1476/Beer and Satori

Beer and Satori
Date of Scene:	13 May 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Kyouko and Luna come to visit Mamoru with beer and wisdom. Luna doesn't like the beer.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Kyouko Sakura, Usagi Tsukino

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
So last night, after Kyouko left and Mako and Daisuke and Naru all came to visit and/or bother Kunzite or Mamoru, and Mamoru showed up and Makoto left to find Nephrite on the roof, Kunzite let Mamoru know Kyouko stopped by, and Mamoru texted her to let her know where he was generally staying, nights, because lately he's been negative fun in the daytime. Out and about. In public. Aboveground. In this dimension. Negative fun and increasingly unwell. He specified that if she had time he'd like it if she visited, because there's no internet in the Shitennou's pocket-dimensional palaces, and he's been bored as a seventh-grader in Saturday detention.

Last night it was pretty late, though, and he was pretty damn tired-- and today he spent five minutes climbing up the interminable stairs from Jadeite's place to street level and decided he'd be missing morning classes.

It's about lunchtime, and he's considering trying again, which means Kyouko will find him sitting a quarter of the way up the staircase with his bookbag, catching his breath.

Since the initial excursions downwards, there have been lights installed, so at least it's not pitch black on the way anymore.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko has spent less time with Mamoru since.. well, since he came back from the Dark Kingdom than she'd like. There's a whole slew of reasons for this- Usagi and Sayaka, while both wonderful, distract the respective parties. Kyouko has her job and Mamoru has school. Plus the constant threats to his life tending to keep Mamoru underground- often literally. It's a far cry from the old days of drinking beer on the rooftops. But life goes on.. and there's always beer to be had when you want it.

    This is why Kyouko is carrying a six-pack of the cheapest shit beer her conbenie carries as she tromps down the stairs. She had been happy to get Mamoru's text last night (thought she had been in bed at the time, having an early shift), if a bit annoyed to have missed him while she was actually at his place that very same evening. So she had resolved to stop by after her morning shift, and here she is. Of course, had she stopped to think about it she would have realized that Mamoru would be at school at this time normally, but for once her lack of thinking ahead actually pays off, as she nearly stumbles into him (even with the lights) on the stairs down to the palace.

    "Whoa, holy shit!" She exclaims, hopping back a step. "I'm okay with breaking your skull but this beer won't survive a tumble down 1400 stairs and that'd really piss me off." She also has Luna on her shoulder, either because cat stoles are the new fashion for conbenie workers or, more likely, she ran into the cat up near the entrance and decided to spare her the long walk, even longer for kittylegs.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna is perched on the young Puella's shoulder, having found that balance where there's only a few times she has to dig her claws in for support. She's grateful for the ride-along, though her mouth is too preoccupied to voice this out loud.

Inbetween her teeth is an envelope, the stationary apparently pink and adorned with cartoon rabbits. Inside is a letter with a bunch of shmoopy words, hearts, virtual hugs, and a demand that if he doesn't take it easy she'll fail her next three tests on purpose. There's also a reluctant blurb from Luna, even though she's right here and delivering the message, so beside the strawberry lipgloss smooch print there's a kitty paw print. (She decides she rather wishes ink pads would just go in the way of floppy discs.)

When Kyouko hops back and cries out, Luna's precarious balance is disrupted. With a yowl she pitches forward, but being a cat, lands on another comfortable shoulder. Unfortunately there's a bit more claw than she'd like, so Mamoru gets a sandpapery tongue to the cheek in apology. The envelope flutters down.

"You look like hell." Unfortunately, she's softened her comment.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru looks up, way more startled than he should be-- it's generally impossible to miss Kyouko clomping down 1400 stairs, especially with a Luna on her shoulder, but he was apparently preoccupied enough to not even be watching his back. And sees a cat basically flying at his face.

He almost falls down the rest of the flight, but braces with one hand on a stair and the other lifted to defend his face just in case-- but it's okay, his shoulder doesn't mind bleeding a little in the name of preventing Luna from breaking her skull.

Kitty tongue on face and envelope fluttering; he catches it in the previously wary defense-hand, then sags against the wall, wincing. "Goddammit," he exhales, hand to his chest. "Sorry. Hi. Down is easier than up. Hurray. Thank you for effectively changing my mind about the rest of school today. It was a bad idea."

For the record, he does rather look like hell, and as he gets up and starts back down the stairs, Kyouko will have to slow her pace some. He's moving like he's got arthritis or something. Old Man Chiba. Still pretty, though, okay. "I'm just allergic to the shit Fiore's stupid flower monster is doing. Not gonna be much use fighting it. Sorry about that, too. I am... really glad you both came. The guys are gonna bring my homework, and Kunzite's out doing, I dunno, Kunzite stuff. I can only sleep so much, you know?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko's concern over Mamoru's appearance is apparent on her face, as she is generally useless at hiding her emotions (or understanding why one would want to). "School is always a bad idea." The middle-school dropout jokes, although it's clear it's a bit forced, an attempt to lighten a mood she suddenly feels needs it, even though she only arrived a minute ago.

    As they begin to descend again, she takes in Mamoru's slow pace and general old-man-ness, and silently threads her arm through his, the one not holding the beer, leaning against his side but supporting him in the process- not that she thinks he's going to fall and break his hip, but if she can ease his traversal of the stairs.. well, he certainly looks like he needs it.

    "That's okay, you're never much use fighting things." She says, continuing to gently rib her friend, soothing any wound by adding, "But you certainly come in handy afterwards when everybody's all cut up and bleedin' all over the place." She grins, showing fang for a moment, then rests her head sideways against Mamoru's upper arm, just below Luna. "We'll get him, Mamoru, don't you worry." Then she sniggers softly. "Kunzite stuff."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna growls and her fur stands on end at the mention of Fiore. She agrees with Kyouko's assessment. "Oh yes. He shall get what's coming to him." A side-eyed glance at Mamoru. "Which is to be freed of that flower, of course. Which will be shredded to oblivion." Her claws pop out in the air.

After all, Usagi's also been affected by this. The girl still has circles under her eyes, a bit too reminiscent of a few months ago for Luna's tastes. (Fortunately the bruises on her neck healed a lot more quickly than the last time, but seeing them also spurred the feline into a hissing ball of angry kitty fury.)

But, that won't do now. She curls her tail around Mamoru's neck and begins the Soothing Kitty Purr. "Don't forget, he's also effective at calming down enraged Moon Rabbits. That's a very handy skill to have."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The physical support remains unmentioned, but Mamoru avails himself of it without question, and with the briefest squeeze to show that it's definitely appreciated. "Kunzite stuff," he agrees aloud, one side of his mouth quirking up, amusement evident in his tone. "And yeah-- it's not his fault, but I got so mad at him-- I got so mad... it wasn't fair of me, but it gets really hard to think straight. He looked so betrayed when I rosed him in the chest, man."

The further they go down the stairs, the easier the high-schooler's moving, and the more energy there is to his voice. "I just-- every once in a while I can see him actually in there, but then that thing's whispering to him and fucking up his mind and then he's trying to take away everyone and everything and... I only just got everyone back. I feel like I only just got me back."

By the time they're getting to the bottom, Mamoru's cuddling Luna with the side of his head and giving the teasing Kyouko such amazing sideeye. "I can too fight. I didn't used to think I could, but I can. And I'm pretty good at making sure the people who can fight better don't get taken off the field, thank you very much. I just-- don't usually like to. This, though..."

He shakes his head. They're at the bottom of the stairs, and he's very nearly moving like an athletic seventeen-year-old magical boy. "I really want to cave his face in even though I know it's not his fault. He almost killed Usa. Ten more seconds and he would've done; we literally got there just in time. And then he set Kunzite on fire. And he had the temerity to look betrayed when I attacked him! And now he's got this thing jammed into the earth downtown, and it just keeps growing, and nobody's been able to kill it yet, and he's got this asteroid somewhere he almost yanked me to and it's covered in the things, and it's all--"

Now they're in Jadeite's place, but they keep going. They keep going until they get to the bright-colored, blossoming door to Zoisite's fairytale castle, and Mamoru reaches to push it open and let them through. "--it's pulling energy directly from the planet. It's screaming nonstop. In the back of my head. I can feel it. It hurts. It's like-- it's like..." He shakes his head. "It's like I'm really so happy you brought beer, oh my god. That's-- by the way. That's why I stressed to him 'my planet'. That's why that slips out sometimes. I don't mean it's only mine, or that I own it or something. Like okay once upon a time I was a birthday away from ruling it but that didn't work out and I definitely don't want the job. It's just I'm tied to it."

For a half second, Mamoru's got his hand on Kyouko's head after he pulls away-- doesn't need the help walking anymore-- and he ruffles her hair like a jerk big brother, and grins toothily as he backsteps and encourages Luna to come hang out in his arms. "But whatever, hell with all of that. I may be bored down here but at least my head is clear and I can't feel what's going on. You wanna beer party in the hedonist's castle without the hedonist present? When we run out of beer we can break into his stash, I know where it is."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko nods her head to Luna, w/rt calming down Moon Rabbits. "Very handy." She agrees, and she's never even really had to deal with an out-of-control Usagi.

    She listens to Mamoru's tirade on Fiore and why exactly it's all so messed up, the way things are going. She's silent as they cross through Jadeite's palace before going into Zoisite's, keeping herself close to Mamoru's side although not trying to support him when he no longer appears to need it- she knows better than anyone how aggravating it can be to be babied when one does not need to be.

    Mamoru ruffles her hair, and the scowl she gives him as he steps away is equal parts sisterly annoyance and sisterly good humor- it's a relief, at least, to see that he still has the capacity to horse around, given everything he just said.

    She glances around, then finds a place to put the beer down, before turning to face Mamoru and putting her hands on her hips. "Look dude, lemme lay some truth on you." She says, as if she's the fucking guru of this school of life, and given what she's about to say, maybe she is.

    "Sometimes, if you really love somebody, you gotta smack the shit out of them. Maybe they don't even deserve it, and maybe it'll make you feel a little bad, but y'know what? It shouldn't. Cause whether you're mind-controlled or just being an ass, sometimes a quick right hook to the jaw from somebody you love is really what you need to snap you out of it."

    Her fangy grip returns, drooped to one side slightly, and she casts her gaze away for a moment. "I think I can speak to that better'n most. When I was Apatite, and you guys kicked my ass.. or even when I was just being a bully, and got myself smacked down.. well. If he's really your friend, he'll thank you for it afterwards.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna slinkies into Mamoru's arms, all liquid spine. She notices that as they get closer to Jadeite's Palace, he slowly regains more strength.

She continues her purrs, however, because she likes to think it helps.

She hums her agreement to Kyouko's lesson. "Yes, we do seem to have luck with that. It puts a whole new, far less abusive, spin on the term 'I will beat the evil out of you.'"

She looks up at Mamoru. "Beer in a saucer sounds good."

She's never tried beer.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru briefly buries his face in Luna's fuzzy back, then gives them both a lopsidedly amused look. "Yeah. I'm really glad you guys beat the crap out of mind-controlled me. I got-- I got so mad the other day. I forgot. He already okayed it. He did. The minute's worth he was in his right mind and realized what he was doing before she took it away again-- he already co-signed, this isn't what he wants to be doing."

The smallest of sighs. "So yeah. He'll thank us all for it. I just-- I really do hate being that angry. End up losing control. Of course Hannah thinks that's the best thing ever when I do that," Mamoru says, rolling his eyes, and then carefully puts the black moon cat on the table next to the beer. "You're not gonna like it, Luna. You can try it, though. I'll get you some sweet sake or honey mead to try out, too. Then you can lord your gourmet tastes over Artemis and it'll be a riot."

He goes to fish out a saucer and a bottle of something alcoholically sweet, but duly pours Luna a sip of his own beer first, cracking it open.

A sidelong look at Kyouko, and he grins. "Such a violent group of friends we are."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko looks slightly... not ashamed, exactly, but a bit sad, perhaps, when Mamoru says that he doesn't like being that angry. Not because she wants him to be angry or anything like that, but because she herself draws so much of her strength from anger. Her anger has saved her from despair so many times, the warm glow of it is like an old friend, and one she gives in to readily- perhaps a little too easily at times, it's true. And maybe for a moment she considers the possibility that this divergence makes Mamoru a better person than her.

    But such introspection is momentary. It is what it is- she is who she is and he is who he is and denying that, or pretending it isn't so, just leads to more trouble than being true to yourself. She knows this as well. "Hannah an' me got more in common than I like to admit sometimes.." Kyouko says, with a wry smile as she walks over to pick up one of th beers for herself and crack it open. It's real bottom of the barrel stuff, but hey, she's not rolling in dough and it'll do the job, though Luna is probably even less likely to like this beer than beer in general.

    "Thing is Mamoru, it ain't you, and that's why you hate it. Leave the anger to those of us who it suits. You're much better suited by compassion." She casts a glance his way and then takes a swig of the beer, grimacing. Awful stuff. "One of us has to be."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna laps up some of the beer.

Correction, her tongue touches it once and she freezes, and if possible all the color drains from her body and she looks more sketchy than completely there before she falls woodenly onto her side.

When she gets up, her nose is wrinkled and she pushes the saucer away with her paw. "This is...not to my taste."

Very diplomatic, Luna!

She licks her paw, trying to look as though she's grooming and not scrubbing that foul flavor from her tongue. "Anger isn't inherently a bad thing. If people did not get angry, there would be no change. People would be content, and perhaps societies would fall." She sets her paw down and looks up at Mamoru. "But yes, being too angry can be detrimental. But it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's another little flicker of a smile from Mamoru at Kyouko's summary and Luna's addendum, and it turns into a smirk at Luna's expression upon tasting the beer. "Didn't think so," he tells the moon kitty, and he's already in the process of swapping out the saucer for a smaller one of sweet sake. "Probably like this one better. Artemis is a cad, actually, he goes for bourbon. I can't stand the stuff."

Then he drops into a chair in Zoisite's well-appointed castle kitchen, with ivy and roses and columbines and wisteria growing up all around the windows, framing them in fragrance and sunlit color, and swigs swill. He runs a hand through his hair. "Don't make it sound like it's better. Anger is necessary. I'm not afraid of being angry, I just-- not that angry. Not so angry I lose my reason. Not so angry I lose control."

Another drink of the beer, this one somewhat slower, more contemplative. "Societies don't fall when people are content. Societies fall when people are discontent, and other people don't listen. And sometimes, when the people who don't listen lose their tempers at being questioned."

He glances to Luna again. "I'm not ashamed. I'm just regretful. Losing control is dangerous."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko doesn't have much to add at all this talk of societies falling and discontent and such. She doesn't usually bother to consider such things- it's all beyond her, in a very real sense. Not that she couldn't understand it, the great sweep of human experience. Just that she doesn't care to. She wants to spend her attention on things right here in front of her, that she can touch and feel and see with her own two eyes.

    She takes another swig of the beer, hopping up to sit on the edge of the table near Mamoru, booted feet swinging in the air a bit above the ground. She's silent for a few more moments, thinking through the things that have been said as they relate to her, and to her friends, and finally says, "That's why we have each other, right? Everybody loses control sometimes. Some of us more'n others, an' that's the truth. But it happens to everybody. And it's your friends who are there to pull you back again. If you lose control and do somethin' dangerous, it's all of our faults as much as yours, for letting you." She smiles, reaching over and ruffling Mamoru's hair in a mocking return of his earlier gesture. "But that responsibility is one we all take on gladly for our friends, right?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Her first taste of the sake is far more cautious than with the beer. However, she finds it acceptable to her pallet and laps up a few sips. She purrs her thanks. "Artemis has...interesting taste at times. Maybe even questionable."

She looks up at Mamoru after a moment, licking her mouth. "Perhaps I should have said overly content. 'I am content with the broken system.' That's when chaos comes in. There needs to be a balance, always a shift in the dynamic. Otherwise things stagnate and fall apart."

She turns to Kyouko and gives an amused swish of her tail. "I'll gladly bite you if I think you've lost control."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hair duly ruffled, Mamoru sticks his tongue out at Kyouko, then grins, finishes his can of beer, and slouches low enough to stick his hands in his pockets. His hand idly curls around the envelope in one of them, and there's a half smile on his face. "Yeah. God knows I've spent my fair share of time calming people down. Or arguing Hannah into an irritated corner of realizing she's wrong and then letting her sulk it off. I just have to work on making it easier for people to tell when I'm headed that way so you guys can stop me, if there's time."

A beat. "Or, well, fix this flower problem so I stop being such a shitshow surface-side. Well. Cheer you guys on while you fix it."

He at least seems good-humored about it. Easy enough to tell: he's already smirking again. "And tease Kunzite about his fuzzy, fuzzy hair." He glances sidelong at Luna. "Should we bite you if you lose control?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko likewise finishes her beer, and because she's a baller, she flattens the can against her forehead with a firm 'crunch', then tosses it onto the tabletop before reaching for another one. "You done more for me than almost anyone else, Mamoru." She says, as she cracks it open with one finger. "An' I mean that. Maybe it was Saya-chan who finished the job o' makin' me less of a fuckup, but it was you that started it. I can never really repay that, but I can sure as hell try, an' killin' some flower that needs killin anyway, since I dun want the Earth to blow up either, hardly even needs askin'. We'll get it done."

    She eyes Luna as the cat offers to bite her if she loses control. Then she seems to decide it was a good thing, and not a threat, and reaches out to ruffle the kitty.. perhaps just a little roughly. "I'll hold you to that, koneko."

    Then Mamoru mentions Kunzite's fuzzy hair, and Kyouko giggles, just as she was taking a drink of the fizzly, crappy beer, which leads to choking and beer bubbles coming out her nose and the most unfeminine sounds imaginable.