2034/Just What Are Your Intentions

Just What Are Your Intentions
Date of Scene:	16 October 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Kyouko had a haircut, and Mamoru finds out that sisters are definitely buttinskys.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Kyouko Sakura

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's been an awful week of tests and essays for Mamoru, and there's another awful week of cramming ahead of him. He's been decidedly surly and tired and antisocial, but Kunzite's been checking-- there's no magical influence on it. It literally is just school. The worst part is, he's doing it to himself. His grades are high enough he could graduate with Cs if he basically blew off the rest of the year, and he's prepared enough that he could probably get like a 90 on the college entrance exam in January if he stopped studying right now.

But no.

Mamoru needs to be the best in the city in his graduating class. He's going for perfect scores if he can swing it, and he's going for it without the power of the planet Mercury at his beck and call.

At the moment he's considering the merits of jumping off the balcony and playing henshin chicken with himself and trigonometry.

The door to his bedroom opens and he schleps out, bedraggled and scowly and rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. He's not even bothering with slippers, he's barefoot in jeans and a wrinkled button-down and the ugly brown hoodie, and his hair shows evidence of having been gripped in both hands multiple times over the past hour. His target is the kitchen. He will have caffeine or there will be blood.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    There doesn't appear to be anybody around in the apartment proper. This is unusual, but hardly cause for alarm- sometimes everybody just has somewhere to be. Of course, just as often appearances are deceiving. The door to the balcony is open. It's a cool night, as autumn tends to be, but not actually cold yet- just a bit brisk, especially up this high. The breeze that blows in through the door has that scent of fall that even here, in the middle of the biggest city on Earth, can't be truly quelled.

    The culprit of the open door can be glimpsed through it. Kyouko is out there, her elbows leaned on the railing, her newly-shortened hair touseled by the breeze. Why she's here, instead of in her own apartment, is unclear. Although she doesn't have the stress of school, tests, and grades to worry about, she has plenty of her own problems which sometimes need escaping. Maybe that's the explanation.

    That's probably also the explanation for the can of beer in her hand. Drinking on your own, Kyouko? That's a bad sign for somebody who's technically still a minor! Well, it's just one beer, and sometimes there's just nobody around to provide a socially acceptable excuse.

    She doesn't seem to notice Mamoru at first, the breeze and the city noise drifting up from below enough to mask the subtle noises of his procession towards the kitchen from her as she stares out over the sparkling Tokyo nightscape.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The open balcony door draws Mamoru's attention, and a short-haired short girl half-hidden by darkness makes the attention stick, narrow-eyed, for a moment. But Mamoru will have caffeine, or there will be blood, so he goes into the kitchen and opens the fridge, rooting around until he finds where the sacred stash of canned coffee's been most recently moved. He sticks one in his hoodie pocket and cracks open the other, then comes out of the kitchen and eyes the balcony door again before heading toward it, sipping from the can as he goes.

"Ami--?" he ventures before his eyes adjust, and he sees red instead of blue. "Wh-- uhh..."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    It's hard to sneak up on Kyouko, so although she doesn't appear to have noticed Mamoru until he actually speaks, it's likely that she has- or at least, has noticed that somebody is there- and is just being polite. When he does speak up though, with a rather amusing misidentification, she turns around, leaning back on the railing, and quirking a lopsided smile that can leave no doubt as to her identity, haircut or no.

    "Oh, hey Mamoru." She greets, in a rather light tone. "Whatsa matter? It don't look stupid, does it?" She lifts a hand to lightly poke at her newly-shorn locks. "I know it's a bit extreme, but I kinda wanted to do something different.. part of makin' a new beginning, y'know.."

    Her eyes narrow slightly as she peers at him. "You look like hell, dude."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"... you ask me if you look stupid after I mistake you for Ami, then tell me I look like hell," Mamoru says slowly, swirling his can of coffee around and eyeing Kyouko sidelong after a brief widening of those eyes behind his glasses. It's on his face that he's about to say something really jerky, but then he exhales and closes his eyes for a second. "It's cute. It's just going to take a lot of getting used to. Don't give Usagi any ideas."

He leans in the doorway and drinks some more, still looking at her hair. "Probably want to train with Kunzite a bunch to get used to your new balance."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko eyes Mamoru some more. She seems to sense the sort of mood that he's in, at least a little better than she did originally, though she only gives a little smirk in response to his grousing as she pushes herself away from the wall and walks over to him. No hugs or anything, but she looks up at him with a faint sparkle in her red eyes as she says, "Just who the hell do you think I am? Kyouko Sakura don't need to get used to nothin'."

    She sips her beer.. then laughs, shaking her head. "No, seriously.. it does take some getting used to. But, eh.. if it ends up bein' a mistake, it'll grow back. Sometimes I worry I'm going to destroy something irreplacable in a fit of pique, but I don't think I need to worry too much this time."

    She leans back against the wall next to where he leans, companionably close but not invading personal space as she looks back out over the city.

    "You alright?" She asks after a moment, glancing at him sideways. It's both a loaded and completely innocuous question at the same time. It all depends on how he chooses to answer it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's a crooked smile at Kyouko's sparkling denial, and he very lightly thumps the top of her head with the heel of his hand. "I don't think you'd do that anyway," Mamoru says mildly, then lets his hand drop as she comes to lean by him. They're both silent for that span, until she asks if he's okay.

The instant reaction is honest; it's a rueful laugh, maybe a little startled, and it's followed by the scruffy prince lifting a hand to rub at the bridge of his nose. "Yeah," he says, "yeah I'm fine. I mean, I'm tired and my brain is oozing out my ears and I feel like a jackass for ignoring everyone I spent so much time and effort getting back or getting to know or making friends with or falling in love with, but I need my grades to be perfect, and then I need to get perfect scores on the college entrance exams."

He looks down into his can of coffee. "It wouldn't have been a problem if this had been two years ago. I didn't have any friends, I lived alone, nobody cared about me, and I didn't care about anyone. I wouldn't trade down from that life upgrade for anything, least of all study time, but it's frustrating trying to hit goals I set for myself a long time ago from a completely new context and set of expectations."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko listens to Mamoru's explanation of his state of mind, while sipping a few more times from her beer. She doesn't interrupt him, though the sparkle in her eyes only grows more amused as he speaks- not because she doesn't take what he says seriously, but because of the parallels she sees which amuse the hell out of her.

    "Dude," She laughs, as he finishes, "You don't need to explain to me about life upgrades throwing you off balance with new contexts and expectations." She grins, one fangedly, and shakes her head, her newly-shortened hair swaying. "You should know better than to feel like a jackass, though. Ain't none of those people you put so much time and effort into gonna hold a grudge because you're bein' responsible."

    "After all, schoolwork, as intense as it may be, is a temporary condition. We'll be here long after you got your perfect grades, although we might wish we weren't when you're lordin' 'em over all of us." She grins, showing she's just kidding about that last part.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There, Kyouko finally gets a really really wry look from Mamoru.

He really is tired, that's all it gets her in the way of amusement, but it's real. It's just Mamoru-tired real. "Thanks," he says quietly, and leans over to push her shoulder with his, lightly. "How about you, though? Quiet cityscape from the balcony... just pondering your new hair?"

There's a breeze, and his feet are cold, but it's only his feet-- the ugly hoodie is at least warm.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko leans her head sideways against Mamoru's shoulder when he pushes it against hers. Not leaning on him, not trapping him. Just showing that she appreciates having somebody there, sometimes.

    "Ehhhh, you know how it is." She says, after a moment of thinking about it. "You ain't the only one who spent a lot of time livin' alone, either. I love having a family again- both the blood kind and the bond kind, but sometimes I just needa sit in the dark and the quiet and think about stuff."

    "And no, before you say it, I don't resent the intrusion." She adds, sounding somewhat wry herself. "Although I'm mildly surprised it's just you and not nii-chan or somebody else, too. Not that I mind, accourse. Just sayin'."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Well, good," says Mamoru after a second, with a somewhat self-consciously gruff little grumbly laugh in it. "It's not like I live here or anything." Then he eyes the top of Kyouko's head speculatively for a moment.

"What do you mean just me, not me and Kunzite or someone? Have you not noticed I'm made of salt and teeth right now?"

A beat. "Well being fair I haven't bitten you."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko holds her silence for a moment herself, before snorting in mild amusement. "Mamoru, you could be flippantly ordering your courtiers to throw people off the balcony and that wouldn't stop nii-chan from followin' you around. That's not really what I meant anyway, though. There is that whole 'sworn duty' thing, pretty sure that doesn't just go away because you're bein' grouchy."

    Her face is still not visible to him, as she's looking out over the city with her head leant on his upper arm (height difference too great for shoulder), but there's a sense of internal debate for a moment longer before she speaks again. "What's up with you guys, anyway? I mean like.. relationship-wise."

    There's a sense of blushing, too. "I mean, maybe it ain't none of my business but considering everything and stuff y'know I kinda at least feel like I outta know who's snoggin' who around here." She spits that out, then there's an audible 'click' as she forces her mouth closed.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru is silent for a long moment. If Kyouko should happen to look up, she'll see it's because his face is bright red, even in the funny light. "Umm..." he finally says, then finishes off his coffee can.

He clears his throat.

"Well..."

Then in a rush, "Okay before you say anything else it's okay with Usagi, okay? She's-- not-- I'm not the only one who-- I mean, we talked about it first and everything and it's fine with her." The hand holding the empty coffee can gestures a little helplessly in the air, and then he braces himself, shutting his eyes tight. "And this is not something that gets talked about because Kunzite is really really firm about it not getting out because I want to actually go to medical school and get a residency and finish it. But you asked. I'm not even sure if Jadeite knows or is deliberately not thinking about it or something, Nephrite figured it out on his own, and-- yes, me and Kunzite, and also Kunzite and Zoisite, and also me and Zoisite, okay."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko does not look up, so Mamoru's blushes remain safely unobserved. In fact, she doesn't do much of anything other than look out over the city as he does his best to elaborate what is a complicated situation in as few words and as little time as possible.

    Then she just lightly punches him in the side with her fist. "You dog." She says, her tone mischevious.

    Then she laughs, and she puts her nearer arm around him and squeezes in what she means to be a reassuring manner. "C'mon dude, don't freak out. It's me, remember? Of all the people who might give you shit about.. unorthodox romances, it ain't gonna be me."

    "I just wanted to know cause like.. I dunno, I guess I know you guys pretty well and it was pretty obvious to me too, but unlike Nephrite I don't have any tact."

    Then she pauses. "Wait, Zoisite too?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The sputtering sound is probably the best indication to Kyouko that she's lucky Mamoru didn't have a mouthful of coffee when she said the thing about Nephrite and tact; he'd been giving her a look somewhere between more rue and somewhat sour for her 'you dog', with relief writ all over and under and above it, and then that. And then he just laughs, loud and bright, such that he almost misses the bit about Zoisite--

"Dude. Dude Nephrite has negative tact you were so much more tactful just now than Nephrite holy crap-- and he brought it up when I was sick as hell from the Fiore junk and everything was really awkward and awful for a minute because I couldn't take a joke right then-- I mean we're fine it's fine but wow--"

And then he's red all over again and sort of laughing into his hoodie, empty can jammed in his other pocket because both hands are firmly ensconced in hoodie pouch sides now. "Yeah Zoisite too. I mean he's Zoisite. Look you asked..."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko just shakes her head slightly, but she's grinning- perhaps more because she got that laugh out of Mamoru than for anything else. "I did, and I do want to know, because I have this horrible habit of puttin' my foot in my mouth and if I'm gonna do it I at least want it to be on my terms and not when it's potentially embarassing for literally everybody."

    She hugs him again, with just the one arm, the other still busy with beer. "Seriously, Mamoru, it's cool with me. Like, it really doesn't matter to me other than that I love you all and I want you to be happy and if it makes you happy then have at, y'know? I'm just mildly annoyed at myself that I didn't notice the Zoisite thing, but like you said, he's Zoisite, sometimes I think he's flirting with me." She says this as if the idea is beyond all reckoning.

    She pulls away from him after a moment and goes back to just leaning on the wall. "I just like to know stuff, y'know, instead of guessing. I may be more tactful than Nephrite but as you pointed out, that ain't sayin' a whole lot." She tips back the last of her beer, the can empty as she lowers her hand back down from her face. "'Sides, I think once you start calling me 'sister' I have a god-given right to butt into your business."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
A one-armed hug is a hug nonetheless, and Mamoru leans into it a little, still laughing, if more embarrassedly now.

"Yeah, you do," he says under his breath, smiling. "And he probably is flirting with you. Usagi's decided she's going to learn how to flirt by flirting with him, and it's apparently an excuse for him to take her shopping. I'm..." Now it's another laugh, but it's decidedly self-deprecating. "I'm just happy. When I'm not beside myself with studying, you know? I'm happy and half the time I have no idea what to do with it. It's so new. I hope I never get used to it, and I hope it sticks around."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko looks mildly.. something, at Mamoru's statement that Zoisite might actually be flirting with her. If it's possible to look disbelieving, distressed, and pleased at the same time, that's sort of what her face looks like.

    Then a mild chuckle, as she toys with the empty beer can in her hands. "You're sure we're not actually the same person, right?" She asks, jokingly. "Because damn if I know just how you feel."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yeah," Mamoru answers flippantly, "or you'd be doing my homework, and I'd have a baby sister with a dog and manga in the bathroom mirror."

Finally, the high-schooler pushes off the doorframe and then pushes Kyouko lightly. "I have to get back to work, but I need to find some protein first. I'll make something for both of us if you tell me how that whole thing worked out for you..."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Well," Kyouko says, "the manga in the bathroom thing has been taken care of, at least.."

    She pushes Mamoru back when he pushes at her, but hers is definitely directed towards the door into the apartment. "Well, seein' as I don't see Mako-chan or Naru-chan in the apartment, I guess you'll have to do." As if Kyouko would ever turn down food, no matter who was making it.

    "But yeah, about that whole thing.. turns out it was the ghost of a mangaka, and she.."

    Kyouko follows Mamoru back into the apartment, shutting the balcony door behind her.