he lets her trail off, look away, change the subject. "Yeah. We yelled at him and he got a good kicking, but-- I think we actually made him think. And I think more things are falling into place, too..."
It's Mamoru's turn to trail off, but when he does it, he relents and gets off the edge of the bed so Mai can tug her blankets around her. Then he stands there, hands hooked in his pockets, also regarding the night sky. He's quiet. And then his voice is quieter, too, as he glances back toward Mai. "He plays with emotions, and he twists things that people love with their whole hearts. He took away your self-control, and that's unforgivable. You being targeted is not your fault. You being used is not your fault. You're--"
He lets out a small, tired chuff of a laugh and glances away again. "You're my friend, Mai, and he took away your control of yourself. That's the worst thing. I want you to heal. I want you to be yourself, I want you to be okay."
Then he turns full to face her, and he's a breath away from laughing; his exasperation's the clearest thing. "Anyway, if you're intent on wallowing instead of accepting a hand, I'll leave you to it and be back tomorrow. I need sleep too."
<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
...a good kicking sounds nowhere near sufficient. Mai doesn't interrupt, just thinks to herself. After all of this...the next time she sees that particular villain, she's not going to hold back. She does, however turn to look at Mamoru as he glances to her, and makes his absolving speech. Keeps that gaze locked on him, until he turns to face her again.
"...thank you, Chiba-san. I..." She laughs, just a little bit. "Trust me, I have no intention of forgiving Nephrite. Just...I really am sorry for what happened - what the out-of-control me did to you. What I did to a good friend. We'll save talking about it for another day, though, when you've actually slept."
She is absolutely intent on wallowing for now.
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Fair enough," says the tall boy with a lopsided smile, still looking back at the exhausted girl in the hospital bed. He turns and heads for the window again, and pauses with his hand on the frame. "Do you know what she said?"
He hauls himself up, still in his school uniform, and steps just out onto the ledge; he pulls the window mostly closed, but leaves it open enough to let the sweeter outside air mix with the antiseptic hospital atmosphere.
"She said she'd punish him in the name of Mai-chan."
Mamoru steps off the ledge, and a starry black cloud of cape unfurls in Tuxedo Kamen's wake.
<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
As a billowing cape marks the passing of a masked vigilante, Mai is left staring at the space left now vacant. There's only one 'she' that he'd be talking about - meaning that a certain sailor-suited heroine had to have been present for whatever monster had been controlling her.
Sailor Moon fought to help - or avenge - Mai Tokiha.
Mai lies back down, blankets pulled up, and closes her eyes seeking a slumber that will not come easily tonight.
