View source for 3731/Destiny Magnet

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/05/09
|Location=Plot Room #1
|Synopsis=Lacrima goes over to Makoto's with Not Poisoned(tm) donuts for reals and talks about some things and advice for dealing with a problem some friends are having Makoto might offer some insight to.
|Cast of Characters=160,42
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima looks down at the box of artisan donuts from the usual shop she goes to. It has it's logo and name emblazoned on the top. She questions bringing not-homemade-donuts along with her to who is supposedly one of the best bakers and/or cooks according to five out of five heavenly bros, including their boss. But she figures it's better to come with this than empty handed.<br /><br />She arrives in front of the small ground floor apartment in what is probably an acceptable enough neighborhood. She rings the doorbells as she waits for Makoto to answer. If she answers. She looks down at the donuts. It's a mix of a little bit of a few different varieties in there... chocolate cake... plain cake... a white frosted one with sprinkles, a raspberry filled donut...<br /><br />Wait-- what if she doesn't wanna have them because she brought them? What if she thinks they're poisoned! What if she thinks this is some sort of trick!<br /><br />So the first thing Makoto gets, when she eventually opens the door is Lacrima shoving a box of donuts towards her going. "These aren't poisoned with dark energy at all!" suddenly worriedly. Because she only had so much time to think between ringing the doorbell and Makoto probably opening the door.<br /><br />It doesn't immediately hit her that exclaiming that doesn't help her case any at all in any way.<br /><br />"I--I mean hello!" she suddenly bluts out as a more proper greeting.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>On the other side of the apartment door, Makoto quite reasonably looks rather startled to find Lacrima standing there with a bakery box and that panicky disclaimer. She ends up blinking foolishly at Lacrima for several moments before she even begins to place where she ''knows'' the girl from - most of their interaction has been on the order Lacrima hastily dragging Takashi out of punching distance, and all.<br /><br />It takes her another little while to actually process what Lacrima just ''said,'' which means that all in all it's a very awkward silent interval before, finally, Mako cracks a wry, lopsided half-smile.<br /><br />"You know what," she says, reaching to accept the box that Lacrima's holding out to her, "I'm going to believe you." Because honestly? If Lacrima wanted to pump Makoto full of dark energy for whatever nefarious Eclipse reasons, there are probably better ways she could manage it.<br /><br />Probably.<br /><br />"...so, uh..." Now holding the box, Mako finds herself shifting her weight uncertainly from foot to foot. "...what's going on?"

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Takashi isn't here. Takashi probably isn't ''that bold'' to attack her at home. Neither is Lacrima. She shifts. "Those are.. donuts. I mean. Duh they're donuts. The same ones I buy sometimes for... Mamoru and his brothers." she says curtly. "They're good." she says. "When I visit there. I mean." she says.<br /><br />She shifts. "Can we talk inside?" she asks. "I.. mean. We can talk out here. If that's not okay. If there's a quieter area for that. Um. Porch... Patio?..." she asks as if trying to look to the side of the building. She can't of course, see around far corners.<br /><br />"--erm. I mean. um. Er---" she shifts again.<br /><br />"There was um-- friend...? The friend that.. um. 'Earth'... tried to do the mind controlly thing to. Um... I forget--" she rubs the back of her head. "--the name of the boy. I'm sorry. I mean. Is he.. okay?"<br /><br />"I never checked... back on that." she says.<br /><br />"I mean. That's one of. Of the things I wanted to talk about. And another. More. Advice for a friend. That-- you might have. Insight on? Yeah."<br /><br />"Sorry." she says. "I know you're not gonna like punch me out of the blue? I just stink at peopling sometimes."

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>All of this is unexpected enough to tip into 'slightly surreal'. Makoto blinks again, slowly, considering Lacrima and the box of donuts both for a llittle longer before she comes to a decision and steps back out of the doorway. "Sure," she says. "Come in. I can... do you drink tea? With your donuts?"<br /><br />Hospitality is a knee-jerk instinct, in the absence of any more defensive impulses. Moving back from the door becomes carrying the box of donuts over to the coffee table, and then Mako starts drifting mostly on autopilot towards her little kitchenette with some idea of making tea.<br /><br />She pauses when Lacrima mentions Earth, though. "...Shinozaki." She fills in the name quietly. "Yeah. He's okay now."<br /><br />At the apology, she shakes her head a little. "It's okay," she says. "I guess this is kind of weird for both of us, but... we can talk."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima breathes a sigh of relief, somehow, and walks in cautiously. "Your place is nicer to visit than Rei-chan's..." a pause. "I m-- mean her place is nice. But it's hallowed ground-- and I am a dark energy being.... and also undead. It's basically like a rip current is plowing against me the entire time. Uncomfortable is an understatement." she says.<br /><br />She shifts. "Good..." she says. "I know I drained him pretty hard but... it was to sort of shut him down. Less... punchy hurting him and all." she says. "...also wanted to apologize about... Sailor Earth in general. I had nothing to do with her. If I did. I would had told Venus when she interrogated me about it. Especially when she told me Mamoru was suffering in someway because of it." she shifts.<br /><br />She takes in the aroma of tea being made as she sighs a bit. "So. Advice. For a friend. I guess I should make sure it is relevant. My past discussions with others suggest it is. but... Neil. Nephrite. He's... someone you-- or a.. past life version of you?-- had um.. erm...."<br /><br />"I'm not sure of the polite term to use her but some form of relationship with in the--- forgotten... past of time.. before time. Is what I've been calling it."<br /><br />"S--sorry if this is too prying. Personal. But I promise it's relevant to what I need to ask." she says worriedly.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>A soft breath hitches out of Makoto in a way that's almost a laugh. "I know. About Shinozaki, I mean - look, you putting him down for the count was still probably easier on him than anything I could've done. I should've thanked you back then, it was all just such a mess."<br /><br />She stops herself there, breathes in. "Anyway, you don't need to apologize to me. Definitely not for that." <br /><br />They're both more than a little off-balance in all of this, and Mako decides that ''she'' needs some tea, if nothing else. As Lacrima fumbles her way through trying to explain what she needs, Makoto resumes moving about the kitchenette, head canted towards the vampire girl to listen while her hands are occupied with filling the tea kettle.<br /><br />This time she does laugh, quietly and a little incredulously, and she shakes her head again. "It's really okay," Makoto assures, setting the teapot on the stovetop before she turns all the way back toward Lacrima. "I mean, it's totally not a secret, except to people who'd think we were crazy for talking about past lives and whatever. It's complicated and hard to really explain, but you're right... we were connected. Or, the Jupiter and the Nephrite of the past were, and we recognized each other when we met again. Eventually." Curiosity is starting to win over the awkwardness; Mako leans against the counter that separates the kitchenette from the living room, propping her elbows on the pristine surface as she regards Lacrima thoughtfully across it.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima takes a deep breath. "Have you heard the story of Saint George and the Dragon? I'll make it simple. It's one of the original stories of the trope--- 'Knight saves a Princess from an Evil'. In this case, a dragon that was gonna eat her." she says softly. "That story is false, but not for the reason of it being fictional but because the truth is awfully changed when it's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years old." she says.<br /><br />"In reality, Saint George was not a 'goodly knight', he's just a monster hunter that got jealous because a princess was more into a dragon than himself so he killed the dragon out of spite then the princess killed herself to save the dragon by putting it into a deep sleep for a couple thousand years than it dying." she says with a deep breath.<br /><br />"I'm pretty sure you might already know that Saint George was reborn in my brother, Ryo Okana. He's a jerk. Don't give him the time of day." she says.<br /><br />"Lamya is one of my roommates. She's the dragon from the story. There is a girl, Nakusu Miki- who we found to be 'Princess Sabra'- the princess from the story, also 'reborn' as it we're." she says.<br /><br />"There's of course a problem with Ryo and Nakusu. Ryo really wants 'his princess'. Nakusu wants nothing to do with him. Nakusu wants ''everything'' to do with Lamya." she says with a soft snort. "And Lamya wants to devour Ryo with ketchup. Anyways."<br /><br />"But therein is the problem." she says lightly.<br /><br />"Lamya wants her princess. Nakusu wants her dragon. Both....." she seems to be thinking of words. "...both are kind of trying to think if that's ethically okay I guess? For lack of a better word." she says quietly.<br /><br />"Relying on this base attraction of-- well a big 'destiny magnet'. Like. Nakusu... is Nakusu, but she also has these memories of a princess now--- while Lamya is... the actual real deal from before in full."<br /><br />"I guess what I'm asking is. How did you and .. and Nephrite... deal with the thing?" the thing- sure that's a name for it. "The 'destiny magnet'. Did you just let things happen? Did... did you have misgivings like they are?.. how did you work out any problems and kinks along the way?" she asks.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Makoto listens, quiet and attentive, dipping her head in a little nod here and there to prompt the other girl to keep going until she's all the way through to the question of the day. By the time they get there, her mouth has curved into a pensive frown as she mulls over the problem that Lacrima has laid out.<br /><br />"...I think I did hear about a big jerkalope who got perma-banned from the frat house," she murmurs half to herself, distractedly reflecting back to the mention of Ryo Okana while most of her mind is still occupied untangling what she thinks about the more important subject at hand. "That almost never happens, so he'd have to be a pretty huge jerkalope."<br /><br />She thinks on it a little longer before focus returns to her eyes and her attention shifts back outwards onto Lacrima again. "I see what you mean," she says. "I mean - Nephrite was also totally brainwashed and evil when he and I met this time around, so that was kind of a bigger problem for a while. But especially if one of them is the real deal from back then, and the other's been reborn... it's pretty tricky."<br /><br />She shifts her position a little, leaning forward over the counter. "For me, a lot of the time the Jupiter from back then feels like someone else. I remember her memories, at least some of them, but I'm not her. I am, but I'm not. And that probably doesn't make a ton of sense, does it." She makes a face at herself, searching for a better way to explain it.<br /><br />"It did bother me sometimes... thinking that maybe what Neil wanted was just Princess Jupiter, not Makoto Kino. You know? But there was a lot of stuff going on, with him and all of the guys and the whole Dark Kingdom thing, so we kind of had a chance to figure out who we were and where we stood with each other before going out on dates or anything was really an option."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"This stuff is really hard to explain and I'm outward looking in. I'm sure it's harder for you to explain." she says dryly. "When you actually live it." she says. She makes a face. "He tried to come and kill me yes, at Mamoru's place. Apparently. He hit it hard enough from outside the whole place shook. Mamoru has some high grade protection on that place-- but doesn't surprise me given where he got help from...." she trails off.<br /><br />She nods. "I don't... know much of that period. Just bits and pieces. I was too busy trying to cope with the vampire stuff and never ran into anyone properly until that whole business was done and over." she says quietly.<br /><br />She nods a little. "Yeah. I told them to just give it some time. Since we'd only had just found Nakusu at the time and had to assure she wasn't going crazy." she says.<br /><br />"Just that whole thing is complicated." she shifts. "-and I'm just doing my best to help them. I tried to ask Venus what I'm asking you but she was cryptic about it. But Venus doesn't super trust me. That's okay. I get it."<br /><br />"So-- thanks for giving me straight answers." she shifts as she looks into the tea cup a moment. "Or as straight as you are able." she says softly.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Venus is cryptic a lot." Mako's expression is sympathetic and a little rueful as she says it. Not just because Venus, though her tone suggests she's had enough personal experience with Venus being cryptic to appreciate what Lacrima probably got for her efforts. "I think that stuff is kind of a touchy subject for her - not that you had any way to know that. Anyway, I just hope I make ''some'' kind of sense when I talk about these things. Sometimes... a lot of the time, really, it starts sounding crazy even to me.<br /><br />She shakes her head, a little flick of her ponytail behind her. "You're being a good friend, trying to wrap your head around it enough to help a little. I'm sure it's different for them than it was for me and Neil, and it's not like I know either of them to try to tell them anything... but if I were going to give them any advice, I'd say just take it slow. It's not like there's anything ''wrong'' with getting together. They just - probably shouldn't jump into anything in a hurry. Not until they know for sure what's memories from the past, and what they want now."<br /><br />A beat, and then she smiles crookedly. "If that makes sense."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima nods a little rapidly. "Yeah. That's what it comes down to eventually." she says. "I don't try to tell them what's wrong or right. Just my opinion." she says. "It makes sense." she shifts a bit uncomfortably. "By the way. I'm not... after revenge for the whole... attacking Riventon-sama in his home thing." she says. "In Ireland." she says quietly.<br /><br />"I spoke to Rei about it already. I went to her first. At her own home. Not..."<br /><br />"Not to scare her. But. As I told you before. Her home is hallowed ground. If I got irrational enough to try anything dumb well... I was already at a disadvantage and weak. Probably not a threat. That being said. I didn't get that angry enough. She promised it wouldn't happen again unless there was reason enough to, that whatever message you guys we're trying to send was sent and all that-- was the gist I got from it." she says.<br /><br />"It's primarily why... why I blurted that out. When you opened the door. Because it occurred to me between me ringing the doorbell. And you answering it. That.. that I might be here for that." she says.<br /><br />"...So I said the donuts weren't poisoned...." she snorts. She sort of facepalms at herself.<br /><br />"I think I should be going soon." she says. "But... please enjoy the donuts. They come from a shop I frequent. Tell them 'Maria' sent you. I order from there. A lot." she mutters.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Momentary surprise widens Makoto's eyes a little, but then she smiles, inclining her head in acknowledgement. "Yeah, that... sounds about right." And it's probably better not to even try to go into the details of that whole incident any further than that. <br /><br />Instead what Mako says is just, "Thank you. For explaining. And for the donuts. I've heard of the place, I'm sure I'll like them." <br /><br />She feels no need to rush Lacrima out, but when she is ready to leave, Mako walks with her to the door to see her out. "I hope things work out for your friends. And... take care, all right?"
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