View source for 1339/Things to Talk About in Public II

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/10
|Location=Uminari City - Minami Mart
|Synopsis=While grocery-shopping for a small army, Naru and Kyouko and Mamoru (trailed by the stealthiest white-haired 6'2
|Cast of Characters=38,127,78,109
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>So there's shopping being done for Makoto for more of the amazings she is making for everyone working on Usagi's house; at the rate everyone's going, even despite the setback of Mamoru now generally trying to keep away so that Fiore doesn't party crash, they should be done in a week and a half, maybe two.<br /><br />Mamoru tagged Naru for the purposes of Usagi-surprise-treat-selection, and Kyouko for both bodyguarding and volume of grocery estimations; Kazuo's doing the wide-sweep part of the secret service routine Kyouko's doing the short-range part of, and generally staying out of sight. (In fact, Naru and Kyouko probably don't even know he's around!)<br /><br />''Mamoru is okay with this.''<br /><br />Obviously significant progress has been made in the 'let us goddamn protect you' department.<br /><br />The shopping cart is already half filled; the trunk of Mamoru's car is, thankfully, big enough to fit everything-- especially considering it's a Tesla, so 'under the hood' is ''also'' free space for putting stuff in.<br /><br />"Sorry in advance," the tall black-haired teenager's telling both Kyouko and Naru as he goes down the Makoto-provided checklist, "if my latest stalker shows up here. Because the quickest way for us to get out is gonna be overt magic to chase bystanders away, then distracting hell out of him while I prep to teleport us. And," he says, looking up and looking very serious, "I am garbage tier at teleportation."

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Did we remember to get caramel chips?" Naru asks as she holds the list and then peers into the cart to ensure her current sugar objective. "I've heard about your teleportation skills, and if you're teleporting, we should pick up some candied ginger too." She comments almost absently as she goes back to examining the list. "Has your stalker turned up since you mentioned it over milkshakes, Endy? Or is this a new one?"

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko agreed to come along on a shopping trip because she was asked nicely, and because she hasn't seen Mamoru as much as she would have liked since he came back from being evil. Don't get me wrong, she of course takes bodyguarding him pretty seriously- just not as seriously as the real-deal Shitennou, probably only because she's more apt to say 'a trip to the store? ehhh, he'll be fine.' But Kunzite asked her to go and Mamoru asked her to go, and on top of that she's been feeling kind of bad about not being able to help much on Usagi's house- she just doesn't have that much time, between working basically full-time at the conbenie and hunting Witches by night.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So here she is, although she doesn't look particularly thrilled about the actual shopping part. She likes the ''results'' of shopping- delicious food. It's just the actual shopping part is kind of boring, especially considering that she spends most of her waking hours in a store anyway.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She's been branching her wardrobe out lately, finally having reached the point where she has enough money from her constant working to feel justified in buying more than one outfit. She's wearing a black skirt and black tights, with a slightly oversized turtleneck sweater-type deal over top of it. It says 'Pocky' on the front because of course it does. She walks down the aisle of the mart with her arms behind her head and a stick of selfsame Pocky hanging out of the corner of her mouth, eyeing the various items on the shelves but mostly letting Mamoru and Naru do the actual picking-of-items, unless specifically asked for her opinion.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"No worries." She comments laconically to Mamoru as he presents his advance apology. "I'm good at distracting. Sometimes they even survive the distraction." She eyes Naru as the girl speaks, having only just met her. She seems so.. normal, it's a bit bizarre. But Usagi and Mamoru seem to like her so Kyouko assumes she must be alright.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Yeah, caramel chips are in the front part of the cart, under all the chocolate," Mamoru says, gesturing in their direction as he nudges the increasingly unwieldy cart along. "We can get ginger, but I've got gravol on me, and at this point whenever I'm anywhere but the palaces, I'm pretty much taking it every four hours." He isn't looking at either of them as he says this, and his tone's pretty neutral. It's practical (if not recommended longterm) but dear god, an allergy to one's own power is embarrassing.<br /><br />"And yeah, he's turned up a couple more times. Last time I was just outside a clothes store everyone else was in, and the situation ended up with three people in henshin on the street and a lot of screaming, so..." He tosses another thing in the cart and checks it off the list. "Same stalker."<br /><br />He glances at Kyouko, eyebrows lifted. "Listen, if it comes to it, distract him but don't let go of me, right? Because he's really absurdly strong. I mean, I know you offered to kill him for me, but that's not really ideal either. He's not straight-up evil, he's-- it's like what happened with us. Except not the Dark Kingdom doing it, they're gone. No idea what he's got, but it's editing him as he goes, just like they did. And he ''was'' a friend, and I don't--"<br /><br />He was about to say 'I don't have many of those', but it's not true anymore. Instead he just shrugs. "You know how I am."<br /><br />Sentimental.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"And you haven't faceplanted asleep? Man. /Half/ a gravol and I'm asleep for a solid twelve hours." Naru whistles softly, impressed in spite of the many many MANY ways in which their body chemistry might differ. Just a /smidge/.<br /><br />Naru reaches forward to move the edge of an econo bag of chocolate chips just to confirm the existance of the other chips and then asks casually. "What's henshin?" She lets the bag of chips settle back down and then goes back to going over the list. "This reads like we're aiming to feed an army for a month, you know. /Damn/ you guys can eat." She looks at the shelf and then back at the list. "Mmmm. They're out of garlic flavour. Regular okay?"<br /><br />Naru comes up on tip toe, trying to see the very back of the shelf, on a hunt for the sold out sauce before she adds her next question. "There's things that aren't the Dark Kingdom that turn people evil? Can you guys fix him too? Or not sure 'til you know what it is?"

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Man, no offense and I ain't really in a position to talk, Mamoru, but what the hell is it with you and friends getting brainwashed?" Kyouko asks, still sauntering along behind the cart. Her tone is more light-hearted than the subject deserves, indicating that her protest is more for the sake of it than because she intends to disagree.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Fine, fine, I'll be good, but we're gonna have to do somethin' about this guy sooner or later. We can't have you afraid to go outside ''or'' this dude causing a level 3 shitstorm every time he shows up forever." She sighs, and then grumbles under her breath, "I swear, everybody loves Mamoru. Nobody ever stalks Kyouko.. I'm starting to miss Miss White."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Henshin is like super-power-time." Kyouko tells Naru absently, and then adds, "All sorts o' things turn people evil. Money, drugs, dark energy, you name it. Usually the cure depends on the cause."

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"They ''do'' make a 'less drowsy' version," Mamoru points out, but that's all he says on the matter-- he's not about to argue body chemistry either.<br /><br />Kyouko beats him to the henshin question, but most of the rest of what she says just makes him start laughing, and he shoves her shoulder very lightly. "I don't ''know'', it's really aggravating. Maybe I should come with a warning label: friendship side effects may include increased risk of kidnapping, mind control, brainwashing, apocalypse, injury, bad teleportation, and exposure to alphabetized spice racks."<br /><br />"Yeah," Mamoru says to regular flavor. As he hands Naru the list and glances over her shoulder, then turns away to pick up a few boxes of something arcane, he notes, "We kind of ''are'' feeding a small army. I mean, you've seen the way Usako eats. Then add my guys and her girls and our friends and all their appetites-- you should come by while we're working on the house. There are a lot of ways you can help -- you can also just hang out and draw people working if you want. Everyone likes portraits."<br /><br />The last question's voiced and partway answered, and the prince adds, "Well, there's bad decisons and gradual moral slippery slopes corruption, and then there's externally imposed magical corruption. The latter seems to have certain indicators which can help identify it. And I'm discussing mind control red flags casually, send help."

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Naru ohs! at Kyouko's explination. "I didn't realize there was a name for it. Cool!" She reaches her arm to try and capture the very last jars at the very very back of the shelf. "No one stalks me either, if that makes you feel better Kyouko. I think you're probably more stalk worthy than I am, though. I could stalk you if you wanted?" She offers, turning an almost impish little smile over to the other girl.<br /><br />Naru doesn't comment on the prevelence of getting brainwashed, she hasn't quite finished her frequent victim card yet!<br /><br />"Well /right/, I mean.. money, drugs, just despicable people are a whole different kettle of fish than magical corruption." She giggles softly at Mamoru's last. "It seems a better idea to discuss them casually than have to try and work out how to mention them /after/ the fact, doesn't it?" She hands him a couple of jars of sauce and then nods. "I'd like to stop by, I'll bring cookies. Although you guys will have plenty of food." She gestures at the cart. "But I can probably help." She pauses just a moment and then asks. "All of your guys there? I don't think I've met all of them."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko sticks her tongue out playfully at Mamoru as he shoves her shoulder, but this makes her nearly lose the pocky stick she has hanging out of her mouth. With a low curse she spends a moment doing tongue-gymnastics until it is secured, then just chomps it down to make sure she doesn't lose it again, although a replacement is nabbed from the box in her pocket less than 30 seconds later.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Most of those things apply to any of us.. just seems the people you piss off favor brainwashing. Kinda a cheap trick, in my book. At least fight me face to face." As if she's one to talk, with 'stab you in the back when you aren't looking' as a favored tactic. She shakes her head, sending her immense ponytail shimmying, at the rest of Mamoru's explanation. "Still ain't gonna be able to fix it till you find out what's causing it, I bet."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Naru offers to stalk her, and without missing a beat, she replies, "My girlfriend can summon infinite swords, you're probably better off stalking someone else, but thanks."

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mamoru very nearly gets the top-and-back jars ''for'' Naru, but she hasn't asked for help and she's trying, and who's he to discourage trying? He grins when she manages to get them down, sticking them in the cart and sticking his tongue out very very sideways-surreptitiously at Kyouko in return, and is smug about it because no near-miss pocky loss.<br /><br />"It's not like more cookies would end up going to waste," he tells Naru with a laugh, pushing the cart around the aisle-end and into the produce section. Second-to-last stop before frozen. "And yeah. Every bit of unfortunate experience adds to potential prevention in the future. It's just I hate that it ''can'' be casual."<br /><br />It's kind of an unhappy look he gives Kyouko at her second-to-last remark. "No," he agrees. "We won't. And in the meantime, whatever he's doing to the planet, I'm seriously allergic to-- and when I asked him what he was doing to it, he said, uh--"<br /><br />A beat, and he's really interested in inspecting heads of lettuce for wilt and bugs. "'We're going to free you from it'. Since he doesn't seem to want to kill me, it sure as hell sounds like he's going to try to destroy it. I've gotta update Virtue on that, too."<br /><br />Finding the perfect head of lettuce seems to have gotten him his composure back, and he says staunchly, "Yes! YES. All my guys. I mean not all at the same time, but all of them. There's four."

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Oh that's really cool!" Naru doesn't seem terribly disconcerted by the prospect of girlfriends with infinite swords. "I'm a pretty harmless stalker. Well, I suspect I'd be. I've never stalked anyone before.. unless watching people in the park to draw them counts as stalking." She has to consider that and then runs her finger down the list. "Do you know if there was more preference for any particular kind of mushrooms? The list doesn't say." She eyes the cart again, as if the topic of conversation really is as casual as the weather, or that local sports team.<br /><br />"Free us from the planet? Or from.. something else?" Naru hrms softly as she moves towards the mushroom options. "That sounds pretty ominous. Who.. or what.. is Virtue?" She crosses lettuce off the list and then looks over to Mamo. "I've only /really/ met Zoisite. I mean, I've kinda met Kunzite, but I'm given to understand he's not like that usually, so it doesn't really count. And.. I bet everyone has a whole other set of names for me to forget too. Hrm." She considers that as she turns back to get a paper bag to put mushrooms in.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko makes a face at Mamoru behind Naru's back when he sticks his tongue out at her in return, then rolls her eyes at mention of destroying the planet. "Look, the planet ain't ever done me any great favors or nothin' but it's the only one we got.. I mean, I guess there's plenty of 'em out there, at least to hear some people talk, but until somebody lets me drive a spaceship it's all theoretical as far as I'm concerned."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"My point is just that blowing up the planet seems like going through an awful lot of trouble when you could just go to another one. What a douche." She pauses, then adds, "Not you, Captain Allergen. I mean, I get he's brainwashed and everything, but still."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Only got one name." Kyouko tells Naru helpfully. "Never really saw the point in the whole 'superhero identity' thing, but then again I ain't never had anybody to need to protect, either." Then she adds, "Virtue is like this big group-hug with special cellphones who like to moralize at you."

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I only moralize at Miss White!" protests Mamoru before pausing to eye the mushrooms. "Uh. I don't know? They're kind of all the same, aren't they? Kind of dirt-tasting when raw, kind of slimy and picking up the flavor of whatever's around them when they're cooked?" He makes a face. "I guess I moralize at monsters sometimes, but that's because it's funny. Usa's better at the speeches, anyway."<br /><br />Lost in thought for a second, is he, and then his mouth turns up at the corner and he glances sidelong at Naru. "Kunzite's other name's easy to remember, since he's the oldest and the boss of them. Kazuo Takeba."<br /><br />Finally, he just picks a thing of mushrooms at random and starts pushing the cart steadily; more stuff can get thrown in as they pass it. Er, carefully placed. Produce and all. Aggrieved, he tells Kyouko, "The point is all our friends and stuff are here. Also it's ''my'' planet. I ''can't'' just go somewhere else. I don't think I'm like the Senshi, I mean, they call on their guardian planets for power-- but they don't get effed up if they go to other dimensions. So even if he doesn't mean to destroy the Earth, I couldn't even go with him if I wanted to. And I don't want to."

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>A squint at Mamoru from Naru and a little harumph. "They are /not/ all the same. And they don't taste like dirt!" She protests and leans over to see what he chose and then reaches for a few more of another kind to add to the mix. For flavour.<br /><br />"I have neither powers, nor an alternate identity. I'm not very good at remembering everyone's names and other names. I should make myself a little cheat sheet, but then it seems rude to ask them to wait a moment while I consult a chart on what they should be called at any given time." She quirks a rueful little grin and a soft laugh, shaking her head. "Special moralizing cell phones? I think I'm really quite alright without having an alternate identity based on /that/." She crosses a few things off the list, listening to the pair of them discuss the pros and cons about going to other planets and how likely that is for Endy.<br /><br />Y'know, like you do while grocery shopping.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Mushrooms are awesome." Says Kyouko, champion of all non-toxic foodstuffs. "And they come from your precious Earth too, hypocrite." She busts Mamoru's chops a little, grinning while she says it, trollfang in evidence.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then she sighs. "Ahh, I know, I prob'ly wouldn't like it on other planets anyway, I bet they don't have Pockey /or/ apples." Speaking of the latter, she snags one off the pile as they pass by in the produce section, tossing it from hand to hand as she walks. "Don't worry, ain't nobody gonna blow up Earth, yours, mine, or otherwise, while I'm around." Such confidence!<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She nods in appreciation at Naru as the girl also defends Mushrooms, and then amends, "The cellphones don't moralize at you, the people with them do. Also writing down secret identities is a no-no cause then the badguys steal your list." She saw that on TV once.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"If the badguys are getting in your head /anyhow/ then they can yoink it from there as easily, or easier, than a list in my notebook." Naru points out pragmatically. Or at least as pragmatically as one can be about having one's memories pilfered by bad guys. "I'm not sure it really makes much difference, one way or another." She steers the cart towards the frozen foods section and the precious precious ice cream options.<br /><br />"I'd think things like.. atmosphere and habitable are bigger concerns than pocky and apples, but .. life without pocky and apples /would/ suck." Naru concurs with a little nod towards Kyouko and then a grin. "I have faith. I mean.. so far so good, right? You guys have got this. It'll all work out just /fine/."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"People get touchy about secret identities." Kyouko confides to Naru in a way that suggests she still doesn't really see the whole point, but is over trying to argue about it with people. When Naru affirms her opinion on the lack of Pocky and Apples, and then opines on how awesome she (and everyone else) is, Kyouko gives a toothy grin. "I like this girl, Mamoru, she seems to know the deal." There's just a hint more swagger in her walk as she follows the cart, which is saying something.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"They do get touchy, and I was in the dark.. well basically forever.. so I dont' want to go back to getting left out." Naru comments casually, pausing in front of the ice cream freezer. She doesn't even look at the list to see if its on there. She's shopping, there will be ice cream at the house.<br /><br />"Well, I can't help in /real/ ways. But I can in all the little ways, like having faith so that Usagi doesn't have to worry quite so much. Pit crew." She explains, even if the explination isn't probably all that helpful.<br /><br />The sigh is longsuffering. "There's never any tiger tail. It's like no one even knows what it /is/." Naru laments as she considers ice cream flavours.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I'll eat mushrooms, they just aren't exceptionally appealing," grumbles Mamoru, then grins at Kyouko. "I can't claim credit. She's been Usa's best friend since they were teething or something." Then he glances left and right before standing on the bar and pushing himself up on the handle, leaning over forwards a little -- and zooming up the wide aisle.<br /><br />There is no doubt he will pretend it never happened in a minute. Even if Kunzite, lurking vigilantly, saw it. Denials six ways to Sunday.<br /><br />When the other two catch up to him, he's put a wide variety of apples in the cart and left the girls to get the other stuff in the aisle. Super considerate. "As far as I know, they can't get stuff out of your head when they put stuff in it. So unless you blurt stuff out, or a dumb damn memory-eating youma scarfs them up and then barfs them out later, your memories should be safe," he says conversationally. "And in my opionion, Naru-chan, the more you know about this stuff the safer you'll be. I mean now that you notice it, it's even more likely to notice you."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko nods her head solemnly to Mamoru's warnings. "That's true. That happened with Saya-chan. She was fine until she started getting mixed up in this kinda stuff, and before you know it things were comin' after her. She can handle herself now, but I can't really recommend the path she took to anybody else, so.."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She snorts as Mamoru rides the cart down the aisle, catching up at a casual pace, still tossing the apple back and forth between her hands. "That reminds me, I've been thinking of getting a motorcycle lisence.."

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Well, I kinda noticed by getting kidnapped. Although not entirely on purpose, per se." Naru grins as Mamo glides down the aisle, following and snickering softly. "But yeah. Now that I know more, I see more, and .. well.. actually I dont think it's really noticed me much. Or if it has, /I/ haven't noticed it noticing me." She nods in agreement. "Usa and I have been besties since.. basically forever. I have /stories/." She adds with a sage and important nod that would probably make Usagi quake.<br /><br />"Good to know about getting in my head though." Naru considers that. "Usually I just end up stupid, I think. And kinda hazy around the edges, and confused. A lot of confused.. when they're in my head. Well not /in/ my head, but messing with my head."

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Mmf... yeah," says Mamoru, squinting down the aisle past the two girls, then looking very seriously at Naru. "If a long-eared white rat-rabbit-cat thing comes up to you and offers to grant a wish and turn you into a magical girl, don't freaking do it. The fine print is killer and he doesn't hand out the paperwork ahead of time. There are better ways. If you want to fight, let me know and I'll tell you about the options I know of. But-- even that's, like-- it's not something you should feel like you have to do because other people are doing it, and there are zero guarantees about making it to your twentieth birthday. If that."<br /><br />The cart turns the next aisle after Naru, and Mamoru starts getting a little more antsy. "I feel like we're pushing our luck. How much frozen stuff is needed? Should I buy an industrial-size freezer to fit all the ice cream we'll undoubtedly go through?" And then he does a classic doubletake at Kyouko. "Yo. You can pass for sixteen. Do you really think you can pass for eighteen? And a license is with the government-- it'd be a lot more complicated to fake all the documentation necessary, ''and'' get it placed properly, to get you an ID tight enough to pass the standards necessary to take the test. Are you sure you don't just want a fake license?"

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko sighs dramatically. "Fine, fine, I'll just get a fake lisence." She says, as if this is somehow better. "I mean, I already know how to ride one, I was just thinkin' it might be nice to actually have my own ride, y'know.. also, I'm turning fifteen in a month, I'll have you know." As if this makes any sort of difference.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She does look a little subdued, maybe even dour, as Mamoru comments on 'zero guarantees about making it to your twentieth birthday'. Thanks Mamoru- not that she's even afraid for herself. It's Saya-chan she worries about. But she's hardly ignorant of the risk, and she wouldn't have wanted Mamoru to lie to Naru about it either, so it's not like she can blame him for telling it like it is.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"White.. rabbit.. cat.. thing?" Naru uhhs softly and then nods. "No wish granting without reading the fine print.. wait.. better ways?" The crux of that statement starts to sink in. "We should probably talk about fighting or not, or better ways somewhere other than the grocery store." She gestures to the frozen foods. "I think just ice cream, and there's enough other sweets that we're not like to need /much/. Well comparatively speaking. There'll be other forms of sugar too." She looks at Kyouko and quirks her head a little. "Really? I feel so unskilled. I've no clue how to ride a motorcycle." She turns back to Mamoru and as she takes a tub of ice cream from the freezer, waggles it at him. "You guys /all/ have to make it to at least twenty, or I'll be seriously ticked. Got it?"

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mamoru just raises his eyebrows at Kyouko when she says she'll be fifteen in a month. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't ''have'' to.<br /><br />He also can't look at Kyouko's face while he's telling it like it is to Naru. Finally, though, at her initial set of responses to what he says, one corner of his mouth quirks up slightly. "Sure," he agrees easily. "We can talk about it later. My place or the palaces, either way." He gestures grandly at the cart for Naru to put the ice cream in it. "And with that, our trip is done. You want to come with now, or shall I drop you home?"<br /><br />The threat she makes just earns a half-smile and a noncommittal noise, because then they've got to unload everything from the cart at the checkout.<br /><br />There's a reason Mamoru's footing the bill.<br /><br />There's also a reason, implied by the cashier's interested questions about them having a party, that each grocery trip is at a different supermarket.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko just gives a little smile to Mamoru, then helps with the checkout before she starts to glance at the clock on the wall in the supermarket. "Hey, it's been fun an' all but I gotta run. Shift starts in fifteen minutes."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She leans up on tip-toes to give Mamoru a one-armed hug, looking him straight in the eyes and saying, "Stay safe, you hear me? We been through too much for you to go dyin' on me to some weird space-stalker." Then she winks at Naru. "Nice meetin' ya. See ya around, I'm sure." And with that, once the groceries are loaded into Mamoru's car, she will be on her way.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Groceries unloaded and repacked and loaded back into the car. Naru considers the coming along now, or later. "I wouldn't mind coming along now, but if I'd just be in the way, I can head home." She decides as she hefts a grocery bag into the trunk. She waves after Kyouko, calling after the girl. "Nice to have met you too!" She's a touch quieter, more thoughtful as she co-opts the cart to return to the cart corral.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mamoru's smile is more of a smirk at Kyouko when she hugs him-- and he gives her a quick one-armed hug back. "As if all you guys together wouldn't stop him," he scoffs. "No worries. See you later, and thanks!"<br /><br />Finishing loading the groceries with Naru, the prince shuts the hood of the Tesla and beeps his car started, leaning against the driver's side door, then opening it as she gets closer and flipping his seat forward. "Now is fine," he calls over. "You're going to have to ride in the back, though, tall people get auto-shotgun."

:'''{{#var:109|Kunzite| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Now is better. If we're being watched, he'd easily catch up with you on foot; but he might have more trouble with the car."<br /><br />The deep voice hasn't changed any since the last time Naru heard it; still casually calm, unemotional, unconcerned. The person it belongs to is still just as alarmingly tall, hair just as bone-white. He's lost the uniform, at least. But he really could have made more reassuring a reintroduction than simply being a couple of feet away when Naru turned back from the corral toward the Tesla.

:'''{{#var:127|Naru Osaka| (127)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I am eternally and forever doomed to the back seat." Naru laments as she starts to turn back towards the car. She startles, visibly, at the familiar voice that evokes all sorts of memories of creepy. "Uh." She pauses and then blinks. "Hi." She ventures, suddenly shy in ways she rarely is with any of the others. "Right. Back seat /forever/." She mumbles softly, looking up at Kunzite's tall and then over to Mamoru and his lack of startle at Kunzite's abrupt appearance.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mamoru spreads his hands and gives Naru a somewhat helpless, somewhat amused look and an expansive shrug. "Sorry," he tells her. Then he gives the tall white-haired guy a Look. "''Rude,''" he tells him. Then to Naru, cheerfully, "Like I said, Kazuo Takeba. But obviously you've met! I promise he doesn't bite."<br /><br />As he ushers Naru into the car, he stage-whispers, "I haven't figured out his weakness in the food department yet, but I think Nephrite's working on that one on the sly."<br /><br />He will, in fact, let Naru pick the music. It's the least he can do on the city drive to his apartment.
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