Its fairly common for Naru to be home alone. Her mother doesn't spend a whole lot in the apartment itself, spending all hours of day and night in the store, or the office associated with the store and leaving Naru to a relatively benign neglect situation of general independance. Which suits Naru just /fine/.
The prospect of Ami coming over prompts Naru to emerge from her room, shutting the door on the painting in progress left on the easel in there, and pad over towards the kitchen as she realizes that she's hungry, and this was supposed to be lunch as well as conversation.
Naru's shorter hair has been tamed out of her face with a hairband, today's fashion is a continued 'school break' level of leggings and t-shirt. Today's t-shirt is a touristy one from Paris complete with sequins and glitter, because of course it is.
Ami hadn't expected to come to Naru's house today, but strange texts from Kunzite have a tendency to rewrite her schedule entirely. She's spent most of the trip here wonderings whether most of her life will be spent chasing after Kunzite's cryptic messages, or if someday things will be normal again.
She's pretty much decided that this is going to be her life now, but there's some small glimmer of hope for normalcy that she clings to.
At least she can still dress normally: in overall jean shorts, over a blue and white striped tanktop. She's got on classy black and white saddle shoes with short frilly socks. When she knocks at the door Ami looks far less gloomy than she did last time Naru saw her.
This might be the new normal. In fairness, this is possibly closer to normal than having plant creatures trying to take over the world, but only by a smidge.
Naru opens the door at the knock and smiles. "Hi! C'mon in." She nudges the door open more fully in invitation. "I was thinking grilled cheese for lunch, cause I'm being super lazy. Does that work alright for you?" She asks as she turns to head back further into the apartment. "I'm also curious as to what Kunzite actually said to you."
"Cheese is one of the most essential food groups," Ami agrees casually, as she enters the room and offers Naru a brief hug. Whether it's accepted or not, Ami ditches her shoes--apparently those frilly socks come with little grey kittens all over them--and follows Naru into the house. "Grillled cheese sounds like a great idea."
She doesn't respond to the question about Kunzite right away. Instead, she allows herself to look around, noticing the details of Naru's home. "Not much," she eventually notes, voice more thoughtful than confident. "He said you're erratically releasing energy, and that it isn't harmful, and that it's impacting your art."
Naru accepts the hug, no matter that she's exceptionally bad at initiating them, she is well conditioned from Usagi to be a hugger. "Cheese is totally a food group in an of itself." She agrees with a grin, and heads to the kitchen to start getting bread and cheese and fry pan out for said grilled cheese.
The apartment is neat and tidy and with a decor that edges on the impersonal. The living room and kitchen share open space, but there's very few little touches that really speak to who might live there. It's spacious and clean and clearly not cheap, but a faint edge of hotel styling. Bedrooms, down a short hallway, are of a 'one door open, one door closed' situation. It doesn't look like Naru's room is the one with the open door.
"Hrm." Naru comments as she sets out a cutting board to start slicing cheese. "That's a fairly efficient sum up, really. It's not the worst thing to happen to my art, but when I realized that it was fairly similar to the art I did after I got the dark energy, I got more concerned."
The home, altogether, looks a lot like Ami's home. The only sense of personalization is likely behind closed doors, leaving the emptiness all too apparent to the onlooker. In Ami's case, she's just not condition to recognize it as emptiness.
Leaning on the counter while Naru starts to cooking, Ami asks, "After we eat, I'd love to see some of those pieces--both from then, and now. If you don't mind sharing them, that is." Twisting her wrist a little, she adjusts the charm bracelet there. "I'd also like to take a few measurements on the energy you're giving off, as well as possibly leave a device behind that will continue to monitor it. Just in case there's trouble."
Naru takes a slow breath and nods. "It might take me a couple to choose a few paintings. I sort of gobsmacked Kunzite with the whole pack of them, but I'd rather not inflict that on you." There's a twist of a self-depricating smile that crosses Naru's face as she glances up from her slicing.
Grilled cheese doesn't take long to get going, even with heating up the pan, and Naru continues to explain as she gets cheese and bread and butter assembled to wait on that pan heating. "To my perspective, other than the change in my art, nothing else seems to have changed. There was some weirdness at the museum in Austria, but weirdness isn't really weird for me anymore, and when I didn't end up drained, or a drooling idiot, or unable to feel emotions anymore, I didn't think much of it."
Part of Ami wants to promise that she could take the time to look through the whole collection; that it wouldn't be any bother. The truth, however, is that art--and paintings especially--can only remind her of her father, and that's not an experience she's going to look forward to for even one or two paintings, let alone a whole collection. So she says nothing; merely nods her head in agreement
As Naru continues to explain things, Ami's eyes widen just a little. "Wait, you're being drained regularly?" she asks, a bit of surprise in her voice. Some small part of her is fairly certain Kunzite told her that, but somehow she missed it, or it slipped her mind, or she wasn't attentive enough. Whatever the case, she's aware now. "How often is this happening? Is it always the same person?"
"It's not always drain." Naru explains as she leans on the counter, because that clearly makes all the difference as she watches the pan. "Drained, cursed, chucked into mirrors." She carefully sets sandwiches into the hot pan, watching what she's doing rather than Ami. "It averages out to about once a week or so."
Naru sounds utterly blase about this situation, as if it is just completely her normal and has been for long enough to not be anything remarkable anymore. "Rarely the same person twice, actually. Only a couple repeats, and I'm not sure that Lacrima entirely counts for that anymore."
"Once a week!" Ami replies, clearly upset at this. "How ..." she trails off, then reaches up to rub at her nose. "Naru-chan, that's not okay! If you're getting attacked or drained that often ... that's ... how are you even standing?" she asks, then frustratedly reaches up to touch her ear. There's a brief flicker of power, as the Mercury Goggles flash into existence over her eyes. Staring at the world through a sapphire-coloured lens, Ami begins analyzing Naru's energy signatures.
"I'm sorry," she tells Naru. "This is my fault. I should have been keeping a closer eye on things. I've been so distracted with my personal issues that I didn't even pay attention to yours. Some friend I am, I guess. Naru-chan, this isn't okay, though. You're acting like it is, but this is dangerous. It could kill you."
"You really do kinda get used to it, I guess." Naru points out as she picks up a spatula to squish grilled cheese into the pan, because it makes everything better. "I worked out some good strategies for coping with post-drain. I can't do a damn thing with curses, which sucks. If you can avoid ever getting escalted, I heartily recommend avoiding getting escalated."
There's a snort and a shake of Naru's head. "This is so /absolutely/ not your fault, not even a little. Unless you're calling people to come chew on me, and then we have bigger things to talk about." She mmms softly to Ami. "There's only been two who I've actually been worried that they were going to kill me. If it's really bad, I call for someone to come rescue me. Although for the last while, I've generally had someone with me and got to hide behind everyone else's powers. Or out run them, which is why I'm training with Hannah. So that I can take care of myself at least a little."
Naru's energy signatures are all over the place, in ways they were never before. She's randomly spitting out energy in uncontrolled ways.
"You should not be used to it," Ami says with a sigh as she leans back against the counter. "Your energy is so eratic. It's like you're being pulled in every direction, ready to burst. Naru-chan, this isn't okay," she notes quietly. "I'm glad you're learning to defend yourself, but ... I really wish you'd accept Eiszapfen." A pause, then she asks, "Can I see your disguise pen?"
"I'd rather be used to it than get shattered /every/ time, still." Naru points out as she flips the grilled cheese in the pan. "I thought you were keeping Eiszapfen?" Naru looks over to Ami, quirking her head. "That was my guess when you used it to transform rather than becoming Mercury."
The pen is with her, along with her Virtue phone and Naru passes the former to Ami while setting the latter down on the counter, keeping an eye on their lunch.
Ami makes a show of inspecting the pen, for a few moments, then affixes a small device to it--hardly visible--beneath the clip. "Just because I've been using it doesn't mean I wouldn't give it to you in a heartbeat. I've simply been learning how it works and experimenting with it. Eventually, I need to return it to Takashi. But not until he's freed of his darkness."
"What's that?" Naru asks curiously as she watches Ami stick something to her pen. "Let me get to weapon lessons, which I'll get on soon, and then I'll ask to borrow it. I'm still fairly feeb, but I'm getting there. Sound fair?"
Naru uses the spatula to peek at the understick of the grilled cheese to confirm that the bottoms are almost, but not quite done yet.
"Uh ..." Ami looks up, having not expected to be caught. For a brief moment she looks uncertain of herself. Is it wrong to track her friends without their knowing? On the other hand, Usagi and Makoto never minded. "It's a tracker," she admits after a moment. "A way to ensure that you're safe. It will record what'sg oing on around you, as well as your energy levels. It's partly so I can monitor your condition, but it will also notify the Senshi or Shitennou if you get into trouble, again."
"Hunh." Naru considers that a moment and then deftly tips grilled cheese out onto plates to get cut in half. "Does it track my location? And how quick is the notify? There's a few times when I couldnt even get a text message off before I wasn't able to, and then no one knows where I am, even if somehow I /did/ get a message out."
Sandwiches are cut in half and then Naru heads to the fridge. "Want anything for yours? We've got chutney, or salsa, or ketchup or other sauces if you want?" She offers after those questions, which clearly are not a 'omg, no! Not a tracker!'
"It does," Ami replies with a faint nod, "at least as long as you remain in the real world. Its notification is instantaneous, but it doesn't guarantee any of us will be able to respond immediately. Still, I'll try, and I'll make sure they others know to as well. Someone should show up fairly quickly," she explains.
"Ketchup sounds good," Ami notes, as she finally banishes her goggles back out of sight. With the tracker in place, she hasn't got need to keep monitoring directly; she'll collect the data later.
"If I ended up in the mirrors again, last known location is fine." Naru nods thoughtfully and then smiles. "Should cut down on the complaints that I don't text fast enough. Thank you. Hopefully, it doesn't come up."
Which is basically so much delusional, it's not even funny, and Naru doesn't even try and deny it.
Ketchup emerges, and chutney for Naru and she brings both back to the table in the kitchen, aiming for casual dining, clearly. "I'd rather not pester /everyone/ every time things go weird. Most of the time, it's fine. Every so often, being able to call for help is handy."
"I'd rather we all receive the notice than none of us," Ami points out to Naru gently. "We can coordinate in real time to ensure it only disrupts some of us. I doubt you'll ever see all ten of us show up at once."
"The idea of having all ten of you show up, all at once.. well I expect after I got over dying of embarassment for summoning /everyone/, I'd probably then die laughing because I have never seen all ten of you in the same location at the same time. I expect that some sort of rift in time and space would open and I don't know what then." Naru points out with a smile as she settles in a moment and then gets up to ensure they both have drinks.
Ami sniffs amusedly at Naru's embelishment. "Well, rest assured that if all ten of us show up, it's either because there's a party, or because you're facing off against the likes of Beryl. The goal is to protect you, not to smother you."
"If I'm facing Beryl, I'll probably be yelling into my Virtue phone for all ten of you, and please bring friends." Naru grins brightly, because clearly /that/ mental image is one to make her smile, and not the far more sane notion of say being scared of the idea.
Paintings can wait, there's lunch to be had, and its hard to screw up grilled cheese.