He's sprawled bonelessly in some patch of early-morning sun, hair straightened out and brushed, though not put back in a ponytail, but the rest of him artfully rumpled. The youngest of the original four Shitennou (with Kyouko's inclusion, doesn't that make them the Go-tennou?) stretches, clearly not awake, though the coffee mug in his hands suggests that as soon as the caffeine processes, he will be significantly more alert. He's waiting- mostly on Kunzite. Of course, the quality of waiting would be obvious at this point- after all, he's had time to brush his hair and get some form of coffee.
The unwary would probably mistake the look on his face for true drowsiness, but not the person he's waiting on. After all, though his eyes are half-lidded, that is something easily controlled and affected for the image Zoisite wants to send, that of lazy drowsiness.
Kunzite will let Zoisite muse over the quirks of naming. The proper words for things are only rarely something he worries about. His morning routine isn't invariable, but today's has been largely standard: up before dawn, and out to run. Sometimes Mamoru's started to join him. Not today. He's been back long enough to get a shower; his hair's just long enough to tie it back out of the way again, which he's done. The water dulls it to the color of old ivory, of buried bone. It makes the civilian uniform he defaults to, jeans and rolled-up sleeves, look rather more like the mask it is than usual.
There is only one of the two of them who's had coffee.
He pauses a step or two into the room. The charitable interpretation of what he's doing would be studying Zoisite, wondering what he's up to, who he's waiting for, what trouble's about to start and whether it'll be one he approves of. What he's actually doing is watching the sunlight on Zoisite's hair.
There's a moment where Zoisite studies Kunzite back, cat-green eyes opening slightly from their half-lidded state. He yawns widely, privately amused by the fact that his hair is loose, and Kunzite's hair is pulled back. There's a brief moment of contemplation, using his coffee as much as a prop to buy time as it is an actual drink. When he lowers the mug, he smiles crookedly at Kunzite.
There are many things he could say. Many things he probably should say, if he was prone to being honest. Things like 'I was being a brat even if your plan was the dumbest thing I've seen', things like 'I'm not angry anymore.' Zoisite is not that sort of honest person, so those things go unsaid. Instead, he stretches and his face settles on something that could be called resigned disgust. "You get up way too early."
The coffee is the tell for who Zoisite was stalking: if it'd been someone else, there would've been a comment before the drink, or mumbled into it. The smile is --
The change in Kunzite's expression is barely visible, a minute release of tension near the eyes.
He comes to settle himself cross-legged at the edge of that patch of sunlight. "Ah, but I don't try to tell you to, these days." No formal watches -- they had to fall back into something close to it, the worst weeks of Fiore's time, but Mamoru is well again and what's left of fiore dwells quietly as a rose in the sun, visited often enough, talked with when they don't want to share words with anyone who might talk back, but no threat and no harm. "Besides. We all have our vices."
Zoisite notices that minute release of tension, and nods a little at it. He watches Kunzite's approach, eyeing the small ponytail speculatively. "Mm, it's still disgustingly early." For anyone who can take the heat of the day and not wilt under it. He takes another sip of coffee, lips still quirked.
Mostly, it's amusement at what he'd overheard last night, and seen. "So the youngest Sakura sister had a crush on you, hmm?" Unsaid, but present in his face, is the sentiment that he hardly blames her. Instead of saying more, he scoots closer. Sitting in a patch of sun is fine and all, but there's nothing to lean bonelessly against here. Or, well, there wasn't, until Kunzite showed up.
The shift closer is a promising sign. Kunzite still considers a moment before reaching out to smooth fiery hair with a hand. It's a steady gesture, calm; not tentative, but giving Zoisite enough time to register any displeasure he might care to. "You could still be asleep." He could fall back asleep. He could probably pointedly fall back asleep, coffee and all. Being trapped is a reasonable risk to take. so is being bitten, possibly literally.
His own mouth twitches at one corner, all the same. "The youngest Sakura sister still thinks like a nine-year-old. I'm reasonably certain that the qualifications for being crushed on by her are 'be adult, be breathing, say something not entirely condescending to her once.'"
Well, Kunzite isn't wrong about that assesment. Zoisite leans into the touch with a small smile-- being angry at his fellow Shitennou seems far less important than indulging the fact that he is a vain hedonist, the fact that he enjoys contact with someone who is so very much his opposite in so many ways. If anything, the strawberry blond moves closer, leaning against Kunzite and fussing at his ponytail in return. It'd been a long time since his own hair was ever that short.
There's a small chuckle at Kunzite's frank commentary on Momo's sensibilities. He's not wrong, but it's amusing all the same. "Still, I can see why someone would. Even if you do occasionally have the dumbest ideas," he points out, tugging lightly on Kunzite's ponytail. Still, it's more a token gesture of past irritation, a cover for the fact that he has rapidly gone from 'not talking to Kunzite' to 'talking to, leaning on, and practically purring at Kunzite'.
Leaning in just makes it easier, more natural, for Kunzite to put his arm around Zoisite, to lend a little more support, a little more warmth. (This body, flesh and blood, actually has warmth in a way that the one he wore in the Dark Kingdom did not.) To run his fingers lightly through that bright hair, careful not to tangle it in the process. To let Zoisite fuss amd amuse himself with the way the short tail of damp straight hair moves.
He's been easier with contact with others, the last couple of weeks -- only a fraction easier, but easier all the same. But he's always been easy with it, with Zoisite. Even in their first lives. Even in the dark.
He's never been sure, these last months, if Zoisite put together the same clues that he did. That it was possible to fall from being human, or at least from being creatures with human souls, to being something else entirely. How close they, or at least he, might have come to that. How much of a difference Zoisite's presence made.
There's even something like an answering laugh, a sound not quite defined enough to quite match Zoisite's. "My only defense is that it worked." His arm around more-slender shoulders tightens. "And for that, I wouldn't trade it."
You are not replaceable.
There's a soft, pleased noise in the back of Zoisite's throat at the laugh. He seems to melt, just slightly, into the tightening grip. He seems to read the unspoken message there, that Kunzite needs him the way most flowers need sun. There's something unspoken in how he seems to cling, without actually clinging. Though it had been lost in his annoyance with the sheer stupidity of Kunzite's plan, he needs Kunzite as much as Kunzite needs him.
"Well, I suppose that's a decent defense," Zoisite drawls, voice full of amusement regardless. "Still, I'd rather have dealt with the stupid plan than give any of this up." This is very much including the current moment.
It's not just Kunzite who needs him. But that's between Zoisite and Mamoru, and knowing Mamoru, he's probably been making that clear to Zoisite since --
-- well. Since before Kunzite was, however temporarily, a rock.
He doesn't answer out loud. He turns his head, instead, and leans it against Zoisite's hair, breath warm and steady. (Breathing when he doesn't have to talk. That's something he used to forget, too. Sometimes for hours.)
That's all the reply Zoisite's likely to get. There are some things he doesn't say out loud. But it's possible to read them, in the contact, in the stillness, in the --
"I missed you."
Correction: there are some things he didn't say out loud.
Kunzite isn't the only one who gets up early. He isn't even the only one who gets up early to run, which is something that Naru probably never expected she would do willingly on a regular basis at any point in her life.
This has been a theme of the last six months. Never expected at any point in her life.
This morning, the pair that are being all terminally adorable in the apartment get at least some degree of warning if they're paying any attention at all. Naru can't just teleport in, or appear on the balcony. She has to use a key, in the lock of the door.
Running gear for this morning includes a backpack, as Naru opens the door and pauses to kneel and untie her shoes before she kicks them off, a headband keeping her freshly short hair out of her face.
Zoisite's relationship with the Prince is doing quite well, at least. He's perfectly aware that Mamoru needs him- not just as a Shitennou, but as a friend, a member of his family, needs him for himself. He chuckles at the feeling of Kunzite's breath in his hair. "...Missed you too," he mumbles. It's a rare bit of honesty, but he thinks Kunzite deserves it.
Still, Zoisite's head comes up at the sound of the key in the lock, eyes narrowing slightly. It's not Endy- he would know- but in a moment that mystery clears, and he settles, almost imperceptably to anyone who isn't Kunzite. "Bonjour!" he calls, the accent on his French absolutely impeccable. "Bienavue de France!" He blows Naru a kiss, and the fact that he is more-or-less halfway to draping across Kunzite is ignored for now.
Speaking of family, albeit the more extended kind. Not necessarily a familiar statement, there. Kunzite lifts his head as well, in time with Zoisite's so as to avoid collision, and the glance over is likely in unison too. "Good morning," he says to Naru, likewise unconcerned about being halfway to wearing a Zoisite. "There might be more coffee. I haven't checked yet."
"Ici. N'est pas France." Naru replies, her own French a fairly managled affair that is more enthusiasm than skill. Still, it makes her smile as she looks over at the tangled pair, blowing Zoi a kiss right back, clearly unconcerned for the high degree of adorable going on.
"Morning." She greets Kunzite in a somewhat more dignified fashion. "I brought muffins, although I hadn't thought through how well they'd survive going for a run in my pack first, so I may have brought muffin pieces."
With that said, Naru pads her way towards the kitchen in search of potential coffee, and to check on the state of the muffins.
"Muffin pieces are fine, my dear," Zoisite says, humming pleasantly. He watches her walk over, clearly with no desire to move much. Instead, he scoots over more, to basically sit right in Kunzite's lap. He's glad she isn't concerned, or commenting on the fact that they are basically tangled up in one another. He purrs. "There is coffee, I made some."
Only a few minutes after Naru's arrival, there's a loud thump on the balcony outside, and a split-second later the sliding door opens to admit Kyouko, giving the impression that she hit the balcony mid-stride and continued right on through the door, which is more than likely the case. She is in henshin, of course, since she couldn't arrive via balcony if she wasn't, but she drops it even as she's coming through the door, her outfit exploding in a brief flash of red sparkles to reveal her normal jeans and t-shirt. She does pause for just a moment to leave her sneakers on the balcony, of course.
She barely glances at Kunzite and Zoisite sprawled in a patch of sunlight as she passes, her voice raised (though not too loud, since it's early enough that some might still be sleeping) in a raucously complaining tone, "We ran out of tea at home, can you believe that? The Sakuras are an embarassment to Japanese people everywhere. I need to be at work in an hour and I will freaking die without some caffeine in me so I'm stealing some from you."
She pauses in the door to the kitchen. "Oh, hi Naru-chan." Clearly Kunzite and Zoisite were on her list of 'people expected to be at the ECFH at this hour' but Naru was not.
The shift of Zoisite's weight just prior to his moving is enough warning to let Kunzite turn a bit, so that the two of them are more comfortably facing some of the important things in the room. Like the places where other people might sit. One arm is laced absently around Zoi's waist to secure him lightly in place. It does not escape Kunzite that Zoisite has more or less trapped him away from coffee, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a small sacrifice. (And, as often, rather more amuses him than annoys.)
That small turn still leaves him with a decent view of the balcony door, all the same. He's no more concerned about Kyouko catching him being furniture for Zoisite than he was about Naru, but the incoming rant prompts eyebrows to lift. "So that's why your sister was being particularly -- your sister -- last night," he comments. Everything makes so much more sense now.
"Does that mean you want some, Zoi?" Naru calls from the kitchen as she putters in there. "Muffin that is, if you want more coffee you have to come get it yourself or at least convince me to come get your mug."
"Morning Kyouko." Naru gets down two mugs at the words from Kyouko, offering one to the other girl before lifting the coffee pot to offer to pour. "There's muffin pieces if you want some of those too. Not Makoto quality, but I liked how these ones turned out. Properly lemony."
"Am I bringing you a cup while I'm getting one, Kunzite?" Naru asks, apparently perfectly content to play hostess in a house that's not hers.
It's all part of Zoisite's evil master plan, clearly. Still, Zoisite waves lazily at Kyouko as she enters. "That'd be lovely, and I think I have enough coffee." His own mug is still half-full, after all. He takes a sip, as if reminded it exists. Zoisite's smile definitely reaches his eyes as he leans more heavily against Kunzite, lacing an arm over the arm holding his waist. Plus, if Zoisite's effectively trapped Kunzite away from the coffee, it's Kunzite who is keeping him there with that arm.
"That does make more sense." Though... blowing up the vacuum bag was still something that had him privately laughing himself stupid.
"What? What was she doing?" Kyouko shoots over her shoulder towards Kunzite at his comment about her sister. "I didn't know she was over here. She wasn't bein' a pain in the ass, was she? I mean, accourse she was, but in a bad way?" She sounds halfway between genuinely concerned and mildly exasperated.
Then Naru distracts her with a mug, and she takes one before shaking her head at the offer to pour coffee. "Blech, coffee tastes like boiled dirt. Ya'll are welcome to it, I'm gonna make tea." She moves to grab the kettle and put it on the burner.
Muffin pieces, however, are accepted with a grunt which sounds mildly like a thank you but is interrupted by furious chewing.
"Thank you, but no," Kunzite answers Naru's offer. That way, between him and Zoisite, one of them has a free hand in case of emergency. (This is also his own fault.)
His eyebrows twitch upward when Kyouko also turns it down. Tastes like boiled dirt? "Of course it does. This country's addicted to making it the wrong way." Never mind that he also makes it the same way. And drinks it that way. And hasn't said a word about it since Mercury gave him a body that actually handled eating and drinking normally, because Mamoru's preference wins over his.
Kyouko's concern over the way in which Momo was being a pain also wins a quiet half-laugh. With witnesses this time. "She was being helpful," he says. "Obsessively helpful. We kept her from trying to clean the area under construction, at least."
A plate for muffin chunks, some of which can mostly be identified as muffins if one is being generous. Naru pours herself a coffee and leaves Kyouko to her tea making as she pads her way back out to the living room. Somehow she manages to not spill anything, even while dangling her backpack off a single shoulder.
"I feel as if I should warn you, Zoi." Naru comments to the lazily sprawling one who is 'trapping' Kunzite to the couch. "I'm reasonably certain you are draped all over a pod person."
Naru sets the plate down, her expression amused even if her voice is dry and she can steal her own chunk of muffin before finding a chair to curl up in.
Zoisite looks mock-offended at the comment about coffee. "You wound me! Bad coffee tastes like boiled dirt!" And Zoisite doesn't allow bad coffee in the apartments. Or at least, he doesn't allow it in his face. He clutches at his chest dramatically, as if in physical pain. He then resumes drinking his coffee, lips quirked into a crooked smile. Zoisite snorts softly at the assesment of Momo's tendencies.
"I don't think it counts as pain in the ass if she was trying to help," Zoisite agrees. At the warning, Zoisite starts laughing, shaking his head furiously. "If it's a pod person, it's a pod person I probably put here." He grins wildly, eyes gleaming. After all, he's very aware that he's likely made Kunzite's week just thanks to his behavior this morning.
There's clanking and clattering as Kyouko, never a kitchen wizard to begin with, manages a servicable job of 'heating water', putting it in a mug, and adding a teabag. There's probably loose tea too, knowing the inhabitants of this apartment, but Kyouko doesn't have time for that frippery. A moment later she exits the kitchen, steaming mug with teabag-string hanging over the side in hand.
"No, it definitely counts as a pain in the ass either way. Whether or not she's trying to help only dictates how annoyed it makes me." Kyouko says, with a slight lopsided grin, before dropping into one of the chairs and throwing one leg over the arm while cradling her cup. "You are more than welcome to toss her out on her over-helpful little tush if she starts trying to sort your underwear drawer, because I still haven't recovered from that experience. Some things are sacred."
She glances at Naru. "Muffins are good, by the way."
Kunzite puts up his free hand to shield his own face; Zoisite's hair is not tied back, which means that when he shakes his head like that the flying locks don't stay as far down as usual. When the other youth settles, he absently tugs his hair back out of his face, fingercombing it briefly to bring the explosion of curls down to a minimum. "Naru," he says in the more usual even tone. "Kindly don't give our botanist ideas."
He glances over to Kyouko's reappearance with the all-important caffeine, and arches eyebrows. "The bright side about the Wraiths," he says, "is that if she tries that, then when someone throws her off the balcony, she'll be fine." Mamoru probably wouldn't. Mamoru might be the only resident who wouldn't.
"Was she sorting by style or colour? Cause I can see merit.." Naru starts and then laughs and shakes her head. "Never mind." She sets her own coffee down on a convenient side table, letting her pack settle on the floor next to her, not yet fully emptied although significantly lighter with the removal of the muffin container.
"Thanks." Naru replies to Kyouko with a smile and then she's back up again, as if remembering something else she wanted from the kitchen and heading back there.
"And you put in a pod person that turns down coffee delivery? Seriously Zoi?" Naru teases gently, her smile including Kunzite in that as well as she returns with a glass of water. Coffee is not good rehydration, no matter how much many people wish it would be.
Naru widens her eyes into something approximating innocence at Kunzite's even tone. "Me? Give him ideas? Never."
Zoisite laughs, leaning his head into the contact-- people might be reminded of Luna or Artemis leaning their heads in for a good scritch. "Mmmn, that kind of thing would take too much effort and would mean moving." His tone is petulant on that last word, indicating just how happy he would be with moving. He shakes his head a little at the mere concept, though he's careful to not shake it enough for it to go everywhere this time. In fact, he slides a hair-tie off his wrist, sets his coffee on the table, and offers the tie to Kunzite. Clearly just because the taller Shitennou has the best position to do that. Clearly.
At the revelation of 'sorting underwear drawers' Zoisite is startled into laughter. "I think if she did that I'd plant her and see what kind of flower she becomes," he offers, speculatively. "At least, until she realizes that some things go beyond helping and into uncomfortable territory."
Kyouko gives Naru a look. "It's not the sorting that's the problem, it's that she doesn't know when to quit!" She laughs a little bit, taking a sip of her tea and then making a face as it's a bit too hot. "A-cha-cha.." Then blowing on it for a moment before continuing, "I mean, I guess in the long run that's one of her strengths, or she wouldn't be here at all, but.."
She has a grin for Kunzite. "We got plenty of Cubes at the moment, so feel free if she needs a reminder." They have a few Seeds too, safely stashed away, some in the apartment and some in Kyouko's pocket, where they permenantly reside just in case. Cubes aren't any good in a fight, so they are used for routine maintenance. The Seeds are saved for emergencies.
She glances at Zoisite. "A peach tree, obviously."
"Even pod people only have so many hands." Kunzite says this as he's accepting the hair tie, settling Zoi's hair again lightly ('straightening' will never quite be the proper word for that with him), and then gathering it with practiced motions to secure it back without yanking. And with the preferred locks left free to frame Zoisite's face and give him something to fidget with. Some habits are very, very old.
-- a peach tree. He bows his head just a little, to spare the incipient smile from damaging Naru's sensibilities any further. But the discussion of Cubes prompts him to straighten again a moment later and regard Naru speculatively. "Speaking of such things. Any trouble this morning?"
"I can see the merit in sorting, I am grateful she doesn't know where my underwear drawer is at the same time." Naru holds up her hand and her glass of water with a nod to Kyouko at the lack of 'knowing when to quit'. She curls back up, drinking water as she lets her coffee cool.
"A peach tree?" Naru has to ask, a little furrow of curiosity crossing her face. "I don't follow that connection, but it sounds interesting."
"Nothing that got close enough to me to give me more pause than a scenic route to get them to quit following me." Naru replies as she sets her empty water glass down. Which is not quite the same as 'no', but at least means that she's starting another day not actually broken. "And yes, I'm confident that they weren't following me by the time I got here, so no one needs to inturrupt their lounging or tea to go kick anyone."
"I'm sure the pod person can take a moment to put my hair back so he doesn't end up having hair for breakfast," Zoisite says softly, leaning into the fussing at his hair with a soft noise in the back of his throat that may as well be a purr. He snorts at Kyouko's response, clearly amused. He waves a hand at Naru. "The usual kanji that goes with the reading 'momo' is peach. I wonder if she'd be that obvious, though." At Naru's answer to Kunzite's question, his relaxed, lazy gaze sharpens.
A cat's pupils would have narrowed, honing in on prey. "And you're sure you wouldn't prefer a running partner?" he asks. It might be motivation for Zoisite to get up early-- even if he would end up just going back to bed shortly after.
Kyouko is about to answer Naru's question about her response, but Zoisite beats her to it, so she just nods her head in agreement. Her tea is finally cool enough to sip without scalding, so she goes about doing so in a businesslike manner, as she only has a limited time before she needs to be off to open up the conbenie for another day of business.
She shoots Naru a somewhat speculative look at her answer to Kunzite though, and although she doesn't make the same offer Zoisite does, her concern is palpable. Naru had better be careful or she might end up with more than one running partner!
Zoisite has a point, regarding Momo. She might turn out to be an apple tree instead.
The pod person can indeed take a moment; it just leaves him no hands free for coffee. Foresight in the turning down of delivery. (No, he does not trust the carpet to keep a cup upright. Not in this household.)
Kunzite resettles afterward, inclining his head to Naru's description of her morning so far. "Good. Given the situation, evidence that you can outrun at least some of them now is good to hear." He doesn't say a word about the rest. Not about how the situation's changed, not about whether Naru might be running with someone, not about the impending 10K -- any of it. That's all hers to field.
"Hunh." Naru pauses to think about that peach connection and then smiles and nods, reaching for her muffin chunks. "I dont think she'd be that obvious.. then again.. Dog /is/ named Dog."
"Usually I run with Hannah, but I try not to get in the habit of slacking when she's busy. That makes the next run on the schedule suck even /more/ when you do that." That right there is the voice of experience in how well slacking off does on a training schedule.
Naru arches a brow at Zoisite at his offer to go running with her, and there's a full dose of skepticism. "Are you /actually/ offering to get up at oh-stupid and come running with me? I disbelieve."
"It was slow and fairly stupid." Naru comments to Kunzite with a bit of a shrug. "Other things and there would have been texts."
"Dog -is- named Dog," Zoisite agrees with a slight snicker. He nibbles on a muffin chunk happily before offering another to Kunzite. He nods a little to himself. Still, Momo is young- and will continue to be young for a very long time. There's potential for change and growth, away from the expected, in that.
"I'm wounded. You have shot an arrow through my heart. I may never survive." His tone is bland and robotic, but it's followed by a sharp eyebrow quirk. "Are you challenging me, Na-ru-chan~?" he asks, carefully enunciating her name. "I can get up that early if I want to, and running with you might be important enough to warrant it." Plus, it makes both of them unpredictable- her for accompaniment on her run, him for his schedule and habits. The more he considers it, the more the benefits outweigh the risks. This doesn't mean he won't sigh dramatically over how comfortable his bed, is, but.
But.
Kyouko sighs softly as she drains the last of her tea from her mug, standing up. "Dog is a very good name for Dog. It suits him perfectly." She tells the assembled, before turning and walking to the kitchen to deposit her mug in the sink.
Then she's walking back out. She gives a glance to Naru at the mention of running with Hannah, and there's a slight scowl in it- despite the fact that what was one virulent hatred has cooled to simmering dislike, the fact that all of her friends continue to be so darn forgiving of the girl and her continued shenanigans is a sticking point she can't quite get over.
Still. This is not the time to get into that, as she has a shift. "Thanks for the tea. Ya'll have a good day and Naru.. no getting chomped today, please." She flashes a grin, then heads to the balcony door. Shoes on, a brief flash of red, and then she's off with a leap, vanishing over the railing in a graceful trail of fluttering ruffles.
('Forgiving.' That's one word for it. Nephrite's accused Kunzite of never doing anything without a plan; and putting Naru together with Hannah wasn't done only for its effects on Naru...)
"Good luck, Kyouko." That's said in her wake, because there isn't much of a chance to say anything not in her wake.
The muffin chunk is accepted, then -- it gives him an excuse not to say anything about Zoisite's getting up that early. (He can, after all. He is entirely capable. He'll even have company in the morning-zombie state. There's nothing to say. Right? Riiight.) What he does note to Naru is, "Show me where you encountered it before you go. We may as well get it off the streets." Besides, they need a little fun here and there.
"Dog is a perfectly valid name for Dog, and suits him very well, but it doesn't speak to a lot of surprises on the naming front." Naru points out as she drinks her coffee and absently stretches her legs out one at a time as she sits on the chair, keeping some hope of not getting hideously stiff when she goes to get up later.
Naru's relationship with Hannah doesn't stem from forgiveness, per se, and more ignorance. Which, in many respects, is bliss, and basically the thread that holds Naru's life together. She waves after the puella. "That's the goal!" She calls after the fluttering ruffles and then turns her attention back to Zoisite.
"I'm not /saying/ that I'm challenging you, Zoi darling." Naru says with an expansiveness of tone that is, especially with the addition of the 'darling', absolutely a challenge. "I'm merely saying I disbelieve that you'd get out up in the cold and dark, out of your nice warm and cozy bed to come running."
Naru nods to Kunzite. "I'd planned on it. It looked fond of its spot, I was a little surprised it followed me as far as it did, but I can show you were it was lurking."
Zoisite waves a little at the retreating Puella's back. Forgiving is definitely one word for it, though not the one Zoi would have chosen. "Zoisite may not be prone to getting up at godawful hours when it's still dark and not cold during this time of year, but Izumi Inoba is perfectly willing to." His tone is haughty and airy, and he even has his nose in the air, albeit briefly. It's most definitely a challenge, and Naru is going to find herself with a 'kill me now-o-clock' running partner.
At the note about finding where the monster denned up, there's a feral, wild look in Zoisite's eyes. A little fun is definitely the polite way to put it- and eliminating a monster is much more Zoisite's idea of morning exercise, rather than running with no destination in mind. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Kunzite."
Kunzite leans his cheek lightly against the curve of a bright head -- bright in more than one sense. "Perhaps it thought you looked like good company," he suggests to Naru. Or perhaps it's been short on decent prey. School's out for the month; if it was used to feeding off of young crowds going back and forth, it's not impossible. Changes of schedules confuse the stupid ones. Speaking of schedules -- "Zoisite, did you or Izumi have any other plans for the day?" After all. Entertainment has to take second place to some things.
"The ones that think I look like good company are a /totally/ different kind of creeper and why I dont run at night." Naru quips to Kunzite, on the reality of running as a lone teen girl in urban Tokyo. "They are easier to out run, especially the drunk ones."
"Do you want me to come by here to collect you, or are you just going to turn up at my place?" Naru asks as Zoisite's haughty tone says quite clearly 'challenge accepted', no matter that it's clearly not a challenge. Clearly.
"If you want to go now, I can show you where, I would like to finish my coffee first, however." Naru points out, watching that look on Zoi's face and glancing between him and Kunzite.
Zoisite is grinning. The youma may not be the only ones looking for prey, it just so happens that the sort of prey he has in mind happen to be youma. "I can show you some very nice tricks for overpowering that type of creep, if you'd like." Nothing so organized as martial arts, but truly dirty tactics that Ignazio had used on his brothers a literal lifetime ago. Things like painful places to jam nails. He purrs at the question, eyes half-lidded and practically smoldering.
"Well, I'd rather you not go unattended at all. So I'll show up at your place." He smirks. And just to prove a point, perhaps he will show up earlier than her usual runtime.
"Bah, hunting is better for waking up than coffee. Coffee just stops your brain from knowing you're still tired." He only drinks it for the flavor, after all.
One option among those tricks is eyeing Naru, but says nothing. If she wants his help with any of those, she'll let him know. And Zoisite's tricks will help her in a longer-term fashion.
Besides, they'll be more fun for Zoisite to teach her.
Coffee just stops the brain from -- well. Yes. "Since she doesn't hunt, though, we can afford to let her deceive herself. Particularly when she's doing us the favor." Kunzite rests his free hand on Zoisite's shoulder, amusement showing in his expression for once... and threaded through the rest of his body language as well, for all that it's hampered by the occupied lap. As feral as Zoisite, if with a more visible dose of self-control.
Not a pod person after all, apparently. At least at the moment, just without an extra layer of his own masks.
"I would be glad to take you up on learning some of those tricks, Zoi." Naru nods with a little smile of her own that speaks to the usual victim possibly not /always/ being a complete pushover.
"Caffeine is excellent for tricking your brain into thinking you're not about to faceplant post drain too. Tested that theory, although needs to good kick of sugar and generally protein to go with it. Today, I just want to finish my coffee." Naru gestures to Kunzite as he points out that she's not doing the hunting. "Being bait is hard work y'know, all that going about my normal life, and everything."