Suddenly, a prior night's events finally make sense. The afternoon after Guardian Hino used Rising Crash to hurt Homura, Runealy discovered it was perhaps the other way around; Rising Crash had been using him. She remembered how it was able to dig into her mind to pick out voices it could never have heard in-person, how it made very dangerous suggestions and demands of her using those voices. ...Ones the owners of said voices would never truly make of her.
It explained a lot, and when Hinote tried to slink off in shame with the device... Runealy chased after him, insisting she had a better idea. Now with Rising Crash stowed in a box and multiple layers of cloth, she has transformed and is holding the box as she leads the way to Mamoru's apartment.
It's probably not the most peaceful place for them to go, but it is the only other halfway sane idea she has; other thoughts were quickly discarded as 'effectively suicide'. "We can't keep this," she remarked to Hino along the way. "You did the right thing bringing it to us, but now that we know what it does... we can't use it any more. I know someone who might be able to figure out what to do with it."
And so, the alien princess stands in full magical attire at Mamoru's door this late afternoon. She is a bit to the side of it, so as not to be in immediate view - it's possible he has guests who would be /extremely/ unhappy to see her or Hino, she realizes. Rune knocks, and the moment any sort of inquiry or door-opening ensues, she's quick to preemptively offer: "We're here to give you answers for what happened last night. You're not going to like them, but after you hear them we need help making sure this never happens again... and that nobody else repeats our mistake!"
Those words are spoken with a shaky, frightened voice. For someone in a position of magical authority, she doesn't sound it; Rune is scared to wit's end right now.
Guardian Hino wasn't going to henshin... in fact. He very much thought that he didn't deserve to. People who do bad things don't deserve protection. But Runealy brought up some good points, too about it along the way. So he found the will to get into Henshin somewhere.
He had to try to not think very hard about some things Rune said earlier, but he managed it. He arrives at the door.
He's standing next to the Princess!
He looks really tired and worn out and shaky and lots of other things. But he's here.
It's a long moment before the door's opened: possibly Mamoru was in the middle of something, possibly he was checking to see who's on the other side of the door and then super-hurriedly getting someone out of the room (probably in yet another princess carry, tbh, unless Homura's doing significantly better). Either way, it's silent for about thirty seconds, and then the older teenager's voice, "Coming."
Another ten seconds, and... it's someone Hinote doesn't know that opens the door. A boy around seventeen, living in an expensive place and dressed in terribly trendy clothes, glasses perched on his nose and hair falling a little into his eyes. He blinks, then steps back a little before pausing to look down at their feet slightly judgementally.
Hinote will know why. Runealy has learned.
"I thought you might come by," he says, his tone mild as he takes off his glasses and starts polishing them on the hem of his shirt. "You don't have to sound so frightened. I'm not afraid of you, and you've proven you can follow my rules when you're in my home. You're in no danger here." He glances to Hinote. "Either of you. But I won't have you tracking anything onto the carpet."
He steps aside to let them pass.
The bedroom door is open a crack, but so are other doors. Even the balcony door.
Homura Akemi was walking (and by 'walking' we mean 'taking very slow steps while having two hands on the wall for support') into the other room when there was a knock on the door. From Mamoru's reaction, Homura could tell that it was probably bad news.
Mamoru helps get her to her hiding place, since princess carrying is faster than whatever speed she could manage on her own, and as much as Homura's pride is taking a hit from needing so much help... she's practical enough to realize that she does in fact need it.
When she hears the voice on the other side of the door, she decides to eavesdrop, slowly closing the door behind her and sitting down next to it, back leaning against the wall. She doesn't look, as she can't risk being seen in her current state, but she listens.
"After what happened, we're probably in danger everywhere /but/ here, and... being here could be a danger for you," Runealy notes. Nonetheless, she steps inside and slips out of her boots. Unaware that the very person whose misfortune has brought out the truth about Rising Crash in almost the worst possible way is here, she is nonetheless rattled and trying to calm down to only modest success.
"Did you see the same red light I did? I found out what it's about. You're not going to like it, it's going to sound like a cheap excuse. We found something we thought was going to solve most of our problems, and instead it just created new ones by... tricking us. We're here because we need help making sure it's disposed of right, that nobody else winds up being controlled and trying to /kill people/," she stresses those words with very deep, knowing emphasis of how awful that is, "because of this! So we're going to answer you," she nods over to Hino to indicate he will be expected to field some of the talk on this too, "and do this right."
Guardian Hino never....really asked where they were going. 'To Tuxedo Kamen' was all that was said. He thought this meant 'go wait on a roof top somewhere'. Hinote comes from Earth. From Japan. He doesn't really need to... be told to the japanese thing. He does before Mamoru's already finished. Theres some fine fancy noble shoes there now. This might confirm his earlier statement that he wasn't from the cold dead secret of space Europe.
He gives a soft sullen bow to Mamoru. "Thank you." he says quietly. He walks in and..."Sorry for... not asking. But. I do need to sit." he says as she sits on Mamoru's couch gently. "I didn't.....sleep...or heal... and... kind of afraid. Something might happen if I do sleep. Ha...!" he says. He pauses...
"Princess. I thought we were meeting Tuxedo Kamen...?" he asks.
He doesn't know Mamoru is Tuxedo Kamen. Context clues may not be enough for Hino to connect Identities in his head at the moment.
He looks down and to the side.
"I hope that....the other one is okay." he says quietly.
This isn't really in Hino's character to be this kind of slow and delibrate and he sounds like someone might when they're sick. He's also kind of unhealthyly digging his finger nails into his palms. All it's doing is leaving hurtful indentations.
Hino's probably never had to deal with this amount of... well anything like this, before.
In his peripheral vision, back behind the space princess and her guardian, Mamoru sees the bedroom door close. He nods in appreciation as shoes are left by the door, then closes the apartment door behind them and follows them back in. He keeps going past, and remains standing as he puts his glasses back on. "I'm always in danger," he says to Runealy easily, with no special import or worry. "One learns to live with it."
Hinote's offered a slight smile and a shaking of his head as he sits on Mamoru's couch. "Not a problem," he tells the fancy knight, then listens to Runealy's quick and rambling explanation, her hasty words, her emphases. He hooks his thumbs in his pockets. "Possession was my guess, once I'd had time to chew on it a little. I'm glad to hear I was more or less correct. Please, Highness, sit if you need to, as well. You're not in the best condition, yourself."
The kettle in the kitchen starts to whistle, and the boy lifts a hand. "If you'll pardon me a moment?"
Just as if they're not in the middle of what's really a wretched conversation for two thirds of the participants, and composed and unhurried but not dawdling, Mamoru slips into the kitchen to shut off the singing kettle and pour hot water. When he comes out a moment later, it's with a stack of three cups and a pot of green tea. He sets them down on the low coffee table. "She'll live. She's more baffled than anything else. I will be explaining this to her; don't worry," he says, finally sitting across from Hinote, "about sounding like you're making excuses. And please let me see to some of your pain before you leave; keeping it as some sort of punishment is foolish."
He gestures widely at the table. "While the tea's steeping, tell me how it controlled you, so I don't make any mistakes in disposing of it."
Homura contines to listen. They were tricked? Was that the reason? Well, they wouldn't be the first, but... then again, these are the same people whose princess said they wouldn't attack Puella Magi.
That same princess also saved her life.
On the other hand it was that princess's friend who endangered it to begin with.
Homura's own opinion on the two remains conflicted. Whatever their deal is, it sounds like a mess.
Mamoru's reply sticks out. 'I'm always in danger.' It's... it's such a cool line!
She'll have to tease him about it later.
Still, whatever it was that was controlling them... if that story is true, that will certainly need to be disposed of.
"Huh?" Runealy can't remember what exactly she told Hino about who exactly would be helping them, but rolls with the confusion nonetheless. "He's someone who might be able to help. And we can't exactly go shopping for assistance right now, the more we go around Tokyo with this thing, the more likely it is someone who /won't/ listen to us at all will find us and there will be a fight. So... for now, let's work with him."
Then she's startled by Mamoru's calm insights. "Wait, you're /familiar/ with the idea? We've had a few cases of it back in Europe," she keeps up that lie even though it is clearly pointless, "But they're rare! Really rare, and we have ways to deal with them before things get /too/ out of control and...!" She ends up taking a sharp breath, then following his advice and heading to sit down, still shaking. Enough so that picking up on eavesdroppers is simply not going to happen, Rune isn't that alert.
"I hope she's okay too, but I have no idea how we'll even begin to apologize to her. It's pretty easy to see how that looks... we know about the challenges she faces, she and those like her, ones the rest of us don't have, and... what, we tried to pretty much just kill her out of convenience for our needs? That's what it has to look like, and no amount of 'I am sorry' or 'that was not supposed to happen' can change the fact it came this close to ending up just that way! But..."
Her head shakes several times. "Hino knows more about it than I do, but it tried to use me too when I grabbed it from him. It started talking right into my mind, using voices of people it has never met but mean a lot to me. ...Mean pretty much everything to me, really," she admits with a lowered gaze. "Told me he was a threat and to kill him right then and there! I... I didn't, you know. I didn't do that!" She's pointing this out even though Hino is /right here/ so it's really obvious she did not carry out Rising Crash's orders. "And that's what happened from me just touching it for a few seconds, before it started pulling energy from me and... I threw it to get the voices to stop. Hino would know way, way more than I did. He has been holding onto it ever since we found it." Then she nods over to Hino, voice shaky. "If he's offering to look you over, let him. 'Punishment'... I didn't bring you here for that. We need to figure out what it did to you and get this taken care of."
Guardian Hino listens to Mamoru. He hears more hints and then.... somebody puts the Light B---Glass Candle on in his head. "Oh." he pauses. "Oh..!" he says with realization. Now he feels silly. He just kind of looks down. Mamoru says she'll live. He takes a very hard, and relived breath.
"If she died....I was going to just....throw myself...at things. Until I couldn't anymore." he says. The sentence suggests 'until he tired out', but the tone suggests, well. until he died.
"I don't know. I saw her rooftop hopping. I know...The Princess knows her. I saw her fighting witches before. But. Never really had a chance to introduce myself....or talk to her.. or... anything. I went to wave my hand out and try to flag her down....."
".....and I don't know. I went to wave and....then I was another rooftop over and sliding across the rooftop because I was kicked and one of the draining crystals flying across the rooftop."
"I tried fitting what Runealy told me into my thoughts and all it gave me was a headache-- that she saw some sort of red light and when she got there I was over her trying to drain her...."
"The only thing I felt like. There was someone else there too? A voice I can't place to a body...." he looks down.
"I know that's not really helpful." he says. "I can't remember anything said just. Just this jumpcut." he says.
"I'd been carrying it around to figure out if I could use it to solve the energy problem we're having."
"It crashed down. The others there called it a Mana Battery. Me and Gao swiped it while two of those... um. Talking weapon users?" he says. "Argued about it."
"Um. It has a video...or something on it, where it was called a Lost Logia by something calling itself the TSAB?" he says.
"I really don't know what that's about. I'm not touching the thing again to try to play the video." he says.
He looks down. "I just. The Princess said she didn't know if she could trust me anymore. I almost killed someone I was just trying to...talk to." he says looking down. "I'm pretty cried out though..." he says silently.
It's true: Homura does tend to find the best things Mamoru says and tease him about them. It's great.
The comfortably composed older teenager just nods slightly as Hino comes to the realization that he's Tuxedo Kamen, as if it's not important. Maybe to him, it's not. Enough minutes have passed with the tea steeping at this point that Mamoru leans forward to unstack the cups, then carefully pour tea into all three as he listens to the two of them explain things some.
The apartment is bright and silent and spacious, empty and still; it's a calm place of waiting, where dust motes dance in the afternoon light streaming through the large, tall windows. It's slightly warmer in nature than it was the last time Runealy stopped by, though it still doesn't quite feel as alive as other homes do, homes where there's activity and camaraderie and daily events.
Mamoru glances up at Rune as he places tea in front of her. "Peace, princess. I'm familiar with an externally imposed lack of agency, yes, and with waking up without remembering what transpired. Guardian Hino here displayed many of the hallmarks the other night, and your reactions to the events were true. As I said, I've examined all the angles I was witness to. And believe me: Akemi-san has fought countless Witches; I'm sure she also understands how forces out of our control can sometimes make us act without consent or understanding or memory. I'll explain what happened to her, and then even if you think it's not good enough, apologize. It can never hurt."
He places a cup of tea in front of Hinote, then, and his blue-eyed regard isn't judging the other boy. It's weighty, it's a thing unto itself; his presence fills the room-- but there's no analysis today, no judgement at all. Only empathy. "You tried to do your best. You were used. You were not in control: you were violated and your agency taken from you. I know you blame yourself, and it's easy for me to say you shouldn't, which is what I believe-- but I also know words are platitudes, and it's something that will haunt you and inform your actions. All I can tell you is that you should use that. Take the lesson. Take the caution. Never pick up a gun you don't know, and always examine anything that seems too good to be true."
He sits back, then, holding his own tea in both hands until it becomes too hot, then putting it down. "So. Touching it activates it-- but it hasn't tried anything while it's been in that box? It hasn't spoken to either of you? I'll look into this TSAB. There are several sources I can tap for information without letting on why I'm asking."
Homura keeps listening to the conversation in the other room... but at the very least, maybe she wont hate them. She does understand, at least, how mind control works, and how painful it can be once one wakes up after.
People who did terrible things without realizing... or people who only came close to doing something that couldn't be taken back. She's seen that kind of thing before. With all the strange and unique things about this timeline, it's not much of a stretch.
That said, Homura also has strong opinions on mind control and things that employ it, especially to cause suffering. Her aching distracts her from what otherwise would be a cold rage.
Listening to Hino lay out his recollection - scattered as it is - and his conclusion brings Rune's gaze down further; hearing that he was planning on turning self-destructive is not a happy thing at all. "That's why our rule this whole time has been to be able to live with yourself afterward. I wasn't sure if I trusted you at the time, but now it makes a lot more sense... you're still not going out there for a while, until you've had a chance to get your head on okay after all this, but trust isn't the problem now. I'm more worried that this 'TSAB Midchilda' nation is going to come after you, or all of us, for this."
A chill runs through her as Mamoru points out other sources of possession... she remembers, now, bits and pieces of what have been mentioned to her about Witches. "Y... you're right. So maybe she would know. ...And yes, I'm going to apologize and... I don't know. Restitution of some kind, but all I can think of would be to help her obtain another one of those seeds and we already do that. If we find one, we make sure only Puella Magi get near it so nobody can force them to do things with the seed as the 'pay' for their obedience!"
Then, she nods sharply to Mamoru. "That's how it is. It began trying to use me when I took it from Hino, but its demands were ridiculous! ...Sick! It asked me to just... kill him as a... a 'threat'," her words were hesitant, but they came in time. "And as far as I know, you have to touch it pretty clearly. So we stuffed it in this box and were going to just throw it out or hit it until it broke! But if you have 'sources'... this thing is dangerous, it's horrible! If they can get rid of it safely, they can have it! We don't want to see it ever again!"
Toward that end, she sets the box on the floor and nudges it away from her with a foot. "Just take it. We really thought this 'battery' was going to solve our problem, but it just made everything worse."
Her eyes close after that, as she ponders Mamoru's advice to Hino. It's... interesting stuff, she kind of wishes it had come to mind for her to say it, but a frightened mind often doesn't produce the kind of wisdom he just presented. And it sounds like he speaks from experience about this sort of thing; she knows about it from books on magic, on demon's methods, from hypothetical lessons from the late Queen. Not quite the same as really seeing it.
Guardian Hino takes the teacup and nods. "Thank you." he says. He takes a sip, as he closes his eyes. It's helping him relax and he takes a deep breath. "I dunno... that's. That's gonna be awkward. 'Sorry I almost killed you that one time I didn't mean it because a crazy triple A battery may have told me to." he says in a lighter tone that sounds more like 'him', though it's still muted.
He looks down as Runealy speaks... "Y...yeah. I'll take a break. I just." he has to be vauge... he figures.
"I care a lot about... you. And... what we're trying to fix and... and...Gao and..." he looks down.
"I'm sorry..." he says to Mamoru.
He just sips the tea wholesale now. It's helping!
"When your current trials are over," Mamoru says wryly, "I'd love a rematch, Guardian Hino. With no fire and no desperation. Kendo is one thing -- an honest swordfight is something else entirely."
He sips his tea, finally.
"At any rate, the lot of you have enough to worry about. When you're finally ready to ask for help, and explain what does and doesn't need doing, and what should be avoided and why, let me know. I've been keeping track of people and resources that may be of service to you, without really knowing what the setup is, so it's extremely inefficient. As far as any organization coming after you goes, I wouldn't worry about it. I've already stayed Miss White's hand against you for Akemi-san's injuries, and you've already gotten rid of the thing TSAB might be looking for. So calm down. Both of you go home and go to bed."
He sets his tea down, paying absolutely no attention to the boxed bomb on the floor wrapped in cloth, then stands and holds a hand out to Hinote. "Give me your hand. Ungloved, please."
"A lot of what we're going to have to answer for is going to sound awkward, you know." Runealy comments to Hino, having had to think through many of the same things he is... just with a somewhat different slant to them since she wasn't the one most hurt by Rising Crash; that would be Hino and Homura, in their own ways. "Right now though, the best way to help us is to make sure you're okay. We're getting close to a solution. Not as close as we thought we were when we found this battery, but we're making progress. One more solid push should do it, and then you'll need to be ready to come back with us to Eur--"
She feels that same 'chill of fear' course through her as Mamoru mentions Miss White, and starts crying. "I have a pretty good idea what her 'hand' would be like;" White outright tried to demonstrate on her, after all. And made clear that she would step up the intensity from even that upon her friends, laughing about it... something that echoes in Rune's mind over and over, having no interest at all in the tea suddenly.
She stands up abruptly, looking to Mamoru with heavily lidded eyes that seem more interested in facing the floor. "I'm going, yes. We can't ask for help with this, but when it's all over we'll come back and explain everything. All of it, and do what we can to make up for this. We know it's awful! For now, just please get rid of that stupid battery before it really does get someone killed!" Her gaze wanders to her Knight, "Hino, come back when you feel up to it, but don't rush it. We still have a little time, we'll figure this out and make it work! So just make sure you're okay, first!"
Shaken by everything running through her head right now, she moves to return to her boots and work on leaving the apartment.
Guardian Hino looks sideglance at Runealy..."Yeah. I'll. I'll visit tommrow. I didn't even...go to school today. I need to sleep and then my mom will probably ask why I didn't get to school and I'll just...need to make something up." he says with a deep sigh. He closes his eyes and opens them back up.
He looks to Mamoru. "Sure." he says with a little bit of a smile to his swordfight request. The one though, That's an odd request from Mamoru. Take off his glove? He does this. His hand is bare and he prevents. Really. As far as requests go. It's simple and Mamoru hasn't particularly given him a reason to say no.
Unless he intends to break his fingers one by one.
Mamoru doesn't seem like that kinda guy though.
The instant Mamoru takes Hinote's hand, there's a wash of power, pure and clean, golden and strong and clear. It feels the way it looked when it was pulled from his chest: bright and warm and full of life. It also feels ancient and lends a sense of connection; it's the blood of the Earth, veins of lava and veins of precious metals, and it's the steadfastness of mountains and the mutability and volatility of oceans. It's warm, still summer days spent in fields of grass and flowers; it's nights with bright stars and silently dancing fireflies; it's the broad openness of the plains and the tundra and it's the secluded secrecy of a sunlit glade in a dark forest; it's the unbroken darkness and silence of caves.
And it's refreshing, it's invigorating-- and it firmly and inexorably chases down the physical damage done to Hinote's person and knits together as much as it can in an instant.
Then Mamoru lets go and the golden glow fades. The older teenager looks tired. "Go home, yes. Go to bed. Try not to have any crises on the way. I can't, unfortunately, give you any advice on lying to your mother. And try not to set anything on fire."
He steps back, glances toward where Runealy's making her way out the door, and rubs at his chin. A little sigh, and he goes back to sit in front of his half-finished tea. "Kuso. I can't even try to reassure her without sending her into a panic attack. White really won't come after you for this. Anyway, go, be free, get some sun when you're done sleeping, and do your homework."
It's a dismissal if ever there was one.
Mamoru has dismissed his guests, and Homura waits for them to leave. She waits until she hears the closing of the door, and a few seconds after that, before Mamoru's door starts opening ever so slightly. A single purple eye peeks through.
Looks like the coast is clear.
Homura goes through the great ordeal of trying to stand. She really shouldn't be, but... she not make the attempt. She can't be weak, no matter what! Eventually, through leaning her hands against the wall for support and carefully moving her legs, she manages to stand again, opening the bedroom door the rest of the way and calling out, "Mamo-kun?"
Mamoru's instantly on his feet again-- he had a moment for another fortifying sip of tea and took it-- and he hurries over to the bedroom door, to help (but not carry) Homura out. And as he does, hand to hand contact, there's no psychic connection. Only the bolstering of power he'd just flooded Hinote with, going to work on Homura once more. A little at a time-- there was so much damage, there's still so much hurt, so little energy, and it's nowhere as easy for him to get it to stick with someone who keeps her soul in a jar.
"There's plenty of tea left and it's still hot; I'll get you a cup," is all he says.
Homura is grateful, not only for the offer of tea, but that Mamoru doesn't carry her everywhere. The boost of strength is welcomed, and it gives her a bit more energy to make it back out to the couch. She is still nowhere near healthy, but at least she isn't on death's door, as she was when Mamoru first brought her here.
She sits down on the couch and says, "Thanks." She stares at the teapot blankly for a moment, having forgotten for a second what she was even fixing to do.
Oh right. Tea. And this Rising Crash thing.
"So... some kind of evil artifact I assume. I guess that's their story. It'd be easy enough to test... but I'm not touching that thing."
It'd be pretty pointless to tell a lie that would be so easily uncovered. Unless Runealy expected them never to touch it? Well, Homura isn't taking the risk.
"Sure," Mamoru says absently, and she starts talking again when he comes out with another cup. He sets it down in front of her and pours some, then refills his own cup and sits next to her.
His eyes unerringly find the cloth-wrapped box on the floor, too. "I'm not, either. If you want I can try and show you what I saw, but I've really got almost no control and would probably end up showing you my seventh birthday or something, instead. Anyway it jibes with what I saw that night. And this crap has been falling out of the sky, and people with Devices -- like Storm Knight or Dr. Shelby -- have argued over them."
He picks up his cup and holds it contemplatively for a moment. "I'm thinking of talking to Tsukasa-san about it. Also Storm Knight, and Dr. Shelby. I think I know someone who works for TSAB, but I'm steering clear. Best case scenario we can blow it up, maybe."
"Blowing it up would be ideal," says Homura, picking up her teacup and carefully bringing it to her lips. After a sip, she rests the teacup in her hands before giving Mamoru a sideways glance. "Honestly, we've got too many problems running around already to throw some kindof cursed item into the mix."
Another sip and she sets the teacup down. "A mana battery, though. I could see why someone would be tempted by that, and it explains why he was able to hit me so hard, but power that controls you is useless."
Her eyes focus on the box, warily. In a very real way, that thing is what nearly killed her, more than Hinote did, really.
"I'm not sure I've ever heard of the TSAB. I've been avoiding the various magical battles surrounding these. I guess the nature of the 'prize' validates that choice."
"Power that controls you is worse than useless," Mamoru says, a hint of revulsion in his voice. "There are much better ways to throw your life away, for godsake."
That, at least, was very self-aware in its irony. He sighs and slouches back, resting the cup of tea on his chest, still in both hands. "I've watched a couple. The first one I saw was actually the first time I met Kyouko... it was this floating silver box. God knows what it does. White-chan and Riventon were there and I stayed in a tree."
And THAT, at least, has him sending an amused sidelong look Homura's way. "But anyway, there was a girl there -- I think she's affiliated with Justice? Who was trying to claim it in the name of the TSAB. I haven't looked into it because I've had enough on my plate. But you know what, let's just try and blow it up first."
Homura listens as Mamoru explains some of the places he's seen things like this before. "I see. So this is something that White-san would want..." She takes a long, ponderous sip after that. "She's a good friend and all, but... considering the kinds of stuff she deals in? That's all the more reason to get rid of this thing."
"I think I have some explosives on me. Do you know how to deal with plastics? It's probably the safest thing I have right now, if I can henshin." Most dangerous things are kept inside her shield, after all. She really doesn't want to explain why she has guns or knives on her person when she's playing civilian.
Homura takes a moment to think. "On the other hand, it might try to defend itself. If that happens when I'm in this state... I'm not sure I'd be able to deal with that. If we ended up needing to run away from it, that'd be just as bad as throwing it away or giving it to a random person."
Homura thinks about it for a moment. "I don't really have a strong feeling one way or another about Justice, and I know even less about the TSAB. As far as I know they could be the worst people to hand it over to."
"Tch, I'm not handing it to anyone affiliated with Justice," Mamoru says, shaking his head. "And yeah, it's something White-chan would want, but she's already doing herself enough damage. If we can't blow it up, I'll talk to Hotori-kun and Tsukasa-san about what can be done with it, and if they don't have any solid ideas, I do know a god."
He carefully finishes his tea without extricating himself from his couch-slouch, then just keeps holding the warm cup and staring at the box on the floor. "What a mess. Those guys are in such a mess. Uh-- plastics. No, not really. I can read up on it pretty quick, though. But I don't think doing it now is a good idea, yeah. Let's wait until you're back in fighting form, then use increasingly bigger explosives on it. I mean, I guess, try and shoot it first? To see if it defends itself. Uh, but also not in here. I like my apartment."
He pauses, brow furrowing. "I can probably also ask Sailor Moon's cat, but she might just yell at me, I don't know. I'm just going to lock it up for now. And then take a nap."
Laboriously pushing himself up off the couch, Mamoru moves to gather the empty cups and take them to the kitchen; he comes back with oven mitts on his hands and jazz-hands them. "I got a wall safe installed because I thought it was cool, but I don't use it. I guess I do now."
Homura gives Mamoru a side-eyed glance. Mamoru doesn't like Justice? Well, that's worth noting. Then again, it's not like Justice would ever accept someone like Homura, from what she's heard about them. It's important to note who your potential enemies are.
"A god? Well, maybe he might know something." Homura is probably not as surprised by that as she should be. After she finishes her tea, she sets the teacup down, giving Mamoru the chance to pick it up.
"Plastics aren't as unstable as, say, TNT or something. They're nice because they tend to only blow up when you want them to. I can show you how to deal with them. You'll probably need to do a bit of the work. That is, unless I'm a lot healthier than I am now."
Homura smirks, before adding, "And yeah, of course not in here. Maybe we can do it in a back alley or somewhere else quiet. Somewhere with enough open space and yet low chance of witnesses, low chance of starting a fire, etc."
Homura chuckles for a moment at Mamoru's jazz hands. "A wall safe. Well, I suppose it's as good a place for it as any."
Homura leans back against the couch, considering another nap. Her eyes focus on the box containing the Lost Logia. She's glaring at it, really. She has nothing for disdain against it. She might forgive the princess, but she'll never forgive Rising Crash.