788/Almost Blue

Almost Blue
Date of Scene:	02 January 2016
Location:	Singapore
Synopsis:	After the meeting with Beryl, Kunzite and Endymion discuss logistics. In Singapore.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Kunzite

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Once they were dismissed from the throne room, missions in hand and New Girl 'safely' ensconced in her once-and-future mentor's care, Endymion did a lot of irritated stalking ahead until they were actually out of there, at which point his shoulders sagged a little and he had to muffle a snort. He'd recovered himself quickly, though, and then there was walking again.

"I have to text that girl, I'm going Earthside," he tells Kunzite matter-of-factly. And then the boy adds with a smirk, catching at Kunzite's sleeve, "Considering how little experience I have in dealing with them, maybe you'd better supervise."

He teleports, fully expecting Kunzite to come with him.

Kunzite has posed:
There is no muffled anything on Kunzite's part. There might perhaps be a gaze directly ahead for a moment, focused on nothing in particular, that someone who knew him sufficiently well might be able to peg as the expression he uses to cover - well - making sure he has control over his expression.

... when his sleeve is caught at, though, his smirk is nearly the mirror image of Endymion's. And his shadows flower around him for a moment, adding a little power to Endymion's spell, bringing the white-haired General along in his Prince's wake. Teleporting blind, but following, whether their target proves to be Earthside after all or not.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It is, in fact, Earthside-- but not Tokyo. Not by a long shot. Well-- close to the same timezone, if a couple hours' worth of sunlight back into the afternoon and much closer to the equator, because a) screw nighttime, and b) screw winter.

Singapore.

Endymion is actually doing his job for a moment, holding up a finger and dehenshining to take out his phone and send Homura a text: "We'll be there."

They're in an alley adjacent to a dizzying array of food carts, and as Endymion pockets his phone again, he pushes up his glasses, takes one look at Kunzite, and starts laughing.

Kunzite has posed:
Following Endymion's lead is almost a matter of reflex; uniform blurs into street clothes, height doesn't change but somehow is not so pronounced. Someone with Kunzite's hair will never not draw attention (and let it not be discussed what happened when Zoisite coaxed him to experiment with trying to conceal that), but it's merely a human kind of attention, now.

... it's not till after Endymion starts laughing, though, that he lets himself exhale and shake his head, eyeing the prince in question narrowly all the while. With that particular bland tone: "Truly the most dangerous of missions."

If Endymion has to lean on a wall, or an a person, Kunzite wins.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It'll be great when Zoisite's on speaking terms with Endymion, or with Mamoru, depending on how long it takes-- because wow, that'll be comedy gold. And it will last forever.

The boy's already laughing, and when Kunzite looks at him like that, says that, he just loses it. He does, in fact, thump back against the closest wall, head light; it takes him a good minute to get his composure back, and for most of it, his eyes are closed and it's almost possible to ignore everything and just believe this kid is still Mamoru Chiba, to believe he's really the Endymion who was so desperately trying to reach Kunzite, even unto the bitter end.

It's more than possible to believe that that end was not so bitter, that he still is Endymion, and that he still won't let go.

After that long minute, there are still intermittent chortles; they finally end in a sigh and a lopsided smile, and he takes off his glasses and rubs his face. "Dammit," he says cheerfully. "Anyway, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were already looking into that. Also, what's a Witch? I mean the monster kind."

Kunzite has posed:
He is still Mamoru. Still Endymion. That's the terrible part, and Kunzite knows it. The heart of him, the core and the spirit and the soul, is still the same person.

It's just the mind, the memories, the shackled will. Shackled. Because left to himself - even now, Endymion would never let go. It's only that he isn't and won't be left to himself. It's only that it's only a matter of time.

It's a matter of time for Kunzite, too. But he can hold on at least until this freefall ends; and when he impacts against Beryl, against Metallia ...

... well. They'll see what they can do then. If there's enough of them left to see.

"It caught my attention for the same reason it caught yours," Kunzite admits. "Either it's a human anomaly, and of interest; or it's the Senshi setting another trap; or it's Zoisite laying out bait. We'll find out which." Which means Zoisite hasn't talked to him yet, either.

Witches, and not the kind talking with Beryl now. Kunzite settles the flat of one shoulder against the wall, angled just a little toward Endymion. "A variety of monster, fairly powerful, but not particularly useful to us; they can't be effectively communicated with, and I have yet to find a way to command them. They can be detected either by the personal spaces they create, complete with variant laws and unique residents, or by the humans attracted to the Earthside analogues of those spaces, overwhelmed with despair. I'm not yet sure whether the Witches feed on the despair or on the humans; it's one or the other, and generally lethal. When killed, they reduce to black gems, that if left alone eventually regenerate the space and the monster.

"There are certain kinds of magical girls that look for them; these girls have no single predictable method or style, beyond that they most often use physical attacks, weapon-based. They have access to magic, but they rarely strike directly with their spells. They most often, but not universally, work alone. And they take care not to leave the black gems behind, though I'm not certain what they do with them."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Well, shit," Endymion says conversationally, shoving off the wall and gesturing out toward the hawker's court. He adds, "I hope you have money because I'm hungry. Lots of bad news. It's bad news if Zoi's not talking to you. Since he saw me laughing with you and then came to try and kill me, said I was a traitor and told me Jadeite blamed me for Nephrite's disappearance when that didn't work, and then ran away for some reason I don't remember, he probably thinks I'm trying to turn you against him."

His tone's a little brittle as he starts surveying the various foodstuffs for sale, hands in his pockets, wandering idly past stalls. "Jadeite ran away from me too. So even if I don't know how I could have, maybe I did make Nephrite run off somehow. Three out of four's got to set some kind of record." He doesn't look at Kunzite. He breezes on to the next bad news, instead.

"So, right, despair monsters that barf up acid trip puppet shows and eat people. And apparently this one is the size of the Infinity delta, complete with skyscrapers." Endymion takes his phone out again, unlocks it, queues up the video again, and passes it back to Kunzite absently. "The girl told me that that's a video of a potential future. I suppose she scryed it with a camcorder or something. I checked the metadata and the quality and ran it back through a few routines to see, and it's not CGI. I believe her. The meeting's probably going to be a mess anyway; she thought she recognised me, called me Mamoru-kun, told me I could still make her laugh."

A beat.

"She was there for the fried chicken. She's the one who brought the flamethrower."

Another pause, this time to inspect a particularly good-smelling curry. "But if she's not the only one who tries to tell me I'm someone else, we might get dogpiled when we go."

Kunzite has posed:
"I don't even know what country we're in, let alone what the local currency is," Kunzite notes faintly drily to Endymion's hopes, accompanying him out toward the carts. "But it's not as if we need it." ... he steals worse on a regular basis, after all. And the question of whether it's actually stealing if one merely influences a vendor into thinking he's been paid is an open one.

(Hint: Yes, it is.)

Any concern about guilt is promptly overridden by the wistful urge to strangle Zoisite, just a little. Not too much. Nothing permanent. And even that is classed right alongside the wistful urge to "introduce" Nephrite to the monster Kunzite's keeping encased in stone, feeding it carefully and at a measured pace. The category of pleasures only ever to be thought about, not actually achieved, because the consequences thereafter would not be worthwhile.

"Mn. Usually when Zoisite gets these ideas, he's turned up to rail at me by now. He must still have a project in mind." That, or the prolonged separation hasn't been doing him any good - or sudden exposure to Endymion really isn't doing him any good. Or both. Kunzite doesn't speculate. "Three out of four is more standard than a record, really. Nephrite managed it, and he is one of the four. Zoisite gets two on a regular basis, and he's tempting the third a little right now, himself; trying to kill you is perfectly normal, but accusing you of treachery without having convincing evidence is a little much. So as records go - I wouldn't worry." The urge to reach over and touch Endymion's arm, to add a physical confirmation, is strong. It's also quelled entirely by Endymion's hands being tucked into his pockets. He uses tone of voice instead, keeps it calm and level. No trouble here. No-one is about to disappear. Not of their own volition, anyway.

Then there's the phone. And the video. And Kunzite keeps one eye on that, and one eye on everything else, and "-- hells." That's almost an admiring tone. Almost. "Usually the things aren't much bigger than a building, if that. Three to five stories." Not THAT. "That doesn't look like one of their generated spaces, either."

Phone is passed back to Mamoru again, with barely a twitch of humor for the flamethrower. "Zoisite would appreciate your hostess's style." A lingering moment, not inspecting the curry, but watching the passersby as Endymion does. Not /quite/ with the same attitude that Endymion uses for the food. "I take it I'll be making the initial entry, then? If there's anyone likely to start a fight, they'll probably come after me immediately if I appear alone. It'll save time in identifying them, and in deciding whether it's worthwhile to stay - they're likely to be the same ones that would try ranting at you rather than paying attention to the topic at hand."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
(It's NOT as if they need money. Hypnosis comes devastatingly easily to a suppressed and corrupted psychic. The Dark Prince in the school uniform and glasses is, in short order, filling his mouth with noodles and curry as he listens to Kunzite.)

"Singapore," Endymion says after a long moment of silence after Kunzite finishes speaking.

(In something like half a year, it's entirely possible -- as clearheaded as Endymion currently is -- that a food vendor will be getting an anonymous donation wired to him out of nowhere.)

"I'm not especially worried about the record. I just need all of you, and Nephrite being missing is bad enough. I honestly might start looking for him on the side, in the middle of everything else. He can see things more clearly than any of us, sometimes." Endymion's voice has lost its brittleness; it's possible he's willed his way past it, but it's more probable that Kunzite did, in fact, just help. The calm is there. The calm is always there if he needs it.

"If they're more likely to rant at me and shoot you, I suspect me making the initial entry would involve less actual disruption of the meeting by dint of rulebreakers getting kicked out. If they rant at me I can yell really loud for them to shut up and keep their minds on the monster that's going to eat Tokyo. I really would like as much firepower as possible available for the problem, regardless of their feelings about you."

Kunzite has posed:
Looking for Nephrite, who is still missing. Despite that clearsightedness. The idea of Endymion going down whatever rabbithole has eaten the astrologer-General does not fill Kunzite with confidence or reassurance. The image of Endymion striding without warning into a roomful of Mamoru's friends --

(-- is somewhat amusing, actually --)

-- really should be striking the same chord in him. Kunzite, whose hands are still free, and who has investigated none of the vendors (this too is a good thing, given the last time he was seen to consume anything foodlike; nobody needs to wonder what curry-youma would be like), says only: "They're your decisions."

This is, eternally, the polite version of 'those are terrible ideas.' But whether Kunzite thinks the ideas are terrible is ultimately immaterial. Endymion does what Endymion does, his Darkened self sometimes as much as his original, and resignation to that is a survival skill in and of itself. Besides. At least Kunzite's getting warning, this time.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Endymion, with a huge mouthful of curry and noodles, gives Kunzite hella sideeye. He just chews at him for a moment, unmoving otherwise.

Then he swallows and says flippantly, "Fine. Ladies first."

Before he says or does anything else, he looks for the reaction. Unrepentantly.

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite arches his eyebrows at Endymion, levelly. "-- ah. You're right. Finding Nephrite before the meeting would solve both sets of problems."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And it is a goddamn good thing that Endymion already swallowed his food, otherwise that would be one hell of a spittake. As it is, he claps his hand over his mouth and shuts his eyes really tight, physically stifling the laughter. He gasps incredulously after a second, then punches Kunzite in the arm. "You dick! I mean it though, fine, you can go first. Just-- if they start shooting and the ones in charge can't handle them, for crying out loud don't just stand there soaking it. I will yank you out. You will let me."

Kunzite has posed:
Accepted without retaliation - Kunzite really did earn that one. And besides, Dark Princes have privileges. The punch does, however, put a crack in Kunzite's nonexpressive mask again, one wide enough for a grin to show. "Of course I will," he agrees. "And of course it's your call on what we do, when. Just keep away from my left-hand side as we enter; I'll deflect that direction, if I need to. Who knows? They might surprise us, and actually be civil. I've seen it happen. Once."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"They might be!" agrees Endymion cheerfully. "And okay, I'll stick to your right and we'll play the rest by ear. This might actually be fun."

For interesting definitions of 'fun'.

He sticks his plastic fork in the takeaway box and snaps the lid on, then crouches, right in the middle of everything, uncaring of whose way he might be in; he puts a hand on the ground for a second, and--

--Kunzite can see the energy reach up to embrace him--

--and he shuts his eyes for a minute, as if searching. "If you want to find Zoisite and talk to him, by the way, he's in the south part of Tokyo right now," he says after a moment, then straightens up and brushes his hand off on his trousers. "Somewhere near Clover Tower. I should probably go do something that gets some immediate results I can save up to hand off when I got nothin'."

Kunzite has posed:
The instant in which those eyes open, and they are still not blue, is a terrible one. Kunzite doesn't dare let his reaction touch his face, or his voice, or even delay him an instant. "Good thought," he says instead. "Both of them. Better to irritate him more now than to surprise him unnecessarily in the middle of things, if that is his project. We'll see if I can find him." ... following the scent of smoke only works if he's irritated enough, after all.

Kunzite bows his head to the Prince, then, as a preliminary farewell. Even if he'll need to work his way out of sight again before stepping back into shadows.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The bow of Kunzite's head earns him an affectionate look from his Prince, red eyes or no. "Good luck," he says, and means it. "See you soon."

And he's not even subtle. He just shifts sideways and vanishes, an anonymous anomaly that'll be obsessed over by conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts, chalked up to mirrors and stunts by everyone else.

After all, Endymion does whatever the hell he wants.