468/Usagi's Lifelong Quest

Usagi's Lifelong Quest
Date of Scene:	19 October 2015
Location:	Iris Shelby's Apartment Complex
Synopsis:	Makoto visits Usagi while she's recovering at magical girl hospital. Blood loss, hunger, boredom and some really good painkillers make for a very loopy bunny.
Cast of Characters:	Makoto Kino, Usagi Tsukino

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Makoto Kino has posed:
It is perhaps for the best that Makoto has already gotten the most basic of explanations of what happened from Rei and Luna. If she hadn't, she probably would've had no idea *what* was going on with the string of not entirely coherent texts she's been getting from Usagi since late this morning.

She would've come to visit anyway, of course. The texts just provide extra motivation, as it becomes increasingly clear that Usagi is a) hungry, b) bored, and c) on some potent meds. So, after a judicious amount of time spent in her kitchen, Makoto finally arrives at Iris's clinic with a canvas bag slung over her shoulder.

She knocks, but doesn't wait for an answer before she tries the door of the room where Usagi is *supposed* to be resting. "Usagi-chaaan," Mako calls - voice pitched softly in the very off chance that her friend might possibly have gone to sleep sometime in the last, oh, ten minutes. "I'm here, you can stop texting me now."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Being stabbed is not fun. The aftermath of being stabbed is not fun.

She is in her bunny pyjamas, brought to her earlier, but her feet are cold. Oh well. A shower soon! Wait.

    Mako-chan: I want a pony.

It was Very Important Mako-chan know that!

There's a knock and a push and a greeting and Usagi looks up and tries to focus on the three Makotos.

"Mako-chan! You're here! Just a second, gotta finish this text!" Her fingers stumble over the letters. "Wait you're here yay smiley-face heart bunny heart heart heart heart. Heart. Bunny." She hits send and a few seconds later Makoto's phone will probably chime.

She tries to wiggle over at first, but it is surprising just how much use the stomach muscles get when one's not thinking about it. "I have a tummy ache. So wiggles aren't good. So you can sit on me."

It's very easy to forget there's at least one chair in the room.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Usagi-chan..." As her phone chimes its text alert from the depths of her bag, Makoto is briefly swamped with a multitude of feelings - worry, affection, faint exasperation. "I'm not going to sit on you. I don't think that'd help you get better at all."

She drags the chair over the bedside where she can sit within Usagi's easy reach instead, and sets her bag down on the floor beside it. "How are you feeling?" she asks, letting the worry have its way for the moment. "Rei-chan and Luna told me a little... Are you allowed to eat?" It occurs to Mako only now that in fact Usagi might not be, that this might be part of why she insisted in her texts that she was STARVING. "Or just soup and things like that?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"But if you sit on me, you'd be close for hugs." This is Very High Logic. But Mako-chan also has a point.

So she opts for the next best thing! She grabs for Makoto's arm, wanting to cling it and cuddle it, and even pet it! She has very graceful arms. "You're so pretty. A pretty, graceful, girly girl girl girl." Happy hums.

She tries to figure out how she's feeling. She lightly scratches the tip of her nose. "I feel fuzzy. And I think soup? I couldn't last night, but I wasn't told no food! So since it's today, food? Luna was mean and wouldn't let me have a milkshake."

Her face crumbles at the memory, but then she perks right up. "You wanna see?"

Proudly, she pulls up her shirt. "It looks like Rei's Serious Face mouth. 'Usagi, stop eating all my cake.'"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Usagi can cling to Mako's arm all she wants... although it might make it a little trickier for Makoto to get into her bag. Well, these are the sacrifices one makes for one's friends - besides, the bag will keep for a bit. Instead, Mako leans to ruffle Usagi's hair, and tries to look impressed instead of genuinely horrified when her friend pulls her shirt up to show the remnants of what, to Mako's eyes, looks like it must have been a terrible wound before the doctor did her magic.

For Usagi's sake, she manages a little laugh. "It kind of does." And then, while she has the chance, she ducks down to rummage a Thermos out of her bag. "I didn't have time to find you a pony," she says, brightly, "but I made you some soup, so you can stop starving. I might be able to sneak you a milkshake later on, but it's probably best to stick with this to start with."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Her eyes widen, nearly full of hearts. "You made me soup? So much better than a pony!" The arm is hugged, again. "You're the best. The bestesty best best. Love, love, love."

Then she rests her cheek against Makoto's arm and sighs, suddenly pensive. "Are people mad at me? I out-klutzed myself."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Mako sets the Thermos down on the nightstand. It'll be there whenever Usagi might want it; right now, it's more important to gently stroke Usagi's hair again in a reassuring gesture. "Nobody's mad at you," she promises with the assurance of honest conviction. "We're just worried 'cause you got hurt, and it's scary."

Her smile is crooked, but warm. "I'm sure it was even scarier for you, though. You'll be more careful from now on, right? So it's okay."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Happy again! She perks up. "Good! I don't want you mad at me. Well, sad at me isn't fun...I'll be better, I promise!" Another arm squeeze!

She gasps and looks up, cheek not moving much away from the arm she is now glued to. "Very scary! She was all 'grr' and Tuxedo Kamen was all...'I'm unconcious!' and then a wild stab and HRNK! And then Mamoru-kun was there, and then Rei, and Iris said we can play games with candy later."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto does her best to follow that less than cogent description of the other night's events. It's not easy, and she finds herself just nodding, feeling faintly helpless, here after the damage has already been done.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there, Usagi-chan," she murmurs. "Maybe I could've helped. But I'm glad you're all right." She has no way to be sure, but from what she saw of the healing wound, it's not hard to imagine that things could easily have gone much worse - a very close call. It's not a happy thought.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"No don't be sad!" Usagi reaches up to smoosh Makoto's mouth into a smile. "It's okay! It was right after the other fight, and he got hit so I took him away and then there was company. No one knew, because Mamoru-kun wasn't even home!"

Then she remembers something very important and gasps again, reaching for the thermos. "Mako-chan's soooooooup! What if it gets cold? I'll keep you warm, soup! Warm in my tummy! I asked, I won't leak."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Mako does smile - how can she not, when Usagi's pressing at her face to make her? In fact, she even laughs a little, strangely reassured by the simple fact of Usagi being... Usagi.

"It was really hot when I left my apartment, so it's actually probably just cooled enough now, being in the Thermos." She says it casually, but she's watching closely in cast it looks like Usagi needs a hand with the Thermos - it'd be bad if she ended up with hot soup all over her. "It's miso with ginger. My mother used to make it this way when I was a little girl, if I got sick."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is already sipping the soup, and it's warm and yummy. But then! She looks up from the thermos, eyes widening, lip trembling, and suddenly she is crying.

"I get Mako-chan Mama Soup?!"

It's not the wailing crying, it's more the 'I'm Loopy From Blood Loss, Pain Killers, and Low Blood Sugar' crying.

She sniffles and snorts and is able to form a coherent(ish) sentence before she continues to blubber again. "I promise I'll never cook for you when you're sick!"

Usagi is Very Bad at cooking. Mako-chan knows this!

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Hey, hey!" Half genuinely dismayed, half somehow trying not to laugh, Makoto hurries to soothe her friend. "It's not supposed to make you cry!" Wide-eyed, Mako digs hastily into her skirt pocket and comes up with a clean, neatly folded handkerchief (embroidered with dainty pink roses at the corner). With this, she dabs gently at the tears that roll down Usagi's cheeks.

"It's okay, really," she promises. "You can cook for me any time you want." She'll probably come to regret those words someday, but right at the moment, making Usagi not be crying seems much more important.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Being petted with a handkerchief is very soothing. Usagi manages to calm down, albeit with a few sniffles still. "I love you, tooooo!"

Still sniffling, she sips some more of the soup. "What if they're charred? Or burned? What if I ruin another one of your spatulas? What if aliens come in and replaces the baking soda with salt?"

Gosh, the soup is yummy. But she can't drink too much. At least, far less than she'd otherwise would. "I think my tummy shrunk. It's going to disappear. Then I'll be a walking skeleton and have to learn to live off sunshine."

Then she can take another sip, so she does. "Or maybe I can stick my feet in dirt and eat like plants. Toes with mouths sound scary."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I have plenty of spare spatulas," Makoto assures. "And I'm pretty sure aliens have more important things to do than switch the salt and the baking soda in my pantry. But if that happens, we'll live."

The mental images that Usagi's coming up with are really something else. Toes with mouths. Makoto makes a brief, faintly horrified face at the thought. "...Please don't grow mouths in your toes, Usagi-chan," she asks, very seriously. "You'd probably need roots for that, anyway, and then you wouldn't be able to go to the Crown with us. Your stomach will probably be back to its normal size once you've recovered."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"If I grow toe mouths, I will make sure they don't nibble you." Serious Face. "But roots! No! I have to keep going to the Crown. Games! Friends!" Then she sits up a little bit, sipping her soup and creating a poorly crafted Indifferent Air face. "Plus, if I don't go there to make sure Mamoru-kun doesn't always make his serious face, he's going to become a serious face statue guy. It's my life's quest to make sure he doesn't." She nods, still Indifferent Air face. "I'll just have to stretch my tummy muscles so that doesn't happen."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Hmmm~" Makoto draws the sound out with a playful rising inflection, grinning cheerfully at her friend. "Yeah, I think you'll be fine."

But she can't resist reaching out to gently nudge Usagi's cheek with a fingertip, as though testing that Indifferent Air expression. Poke, poke. "...Your life's quest, huh?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She tries to maintain a Facade, but it is spoiled by the poke. Her lips twitch and she's not smiling, you are!

"Oh yes. Because, see?" She tries her best to mimic the Serious Face. "'Roar. I am very responsible and have nice, fluffy hair. Roar.' Somebody's gotta make sure he sometimes says 'but sometimes I enjoy being a little bit not responsible.'"

Then she is working her face muscles loose, because Serious Face is hard!

"He had a sad face last night, though. I think. I wanted to give him a hug."

She takes another sip of the soup. "Oh my gosh, Mako-chan! Did you know if you don't eat fast you can enjoy the flavor longer?" This is a Revelation!

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto's face is a study as Usagi does her mimicry of Mamoru Chiba - it's funny because it's true, and she can't help being amused nor dispute that Usagi has a point.

And yet - the princess--

But there's no point in bringing that up now, not while Usagi's convalescing and has enough to worry about. Makoto smiles instead. "I'm sure he was worried. Knowing you're getting better will probably make him happier, too."

--And then Usagi has her revelation and despite her best efforts Mako can't keep from laughing. "I think I heard something like that, once," she manages around her giggles.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Yes! I texted him earlier. And I wanna text him again saying 'Mako-chan made me soup neener neener neener' with a bunch of emojis." She pulls out her phone and keeps it resting lightly in her hand. She doesn't text though, not yet. Even though she wants to! But Mako-chan is visiting, and she wants to talk to her more!

Yay! Mako-chan is giggling! "I shall enjoy it while it lasts. Because eating slow is not for me, nope!" And she is smiling and wants Mako-chan to be happy, happy, happy!

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Usagi-chan...!" Makoto is still laughing, in spite of herself, eyes sparkling even as she shakes her head. "Don't do that, it's not nice to gloat. And anyway, I made him anpan the last time he was stuck here... so that I could fuss at him about being hurt." Okay, the two aren't entirely related, but whatever.

"I'll make some for you, too, when you're okay to eat solid stuff again. But it's still not nice to gloat." The mock-chiding tone is probably somewhat spoiled by the fact that Mako can't keep the smile off her face.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi pouts, though it's not real. "But if I don't gloat, he'll forget about me and become all serious face, then it's back to square one!" Logic!

Her eyes light up. "More Mako-chan Food!!" She should get stabbed more! Wait, no...

"And if I do gloat, he'll gloat about his own Mako-chan Food. And see? You would be helping my life-long quest, Mako-chan! My Life Long Quest!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I'm pretty sure he couldn't possibly forget about you, Usagi-chan, even if you don't gloat." For all the laughter in Makoto's bright green eyes, it's clear that she doesn't honestly believe that *anybody* who's gotten to know Usagi could forget her.

"But!" she adds cheerfully a moment later, "I definitely don't want to be the person who'd get in the way of you achieving your lifelong quest. If you think it'll help keep his face from freezing in serious mode, gloat all you want."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Her cheeks turn pink. He won't? Even if she doesn't tease him? Good! "Good. I like he knows me."

She takes another sip of her soup.

"I will gloat forever..."

She rests her head against Makoto's shoulder, and suddenly Usagi can't think of a more comfortable place. Makoto is soft and strong and smells pretty and--

Snore.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Oh, Usagi, asleep between one thought and the next. Makoto rescues the thermos of soup before it can slide off-balance and spill; moving carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping girl snuggled up against her shoulder, she sets the thermos down on the side table.

Then, smiling fondly, she pulls the covers up over Usagi to tuck her in. It might be a somewhat awkward position to be in, sitting right up against the bed so that Usagi can lean on her like this, but Makoto doesn't mind. For her friend, it's little enough to ask.

"Sweet dreams, Usagi-chan," she murmurs.