When Makoto contacted Luna, the moon cat had been busy putting together the finishing touches on a project she's been working on for a few months now. It's why she hasn't been around nearly as often as she should have been, coming in to find Usagi asleep or fitful stages thereof.
Now she's sitting just outside the Crown, licking her paw and contemplating just about everything that's been going on.
Usagi got stabbed. Again.
Kunzite's back, but she's not sure how she feels about that just yet, having been steadfastly ignoring everything related to that for now.
When she senses Makoto coming, that particular scent in the air that reminds her of roses and sugar cookies, her ears perk and she stands, patiently waiting.
If it puzzles Makoto that Luna told her to come to the Crown, of all places, she didn't feel the need to question it. She makes her way along the sidewalk with long, purposeful strides, already thinking over what she's going to say in the back of her head as her eyes skim along ground-level searching for the shape of one small black cat.
When she spots Luna, Mako smiles and beelines over, kneeling down to put herself more on the cat's level. "Luna. Thanks for waiting for me."
Despite her troubled thoughts, Luna is very happy to see Makoto. She's very happy to see any of the girls, even if she hides behind the indifference of a cat.
"Mako-chan!" This time she doesn't hide it, because there's no one to put on a show for. She leaps onto the girl's shoulder, curling around the back of her neck to rub their cheeks together on the other side as she purrs.
"I didn't wait long. I just finished up, anyway." Another second or two to purr and she hops off the shoulder.
She presses her paw someone and the door slides open. She looks up at Makoto to go in first and the door closes just as the last tip of her tail is through.
She leaps up to a Sailor V console and taps buttons in an ordered series. A small red light blinks at the top, and after a moment the machine whirs and moves to the side. "Well, come on, then."
A pleased little laugh escapes Mako when Luna hops onto her shoulder, and she tilts her head into the cheek-rub. Cat snuggles are always more rewarding because cat.
Then Luna's jumping back down again and Mako's brows lift curiously as the door opens for her. Dutifully, she answers that expectant look by stepping inside, following the cat to the Sailor V console - and when the console slides out of the way to reveal the stairs down, she lets out a low whistle. "A secret passage? Nice."
When Luna prompts her, Mako starts heading down, the actual errand she contacted Luna for in the first place momentarily forgotten.
Luna looks a bit sheepish at Makoto as she trots down the stairs. "I've been...working on this for the past couple months. I didn't think it would keep me so...busy."
The architecture of the place is foreign to many people on earth. To someone who lived on the moon in another lifetime it's recognizable on at least some level, but with a mishmash of modern day components.
The computer, for certain, is beyond what's available on the market.
She leaps up onto one the chairs and it swivels until she's facing Makoto. "I'd considered moving it somewhere else ever since...Usagi's refused to come to the Crown, but at that stage it would have been structurally unsound to leave a gaping hole under the building."
"Wow." That's all Makoto can think to say at first. She takes in the sight of the hidden room and the equipment, open-mouthed with surprise and admiration. No wonder Luna's been scarce lately, if this was what she's been working on without even the benefit of opposable thumbs.
When Luna jumps up onto the chair in front of her, Mako tears her eyes away from looking around and makes herself focus on the moon cat again. "Luna, this is amazing. It's--" Oh. Usagi. The reminder of how badly the confrontation here at the Crown affected her friend casts a momentary shadow over Makoto's enthusiasm. "...We'll have to see how Usagi-chan feels," she acknowledges, slowly. "It might take her a while, but now that the Dark Kingdom is gone, maybe she'll start to feel like she can come here again."
It'd be pretty sad if Usagi never wanted to set foot in the arcade again - like a last victory for Beryl. But that's a problem for later, Makoto thinks. "In any case - Luna, thank you. You've been doing so much for us all this time."
Luna preens, chest welling with pride in herself and she smiles up at Makoto. "Of course! Granted, we could have used it before now, but." She waves a paw. Enough of that!
She hums in thought a bit. "I think if anyone could convince her to come back, it's Mamo-kun. But I suspect it will be awhile." She sighs.
She looks around the cavernous room, ears drooping a little and shoulders sagging a bit. "I mean, I suppose I could move it. It's technically a pocket dimension and the hole's really only big enough for the tallest of you to get in here. I had to make it a little bigger when the Shittenou were regaining themselves." There may be a look that flitters across her face that suggests she's not quite ready to share this place with them until she's personally verified that they are, indeed, not going to be trying to kill them anytime soon.
She perks up a bit. "Maybe one of them would be willing to teleport her to and from here. Although with the dark energy issue...I suppose I could alter the sensors to allow a certain amount in before tripping the alarms."
There's so much to think about!
But wait.
She jerks herself out of her thoughts and stands up as she looks at her companion. "Oh, why did you want to see me, Mako-chan? Not that I'd mind if this were just a social call, but something tells me it isn't."
The impulse is automatic; as Luna's ears droop, Makoto reaches out to gently stroke the top of her head, fingers smoothing over the soft fur along her neck to her shoulders. "It'll be fine, Luna," she promises. "Maybe Ami-chan could use her hyperspace tunnel until Usagi feels ready to come to the arcade again? We'll work it out somehow, so don't worry."
And then Luna reminds her of why she called the moon cat in the first place and - given the look that crossed Luna's face a moment ago at the mention of the Shitennou - her smile abruptly turns a little sheepish. "Ah, right," she says, reaching unconsciously to touch the back of her neck. "I did want to ask you something. About the boys, actually."
Luna's reaction to the petting is probably expected. Because Cat, and because this is a People She Likes, she raises herself up and into the petting. Again, no strangers are around to see what could be construed as an undignified act, but there's also a likely chance she would have done the same either way.
Because, you know, Cat and People She Likes.
Luna's eyes open from the moment of Scritchy Nirvana. "Oh, that also reminds me! I need to get with Ami-chan and see if there's a way to set up a waypoint here. I mean, there should be. The technology's compatable either way and--"
Luna shakes herself, literally. "Sorry, sorry. That can wait for later, too."
If Luna had eyebrows, one or both of them would be arching at Makoto's sheepish look.
Her expression turns to one of a cat extremely put upon. "Oh dear. Don't tell me they started up their antics again. You know, those boys always got into trouble back then. And don't let that Jadeite fellow fool you, he was the worst of the lot!" She narrows her eyes in suspicion. "What have they blown up now?"
"Nothing!" Makoto hurries to assure, green eyes widening a little. "They've been taking care of Mamoru-niisan and each other, they haven't done anything bad."
Although Luna's use of the word 'antics' does bring back some teasing hints of memory. Aheh. Maybe she should start keeping a slightly closer eye on the bunch of them, it occurs to Mako to think.
--anyway. "It's nothing like that," she promises. "I've just been thinking, since we got back from D-Point and everything... couldn't we give Mamoru-niisan and the guys their own communicators, so that we can reach them in a hurry if we need to?"
Luna's still not convinced nothing has been blown up. "Yet."
At Makoto's request, she really wants to say no. She almost does. But logic can often out rule impulsive reactions based on emotion.
"I hadn't planned on it, no." She stands and turns her attention to the computer, tapping her paws along command buttons and whatnot. "It's not a bad idea. Had Mamo-kun not been taken and things progressed without darker influences, he'd have one of his own by now, I'm sure. After all, if he didn't get one, Usagi would be all sad and crying on me about it for weeks until I relented."
She turns to look at Makoto, hunching down a bit as she voices a concern that she hasn't had the nerve to bring up until now. And her voice is soft as though ashamed for having it. "What if they fall again?"
Once again, Makoto goes down on one knee, this time so that she can talk to Luna face-to face where she's hunkered down on the seat of the chair. "I don't think they will," she says, voice firm with conviction. "But isn't that one of the reasons it'd be good to give them communicators? Before--"
Her voice hitches for a moment, before she makes herself push on, a little more quietly. "--I feel like, maybe, part of the reason they ended up falling in the first place was because we were too far apart. Not just because of being on the Moon and on the Earth, but... we were too separate, and there were things we couldn't talk to each other about. We weren't able to trust each other enough to realize what was wrong."
The smile she offers Luna is apologetic and a little wistful. "It couldn't really be helped back then, since we were from different worlds. But it doesn't have to be like that now. If we're all on the same side, then we can watch out for each other, and catch each other if someone starts making a mistake."
Luna's ears flatten once more as she looks down to study her paws. When she looks back up, they're still against her skull. "That's why it happened this time, too."
She looks to the side as she thinks. Makoto makes some very good points. After a moment, she looks back up. "If I do this, I will reconfigure the senshi communicators with a separate frequency." She holds up a paw. "Just in case. The default will be what it's on now, and what theirs will be on. And I'm keeping the trackers. You girls already have them, they will get them. Until now they've been more or less inactive because, well." She gestures her paw to the room."
Makoto nods immediately, not put off at all by Luna's caution. "There's nothing wrong with that," she says without hesitation. "It might never be necessary, but you never know. Like you said, just in case."
Encouraged, she reaches to give Luna another gentle little scritch. "And that's why it'd be good for them to have communicators, too. Just in case. So they can back us up if we need it, or call us if there's an emergency that they see before we do."
The cat visibly relaxes when her concerns are not brushed aside. She nods at Makoto's words. "I don't actually think we'd need them!"
Ug, silly cat. Why are youstill defending your terms when she's already agreed to them?
The scritch is very much welcome. There may even be a headbutting against knuckles for more. "And if something happens and we're not able to locate them through the regular means..." It should be weird that their regular means involve magic and the like, but, well, it's not.
This time when Luna looks at Makoto, its with feigned seriousness. "I have one other very important to ask." Her eyes twinkle with merriment. "Do you think they'd mind me using that quartered circle motif of theirs? I really don't want to figure out five whole new symbols for them."
The question, and the mock-seriousness it's asked with, gets a delighted laugh from Makoto. As well as more affectionate scritchings. "I think they'd probably like that very much," she assures Luna cheerfully. "You should definitely go with that for the design."
Luna beams and leans into the continued scritch. But then she's hit with a creative jolt and she turns to the computer. "Of course their quarters won't be in the same place on all four watches. It could match Mamo-kun's. He'll have all four of the slots filled, of course. Maybe a little golden jewel in the center...What about wristband colors? Or should they all be a pale yellow? No, that won't match everything. Perhaps a pale silver. Think that's too territorial for us, or would it bring a unifying symbolism to the whole thing?"
She continues working her paws along the console, different images and designs appearing on the screen. On a little projection pad, three-dimensional possible models circle slowly.
"Hmmm~" Mako straightens up to her feet as Luna gets to work, leaning over the back of the chair to watch the models take shape. "I like the silver," she notes helpfully. "It might be a bit tough to keep clean, though."
After she's said it, it occurs to Makoto to lift her wrist and study her own communicator, comparing the design and how the materials have stood up to months of punishment. "--or maybe not, actually."
At Makoto's assessment of the communicator's ability to stay so clean, Luna pauses her work to give the girl a sly smile. "If it were morally acceptable to patent some of these designs, Mako-chan, we could buy Tokyo."
Luna blinks and taps her paw to her chin. "Come to think of it, I wonder if we could patent something."
The sly cat smile has Makoto's eyebrows lifting, once again surprised and more than a little impressed by this revelation. "But Luna, do we really need to buy Tokyo?" she quips.
A moment later, suddenly struck by impulse, she bends over the back of the chair to plant a quick kiss on the top of Luna's head above her crescent-moon mark. "Thanks, Luna," she says, not joking now but warm with sincerity and affection. "You do an awful lot for us. I don't think I realized how much until just now."
Getting flustered isn't new to Luna. Feeling pride isn't, either. But it's slightly new to feel both at the same time. Her kitty cheeks grow warm even as she lifts her face into the kiss. "Well, yes, of course I do. You're my girls." Against her will, her chest starts to rumble in a very pleased purr. "And it's because I love you each that I am more than happy to do it."
"We love you, too," Makoto says, smiling fondly down at Luna from where she's leaning over the back of the chair. "So, thank you."