2048/Encouragements and Death Wish

Encouragements and Death Wish
Date of Scene:	18 October 2016
Location:	Kunzite's palace
Synopsis:	Usagi stalks the caracal with fish, and Kunzite with coffee. One of these is wiser than the other.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Kunzite

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
At first, Luna was amicable in Usagi's decision to go fnd Kunzite. But then they went down those long stairs.

And then toward Kunzite's palace...

"Um...Usagi? I'm just gonna...you know. Wait here. For you." Her nose is rapidly twitching and her claws may have sunkin into Usagi's shoulder just a little.

Usagi stops going forward and huffs, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Luna. He's not gonna eat you."

"Says you!" Luna hops to a low hanging tree branch and licks her paw. "Besides, you don't even know if Kunzite is here or not."

Usagi shrugs. "True! But he might know where he is! And I haven't been able to see him in ages, Luna, and he's so adorable! And I bet he's hungry!" She pats the cooler slung over her shoulder, pleased with herself.

Luna boggles for a moment before saking her head. "Well...if I hear screaming, I'll come scratch his eyes out."

Usagi rolls her eyes, tells Luna to say hello to the puppylions for her, and proceeds on her own.

At the palace door, she pushes it open and just strolls on in, skipping and humming. She pauses, though, and checks the temperature of the thermos. Ahhh, still hot! She'd been concerned it would cool off on her detour to the fish market. It probably wouldn't have been a concern if she hadn't gone with a larger fish than expected, having to ask them to lop it in half while she hid her eyes.

Huh. Curious. She's actually skipped in a bit with no sign of the caracal yet.

Hands over her mouth, she calls out. "Mister Kittyyyyyyy!" Hey. If they won't give her names to call them.

Kunzite has posed:
"Your Highness." The rumble comes from the doorway to a room up ahead, where the caracal is sprawled in a lazy curl, the tip of his nose just short of the threshold. Cats can look at kings, and Luna and Artemis are evidence that some can even look at queens; this cat does not apparently feel any need to stand up for a princess. "You'd think he'd've turned up to greet you by now. His etiquette must be slipping. Humans have belts for everything else, but not for that one."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi perks up even as she blows a raspberry at the title. She scurries over and sits down next to him, burrying her face against the fur on theback of his neck and hopefully scritching That Spot on his ear. (None of her, of course, goes around his throat. Not that she's afraid what might happen if an arm snuck around there, she's just pretty sure he wouldn't like that very much.)

Princesses may fear lions, they may fear tigers, they may even fear youma. But this one apparently doesn't fear a caracal that could technically gobble her up before she could sneeze.

She pulls away, sliding the cooler strap off her shoulder. It takes a moment, but then she giggles at what he said. "Hey, he's allowed some etiquette slipping every now and then. So he is here?"

And then she's scooting and turning so she can face him. "Hey! Do you like fish? I wasn't sure what to get you so I got a really big one, and then some smaller ones that I think are really tasty."

She opens the cooler and sighs, shoulders droopinga bit. "They're cold, though...like, on ice cold."

Kunzite has posed:
The caracal himself, on the other hand, is warm. And lazy. And surely the laziness is the only reason he doesn't stir when Usagi leans into his fur. The sound that emanates from the body under her at the scritching does not sound all that much like Luna purring -- the pitch is different, the volume is different, and it's steady and single-note, rather than the gently rhythmic variation of a domestic cat. But it hits that bone-deep place that other cats do all the same.

The purr subsides when Usagi pulls away. "He's here. The visitor earlier even got him to move some, which is good. When I finally get to eat him I want the meat to be fresh, not carrion."

Which segues neatly into her next topic. The caracal blinks. Eyes widen. Chin lifts off the floor. "You brought me fish?!?"

That would be a yes. He tries to nose into the cooler there and there, but one, there's an Usagi in the way, and two, his nose is a little big to fit properly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
And it's a very good purr. And it's one that tells her, at the very least, 'oh yes, human, I won't gobble you up today.'

"Oh, who came by? Was it Kyou-kun? Mamo-chan? Someone else? I hope you don't eat him. I'd miss him lots."

She beams, pleased by his reaction. "I did! It wn't make you full, though. I'd hafta carry it as Sailor Moon to get that much, and Sailor Moon buying fish would be weird!"

She gently shoos his nose away and pulls out the fish, holding up the two halves of the huge one.

"I brought him some coffee. He keeps complaining about Mamo-chan's, which is really good for coffee, pleh, so maybe it's not strong enough? I made him sme of this stuff I found online. I hope he likes it!"

Kunzite has posed:
"Names," the caracal scoffs gently, somewhat muffled by still having his nose prodding the cooler. "Human girl. Came through the same door you did. Redder hair than yours. Quiet. Polite. Likes light and colours."

The shooing is accepted reluctantly, but largely because it only lasts for a few moments. The first half of the large one to be held up is ... well. SCHLAOMPF. Teeth come very carefully an inch short of Usagi's fingers, and there is an inquisitive little tug. Blink? Blink?

Presuming Usagi lets go, the caracal scarfs down that half-fish practically whole, but pauses briefly between the halves. "I never understood the coffee business. Except that it's how you people put up with not getting enough sunlight. He can get enough on his own, so why he bothers, I'll never know. All those spices. It'd make me sneeze." There's a demonstrative little twitch of the cat's upper lip and nose; then he leans in for that second half. Still careful of fingers. SCHLAOMPF.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's more the 'quiet' and 'polite' that connects the dots, because Kyouko is anything but quiet at the least. "Oh, you've met Naru-chan! Yes, please very much do not eat her. She's been my best friend since forever. Well, in this life, but it's the one I know best."

There's a jolt and a giggle at the first SCHLAOMPF, much like someone on the first drop in a roller coaster. All adrenaline and no fear, because, well, teeth, but also caracal.

"Unless it's more sweet stuff than coffee, I don't much like it. Well, I like it in Mamo-chan kisses. But if I'm really tired, like when there's no moon, I'll drink it."

It's only something she's recently noticed, at least on some level. But still, sometimes it's nice to blame something not battle related for why she's so tired, even if it's not true. She picks up that other half of the fish. "Lately, I think he's just making sure Mamo-chan doesn't atrophy to his study chair, stubborn bo-AIEEEeheeheeee!"

Yep, that was the other SCHLAOMPF.

The next fish is pulled out. "This is tasty. Next time, if I can carry it, I'll see if I can get a whole tuna! Luna would be soooo jealous, though."

Kunzite has posed:
"You brought me fish," the caracal says solemnly. "I'll only eat her if she really misbehaves. Stabbings. Explosives. Trying to take over. You know the kind of thing." Usagi's hand is licked almost daintily by an oversized sandpaper tongue. The caracal eyes the new fish with a sort of admiring hunger, and then pauses. "Luna? Is she here? I didn't notice her come in --" There's just a faint note of alarm there, only in the last few words. Can the mooncat outsneak him?!?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Another bright, happy smile from Usagi! "Well, then you'll never hafta eat her! She's real nice, and has survived my 'loud elementary school kid' phase. Which, you know, is a lot more than other kids!" His tongue tickles, earning him another smile.

Usagi holds up the other fish. "She's here! Well, actually, she's back at Jadeite's. I think she's afraid you'll eat her." A questioning look at that.

Kunzite has posed:
"Then your friend should be fine. And Luna..." There's a lingering sense of smugness. Maybe about the mooncat being afraid the spirit cat would eat her. Maybe because: "If she's not a guest, I don't have to share."

SCHLAOMPF.

The next voice comes while the caracal's jaws are still closed. "Are you done encouraging him yet?" Kazuo asks, leaning against a pale stone wall in the direction from which Usagi came.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well, even if you did, she's a lot tinier than you are. She wouldn't eat much."

She turns and sees Kunzite and beams and for a moment considers going to pounce him! But she's feeding a caracal. "Nope! I still have..." She looks in the cooler. "Two more encouragements left!"

She holds up the next fish, and when that's gone, the last. Then she scritches his ears again and kisses his nose while he's distracted by that, grabs the thermos and her bag, and trots over to glomp Kunzite in a hug. Because she's pretty sure he needs lots right now, even if he doesn't know it himself!

But none of that now.

She pulls back and rifles through her purse before bring out the opened bag of coffee. Not much has been used, just enough for the thermos. "So you know how you say you don't like Mamo-chan's coffee? I thought maybe because it wasn't strong enough! The internet says this is the strongest coffee in the world, so I got you some to try!" She hands him the thermos, still toasty despite her Caracal Break, and holds up the bag. It's mostly black, with 'Death Wish' written in English. "If you like it, they even have Keurig thingies for it."

Kunzite has posed:
"His breath is going to smell of fish for the next decade," Kazuo observes, still keeping his place. And when Usagi's nose-kiss is met by her being pinned in place by a very large paw flopping (carefully) over her shoes, and then by her face being deliberately licked (her poor hair), before she's let go to go a-glomping...

... he has just enough sense back not to say anything resembling 'and now you will, too.' There does not need to be any more weeping this week.

He barely moves under the hug; a moment after he ought normally to react, he lifts a hand and rests it briefly on her shoulder. His next reactions, to the thermos and the bag, are likewise a little slowed. He doesn't actually drop the thermos, but the blink at the bag is definitely running late. "Thank you," he says. Two breaths' worth of time is taken to consider further response. And in just the same tone: "Have you considered the possibilty that Nephrite or Zoisite getting hold of this might possibly result in violations of the Geneva Conventions?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Ewwww!" Still, she's giggling, of course, and she's just happy she had her mouth closed! And, well, she guesses she could wash her hair a night early.

And, well, if she were anyone else, or if she hadn't picked up the habit of observing him closely to get reads on him, she probably would have missed the short delays.

Plus, well, this is Usagi. She tends to read people better than Mamoru can read a text book. And granted, Kunzite tends to be more of a college level source material, but he's a subject she likes. Slower to learn, no less difficult in the long run, perhaps.

She studies him a moment before she answers, lips pursed in thought and eyes narrowed a bit in concentration. When she does answer, her hands are on his and her forehead, checking. "Well, I'm pretty sure if they got their paws on it, you'd learn to hide it better. Or I would. Mako-cha would be scary if her boyfriend went into a caffeine haze. But if you share with Mamo-chan, make sure he doesn't drink any too close to when he should be asleep have you been eating?"

She checks his pulse. She doesn't know why, it's just What is Done. (She's hugged him enough to be familiar with around where his normal heart rate is, even if subconciously.)

"Hmmm. Mamo-chan normaly gives you heart attacks. I'm not much better. You usually recover faster when it's just that. And if it was that, you'd probably stick close to Mamo-chan for a couple days anyway. Was Nurse Cinnamon's thing really that bad?"

Kunzite has posed:
Reaching to check his pulse gets her raised eyebrows, and a hand wrapped gently around hers to remove it -- after she's had enough seconds to get a feel for it. Her subconscious finds the rate familiar, nothing unusual.

"Think of it like burning the inside of your mouth," Kazuo suggests. "The energy she's calling on is unstable, and I had to hold on to it for a few minutes to be able to release it safely. Nothing serious. Only uncomfortable." ... uncomfortable enough for Kunzite to register as such. That may say a little more than he meant to "Mamoru doesn't need any secondhand discomfort right now; he has enough on his own. Kyouko's keeping an eye on things for me. Has Mercury finished analyzing her readings on that energy yet, do you know? It'd be interesting to know if she has any idea what it's being summoned up from."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Subconcious appeased, she stops checking him over like the nurse or doctor she would never be. (Could never, actually, because while the idea of helping people appeals far more than th ethought of th schooling required frightens, she won't be ableto save everyone, and she's far too Usagi to not have that affec her every time.)

"Mouth burning? Yuck. Feels like someone keeps slipping me some flat soda."

She sulks a little at the mention of Mamoru. She hasn't gotten to see him yet, and she needs to, but she's also staying away partially for the same reason Kunzite is. And that sulk turns to guilt. She hasn't really talked to Ami-chan, either! Anyone! Except for Naru earlier!

"Auuuugh, noooo..." She looks up at Kunzite with large, doeful eyes before suddenly she perks up a little.

"Hey! What if I attack you!" Suddenly, in a poof of ribbons and glitter because she doesn't need to do the acrobatics, she's looking up with Kunzite and now those doe eyes are doey with a purpose. "It'd probably be aloe on a sunburn, right? Sting at first but feel better?"

The jewel on her tiara glitters in the sunlight. If it were a sentient being, that sparkle would probably be one of glee.

Kunzite has posed:
"Don't do that," the caracal rumbles from behind her. "You bring me food. You're not supposed to be food."

"We've been over this," Kazuo says resignedly past Moon. "Do not try to eat the princess."

He turns his attention down toward Sailor Moon, never mind that on some strange level it will always feel a little like turning it upward, and shifts bag and thermos into the same hand so he can lay the other one on one of her odangos. Fingers curl in lightly. "It's not a dark energy burn," he says. "There's nothing to purify. Though I admit I'd be interested to see what happened if you tried it on her. She was certainly using some unpleasantly familiar logic."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
An indignant, but also partially amused squawk comes out at her as she blows a raspberry at the caracal. "Besides, you don't wanna eat me, anyway. My diet's mostly cake." Out goes her tongue!

And then she gasps and whirls her head to look up at Kunzite, cheeks blazing. "What? No! I...I do have an energy attack, Kunzite." This is admitted with as much embarassment and volume as admitting what size bra she wears. "Just...usually, there's not enough...you know. Moonlight? I used it on Mama Cat? Remember?"

Kunzite has posed:
"I'll never understand why you people like sugar so much." The caracal settles back down, eyes closing, replete carnivore with no need for silly things like 'fruit' or 'pastries.' (Undoubtedly a deprived spirit, in Usagi's opinion.)

It's the embarrassment that prompts the faintly perplexed expression Kunzite's wearing now. He doesn't question that, though. "It was hard to tell," he says, "between the flying things and the water and the lightning. But I thought there was something brighter than Jupiter usually got, back then, and the color was different. Yes."

He draws his hand back to his side, and it's his turn to look faintly awkward for a moment. Not an entirely common expression. "I can't -- work with that right now. Not without risking more damage. That's one of the reasons I took Naru's suggestion to come here; I'm carrying something Madoka gifted me with, a rain of arrows, and it was possible for a while that I might lose containment on it if I didn't pay close enough attention. Rest is helping, and quiet. Sometime tomorrow I'll come back out, I think."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Because it's tasty!" Indeed, the caracal very much is a deprived soul.

Her eyes widen and there's a bit of an 'eep!' as she poofs back. "Oh, I don't want that! Aside from me feeling really sad and really really bad, Mamo-chan probably wouldn't even talk to me for a month if I was lucky!"

No hyperbole there, she's pretty certain that would be her getting off easy.

And of course, whether he was hinting or not, Usagi knows she isn't the most quiet of people a her best of times.

"But okay. But if you ever do need it, just, um." More blushing. She's probably a bit moreembarassed than she should be that there's a very much time restricted weapon she can use. Enough moon, clear enough sky, night. "It's probably real strong around a full moon. I dunno, though."

She clears her throat and perks up. "But did you want me to bring you something? I could grab it and drop it off, real quick! I'd only stay long enough to hug on Mister Kitty some more!"

Kunzite has posed:
"That's like saying sand is tasty," the caracal grouses. Mostly under his breath, because Usagi taking offense might be ... complicated.

Kazuo studies Usagi for a moment. "I keep supplies here," he says. "But there is one thing I'm missing. If you really want to -- there's a book I was reading that I could use. It's hard to miss; it's written in English, and the cover's bright orange. And if you happened to see Mamoru while you were stopping by, well. I'd appreciate it if you confirmed for him that I'm all right." His mouth turns up at the corner, ever so slightly. "And I don't need the book so much that I'd mind if you wound up distracted instead of coming back, either."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Whether or not they'll ever reach an understanding on sugar, one thing they can agree on: Fish is Tasty.

She pulls a notepad out from her purse and starts scribbling. And she's even scribbling the permission to be distracted until she registers what he said, her pen pauses, and she looks up at him with a grin and a blush. She scribbles that last bit out because there are some things nosy mothers really don't need to see.

"Okay, got it!" And then she flips the tip of the pen toward him, her Stern and Srs Face on. "And whether I get distracted or not, I'm bringing you food."

Kunzite has posed:
Cats just don't get the whole deal about sweet things. Mostly because they literally can't taste sugar. The poor, poor souls. No wonder they get cranky.

The grin and blush is met with a solemn inclination of Kazuo's head. No telling whether Mamoru will be in shape to handle such a thing, or whether he'll even be there; that's all right, they'll sort it out sooner or later, one way or another.

The pen-gesture garners her a mild blink in turn. "I could tell you I keep enough food here to feed a small army for six months, and you'd still bring food, wouldn't you." Not that he actually does do that. ... not that it's necessarily a terrible idea to set up a significant stock as an emergency shelter, either. Hm.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Poor, poor souls indeed! And it would probably be crue to somehow show them that taste only to have it taken away again!

Well, at the very least there would be cuddles and kisses and hugs. Just, depending, it may take seconds or, well, longer. And if he's not there, well, she'll just leave a note on his desk with a bar of chocolate and takeout in the fridge, and the paper may or may not end with a strawberry lip gloss scented smoochy mark.

More pen gesturing. "Yes. I would. One, you're feeling icky so I get to spoil you however I can, and two, you'd probably tell me that to make me feel better and starve to death. And even if you did, this would require a lot less cooking."

Kunzite has posed:
"Ah." It's that last word that caught Kazuo's attention. And he follows it with one word of his own. "Makoto?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Another droop. "...no. I haven't really talked much to her since she yelled at me, so...takeout!" She perks up, though, and gives him a quick hug. "Okay! I'll be back soon! Or a little delayed soon! But you'll have your book in your tummy and food in your hands before hey I said that wrong...Bah, you know what I mean!"

Kunzite has posed:
"I trust you've already left her six or seven messages. I'll check on her, too, when I can." The mention of her name wasn't seeking after her kitchen skills, no. This time he manages to answer Usagi's hug (one-armed, so as not to thump her in the head with the thermos) properly on time. "Thank you. Again."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Yay! A return hug! Maybe he's feeling a bit better! Maybe she helped!

"I should, too. Having Mako-chan be grumpy because of me makes my tummy feel icky."

And then she's bonking her head aganst the caracal's, scritching his chin along his jaw. "Silly Kitty. I'd only attack if he let me, you dork." Another nose kiss!

She does think of one other thing, though, that causes her to pause and turn around a little. "If I run into Minako-chan, do I tell her where to find you?"

Her heart, of course, is happy thump-thump about Venus' return. Something just feels different this time, despite any deep rooted fear she has. But she knows that people need time.

Kunzite has posed:
The caracal rubs its jaw right back against her hand. It's only the obstinate look in its eyes that says 'you'd better.'

There's no hesitation about Kazuo's answer to the other. "If she asks. Yes. But I think the two of you will have better things to talk about than that."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi snorts and presses another kiss to a caracal nose.

To Kunzite, she rolls her eyes. "Like we won't be taling about everything anyway. You underestimate girls, Kunzi-kun."