2168/Art critics

Art critics
Date of Scene:	28 November 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	The K'team and Alexis go to Naru's apartment to check out the spontaneous art exhibits that have been happening. Special appearance by Pinkie Pie.
Cast of Characters:	Naru Osaka, Kyouko Sakura, Alexis Raskoph, Kunzite

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Naru Osaka has posed:
It's not at all unusual for ECFH to acquire a Naru periodically. It's not even all that unusual for ECFH to acquire a Naru overnight now and then. It is at least a little unusual for it to have a Naru overnight on a school night and with whatever has prompted her to not be staying at home, not be of sufficient freak out to keep her from school the next day.

Quiet, subdued freak out. More creeped out than freaked out, but that line is subtle.

Which is how ECFH has a Naru in her school uniform in the kitchen, making coffee. And breakfast. Mostly coffee. Someone clearly does not follow the script about running anywhere with a piece of toast.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko does not actually sleep at the ECFH, normally. Oh, it happens time-to-time, but considering she lives just downstairs (and has a little sister who will get into trouble if left unsupervised) she generally manages to drag herself to her own bed when it gets late enough.

    However, Momo sleeps until like noon and Kyouko is bad at cooking, so she often does end up back upstairs hunting breakfast of one sort of another. Such it is today. She wanders into the kitchen, dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, her general 'I am going to work soon' outfit.

    She pauses at the door, blinking and peering in at Naru. She clearly did not expect to find the other girl here this morning, for reasons adequately explained. "Um.. hi Naru-chan. What are you doing here?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
As far as Alex goes? What with him being a relatively new figure into all of this, people aren't probably that used to him appearing in the apartment in the first place, yet.

But that's been more frequent lately too, for... whatever reason. Probably mostly Naru-related reasons, but who knows. He even spent one night here very recently, due to... uh. School-related issues.

It's definitely a Naru-related reason this time around, however, considering the few texts that he had gotten around a while ago.

Either way, the buzzer of the door rings out, thus, and when the door is opened, the familiar face of the german boy peeks inside. "Um. Is Naru here?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"My apartment was being /way/ less creepy when the best theory was Zoi pranking me." Naru explains, without explaining really, and a wrinkle of her nose. "So when that theory got shot down, I wimped out and fled here. Tea?" Naru offers as she moves to climb up and get another mug. "I'm making eggs, want some?"

As Naru is the one cooking, she hopes that Kyouko will let Alexis in and she leans over to confirm his query about finding where she is. "Would you like breakfast too? And good morning."

Kunzite has posed:
It's not Kyouko letting Alexis in. Kazuo's arrival in the living room is typically quiet, and typically and annoyingly post-waking up and post-caffeine. At least post-initial-caffeine. Granted, he's running late today; usually he has an interest in making sure Mamoru's had something before school, which means dealing with the rest of the horde. Today, well. There've been complications. But they land him in the living room in time to open the door for the buzzer and regard Alex steadily for a moment before letting him in.

Possibly that steady look was just an aftereffect of having gotten used to checking Alexis over for signs of minor damage on any given visit. It's a little hard to tell.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "What's wrong with you apartment?" Kyouko asks, her brows drawing together as she steps further into the kitchen, a mild tension coming into her slender frame as she asks, "You need me to take care of anything?" The stabbing is implied. Kyouko may have mellowed considerably in the past few months, but her favorite method of problem-solving has not changed in the slightest.

    Although she does smile and say, "Yes please, to both." When offered eggs and tea. Stabbings in the offing or not, Kyouko is not one to refuse food unless the apartment is literally under attack at this very moment, and even then she'd likely grab a snack to eat on the way to the fight.

    She hears Alexis at the door, but Kunite is already moving to answer it, so she stays put, waiting for them to arrive in the kitchen before offering Kunzite, at least, a smile. "Morning." That greeting general enough to serve for all.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex's brow twitches at Kazuo, slowly. Akwardly enough, the fact that he just sort of ends up staring quietly at the taller man probably ends up resulting in the two of them just...

...standing there...

Quietly.

Staring.

Until eventually, the german manages to let out, "...Hhhhi...?" With his eyes narrowing slightly. "Can I... come in...?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"So far, nothing yet to take care of. That bit's still in question." Naru replies to Kyouko as she goes about adding more eggs to the eggs such that there's enough for everyone, rather than just her. Even if 'just her' assumed that there'd be more, a few extra don't go amiss around here.

"The short version is that someone.. possibly something.. broke into my room and decided that the art from the closet needed sharing. All over the apartment. Which is creepy enough in and of itself, and got extra distressing credit when I wasn't alone when I found it." Naru pauses in her telling as Alex and Kazuo are paused in the doorway, leaning over to peer before going back to explaining to Kyouko. "Try not to freak out on the injured kid in my living room, mostly succeed, take it down while tending to her and stack it up face to the wall. Walk her home, and get back to find it freshly spread out, and one hanging again in the few minutes I was gone. That's when I hit fully creeped out and fled."

Kunzite has posed:
"Of course," Kazuo answers Alexis, stepping aside and closing the door behind the arrival after he enters. "Congratulations." On what, he doesn't say; he only steps back into the living room, regarding the pair chatting for a moment. "Good morning, Kyouko. Naru."

There's a minor pause, and he adds, "You might have mentioned the injured girl in your living room last night, though I understand if that seemed the less significant part of the situation at hand."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko quirks a brow at Naru's description of her wandering art problem. "Sounds like you have a ghost," She says, with the nonchalance of someone who recently had a ghost and had it dealt with. "Either that or your art is coming to life and moving around on its own which.." She pauses a moment. "Actually wouldn't be out of the question, huh?" She smirks. "Maybe it just got insulted being stowed away in the closet. Even creepy art wants to be viewed, I suppose."

    "Injured girl?" She then queries, glancing to Kunzite as he makes the same question. "Anyone we know, or I guess more importantly, anyone we need to help out?" Gosh, she sure is itchy to stab someone this morning. Well, it's been a while. Maybe her bloodlust is reaching critical mass, being stored up so long.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Congratulations...?" Alex repeats after Kazuo, ever more confused as is. "Um. Whatever for, exactly...?" He asks before he actually steps inside and starts working on the laces of his boots.

He just BARELY manages to catch at least part of the conversation going on in the kitchen, in the meantime, and calls out over, "It wasn't the paintings themselves by chance, was it?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I did mention that a girl from school was with me." Naru points out to Kazuo. "Rollerblades and potholes are a miserable combination, and she discovered that the hard way outside my apartment. Sakura? She's at Seishou, but only grade four, so I picked her up and iced her ankle and fed her cookies 'til she was alright enough to take her home. Terrified of ghosts, so I was quick to assure /her/ that it was clearly not a ghost, just a prank."

"Yeah, it could be my art roaming." Naru admits with a soft hunh. "Although if my art can open closed doors, I dont' think I'm any /less/ creeped out by that. Could be a ghost, although I've never been haunted before. Could be ... well.. honestly, it could be about a million things. So far, it's not actually dangerous. I mean, arguements could be made that I should get over the intense freak out about showing my art, even the creepy stuff, but I currently really rather actively reject those arguements."

Kunzite has posed:
"Ah. So not an additional injured girl manifesting suddenly just outside or in your apartment, but one whose presence had an explanation. Thank you." ... granted, there probably aren't that many people who would hear 'injured kind in my living room' and assume that the kid was just randomly there instead of having been brought in by Naru. Kazuo may know too many teleporters.

"Showing your art or not should be your own concern, yes. Would you like us to take a look?" Offer not made last night. Then again, it's hard to flood the apartment with energy-flow-detecting darkness while her mother is actually in it, let alone whatever else someone might come up with.

Back over his shoulder to Alex, he adds, "No notable current injuries." Matter-of-fact as ever. Apparently this is a worthwhile but everyday goal, in Kazuo's mind.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Oh. Okay." Kyouko looks almost disappointed at the revelation that the injured girl was the result of a rollerblade mishap. Potholes can be stabbed, but it isn't very satisfying. "Well that's good, I guess."

    She shrugs her shoulders at the mention of art moving itself. "Magic is funky, Naru-chan, you shouldn't need me to tell you that at this point. They might not need to open doors to go through them. But.. I guess it could be anything, yeah."

    She glances to Kunzite as he offers to 'take a look', giving him a brief nod which signifies her agreement to lend a hand, if Naru does indeed wish the assistance.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"I am sure I have *no* idea," claims Alex, with just the faintest hint of sheepishness in his voice. "What you are talking about."

Sure he doesn't.

"Pf. And I thought my life was chaotic before I met all of you," he mumbles as an aside thought, after he's gotten himself rid of his boots, and starts working the scarf coiled around his neck away. "I suppose you all are going to find this incredibly stupid coming from me, but would you like me to come along for that, too? I'll bring a whole bunch of gas to soak the paintings in case it's them going haywire."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"If my art can teleport and I can't, I am going to feel /so/ ripped off. Just y'know, for the record here." Naru gestures with the spatula, to emphasize the point before she collects out plates. "Are you eating, Kunzite?" She asks, to know if scrambled eggs are getting shared on three plates, or four.

"No randomly manifesting elementary school girls." Naru confirms with a nod. "Just one who got a full dose of creepy dark energy filled art. I should probably make sure she's at school today."

"No burning my paintings!" Naru protests the potential of gas as a solution. Even if it's a good solution. "I would be .. glad actually.. if people wanted to have a look. /I/ didn't see anything when I actually looked. Twice I got little flashes of spidey sense of /something/ like movement out of the corner of my eye, but looking.. nothing after I got back from walking Sakura home. I only manipulate energy though, I can't reliably sense it, and I can't currently even reliably do /anything/."

Kunzite has posed:
A brief shake of Kazuo's head and a gesture toward the plates is followed up a moment later by "Already did. Go ahead." When exactly that was, he opts not to mention, but disclaiming has been done.

Naru's comment about not being able to reliably do anything gets a level look, but the milder consider-and-evaulate variety rather than the did-you-really-just-say-that type. "All right, then. Though I'd prefer it if we saved the gas for later. We won't be burning anything without Naru's permission anyhow, and if we do it will be at a safer location and one that won't alarm her mother's customers. Alex, are you still suspended? Naru, would you prefer to be present, or are you all right with our adjusting the time to match whatever Kyouko's and Alexis's schedules happen to be?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "I'm free." Kyouko says, with a shrug. "Well, I got work in.." She glances at the clock on the wall, "Two hours, but if this takes longer'n that we'll have a big enough problem that I'd feel justified calling out."

    She scowls at Alex. "No burning Naru's apartment."

    Then she pauses, and glances at the cooking eggs. "But we can eat first, right?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"I wasn't going to burn them *first thing*," protests Alex from the door, now having rid himself of his boots and setting to step to the kitchen proper. "Or in the apartment for that matter. I'm not stupid enough to try to burn things indoors."

Cue brief flashback of a certain multi-story apartment building way over in Germany wreathed in flames and sirens echoing in the distance.

"Again."

Kazuo's question to him urges a wince from him, then. "You... heard about that, huh," he mumbles, scratching over the back of his head briefly. "Yeah. Pretty much."

Naru Osaka has posed:
A trio of plates of scrambled eggs, with toast. Coffee or tea, or whatever Alexis wants to drink. "Eat first." Naru nods firmly on that notion. "Nothing there is so dire that an extra few minutes to eat is going to make any difference after it having sat all night."

There might not be breakfast for Kazuo, but there's at least coffee for him, and Naru passes him a mug. "I'm alright if schedule works out for you guys going without me. I'm also alright with going along, if I'm free. I am not suspended, so I do have to go to school today, and as we've a test in english that I'm pretty sure Usagi has forgotten about, I really should be there."

"Sorry in advance for the paintings." Naru feels obliged to offer with a wrinkle of her nose. Even if Kunzite has had a preview. "If they're out again at least. I did lock the closet this time, but I'm going to bet that's fairly irrelevant."

Kunzite has posed:
"Either directly after you've eaten, then, or after Kyouko's shift is over." Kazuo retreats, not to seat himself, but to lean against a wall. Kyouko's given a briefly amused glance from there. "There wouldn't be burning the apartment in any case. I can always eat a fire."

Yeah, that totally explains why Fiore was able to burn his hair and almost his face off. Ahem.

... that may in turn be the secret reason that he doesn't blink at Alexis's 'again,' nor comment. Just nods to him. "No reason not to come with, then. It's likely to be dull, but there are worse things."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Just mind you don't burn the roof of your mouth, nii-chan." Kyouko says, dryly. Yeah, she's not buying that- well, she believes he can absolutely do it, she's just not as blase about the possible consequences.

    She collects her eggs and tea from Naru, and proceeds to demolish them in a way which is entirely typical for Kyouko, but probably only equalled by Usagi in this apartment. "I get done at five today, for the record, but I'm good either way." She notes, between mouthfuls.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
%R"I already ate before I came here," insists Alex to Naru-- though he IS eyeing the breakfast on offer with some measure of temptation. "...Thanks, though." If nothing else, he can at least wait things out for the time being by sitting down next to Naru.

"It's not like I have to go to school today anyway, right?" He points out to Kazuo. "So I *might as well*. If it's dull then it won't be like I could have been doing something better at the time."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Oh yeah, because seventeen year old males /never/ inhale second breakfast." Naru quips at Alexis as she passes him a plate and she too settles with her breakfast. She does not eat at Kyouko (or Usagi) speeds, but portions are generous all around.

"Well, I'll be a slacker and go to school." Naru grins as she settles. "Leave the work to you guys and just doodle all day. Although if one of you could text me if my apartment's been trashed overnight, that'd be great."

Kunzite has posed:
And if Alexis passes it up a second time, well, Kyouko will be finished with her place in plenty of time to consider inhaling more. Kazuo continues to stay out of the way of any potential food-nabbing, and gives Kyouko a dry look in turn. "I specified fire," he says. "Not bizarre tainted unstable innately-destructive energies. I'm not looking forward to that one turning up again, but rearranging paintings doesn't seem like her kind of thing. Not flashy enough."

He nods casually to Naru's request for a text, and only lifts eyebrows a little at Alexis. "Did we agree ahead of the schedule you're used to?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko is already scraping her plate clean. She stands to return it to the kitchen, and as she does, she pauses in front of Kunzite and stares up at him with those bright red eyes of hers. "I know what you said. And I said be careful." She puncuates those words with little pokes to the center of her chest with her forefinger.. then flashes a fangy smile before turnin away with a whirl of newly-short hair to go deposit her plate back in the kitchen.

    Emerging again a moment later, she says to Naru, "We can always wait and go later if you'd rather come. But if you're rather not come, that's okay too. I promise I won't let Alex burn down your building."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Oh, *fine*," grumbles Alex at Naru, and draws the offered plate closer over to him, and begins making at least a *token* effort in nibbling at some food.

And THEN he protests to Kyouko with a "I already said I wasn't going to burn anything in the house!" Beat. "I won't make any promises about carrying around spraycan flamethrowers though." Another beat. "JUST IN CASE."

Surely this will go well.

And finally, almost as an afterthought, he flicks his hand in a dismissive wave to Kazuo's general direction. "I don't really even *have* a schedule right now, is the point. So... you know, now or later, whenever."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"If /she's/ breaking into my apartment to be an anonymous art critic, I will be /shocked/. So not her style. Not plant dude's style either, which makes it something new." Naru heaps egg on toast to eat both at once. Omnomnomnom.

"Might as well go first thing, then I won't wonder all day, and my mother will be safely in the store, and you can poke to your heart's content."

The trust level on sending this trio to her apartment without her, her /room/ without her, significant.

"I so should see if I can draw you a better weapon than that, Alex." Naru mmms softly. "Although the garden flame thrower is in my room, so grab that when you're there." Because every teen girl's room has a flamethrower in it.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Garden flamethrower," Alex repeats after Naru in a blank tone. "Is that something more heavy duty than an aerosol can and a zippo? Because that's all I had in that regard." He tips his head over to the side slightly.

"And I mean... What *would* you draw for me, anyway? I don't rightfully know what would work in these kinds of situations besides anything I can usually try to find on hand anyway."

Beat.

"And people keep telling me none of those work."

Kunzite has posed:
"Speaking in terms of fire," Kazuo says. "And in terms of the youma I am most familiar with. A normal fire would not harm a normal youma. But I was able to use the gas flame from a stove to harm a hatching monster; the flame was more intense, and the creature's defenses not yet fully formed. Sailor Mars, or Zoisite, use magical fire, which is much more likely to harm a normal youma -- but Sailor Mars would have somewhat more difficulty using her fire against me; she could overwhelm my defenses eventually, but her initial attacks would get her nowhere."

He straightens up from the wall, lacing fingers briefly and letting his hands fall. "A normal gun would do nothing against a witch; Homura Akemi strengthens bullets with her magic, and uses them successfully, and conserves her energy in the process. A normal sword or spear would probably be only mildly useful against a Wraith; other Puella use those, laced with or created by their magic. It's not the specific weapon that matters. It's what you feel yourself comfortable with using, or what you need in the situation; it's the energy worked into it, and the energy of your own confidence and will and motives."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko shrugs her shoulders. "Well, if Naru ain't comin' then I guess we can go and get it taken care of before I need to get to work." She licks a few stray drops of egg-grease from one of her fingers, eyeing Kunzite as he gives his speech on the particulars of magical weapons.

    "He's right," She adds. "The weapon itself don't matter.. just how it's made. So you should use whatever weapon you're best at usin'."

    And then she henshins on the spot in a flash of blinding crimson light. Into Apatite, complete with cape. It seems that this is close enough to 'Shitennou' business that she feels it's appropriate, rather than her similar but cape-less Puella outfit.r

Naru Osaka has posed:
"The garden flamethrower is better than zippo and can, if only for directed flame and more fuel. I found it effective against Fiore's minions." Naru nods at Kazuo's far more detailed explination. "I drew a sword for Sayaka in one fight, and it was effective on the wraiths, so the theory that weapons I draw hold at least some of my residual magic is superficially sound." Naru doesn't comment on the reality that Sayaka is a magical girl herself, but the fact that she wasn't transformed should help the theory.

"So pick a weapon, that is not your fists, and I'll practice drawing it." Naru adds to Alexis and then watches Kyouko transform and just shakes her head a touch, collecting up dishes to set in the sink. "I can come if you want, I can be late to first class."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"So what you are telling me is I am basically screwed at any given time involving magical freaks 'less I am with any of you lot," mumbles Alex with a wince over the self-conscious realization. Welp.

"Well.." With a sigh, the boy pushes himself up from the chair, forgetting the plateful of breakfast provided for him for the time being-- though Naru's words do bring him to pause, and look down at her. "... Thanks," he murmurs, quietly. "That's kind of a hard thing to figure out right now, though. Situational needs and all that." Beat. "Could you draw a glove or a knife right now, actually?"

Kunzite has posed:
"Sometimes," Kazuo says to Alex, matter-of-fact. "Sometimes not. It depends in part on how you fight. We'll work on that." As if that latter were an already established fact. "After all. Summoners happen. Dodge their creatures and the person behind them may be at a level you can take. Arranging friendly fire accidents for them doesn't take superhuman power, either. Still. For most of us, it's better if we don't fight alone, anyhow. Everyone has weaknesses. In the mean time."

He stretches his hands and arms, and something not quite like lightning and shadow crawls over him; there's a flash at his forehead like the gleam of sunlight off a gem. It's not as quick as Kyouko's transformation, nor as showy. But when it's done, he and Apatite are clearly part of a matching set, cape and all.

Kunzite glances to Naru with a tilt of his head, half inquiring as to whether 'right now' is a viable option. What he says aloud is, "We can at least save on the transit time."

(Kyouko might possibly be the only one to notice his glance at the neglected plate of eggs.)

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Hey, Kyouko's transformation isn't that flashy. At least she didn't do the freaky world-tearing-in-half, many-armed Rebellion version. Either way, she quirks a brow at Kunzite as if to say 'ready when you are'.

    She notes his glance to the neglected plate of eggs. A moment later, they aren't neglected anymore. They are also rapidly ceasing to exist.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Man, I look *seriously* underdressed in comparison to you two," notes Alex in a wry grumble. "...Are the capes really necessary, though?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko shoots Alex a wry look, then snaps her fingers. Suddenly a cloak similar to her own and Kunzite's is affixed to his shoulders, though if he goes to touch it his hand will pass through as if it were just an illusion- which is exactly what it is. It also looks seriously out of place with his street clothes. "Better?" She asks, with a teasing smirk.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Uhh.. I'm basically screwed at any given time unless I'm with this lot." Naru points out to Alexis with a gesture towards the K'team. "It all depends, as Kunzite said. You know yourself, every fight is different. Magic doesn't change that."

The request for 'right now' is met with a sheepish look from Naru and a clearing of her throat and a little shake of her head. "At least Endy isn't here to add to the formal wear quota."

As Alexis acquires a cape, even temporarily, Naru starts to laugh. "Perfect." She reaches to take the plate from Kyouko as the eggs get dealt with. "Have fun, kids."

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite puts a hand out to Apatite, the other to Alexis; the tilt of his head to Naru is the only 'not coming?' query she gets. "I use mine for armor," he says to Alexis, matter-of-fact as ever. ... it hangs like fabric, granted, not like armor. Magic. "We'll need physical contact; I can't take you with me without it anymore."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko just shakes her head, and puts one of her hands in Kunzite's, gripping firmly and nodding to him. Then she grins and winks at Naru. "Don't worry, Naru darling. We'll check and make sure there ain't no monsters under your bed."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex stares down at the cloak draped over him. He pokes his finger at it.

Alex stares at Kyouko. "This is so not what I meant," he mutters, and reaches up to try and remove the cloak and OH WAIT THAT'S RIGHT HE CAN'T EVEN TOUCH IT.

"Damnit. ... Can I just stick with my jacket? Isn't it *sorta* like a cape?" He might have given a glance to Naru with that question. She has some preconceptions about The Jacket, anyway.

ANYWAY.

"Ssssoooo..." The german looks just a little suspicious, while he's stepping towards Kunzite, and eyes his offered hand over the whole time. "... How are we going to do this? Are you going to fly and drag me through the sky, or am I about to feel every single cell in my body get rearranged and end up in Naru's place?"

The apprehension lasts for a few seconds longer in all that regard, but eventually he just goes "Oh, sod it," and snaps his hand through the rest of the way to grab onto Kunzite's. HERE GOES NOTHING.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Cell rearranging." Naru advises with a sage nod as she watches them form up. "If the monster's under the bed, tell it to leave room for Zoi if he's going to hide there."

There's just a tiny shake of her head to Kunzite's tilt of head query. She is going to go to school and bravely let them poke in her space without her. Which is probably just as stupid or crazy as skipping an english test might have been.

Fully expecting them to blip away before she can do much else, Naru turns back to quick dish washing before she has to leave for school.

Kunzite has posed:
"Neither," Kunzite says to Alexis. "I'm going to ask the planet for a favor."

This might not be the most reassuring thing in the world. His fingers tighten on Alexis's hand, then, and without so much as a goodbye to Naru, a column of darkness rushes up around the three of them, blocking out sight of the apartment and indeed of each other.

Whatever they're in for that moment, it's cool, even cold, but not bonechilling: the temperature and feel of damp stone underground, shadowed for a thousand years. Or the way ocean depths might feel, not to a human diver, but to the creatures that live there -- beautiful and monstrous alike. There's an indefinable sense of movement, though the direction of that movement is difficult to ascertain --

-- and then the darkness lifts (physically lifts, dissipating upward around them), and they're not in the same apartment that they began in.

Naru Osaka has posed:
The apartment that appears around the trio is clearly not the one they left. While the main living areas of the Osaka residence have a certain polite, neat impersonal nature to them, the room that they're in has a lot more personality.

It's a generously sized room, certainly large enough for all three of them, especially for the reality of Naru's fairly neat and tidy nature. There's photos, mostly of Naru and Usagi making silly faces at various ages, pinned up. Her bed is made, with a few stuffed toys sitting vigil upon it. Clothes are put away in drawers and what is clearly the closet has a locked pad lock on it. Books are stacked neatly on a desk, with an easel and a fully finished piece upon it. There's a half finished piece leaning next to it on the floor.

Clearly, not all of the nightmare paintings are still in the closet. The one on the easel looks like a shattered mirror, reflecting a horror scene of death and darkness and fairly oozing negative emotions, even to those who can't sense the magic in it.

Jewelry has been arranged into a tangled puzzle on top of a closed jewelry box, necklaces and earrings and bracelets having been played with, and a lovely opal ring balanced precariously on top. Most interesting is the corner of a large canvas that is literally poking through the wall between closet and room.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko does not react with any particular trepidation to being teleported through absolute darkness by Kunzite. It's not her first, rodeo, after all. As they re-eappear in Naru's bedroom, her eyes flick about, rapidly taking in the surroundings, almost before her mind has a chance to register what they are seeing.

    She didn't have a spear before they teleported, but as the darkness clears she definitely does. It's resting backwards over one shoulder, though she's careful to watch where the pointy end swings so as not to mess up any of Naru's stuff.

    Her eyes find the corner of canvas sticking through the wall before long, and they narrow. "Well. There's your problem." She says, as if she's a mechanic diagnosing somebody's car. Before any of them move though, she holds up a hand, silently asking them for quiet and stillness for a moment more.

    For just that moment, she listens, her eyes closed. Her nostrils flare slightly, as if she's scenting the air. Then her eyes open again. "There's definitely something." She says. "Not something I'm familiar with but.. I can feel it. I can't tell if it's.. bad, or not."

    By the way, Alex's cloak did not re-appear with them in Naru's bedroom, so he's back to just the jacket.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex, on the other hand? This is his first ride.

And it shows. What with all the widening of the eye, and just a bit of colour having faded away from his face.

"Great," he lets out then after Kyouko, in a sound like a whimper, and steps slooowly away from Kunzite. "You... do your thing... I... Need a moment..." And just like that, he stumbles his way along towards the bed of Naru. Not that he actually slumps on it, but he DOES reach down to press his hands against it so that he at least has some point of support for the rest of his weight. Whooo boy.

Kunzite has posed:
Silence while Kyouko's evaluating, from Kunzite's side -- he keeps a sharp eye on Alexis, until Kyouko gives them the all-clear. At the Not Actual Collapse, Kunzite notes aside and absently to Apatite, "He handles it better than Mamoru does, at least." An exhale, and he releases her hand as well, and lifts both of his own.

Shadows flow outward from him, a gentler thing than that sudden rush of the transit. Not absolute darkness, and not cold; the temperature drops perhaps half a degree, the room dims a trifle as if someone elsewhere in the building had turned on an air conditioner in summer. Absorbing just enough of the free energy in the room to get a taste -- another viewpoint on Kyouko's 'definitely something.'

... except, of course, for one particular place. That shattered-mirror nightmare painting is blacked out entirely, encapsulated by Kunzite's own darkness, its energies corralled back into itself where they can't infect Alexis, or Kyouko's soul gem, or his own stores.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko's 'danger sense', if you will, is second-to-none for split-second 'are we about to die' judgements, but she leaves the more detailed analysis to Kunzite as his shadows expand to briefly cover the room and track down any sources of magical emanation. She notes him shielding the nightmare painting on the easel. She wasn't that worried- her Soul Gem accumulates darkness from within more readily than from without- but she can't argue against taking precautions.

    She gives a glance to Alex as the guy stumbles about in the wake of his first teleport. "No puking. Kid's tougher'n he looks." An obvious teasing jibe in that statement, followed by a little smirk, but then, once Kunzite is doing his thing with the shadows, she walks over to where the corner of canvas is sticking out of the wall. She pokes at it with her fingertip.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Even for there being only a corner of it peeking out, that large canvas is also noteworthy on the energy flavour of the room, having a very similar sense of darkness and negative energy as the painting so prominently displayed on the easel. There's no other signs of energy sources in the room, not even Naru's own flavour when not siphoned through nightmares and dark energy.

Equally there's no signs of other beings in the room, beyond the three who arrived. Fortunately for all of them, the door to Naru's room is closed, although there's no sounds of her mother out there.

The corner of the painting in the wall is impossibly stuck there. It is as if the wall formed around a corner of artist's canvas, and one that was already painted no less, with the rest of the painting still within the closet. Based on just the corner, it's probably not puppies and rainbows /either/.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex groans quietly by the bed, still, but he does still seem to have his wits somewhat about him, judging from the fact that he grumbles almost right after Kyouko, "I'm... sure I could... cough up one quick puke just for you..."

That being said, though, he squeezes his eyes shut briefly, and then pushes himself upright again. "Okay, I'm..." He starts, only to stop when he turns aroudn to see what the actual heck Kunzite is doing. "... Good. Oh, *good*."

Kunzite has posed:
"No active energy sources I can't account for," Kunzite says, his tone faintly distracted. "No independent movement besides ours. Apatite, that painting's also one of the tainted ones." He doesn't add a 'be careful.' It's just the corner, and she knows what she can handle. "Nothing emanating from the closet through the door."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko can feel the 'taint' coming off of the corner of the painting in front of her. She's not as worried about it effecting her Soul Gem as Kunzite seems to be, but then again, he wasn't as worried about him eating fire as she was. Siblinghood goes both ways, it seems. That said, worried or not, she can definitely feel it. "Yum." She comments absently, as she pokes at it again with her forefinger, a little harder.

    "It's stuck." She announces, perhaps unnecessarily. "Seems like whatever's movin' these things through the wall is shy about doin' it where people can see." She glances at the closet door, then back to Kunzite. "Do we open it?" She's inferred that lots more tainted pictures are probably in there, but, the source of the problem might be as well.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"I am going to make the wild guess that just because you can't feel anything through the door won't mean there isn't something wildly nasty behind it," Alex mutters while eyeing over the closet. Or what can be seen of it at the moment, anyway. He *then* eyes the door that leads out of the room itself. "Maybe I should go make a quick check of the rest of the house. Just in case. At least see if her mom is still here."

Beat.

"Hopefully without being noticed."

Kunzite has posed:
"There's at the least the rest of the paintings," Kunzite says aside to Alexis. "Anything that emanates as much as or less than them would be undetectable from here. If you want to risk her mother finding you sneaking out of her daughter's room, though, be my guest."

He glances down at the lock. "I'm not accustomed to needing to bypass those things without damaging the door they're on, though. Either of you?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko snickers at Kunzite's line about Naru's mom finding a boy sneaking out of his room. "Imagine her shock when she comes back up here and finds a second boy and a girl." She adds.

    As for the lock, she shrugs. A quick glance at it, and then suddenly her spear shrinks down until it's about the size of a conductor's wand. "I'll bring her a replacement from the store on the way home." She comments, as she wedges the small but still razor-sharp spearhead between the two pieces of the lock and twists sharply.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"I can move around pretty quietly when the need calls for it," Alex assures Kunzite while he sulks towards the door. "Besides, at least I have *that* excuse with her. If nothing else it'll distract her from everything else going on *here*."

He pauses just before he reaches the door, however, to look back to them and the lock on the closet door. "...There was this kid back in London who showed me how to pick locks, but that was like... five years ago, but if I can fi--" And then Kyouko brings a tiny spear to operate on the lock instead. "...................................................................or you know that works too I guess."

Naru Osaka has posed:
The lock doesn't stand up against the teeny spear terribly well and snaps satisfyingly. The latch is easy enough to flip open, and the closet door opens.

The light from the room illuminates the small closet. There's clothes within, although Naru isn't much of a clothes horse and wearing school uniforms routinely really does cut down on the wardrobe choices. The rest of the rather large painting is within the closet, the bottom of it only a couple inches off the floor. There are a few other canvases within, scattered on the floor under Naru's clothes. By no means is this all of them. A couple of jacket pockets seem to have acquired sketchbook pages.

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite scans the closet past Kyouko with a steady little frown, and without commentary on Osaka senior's reaction to the crowd in her daughter's room. "No independent movement," he repeats. "No evident pattern, as of yet, in which paintings were taken out and which left in place. There are a good number of them unaccounted-for."

He glances sidelong toward Alexis, but ... offers him no advice. Maybe he thinks 'careful what you stare at' goes without saying.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko glances into the closet. Even with most of the paintings gone, she can sense the corrupted nature of some of those that remain. Almost reflexively, she raises a hand to cover her nose and mouth. (Naru isn't here, so the "boy Naru, your art stinks!" quip goes unvoiced for lack of appreciative audience).

    Her own eyes dart about, and after a moment her hand drops- it's not a physical smell, after all, more a sense. Kyouko just happens to be very sensitive to such things, even by Puella standards. A relic of past poor choices. "Unaccounted for, huh?"

    "Think we got a magic art thief on our hands?" She turns to regard the painting halfway through the wall. "Or are they stealin' themselves?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"You think maybe the paintings sprouted legs and just walked off?" Alex suggests only half-seriously, and steps his way back away from the door. apparently he has decided against going to scour the rest of the apartment, at least for hte time being. He is, also, giving a wide berth to the closet, too, and instead going for... the window?

"Humor me, for a second," murmurs Alex, then, just before he comes by the window, to... apparently study the lower frame of it, with narrowed eyes. "How many things could come in here and grab what they needed without leading even the tiniest signs of their presence?2

Naru Osaka has posed:
Same as the closet showed no signs of entry (prior to Kyouko busting the lock), the window is as closed as ever. Locked even, which is unusual for Naru's room. No forced entry there. The view, however, was implied in one of the paintings in the closet, when abstracted at least.

Kunzite has posed:
"You're asking this of someone who lives in a household of five teleporters," Kunzite points out evenly to Alex. "It's worth looking at, yes. But if there were three separate incidents last night, and a painting halfway through a wall now ... we have a more interesting situations."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "A better question, if you ask me," Kyouko says as she steps back out of the closet and into the main area of the room, glancing around, "Is why. Plenty of people an' things are capable of breakin' in here and stealing Naru's paintings. What I wanna know is why? No offense to Naru, but it's not like they're worth money. They have some power, yes, but not much compared to a lot of other things, not enough to go through the trouble if that's your goal. So what gives?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Even the people teleporting would be here physically, wouldn't they?" Alex murmurs while he runs his finger over the windowframe, and then reaches to test the handle of the window itself, just to make sure it's locked. hrm.

"They were changing places in between her sleeping and waking up, right?" He goes on then, and glances over his shoulder to Kyouko. "If someone was trying to steal them, they probably wouldn't just leave them lying around deliberately like that, you know? If it was something other than the paintings moving them of their own volition... Maybe someone or something is trying to mess with her. The fact that you people are feeling... well, something Not Good in them, though, makes me inclined to believe that there's something going on with the paintings *themselves*, still."

Kunzite has posed:
"If it were the paintings themselves," Kunzite says, "this wouldn't be a new and sudden thing; it would have built slowly over time. The energy content of the paintings has been a known issue for quite a while. It's not a sudden influx. But you're right -- the paintings aren't missing, and aren't drained. Whatever this is, it's not an attempt to steal them; not after power or money. Look at the jewelry." He gestures toward the tangle on the jewelry box, and the opal ring balanced atop. "Either it's trying to present some kind of meaning to Naru. Or it's looking at what's pretty."

And possibly using that to mess with her.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Or some third option we simply haven't thought of, or can't be aware of." Kyouko notes. She then adds, "But you said some of the paintings are missing, nii-chan." She glances back into the closet, at the relatively sparse collection. "I guess we should take a look around the rest of the apartment and see if they're out there, but.. if they ain't here, they gotta be somewhere. Maybe trackin' 'em down would answer at least some of our questions."

    She nods her head in agreement with Alex. "I'm inclined to agree that theft is not the motive, though. At least, not the only one."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"I'm not a hundred percent convinced that it's not them, Kaz," Alex insists with a wrinkle of his nose. "If the... whatever energy has been a thing for a while, then that could already kind of be a leadup. Eh... What do I know, though, this stuff is like nuclear physics to me. I probably can't even safely look at those paintings, can I?"

"I could probably at least look around..." With that said, he goes on for the door of the room proper, again, this time with the full intention of opening it and going through. "See if anything else is out of place, even if hte other paintings aren't... well. Somewhere in here." Beat. "... Best be quiet instead Momma Naru is home, too."

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite gives a quick inclination of his head to Apatite. "You're correct," he says. "I'm assuming that they'll be be in the rest of the apartment, since Naru mentioned repeated 'shows.' But that may not be accurate."

He paces a couple of steps after Alex, keeping him clearly in sight. "It's not directly dangerous for you to look at the paintings. Not any more than it's directly dangerous for you to get angry, for instance. But they do influence mental state, as any good art does, and a little more so. Care is warranted." He falls silent anyhow.

Maybe Naru's mother will already be downstairs, dealing with the store.

Let's hope that this thing didn't get into the store overnight...

Naru Osaka has posed:
The door opening to the main part of the apartment doens't bring a starled Mama Osaka to bear upon the trio, she's long at work downstairs. It does show where the other paintings have gone, however.

Naru mentioned that she arrived home to an 'art installation' and clearly that's back. There's art hung in the hallway. There's art hung in the living room. There's a surprising amount of art hung all over the apartment. Not all of it is horrific and nightmarish either. There's art that's powerful, but not in a death, doom and gloom sort of way. That art isn't quite as common, but it exists!

There's a few stuffies that have migrated out to sit on the table, setting up a tableau of critics at a smaller piece of art, propped up agaisnt the sugar bowl. That piece is legitimately beautiful, small and intricate of a tree, waving and twisting in an unseen breeze.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Just in case, Alex does the 'ssshhhh' gesture with his finger set to his lips towards Kazuo after he's carefully peeked out through the door to make sure there's no Momma Osaka in immediate sight. And through the door he goes, in slow, careful steps... to face the art display there, apparently.

"Was this place supposed to be like this?" He asks of Kazuo over his shoulder then, just for the sake of confirmation. "I mean-- Eh?" Then his eyes land upon the stuffed toys at the table. And the piece of art there.

He just kind of stares at the scene before him.

"I don't even."

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite keeps within Naru's room. And keeps his shadows from spilling out the door. It's only a slice of the display he can see for now, but ...

"No," he says. "At least most of those used to be in the closet."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko wanders over to peer out of the door and into the main part of the apartment, glancing around at the 'art show', including the little audience of plushies seeming to critique the display.

    "My money's on a poltergeist." She finally says, with a shrug of her shoulders. Then she sighs. "I guess we should at least gather them up? Can we put some kind of seal or something on the closet door.. try to keep 'em from gettin' out on their own again?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Ghost might actually seem like a pretty likely option here at this point too," Alex murmurs, though his voice is notably kept quiet still. And then he stops in place, and blinks, slowly. "... Only two months of knowing about magic and I already sound like a wannabe paranormal investigator. Go me."

"Can you check for any signs of energy on the plushies, actually?" He asks them, peering back over his shoulder to Kyouko, and hten Kunzite's way to the door. "Either one of you?"

Kunzite has posed:
"It's a reasonable thought, but no-one's died here recently. And again, no previous sign." Kunzite paces out, letting the shadows in Naru's room dissipate behind them, and lifts his hands to direct another set. A little sphere of darkness grows to encompass the plushie critics. "There might be something associated with something recently brought into the apartment. Or something roaming on its own. As for confining them ... Naru's lock didn't work, and I can't make a seal like that. It might be worth asking Mars to come and take a look; she might be able to communicate somehow with whatever's doing this." ... maybe. And if not, well. She's still a miko.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko watches Kunzite analyzing the plushies, commenting as an aside to Alex, "I don't really do the whole 'analyze for signs of energy' thing, I just have an over-developed sense of imminent threat." She quirks a lip. "Gained through getting jumped one too many times. I don't think the stuffed animals are going to jump us." She eyes them for a moment more. "Probably."

    To Kunzite, she nods. "Yeah, contacting Mars is probably a good idea. If it is the paintings themselves, somehow, maybe we can at least magically seal 'em up to prevent 'em wandering around until we figure out what to do about it."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Different thought to chew on," Alex says after all of five seconds of silence after Kunzite, squinting his eyes at the general direction of... all the shadows that the guy's formed over. That's just mildly unsettling for him, perhaps. "Could someone have *ordered* a ghost to come here?"

Kunzite has posed:
"In theory," Kunzite answers, matter-of-fact. "I'm not sure if the only ghost-mage I know of knows where Naru lives. But she is a fox." As if that explained everything. "The same goes for other types of spirit: in theory, it could be done."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "There was that guy who came after Naru's mom before." Kyouko notes, leaning against the doorframe. Sometime in the intervening moments, her spear has returned to its full size, and now casually reasts upright against her side. "But I gotta say, based on what I've heard from the encounters with him, this doesn't really seem like his style."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"That's the thing though, isn't it?" Alex says, now stepping closer towards the shadow-wreathed table. "'Only one you know'. What if it's someone who you don't know about, that happens to know about you all, and her by extension? Or... Just someone you know who has been hiding what they can do? You're not goign to go against a large number of powerful people by letting them know about you, right?" He crouches down just next to the mass of shadows, and calls over his shoulder, "Can you get rid of these for a moment? I want to take a closer look."

Naru Osaka has posed:
While the stuffies might be of questionable taste (Seriously? Pinkie Pie?), the threat is only to good judgement. The painting that the stuffies are looking at /is/ really well done. Naru's style to be certain, but she outdid herself in the detail and the lighting and the golden glow of contentment and ease and peace. It's a truly lovely small painting, and the animation in it is subtle rather than jarring.

Pinkie Pie clearly agrees.

Kunzite has posed:
The shadows diminish and are gone before Alexis can look back. "One can choke oneself to death on 'what if,'" Kunzite says, but the tone's casual, no offense taken. "Better to leave the unknown unknown, rather than trying to put labels on it, until there's actually some evidence to work from." He tips his head to Kyouko's naming the one who came after Naru's mother, but glances back to the stuffies. And to the painting they're watching, which catches his attention and keeps it a little longer than most things do.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "I do appreciate your sense of paranoia, kid," Kyouko says to Alex. "I tend to agree, in general. There's always a new threat. But," She jerks her thumb at Kunzite. "This guy knows what he's talkin' about a lot of the time. We can't know what we don't know.. which means there's no use comin' up with theories until we have somethin' we can work with."

    Kunzite's interest in the painting the stuffies are looking at catches her attention, and she switches her gaze back to him. "You see somethin', nii-chan?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Maybe," murmurs Alex, though it's a more of an off-handed sort of murmur on his part, like it's an after-thought. "But I like to consider possibilities. Sometimes it opens new viewpoints."

His eyes are firmly focused on the painting and the plushies before him. slowly, his eyes move across them, looking for... who knows what, actually. He's just examining. He doesn't have any supernatural measure of viewing things, but he seems to make a particular effort of studying things with the perceptions available to him.

...Though, even with everything, he can't help but smile a bit, when his eyes land on Pinkie Pie. "She's such a girl," he murmurs quietly, and reaches his hand over to the pony to lift it from the pony and bring it up to him.

"Heey, Pinky," he says, in a suddenly cheery tone. "I don't suppose you saw what did all this, did ya?" ... And... Of all things, he starts wiggling the plushie in his hand, and just from the corner of his mouth, he speaks out in a heightened-pitch voice; "Oh gee, Alex-San, I sure did, and I would tell ya, but I'm an inanimate object so I can't even talk! Sorry!"

"Thanks anyway, Pinky."

Kunzite has posed:
"Ghosts were a good thought," Kunzite agrees. "Spirits. Things we don't ordinarily deal with, but we know people who do; people we can consult with." He shakes his head back to Apatite. "I hadn't seen this painting before, that's all. She must have --"

And then he stops midsentence, and frowns markedly at Alex.

"How good are you with computers?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko watches Alex pick up the plushie and do a little voice. She can't help but roll her eyes, even as she smiles. "Toys sure are assholes." She comments, as she pushes away from the door. "I guess we can at least put all this stuff back and hope it stays at least until Naru gets back. Save her mom from awkward questions."

    She glances at Kunzite as he asks about computers ,but stays silent. She barely knows how to check 'the emails'.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex slooooowly turns to look back at Kyouko. He blinks slowly. And then brings the toy over in front of him, wiggling it slowly again.

"Awww, Kyouko-chan," says Pinkie Pie sadly, as depicted by Alex. "It's not my fault I can't talk and tell you the things you want to know, you know? I was just born that way! I would help if I could, I promise!"

Alex is apparently kind of a dork sometimes.

He does throw a confused look at Kunzite briefly, though. "... About as good as most kids my age in this day, I guess?" He supposes. "...Maybe a little better because I've been to a few private schools where they used computers a *lot*. I mean, don't ask me to do anything that involves code or anything, but..."

Kunzite has posed:
"The toy can't show you what it saw," Kunzite says. "But if we put the canvases away again, a wireless camera might show us if anything happens. And might not count as a witness. Know enough to get one set up without it being turned into a vector for a botnet within ninety seconds? Or should I see if Zoisite has some free time?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Alex suddenly finds a very sharp spear-point dangerously close to his neck. (Not really- Kyouko has good control, and it's not actually all that close, but it might seem that way to Alex). "Call me Kyouko-chan again, and we'll just see what we can get out of you regardless." It's hard to tell if she's joking. Apparently the -chan is an earned privledge with her.

    Then the spear whirls away and she's smiling at Kunzite. "Hey, that's a pretty good idea."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex blinks. Alex turns his eyes down to the spear-blade close to him.

"I didn't say that," he insists in a murmur, perhaps shockingly calm considering his particular position at the moment. Though perhaps he is just immensely good at hiding his unease. "She did."

"Yeah, that's right!" Says Pinkie Pie then, as indicated with another wiggling of the toy in time with the side-mouthed words. "I just want to be your friend! Don't worry about this stinky boy!"

"...What'd you say?" Alex squints at the toy. And the toy gets turned to face him, like they're having a stare-off.

What a very bizarre situation.

The stare-off breaks off when Kunzite asks him about the... camera stuff, though, and he just sort of blinks rapidly a few times over at him before answering. "You lost me at the 'vector' part."

Kunzite has posed:
"Right," Kunzite says. "We'll text Zoisite." In the name of not having their potential evidence hacked. "If it doesn't act as a witness, we might find something out. If it does, at least the pictures might stay in place. In the mean time -- we can put these away again before her mother gets it in her head to come upstairs for lunch."

It may say something about his life, or about Nephrite, that he is not appearing to find anything odd about Alexis getting in a fight with Pinkie Pie. And that he won't at all be surprised if they go look in Naru's room and that one painting is no longer partway in the wall.