117/Home Invasion

Home Invasion
Date of Scene:	01 July 2015
Location:	UEarth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Storm Knight appears at Mamoru's apartment to question him! And then Sailor Mars appears to basically do the same! Will this devolve into a fight, or will reason win the day?! Find out... somewhere in the log!
Cast of Characters:	Suzuki Natsume, Mamoru Chiba, Rei Hino

---

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     There are times in your life where you do things that you would never, ever do normally! For most people, it doesn't involve anything even remotely illegal and just something like 'eating something they absolutely abhor' or 'get into a situation you would never get into normally'. For Storm Knight, and by extension, Suzuki Natsume... this was definitely illegal.

     After thoroughly researching and narrowing down potential locations where a 'Mamoru Chiba' of roughly the right age lived, quite possibly without family... she managed to find an apartment that she THOUGHT was Mamoru Chiba's. While there was some sense of accomplishment in managing to do this, there was another sense that she was feeling.

        Just a little extremely creeped out at herself.

     Seriously, she was basically STALKING Mamoru right now, and that wasn't a good thing! Still. She rationalized, this was for the greater good. Mamoru is more likely to tell the Storm Knight than Suzuki Natsume if there was some sort of monster that did something to him. She hoped. As such, Storm Knight was now on a rooftop with a decent viewpoint of Mamoru's apartment. And she had a pair of binoculars, where she was sitting and silently doing her best to get a glimpse of Mamoru to confirm that he was, in fact there! ... After she confirms that, or after it proves unlikely to be able to confirm it... she began to approach, taking large leaps and making sure to land on a rooftop that WASN'T directly above Mamoru's. ... She'd put way too much thought into this. She felt like she might be a burgurlar.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru Chiba's home:

The penthouse apartment in a luxury complex: it's such a spacious place, airy and spotless, and the sun streams in through the tall picture windows and the wide doors to the balcony, during the day; at night it's the moonlight and the stars, or the city lights. The view of the city is breathtaking. The inside of the flat looks like a picture from a magazine, almost like no one actually lives there--

--only, there are roses growing in a planter by the balcony, inside for the winter; there are bookshelves upon bookshelves; there's homework spread out all over a table with his laptop; there's a sports bag full of kendo stuff near the door; there's a telescope set up by the balcony. Still and all, the biggest impression it'd give to anyone seeing it for the first time would be one of emptiness.

The kitchen is warmer, more lived-in. It's painted in sunny summer colors, as opposed to the cool blues and whites and light greys of the living room, and it looks like it sees daily use. It's only almost spotless, and it has many things that belong in kitchens-- they may be painstakingly organized to the point of the spices in the spice rack having all the labels aligned to face exactly the same way, but not everything's full, and the refrigerator does have notes on it, and the magnets are nerdy where they're not plain.

The notes are boring. The calendar has the dates of tests and exams and club meetings and study groups on it, and interesting meteorological events are circled in red. No matter how he presents himself in public or in private, his living space tells as much about him as anyone's.

-----

Inside, right now, the lights are out. The lights are out and the telescope's set up on the balcony, and Mamoru comes outside with a thermos of tea, setting it on the table nearby. He leans in to the telescope and starts panning it, then stops, and starts fiddling with the foci. There is, after all, a planetary conjunction tonight.

He's moving better than he was the day of the fateful study session; almost completely recovered, which is probably odd in and of itself. His body language, however, is tired and clearly drained.

When there's that thump, he tenses and listens hard, visibly going back to messing with the telescope, but extending his awareness in other ways. It could be one of the Senshi come to kill him after all, which... well... Nephrite and stars, man, telescopes, ugh. At least if he dies tonight, he had a pretty good afternoon.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Well, you could possibly consider Storm Knight a 'senshi' in that she's a warrior, but she's definitely not one of the sailor senshi, and she's definitely not there to hurt Mamoru Chiba! Storm Knight carefully began to creep towards the edge of the rooftop, bridging the small gap between buildings with a much smaller -- and quieter -- hop. Storm Knight's heart was pounding right now, and not from the exertion! She was doing something illegal. Something that could even be illegal. She carefully creeps towards the edge of the building to peek over to where Mamoru was. Okay, there he is.

     She carefully lowers herself over the edge, her clothing rustling a bit -- before she lets herself drop and land behind Mamoru, her Naginata briefly loosing from her grip -- it ALMOST gets dropped. Truly, she is the best at stealth! "..." She clears her throat softly, before speaking up. "...Mamoru Chiba, I have heard that something strange happened to you and you have been avoiding touch. I am here to ... uhm, well. ... Make sure that you're alright? Have any strange things happened to you? Did some sort of 'weird event' happen that made it so that something happens when you touch someone?" Storm Knight asks, honestly and to the point. Her Naginata is also carefully leaned against her shoulder in a non-aggressive stance.

    Just because she was stalking Mamoru doesn't mean she had to make an enemy of him.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He tenses further at the rustling: there's magic behind him and it belongs to someone who's terrible at ninja. He starts running down the list of who it could be: most likely bets are Jupiter or Mars, since he's pretty sure Moon and Mercury are unlikely to believe the story. So, wonderful, dodging fire or dodging lightning, without henshining, and probably losing his telescope in the process. And on Usagi's birthday! Doesn't the world know it should stop--?

Mamoru's getting ready to jump the hell away the second he hears a voice, because thank god they call out their attacks, but... there's a distinct double clank first. THE WORST ninja. He spins on his heel, curiosity trumping the flight reflex, and his stance is only mildly defensive after all. "Wh--"

And it's Storm Knight. And she's asking about what happened at study group. And her idea of what might have happened, oh man.

All of a sudden, the stupidly rich teenager relaxes, letting out a sort of gallows laugh. "No, it's just me. Would you like some tea? It's jasmine."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Oh crap Mamoru was tensing. Was he going to try to attack her? She wasn't sure he could stop him effectively without hurting him like this! And he's taller than her! And ... there was a balcony behind him! Still, when Mamoru relaxes, Storm Knight lets out a quiet sigh that she hadn't realized she was holding in. "...For a moment there I thought you were going to jump." Storm Knight says, cafeully lowering Verdrehen Sturm. "...Verdrehen Sturm." She murmurs towards it, and it begins to shrink down, until it was back at good luck charm size, and hanging around her neck from a small chain.

     And Mamoru was offering tea. "Ah? ... Sure, I suppose." Storm Knight says softly, rubbing at the back of her head. "That... that doesn't answer my question though. You've been avoiding touching people directly, and ... oh dammit I'm terrible at lying and I don't think you're an enemy anyway. You and Hannah both acted weird after you touched each other directly, it seemed like it drained her or something." Storm Knight says, shaking her head a bit. "Are you okay? Is there anything I can help with? I was worried that there might be some sort of monster's spell or something over you." She says, stepping towards the balcony's edge to lean against it slightly as she looks towards Mamoru. Of course, this leaves a perfect chance for someone to possibly see them for rumor mongering.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No, I just don't-- like it, Natsume-san," Mamoru says kind of lamely, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head as he moves away from the railing, then goes to pick up the tea thermos. "It has nothing to do with my injuries or any attack. And Sharpe-san is all right now, we talked the next day."

He pulls the lid off the thermos and pours the cup he'd brought outside, then fills the lid as well. Finally, he comes back and leans on the railing next to Suzuki, offering her the cup.

He also apparently doesn't seem to think it's particularly odd that his study group partner is a magical girl.

"She wasn't drained," he finally says. "And there's no monster, there's nothing like that. It's just always been me. Something's always been strange. Please don't tell anyone about it? I don't want the attention."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "...I can honestly say that I don't buy that, Chiba-san." Storm Knight responds simply, shaking her head a bit. "If it had been just /you/ that reacted that way, I could buy it, but Hannah went from being chipper and cheerful to suddenly almost passing out and having to go to bed." She slowly shakes her head, a hand lifting to brush a stray few strands of hair out of her face.

     When the cup is offered, Storm Knight reaches to take it, lifting the cup to her lips to sip at it lightly, her eyes half-lidding as she thinks on things. Hmm. "Your reaction is also very mild considering how I practically just ousted myself."

     And then he adds the bit about her not being drained, and that there's no monster. Storm Knight frowns slightly as she looks towards Mamoru. He had never come off as being some sort of monster, a bit quiet, but not evil. "... If there's any way I can help, I would like to. I understand not wanting the attention though. I didn't tell you about myself for similar reasons. My only two friends thinking I was weird or ... worse." She rubs the back of her head, falling silent after that and just sipping at the tea.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I appreciate that, Natsume-san," Mamoru says, smiling a little into his tea as he leans against the railing next to her. "There's really nothing to do to help; I just don't touch people if I can help it. That keeps it under control for the most part-- and there's nothing to fix, since it's part of me."

He's silent for a moment, looking at the shadows on the balcony cast by moonlight. "And don't worry about me telling your secrets. I keep a lot of them."

Then he looks up at her and his smile goes lopsided. "Everyone has secrets. Even me."

Rei Hino has posed:
Rei spent the rest of the evening torn. She really wanted to be there for Usagi's birthday. As much as the irresponsible, immature bunny got on her nerves, she would be a bold-faced liar to say that Usagi's feelings weren't important to her. That's why she tolerated the presence of Mamoru Chiba and stayed with Usagi, even walking her home to make sure nothing untoward happened to her.

Yet, it was her concern that was forcing her attention on Mamoru Chiba. The thought of that disgusting Nephrite romancing her, using her and then breaking her heart, throwing her aside whenever he was done... she couldn't stand it. She couldn't /tolerate/ it! She wouldn't! She didn't have to.

That's why, shortly after saying goodbye to Usagi Tsukino, she henshined and started heading for Mamoru Chiba's apartment.

Sailor Mars arrives at just the worst time, suddenly appearing on the balcony, standing on the rail, having leapt up from god-knows-how-far-below. The moonlight shines behind her, casting her face in shadow.

"You're not so good at keeping your secrets, Chiba-san."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "... It might not be best to call me by my name while I'm like this. I don't know how far our voices might carry." Storm Knight responds, "... Still, if you're sure... I hope that it can be actually solved in some manner sometime." Storm Knight adds, smiling very slightly as she finishes off her tea. She had just begun to debate possibly leaving, because really, she'd already done enough home invasion for one night!

     "...I'm not too worried about you keeping my secret, Verdrehen Sturm is always with me, and my parents aren't particularly likely to be ... targetted." She says softly. And then, well. There was someone standing on the rail. Storm Knight immediately turns, her hand lifting to her device, "Verdrehen Sturm!"

                <JAWOHL!>

     Suddenly, Verdrehen Sturm was a full-sized naginata once more, instead of a tiny charm on a necklace. The naginata is lifted into a defensive stance -- before Storm Knight hesitates, her gaze shifting up towards Sailor Mars. "... You're like Sailor Moon. What are you doing here? Chiba-san is not a monster." Storm Knight says, keeping her naginata up... but she was at a disadvantage. For multiple reasons. For one, her Naginata was long, and they were on a balcony. Two, she didnt' REALLY want to fight Sailor Mars. It would be too easy for one, both, or all three of them to get hurt by going over the railing. And that would just be bad.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Ah, sorry--" Mamoru begins, startled and quick, abashed: of course he shouldn't call her that. She said who she was when she arrived, didn't she? He can't quite recall, but he DOES know she's Storm Knight--

--and then there's a long-legged girl in terrifying heels and a serafuku calling him out on his own damn balcony. Mamoru very nearly spills his tea, but doesn't quite; he turns and backs away swiftly, blue eyes wide and face stark in the moonlight. "Shimatta!" He's not even supposed to know who the Senshi are, if he's normal, right? (He's not supposed to be having cute rumour-apparent romantic heart-to-hearts with beautiful silver-haired Belkan knights in the middle of the night, either!) His mind is spinning fruitlessly for a second, and suddenly the clutch engages.

"I'm better at keeping them than you think, Sailor Mars," he mutters sourly, dragging his hand down his face and putting his thermos-lid cup down on the table. "Look, do you want tea, too? It's jasmine. I just need another cup. I feel like this can be a civilized conversation if we have tea."

Rei Hino has posed:
"Oh he's not?" says Sailor Mars to Storm Knight. "Well, I hope you're right, for /his/ sake..."

Her steely gaze stays locked onto Mamoru Chiba, even as she hops down from the balcony railing. She takes one slow step, then another, towards him, before raising a pointed finger.

"... because I could never sit by and watch while a /monster/ exploits the hearts of innocent girls for his own selfish ends!"

A fist moves to her hips, and she leans foward, standing on her toes to approach Mamoru's height, other hand sticking a pointed finger in Mamoru's face. She's about to give a stern lecture, but the offer of tea unbalances her. She literally doesn't know how to respond to that.

"U-um... well-" Wait, this is evil Dark Kingdom tea, isn't it?! Nope nope nope nope nope.

"Sorry, Chiba-san, but I'm afraid I can't accept your hospitality."

As tense as she is, she doesn't seem to be immediately attacking. There is still some lingering doubt in her mind.

"... especially since you know me by name. Sorry, but that more or less confirms that you're involved. If that wasn't enough, seeing her..." Mars gestures towards Storm Knight. "... is another nail in that particular coffin."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Storm Knight would explain that it's alright, that Mamoru probably hadn't intended to cause any issues and it's not like JUST her last name was enough to completely out her! Most likely. She shifts her naginata carefully, the blade kept turned to the side -- it was obvious she didn't intend to attack with lethal force even if she did fight Sailor Mars.

     The mention of tea gets a very slight faltering, the naginata lowering slightly. "...A civilized conversation is probably for the best." Storm Knight says, before taking a slow breath. She lowers the naginata, the blade of it beginning to point down towards the ground.Her gaze shifts up towards Mars quietly.

     "...Sailor Mars. I'm assuming that's your name, my presence is coincidental beyond that I was a concerned friend of his." She says carefully, her gaze shifting up to attempt to meet Sailor Mars', staring straight up at her face. "The nail is because I thought he was a victim of one of the monsters due to how he was acting the other day." She thinks a few moments, before adding, "I sincerely doubt he's a monster that exploits the hearts of innocent girls though. He's too quiet and awkward for that, when I've interacted with him." She glances back towards Mamoru. "...I don't believe he's once even remotely tried to exploit my heart." She says, giving a very slight smile, though she was very carefully making sure that she was between Mamoru and Sailor Mars. Defending Mamoru was currently her highest priority. She's a knight. Go figure.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Instead of backstepping even further ON HIS OWN BALCONY, Mamoru Chiba only leans a little bit further back, eyeing Sailor Mars as she gets up on her toes to get in his face. And then waffles because tea. He allows himself the slightest spark of self-satisfaction that he managed, however briefly, to unbalance him, and then makes a face when she declines his hospitality.

She probably thinks his tea is evil or something. The face is a cross between exasperated and put out. "Fine," he says crankily, then moves to step past Mars to collect his own cup from the table. "I hope you don't mind if I keep drinking mine."

Storm Knight steps between them and pipes up before he can address the unsmokeable coffin nails Sailor Mars just pointed out, and he turns to give her an incredulous and faintly offended look, even if he can't argue it. That in and of itself, given Nephrite's general pomposity and quickness to rage, is probably enough to sow more doubt. God forbid anyone calls Nephrite awkward.

Mamoru, on the other hand, sighs through his teeth and closes his eyes, holding his tea in both hands and soaking the warmth into his fingers. "You can also ask basically anyone in Infinity. I don't date. I'm not a monster. I am involved, but I'm not like you. I've got my own set of problems, and I'll thank you not to pry. The only character reference I can give you, for GODSAKE, without telling anyone ELSE's secrets, is that I'm doing some things for Sailor V."

Rei Hino has posed:
Sailor Mars finally draws her attention away from Mamoru and over to Storm. Huh? This girl was actually defending him? I mean, sure, she could be just another DARK KINGDOM PAWN, but she doesn't really look like a youma, she doesn't spiritually /feel/ like one, and she's... way too sincere.

Yet, while she respects the convictions of the knight before her, Mars's fire isn't so easily quenched. She listens, but believing is another matter.

"... and you don't think his awkwardness could just be an elaborate ruse? The worst kinds of men always appear the most innocent."

Mars glances at the naginata, then back up to Storm. "I'm not going to set the apartment on fire. Not with so many people around..." Mars glances over to Chiba, "... but regardless of what you say, I don't trust him."

Mamoru offers an explaination, and Mars's response is a mix between a scoff and an laughter. "Sailor V, huh? So what, you mean like the police? You don't really look like a cop to me. Did you think a namedrop would convince me?" Mars shakes her head firmly, crossing her arms. "Not buying it. Not buying it at all." She leans against the railing, politeness demanding that she not intrude into his house, in case he really isn't as bad as she thinks.

"Just know that I'm watching you, Chiba-san. If that girl you were flirting with today ends up with a broken heart, I'll /know/ it was you."

She points to her eyes and firmly points at Chiba-san.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Storm Knight gives a very slight apologetic look towards Chiba. "...Awkward was perhaps the wrong choice of word." She adds with a sheepish look. "Still, definitely not the sort to date around and take advantage of people." Storm Knight says, giving a slow nod to herself. There was, perhaps, a small part of her that was slightly sad about that comment about how he doesn't date.

    She was a young woman, and he was reasonably attractive and while he liked to tease, it seemed largely good-natured. Also he was probably the first guy she'd ever interacted with more than briefly. She didn't let that show outwardly at all, though! Still, the explanation that he does things for Sailor V... that was hopefully enough to make Sailor Mars back off and not threaten Mamoru anymore! She hoped at any rate!

    Said Naginata is aimed down towards the ground still. Storm was not holding it in an aggressive stance, mostly it was just ... big and in the way at this point, since she didn't QUITE feel comfortable enough to put Verdrehen Sturm into its innert form with Sailor Mars there. "...It could be, but I really would rather trust my friend than to assume that the random person who I don't know is right, too." Storm Knight responds to Mars. "...I also don't want to fight you, though, so I'm glad you have no intent to burn down the apartment."

     She carefully shifts her naginata again, mostly out of restlessness. That and it was slightly heavy. Since Mamoru was allegedly flirting with someone today... she really assumes it wasn't her. She was fairly certain Mamoru hadn't been flirting with her! ... Had he? Storm Knight files it away in the back of her mind that she needs to google search how flirting happens at what it looks like. The most she knew was anime and manga, and that just seemed unrealistic much of the time. "...I will let you know though, Sailor Mars." Storm Knight says, keeping her stance passive, even if her voice was not. "...If you attack anyone without probable cause, and I am there to see it or hear about it, I will ... I will..." She pauses, she didn't feel right saying she'd punish Sailor Mars. Sailor Mars was on her side, right? "I will defend them just as if you were one of the monsters... and give you a stern talking-to."

        Excellent work, Storm Knight. She must be terrified.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Look," Mamoru says peevishly, "I have been told separately by two people in the last two days that I'm terrible at lying. I'm pretty sure you'd know exactly from 'elaborate ruse' if I tried it." He pointedly drinks his tea while Sailor Mars continues to pointedly point at him and accuse him of lying, and he's just getting annoyed, straight-up. No rage, no apoplexy, just super irritable teenaged boy with poor social skills and too high an opinion of his own stylishness and way too much money.

"You can go ask Sailor V for confirmation is the point of that, not name-dropping," he adds coolly, the walls starting to go up in honest self-defense now as the attack continues. And then--

--'that girl you were flirting with'.

Suddenly Mamoru is actually angry, and he sets his tea down, voice and manner like ice even after poor Suzuki continues to try to defend him. "She's my FRIEND. It's her BIRTHDAY. Don't you DARE get her mixed up in this stuff, she's too-- she's too good for ANY of us. I could never hurt her. I might tease her, but she gives as good as she gets, and she knows I don't mean it. I might make her mad, but hurting her, breaking her heart, is the last thing I would EVER want to do. So BACK off."

Rei Hino has posed:
The Storm Knight gains some confidence and stands up to Sailor Mars. Sortof. The delivery was a bit unsure, and Mars could probably bluff that, but between the two of them the device user would have an advantage in the way that she would be able to use her full powers and Mars... wouldn't.

Mars's lips curl a bit. It's difficult to decide if it's a smile or a frown.

"Oh, I'll have probable cause, and if you defend him, I'll assume you're the en--"

Mamoru's outburst drowns out and cuts off anything else she could say. She stops talking, just staring at him.

Just staring.

Just.

Staring.

Mars is clearly stunned, but after a moment she lets out a heavy sigh.

"That better be the truth, Mamoru Chiba-san. That better be."

Mars is inches away from accusing him of being Nephrite, but what if she does? With Storm Knight here, if she's wrong, she'd just be spreading a rumor, and a pretty nasty one at that. She could also just punch him and thereby force him to henshin into Nephrite, but again if he's innocent then he's just beating up a friend of Sailor V over... what would sound like a very flimsy suspicion after the fact.

She keeps it to herself, turning away from Chiba's apartment, hopping onto the balcony railing. "Look, maybe I'm wrong. If I am, sorry. But if I'm right..."

She turns around to make a finger gun at Mamoru, "I wont set your apartment on fire, but your car is another matter entirely."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Storm Knight just kind of falls mildly awkwardly silent at that mention of being told that he's terrible at lying. She kind of maybe had been one of those people. And she'd even had tried to give him advice on how to lie better! ... Which was silly, because she was probably even /worse/ at lying. After all, she'd already outted herself as Storm Knight to Mamoru! Still, that annoyance was growing more and more.

     And Storm Knight was beginning to wonder if she REALLY wanted to be between Mars and Mamoru for a few moments. Before she remembered that she had a mysterious set of clothing that seemed to protect her from attacks, and Mamoru was presently not in any form of magical transformation. Which meant that he was definitely not as likely to be okay should things go down!

     ... And then Mamoru gets actually angry. Storm Knight seems to decide that right about now is the best time to be utterly silent and let him talk for himself. Because seriously. He really didn't seem happy with the situation. Not at all. Man though. She suddenly had the feeling that flirting was, in fact, like in anime and manga, and she had very little chance with Mamoru, if that was the case. Maybe. Probably.

     Still, the comment about her being the enemy if she defended him... against her... "...Even if I was the best person in the world, that would be a fair assumption, for me to be the enemy if I fought against you." Suzuki says simply, giving a helpless shrug. "I would be your enemy in that moment, even if one unlikely to try to kill you." She murmurs softly.

     "...Please don't set his car on fire, those release hazardous gasses that might harm innocent bystanders when they are on fire." Storm Knight says towards Sailor Mars, giving a look at the thought that might be best summarized as: :<

        No, she doesn't care about the car itself.
            Those can be replaced.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And Mamoru... Mamoru just scowls at Sailor Mars, his hands in fists at his sides. "If I hurt her, forget the car. Set ME on fire. I'll deserve it."

He pauses, and the scowl gets even more fierce, and he almost yells: "And don't you dare tell her I said that!"

He side-glances at Suzuki and then asides behind his hand in a low voice, "Eh, it's a red Tesla, she probably couldn't find it in her heart to set it on fire anyway, don't worry. Steal it maybe, but destroy it? Zero to sixty in three seconds. No way."

Rei Hino has posed:
Mars once again stares at Storm Knight. Hazardous gases? Really? Well I mean it's likely true but still, to have that be the first thought in her head...

"I'm not actually sure how to respond to that."

Mars came here ready to pick a fight with one of the Shitennou, even though it probably meant picking a fight she couldn't win, but the sheer unshaking kindness of her opposition is really taking the wind out of her sails. "I just can't fight someone as considerate as you, sorry. That's not an insult to your skill or anything, I'm sure you know what you're doing with that naginata. I just don't think I could really raise a fist against you."

To Mamoru, she says, "I'll keep in mind that you said that, Chiba-san. Both about the red Telsa and about setting you on fire."

With that, she jumps down, sprinting and vanishing into the night.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Storm Knight looks towards Mamoru, tilting her head slightly. "...I am largely unfamiliar with cars. I'm assuming Tesla is a good one from your words, but cars are replacable. If she truly lit it on fire and it got someone sick off of the fumes, something irreplacable might get irrevocably damaged." Yes. Storm Knight was serious. She did kind of care about the car because it was her friend's posession. But possessions are replacable, after all! "...Also speaking of things that are irreplacable, please don't invite people to light you on fire, even if you are sure that it won't happen, that would make me sad."

    And a sad Storm Knight is a terrifying Storm Knight! She might... you know. Cry or something. Also, Storm Knight looks towards Mars as she listens to her talk. "...I'd honestly rather that be the outcome of this than us ever having to fight." Storm Knight says simply. "I fought alongside two others in similar uniforms to you recently, it would feel like a betrayal of them." She rubs the back of her head slightly. "Hopefully in the long run, we can be friends."

     Evidently, there are no hard feelings from Storm Knight. Also, Sailor Mars is then gone. She looks towards Mamoru. "... I apologize for the invasion of your privacy, Chiba-san. I'll make sure to bring some sort of something-or-other tomorrow to make up for it." She says softly. "Possibly something home-made. Or some dark chocolate. Maybe some ice cream..." Ugh. Great, Suzuki. Now you have yourself craving. You're going to be up until midnight snacking now, and you're going to be all frazzled in the morning when you bring Mamoru the apology-gift. Brilliant.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
ONE MORE SCOWL at Mars for good measure, and then Mamoru crosses his arms and looks like after Suzuki leaves, he's going to spend the rest of the night sulking. For now, though, he lets his arms drop and sighs. "It's fine, Storm-chan," he tells her lightly. "But I never say no to chocolate. Ever. And rarely to ice cream."

Running his hand through his hair and abruptly looking about twelve times more tired, he's silent for a second before he gives her a very small smile. "Thank you for standing up for me. If you hadn't been here, the building would probably be on fire-- so believe me when I say I don't mind. Since, however, we DO have school tomorrow, you should probably go home and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "I'll show up nice and early with some ice cream then. Maybe some chocolate ice cream." Storm Knight says lightly. She'd been wanting an excuse to try out that chocolate cheesecake ice cream she'd seen the other day anyway! So this would probably be good enough! And probably not help the rumors at all, really.

     "...Ah, yeah, I should. Ugh, explaining this to my parents is going to be difficult though. 'I snuck out after dark to go to my friend's house to make sure they were okay because I didn't have a chance before' might work, though." She says, wrinkling her nose slightly. It was more or less true! But still not likely that her parents would buy it. Luckily, her parents also knew about her secret identity, so it wasn't /that/ bad in the end. Probably. Maybe. If she just explained that it was a magical girl thing they'd /probably/ understand and not think she was doing something uncouth overnight.

                She hoped.