View source for 3048/Selfie Guest Appearance

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/30
|Location=Earth Court Frat House - Roof
|Synopsis=New Year's side scene: Kazuo has a present for Usagi.
|Cast of Characters=109,58
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The heated tent on the roof is a dancefloor of sorts for the evening, filled with the mingled scents of roses and pine and spicy orange clove. And Usagi and Mamoru have been up here, her in her pretty pink dress and him in white tie that he had to actually ''put on step by step,'' for long enough that --<br /><br />-- honestly, for long enough that Mamoru is downstairs fetching pastries and nonalcoholic drinks, because the drinks actually ''up'' here are generally not conducive to keeping one's balance. And Usagi has fallen from this height once, with a balcony and a Mamoru in tow, and nobody wants there to be a second time.<br /><br />Kazuo is presumably not assigned to keep Usagi away from the alcohol, because 'Kazuo' and 'saying no to Usagi' do not have a whole lot of overlap. He does, however, step up beside her as Mamoru heads down the stairs. "While you have a moment," he says, "I have something for you. I hope it's not too presumptuous."<br /><br />Of ''course'' the little box he offers her is wrapped in pink.

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Usagi is being good. ''Very'' good. She is ''not'' eyeballing the cider or the other yummy looking drinks that will make her wobble and tipsy turvy, wondering if her tolerance has increased from a few sips to maybe half a glass. That would be nice!<br /><br />She is also ''not'' wondering if she should Serenity just so she can have a taste test. (Because, after all, when she unSerenities, there would ''still'' be a wobbly tipsy turvy bunny!)<br /><br />She's enjoying, oddly enough, the bit of quiet. Of course, it's obvious to her why when she turns away from him for a second so she can grab a handful of flower petals from down the top of her dress. She's certain there's some still in her hair, but at least those don't ''itch.'' Readjustment before she turns back around!<br /><br />She's confused for a moment when he speaks. Something for her? Presumpting? But oh! Sparkly pretty pretty paper! Her eyes light up as she takes it, "Ooooo, what is it?" but then oh, wait!<br /><br />Her shoulders droop as she looks at him. "I only got you the card." She takes his hand and studies the bit of new ink he's sporting. "But goodness, you're good at this. I get impatient and half the tattoo stays on the paper!"

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>These experiments can happen! Just perhaps not quite this early in the night. Well, this middle in the night.<br /><br />Kazuo averts his eyes from the flower-petal-fetching; these things happen, one doesn't stare. Her touch and voice is enough of a cue to look back. And his other hand finds a drooping shoulder, resting there gently for a moment. "I'm sure that if I hadn't found a space Neil couldn't see me in, there would be spaceship debris all the way up my arm," he assures her gravely. "Besides. Being careful with is was the best way I could think of to show you that I appreciated the card. I don't --" He gives a little awkward shrug, letting his hand fall from her shoulder. Letting her keep the other one if she likes. "You know I don't do well with things. You and Mamoru are the collectors." ...and Neil. And Izumi. And Rei's manga. And, and, and.

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Or with a boyfriend who is enjoying social interactions with the help of a lack of his own sobriety. It would not do to have a staggering girlfriend trying to help a staggering boyfriend!<br /><br />She imagines a Kunzite trying to be discrete about his tattoo, only to be interupted by Nephrite. She giggles at the sudden image of Kunzite's eyes widening at being caught and dragging the bit of paper up his arm trying to keep it out of sight. "He would have had a lot to explain to mission control." Sage nod!<br /><br />For the time being Usagi keeps his other hand. He has nice hands! (Though he'd probably agree Mamoru's are better! Mutual bias!) "There are plently of things you do well with, though." She shrugs. "And what you call collecting, Mama calls it hoarding." Another sage nod! "I have birthday cards from when I was three. She had to get me a box to keep them in."<br /><br />Now she ''does'' release his hand, only so she can unwrap the little box! She looks at it with intense concentration, vowing to herself that this time she won't just rip it all off! Careful fingers work at the tape-<br /><br />Only for her to turn her head and ''sneeze'' out another flower petal. "Aw man! I was gonna put it in a scrap book!" Pouts for the now ripped paper! But then she's opening the box!

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"And how many times have you needed a larger box?" The teasing is gentle, always. Though someday Mamoru may need to be wary. Then again, the housing requirements for the lot of them are going to be ridiculous anyhow; housing Usagi's collection of Sentimental Value surely can't more than double it.<br /><br />Kazuo's mouth twitches at a corner at the woeful expression, and he pats one of her twintails lightly. "It's only paper," he says. "Though perhaps just for you I should go back to the way my father does things." Usagi's seen one of the guest-presents Hiroshi's brought on his earlier visits. Carefully and artfully wrapped in squares of brightly-patterned silk. This is probably not a way to discourage her.<br /><br />The box is plain white, no store or brand name adorning it. Inside, laid on a little layer of puffed cushioning, is a pendant on a chain. The frame of it is a heart-shaped, one half golden, one half white-gold. Curls inside the golden half support and contrast with tiny heart-cut diamond, silver-white and sparkling. Its mirror on the other half, vividly bright against the white gold, is an orange sapphire. The two are angled just enough to be set as if cuddled up against each other, the diamond more prominent by position, the orange more prominent by color, leaving the two of them equally bright overall.<br /><br />"There's -- another to match," Kazuo says, hesitant and awkward. Maybe over what he's saying. Maybe just over that giving a girl jewelry on Christmas would be easy to misinterpret. "For her. I hope that's all right. I know things haven't always gone as well as they might. But they've seemed to be getting better. Closer to how they should be."

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Only ''six.''" Hah! Take that smug! "...and then I almost have those others filled since I started dating Mamo-chan." Her eyes widen at the thought of pretty silk wrapped presents. "Ohhhhh." Sparkles in her eyes! "But ''then'' they'll be too pretty to open!"<br /><br />She looks down at the box and is quiet for a good several seconds. ''Oh!'' "But then I'd miss this." She doesn't misinterperet, mostly because those thoughts could lead to others, and it is just safer to avoid those altogether. She looks up at him, eyes glitters. "And look, Me-Gem is snuggling Mina-Gem!" Because of ''course'' it's all right.<br /><br />He, of course, gets a bunny launching at him for a hug. "Thank you, I love it." And a cheek peppered in kisses.<br /><br />Unfortunately for him, the self-proclaimed crybaby ways of one Usagi Tsukino hasn't vanished over the years. But ''fortunately'' for him, she turns around when she pulls away. "Can you put it on for me?"<br /><br />It is always better to have someone else do this. Self strangulation is not how she wishes to end the year.

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Launching at him for a hug results in Kazuo catching her and staggering back two steps, which disrupts one of the rose arrangements, which means ''he's'' going to be having to get petals out of his clothes later. But that's later. At the moment, he's occupied with supporting Usa so that his cheek is in fact in range of those kisses, and so that Usagi is being hugged properly in return. (One does not fail to hug an Usagi properly. There are ''consequences'' for that.)<br /><br />Pulling away gets her set carefully back down on her feet. "Yes," he says. "If you can help with your hair. I don't have enough hands to keep the chain clear of your hair and also to keep it from falling, let alone to handle the clasp at the same time." His hands rest on her shoulders again for a moment. Both of them. "I don't know how you manage it. Either help, or magic, I'm sure."<br /><br />(Pot, kettle, black.)

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There are ''severe'' concequences for not hugging an Usagi properly. Tears, quivering lips, hurt feelings. Or, if she fails to notice, pulled spleens.<br /><br />"Oh! Of course!" Both hands slide along her twintails, and with a few twists the entire length of her hair is now wrapped securely in her hands, out of the way and in no danger of getting caught in clasps. His own were nice and cozy on her shoulders. "I think when the other kids were learning how not to trip over air, I was learning how not to trip over hair. I'm sure there's some bit of magic involved, but it would explain the klutz."

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Most people recover from klutz." Kazuo threads the chain around her neck gently, keeping a fingertip inside it so that he can feel for himself if it's threatening to tighten. "With practice. You've been getting a lot of practice, the last couple of years." Not to mention that her height, and the lengths of her arms and legs, might have stabilized. He leans a little to doublecheck that the pendant falls naturally sparkles-outward, then fastens the clasp and lets go. "There. Is that a comfortable length?"

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>She considers that for a moment as she keeps her hair from spilling back down. "Well, I'm still pretty klutzy." Usagi thinks a bit more before perking up. "Oh, but I ''have'' been better about catching myself! I think I only fell down ''twice'' this month!"<br /><br />She shifts the hair into one hand before feeling where the pendant fell. (She can't properly see it looking down. She has tried this before!)"Oh, I think so!" It fell a bit yet not so far down the pendant could be accused of getting fresh.<br /><br />She turns so he could see, trying to do so herself despite knowing it wouldn't work.

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Twice in a month seems like a perfectly good average, for most people," Kazuo agrees. Has he ever associated with a 'most people' long enough to count? Hmmmmm. And then Usagi's turning, and he leans his head to inspect the pendant at a careful angle. Careful, because he doesn't want his line-of-sight to be accused of getting fresh, either. "Good, I think. Would you rather check? Should I find you a mirror?" The concept of 'oh hey cellphones exist' is not yet a reflex for him, no.

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I'm not sure if it is. It used to be twice that in a week, though." She hums. "''Then'' I started falling on then-highschool boys. He is a lot better at handling crying Usagis now."<br /><br />She is convinced that 'Usagi,' 'Kunzite,' and 'fresh' are three words that won't appear in the same sentence, unless it involves him trying to get her to eat fresh salad.<br /><br />A mirror would be good, but! "Oh, I have a better idea!" She pulls out her cellphone from her purse and opens the camera. There might be an 'accidental' picture of him before she manages to turn the camera to selfie mode. "Eeee! It looks great! Thank you so much, I love it!" He gets another hug! And maybe a guest appearance in an Usagi Selfie!

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It is probably ''possible'' to get Usagi to eat fresh salad. If there is either Mako or berries involved.<br /><br />Kazuo also refrains from doing anything that would suggest he even might possibly want to turn the cellphone with evidence of his having a spaceship on the back of his hand into salad. This, too, is a gift, and one that only Usagi receives.<br /><br />It goes along with the hug. "Careful putting that one on the Internet," he teases her -- gently, again. "You had enough people at your school wondering how many older boys you were going to date, when all I did was say hello after classes."

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>To be fair, Mako could make even ''salad'' appealing to Usagi. It's a gift! (Though not if it has carrots.)<br /><br />Fortunately for him, Usagi would have a reciprocative gift should anyone notice the dark bit of ink on his hand. 'What is that?' someone might ask. 'I spilled something and he helped me clean it up.' After all, telling people he put on a temporary tattoo would not be condusive to letting her cover him in stickers!<br /><br />"Ahhhh, about that..." She taps her fingertips against her cellphone and fails gloriously at looking completely innocent. She does, however, have the decency to look Very Guilty. "I might not have corrected ''everyone'' on that. Apparently, having ''two'' college age boyfriends makes even the creepiest of high school boys less likely to be creepy."

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kazuo's eyebrows climb. "Our break starts at a different time from yours," he observes. "Perhaps I should make an effort to stop by and escort you home more often." He pauses. "Well. To the Crown, anyhow, there's no sense risking unsettling your father more than necessary. Though I'd like to look in on your mother, I think." Kazuo is not one of Usagi's Nice Normal Friends, but he's still probably more parentally reassuring than a few people, at least if he remembers to dress properly for the purpose.

:'''{{#var:58|Usagi Tsukino| (58)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Her eyes widen. Oh dear! She hadn't meant to make him worry! "It's okay! I think any left over creeps are the idiots who thinks Mako-chan is scary." Idiots because obviously Makoto is one of the sweetest most ladylike people ''ever!''<br /><br />"Althooooough! Mama would probably invite you to stay for dinner, which wouldn't be bad! But then she might get maternal on you, which can be unsettling for some people. But oh! If you walk me to the Crown, we could play video games! I bet you'd beat my top scores."<br /><br />Her eyes grow wide and distant. "Oh, how I miss their milkshakes. It's been a whole day! And they closed early yesterday!"

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Soon. Soon enough. There will be milkshakes. And in the mean time, there are other kinds of ice cream." Also pastries, which Mamoru will be returning with any second now.<br /><br />Kazuo lets Usagi keep her delusions about his skill at video games for the moment. If only because her reaction when she sees him trying to play the Sailor V game for her will be ''priceless.'' And he's sure they can have someone who knows first aid nearby, just in case.
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