View source for 3264/At Least There's Cake

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/08/03
|Location=Earth Court Frat House
|Synopsis=Makoto brings some cakes to the ECFH, and chats with Kyouko about the Sailor Earth situation.
|Cast of Characters=42,78
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Like most of the regular visitors here, Makoto has long since learned that there's no point in knocking. Sometimes, though, you have to break the accepted protocol a little - such as when both of your hands are are occupied by toting baked goods and you have no way of letting yourself in.<br /><br />At the door of the frathouse, therefore, there comes the odd thump-thump-thump caused by someone resolting to knocking on the door with something not usually used for that purpose. A foot, perhaps, or an elbow. <br /><br />"Hello, Earth Court," Mako's voice calls a moment later. "Whoever gets the door for me has dibs on the first piece of cake!"<br /><br />She will, she thinks, feel pretty silly if nobody's home. ''Someone'' is usually home, though, and the promise of cake should be a good motivator.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A day or two after the latest Earth incident finds Kyouko in the ECFH. There's nothing unusual about this, nor about the t-shirt and jeans which is her ever-present 'I have work later' uniform. What is somewhat unusual is the pad of bandages wrapped around her midsection. They aren't too restrictive, though, if the speed by which she appears at the door at the mention of 'dibs on cake.'<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She pulls it open, and her face lights up at the sight of Mako-chan... or perhaps it's at the sight of the baked goods she's carrying. Let's say it's for Mako-chan, and not ask too many questions. "Hey!" She says, backing up to let the Senshi enter.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Is it my birthday again? Was I knocked unconscious for most of a year and nobody told me?" She jokes, as she unburdens Makoto of one of her packages. To her credit, she does transfer it to the counter without trying to run off with it.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>That it's Kyouko who appears to open the door is, let's face it, not a huge surprise. Makoto meets her with a grin and duly hands over one of the two tupperware cake caddies she's wrangling. It has a stickynote on the lid with 'For sharing~' written on it.<br /><br />"Well," she answers breezily, "it's ''a'' birthday, but I don't think you missed a year anywhere that I know of. You can have cake anyway."<br /><br />Because let's be honest, Makoto learned several years ago that it was never going to be enough to make just one cake for anybody's birthday, with this crowd.<br /><br />She follows Kyouko in, taking the remaining cake caddy to the kitchen. The note stuck to this one, should Kyouko steal a look, read 'Hands off! This is for Mamoru.' Mako busies herself trying to make some space for it in the refrigerator as she continues, "How are you doing?"

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Right, right, of course." Kyouko says, with mock-severity. She knows that it's Mamoru's birthday tomorrow, of course.. but that doesn't mean she can't eye the second cake with speculative envy. Still, that's all she does, because one Mako-cake is far better than none and farbeit from her to poach a cake from Mamoru on his birthday. She does peek into the caddy of the 'for sharing' cake while Makoto puts the other one in the fridge.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At the question of how she is doing, Kyouko glances back up, and shrugs. "Not bad. Miho.. have you met her? Anyway, she healed my ribs somewhat. They still aren't 100% but I should be there within a couple days. It's.. weird needing to rely on healing and not just heal up myself but. Guess I'll have to get used to it."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She pauses a moment, then asks, "How about you? You okay? Seemed like you knew that guy.. the one Earth was dressing up like a knight. He got out alright, yeah?"

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It's a pretty big cake, at least, dripping with chocolate glaze over smooth white icing like a giant marshmallow that's been dipped in chocolate syrup or something. <br /><br />Once Mamoru's reserved cake is stashed in the fridge, Mako straightens back up and turns to face Kyouko again. "Miho..." She echoes the name thoughtfully, before shaking her head. "Doesn't sound familiar, but I'm glad she helped fix you up."<br /><br />A shadow passes over Mako's face when Kyouko asks after herself. She turns away again, this time to rummage up a plate and a cake server. "Shinozaki-kun... I'm not sure what happened to him, after he was knocked out of the barrier. Honestly, I'm kind of worried. It didn't seem like we undid whatever she did to him, and I haven't been able to get hold of him." Which could be coincidence, but...

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko goes momentarily starry-eyed at the sight of the cake, but she manages to bring her attention back to Makoto when she starts talking again. "You haven't met her? Sweet kid, but she's a bit.." She pauses, searching for a word that doesn't sound too harsh. "Naive, I guess. Not her fault, she's new to the game. She joined Virtue, and she can heal."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko's face darkens faintly at the answer to her question, and she turns from the counter to walk over to Makoto and put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. "A friend of yours, then?" A faint scowl touches her face. "We'll figure it out and get him back, if she's still got him. As if we needed another reason to deal with Earth. I can't believe she got away."

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mako pauses in what she's doing when Kyouko comes over to her. She nods quietly at the description of Shinozaki as a friend, and summons a wan little smile. "Yeah. Shinozaki-kun - he and I were classmates at my old school, before I transferred to Seishou. I didn't have a lot of friends back then, you know?"<br /><br />The attempt at a smile slips away, and her expression darkens again. "He's a good guy. He doesn't deserve to have her using him like that." The breath goes out of her in a soft sigh; she shakes her head a little. "Not that anybody does, I guess. I can't believe she got away either, but you're right, we'll sort her out."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko quirks her lips to the side. "Yeah, I know what it's like to not have a lot of friends. Hell, I don't have a lot of friends ''now'', which is why I value the ones I do have so much.. which, in turn, is why I get pissed off when people mess with 'em." She squeezes Makoto's shoulder again, and then lets go, walking back to the counter to lean against it and cross her arms over her chest.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"At least she didn't seem interested in actually hurting him, if she wants him to be one of her 'knights'. That at least means we should have time to get him back." She sighs. "Although at this point, having time feels more like a negative thing, I just want this crap to be ''over''." She glances sideways at the cake, then moves to get some plates down from a cabinet.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"You and me both," Makoto agreed wryly. "I think that's what all of us want, by this point. Just gotta make her hold still long enough to take her beating." And hope Earth doesn't pick a fight with someone who's less scrupulous about not hurting her thralls in the meantime. She doesn't voice that thought out loud.<br /><br />Cake server located - and Kyouko's handling plates - Makoto forcibly redirects her train of thought by way of heading back to the cake. "At least that's the one good thing about this extra bullshit she's pulling - I'm pretty sure we'll feel her coming halfway across Tokyo, if last time was any sign." Brandishing the server almost in the act of cutting a slice, she pauses and glances toward Kyouko. "--you probably wanna cut your own piece, don't you."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko puts out some plates- several extra, because people are going to start wandering through at some point. They always do. She gives Makoto a toothy grin at the comment about cutting her own piece of cake. "I trust you Mako-chan, go ahead. This way nobody can claim I took more than my portion and try to stiff me at some later date."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yeah. I felt whatever she did last time from miles away. But like.. we gotta cut off her escape route next time. I dunno how she got away, but she shouldn't have been able to. If that happens again I'm gonna be.." She pauses, then snorts. "More pissed than I already am, which isn't saying much, I guess."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Woulda been a nice birthday present to Mamoru if we could have taken care of it last weekend though." She murmurs, sounding just faintly dejected.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"This is why I made two cakes," Makoto points out, a momentary hitch of a laugh surfacing in her voice. Since Kyouko gave the nod, though, she goes ahead and cuts the first slice - a very generous one, revealing the contrasing layers of dark chocolate cake and fluffy white frosting when she serves it out onto one of the plates. "People wanna complain about piece size, they can take it up with me."<br /><br />As she cuts a second, more modest slice of cake for herself, she grimaces faintly. "Wish I had a clue how she did that. Hopefully someone smarter than me has some ideas. We'll definitely have to stay on our toes, and stop her for good next time."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yeah, but I have ''five'' brothers." Kyouko says, with a wry expression. "All of which outweigh me by about 100 pounds. Well, except maybe Jadeite. Anyway the point is that even with two cakes, I still need to be careful." She grins then, and accepts the generous slice. "I don't think anybody's gonna complain. You're certainly not gonna hear it from me."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She takes up a fork and takes a bite of the cake, looking blissful. "Mmm, this is fantastic." She says, mouth full, before looking somewhat sober again when she swallows. "Well, don't look at me. I'm pretty sure you're smarter than I am. My plan of 'stick the pointy end of my spear in her' didn't really work out so clearly I'm no master tactician."

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"There's no way Zoisite has a full hundred pounds on you," Makoto replies. "On the other hand he fights dirty. I see your point." She shrugs, not too concerned about the possibility of Shitennou Cake Wars. "Worst case, I can make another cake."<br /><br />If only problems could be solved so easily.<br /><br />Sighing again, she puts down the server and gets herself a fork. "Well, maybe Kunzite has some ideas. Or maybe niisan and that Device he's using can tell more about how she got away? I dunno. The dragon's kind of my best shot at the moment, personally, so you and me are in the same boat."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I guess you're right. Zoisite is bad for my feminine pride." Kyouko, probably the least feminine girl in town, says with a straight face. Then she grins. "Hey, I won't complain about another cake, but I do kind of feel bad making you into our cake-slave. Surely you have better things to do."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Well, as far as best shots go, that dragon is pretty impressive." Kyouko notes, pointing at the other girl with her fork before taking another bite of the cake. "But I'm with you as far as 'let the smart guys figure it out'. Naru might have an idea too, but she wasn't there to see it in person. It seemed like that barrier Mamoru put up definitely screwed her up, so that's a good thing to know."

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>A gesture with her fork waves off any concerns about cake-slavery. "I mean, I bake a lot when I'm stressed out anyway," Makoto admits. "It relaxes me."<br /><br />She goes quiet for a moment to eat a bite of cake, chewing meditatively. "...That ''is'' good to know about, yeah. I guess it's the same as how teleporting always screws with niisan when his powers are working, huh?" Another bite of cake. If there are any brilliant breakthroughs to be had, they're clearly not coming to Mako... but at least there's cake. "I guess our job right now is to stay alert for another shot at her. And bake, on my end."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"And train, so when she does show up we can hit her even harder." Kyouko says, then smirks a little bit. "But I'm pretty sure all of those things are things that we would be doing anyway, which basically means we're back to waiting for her to make a move again." She sighs. "I hate being reactionary. I'd rather take the initiative. It's just nobody knows how to do that right now." But at least there is cake.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She glances at the clock, then sits up. "Damn, I need to get going. I have work." She wolfs down the rest of her slice of cake in about two seconds, then hops to her feet. "Thanks for the cake, Mako-chan, it was delicious as always." She gives a smile. "And try not to stress about your friend too much. We'll get him back, I promise."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then she is turning to make her way to the door, so she can head off to her shift at the conbenie, bandages and all.
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