2280/Different Kinds Of Help

Different Kinds Of Help
Date of Scene:	01 January 2017
Location:	Uminari City - Juuban Avenue - North
Synopsis:	Lacrima goes to Mamoru for help with Eilam's current predicament. Mamoru offers another kind of help in the form of an offer of feeding aswell. This upsets Zoisite and Kunzite. A lot.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Norie Okana, Zoisite, Kunzite

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The next room over's a bit of a mess but it's not as bad as the living room-- for one thing, it's smaller. It looks almost like a study or something, except that instead of books on the shelves, there are countless little sculpted figurines of varying sizes, with the largest one about the size of one of Mamoru's hands. There are quite a few unfinished projects lying around on different surfaces, and what looks like one of those desktop zen rock garden gift sets, rake lying forgotten and smiley-face drawn in the sand.

Mamoru closes the door over, but doesn't let it latch. They can still hear the muffled din from the other room, and since there are no other doors out, the prince has a habit of making sure there is an accessible exit whenever he's alone with a girl he doesn't know well-- it's an automatic thing, and Lacrima can close it if she likes.

He sits on the edge of Jadeite's desk. "So what can I help you with? I was kind of surprised you wanted me instead of Kunzite..."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima enters into the room. She looks around and blinks a bit. This is an odd room. There's lots of unfinished art pieces. Her first instinct is 'Naru's designated guest bedroom'. But. This doesn't look like a Naru's guest room.

She doesn't close anything. She wants to be trusted right now. She even keeps her hands folded in front of her.

"Ah.. I would. Normally. Do that." she says. "Go to Kunzite. I mean." she says.

"I need. Someone with connections." she says. "And I know you have those." she says.

"But I will get to the point." she says.

"I have.. a friend. I consider him family." she says quietly. "A brother of sorts."

"His name is Eilam." she says. "He has a condition. He doesn't like talking about it, or people widely knowing about it." she says.

"The condition, is that he is eternally weak. He is immortal, but sick. He.. regenerates- everyday. He can die and he will be fine the next day." she says.

"So it is normal for him to be weak. And use a cane. and rest often. But..."

"Something. Is stealing his energy. What little he has. He is actually dead by the end of the day on some days. Like I said he wakes up the next morning. But..."

"This is not normal. He usually doesn't 'die' unless he actually ... wills it. Puts himself in harms way. That sort of thing. He is scared. He came to me for help." she says.

"I know there is something external acting on him. Draining him. I can sense it." she says.

"I don't know what. Or how." she says.

"I would... take him. To Riventon's Labs." she says. "But." she says. "Eilam doesn't want anyone like that to have ... information. On him. So I can't do that."

"I'm at the end of what I can do personally. I need. Help." she says quietly. "Someone who can-- help. Divine.. scan... figure out. What's hurting him and how to best stop it." she says quietly.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's quiet as he listens, hands draped loosely over his knee; he's attentive and serious. When Lacrima finishes, his brows are furrowed, and he looks down, thinking. "The thing is," he finally says, "Kunzite's the one who's good with detecting energy, with tracing it. Sailor Mercury had some kind of apparatus set up to do something like that, too, when those pink space flowers were draining energy and we didn't know where it was going -- but she's working with Riventon right now, so that's not going to wash for Eilam."

He glances up, eyes bright. "I'm a psychometrist, not a diviner-- and our ritual diviner is currently incommunicado. I'll go looking for potential alternate solutions-- I just..."

He pauses, then reaches up to rub the back of his neck. "Any way you look at it, your friend's going to have to let more people than just you know what's going on. I can make sure nobody who might have ulterior motives would be working with him, but it's still going to have to be up to him to work with anyone. Does he know you're asking outside for help?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima purses her lips. "He knows yes. That I am trying to aquire help." she says. She listens and frowns just a little. "Kunzite can do that? I can ask him then, if he's willing to help." she says softly.

"I've come to you, because you are a face." she says quietly. "..this.. isn't meant to be a demeaning term. Just. There is a big difference. Between you asking people to possibly help with a thing... and me asking the same people." she says. "If.. you understand what I'm trying to say? Between a.. reputation and.. my general demeanor..."

"Yes. Please. Look for alternate soultions. Ask around?...please? I'm sorry. If. This is trouble. For me asking. I know I don't... have a right to your time." she says.

"You can even say 'no'." she says. "But I appreciate even you taking the time out here." she says.

"Kunzite. Then. And. Who is your... Diviner?" she asks curiously.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"We can both ask Kunzite," Mamoru decides after Lacrima's first question and musing, "because I'm in, too, and for this kind of thing, I think we're a package deal." And then she goes on to explain why she came to Mamoru specifically, and his eyes widen.

How things have changed in the last two years. He'll never forget what making friends has done for him-- nor what it was like before he had them. And the way Lacrima puts it--

--and the way Lacrima puts herself, and the 'a right to his time'-- because of all of what she says there, it's not just his eyes widening. When he's serious, Mamoru's reactions are more reserved, but they're no less expressive. He is an empath, and even lacking touch, he understands other people's troubles with his gut, other people's hurts with his heart. He's also had two mimosas, so his eyes are actually, in fact, glistening to go along with the nearly stricken look he has.

"S-sailor Mars," he answers the last question, finally, and then--

--his arms make the abortive beginning of a motion at coming up, and he clasps them tightly on his knee, restraining himself. "Lacrima," he says in a low voice, "I will do everything I can. What good is a good reputation otherwise? And-- if you don't have a right to my time, then it's not because of who you are or anything you've done, it's just that no one has a right to anyone's time; people agree to give time if it's something they can give and want to. And maybe you don't believe me, but I like you a lot and I do want to help you. You're trying to do a very good thing for someone in need, and you're putting yourself out there to do it, you're putting yourself on the line. That's a compassionate thing, a loving thing-- and that's what this universe needs more of. And I really want to hug you and I don't know if that's okay."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima listens, unlike Mamoru, who shows a lot emotion, in his face and emotions... it's harder for Lacrima. She looks more stoic and deadpan and her tone shifts from a worrid tone to neutral easily enough. She can worry. Worry breeds anxiety. Anxiety is powerful stuff. She gently head tilts. It is one of her many odd stilted motions she makes. A reminder of something trying to be human and mostly succeeding. Somewhat, for visible purposes.

"I had this talk. With Kunzite already." she says. "It is easy for me to... 'care' when my own feelings are at risk." she says. "And he said that--- caring-- about someone- because your own feelings may be hurt- was valid." she says. "-and I am fond of Eilam-kun." she says.

She listens. Mamoru moves to make that abortive motion and she tenses and is about to say something when he actually stops himself and she untenses.

"I feel as if that is wrong though." she says. "Because. I do remember. 'Caring' without it also being... selfish." she says. "And I remember many other things." she says. "-and if you want to take that it is... loving... away from it... I can't stop you." she says.

"I am confused. As it is. I have a girlfriend. Who loves me. But I cannot love her back. And she knows this. I wonder how long she will put up with that." she says. "...and I have Eilam-kun. Coming to me on Christmas. With a ring- that belongs to the first person he loved long ago- who was not as undying as he was. Asking to be partners... wether that meant... love. Or family." she says quietly. "And he knows I cannot love back. But he doesn't care, because he cares that I am a friend, and have a similar condition as he does. A constant- that he wants." she says.

"...I am rambling now." she says.

"I will allow you to hug me." she says softly. "But." she says. "I do not know... what will happen. If you touch me. I feel .. in control? I am not 'hungry' right now. In that sense. But. Considering. Last time." she says silently.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's expression turns into a faint smile, rueful. "I'm good at touching without making skin contact; I've had to be, for the better part of my life. But there's no point in giving you a hug if it's not a comforting thing to you, if it would only cause you anxiety instead." His hands stay where they are; he stays where he is. And his smile's a little more pronounced, if a little more lopsided. "Kunzite is right, though. You're essentially made of dark energy, aren't you? The fact that you can have attachments like that, that you're willing to take risks to ensure the well-being of the attachments you have even if they don't match what you remember as love-- that's a testament to the strength of who you still are. It's still love, I promise, even if it feels different, even if you think it's selfish. Love can be very selfish. And it's well worth nurturing; if tended, it will grow and it will triumph, because that's its nature." He gets much quieter. "It's how we saved Kunzite, in the end. It's how he keeps saving himself, more and more."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. "I am maybe a day or so from becoming a common youma if I decide not to feed tommrow, yes." she says. "But that's never a permenant state." she says. "I don't know what happens when I'm like that-- not completely." she says. "I've.. 'come to'?.. before. In the middle of things. I get the impression I am not as careful with my feeding when I am like that. It's why it's... important for me. To be fed. I can either be in control. When I attack people. And leave them unconcious at worse. Or. I could be a mindless creature that may not very well care if I leave them alive." she says.

She sighs. "If.. you say so?" she says. She doesn't honestly know what to say. It isn't a statement of disagreement more of: 'I don't really have a good counter argument to it besides I just don't feel like that's right because I'm a pesimism elemental.'.

"Kunzite." she says quietly. "Had a few benefits I do not." she says. "I've accepted that... I will not be 'human' again." she says. "Now I'm just trying to. Find. Ways?... Like..." she motions to her braclet. "Riventon-sama. Made this." she says. "It's a-- flow. Control. Of sorts. Before it. I was.. burning energy to fast." she says.

"Kunzite seems to know when. I am joking- or trying to. But. I listen to him. And he has about as much emotion in his voice as I do sometimes."

A pause. "I am off topic again. I apologize. My mind wanders." she says.

"I will. Think on that statement. At least." she relents.

A pause. "Kunzite, knows how to contact me. He has my number and my text. I should be going. The text I got earlier was from Natsumi-chan, and she got back from where she was for New Years." she says quietly.

She begins to turn to leave and then pauses and turns around.

"Right. Thank you." she says properly. "For trying. I mean. To find someone. To help my friend." she says.

She turns back towards the door and begins to walk out.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"...Lacrima," Mamoru says from the desk, looking at the floor. "Let me give you my number. And--"

He pauses. He shifts. He opens his mouth to say something, then pauses again, and finally he looks up and turns around. "Can I feed you? Before tomorrow? While you're still very much in control, while you're not hungry, so you don't get hungry? Kunzite's just in the other room, and so's Nephrite, and Zoisite and Jadeite and Apatite are close by, and they'll know if I'm distressed and be able to come stop it if you lose control. And-- and I'm down a bit already, and I'm not actually-- I'm not on the ground, so it's-- it shouldn't be such an overwhelming temptation."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima pauses and turns around. "I do not know if that is wise." she says quietly. "But..." she says. "I. Will try." she says as she steps back into the room and sighs a bit. The sigh isn't one of annoyance- it's more of confusion and frustration that seems to come from around her.

"I will. Touch lightly. If. It gets more. Than 'lightly'. You. Call someone? Please."

"In fact. I would feel more comfortable if there was someone who knew ahead of time. Because. If I drain you unconcious, you are not awake to stop the onslaught." she says frankly.

"..do you understand?" she asks softly. More of a concerning tone than asking if he understands- like he was five.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's a look of relief on Mamoru's face, oddly enough, when Lacrima stops and turns around-- and listens-- and accepts. And he gives her a huge, brilliant smile. "Yes, I understand," he says, and -- well it's not like he's keeping it a secret from Kunzite, it's not like he'd be able to, but Kunzite's much less likely to come in and object and offer to take Mamoru's place if he sees Zoisite going in -- he calls Zoisite with that connection in his heart and head, a gentle sheepish tug.

It's just that as he goes to tug, he finds exactly how close Zoisite already is, and the expression on his face then is basically priceless: mixed gratitude and annoyance and appreciation and amusement. "...come in, Zoi. I'm sure you heard me offer, so you know that even if she loses control it's still not an attack, and you just pull her off of me if I pass out and she doesn't stop, right? Because she's not breaking the rules. She warned me and I'm accepting the risks with knowing the potential consequence. Kunzite's only going to be annoyed with me."

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite walks in, looking between Mamoru and Lacrima for a moment before sighing in exasperation. "You realize, if she loses control and hurts you, that hurts us, right? And Usagi?" He's not saying no, he's just voicing why Mamoru should be cautious about this sort of thing. Still... Still, if Mamoru's already decided to do this, no reason he can't have one of his Shitennou making sure he's safe, during.

Zoisite sits down, looking somewhere between irritated and amused, chin in hand.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru leans over from where he's sitting on Jadeite's desk, leaaaans, and bumps Zoisite's bright-haired head lightly with his own. "And that's why you're here to stop it before she hurts me. I know what it feels like already." Which means he can block the sensation from the link. "So it's okay if I pass out but it's not okay if she doesn't stop there. I'll wake up in under a minute anyway."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima looks to Zoisite and she gives him an apprasing look. Eyes look down to his feet. Eyes look back up to his front. "Ah. You are... very pretty?" she asks. "I am not sure if that is the right word. I apologize." she says in her usual deadpan stilt.

"Thank you. Then." she says softly.

She steps forward and gently touches her hand-----well she's kind of awkwardly wondering where to place her hand. Chest or stomach seem too personal. Her hand goes forward and back before she decides to rest it comfortably on his right shoulder. It does not immediatly start a drain. Nor does she get any visible reaction from the touch. Okay. That's good. She thinks.

"Okay." she says. "I am starting now."

"Drenaje." the word.

She narrows her eyes a little, as her hand glows that purple aura and sort of recks of darkness drain. It then passes onto Mamoru fairly quickly.

It stings. But it isn't quite the full on hard drain he got before. This is more similar to the one Naru would had described. Slow. Stinging. Like Ice crystals forming in your skin, in your blood. Like your senses are being attacked by something.

Her hand remains flat. It does twitch a little. She seems concinous of this. So far... so good.

"This is... how I drain slow. It is a little painful. I apologize." she says.

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite shrugs. "Pretty's an appropriate word." Especially considering he's a mercurial shapeshifter who has no qualms about assuming a female form, and is even comfortable sitting around as a pretty lady. He simply nods to Mamoru's statement- and if Lacrima isn't willing to break the connection by being physically separated... well.

Not that he thinks it will come to that, but his cat-green gaze is steady, flinty, as he observes the whole process going on.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The idiot prince has, for starters, a high pain tolerance. Additionally, he literally does not actually mind being in pain: there are reasons beyond wanting to protect other people that he used to continually jump on grenades, so to speak. So, starting out like this, with the slow stinging icy drain--? Mamoru doesn't even have to block anything from the link, since he's not in any distress at all.

He watches Lacrima almost steadily, only occasionally glancing at Zoisite to see his reactions. His voice is mild. "I forgot you can do it through clothing. It makes sense -- I can transfer energy through henshined gloves, it's just much easier if it's skin-to-skin contact. And I seem to need that contact in order to heal, and to do other things-- but that really might just be a crutch. I've had too much to do to test and practice, lately..."

Then Mamoru laughs. He's very still, otherwise. "Now I'm rambling, sorry. You're fine. It's very cold, but, well. I'm used to that. And the rest isn't nearly as bad as teleporting." She's not stripping him of his identity, of his connections. She can share from them if she wants to-- in the background, because of his experiences reconstructing himself after her attack, he's able to work on basically constructing a pre-packaged ball of concentrated humanity/connection/identity for her. He's working on it. He'll leave it where she can easily find it once he's done.

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite flashes Mamoru a knowing look for a moment. "That's because you're an idiot." It's said with great affection lurking underneat the lazy-cat disinterest.

"And teleporting isn't normally that bad, unless you're... you." It's said without explanation for Lacrima's benefit, but he's pretty sure Mamoru's unique position and relationship with the giant mass of water, rock, and molten metal they are zooming around the sun at one-hundred-eight-thousand kilomiters an hour on has something to do with his teleportation sickness. There's a sense of lazy, languid predator watching them, rather like a large lion basking in the sun. There was the appearance of idle laziness, an appearance that masked the fact that large fangs and claws lurked beneath.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima is relivied, if not obviously, that Zoisite's prescene is palpable. It gives her another reason to keep focused. To not let the drain run wild. She taps into that little pool of humanity that Mamoru is brewing up and she closes her eyes a moment as she mutters something under her breath. Mamoru can feel those fingers inch in just a little-- but she pulls them back.

"I just need to make contact." she pauses. "I don't teleport so much as. Enter the Dusk Zone. And come out someplace else." a pause. "But you'd understand what that's like. If you remember." she says.

"I feel more comfortable there. Than on Earth." she says silently. "Less like. Everything is a danger to me." she says. "On some base level."

She gently pushes the drain a little further. Not too much. Perhaps testing how far she can go.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The sideeye that Mamoru gives Zoisite for the 'idiot' comment is accompanied, maturely enough, by the prince's tongue sticking out at him for a second. And then he shrugs at Lacrima, "I get sick when Earth is out of reach to me. Everything feels gone-- like I'm a brain in a jar, practically. And yeah, I remember what teleporting was like through the Dusk Zone." He doesn't elaborate, just confirms her expectation. And then he laughs for no reason Zoisite can see and sighs. "Wait until I'm done filling it up," he tells her, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. "New Year's present."

He doesn't snatch it away from Lacrima-- he doesn't want her hissing-- but he speeds up the process of sectioning off a pocket of what Lacrima likes best, and then hastily relinquishes it to her. It's like a ferrero rocher of her favorite kinds of energy. The rest of that, though, he keeps firmly locked away -- and it's his normal energy, life and magic mixed with the mildly attenuated connection to the earth that he has so high off the ground, that she has free reign to take.

The only visible reaction to Lacrima's gentle push, her widening of the channel from drink stirrer to milkshake straw, is that Mamoru sits up a little straighter. The invisible effect is that he does have to start suppressing the link because it begins to become uncomfortable, and he doesn't want Usagi and the Shitennou to feel his reaction to that.

After a couple of seconds of it, he closes his eyes, brow furrowing. "If you could either go back to slower, or just take the rest of what you need all at once, I think I'd prefer that."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima purses her lips. "I'll take it all at once then." a pause. "Right. You'll. Most likely. Fall unconcious." she says as she spreads her hands a little wider and then just... lets it jolt. The purple flares hard- and fast and sudden as she just takes everything (that she can rearch. Mamoru can probably feel the /impact/ of drain trying to claw deeper but his defenses are obviously steeled enough she isn't getting past that.). This is more similar to how she'd normally drain someone on the street.

The flare lasts for about five seconds before it just bursts off-- the point where it's taken all she can.

She'll pause a moment to see if Mamoru managed to actually stay concicous during that. Probably not. That was as fast and as strong as it gets from her.

Regardless. She's certain it was enough to alert. Or maybe for others to feel.

"I should.. go then." she says softly.

She politely says as... Mamoru begins to fall and she lets Zoi handle it from here. "Yes. I should go..."

"Can you please. Thank him again? For me? Zoi? When he wakes up?" she asks politely. "Thank you." she says.

She then walk into a corner of the room, a dark cloak sort of engulfing her and leaving behind nothing as she skips off into the Dusk Zone to 'Out of Unaware-Shittenou range'.

So basically Clevland, OH at this point maybe. (Actually. Just back to her Manor.)

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"That's fine," Mamoru says, something like relief in his voice; he shifts to lean slightly in Zoisite's direction as Lacrima spreads her hands, and then that purple flares and he goes sharply rigid; his knuckles go white on the edge of the desk as he concentrates all of his focus on blocking his link with his loved ones. There's no fear, only endurance and will, and that five seconds is all he can force as he feels his senses and warmth and energy ripped away.

There is always that lock on the door of his personal stash of life energy; it's always the magic in front of it that goes first, whether it's taken from him or he uses it up himself. There is that cautionary lock on his planetary connection-- and the heavy lock he set up on his identity and humanity after Lacrima shattered him the last time. It's just that the locks go when his consciousness does--

--and it does, so Lacrima sees his face go slack and all his tension vanish as he topples toward Zoisite, limp as a ragdoll.

Kunzite has posed:
It takes seconds.

Four of them, to be precise. Which still makes having crossed the distance on foot both less alarming to guests and, more importantly, faster than having changed and teleported.

Instead the change was made with his hand on the doorhandle, fast and sharp, and even before Kunzite enters it the room grows a shade or two darker, the temperature drops half a degree. His shadows drawn up enough to let him feel other active sources of energy ...

... himself, Zoisite, Mamoru, the lights, the electrical sockets. A couple of stray batteries.

No Lacrima. No Riventon.

He lets out a breath, short and sharp; but his movement when he turns to Zoisite is smooth, his motions controlled as he crosses the distance. Tone calm. Words deliberately chosen. "Care to tell me what happened?"

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite catches his (stupid, idiot) prince, carefully trying to rearrange the metaphorical sack of wet corn so he's less awkward. The shorter teenager drags the both of them to sit (or lay, in Mamoru's case) down. He is grumbling internally at Mamoru, but doesn't voice his complaints.

...Until Kunzite bursts in. Then Zoi comments. "Lacrima came by- and Mamoru volunteered to let her feed on him. He had me nearby to interrupt things if she started going too far, but that didn't need to happen. She fed, he passed out, she left." There's a battery-acid tone in his voice, expressing exactly how he feels about the whole thing.

Kunzite has posed:
The reaction that Kunzite had expected, and had deliberately left an opening for, was Zoisite deciding that the answer was 'No' and flickering out like the imp he is. That he gets an answer tells him almost as much as the tone does. And the details that the words provide --

There is an instant of quietly lethal stillness. It finds no target -- it might have, if Zoisite's presence were not enough to defuse the less rational part of it -- and he breathes out again, longer this time. His voice is not raised when he speaks. Is lower, in fact. "Idiots. Both of them. But more his fault than hers; I didn't tell her why that was a terrible idea when I warned her off."

He settles down on one knee beside the two of them. "Shall I take him from here? Or would you prefer being the first to shout at him when he wakes up?"

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite rolls his eyes, carefully offering his Prince up. "You do it. I'm pretty sure he's already well-aware of how much I dislike the idea." And equally aware that Zoisite knows he has a stubborn, idiot prince that he wouldn't be able to talk out of idiot ideas at times.

Why are the people he cares about most always responsible for stupid ideas?

"I definitely wouldn't mind you yelling at him a little extra on my behalf, though."

Kunzite has posed:
There are things that are not neglected in the transfer of unconscious royalty. A hand touching Zoisite's; a lean to brush a kiss against Zoisite's cheek if he can manage it, his hair otherwise. "A little extra. I won't be able to match your style, but I think I can manage not to disappoint you."

He gives Zoisite long enough to get clear; and then darkness swells around him and Mamoru, and when it fades, as usual, they're both gone. Off to the palaces, where their idiot prince might recover a little faster.

If Kunzite is lucky, Mamoru may even have been sufficiently far gone yet for that not to have mildly disastrous consequences of its own.