Ami arrived in Mamoru's kitchen a bit of a mess: her hair's pulled back with a bear-eared headband, but is otherwise bedraggled. She's got on a long grey teeshirt and a pair of grey sweatpants both a little oversized. The Uggs she's wearing do little to make up for the disaster that is her outfit right now.
Almost immediately Ami opened another gateway to another where: a long tunnel into nothing that emerged (with no intermediate hops!) at a small two story home in an upscale neighborhood.
Ami looks sick to her stomach just looking at the house. She doesn't grab onto Mamoru for support, but she does give him a pleading look, rather than going to knock on the door herself.
The third-term senior Ami met in his kitchen's just wearing jeans and a slightly overlarge white oxford shirt over a NASA t-shirt, shoes on instead of held in his hand, glasses on. As far as the transit went, Mamoru himself had basically sucked it up when faced with the prospect of teleporting-- but Ami being able to leave the gates open on either end while they traversed her hyperspace tunnel meant that it was literally the most pleasant teleport he's ever had the privilege to experience. No nothingness in between.
That's why when they come out the other side, he's perfectly composed and actually in the process of relaxing, despite what they face and Ami's exponentially increasing anxiety. With the lack of contact, he can't help the anxiety any in the ways he can for other people, but -- he knows he'd only give her further anxiety, so instead, he just smiles reassuringly at her desperate look and tries to actively radiate calm.
And then he takes his hands from his pockets and walks up to knock politely on the door.
It takes a while before Takashi answers the door, but when he does, as he approaches, his presence can be felt, particularly by Mamoru - he's emotionally unstable enough that he's giving off negative energy on his own, and when he opens the door, the fact that the tips of his hair are starting to go purple is not a trick of the light. He's still wearing his labcoat, so he must've arrived here from his lab.
And, in a possibly unique moment, when his eyes regard the two of them, the one who's getting greater hostility in the look is NOT Mamoru Chiba. "I think you've wasted enough of my time and energy already, don't you? This is an unncessary formality, I already heard about it. I'd ask how long but I don't really give a damn."
Ami withers a little beneath Takashi's glare, hesitating. But Mamoru's here, and he's doing his best to literally radiate composure.
It helps, somehow.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Ami falls forward into Takashi in a fall of trust, expecting him to catch her. She's already been crying all day; summoning those tears again takes almost no effort at all, under the gaze of his angry glare. Her eyes are soaking wet in an instant, and she's sniffly and half-choking on the rising bile and fear.
Mamoru's eyes widen at what Takashi says to Ami-- her lack of Has Her Shit Together is clear enough to him that he's honestly surprised Takashi immediately goes on the attack. But, well. That's a lot of dark energy, and Ami did say...
He's about to open his mouth to interject when he sees Ami wither, and then his mouth snaps shut as his gaze follows her fall, bracing for Takashi not to catch her.
Maybe it's a subconscious response to falling girls, like watching her take a tumble off the side of a building once so long ago, but when Ami falls forward, Takashi moves in and doesn't just catch her, but does so in a particularly deft manner, almost swooping her up in his arms and trying to help keep her upright to little success as she drapes against him.
And as much energy as he might be exerting it's still being diverted back towards his house and away from the person in his arms. "Come on, I'm supposed to be the one that's upset." he says, but he's not summoning up any gruffness even if he might be trying to. He looks at Mamoru, over Ami's shoulder, with a very funny look, a mixture of perplexion and still beng upset.
Ami's whimpering wibbles manage to coalesce into some semblance of language, but it's not Japanese. Nor German, French, Spanish, or English. It is best described as moon language, which probably makes very little sense to either of the two boys here.
No wait, that's ju st a simpering inability to talk past an immense amount of anxiety.
Take two, Ami manages a few simple words in Japanese: "it's not right." Though it's a little difficult to discern exactly what she's refering to, perhaps. "Didn't want it. She just ... I couldn't ... and then ... and now ..."
Takashi may be very surprised at the look of affection mingled with relief and approval on the older boy's face, but Mamoru still doesn't say anything while Ami is moon-speaking, he just sticks his hands in his pockets, relaxed. When she trails off a little, his bespectacled gaze lands on Takashi again. His voice is quiet, and strangely gentle. "You're not the one who got kissed without permission, then got faced with people spreading lies about it."
He draws in a breath, then presses his lips together and seems to hesitate for a second, glancing away. And then Mamoru straightens up and says resolutely, "She's already thrown up a few times she's so upset, so--" He sighs and looks uncomfortable. "I know you always do, but-- please take care of her. I only came because she was afraid you'd be too mad to listen. But you're not, are you?"
This is legit Mamoru Chiba with a pleading expression. Possibly Takashi should get photographic evidence. Like from security cameras or something.
Takashi's immediate response may show off how trapped in his own thoughts he is. "Well yeah, because if someone did that to me they'd become a testing implement for the stability of a nearby buil-" and then he catches himself. Mamoru, watching, can see the moment Taka goes from 'snarky default response' to actually understanding what has been said.
The fact that the surroundings seem to be a little bit less shadowy now is also probably not just a trick of the light. He looks at Mamoru and pulls Ami away from his body long enough that he can look at her face, into her eyes. "No, I'm not mad. Not at you, anyways."
There's a pause and then he hugs her. "But I am sorry because I WAS mad when you opened the door. Because I thought it was your fault..."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Ami knows that Mamoru just used The Right Words to prevent her having to explain everything. And she'll be grateful for that later. Right now, just knowing that Takashi has caught her, and isn't about to throw her away, is enough to send her into another bout of tears and inability to speak.
So this is what it's like to wield Usagi's power.
She'll probably have to study the power of crying in greater detail later, when her scientific mind is back in control.
--and there we go. Dark energy lessened considerably, and Takashi being sweet to Ami-- Mamoru smiles, maybe a little lopsidedly, and makes sure his shoulders don't visibly sag in relief until he's out of sight. Because my god, if ever there were a cue to leave, that is it. He'll just... text Ami later. To make sure everything's okay.
For now, he's going home. Kunzite has alcohol.
Takashi's mind is still... somewhat logical, somewhat scientific, trying to wonder if this is the first time he's held Ami while she's anywhere near this upset, and he leans back against the doorframe of the door a bit, pulling her with him, using a free hand to wave towards Mamoru and then finding a spot on her back to hold her close to him.
Words aren't coming for the moment and actions will have to suffice until she can find her voice, or he can find more he wants - or needs - to say.
Ami cries on Takashi for a while, but slowly she regains control of at least her immediate emotional response. His shirt is wet, by this point, with her tears. When she does start to regain control, the girl doesn't pull away. Instead, she just stays leaning against him, clearly drawing some strength from his physical support.
Eventually she wipes her face against him and pulls back just enough to say, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't ... find the words. So ... so that's why Mamoru."
Takashi is tall enough he can look down at Ami as she's resting against him. "I'm sorry too. I just heard and I got upset because... it made sense, in a way - with all the trouble and the..." and now it's Takashi's turn to get just a little choked up, though he does a much better job of holding it down and not devolving into sobbing - it's just clear in his voice.
"I didn't want to lose you, and it was much easier to be mad than anything else."
Ami closes her eyes and leans her forehead against his chest again, then quietly mumbles, "I know. That's what I was scared of." And then it happened, just as she'd feared. Good job, Takashi. She hugs herself as she leans into his embrace, then slowly begins to peel away. "Can I come inside? Your neighborhood doesn't need to see all of ... this," she motions just a little towards herself, and the godawful outfit, and the cute bear-ear headband she's wearing.
Takashi suddenly nods, and takes her by the hand and walks her inside. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I just didn't want to wait to invite you in." he adds as he closes the door, leaving the neighborhood - such as it is - from seeing them. And then he smiles.
"I... don't know why, but that headband suits you more than I would've expected?" Trying to offer her a compliment, trying not to point out he was sort of a jerk even if maybe an understandable jerk.
Ami blushes at the compliment of her headband. She reaches up as if to take it off, but stops herself just a moment before. "Th--thanks," she mumbles out quietly, then sighs and squeezes his hand as she walks with him towards the couch.
"I feel like I owe you an explanation of what really happened," Ami mumbles quietly, "because it's not fair to your employee to say she just forced herself on me. I mean that is what happened, but it's more complicated htan that, and I don't want you to kill her." Possibly she is being literal.
Takashi nods a bit, and walks with Ami to the couch to sit next to her, and he's returned to the normal Takashi levels of calm. "Alright. I'm listening."
He still hasn't let go of her hand, though he's holding it a little bit less tightly now. "And I haven't killed anybody yet, I was just... processing it."
Ami closes her eyes and gently pats the back of his hand. She lowers her chin and tries to focus, for the moment, on what she has to say. When she opens them again, Ami's glassy-eyed look is mostly gone, replaced instead by concentration. (This looks a little silly on a girl wearing bear ears dressed in sweat pants and an oversized teeshirt.)
"Her name is Unmei," Ami explains, "and she works for Eclipse. She has mentioned a few others but I don't remember their names. She has a girlfriend? I think? None of that matters. What does matter is what I texted you about: some kind of ... curse or dark entity seems to be possessing her. She's effused with dark energy, and it's overwhelming her ability to focus. She sits down to eat because she's hungry, and doesn't stop until someone stops her. She leans forward to cry on a shoulder, and winds up accidentally pawing at them and ... and ... you know," she explains, pursing her lips just a little.
"I don't think her kissing me was her fault," Ami tries to explain to Takashi. "She's got your problem, except none of your innate control or long-time experience dealing with it. And from everything I can gather, this is a recent occurence for her. So I think she needs your help, not your hatred, right now."
Takashi frowns a bit. "Unmei. I know of the name, but I haven't met her yet. She was actually assigned to me - to UMBRA." he says after a moment. "I'm somewhat familiar with those sorts of... struggles, like with my other employee. I'll try to be understanding."
"As long as she doesn't kiss you again. If you're not comfortable with ME kissing you, you do not need random people doing it!" There's a smile there, but it's a little sour. He's annoyed, and hurt over this, but trying to move past it.
"But, if she's being assigned to me, she's being put in the right place for me to help."
Ami blushes again and turns her forehead against his shoulder. She sighs and reaches out her arms to hug him. "Thank you," she mumbles quietly. "I'm sorry it happened, too. But I'm more worried about her than my reputation."
Takashi puts his arm back around Ami. "Alright. I'll do my best not to hold any of this against her and render what help I can." There's a pause, before he says anything more. "I'm still afraid to lose you again." His voice is small and quiet and a little introspective. "It caused me to act without thinking it through..."
Ami hesitates--her body tensing at those words. She looks up at him, eyes a little glassy with fear once again. There's a long moment where she just stares at Takashi, worriedly, and perhaps looks like she might be sick.
But she swallows her bile and her terror, and reaches up to gently grip his shoulder. "You're not ... going to lose me," she promises him, before leaning forward suddenly, squeezing her eyes shut, and pressing her lips awkwardly to his. And it is awkward. She's a terrible kisser, terribly inexperienced at kissing. She's nervous and she's anxious and she's terrified. But it's recognizable for what it is, chaste though it may be.
The kiss parts almost right away, and Ami's scarlet face turns from him, her breathing a little heavy not with excitement but with sickness. "Not ... not over someone else, anyways. If you lose me it ... it will be ... because things aren't working. Because you're too ... too unwilling to try to make this work."
Takashi doesn't really have time to process all of Ami's visual signals as they happen - instead they keep gettng filed away in that mind of his, as she talks and moves closer.
And then suddenly her lips are against his and for a moment, Takashi's mind doesn't do anything... and then it's over so fast and he slowly comes back to himself.
Her comments hang in he air for a while before he responds. "I really am trying. And I refuse to not succeed, one way or the other." he says, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And I'm way, way too much looking forward to the day something like that kiss is... a little bit easierr for you, I guess. No matter how long that takes."
With a vague nod of her head, Ami acknolwedges Takashi's words. She's too busy clutching her gut to really give any more response than that, for the moment. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Slowly, she regains her composure--very slowly. When she does, she takes a breath, then turns back towards him, still looking slightly under the weather. "I'll keep trying," she promises quietly, "as long as you will keep trying for me."
Takashi nods emphatically, and then after a moment, he says quietly. "I'm not so foolish as to believe that, even though I once literally caught you out of the sky..." no, he's never letting that go "...that this is going to work out in some sort of instant miracle. If I did ever hold that belief I'd be a fool to have held onto it now. I know it'll take work, and there will be successes and setbacks, but I promise I won't give up." He doesn't even add the caveat of her continuing to try, either.
Ami lets out a slow sigh of what must be relief, then nods her head. She closes her eyes and lets herself lean back against his couch, then mumbles, "I look like crap." A quiet admission. "I feel like crap."
She lets out a slow breath, then asks, "Is it ... too much to ask to crash on your couch for an hour? I think I just need to sleep off the adrenaline for a short while. Just a little nap before I try to go home."
Takashi shakes his head. "You look great, bear ears and all. But my couch is always available for you to sleep on -" and he cuts himself off for a moment. "- I mean you know. If you need it. To crash for a nap." Cause she wasn't therre for a few weeks once. "Do you want me to wake you up in an hour, or just like... let you sleep it off and wake up whenever?"
Ami considers the question for a moment, then shakes her head just faintly. "No, I've already taken you away from your lab too long," she mumbles. "I'll set an alarm," she promises, "and let myself out." Meaning subspace, probably. "I don't want to be any more trouble."
And it's Takashi's turn to shake his head. "Ami, it was important. Don't feel bad, I'm in that lab most days, but it's not every day I get to see you. Or get kissed by you. Even though I wish it was."
"You're not trouble. Unmei might be, but you're not."
Ami's reply is a subtle blush, and she looks away again. She clears her throat, then stands and makes her way towards the door. "Can you get me a blanket and a pillow?" she asks, as she toes out of her uggs, revealing striped thin blue and white socks beneath.
Takashi smiles. "Sure thing." Takashi tromps off upstairs, returning with a couple of soft pillows and a warm blanket to boot. "I guess you'll sleep better if I do sneak off back to my lab instead of worryin' about me being around?" he asks as he passes them to her.
Ami shrugs just a little as she sets her shoes by the door, then meets him back at the couch to collect the blanket and pillows. "Well," she admits honestly, "maybe a little. B-b-but it's your house, so don't leave on that account, okay? You can stay." She smiles and gives him another brief hug, a thank you, and then puts the pillow down before starting to lay out the blanket as bedding on the couch.
Takashi laughs. "Basically the only room that gets any use is my bedroom anyways. Sometimes this place feels a lot less like home than my lab does." The lack of any sort of personalization here attests to that, the home looks almost like it'd be ready to be shown by a real estate agent rather than lived in.
"Here, I'm gonna head back to the lab and finish up what I was doing, but if you need anything, you can text me. That way I'm close if you want me but far if you just need to sleep without any stress. And send me a text when you head home, okay?"
Ami nods her head gratefully as he makes the offer, and looks a little relieved. She smiles and sits down on the edge of the couch, wrapping herself in the blanket. For a moment she leans in to sniff it, then smiles and looks up at him. "I'll text you later," she promises.
There's a visible stop in Takashi's movements when Ami goes to lie down, like he's not sure what he should do with his hands, or how to close out the interaction. But eventually he settles for a "Sleep well." without much further fanfare, smiles at her, and then he makes his exit, slipping through dimensions casually.