1738/Knight of Comfort

Knight of Comfort
Date of Scene:	23 June 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	The storm has passed, but the damage remains. Good thing Makoto has Nephrite to lean on. Follows 'Reap the Whirlwind.'
Cast of Characters:	Makoto Kino, Nephrite

---

Nephrite has posed:
The quality of the shared apartment seems to change daily now. A week ago, it felt like a homemade hospital, pills and bandages and half-drunk glasses of water cluttering the surfaces around Mamoru and Nephrite while they competed to see who could maintain unconsciousness the longest.

Now it does not feel as comfortable as home or as safe as a hospital. Mars may have managed to avoid burning the entire interior out, but it still smells smoky. The walls bear some holes that were not there before. The electrical wiring may need some fixing. Shattered glass is all over the floor, since not just one, but both of the glass balcony doors is now busted. Good thing it's summer, or Nephrite might have to go looking for plastic sheeting and duct tape for a temporary fix.

But when Kunzite has gone to check on Mamoru and the others have gone home, none of that matters at all, because the two of them are still there.

As the last of the girls is waving goodbye, he's already taking her by the wrist. A rush for physical contact, without demanding more yet. What she just came from could have only been traumatic and grossly invasive, and he's not going to assume what she needs right now. "Hey. You okay? That was... that was rough back there."

Makoto Kino has posed:
On the bright side, the guys occupy the entire floor. The area that's been the main hub of activity - and thus the most furnished - may be a wreck, but at least they have rooms to spare.

Other small blessings: whatever might have been happening to her lately, it's nothing that's put her off being touched. Makoto doesn't flinch from Nephrite's hand on her wrist, no more than she flinched away when Usagi latched onto her and they and the other girls were temporarily engulfed in a pile of hugs. There may have been a few tears.

It's instinctive the way she turns toward him when his hand closes around her wrist, leans in against his arm. Her cheek nudges against his shoulder, seeking more. She's always thrived on touch, the reassurance of contact; that hasn't changed. "I... don't know," she says, after a moment of hesitation. "I don't know how I feel right now." It's all a lot of process, and she's still riding the residual energy of the rush of emotion that fueled her escape and her flight here. "I'll be all right."

Her cheek presses into Nephrite's shoulder, and then Mako's lifting her face to look up at him, brows drawing together anxiously. "What about you? The last time I saw you, you didn't look so good--" Tonight couldn't have been easy for him, either.

Nephrite has posed:
She's not the only one who thrives on touch. Her reaction is all the prompting he needs to wrap his arms fully around her, pulling her into the tight embrace he's wanted to give her since the moment she returned. He lets out a long breath, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "Yeah. Think I slept through a few days, but Mamoru got me mostly fixed up. I might not want to try running a marathon anytime soon, but I'm up and walking. Mostly, I've just been worrying about you."

He buries his face in her hair. "You were gone, and I didn't even know. You were all alone there, and I didn't even realize it until it was too late. I... I guess I know what you went through now, when I went after Fiore without telling you. Thinking I could have lost you before I even knew to be worried about you... that made it all so much worse. I think I dreamed apologizing to you? I don't know how much of that was real. But I need to say it again. I'm sorry I put you through that."

Makoto Kino has posed:
The breath goes out of Makoto in a sigh and she melts into Nephrite's embrace, winds her arms around him to hold on just as tightly. This is what she's needed - this comfort, this warmth. For a little bit she leans in against his chest and just breathes in the scent of him. There's damage, a tremendous mess left to clean up, but nothing can seem too far wrong as long as she's wrapped up in his arms like this.

When Nephrite mentions dreams, Mako goes still. "That..." She hesitates, lets out her breath in a tiny half-laugh. "I think it was real. I remember dreaming of you saying something like that." A trace of wonder creeps into her voice as she says it.

But more importantly-- "I'm sorry, too," she adds quietly after a moment's pause. "Even though I was angry, I shouldn't have just run off the way I did. If I hadn't, all the rest of this stuff wouldn't have happened." She's had plenty of time to rethink her decisions that night, and hindsight hasn't done most of them any favors. "I went and did the same thing I was mad at you guys for. I guess we both screwed up, huh?"

Nephrite has posed:
"Huh," he says contemplatively. "With all the drugs I was on, I almost thought it was a hallucination. But it really felt like you. The way it feels like Mamoru when he pulls at my soul. Maybe we can do that? For each other? Almost like... when we've mingled our power. That's what it felt like." He doesn't mention the specifics of when they last merged power. Some things don't need to be brought up now.

He lets out a small laugh instead. "We're too alike, I guess. The important thing is, we're both fine. I'm so glad you're okay." He doesn't let go of her as they speak, hand sliding up to stroke her back.

His brows knit slightly. "I should have known, though. That the clone wasn't you. It was such a cheap imitation. But when Rei said you were full of dark energy, all I could think was... I couldn't let you go through the same thing I did. You stood by me when I was under its influence. I had to do the same for you."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"There might not be that much difference." Unconsciously Makoto's fingers curl, gripping at Nephrite's shirt. "You saw, didn't you? She really thought she was me. She had no idea she wasn't - I don't want to think that I'd ever want to do what she tried to do, but we already know what dark energy does to people." Mako hesitates for a moment, swallows. "If someone ever filled me up with that much of it... maybe she's what I'd be like."

Her head tucks downward, and Mako closes her eyes, focusing on the warmth of his body and the security of his arms around her. He held her like this in the dream-that-was-not-a-dream, too, surrounded by an ocean of stars and star-like flowers. Remembering, she breathes out and feels a little steadier. "If that happened, you'd bring me back. I know you would."

Her grip on his clothes relaxes as she opens her eyes and tips her head to look up at his face again, green eyes solemn. "I felt something," she says. "With everything else that happened after, I didn't think about it much, but - I knew something was wrong, when you were on that asteroid, before I had any idea what it was. Like a fist around my heart." Her shoulders hitch a little at the memory, and she leans into Nephrite a little more. "I don't know how, but maybe you're right."

Nephrite has posed:
"Maybe," he concedes. "Dark energy plays on your darker thoughts, but it twists them too. Tricks you into thinking you want something you wouldn't otherwise." He sighs. "Poor girl. Whatever she was, nobody deserves that."

He can't help but feel some guilty relief, though, that it was that creature and not the real Makoto who endured the dark energy.

He holds her a little bit tighter. "Always. I would always bring you back, just like you brought me back."

Her eyes meet his, and he takes in this new information. "Is that why you were there that night? I never even thought about it. Wouldn't it be great if we could use that for non-life threatening situations? Like next time you get a craving for pizza, I can be at your door with two mediums before you even have to mention it?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Despite the serious matters they've been discussing, Makoto finds herself laughing at that suggestion. "That would be convenient," she agrees, smiling up at him. Now that the thought's in her mind, it doesn't take long for curiosity to take hold-- "Do you really think we could? Like... like Usagi-chan and Mamoru-niisan? --Well," she catches herself a moment later, verbally backspaces; "but he's psychic to begin with. It's probably not the same."

It doesn't have to be the same. They've been given so many miracles already, and now here's another. Suddenly feeling foolish, Mako looks down and away at nothing. "Actually," she says, cheeks beginning to turn pink with embarrassment, "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've been a bit jealous of Mamoru-niisan."

Nephrite has posed:
Nephrite shrugs. "Maybe it's not the same, but we're not exactly powerless either, are we? And we've got our own kind of connection. We're both... of the sky? Is that how you'd put it?" He tilts his head thoughtfully. "Like, I don't think we could merge our powers like we did if there weren't already some compatibility there. So maybe... the way I hear the stars, the way you hear the storm and the trees, maybe we can hear each other through those."

He's wrapped up in this new mystery, this new possibility, and it is not until she turns away that he notices she is troubled. His hand strokes her hair. "Jealous? What of?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"It's dumb," Makoto warns. The embarrassment doesn't abate, even with the soothing touch of his hand over her hair; she can't bring herself to look up yet. "It's really dumb. Just - you guys have a very, very important connection. Like he does with Usagi-chan. A part of each other's souls... right?"

She wrinkles her nose, face scrunching up as though the words taste terrible in her mouth. "He's first. He'll always be first, and you'll put yourself on the line for him any time. I know, because I'd do the same for Usagi-chan. It's the same thing, and I'd never ask you not to, but--"

Here Mako loses her grasp on words entirely, squirming in an agony of self-consciousness and shame. "--and Kunzite, and - I told you it was dumb! That's why I never said anything; who wants to admit to having such ugly feelings? I hate it when I start thinking that way." She brings up a hand to scrub over her eyes, breathes out. "I just.. wonder sometimes, where we fit."

Starts to wonder, sometimes, when he'll realize that she isn't what he wants after all. That she isn't quite the princess of his memories.

Nephrite has posed:
Nephrite stops stroking her hair. Stops moving at all, in fact until she has finished speaking. Then his hands are on her shoulders, firm and steady, urging her to look up at him. "Hey. My prince is important, you're right. He won't ever not be. But that doesn't change how I feel about you. I don't need a psychic connection to tell me we fit together like cookies and cream."

A smile, because Nephrite can't even help laughing at his own jokes at a moment like this. "Mako, before I even knew who he was in this life, it was you who gave me a lifeline. I hope like hell that I'll never have to choose between you and him, because he's my duty and my friend, but you're my other half. I should have--I should've told you when we weren't in a dream, so... I love you."

Makoto Kino has posed:
His hands on her shoulders steady Makoto a little, giving her an anchor to ground her tangled emotions. She takes in a deep breath to try and settle her flustering before she looks up to meet Nephrite's eyes again, one hand reaching up to curl her fingers loosely over his wrist. Reinforcing, adding contact. "Sorry," she murmurs, calmer now but still very pink in the face. "I didn't..."

His other half, he said. Mako's eyelashes flutter downwards for a moment. "...I guess I didn't really understand how you felt." The breath chuffs out of her in a tiny, rueful laugh; when she looks up again she's smiling crookedly, abashed. "It's almost funny. I've fallen 'in love' so many times, but this - it's different. I don't know what to do with it."

The hand that isn't resting on his wrist comes up to caress his cheek, gently cupping the side of his face. "I'd never ask you to choose. You know that, right?" The lopsided smile has slipped away from her lips as she speaks, earnest and serious. "I can't promise there won't ever be a choice, but... if I keep spending all my time being afraid of how it could end, then it's the same as trying to wait until there's not some kind of crisis going on. All it'll lead to is missed opportunities and wasted time. I don't want that. You're too important to me for that."

She hesitates a moment, swallows. "I love you, too, Nephrite. I'm sorry I didn't say so sooner."

Nephrite has posed:
Her hand on his cheek. He reaches up to cover the back of hers. "I don't want to live for the what ifs. I already spend all my time trying to glean the future from the stars. I don't want us doing that with our relationship, too. You're here, and I'm here, and it might be for a week or a hundred years, but at least we have this now."

His hand clasps tightly around hers, now. "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you need to talk or get away from it all, whatever you need, let me know. I've got this private forest we can hide in indefinitely. We'll have to barricade the door to Jadeite's but I'm sure we can figure that out."

Makoto Kino has posed:
In spite of the very trying couple of weeks they've both had, Makoto finds herself laughing at that. "Even if the door wasn't blocked," she muses, "I'm pretty sure it'd be tough for anyone to find us in that huge forest if we didn't want them to. Unless the Thunderbird ratted us out, I guess." She glances down as she considers the thought for a moment, smiling almost wistfully. "I might take that offer. Sometime soon."

If the current mounting crisis gives her a chance. She pushes that thought aside with all the other what-ifs and smiles up at him.

"The girls are going to stay over at my apartment tonight," she says. "They went on ahead, but I should probably go meet them soon. It'll be good, not having to spend the night by myself."

Nephrite has posed:
"I'm hearing 'camping trip in the magical forest.'" Nephrite grins. "Maybe the Thunderbird won't mind us roasting marshmallows if we bribe him with some."

He nods, his smile softening. "You go be with your girls. I can't deny them their Mako any longer. If you need anything, give me a call, alright?" He bumps his forehead down against hers, eyes closing a moment. "We'll get through this. We got you back. We can do anything now."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Camping trip sounds great," Mako agrees, with a quick flash of an answering grin. "Let's do that."

Then his forehead is resting against hers and Makoto closes her eyes and leans in, taking just a little longer to soak in his presence. She's still smiling, but there's a warmth collecting at the corners of her eyes, tears of relief wetting her lashes. "Thank you," she murmurs. "Thank you so much. Nephrite..."

She blinks away the faint glimmer of tears and begins to step back, smiling up at him. "I'll see you soon," she says, and then her voice takes on the gentlest of teasing: "Take good care of my boyfriend, okay?"

Nephrite has posed:
A chuckle emerges from Nephrite's throat. "That guy? What a loser, thinking about nothing but stars and his girlfriend all day. You should trade him in for a newer model."

He is still smiling when he leans in and gives her a kiss. It is not as slow as he would like, only a momentary press of lips, but he couldn't say all that and not let her walk away without a kiss. "Only if you take care of my girl."

Makoto Kino has posed:
The playful suggestion that the should trade up draws a soft sound from Mako, amused and scoffing. "Not a chance," she replies as he leans in, just before his lips meet hers. "No one else would do."

When the kiss ends, she tips her head up to steal another, just as gentle, just as brief. "It's a deal." Then, finally, she steps back - reluctantly, but after all the girls are waiting. One more long look, green eyes soft and shining, before Makoto makes herself start away.

"Good night, Neph."