View source for 3742/Ice Dream

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/05/20
|Location=Plot Room #1
|Synopsis=After Castillo Oscuro, Kunzite needs to ask Rei and Miho for assistance with a little side issue. Mamoru is Not Impressed.
|Tinyplot=Paths Into Dark
|Cast of Characters=38,109,64,220
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There ''is'' another door standing free, apparently leading from nowhere to nowhere, when Endymion of Elysion leads the way for Kunzite and whoever else is coming with him from Lacrima's castle. They ''can'' just wake up and be out, if they know how to wake themselves up. If they don't, then it's easy enough for Endymion to take them home with him and open a door from there to help them do so.<br /><br />This door's a plain wooden one, set into a plaster arch with a red tile rooflet over it. When Endymion opens it, the other side's sunny and bright, an outdoors terrace with a mosaic-tiled floor in bright colors, and subtropical trees ringing the outside of the exterior wall. The air smells of salt sea and flowers. He holds the door open for everyone, then follows them in and shuts the door behind.<br /><br />As Endy goes through the door, his armor vanishes away, replaced by a modern linen yukata, deep blue with bright yellow embroidery on it; his face is still Endymion's darker hue, but his Birkenstocks and glasses are distinctly Mamoru's. He opens his mouth to say something to everyone, then suddenly turns to stare at Kunzite.<br /><br />"What did you do?" he asks, baffled, worried, and wary.

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Why Endymion -- or Mamoru -- would ask that may be immediately plain to Joy and Mars once they're out of Lacrima's dreamscape, and into someplace where the ambient energy doesn't ''by definition'' make them less than comfortable.<br /><br />For Joy, it's the sense that darkness is off thataway, and thataway is the direction Kunzite (still in his gray and white uniform, though with sword sheathed now) is standing in.<br /><br />For Mars, it's much more immediate: Kunzite's presence is not nearly as blackly ominous to her as it was when he was in the Dark Kingdom, even at those times when his brief measures of free will meant that he was trying to help the Senshi. But it's darker than it's been in her presence since then.<br /><br />"Poderoso dropped some kind of demonic lightning on us," he answers Mamoru. "If I'd deflected it, it would only have fed him. So I kept it." Kunzite glances between Joy and Mars. "In the hopes that one of you two might have enough strength left after the fight to be able to do something about it."

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>One second she was Sailor Mars, the next she was Rei Hino dressed as a shrine maiden. Only not... really? It's ceremonial but it looks more like something she would have worn in the days of the Moon Kingdom. There was no flash or transformation involved, she just changed between miliseconds.<br /><br />She doesn't seem to have noticed.<br /><br />"K-Kunzite-san...?" She says with concern as she feels the dark aura around Kunzite, her brow furrowing as he explains the matter. "Mmph. I can try. I got hit kinda hard back there, but... I can't make fiery angel wings in real life, so maybe I'm still really cool here?"

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho has never been on a dream-adventure before, and so she isn't entirely sure on how the protocol works here, so she's just going along with the flow! And somehow, she's still in henshin. "Y'know what," she says in her clear and bright voice, "I'm pretty sure I'm kind of ... over ... dressed ..."<br /><br />She goes silent as she senses the ''sudden darkness'' inside Kunzite, and she frowns while he gives the explanation. "I can use Pure Elation to handle that," she says. "... Hopefully." She grimaces. "Though, uh, I might not be able to ''sustain'' it for long enough to get all of it." She's pretty sure everyone here has seen at least once how painful it is for her to use Pure Elation due to its interactions with the Death Curse, and she certainly knows Rei was there when she discovered firsthand that she gets the same kind of reaction when healing injuries that are worse than minor scratches.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Endymoru's tone is mild, though he looks considerably on edge. "You did the right thing, Kunzite. I don't like it but it was the right thing, and now maybe I understand a little bit of how aggravated you can get when I do the right thing and it hurts me." He folds his hands, then drops them again; it's almost fidgeting. Almost. Then he looks at the two girls, glancing over Miho's henshin. He shakes his head. "We're still in dreamspace, it's just that this is mine. Most of the time people either stay as they are or shift to what they see themselves as. But to the point--"<br /><br />Another glance at Kunzite, and then back to the girls, and he spreads his hands. "If I give you power, Joy, and you focus that and Pure Elation into one of Rei's ofuda, that should both take care of all of it and result in the least pain for all involved. And there's the bonus of Rei getting to slap a piece of charged paper on Kunzite's head."<br /><br />He takes a breath. "On the other hand, if your ofuda don't work that way, then you might try just hitting him with Fire Soul at the same time as Joy casts Pure Elation, and I'll give you both a boost. We're on my home turf. I have enough energy to manage it." Even if he has to remove a few outbuildings to do it.

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>... slap a piece of charged paper on Kunzite's ...<br /><br />Kunzite merely closes his eyes briefly. The breath he takes and exhales again doesn't even sound strained. After all, it ''was'' something he did voluntarily. Therefore the consequences are also voluntary.<br /><br />(Mamoru trying to make certain they are as undignified as feasible is a known consequence.)<br /><br />The suggestion of Fire Soul makes his eyebrows twitch up again and his eyes open, though, and he says blandly to Mamoru, "Are you hoping that if I wind up with short hair in a dream I'll want it in the waking world too?"

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei gives Mamoru a bit of a wry smile at the suggested application of the Ofuda, then frowns sharply when Fire Soul is mentioned as an alternative. "I'm not setting Kunzite-san on fire." She glances to the side, "Again."<br /><br />With that a slip of paper seems to materialize between Rei's fingers like a trick of sleight of hand. "That IS what charms are basically for, so it SHOULD work. And we're in Mamoru's dream, so maybe it'll even be warm and fuzzy?" She gives a hopeful smile, then immediately loses confidence in it. "... I'm ready when you are."

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho shrugs. "Sounds like a plan," she says. "It'll still have to touch me either way, so like ..." She grins nervously, and shrugs again. "I'll be fine, it doesn't ''harm'' me, it's just, y'know. Not something I wanna have to do all the time."<br /><br />She giggles at Kazuo and Mamoru's byplay. "Y'know what, sometimes I almost forget how I ''met'' the two of you jokers," she says dryly. "Hokay. Uh."<br /><br />She turns to face Rei. She takes a deep breath, and holds her hands out towards Rei. "Life Blessing, Pure Elation!" she calls out, and the mint-green glow of the Life Blessing emanates from her body.<br /><br />She immediately hisses through clenched teeth as it starts to waft towards the ofuda; without adrenaline (or dream-adrenaline or ''however this works'') to distract her, it's just a little bit harder to handle. But she ''does'' have enough focus to keep it flowing in the right direction.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Endymion's gaze slides over to Kunzite and he tilts his head a little, looking at his guardian through his bangs. "What did you expect would be the options? Besides, can't you absorb it? Since it's a purification you should be able--" and then Rei's saying she won't set him on fire again, and Mamoru smoothly abandons his line of reasoning. And then Joy starts without warning, and he has to lunge to get a hand on her in time to actually be of assistance--<br /><br />--but then he ''is'', and it eases the wince factor because, first, he's taking a certain amount of the load off by providing life energy to fuel it, and second, he's inherently a healer, he inherently moves to ease pain first and foremost. It's like cool bedrock to stand on when the sun is beating down--<br /><br />"You can always," he says absently to Kunzite, "wear a wig."

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"That sounds like a much less murdered-by-Zoisite solution, if it proves practical." Kunzite turns toward Rei as well, folding his hands behind his back: visibly keeping himself away from the possibility of reaction to any impact. At least Miho's getting the warm and fuzzy part! Maybe, if she's lucky, Mamoru will also take the hint to provide ice cream afterward too.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei winces in sympathy as Life Joy begins doing her thing, and resolves to get this done quickly. She exchanged a look with Kunzite before she closes her eyes and brings her hand to her face. The paper charm flops slightly to the side as Rei begins chanting with the rehearsed grace of someone who's done this a thousand times. "Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha," The paper begins to flutter noticeably in the air, "Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" Suddenly the charm springs upward, utterly rigid and smooth, the edges taking on a shine as if had suddenly become sharp with energy. Her eyes open suddenly with a subtle gleam as she cries "Akuryoooo... TAISAN!" before throwing the charm at Kunzite.<br /><br />The paper flaps with win resistance, but the very top might as well have a stone in it for it flies straight and true towards Kunzite, and yet SLAPS weightlessly against him, sticking to him in an instant, the characters written on the charm glowing subtly as it works to banish evil energy.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho exhales with relief at Mamoru's touch. "S-sorry," she mumbles as he helps take the load off of her. "''Wow'' I should get your help with this more often, Mamo-kun ..." She shakes her head and sends the remainder of the energy into Rei's ofuda, and then steps back.<br /><br />Once again, she's leaning against Mamoru in the dream-world in the wake of using Pure Elation. She grimaces, and in a burst of mint-green light, she's wearing a green T-shirt, a black skirt, and shorts, with her hair hanging down normally ... except it's blue, and the actual shape of her body didn't change. She blinks down at herself in surprise, then just sort of accepts it as she looks back up at Rei, to see what the fruits of their efforts will look like.

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>This is, of course, a dream. And therefore the impact does not necessarily look like it would in real life.<br /><br />But honestly, a flare of crimson lightning erupting where the charm lands, exploding in thunder, ''might'' be what this would look like in real life.<br /><br />Kunzite's knocked back, sprawling on the tiled floor; when the afterimages fade, he's still lying there, blinking carefully. Though none of the villa itself is touched, his uniform is slightly singed. The charm, insouciantly intact, rests neatly on his forehead.<br /><br />(Of ''course'' he's still Kunzite. The frequency with which he thinks of himself as Kazuo is 'not very.')

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Endymion props Miho up and gives her a crooked smile. "I'm usually hanging out at the receiving end of voluntary purifications, making ''those'' hurt less. But if you have warning you're going to need to do that, absolutely yes, give me a call. Purifications by appointment." And then he's grinning at Rei, and at Kazuo on the tiled courtyard floor, and he says in satisfaction, "Splat. Well done."<br /><br />He pulls up a chair that was apparently right there, for Miho to splat herself into, and then he pulls up another for Rei, and they're chairs at a little wrought-iron table with an insulated cold lidded bowl on it. And dessert dishes. And spoons. And a scoop.<br /><br />And he's already on his way over to offer Kunzite a hand up, reaching down. "You all right?"

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Kunzite-san!" Rei cries out in alarm as the violent reaction goes off and Kunzite goes sprawling across the floor. She begins to move towards Kunzite... but then Mamo's in the way!<br /><br />And then... Rei is in a chair?<br /><br />And then Rei has ICE CREAM!<br /><br />She bites her lip momentarily, eyes sparkling as they regard the ice cream, then dulling slightly as they move sideways to regard the spoon in her hand, then squinting as she looks past this miracle ice cream to look at Kunzite. "Is he okay?"

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho floops down into the chair, smiling up at Mamoru. "Will do!" she says, and her ''voice'' is still the clear and bright version she has out of henshin. "Transition goals," she murmurs under her breath, remembering having a similar reaction at Sailor Earth's dance.<br /><br />But there's also something which, as a healer, she can't ignore, and she frowns at Kunzite. "You okay there, Zite-kun?" she says. A part of her has the urge to get up, but ... well, she knows Mamoru's the better healer between the two of them, and as someone who ''doesn't'' have a direct line to The Power Of Earth and a ''very important emotional bond'' with the patient in question, Miho feels like she'd rather just relax for now, after her second final boss fight and using Pure Elation twice in a row.

:'''{{#var:109|Kazuo Takeba| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>A hand up means Kunzite has to move. Kunzite does not entirely want to move. He reaches up gingerly to try to take the charm off of his face -- then thinks better of it, shifts enough to get hold of his cape, and very very carefully takes the paper in a fold of the cloth before accepting Mamoru's assistance. "Nothing serious. If Mamoru has class tomorrow, I'll resort to headache medicine." Which will take care of the smallest ten percent of the ow, but they don't ''make'' painkillers for energy capacity.<br /><br />Besides, it's vastly less disturbing than the aftereffects of holding Sailor Earth's energy were.

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba| (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"He'll be fine," Mamoru says dryly to the two girls, then mutters at Kunzite as he laces his fingers through those of the hand he took, "you ass. I'm skipping." And then he straightens up and says, "Feel free to hang out in here for however long. When you want to wake up, just take the door we came in by. It'll literally take you to the magical land of 'awake'. I have to put this jerk to bed in the real world, he's asleep in a chair. And... thank you. A lot. For everything tonight."

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei smiles warmly and fingerwaves around her spoon "My pleasure~" She says, then contemplates her ice cream. "... I'd stay her awhile and make sure I sleep through the night, but I'd have to be... 'awake' that whole time? Here?" Rei purses her lips to the side and shrugs. "I don't know. Ask me about visions, not dreams. I'm just gonna finish my ice cream and go to bed."

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho smiles and nods, looking relieved. "Oh, of course!" she says. "I, uh ..." She glances down at herself again. Somehow, being in this form feels considerably more appealing than being in the exact same form but as Life Witch Joy. "... I think I'll just stay ... like this, for a while."<br /><br />She shrugs, and turns her attention onto the dessert. "... Okay, how does eating work in the dream-world?" she says. "What are, like, the ''actual'' effects of eating dream-ice-cream?" Beat. "... ice dream."
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