1047/The Babe Wore Blue

The Babe Wore Blue
Date of Scene:	26 January 2024
Location:	Dorms #3
Synopsis:	Sadly not a private detective getting a client, but Zoisite and Sailor Mercury finally face off over the past, the present, and the future (of their lunches)!
Cast of Characters:	Zoisite, Ami Mizuno

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Zoisite has posed:
    Izou Saitou is newly enrolled at Radiant Heart Academy. It's unusual for a transfer student to join so close to the end of the school year, but it's mostly understood that he will be actually beginning his educational experience with the new school year. This time period is mainly for catching up to the best of his ability, and familiarizing himself with the school, culture, students, and so on.

    This also means he was offered a dorm room. His apartment was destroyed by Thetis, so it's his only option if he doesn't want to stay with someone else. Which he would, but he isn't sure if Kazuo even lives on campus, Mamoru already has a room mate, and like hell is he staying with Masato or Jason, even if they'd allow him to.

    But none of that is what is truly on his mind. He is wearing a white button up shirt with billowy loose sleeves, and skinny black pants, and leather boots that fold down at the tops. It has become a favored outfit of late, even if it makes him look like he escaped from the set of Pirates of the Carribean.

    He wasn't sure whether to dress up or not for this meeting. He isn't sure of a lot of things. But he can't put it off any longer. He has now met Mercury face to face, and fought alongside her.

    So now it's time to meet Mercury's civilian identity face to face as well, and figure out what comes next.

    Sitting on the edge of his bed, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded, slowly bouncing his knee with anxious energy, Izou can do nothing more than wait, and wonder what this strange feeling is. It's familiar for some reason.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The memories of her past life were difficult for Ami in the fact that they weren't clear to her. Not yet. Just fuzzy glimpses of half-forgotten faces and places like a dream she couldn't quite put her finger on. The Shittenou had seemed familiar. One in particular. One who was now on campus, just as she was, and preparing to attend school.

THIS she could do. She could focus on trying to help him fit in at least academically. Being social and easily making friends was still so very new to her. Books and education was an excellent, familiar, comfortable excuse to try and figure things out.

Approaching the dorm room she knew was his she pauses clutching a stack of books to her chest like a shield against whatever may come. Logic, intelligence, academics. They were so easier to understand than emotions. Especially wispy uncertain ones.

That doesn't mean she didn't dress up a bit. A blue pinafore-style dress with a lighter blue long sleeved bloue beneath is worn. It buttons up the front and has some lace and ruffles at the sleeves. There's even some stitching on the darker blue dress of flowers. Beneath were black fleece lined leggings, and a pair of ankle boots because while it was cute, it *was* Winter still. Warm was good and sensible.

"You can do this, Ami," she repeats to herself only to lift a hand and confidently knock on the door with a louder call of, "Saitou-san, I'm here!"

Zoisite has posed:
    'Can you make sure to pass along to Sailor Mercury that I'd like to speak with her when she gets the chance? As students?' is what Zoisite had asked.

    Now, here she is, knocking on the door, and he isn't sure why he did something like that. Just like when he was going to hang out with Kazuo, he's nervous, high-energy, covering up his anxiousness by being ridiculous, to keep people off-balance, to keep them out of the safe space within his own mind. The door opens quickly after Ami knocks, and Izou stands there, with a pink rose in hand, leaning stylishly against the door frame, and batting his eyelashes.

    "Why, hello there~. Thank you for accepting my invitiation. Please, come in!" Then he steps back, bowing, with one arm across his chest, in a courtly manner. He was going to offer the rose to his guest, but her hands are full of books.

    "May I take the young lady's burden for her?" he offers when he raises his head and looks pointedly at the collection of arcane tomes of forgotten lore, like calculus, and English, or whatever she has there.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno lifts her head to peer up at the taller Zoisite with a hint of surprise at the way he answers the door. The greeting earns a little smile from her causing the slight tension she was feeling to disappate just a bit. "Of course. I'm always happy to help a friend out," she assures while stepping inside. The 'burden' of her books is glanced at momentarily. They weren't really heavy to her, she was used to keeping an armload of books. The offer was made though, so she lowers them away from her to hold in both hands so he can take it.

"Ah, thank you. I should introduce myself properly." Once her hands are free she leans forward in a polite bow with her handds pressing together over the front of her skirt daintily. "I'm Ami Mizuno, grade 9." There's a pause once she rises again to smile a bit sheepishly at the blonde boy who greeted her with a rose of all things. "Also Sailor Mercury."

Stiffly standing there for one uncertain moment she starts to prattle off in her own nervousness, "I wasn't sure what subjects you might need help on, so I brought several, but I assure you I can help in what every you may need. I'm the top scorer for grade 9 and none can compare to my intellect." It's the one thing she was completely confident about! Clearly, the reason he asked to meet her was because he wanted her help with school. Right?

Zoisite has posed:
    Izou retrieves the books from Ami's hands and pirouettes off to a desk-table by the windows to set them down. Gently! He knows better than to disrespect books or any other tool of learning around Sailor Mercury. Why he knows that is obvious, but there's still bits of fog in some places. Things that need to be cleared out of lingering obfuscation, even if the damage caused by Dark Energy is gone now.

    "Izou Saitou," he introduces. He is not going to make any mention of his birth name. He has no more attachments to that family, nor they to him. He is more closely related to the man he was 14,000 years ago than the boy who was born this century. "Also, Zoisite, as you well know." He raises a hand quickly, but only half-way to his chest and holds it out in a reassuring gesture. "Not Dark General Zoisite. I'm not quite the Zoisite I was back in Silver Millennium, but... Closer now than I ever was when I was slave to Queen Beryl and her awful demon goddess."

    So what's all that mean, Zoisite? You're talking too much, and about the wrong things. This is a first meeting, of sorts. Keep it light.

    "My point being... I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you all." He half-sits on the edge of his desk, pink rose still in hand, being twirled back and forth between thumb and forefinger. "And I am most definitely now back on the side I always should have been." Why is he saying this? Just to reassure? To subconsciously excuse his past actions because he was being controlled? To push past the uncomfortabel truth that he would have gladly killed a great many Magical Girls, including Mercury, just a couple months ago, and thought nothing of it except that he'd be glad he finally got one?

    He doesn't know. It's just like with Kazuo. The same sort of butterflies, the same anxiety, the same insecurity... Because there's something in his heart and mind he wants to protect, and when he's around Ami and Kazuo... He can't help but leave that part of him exposed. The walls are thinnest with those he cares deeply for.

    "I appreciate the offer of helping me with studying. I've not been in school for a few years now, so I am likely behind. That is definitely something I will take you up on." Izou says first. Gratitude is important to show, even if one is receiving something they weren't expecting. Perhaps even especially then. "I would also like to speak of the past, and... What we each remember. And what that may mean for the you and me of now."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
That little graceful pirouette to deposit her books oh-so-carefully earns an actual giggle from Ami as she watches. It wasn't expected. It was a cute move that left her smiling softly while watching Izou. Zoisite. Watching, and listening. Her gaze is entirely focused attentively on him while he explains who he is, and apologizes for the past. Right up until the last.

A single deep breath is drawn. She still stands where she had facing him with hands lightly resting in front of herself. The first words out of her mouth are, "I accept your apology."

No 'it's all right' or 'it wasn't your fault' or any of the other hundreds of platitudes she could have offered. She even considers a few but dismisses them. If she'd done something like he had she would want to apologize too. How guilty he must feel.

Hesitantly Ami steps forward to find a spot to sit. He had the desk so she takes up a spot at the foot of his bed just sitting on the edge of the mattress gingerly.

"... We meant something to each other, didn't we? Back then."

Looking up quickly after saying this it's her turn to stumble over her words. "I'm sorry. I don't remember much yet. I was the last one awakened so I've not had as long to get used to things. It's just a bit fuzzy, like a dream I woke up from too quickly to remember all of."

"And," she adds, "Logically I know that our lives now are vastly different than they were then. We aren't *entirely* the same people. Our different experiences have shaped us to be who we are now, and not who we were then. We shouldn't hold ourselves to the same expectations."

Reaching up to touch her hair lightly a few strands are tugged on. It wasn't a gesture she often made. Just when she needed to clear her head a bit. "What I mean to say is... I remember knowing you, but I don't entirely remember everything. The details. But," she adds quickly, "I'd like to get to know you. Here and now."

Zoisite has posed:
    Izou thinks briefly about Nephrite, and his tangled relationship with Naru Osaka and Sailor Jupiter because he remembered enough to let his heart win over Darkness, but didn't go the next step and realize he isn't the same Nephrite. His friend is Masato Sanjouin, like it or not. And that means... Acclimating.

    "To the best of my knowledge, that's how it was, yes." Zoisite relaxes a little bit, though grabs the chair slid into the desk's alcove, pulls it out, and spins it around, before offering it to her first, if she'd rather the chair than the bed. If not, he'll take it.

    "I think the basis for any sort of meaningful relationship begins with the desire for there to be one. Even a rivalry or a bond of hate is a type of relationship that at least one person wants to exist. If there was no relationship, there wouldn't be enough care placed to invest that hate, or competitive spirit, or closeness, or love, or whatever." He flips the rose over his shoulder, where it lands in a vase, with another few roses. It used to be he could have just made flowers appear and disappear at will.

    Maybe one day he will be able to again.

    But for now, he has the finesse and stability of a surgeon and the skill of a stage magician's prestigitation when it comes to his hands. Mundane 'magic' will have to do.

    Speaking of which, he's already rolling a coin fancily between his fingers, 'walking' the coin over his knuckles, and other tricks that amount to nervous fidgeting. "I suppose what I'm saying is, I'd like to get to know you, in the here and now, as well." He has already severed himself from his past once. A past that feels more real than the one from birth to his 14th birthday may be harder... But he can still do it if he needs to.

    "The world's opened up wide for me," he says softly, quietly. "I'm not about to be imprisoned again. By the past, or anything else."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno gives a little raise of her hand to decline the chair that he pulled out. She was already situated, and she was tucked so close to the end of the bed it wasn't as if it might be misconstrued by someone that may come in. Not that anyone was likely to do so in the first place. She watches instead how he sinks down into it becoming a bit more relaxed with the rose being tossed away.

"I think that's a very good way to look at it," she agrees easily. A single nod is given as her thoughts turn momentarily inward to herself, and her own revelations as of late. It was a lot to go through. She'd had it easy comparatively.

"I'm not very good with people myself. I'm working on it. I'm a bookworm, I study a lot, and I'm usually at the library instead of at the arcade or a cafe. I really only started to have friends this year when I met Usagi, and the others." Her head ducks a little bit. The movement of the coin rolling over his fingers catches her attention so she gazes at that fidgeting instead of doing some herself. It was rather mesmerizing to watch.

"It sounds as if we've both got a lot of learning about ourselves to do, too. I certainly don't want to hold anyone back."

"So... Izou-san. What would you like to do?"

Zoisite has posed:
    'What would you like to do?'

    Such a simple question, but one so difficult to answer right now. How does one determine what one wants after one's entire self image was destroyed by the power of purification, revealing your reality is not what you thought it was?

    Izou turns his chair a bit to look out the window. "I think you'd get along with Jason. He's a scholar too, and in a similar boat in regard to figuring out how to have friends beyond a select few." Then he turns around to face Ami, as he flips the coin and catches it out of the air. There's a smile on his face.

    "I would like... An authentic, American hot dog. The huge ones with the super-long buns. I'll figure out what I want on it when I see what's available. And I'd like to eat it while spending time with you, doing whatever the Hells we want for the rest of the day. And I want to learn more about you. Not just the Sailor Senshi stuff, but everything else. I want to be able to say that I know Ami Mizuno when we part ways, and be at least semi-right, even if there will be so much more for both of us to learn about."

    Izou tilts his head. "Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? I'd ask Jadeite to teleport us to America, but if he's like me, then he can't teleport any more..." Hmm. Maybe he can call in a favor or two.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Simple questions were often the hardest. They got right to the point. There was not avoiding them other than outright ignoring them. Even so it's one that has Ami already worrying deep in thought on what she ought to do as well. That just makes the response from Izou all the more relieving in a way.

"I've met him already. He and Mamoru-kun needed an escort out into the city once and I was curious to meet him after our last encounter where he stabbed me with an ice sword. I was rather hoping I might be able to learn that trick at some point." Most of her abilities were assists so far. Something she wanted to work on to be more useful to the other senshi though she'd not brought that up with them yet.

Mention of the hotdog and of teleporting to America just earns a bit of a smile as he clearly starts to consider it. "I think that would be a lovely outing. Since we can't really go to America though," she reasons with a hand lifting in the air, single finger raised, as if to make a point. "I happen to know there's an American Naval base about an hour from here by train. Meiou-sensei is friends with one of the officers there. I could reach out and inquire if they have such things at one of their shops?" Not quite as glamorous as going to America for a hotdog, but it was within easier reach.

"Otherwise I know a very good curry place?"

Zoisite has posed:
    Izou nods, accepting the alternative readily. His only other options were going to ask Inai or bugging one of his former colleagues from the Dark Kingdom. Maybe if he promised to hook up Thetis on a date with Jadeite she'd find a teleporter for him? ...Maybe not. "Sounds like a plan. Much more realistic." He hops up from his chair, gestures to the books, and says, "First, lunch, then, studying. Your books will be safe here, I promise."

    He puts talk of ice swords on hold for now. He also might wish to speak to Jason about not stabbing people for a while, but Izou's one to talk. He still gets the urge, now and then, to just stab something. Mostly, like, food. Not people. Like, sometimes he just REALLY want to sink a knife into a hot turkey sandwich and carve it up into tiny pieces.

    Sigh. Just another one of those ingrained habits he'll have to shake off.

    Izou bows to Ami again and offers his hand, with a smile on his face. "Shall we?"

    This turned out way better than he was expecting.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno smiles easily at the suggestion because it did include one of her favored things to do. She felt confident when it came to studies and helping others do so. In that she knew she would at least be able to relax completely around Izou and not worry about how she was portraying herself, or being awkward.

Quickly brushing her hands over her skirt to smooth it she rises to her feet once more. It's only with a little hesitance that she reaches for the offered hand to take it in a light grasp. Not too much, in case he needed his space. Or she needed hers.

"That sounds like an excellent plan."

Following a small pause she asks, "Do you prefer American food? I find sandwiches are rather nice. They're so convenient, and there's so many variations I rarely get tired. They're also very easy to make and pack for lunch in the morning.