A short while later, Kyouko arrives at said coffee shop. She's wearing the coat Usagi gave her, which is quickly becoming her go-to accoutrement, at least while the weather is chilly. She is also, it should be noted, walked with a slight limp and the aid of a walking stick of some kind- it actually looks like a rather nice wooden cane (but its actually a stick she borrowed from the old conbenie lady, that she uses for getting things from high shelves).
This is because she still hasn't recovered from Walpurgisnacht and her use of one of Miss White's altered Grief Seeds. Although not actually injured, it took a large toll on her strength and energy reserves. They are slowly coming back, but for now she needs to lean on that walking stick or risk her legs giving out on her.
She glances around the shop as she enters, eyes seeking to see if she's the first there or if Usagi beat her.
Kyouko does get there first, but not by long. Usagi catches sight of the slightly taller girl, and worries about the limp and the cane!
When she enters the coffee shop, her arms are around Kyouko, squishy squishy hugs. "I'm glad you're okay! You're okay, right? Here! Let's sit! Or you sit! What do you want? I'll get it!"
Fussy Bunny Activate!
Kyouko is suddenly hugged, and she laughs. Usagi's energy seems to reassure her in ways that couldn't have been accomplished otherwise, and she lightly hugs back before trying to disentangle herself. "I'm fine.. well. I'm healthy, anyway." She says, with a little smile. "Just.. still weak. Them things.. take a lot out of you." She's talking about the grief seed weapon, of course.
"But I'm getting stronger again every day. Just not quite.. strong enough yet." She shrugs her shoulders. At the offer to get stuff, she says, "Just a coffee, I guess.. light and sweet." She makes her way to a table and sits, leaning the makeshift cane against the side and sighing as she unbuttons her pretty coat.
Usagi gives Kyouko a curious eyeball. Just coffee? Oh no, things are bad, aren't they?!
Despite the meager order, which she does get as well as a froofroo coffee for herself, she also orders pastries!
And soon she's back, and sets the coffee in front of Kyouko and makes a show of sliding a plate of pastry over, as well. Her look clearly says 'You will eat and regain strength or else I will give you the saddest bunny eyes ever!'
Once settled, and post Maximum Comfy Wiggle, she leans forward. "What did you wanna talk about?"
Kyouko smiles her thanks as Usagi returns with coffee.. as well as unasked-for pastries. Kyouko doesn't seem terribly shy of partaking, though. Her small order was less from a lack of hunger and more from something that tends to matter to people without a lot of money- not wanting to accept charity. This is all subtext though. There's a difference between asking someone to buy food for you and being given food freely, and that difference is what allows Kyouko to reach for something with cream and chocolate and take a big. Nomf.
She chews for a moment, and then eyes Usagi sideways. Then she blushes. Yes, Kyouko blushes. Her cheeks turn red. It really is quite a sight. She looks the other way. "Ah.. um.. well.." Fidget, fidget. After a moment of this, she takes another bite of the pastry. "Maybe tnnf wasf a bad idea.." She mumbles through a mouthful of confection.
Usagi starts to giggle as she eats her own pastry. Nibble nibble! NOMF!
"We don't have to talk right away! We can enjoy pastries! And I don't know about you, but I think I'll be getting us seconds if you're as hungry as I am!"
And then she can't stay silent on the matter any longer! She exhales a breath. "Wooow, I'm jealous! You look so pretty when you blush!"
What! Hearing Usagi say that just makes her blush more, until her face is more or less the same shade as her hair. "N-no I don't! Stop! What?" She stammers, totally caught off guard. "I'm not blushing!" But she totally is, dramatically so. "And I'm not pretty! Shut up!"
Not that there's anything wrong with being pretty, Kyouko just isn't used to hearing that and isn't sure how to react to it, so she settles for the time-old solution of illogical denial. Then she shoves her face into a pastry to hide it, thwomp.
Usagi sits up straight, making a show of eating her pastry with her pinky up. "Well. I think my Kyou-kun is very pretty. So there."
And then she's done torturing her friend with the truth for a moment, and sips her froofroo coffee! "Ahhh, the way it should be! No coffee flavor!"
Kyouko eats her way out of her pastry-shield after a few moments, and then takes some time to sip her coffee and try to fight her blushing back down to a reasonable level. She succeeds, slowly, although it's a constant struggle to keep it from re-taking over.
ile Usagi sips her coffee and delights in how non-coffee-ee it is, Kyouko remains silent, staring into her own cup for a few long moments. Then, she bursts out, all at once, "I wrote Saya-chan a letter, and she wasn't supposed to /read it/, but she /did/, and now I don't know what to do!" Then she hides her face in another pastry.
She's mid sip. She doesn't inhale and cough and splutter, nor does she snort it out her nose. Instead, she blinks for a moment.
"Why'd you write it if--"
Oh wait, she knows the answer to that one! She thinks! "Was it the same reason I left Luna with my family? Just in case?" Her voice lowers. "She's still a bit angry about that."
"Damn right I'm still angry about it!" Her purse...is speaking. "And if you ever do that again, I'll claw your face off while you sleep!" And now there's a sniffle from her purse.
Usagi winces and gives an apologetic shrug to Kyouko as she pulls the black kitty from her purse and lets her sit on her shoulder. There's another moment of kitty sniffling and cheek rubs.
Kyouko is staring down into her coffee now after her hurried outburst of the facts.. and as Usagi postulates upon the reason for it, she nods her head again. "I really.. didn't expect to make it back." She says quietly, and then amends that with, "Well.. I knew there was a good chance I wouldn't. I couldn't bear to die without telling her.. things. So I wrote it."
"I was fully intending to burn it if I made it back alive but.. I passed out and of course Sayaka was the one who carried me back to my apartment. And she found it, and read it." Uh oh, here comes the blush again. Luckily, she's saved by a talking purse, which rapidly transforms into a talking cat. Kyouko blinks at the thing, but she /has/ been dealing with Kyubey for years now, so she accepts this more or less in stride. "Um.. nice cat?"
Usagi circles the rim of her coffee cup with her fingers. "I didn't expect to, either. But I'm really glad you did. I'd still be crying."
She opens her mouth again, then blinks. Kyouko's never met Luna?
Before Usagi could make introductions, Luna delicately leaps on the table and softly pads over to Kyouko. "I am Luna. Usagi is in my charge, and I help her realize her potential. She's told me about you, Kyouko-chan. My Usagi-chan adores you very much." And then, kitty sniffs! "Healthy affection for my Usagi. Strong emotions to fight and protect. Yes, you'll do nicely to protect the princess."
Usagi groans and buries her head in her arms. "Luna, stop it. Don't make me put you back in the purse."
Luna snorts as she curls herself on Kyouko's shoulder, enjoying the curtain of hair but says nothing else.
Usagi looks up. "I am so sorry about that. Anyway. Yes! Sayaka-chan!" Her eyes light up a bit. "Did what you say have anything to do with those eyes you made for her at the skating ring?"
Right now, her hue hue hue is only mildly implied!
"Oh please," Kyouko says dismissively, but with a smile, "You wouldn't cry for me that much, and I wouldn't want you to. You live a life like I've lived, you don't expect to be mourned too much." Despite how it may seem, this is actually a somewhat positive statement. Kyouko wouldn't want Usagi to be too sad if she had died.
Then she blinks at Luna as the cat walks over and sniffs at her. "So what, she's like your Kyubey?" She asks Usagi, quirking a brow, rather than responding to Luna directly. Then she looks at the cat and frowns. "Don't you tell me what to do, cat."
But before she can get more offended, Luna leaps onto her shoulder and curls up! Kyouko blinks rapidly a few times.. then just seems to accept it, since kitties are nice and warm on shoulders.
But then Usagi is talking about Sayaka, and her blush comes back again! "W-what? I wasn't making any eyes!" She reflexively denies. Oh man, this might take some work.
"Well, I still would. And you can't stop me~." She's decided early on that should she lose people and friends, she'd try to remember them all. So that someone would.
Luna is...highly offended. "I am nothing like that...rodent, with...wishes...and...whatever else he does! And my name is not cat, you...human!" A harrumph! And then she's curled on said shoulder, steadfastly ignoring Kyouko! One more comment like that and she'll lick her hind quarters on her perch!
Usagi sighs and rolls her eyes. Then she waves her hand and tries to steer back to the conversation at hand. Again. "You were. But it's okay you were!" Her sigh may be a bit dreamy. "But Kyou-kun, why is it bad she's read it?"
Kyouko eyes the cat again, but deigns not to reply. Two can play that game, cat!
When asked why it's bad that Sayaka read the letter, steam positively shoots out of her ears. "B-b-because it's embarassing!" She exclaims, possibly disturbing Luna, or maybe not, as she bangs her fist one the table, then hides her face behind her hands. "Because I'm me! Kyouko Sakura, the Terror of Kazamino! I can't be writing.. writing.. /mushy stuff/! And.. and she doesn't like me! Not like that, I know she doesn't! She's still head-over-heels for that violinist kid!"
Once she starts, it rather seems like Kyouko can't stop, as she goes on in a torrent of words, "Which is good, anyway! I mean, he's talented, handsome, and rich! She /should/ like him! All I've got to offer is.. well, me, and you can see what that amounts to!" She gestures at herself, as if that explains everything.
"And I don't want to make her life difficult, and complicated! She should go be with her violinist and I'll just keep on the way I have been, and it's simpler and better that way. But I didn't wanna die without at least telling her, but I /didn't/ die and now she read the letter and it's going to mess everything up!" She finally stops talking, peering at Usagi across the table with a look that says, 'omfg the world is ending'.
Luna does get disturbed, at least not in the way Kyouko would expect. Living with a very emotional Usagi, added to Kitty Instincts, she seenses Distress and goes into Instant Purr and Cheek Nuzzle Mode.
For her part, Usagi gets out of her chair to sit next to Kyouko, looping an arm through hers and leaning her head on a shoulder. "Well, I think it amounts to a lot. It's okay if you don't believe me, one day I'll show you."
She sighs. "So you love her, and even though you'd love to be with her, you'd be okay if she's happier with the violinist?" Her nose crinkles in confusion. She only knows one violinist. "Is it Ikuto-kun? Augh, that doesn't matter."
She sighs again. "What did she say about it?"
Luna's purring and nuzzling does seem to help a little.. as does Usagi's shift in position to offer some physical support. In perhaps an amusing dichotomy, Kyouko doesn't seem to find this embarassing at all- it's really all about her feelings, and since her feelings for Usagi are affectionate but platonic, she has no problem with the girl cuddling up to her this way.
It seems to calm her down a little bit, in fact, and she sighs, leaning back against Usagi slightly. "Nobody said anything about... love." She says, forcing herself to say the L-word. But she also doesn't deny it. "But all I want is for her to be happy. She's talked about this guy since the day I met her. No, it's not Ikuto." She adds, making a face. "His name is Kyousuke Kamijyou. He's really talented, we went to see him perform once. Saya-chan has been head over heels for him since before we met. She even used her wish, the one which made her into a Puella, to heal him after he had been injured. He hadn't been able to play violin anymore because of his injuries, and she wished for him to be able to again."
She sighs. "But she's too afraid to actually confess to him, and he's never.. shown any interest back, that I can tell. But that's not the point. The point is she's devoted to him, and he's got everything to offer her and I got nothing. And I don't think she feels that way about me anyway, which is fine cause.. well, like I just said."
"I just didn't want to die without at least letting her know how much she meant to me.. how she changed me for the better. But I didn't want her to read it if I was still here! It just complicates everything!"
She hesitates, then adds, "We haven't talked about it yet. I saw her once since but there were.. other things to deal with at the time and it didn't come up."
Luna just keeps purring and nuzzling.
Usagi sighs, too, again, and just listens.
Then her fingers poke against Kyouko's ribs. "Hey. Just because you don't believe me doesn't mean you can put down my friend, even if that friend if you." That is, however, all she says on that subject. "The only valid point there is how she feels for him. But your feelings are valid here, too."
Another sigh. "I don't know how she sees things. But if it were me? Mamo-chan could live in a card board box and I'd love him. It's not about money. It's about the person."
Snuggle cuddle.
"When it comes up, just tell her the truth. You don't expect her to return those not!Love feelings. And you know what? Now, no matter what happens, she'll know she's made a difference in someone's life. A very big difference."
She sighs, and she may be thinking how she's been told she herself made a difference to someone important to her.
"There are times when that thought alone can keep a person going. And I think it's really brave that you even wrote it."
Kyouko falls silent for a long moment as Usagi speaks, looking down into her own lap and twiddling her fingers together, a nervous movement that just speaks to how outside her normal comfort range she is. "I just.. I've always been so bad at expressing myself." She says, after a moment. This is definitely true- it's always seemed like any time Kyouko tried to explain her feelings to someone, she messed it up or used the most awkward possible way of doing it.
"I'm worried that she won't understand. Or that she'll not want to see me anymore. I'd rather things just went on the way they were, with us working together, than to risk having her not want to see me anymore because she feels weird about how I feel." Kyouko says.
She flushes even more. "I mean, I don't even know if she's.. into girls. You know."
More snuggling, more cuddling, and she lets those fingers twiddle.
"Not being into girls can put a damper on things, yes."
Yet another sigh. "There may be awkward at first. But you just...have to show her its okay if she doesn't feel the same."
She realizes how she's not the one to be giving advice on that!
Her head lands on the table with a thunk. "Who am I kidding, I can't even follow my own advice. I've kissed him twice and just kept texting and texting until finally I told him I'm losing his number."
Luna's purring stops. Usagi can feel the weight of that feline look on her skull. It's very hot.
Usagi does her best to ignore it. "I guess...just do what I couldn't? Give her space and time and just be there for her?"
Kyouko blinks as Usagi suddenly turns from comforter into the one needing comfort! She peers at the girl with her head thunked on the table for a moment and then lets out a little bit of a laugh. She throws her arms around Usagi's shoulders as she slumps over the table and gives her a squeeze. "Well.. you know what? That kinda makes me feel better."
And she gives Usagi a smooch, right on the cheek! "Because at least I ain't the only one who has no idea what I'm doing." And then she leans back in her chair again and picks up her coffee, sighing and sipping from it. "It just ain't effin' fair, y'know? Here we are, pair o'girls with the combined magical strength to probably face down any monster the world can throw, and it's stupid /feelings/ that are giving us so much trouble."
But she does smile. "Maybe I should just be grateful, right? Better to have a problem of liking somebody too much than a problem like.. being killed by monsters."
Usagi grins against the table. "Stupid feelings, being all stupid."
She sighs and shifts just enough so her chin is resting on the table instead. "You know what we should do? Have a good wallow! You know, just pig out on ice cream until we either feel better or pass out in a sugar coma."
She tilts her head to the side. "What do you say? You provide the place, I provide the ice cream?"
Kyouko is about to object on the grounds that ice cream is expensive, but she pauses when Usagi promises to supply the ice cream. "Well.. it ain't usually my style.." She says, playing at being hesitant..
Then she shrugs. "But okay. If you provide the ice cream, you're welcome to come over to my place and wallow anytime you like." She grins. Her place is good for that sort of thing since she lives alone and doesn't have to worry about pesky parents or anything wondering what's up.
Usagi giggles as she sits up, reaching out and pulling her coffee toward her. "No, don't say that, Kyou-kun! If you give me permission like that, I'll be at your door every night with ice cream!"
Although, it's good that Kyouko's place is the one they'd go to! They'd have to fight off falling plaster and maybe even support beams otherwise.
"Hon, if I could have a cute girl bringing me ice cream on my doorstep every night, I think I'd have a significantly happier life." Kyouko says, with a hint of ironic humor in her voice as she sips from her coffee again.
If nothing else, it seems like just talking about her problems, getting it off of her chest, has made her feel a little bit better. She seems in better humor than she was before. "Thanks for listenin' to me, anyway. I.. well, not to bring you down but this is the sorta thing I woulda talked about with Mamoru, if he was around." She laughs softly. "His advice mighta been different than yours but.. you did a good job anyway."
She giggles more at that! "Well, then! Soon we'll have our bloodstream floating with ice cream!"
Her eyebrows rise. "Well, of course. My Mamo-chan is very good with advice." A bit of a preen, even if her heart's sad. "And why do I get the feeling that advice comes with sake? I'd offer, but, well, I'm apparently a one drink girl outside of the fuku. I'd probably try kissing you, which won't help either of us! But I'm glad I helped!"
Then she leans against Kyouko's shoulder, and its her turn to twiddle her fingers. "What kind of...advice did he give?"
She's greedy and selfish, because even though the subject matter hurts, its also her favorite one in the world.
Kyouko blushes again, although it's only a small one this time. "I'd be flattered, hon," She teases at the notion of drunk-Usagi trying to kiss her, "But somehow I'm not sure that would help my chances with /either/ of my other two friends." That being Mamoru and Sayaka. She can't help but giggle a little bit anyway, though.
She gets leaned on again, and Usagi asks what kind of advice Mamoru gave her in the past. She sighs softly, thinking back. "There was one time.. I was a wreck. It was when Sayaka and I had a bit of a falling out.. she wasn't a Puella yet, and she kept getting dragged into dangerous situations cause she was hanging out with me. I tried to distance myself from her, because I didn't want her to get hurt, and it was making me miserable."
"Mamoru, he said to me, "I don't think it's selfish to hope, to pursue happiness. It's only selfish to try and make decisions for someone else so that you can feel like 'well even if she's unhappy, she's safe'. Just talk to her... And stop feeling guilty about what she chooses, because man, life happens."
She laughs softly. "Funny, I can remember every word. And I guess it's as good advice now as it was then."
Usagi snorts. "Wellll, maybe if we told him we took pictures. Some guys like that, right?"
She hugs Kyouko's arm and snuggles down. Then she's grinning. "Mamo-chan wisdom through the ages!"
The thinks about those words, mulls them over, and stores for later. "Yes. He gives very good advice."
A nod!
"All guys like that." Kyouko says, with a wisdom born on the streets, then adds, "But I'm trying to impress a girl, and smooching somebody else and taking pictures of it probably isn't the best way to go about it." She can't help but laugh though, shaking her head slightly.
She doesn't mind Usagi snuggling on her arm, though. It feels good to have that affection- with Mamoru still... 'occupied' and things weird with Sayaka, she hasn't had much in the way of a friendly presence the last few days.
"Yeah.." She sips her coffe again, falling quiet for a moment, and then just adds, "Thanks, Usagi."