Holdin' Out For a Healer

"Yes I know, but walking lets us catch Pokemon," a ludicrously tall black-haired older teen is telling the boy next to him, as the two come around the closest corner.

It's afternoon, it's hot, it's very late August, the air is stifling, and there aren't too many people out on the street. It isn't a residential street, it's mostly shops; this particular section has very wide sidewalks, and some of the restaurants have tables set up outside with umbrellas.

The boy with the black hair is wearing absurdly stylish sunglasses (prescription, but they have those lenses that darken) and a white tank top and cargo shorts, sandals, a really fancy wristwatch that looks almost more like a bracelet, and a shell necklace because why the hell not; he's working on a pretty good tan, and his bearing is extremely self-assured.

"Besides, it's daylight. Do you really think it'd be unsubtle to land on the sidewalk in full gear?"

The shorter of the duo looks groggy and annoyed, even rubbing at his eyes and yawning. He doesn't deign to respond to anything the taller teenager says, instead fussing at his own hair. The blond just glares sleepily and elbows the black-haired teenager with evident annoyance.

He has his phone out, but it's pretty obvious he's not interested in playing Pokemon like the taller teenager.

Is miserable out in this heat, sitting at one of the restaurants in question with a glass of some kind of iced tea half-empty already. She's messing with her phone, leaning back in her chair carefully. Legs crossed, wearing a sleeveless blouse and a skirt with sandles. In her shadows are a pair of ghosts, one of which is occasionally talking to Jia very quietly in Chinese. It's quiet enough that it's not likely to be noticed unless you're looking for it.

The sound of footsteps, as every other set of steps before since she's started waiting out here, gets her to turn and look curiously. She watches the two, then returns to her drink. It was only supposed to be one guy right? Who knows.

"You're pretty when you're cranky," the taller boy tells the shorter one-- whose long fluffy blond hair probably isn't happy about the heat and humidity either. He sounds altogether too cheerful about this. He stops next to Jia's table to catch a Gastly, then pauses.

He slooowly looks up past the girl sitting at the table with her icy drink.

There's a sound effect as Gastly bounces in the pokeball, and Mamoru's free hand comes up to drop on top of the blond boy's head and turn it in the same direction--

Skin contact. There's that glow, for Zoisite, but the faint white flickering aura surrounding the two of them is undoubtedly invisible in the bright daylight.

"Well thank goodness for that," the blond says in a sarcastic, sleepy drawl. His eyebrows raise at the sound of a Gastly cry, but it's not really enough to get him to do more than raise his eyebrows. Granted, there is a degree of almost-vain preening somewhere in the back of his head.

Izumi pauses at the feeling of the hand on his head, half-bristling for a moment before looking up to where Mamoru is directing his gaze. Green eyes blink, a couple of times. "...Oh."

Jiaying Maki takes a drink of her tea and notes the two staring... past her? That's almost as bad as staring at her. There's a brief moment of internal panic as she checks over her shoulder where she thinks she's very much botched her illusion and- no it's not visible. They're also playing that pokemon game guessing by the sounds she's hearing.

There's a brief wait, trying not to make it seem like she's focused on the two, though eventually she turns to face the two and asks, "Did you catch it at least?" Well, it's better than her initial three questions, at least one of which would have been rude! Then she looks from the two, back behind her. Then back to the two. "Is something wrong?" Well, still more polite than the other options.

She actually starts to look nervous like she's just not figuring out what she's messed up in her distracted state.

"--well," Mamoru says to Jiaying, glancing down at his phone to see the stats instead of Gastly rarring at him. "Yeah. But you've got some ghosts," he says politely. He hasn't taken his hand off Zoisite's head. There's a pause. "Are you Jiaying Maki? Only because I'm supposed to be meeting her around here somewhere, around now."

Like who told this kid this is how you interact with people?

Since the ghosts don't seem to be doing anything untoward, he lets his hand slide off Zoisite's head and only tugs his ponytail a tiny bit on the way down. He does tear his eyes away from Jia and her ghosts long enough to glance at the other boy. "Are you still mad now?"

Zoisite leans against Mamoru a bit, watching the ghosts with mild curiosity. He watches the girl's paranoid glancing with quiet amusement. "I think she might be- at least, not mundane." His voice is a barely-audible murmur. After all, she seems aware that something is up around her, something that would make people look behind her.

There's a brief moment where Zoisite's cheeks color at the tug on his ponytail, and he elbows Mamoru lightly in the side. The fact that he's halfway leaning against the taller, darker-haired teenager is incidental. "You tell me," he mumbles.

Jiaying Maki is still fidgeting as people stare at her, though at least now she's pretty sure nothing is visible. She reaches up, runs her fingers through her hair, looks a touch fuzzy around the edges, then resumes looking like a perfectly normal green haired girl.

The question though, that one catches her off guard. "I... am? Who told you-" She scowls, "Has she been talking more?" Then she remembers that, 'Oh yeah, she's not out of her flimsy disguise.' "I am, yes yes. What were you looking for me for though?"

Then he mentions the ghosts, to which she replies, "Ghosts aren't real, don't be silly." Then in an undertone, she says, "I should hope they're still there. Not being there would be worse." She turns to watch Izumi after, but she doesn't comment on his statement of her being mundane. Did she hear it?

"If ghosts aren't real, how will I ever get a career as a paranormal investigator?" Mamoru asks aggrievedly, swaying slightly with the elbowing. The corner of his mouth twitches upward as he glances down at Izumi's mumbling, and the amusement softens a little as he catches the faintly reddening face. He shuts off his phone and pockets it on the side opposite Zoisite, then bows carefully (so as to avoid dislodging the blond). "I'm Mamoru Chiba. We had a meeting set up? About you needing some medical attention?" He's prodding verbally like maybe he thinks she forgot why she was there, or maybe he thinks he's being pranked. "This is Z-- Izumi Inoba, he knows what's up."

Izumi snickers at the aggrieved question. Still, he seems content to continue leaning against Mamoru. Partly because that means Mamoru's shirt gets to soak up his sweat. It's like having a permanent, irritable cat that does things for revenge that makes people go 'why'.

"I'm a friend of Mamoru's," he says. That body language says more than friend, but he's not going elaborate.

Jiaying Maki looks over at Mamoru and says, "Get a bunch of devices that activate at random, a camera guy and some bad t-shirts and you'll be off to a great start!" Then she tries a smile, not being annoyed at them, just surprised since she herself hadn't been told specifically who she's meeting.

"Uh, we did have a meeting, I just wasn't told who, sorry." She stands up in one smooth motion and offers a short, but polite bow. "I'm Jiaying Maki- it is nice to meet you Chiba and Inoba."

The two being all close and the overall behavior gets a faint smile from her and she starts to say something, then clams up and says, "So- I'll need to thank Ku-S... him for more than trying next time."

"Kunzite? Kukai?" asks Mamoru with a laugh. "Kukai did send a message around, but things were distressingly busy and I'm afraid it got lost in the shuffle. So I'm glad there was another route. I hope you haven't been suffering too badly. Do you want to go someplace air-conditioned and not actually in public?" He pushes Izumi very slightly, like the tentative bothering of a Weeble. "Can you take her home? I'll be right there. But you'd get to cool off ~even earlier~..."

And then a glance past Jiaying at her ghosts, and he looks briefly uncertain. "Would wards interfere with them? Maybe hit the roof, Zoi, and Maki-san will be able to tell if there'll be a problem..."

Zoisite perks up at the idea that he gets to go home earlier. His green eyes flicker to a more catlike green, and he smiles. "Our place is a lot nicer than hanging out here," he offers. The blond stands up and stretches with a yawn, walking around the table to offer a hand to Jiaying. "I have a quick way to get home, too. Mamoru doesn't tend to like taking the short way, so."

It's probably slightly cruel to not warn her that it's teleportation, but Zoisite isn't precisely a nice man.

Jiaying Maki watches Mamoru curiously, "Kunzite?" Then it clicks and she says, "Cape guy, he said something, but Kukai's the one that did the message board thing I believe." What, she's met Kunzite twice and both times were after a fight!

The offer for air conditioning and the like, that gets an immediate nod and she stands up. "Yes, that would be much better- I uh, should arrange meetings at the crown or something next time."

She considers the ghosts behind her quietly and asks, "Do you think they'd cause a problem? I don't know what wards you've put up- I don't know what wards will do with me either."

Then finally, she watches Izumi, particularly the eyes as they change. There's a hint of a smile and she leans forward, "Oh neat, are you lik- I'll ask after." She thinks she's got an idea of what he is, but the eyes aren't always a good start, lots of things have funny eyes. "A quick way home, like a vehicle, or a shortcut?"

"Honestly I don't know what kinds of wards might be up either, but better safe than sorry, right? When you get to the roof, just follow him," Mamoru nods in Izumi's direction as he instructs Jiaying, "and if you have trouble going through the door or if they do, we'll just use the roof. It's windy and shady up there, so it's not too bad."

He blinks at her last question. "Oh-- no," he starts, "t--"

Zoisite just tugs Jiaying into something that might be mistaken for a hug, and within a few highly disorienting moments, they're on the roof of the apartment building. Zoisite is definitely more himself now, rather than Izumi Inoba. The Shitennou grins a little. "A shortcut, more than anything." A really cheat-y shortcut.

Jiaying Maki has had something similar happen before, albeit with a vampire and into the Dusk Zone. There's a sigh of relief as she's not brougth there again. However, that was both unexpected and rather strange feeling to the point that she's definitely fuzzy around the edges as she tries to get her center of balance and- she's also being hugged by a completely different guy than last time.

Hand to head, she shakes her head and says, "Well- I guess that's one way of getting around." The illusion resets as she gets her bearings, then she looks up and asks, "So what do I call you now?" sounding mostly all there.

Zoisite snickers and sits down, waving at the chairs near him. "Zoisite. That's what Endy almost called me there." He sprawls comfortably out. "It'll probably take him a little bit to get here." He seems entirely at home here, and almost like he's ready to take a nap right where he sits.

Jiaying Maki walks over to the chairs and settles down heavily on one of them. She ignores the laughter, it would probably be kind of funny if she were in another place. There's a whisper of Chinese from her shadow, to which she leans back, says something back and says, "Your teleport brought my ghosts too, by the way. Who's Endy?"

The blond waves a hand lazily in the general direction that Mamoru should be approaching from. "Mamoru is also known as Endymion. Some of us call him Endy." Zoisite debates going into the apartment to get something to drink, but he's feeling entirely too lazy at the moment. Instead, he yawns widely. "Should be showing up in a few- I doubt he's going to walk here."

"Yo," comes a voice from somewhere to the left, accompanied by the rustling of silk like a flag in the wind, and the ta-tap of dress shoes on the rooftop; Tuxedo Kamen, of whom there is literally merch in the crane game at Crown, has landed. And as he approaches the table he drops henshin, and it's just Mamoru in his summer clothes left as the magic formalwear melts away in the breeze. "Oh, did the wards give you trouble? Or is Zoi so melted that even the prospect of actual air conditioning couldn't entice him to further movement?"

Jiaying Maki pinches the bridge of her nose and says something that sounds annoyed in Chinese. With a sigh, she says, "Which name should I be using for general purposes? Or at least for here? It's bad enough trying to remember who knows who as what. Even worse when you're trying to help friends who also insist on other aliases! I just use a title!" That little rant aside, she then smiles and asks, "Is he doing the teleport too?"

Then he shows up and no, he wasn't, but it is another cape guy. "I wear a qipao a lot so I shouldn't joke about capes-but why capes?" Hinting that she might know another cape guy. Whom she calls cape guy because his name has only really been mentioned openly recently!

"We haven't gone inside yet, he pointed to the chairs and the teleport thing- not my thing. Meifeng enjoyed it though."

Zoisite shrugs. "I use whatever I feel like, honestly." He is very much one with the lazy cat aura. He even has his eyes closed as he waits for Mamoru to show up. "Nah, he's not--" and then that silk-flag snap of a cape is followed by a demonstration.

"Because none of us fly, and nobody told us 'no capes' when we were little." Sorry, Jiaying, were you looking for a useful answer to that question? Because you're not getting one out of Zoisite. At Mamoru's question, the lazy blond opens an eye. "Laziness, mostly. There are chairs here, even if it's cooler down there."

"Oh god, I'm sorry about that," Mamoru says, grimacing a little. "Nobody else seems to mind when these guys teleport them-- I just get seriously motionsick, and my aim is kind of terrible on actually landing. Half the time I miss the ground." He gestures toward the door in. "Let's give 'indoors' a shot. There's people home, fair warning. I think it's just Usa and Kunzite, though."

Yes, he does tug on Zoisite's ponytail again on his way past. Yes, very lightly still. "There's ice cream inside, too, dummy. Come on."

He leads the way; as he's kerthumping down the stairs he glances back over his shoulder. "Do you like ice cream? Do you want some? Also, I really don't know why capes. Previous life decisions, I guess. Mine's pretty good for tanking attacks, though. Kunzite's is, too."

Jiaying Maki notes yet another cape and says quietly to herself, "I should just go by hair color instead of cape guy is what I'm hearing." What, she's terrible with names! She'll remember the names evntually though. "So Endy then, or Mamoru for him and Zoisite or-that works."

Standing up stiffly at the mention of going inside, the warning is given an indifferent shrug, "I like meeting new people. Even if lately that has been... a headache. So! I look forward to it." She's trying to be cheerful anytime she gets anywhere near that subject it seems.

"If it's chocolate I should avoid it- I do have a sweet tooth though! I'll go light on it if- nono, I shouldn't. I'm asking for a favor already."

Zoisite yawns widely, though he squeaks mid-yawn at having his ponytail pulled again, cheeks coloring. He grumbles inarticulately and gets up to follow his prince. "I know there's ice cream." Still, the short Shitennou trails the group, looking nonchalant and drowsy.

"Endy's fine. Mamoru's fine too. More people will know who you're talking about if you say Mamoru, but I answer to both," the black-haired teenager answers matter-of-factly; he's noted her stiffness of movement and begun making diagnostic judgements already. "I answer to a lot of things. If you talk to people from school or whatever, he's Izumi, but basically he's Zoisite always."

As they come down the stairs into the apartment, it's like a well of cool air they dip progressively into. Which in and of itself is impressive; most places with air conditioning in Tokyo don't actually let it bring the temperature down to 'actually sleeves might be nice, on second thought'. The next impressive thing is the size of the visible space. Much less impressive is the decor. No matter how many times the consoles and tangle of cables and controllers in front of one of the couches gets tidied, it turns into a sprawling mutant octopus by the next day.

"Ask away, Maki-san, you're not putting anyone out."

Bunnies and kittens. That's what she's dreaming about.

Probably not, but if anyone asks, that's now her go to answer.

After her morning, and with the past week of getting cruddy sleep at home, Usagi is napping hard in Mamoru's room. So hard that her odangos are down and bobbypins are everywhere and the side of Mamoru's bed looks like Rapunzel's tower at the end of Tangled.

Her Mamodar hadn't pinged when she let herself in, but there'd been a Kunzite! She'll remember visiting with him for a bit, curled up on the couch, maybe chilled toes wiggling under a thigh. She'd dozed off over her glass of water, and now she's a tangled mess of blankets, limbs, and hair in Mamoru's bed.

Speaking of...

She's not even awake when she sits up. Not quite concious when she gets up a few minutes later to pad out of the room. Her jammie shorts are ones she keeps conveniently forgetting to bring home, but the shirt is very much a pilfered one. (She keeps conveniently forgetting to bring over a jammie top.)

It's a half-sleeping Usagi MamoGuided staggering slow missile that plops against Mamoru as he enters, mumbling incoherently. The only things audible are 'Mamo-chan~' and something about the kittens taking over.

If you ask her in five minutes, she'll have no idea.

She may be trying to climb on him, but again, no idea.

The other resident of the living room is not half asleep, nor trying to climb on Mamoru. Kunzite is not in uniform himself -- no cape, just blue jeans and a white shirt with sleeves rolled up -- but that hair and that habitual lack of expression make him perfectly recognizable to Jiaying as he glances up from his place at the end of one couch, then sets aside the book he's reading. Apparently he's interested in the Syrian civil war, or maybe it's homework from someplace. "I see you found her." Whether he means Jiaying or Usagi, he's not sayin'.

Jiaying Maki just mentally files, 'Black Hair Cape, Blonde Cape, etc. while trying to attach names to them. To be fair, this is also being translated over from Japanese so they're lucky she isn't mixing the mental kanji up.

Still, the trip down into the cool is met with some relief and fortunately for the frat house attendees, she can't complain about the house! She sleeps on a pile of cushions in her living room, one of the furniture legs had been chewed on and both her and her dad are geeks. This is probably close to home.

Finally, "Endy or Chiba works." She doesn't ever use honorifics as a note. Her mental processes are thrown off by the blonde girl trying to climb the cape guy. She doesn't stare- directly. "Uh- nice to meet all of you though, really." Then there's a non-cape caped guy and Jia leans to the side, giving the other three some space, "Heeey!" she calls out, almost immediately regretting lifting her hand that high. "Oops" is about the only response she can think of. Well that and a wince. "Thanks" she offers after.

Zoisite speeds up to hop over the back of the couch. He gives Mamoru an odd look for a moment before settling to lean against Kunzite's shoulder. He really was sleepy, because he's following Usagi's example of being asleep, though there's a lot less hair involved in his iteration, and a lot more 'leaning his head against Kunzite's shoulder'.

Yep. Lazy cat.

Mamoru gets crashed into by the tiny girl with the ocean of hair, and without missing a beat, he hoists her up under his arm and keeps the conversation going. "If it's a choice between the two, Endy's better. I'll introduce you to my girlfriend when she actually wakes up. In the meantime, let me see? Ice cream is going to wait because if your movement is that limited I'd rather that didn't wait any longer. Can go in the kitchen if you like, or just over there; whatever makes you comfortable."

Then he gently swings the half-conscious Usagi up into a princess carry, kisses her on the forehead, and sidesteps to the couch to deposit her there next to/on Zoisite. "Yeah, really convoluted," he tells Kunzite as he straightens up. "Did you know she has ghosts? And one of them likes teleporting."

"Okay, Maki-san, at your leisure...~"

Ice cream almost wakes her up. Almost.

And she doesn't mind being totes around like a football.

She makes a happy little noise at the forehead kiss, and she's ready to doze back off as she snuggles against Zoisite.

And then, she'll claim Mamoru did this on purpose forever.

She shoots straight up as though she'd been an unwilling participant in the Ice Bucket Challenge, her eyes wide with fear! "G-ghosts?! You're not gonna watch a scary movie, are you, Mamo-chan?!"

A pause and a beat. "What about ice cream?"

Then she notices a new person! Leaning over, she gives the girl a wide, Usagi grin. "Hi! I'm Usagi!"

Whether having a Zoisite and an Usagi leaning on him together, or just a Zoisite, Kunzite copes the same way: by shifting enough that Zoisite is propped more against muscle than against bone, and putting an arm about narrower shoulders. Carefully, so that Zoisite's ponytail does not attempt to consume his elbow in the process.

Jiaying's 'hey' receives a nod in her direction for answer. Mamoru's query about the ghosts only gets slightly lifted eyebrows. "I'm not certain how her having ghosts is any more notable than people having talking birds, excessively voluble fairies, or small floating bundles of deeply ladylike violence," he says. If Usagi's waking straight up points out to him exactly what he was missing, he's failing to admit it.

Jiaying Maki watches the couch get overloaded with bishi and a mass of hair and declines to comment. There's a rambling string of Chinese from behind her, which gets Jiaying to turn around and respond sharply. Which unless you know what's there, looks like she's talking to her shadow. This is interrupted by the ghost trying to poke it's head out of hiding at Usagi's apparent sense of panic. It is a poltergeist after all-

She sighs and twists her hand, pushing the ghost away with her magic, just a hint of mist rather htan the usual glow. "Uh, sorry." she offers, just in case any of them knew what the ghost had been saying.

"I do work with ghosts, they're safe, the one that would be-" she trails off. "They're safe." Don't need to tell people at random that she is using an angry librarian to hit monsters. Lifting her hands, she points across her upper shoulders and says, "I got hit by a- I think she said she was a pirate? Her knives. Kind of caught it wrong" in that she caught it at all. And then didn't go anywhere to get it looked at. At least she's been keeping it magically clean and bandaged right? She makes her way to the kitchen after admitting it. "I may have some frostbite from Shiniko too. The original batch healed up finally." She says that in a flat way, like she's hurrying through it and nothing else.

Usagi screeches up in the air, and Mamoru doesn't look like he's smirking, not at all. Nope. He doesn't look surprised either, and that's undoubtedly more telling. He tells Usa over his shoulder, "No scary movies." And then to Kunzite as he's following Jiaying into the kitchen, "I figured you'd have a common conversational topic with them. The whole 'having haunted the living' thing."

It's possible Mamoru's cranky about something. Probably cranky about being called on something. Either way, he tells Usa around the kitchen door, "You can get ice cream if you want but I have to deal with Maki-san's back, okay? She's hurt. We'll be out in a few either way."

Once they're in there, it's definitely quieter. The kitchen's clean and well organized, and while things going on in the living room can be heard, the kitchen itself is -- at least currently -- something of a bubble, a no-fly zone, an oasis. "Okay. I'll get all of it, and if you run into that again, come by -- I'll give you the address of here, and put your name on the list downstairs. How long since the attacks?"

As the older boy's speaking, his fingertips touch Jia's upper back where the injuries are; his hands are sure and steady and impersonal, like any doctor's would be, and at the instant of contact there is abruptly no pain. There's only peace and warmth, and there's a golden glow that's not terribly bright, but she'll be able to see it reflected in the surfaces around her. "Also, don't move around too much; it'll just be a minute. Tell me more about it in the meantime."

    There's a faint 'clang' followed by a 'thump' from the balcony, and a moment later Kyouko strolls in through the door. She must have been in henshin to make the trip up from about ten stories below (using the balconies inbetween as a makeshift ladder to scale the side of the building) but she's not now, likely having dropped out of it as soon as her feet hit the balcony floor.

    She doesn't pause as she walks through the living room on her way towards the nearest kitchen, merely raising one hand and taking a brief survey of those present, calling out, "Hi nii-chan, Usa-chan.." She notes Zoisite is sleeping so does not call out his name, not wanting to wake him.

    She vanishes into the kitchen, then comes back out a moment later, walking backwards "Whoops, triage in progress. Who's the new girl?" Even though she was only in the kitchen for about half a second, she somehow now has an apple in her hand which she bites into a moment later while heading for the couch.

Sometimes the apartment is nearly empty, sometimes everyone (although not Dog) is there. This is clearly one of those second times, and based on the key in the lock, there's yet another person who is arriving into the mix.

Naru opens the door and there's a pause and a blink as she steps in, kicking off her shoes. "Woah. Apparently /everyone/ is here today. New girl?" Naru asks as she clearly catches just the end of Kyouko backing out the kitchen and adds. "Who got hurt?"

Mamoru gets a raspberry. So mean.

And then there's triaging in the kitchen, and Usagi decides against getting ice cream in that thank you.

"Hi Kyou-kun." She shrugs. "I dunno, I just woke up. Naru-chan!"

Naru is Usagi's lightning rod, protecting everyone else from hugs. Naru gets bunches.

And then Usagi realizes the state her hair is in. "Ug. I'll be right back."

She ventures off for a brush.

Jiaying Maki looks around the kitchen and says maybe a touch bluntly, "I was not expecting the kitchen to be this clean. It's cleaner than ours." Well, at least she smoothed it out right? She gives Kunzite a curious look at Mamo's comment though, asking, "Are you like her then?" Expecting him to figure out what she means. She doesn't like using names of other people in new company it seems!

"Name on the list?- Thank you though. What do I owe you?" What, she expects to have to help out for magical healing, she can't do it and most can't, so it makes sense! Still better than a hospital or the vet too.

She leans forward at the touch to her back, not sure if she should be doing that or sitting up straight, but figuring she'll get answers soon enough. The glow does get a curious look, she might even poke at it with her fingers, maybe with a hint of her own grey-green glow. "Tell you about the injury? I just didn't want to go to the hospital for it." in an undertone, "Or the vet" because either way is kind of awkward. "I messed up, and I'm learning from it. I think others were there too. The ca-Kunzite I think?" Or was that a different fight. She's not sure. She does hear a Naru, but she doesn't call out quite yet since maybe yelling constitutes moving too much.

Jiaying's question to Kunzite gets her very slightly raised eyebrows, which is more of an overt reaction that Mamoru's comment prompting it did. "I'm not like her any more," he replies, as the two of them are en route to triage. Further details might have to wait till she escapes the kitchen.

"Naru. Kyouko." There's no offer to get up and get anything, under the circumstances. Kunzite answers Kyouko and Naru both, but a little more toward Naru, "That girl we asked you to set up a meeting with." What was her name? Kunzite fishes for it, but there's a Zoisite napping on him, and she's not presently much of a tactical concern, so all he's immediately getting is 'fox, green, ghosts, ofuda.' "-- Maki-san." That's right, the part that Mamoru just said. "Ran into her again when the Shadow Witch made another nuisance of herself; apparently she had a prior injury that still needed treatment." ... also frostbite. Frostbite turns up a lot, near Shiniko.

"Hey Usagi." Naru is ambushed and hugged, because Usagi is Usagi. She even hugs back as she pads quietly into the living room and turns to Kunzite as he answers. "Oh! Jiaying made it over. Excellent, I'm glad." She wrinkles up her nose a bit. "I saw the message that Shiniko is getting worse, though. That's decidedly not ideal, not even a tiny bit. I don't remember meeting her the last time was all that much fun."

Naru glances around the living room, which is in a different state of tidied than it was much much earlier. "Did anyone happen to find a package of watercolour pencils? I thought I had left them in my bag, but they're hiding."

    Kyouko takes another bite of the apple, leaving little fang-marks in the flesh as she tears a hunk out and devours it, juice running down her chin until a forearm comes up to wipe it away. She seems as though she might flop on the couch next to Kunzite, but upon seeing Zoisite napping once again, she changes her mind and sprawls in a chair across from him instead, one jean-clad leg thrown over the arm as she works on the apple.

    "Maki-san, huh?" She might make some comment about Mamoru always bringing in strays, except that she's here for the exact same reason and she decides it might come off as ungrateful. "Shadow Witch? Oh, the one who hurt you that one time, nii-chan?" This brings a scowl to her lips. The next bite of apple is all the more ferocious. "Haven't run into her yet."

    Then to Naru, "Haven't seen 'em, sorry."

"Shelf with the textbooks," Kunzite advises Naru. "It seemed the least likely place for anyone else to find and make off with them." Same principle as viceroy butterflies.

He tips his head toward Kyouko in silent agreement to her pseudo-question. "Last time she was after Naru for the crime of having been victimized. This time she was after the prisoners in Fuchuu, because they might conceivably commit future crimes after release. Degrading in short order. Should make the two of you more likely to meet. She works with cold fire, with fog, and with creatures made out of either one and iron. If you run into her, expect to be temporarily outnumbered."

"One of our friends cooks here often, and she doesn't like a messy kitchen, so it's clean at all times lest she decide to stop cooking here," Mamoru tells Jiaying with a note of amusement in his voice. "You don't have to go into detail, I was basically just looking for ways to distract you."

It's actually okay when the anaesthetic wears off -- in other words, when Mamoru pulls his hands away and starts peeling bandages off -- because nothing's hurt anymore. "That should do it," he says cheerfully, "if you want to see if you can move everything normally. I don't think I missed anything. And you don't owe me anything. Unless you want to carry--"

Bandages, in the trash; hands, washed; he cocks his head in the direction of the giant freezer over there. "--a lot of ice cream out there and tell someone to come get spoons and bowls."

Jiaying Maki looks confused and tries to look over her shoulder at the mention that he's done. She can't quite see it, getting a frustrated sound from her, especially since she won't risk raising her hands yet. There's a shout from her shadow, even without knowing Chinese it's obvious the ghost is mocking her. She makes an annoyed dismissive comment back at her and she finally reaches up to poke at her shoulders. She didn't even get yelled at like everyone else had bee. "Thank you very much." She says.

The fact that payment isn't required is nice, but surprising to her. She stands up and rolls her shoulders a few times, still trying to get a look while asking, "Just how much ice cream are we talking? I can get some help to carry it all out if there's a lot." Which is her being distracted by being pain free and forgetting that not everyone is used to ghosts.

There's a panicked cry from the bathroom. And then there's Hurricane Usagi.

"I forgot I was meeting Mama somewhere I gotta go!" She hugs Naru, Kyouko, the sleeping Zoisite, and yes, Kunzite, you too.

And so far as she knows, there's still Doctoring going on. She waves in the general direction of the kitchen. "Bye, Mamo-chan, see you later! Nice to meet you, Lady!"

Zoom.

"No problem," Endy says, then blinks, and calls out the door, "BYE LOVE YOU!" and dries his hands. "Um -- lots. But probably just pick whatever kind you want and then bring that and a couple other random cartons out. Hey, if it's okay later, I want to ask you some stuff about them -- but it's really crowded in there right now, so I'm going to sneak out the back door." 'Them' gets a gesture vaguely in the direction of the ghosts, and then the ghosts get a sheepish sort of smile and a wave, like, aheh. "If it's not okay you can tell me to mind my own business, too. But later."

And this would be a very long-stride sidestep, because the prince is indeed moving to sneak out the legit /other door to the kitchen/, on its opposite side.

"Oh awesome!" Naru blinks in surprise at the affirmative answer from Kunzite and heads to go retrieve her pencils. She gets an in passing hug from Usagi as she does and then turns back to the conversation. "The frostbite sucked the most. She was one of the curses, wasn't she?"

The fact that Naru can't entirely remember is probably not a good sign for her current existance but it gets just a shrug as she brings pencils back to a chair to curl up in it and leave the couch for those of the cuddle persuation. And Kunzite.

    Kyouko, sprawled in the chair, finishes consuming most of the apple. She then bites the core in two, then eats both halves, too.

    Don't waste food.

    She listens to Kunzite's summary of Shiniko and her abilities, and shrugs her shoulders, unconcerned. "Temporarily is right. Eh, we'll see. If she's lucky, I won't meet her." So confident!

Jiaying Maki steps out of the kitchen carrying a pair of tubs of ice cream, having grabbed them at random. There's a lingering ghost behind her out of sight in case she needs to bring more out. Holding them up, she says, "Ma-Endy-... Him, he said to get your ice cream." And sets them down... wherever looks convenient. She waves to Naru and says, "Hey!" looking actually surprised to see her.

She's not sure if she's comfortable sitting down, just out of not having been in such situations! "She's able to go places she didn't used to be, is hurt by purification and is attacking her friends and- others under some delusion that the ends justify it." She says this all wtih the same flat tone as earlier.

"She was one of the curses," Kunzite confirms. "Not the one that bothered you particularly." ... the comparison system is not nearly as distressing as the rating scale, but that they have subcategories of subcategories now is perhaps a warning sign.

And then there's Jiaying. "Feeling better?" he inquires, but it's more a rote question than anything else: she's carrying ice cream. She might be about to lose one of the tubs, depending on how Kyouko's feeling. Kunzite himself does not pursue it, because of, well, napping Zoisite.

She. It doesn't take more than a moment for him to put together who she might be. "Hurt by purification is no surprise. She's soaked through with dark energy by now. Places she didn't used to be able to go -- clarify that one." That should probably have been more clearly a request. But the older, white-haired boy draws the younger, brighter-haired one the smallest a fraction closer, and his eyes narrow protectively, and there's not much request at all about the words, in the end.

Naru has a bright smile for Jiaying. "Hi! Ooh, ice cream." She uncurls from her seat to go and relieve Jiaying from her ice cream sherpa duties, or at least to get started on the getting part. "I see you found everyone alright, I'd hoped to be able to play go between, but alas. No such luck. Feeling better?"

Naru nods to Kunzite at the reminder and she pauses on her way to the kitchen for bowls and spoons. Especially as someone is pinned under a Zoisite. "Attacking her friends is a bad sign too, generally that's a real tipping point." She looks around the room. "How many bowls am I getting?" Counting noses on who is eating ice cream.

    Kyouko perks up, relatively speaking (as she's still sprawled in the chair) when Jiaying enters with tubs of ice cream. Whether this is due to the girl's arrival or the ice cream's is probably up for debate. She offers a one-fanged, lopsided smile.

    "Oh hey, Maki-san. I'm Kyouko. I'm.. one of Mamoru's guys." She can't think of a better way to explain it than that, so she just goes with that.

    She did just finish eating an apple, so the ice cream isn't pounced upon as fervently as it might be in other situations, but she does shoot Naru a look which the girl may know her well enough by now to interpret as 'feed me'. Not literally, but the unspoken request for ice cream delivery is clear.

Jiaying Maki looks to Kunzite, "It was a surprise to both her and Lacrima." Eh, she can drop that name at least, she's sure. "As for where she's going that she didn't used to be able to, the same person noticed that she can go to the Dusk Zone." Might as well just be honest about that too, might give her more chances to save Shiniko if the details are out there. Besides she was tired of being given the run around, she wasn't about to do it herself.

TO Naru, she grins, hefting one of the tubs for her to take, "Much better, though now I'm going to have to re-learn to move. You spend a few weeks worried about hurting yourself, right? She's attacked her date too, not just her friends." Weird way of putting that.

To Kyouko, she doesn't comment on the weird way of putting what she does. That makes absolutely no sense to her, but she files it away as, 'Cape girl' mentally. Seems close enough. "I'm Jiaying Maki- I'm... not?" She shrugs. "Nice to meet you all though, uh, again."

"She's thoroughly enough affected to travel there safely on her own?" -- that one is a question, if a rhetorical one. Kunzite's expression changes very little, but one thing he is definitely not looking is pleased.

He is probably not an excellent target for ice cream right now.

Naru wrinkles up her nose at the mention of attacking her date too. "That's even worse. There's a lot of trust there, and for /that/ to have degraded.. bad sign. I haven't gotten an entirely good grasp on the Dusk Zone yet, other than a lot of 'not good' and 'bad' and 'dark energy galore'." She ducks into the kitchen to collect bowls and spoons and bring them back to the coffee table.

Naru might not live here, but she certainly knows her way around the kitchen, that's for certain.

"Kunzite, if you want ice cream, I can scoop you some so you dont wake up Zoi." Naru offers as she just passes Kyouko a bowl, cause of course she does. "Everyone else who doesnt have a Zoi passed out on them gets to get their own." Bowls and spoons on the table, and she kneels there to scoop her own ice cream. Or Kunzite's. Depending.

    Kyouko gets a bowl from Naru! This pleases her. The rest of what she hears doesn't please her so much, even though she has no real investment in this Shiniko problem. If it's bothering her nii-chans (and also Naru) than it's bothering her, even if indirectly.

    She unsprawls enough to reach for ice cream and get some into her bowl, at which point she re-sprawls. "You pretty much got the Dusk Zone nailed down, Naru. S'not a place I'm eager to visit again.. all things considered." She makes a face, putting a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

Jiaying Maki shrugs to Kunzite, "Yes." She doesn't mention she's seen her there personally. She really tries not to think too hard about that trip. "She's able to go there freely. She also started working on her familiars there." Sure, she'll just keep saying it's all info from Lacrima, it's close enough.

She masks the wince at Naru's comment well enough as she finally just gives in and finds an empty space to sit down. "Yeah, if she's attacking there too, well... I know there's worries that she'll go too far. Or is too far gone already maybe."

The fact that everyone here is aware of the place and open about it kind of throws her off. "Not a good place at all from what I s-hear." Yes, what she shears. Wait. "I'm trying to find a way to keep her from retreating there."

Proposing that he consume sugar in Zoisite's presence while Zoisite is either unable to do the same or casually pretending to be -- no. No, some things are a matter of survival. "No, thank you, Naru."

Kunzite turns his study to Jiaying, then. "You'll find that difficult in some respects. Many of the methods ordinarily used to confine people -- barriers, pocket dimensions, and so forth -- actually do so by pushing them closer to the Dusk Zone. But you work magic with faith as well, or with something resembling faith, don't you? That's likelier to be a useful route. So long as you can define an area of effect, and keep her from moving outside of it. Not easy, given her affinity for shadows and wings and fog; mobility seems to be one of her strong points."

Naru's ice cream then and she nods. There's a bowl spare then and Naru mmms softly as she stands. "How's it compare to the Dark Kingdom." She reclaims her seat, curling up in it with her bowl. "What sort of familiars does she prefer? Birds, based on the wings and mobility thing?

There's a bing of her phone and she pulls it out to glance at the message, a half smile before she replies and tucks her phone away again.

    "The Dark Kingdom was a place, even if one sort of.. separate from our world. The Dusk Zone is more like a.. another dimension or somethin'. Like it's less a place and more like a .." Kyouko gestures, hitting that old familiar stumbling block of knowing exactly what she wants to say, but not being able to find the words for it. "Dark Energy world."

    She looks at Kunzite and lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "I mean, I ain't an expert compared to nii-chan and such, I only had a little bit of exposure to it.. that was more'n enough though." She consumes more ice cream.

Jiaying Maki settles in and watches the rest of the room quietly, listening to everyone. Eventually she says to Kunzite, "It's innate and more... balance? I don't think it's faith." Though she scowls after that and says, "Maybe it is? I'd have to ask my mother sometime in the future."

"I think if I use the same thing I use to lock ghosts into a place with myself." And by proxy herself and Lacrima that one time, "Maybe that would work, but that's hard to set up and she's skittish."

To Naru, she asks, "The Dark Kingdom?" then a quick shake of her head, "Birds, foxes, wolves so far. Cops and old ladies at some point too."

To Kyouko, she gets the answer she was looking for earlire and accepts that as good enough. She does say, "More than enough with a brief trip" before catching herself. Oops

"The Dark Kingdom... mmn. Kyouko has it largely correct. It would be easiest, though not strictly accurate, to think of it as having been placed partly on Earth, partly in the border between Earth and the Dusk Zone," Kunzite says. "Much more Earthlike than other, though." ... yes. The creepy half-organic walls and the disconnected topologies and the things that were sort of plants were much more Earthlike. That's a lovely image.

He brings his free hand up to rest lightly on Zoisite's hair, as if to try to fend off any ill dreams that the topics at hand might bring him. "As for what the Dark Kingdom was -- there was a creature that wanted to consume the Earth, and a sorceress who wanted to rule it; between the two of them they tricked some of us into serving them, and stole others' minds and memories entire. Some of us resisted, to one extent or another. Others were as nearly lost then as the Shadow Witch is now, or more so. I was one of the latter; I had a hobby of exploring the Dusk Zone, and places lost within it, and places it led me to. Mamoru and the Sailor Senshi managed to free us, and led ... most of the city's magical community, regardless of allegiance, in destroying the sorceress and her ally. And most of the place."

"The slips of paper you used when we were fighting with Maeko.. they weren't prayer slips? That's what it felt like to me, but I admit.. kinda distracted at the time keeping her talking." Naru asks of Jiaying with a curious quirk of her head. "How's balance fit into it? Now I'm curious. More than usual."

Naru nods at the extensive description of the Dark Kingdom. "It's the only 'full of evil energy' place that I have to compare to, so that's why I asked for the comparison." She's quiet as Kunzite explains, eating her ice cream before it melts.

    Kyouko looks relieved as Kunzite takes over with a much better and more thorough description, both of the Dusk Zone and the Dark Kingdom. In truth, neither are things she cares to dwell on- that's probably true of any of the Shitennou, or Mamoru for that matter, but at least Kunzite has the temperament to be able to regard traumatic events objectively, something Kyouko distinctly lacks.

    Kyouko doesn't add anything else to the conversation at this point, though she continues to pay attention as Naru asks about Maki's skills, while inhaling the rest of her ice cream.

Jiaying Maki listens intently, wanting to actually learn something for the time being, what with the situation being that she'll keep running into them now. "That's- I don't really know what to say to that, sorry. I know a few stories similar to that, but I don't know how true they are so... thank you though?" For sharing that is, not that she says it. That's a lot of information to translate into her head.

Naru's question gets her looking at her in confusion, then she frowns and says, "They kind of are, aren't they? I just learned how to do that from my mother- she thought I should use those until I got better with my magic." She grimaces, "I've been getting better because I'm tired of being hurt mind you."

She finally starts into her ice cream after checking to make sure there was no chocolate in there. "I've also been doing Mizongyi so I get better at dodging and you know, not relying just on magic."

"I think the only thing necessary to say to a hobby of exploring the Dusk Zone is 'what in the literal hells were you thinking,'" Kunzite replies to Jiaying, typically dry. The rest he's silent for, his attention bent down on Zoisite and his breathing patterns. Watching and listening for any hint of disruption. There are, apparently, priorities.

"So the prayer slips are your backup magic to your real magic?" Naru quirks a brow, curious and just a hint skeptical before she laughs softly and shakes her head. "Alright then. I can appreciate being sick of being hurt. It's fairly miserable."

Naru might, just possibly, have some idea on how much getting hurt regularly sucks.

"What's Mizongyi?" Naru asks, because it's hardly a conversation until she's got questions.

    Kyouko finishes her ice cream. Standing, she walks the bowl over to the kitchen and drops it in the sink before turning to pad back into the living room. "Well, I was just stoppin' by to see what was up." And also see what free snacks were on offer- the ECFH never disappoints in that regard.

    "I'mma head on back downstairs now. I gotta work in the mornin', so." She crosses over to hug Kunzite around the neck from overtop of the couch without disturbing Zoisite, then smiles and waves to Naru. "See you guys later. Nice ta meetcha, Maki-san. Good luck with your friend.. let me know if I can help."

    And then she's returning to the balcony. Her departure doesn't make any noticable sound.

Hugging Kyouko back from that angle is not exactly a possibility. Kunzite leans his head back into the embrace instead without a word.

Except for the yelled, from above, "BYEEEEE!" that is.

Moments after Kyouko drops off the balcony, Mamoru drops back onto it, but that's less impressive (or more terrifying to Kunzite) because he swings down unhenshined and two-handed from the balcony roof and half-falls in off the railing. And then he opens the door and slips in, closing it behind him. He foregoes the extra bowl of ice cream in favor of finishing what's left, directly from the carton. "Nobody got hurt again while I was gone, right?" he asks with his mouth full.

Jiaying Maki shrugs and says, "I've asked Lacrima that and I've as- that is a good question isn't it? I don't know why w-she did." She's good at lying at other things at least.

To Naru she looks embarassed and if any of them were able to see it, even her ears are pinned back. "I used it because it was easier to do and I thought it was enough since I've only ever really dealt with ghosts and other minor things." well, not that all ghosts are minor, but those are easier to deal with. "Mizongyi is a type of kung fu, it's uh- the Lost Track style. It's kind of loopy and flexible and fun to watch." She even rattles off a few actors that use it!

Then Kyouko hops out of the window and she calls out before she jumps, "Nice to meet you too, I uh, will!"

Then there's another window entrance. "Not yet, I haven't had the thirty minutes I needed to get into a fight and hurt badly again. Sorry!"

"Even /I/ haven't managed that." Naru points out with a soft snort as Mamo asks after recent injuries. "I haven't walked home yet though, so I've still got plenty of opportunity tonight." She scrapes the bottom of her bowl and uncurls from her chair to take it to the kitchen, as well as the still clean one, seeing as how Mamo has rendered it extraneous.

Another pause at the entry to the kitchen as she listens to Jiaying explain and she smiles. "It's fine. You can use as many kinds of magic as you want. I am the last person in the world to make comments about other people's magic, I dont even /do/ magic." Naru hunhs softly at the mention of the who and what of mizongyi. "Very cool. Loopy and flexible sounds pretty neat."

Naru ducks into the kitchen, adding her bowl to Kyouko's and putting Kunzite's away.

"Mn. For Lacrima, it's no worse than a hiking trip for one of us. She's close enough to being a native that we can't see the difference from here." Kunzite: chock-full of reassuring comments, apparently.

And apparently they earn him instant karmic vengeance, because Mamoru does that. On the spot. Kunzite does not say a word. Gray eyes merely narrow into what might possibly be an actually lethal deathglare.

Pity Mamoru was born immune.

"Good grief, don't apologize," says Mamoru with a laugh, pointing his spoon (actually Kunzite's spoon) at Jiaying. And then he transfers Kunzite's deathglare, while simultaneously translating it into a much-diluted look of mild exasperation, into being pointed at Naru's back. "Don't you dare get zorched on the way home."

Then he glances between Kunzite and Jiaying. "Oh, are you friends with Lacrima?" he asks interestedly. "She has a really big appetite. What kind of trips are you talking about?"

This last is asked as he goes to sit on the arm of the couch on the opposite side of Kunzite from Zoisite and keeps eating the ice cream.

Jiaying Maki says to Naru, "Or gone to dance practice or school. I think you're safe!" What, she's been around her during more than one attack too! And her reaction with the doll really threw her off. "I use as many as I know- I uh... didn't get to finish learning with my mother so I kind of improvise a lot."

She nods to Kunzite and says, "She's said much the same thing. I just kind of roll with it. She was able to do other things too. That's how I know that Shiniko tried doing foxes. We saw them." That was supposed to be she, oops. Blame it on translations.

To Mamo, she nods quicklly, "I am friends with her. I tried to feed an angry ghost I couldn't calm down to her." What, that's what she considers a good thing, trying to solve both the angry haunting thing and making Lacrima's life easier, not that it worked. "The Dusk Zone. Shiniko can get into it now."

"I am not planning on getting zorched on the way home!" Naru calls from the kitchen. "That's why I took up running, remember? I'm due for the day though, so I'm banking on slow shuffly ones. I'm not wearing good shoes for running fast."

Naru seems super casual about this fact as she roams back into the living room, to be able to actually remember her pencils this time. "Although in deference to the fact that I'm walking home late, I'm going to leave the paintings here at least another day. I'll pick 'em up tomorrow." She mmms softly, considering her day tomorrow and then nods. "Yeah, that'll work.

"Lacrima." Naru comments almost absently. "We've had some really good conversations, she and I. Although I don't think ghosts are much her thing."

Naru picks up her bookbag to loop across herself and waves to the group. "Okay, I'm going to head home, to not get chewed on along the way. Good night all."

The paintings. Which of course are not magic. Despite the fact that they have the color orange, and it looks orange, and Kunzite can occasionally pick up the radiant energy from one of them two rooms away.

"Tomorrow, then," he says to Naru. "One of us can escort." She is not carrying those things home by herself, no.

He apparently hasn't taken notice of the fact that he is now surrounded: Zoisite on one side, Mamoru on the other. That, or he's pretending it isn't happening.

Much as he's pretending that Jiaying isn't doing as good a job of misleading her audience as, say, Nephrite might be.

"You sure you don't want an esc-- no, you don't," grumbles Mamoru, sliding off the arm of the couch to put the drippy ice cream carton, now empty, on the table. He'll clean up his own mess later. "I'm glad you ping," he finishes with, sighing. "Bye! See you tomorrow."

And then, oh then, he deposits himself on the couch on the other side of Zoisite and considers the pair of them for a moment before apparently abandoning an idea. He leans forward, elbows on his knees, and says earnestly to Jiaying, "When I say she has a really big appetite, I mean to say that recently she found out she likes a particular kind of energy better than others, and it's rooted in identity. She drains identity. So -- even if it did work -- and even if the ghost was very unruly --"

His gaze flickers briefly over Jiaying's shoulder, then back to her, "--please don't do that again? If someone's identity is strong enough that they're still here even after dying, that seems a truly ignominious end. I don't pretend to know as much about ghosts as you do, but..."

Jiaying Maki knwos she's not a good liar and sighs, not really trying to figure it all out. Waving to Naru, "Carry better shoes with you! And... I still want to see if I can make protective charms. Sora didn't have piercings for my last pair, but it kind of worked I think." In that she can't hold them well either. A wave goodbye to Naru.

To Kunzite, she doesn't say anything, though the way she was watching him she kind of expected some kind of comment.

Finally to Mamo, she says, "That explains a few things- she was really upset after that happened." Hrk, she shouldn't have said that. "Uh, as for the ghosts- There isn't really a nice way to handle them when they get to the point I considered feeding her one. I... used to destroy them, as best I can tell because I thought that was better than what I'm doing now." She makes a quick beckoning gesture and the second of her ghosts, the one that's clearly been heavily controlled by her appears. "She was-she was attacking people, dropping books onthem, things like that. I couldn't get her to play nice like I could with Meifeng and honestly I'd have been happier for Lacrima if it had worked so she wouldn't feel so guilty about it. I think. Being chained and ordered around- I don't like doing that either, but I think that constantly working with them, maybe they'll get that anger out and pass on normally? I don't know."

Ghosts are, apparently, not so much one of Kunzite's specialty areas. At least, he's letting Mamoru and Jiaying discuss that topic undisturbed. Unless they get into the specifics of how ghosts construct pseudo-bodies from their energy, in which case he'll be able to be much more helpful -- but that doesn't seem likely, right now.

And trying to talk this kind of philosophy is, for him, like walking on a broken leg and a sprained ankle. Possible if you have good enough crutches, but not something you want to try to improvise.

He eyes Mamoru suspiciously instead. Says nothing.

"Well--" says Mamoru, glancing toward the chained ghost again, his expression the most neutral it's been since Jiaying met him earlier today, "--if you want, I can help look stuff up with you. Or help you try and figure it out. I think probably not right now, though. I'll text you, Kukai posted your number."

Abruptly he looks much more cheerful, and a little sheepish. "Which I honestly should just have called, but imagine how well that might have gone over? You'd've thought I was some kind of nut." Without looking, he lifts a hand to push at the side of Kunzite's head, like, don't you dare comment I'm not looking at your face I know what type of nonexpression that probably is.

"In fact, let me text you now so you can save my number," he says, shifting back to take his phone out and fuss with it. A moment later, Jia's phone buzzes or rings or whatever she has it set to do. And the text he sent reads 'I don't want to talk about it in front of them if that's possible. It seems kind of mean. Or at least awkward.'

Then he gets up again and moves to the balcony, looking out over it at the city. "Oh and I said I'd text you the address here, too. Just text or call or something whenever you come over to make sure someone's in to let you in, or you'll probably get lost. Or you can come in on the roof, or one of the balconies-- I mean if you fly or can jump it, I don't know. It's forty seven floors up."

Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "I... could probably do with more help researching what to do with them. I spent a while trying to find a better solution, but I don't have a way to send them directly to judges- I want to meet, meet the uh, shikigami? Shinigami? I don't remember for sure since, if I'm real they probably are." Resting her chin on her hand, she checks the text, nods and sends an affirmative response back.

Which means she doesn't say anything about Lacrima. Instead she stands up and says, "Thank you again. Sorry for- that." At the comment of flying or jumping, she says, "I can kind of jump it. I'm getting better at that. Foxes don't fly very well, intentionally, though." beat, "People." sure.

Plenty of foxes are people. Kunzite doesn't say that, either, because heaven only knows whether Ayana and Lacrima are on speaking terms right now or what that means to Jiaying. "Might want to take the elevator till the 'kind of' is settled," he says. -- and that's when he slices that bland look at Mamoru, the one that says that 'nut' would be a gentle and truly kind evaluation, yes. Henshining on the way down works better when your henshin can fly, dammit.

Mamoru waves a hand around. "No apologies," he says cheerfully, glancing back and smiling, and the smile's genuine, and kind.

He is studiously ignoring the look Kunzite's giving him, even if he sees it perfectly clearly. And then the smile turns into a grin. "I don't fly either. My aim is too good, I keep hitting the ground when I try to miss it. Have a good rest of your day, and we'll talk soon, okay? Oh--"

Rueful; he moves toward one of the doors, and it turns out to be the door out, into a hall. There's a sign next to the door with 'apartment rules', and a sign on the outside of the door that says 'use this one'; the other three doors in the hall that aren't the elevator are unremarkable. "Elevator's there-- it'll go down just fine without the key," he says, pointing it out. "And like I said, I'll tell the concierge your name, he'll put you on the list for okay-to-key-up."