1061/Days of Our Outers Episode 1061: An automotive 'favor'

Days of Our Outers Episode 1061: An automotive 'favor'
Date of Scene:	30 January 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Setsuna takes Haruka out to test a 'nice Volkswagen' at a 'local test track' for an acquaintance. While that description is TECHNICALLY correct...it leaves a LOT out.
Cast of Characters:	Setsuna Meiou, Haruka Tenoh

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Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna had texted Haruka asking if she could make sure to have time free in the early evening of a day during the week, she had a favor to ask when Haruka got home.

When she arrives, she'll find Setsuna sitting on the couch in 'going out' clothes for her...in this case a light beige pantsuit and white blouse. She's killing time by trying to play one of the driving games they have for one of the consoles...and at a glance...it is NOT going well for her.

Mainly because she has somehow not only gotten what appears to be a modest sedan OFF of the track (which isn't supposed to be possible in this game) AND she's somehow managed to get it wedged fifty meters up in the branches of a tree (ALSO not supposed to be possible in this game).

Thus when Haruka looks, she'll find the greenhaired woman looking back and forth between her controller and the screen in more than a little confusion.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Setsuna, for someone who is entrusted with the guardianship of Time itself, really doesn't ask for much in the way of time from the short-haired blonde. And being as close to Haruka's heart as she is - which is very - she has no problem getting it when she does.

    Haruka comes in, moving surprisingly quietly for someone as tall as her. She doesn't think Setsuna didn't notice, of course, but maybe the frustration has got its claws in deep. So she leans over the back of the couch in what may or may not be a surprise. "Wow." she says by way of introduction. "You know, when the branches are going through the car and the car and the tree are both vibrating, that's a hell of a mess." she says, referencing the wonky physics of Setsuna's latest failure at the merciless hands of console racers.

    "I know there was that one time I needed to have an honest discussion with you... but I've never put my car into the upper branches of a tree."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna's reaction to Haruka speaking so close to her is...subtle.

Frankly, anyone who hasn't spent as much time around her as Haruka and Michiru have probably might have missed her reaction entirely...but there's an ever so tiny flinch and twitch that she'll sometimes give off when she's ACTUALLY surprised...but somehow manages to not show it in a way that will fool anyone who doesn't know her REALLY well.

Still, it's evidence that she WAS rather distracted by what happened.

She gives a modestly offended huff and flips off the TV and console before standing up, "Yes, well...speaking of."

Setsuna spends a few moments absently brushing down her blazer, "Anyhow, an aquaintance of mine got a car back from the shop and wanted to see if I knew someone who could drive it around a little to make sure it's okay."

She gives an apologetic look to Haruka, "I kind of said I did...so would you mind greatly? She's left it parked at a track not far from where she lives."

The taller woman gives a quick glance around and walks to a slightly more open part of the floor, "...on the upside, I've made arrangements for us to be able to cheat a little so we don't spend time going to and from. I'm going to show you how to teleport. Normally it takes three of us to do, but since it's us and I've had some prepwork laid in, we should be able to manage it with just us two."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka cracks a small smile at Setsuna's reaction-nonreaction, but she doesn't call the woman out on it. So many of them have defensive, learned behaviors, for one reason or another - a mask they put on, physical or mental. She figures, though, that Setsuna can tell that Haruka could tell. They do know each other so very well, now.

    "We could also just drive?" Haruka offers, at the mention of a teleport. "I mean, I'll be safe. Street-legal and everything." she says. "Cross my heart."

    But then she pauses. "Although, I've never teleported before and I should probably know how." she says, tapping her cheek with a finger. I guess we'll have to appear out of sight and dehenshin?" she asks. "And... you've made the arrangements twice, right? We do have to get back. And the nearest track is... some distance to be walking..."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Once she's at a spot with enough clearance, Setsuna holds up a hand and her transformation pen spins into existance in it as she intones, "PLUTO PLANET POWER...MAKE-UP!"

And then her body dissolves into an outline of 'cosmic nonsense' briefly before a wall of tightly contained wind whips up around her and obscures her from view. When it clears in a few moments, Sailor Pluto stands in that place.

Pluto smiles, "It's a bit of distance, so rather than spending the time to drive there and back, this will be way easier. And yeah, I've set it up so we can arrive somewhere where nobody will notice. Getting back with be about the same."

She shifts a little and holds out her hands, "You'll need to transform first, but then just take my hands and I'll walk you through it."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka really doesn't need much urging. Just having Setsuna transform makes her feel like she should transform too - it's like a pull, a tug, that they should act together. She can feel it when Michiru transforms too, if she's close.

    "Uranus Planet Power... Make UP!" calls the blonde with her pen held high. By the power of the wind - both earthly and cosmic - soon Sailor Uranus is standing where Haruka Tenoh once did.

    "Alright. I almost feel like I knew it once but I'm not going to rely on past-me-mories or we'll end up in like, Jakarta." Sailor Uranus says as she takes Sailor Pluto's hands. "So yeah, please walk me through it."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto holds Uranus' hands and says, "Okay...the principle is simple enough. We all hold hands in a ring like this and concentrate...don't try to do anything specific, just feel your power and let it flow...and I've been told it's easier to concentrate the first few times if you close your eyes. Now, one of us will be in charge of the trip...under a lot of circumstances, that'll probably be the Princess, as she's going to have the power to do heavy lift and the rest of us support. Three or more of us together, however, can also pull this off...but since we're not going especially far, just the two of us will be necessary."

There's a pause as the flows of magic circulate a little around the circle of hands the two have created, "...once you feel all the others...you need to focus on where you want to go. If you have a clear mental image of the exact spot, that's best...but without it, you can trade power for precision and get yourself to an area you know OF, but have no mental image of."

The smile in Pluto's voice is evident, "Fortunately, I have a very clear mental image of the spot as I had a photo taken."

The power seems to build a bit...then Pluto can be felt to grab control of the pool as she says, "...once you're ready...you need to take control of the group's magic and then it's a matter of WILLING yourself there in the same way you WILL the magic to form your attack...and it should pull everyone holding on to where you want to go. If you mess up, there are safeties built into the spell so that, at worst, you land somewhere not far from where you WANTED to go."

Then Pluto goes on, "...and here..we..go."

Then there's a brief...tug...a sensation of movement in a direction you'd find it impossible to point to...and then the tone of the light changes.

When eyes are opened, the two senshi are standing in...an elevator car.

Pluto quickly transforms back in a burst of cosmic nonsense and the impression of ribbons...then she waits for Haruka to do the same.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Uranus listens intently to Pluto. While she's a bit of a brash charge ahead type, when it comes to magic and especially shared magic, she often does defer to her thousands-of-years-Senior member of the group. She knows what she's good at, and trusts her two closest allies to have the rest well in hand. So there's only quiet from Uranus, nodding.

    She likewise lets Pluto guide the group of two's collective will down the currents and roils of space. Her eyes flare open, though, when there's that tug to a direction she's never moved.

    And then in a blur of light and colors, they're gone, and back again, but back is in an elevator car.

    "How did you make sure it's the right elevator?" she asks, as a mass of ribbon surrounds the other girl and she's back in her civilian 'driving' clothes - which today is a white dress, black vest, and scarf. It's a genuine question - elevators seem like great places to appear, as long as... "and how did you know it'd be unoccupied?" she asks.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As soon as Uranus finishes de-henshining, Setsuna steps over and hits the 'door open' button.

In response to Haruka's questions, the taller woman winks and says, "Magic."

She lets that answer hang there for a few moments, then raises a hand to cover a giggle before going on, "In seriousness, I had someone take a photo for me that let me focus...and the magic wouldn't let us resolve the teleport unless there was enough room at the target for us. It would have tried to displace us and I'd have felt that. If I'd felt it trying to shift us, I would simply have waited to trigger the teleport until after the interference was clear."

Explaination given, she opens the door and steps quickly through.

Which reveals the first clue that things...aren't normal. Because while it was dimming into the early evening back at the house...the parking lot that gets stepped out into is apparently at high noon. There are a few cars here and there, but it's largely unoccupied aside from an old VW Beetle and what looks like a Prius, Setsuna says, "...we're supposed to be checking out," and here her voice shifts slightly as if she's recalling something, "...a nice Volkswagen..."

She then turns and walks off to the side and around a corner, then her voice calls, "Ah! Here we go."

And once Haruka steps around the corner she sees the 'nice Volkswagen' is...well...TECHNICALLY a Volkswagen.

Volkswagen OWNS the company that built it, after all.

But said car's manufacturer is generally known by a rather differnt name...and the car is probably instantly recognizable to a gearhead like Haruka.



It's a Bugatti Chiron.

Quite possibly THE most powerful supercar on the PLANET...and this one is painted a deep ultramarine blue with gold highlights.



But that's not all.

Because as distracting as the car likely is...WHERE it is ALSO has a kind of tug to it.



Once again, a gearhead like Haruka will likely recognize the place instantly as the main entrance plaza to the Nürburgring...which is apparently the 'local track' Setsuna was referring to...as a quick glance will confirm that all the local signage is, indeed, in German.

For her part, Setsuna is turned to face Haruka so that she can easily see the younger woman and her reaction as she comes around the corner, and the moment she sees the penny drop for the dishwater blonde, she smiles softly and says, "...Happy Belated Birthdays, Haruka."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "Yeah I know it's magic, it's magic I want you to teach me." Haruka says, filling those few moments with a comment and rolled eyes. But then her partner-in-crime does and she sighs and commits the explanation to memory along with the rest of the information.

    Haruka follows Setsuna out, looking around at the area. Her eyebrow raises slightly, but she doesn't immediately call it out... but much like the twitch earlier, she can tell something is up, even if she's not sure what. Her best nerdy friend is a woman of mystery, secrets, and often shenanigans.

    But the shenanigans that Setsuna is unleashing today are not quite on the level of what Haruka is used to.

    As all of the bits and peices click into place, Haruka grows quieter and walks a little bit more stilted, because the girl is quite frankly, shocked. Eventually she just turns to Setsuna and utters the one word she can formulate. Followed by two more she dredges up from nowhere.

    "How?!"

    "...thank you?!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna just smiles and steps closer to Haruka, "How? It wasn't too hard. Time-consuming, but not really hard."

She stops right next to Haruka, then looks back towards the car, "I have acquaintances and contacts. One of whom is a bit of a collector of cars."

She nods her head towards the Bugatti, "He was bragging that he'd got one of the last Bugatti Chriron Super Sports made and talked about driving it. I was curious because you love cars so much, so we got to chatting back and forth and he at one point commented that he really didn't have the skill to put this through it's paces and was still absently curious about what it could do."

She then smiles, "So I talked with him and he's letting us borrow this so you can put it through it's paces and see what it can REALLY do...here on what I'm told is one of the most iconic tracks in racing."

She then turns and pulls Haruka into a gentle hug and says in a quieter voice, "After all...you're family to me...and I wanted to do something to make up for the birthdays I never got a chance to be there for for one of the people most precious in the world to me."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    She's still wide eyed. "I should meet your friend." she says, almost monotone, still looking at the car and occasionally back to Setsuna. "This is amazing."

    "...that also explains how the same woman who heard 'haul ass' and woke me up with an industrial truck would set me up with something like this." she deduces. No, nowhere and nothing is safe from referencing the Truck Incident.

    But then Haruka practically tackles Setsuna with a hug, squeezing the ancient teenager tightly. Pulling back from the hug she looks at Setsuna. "You know you're closer than family to me, right? I don't even like my family." she says with a laugh. "You're practically a part of me, Setsuna-san." she says. "Without you there'd be something missing. Just because it's quite different than how I feel about Michi doesn't mean that you are even a tiny bit less precious to me." she tells the other girl. "And not just because of this." she pauses. "But this does add onto that. Like. WOW." she says.

    "I have no idea how to match this, you know. But I guess you don't want me to be worrying about that right now, right?" she says, rubbing the back of her neck and pacing around the car and breathing slowly like she's trying not to hyperventilate. Then she looks up at Setsuna.

    "I guess you're... not going to be riding along for this?" she says, returning to her usual smug/teasing smile.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As the Truck Incident is brought up again, Setsuna gives Haruka a glare.

A glare that is UTTERLY ruined by the way she puffs out her cheeks while doing it like an angry little kid.

When she gets the hug returned, however, the taller woman relaxes into the embrace of one of the dearest people in the world to her.

Then when Haruka steps back and rubs the back of her neck, Setsuna pats her on the shoulder, "Seeing you enjoy this is all the gift I need, Haruka."

When Haurka asks about doing a ride-along, Setsuna takes a deep breath, "...frankly, it's up to you."

She glances sideways over at the shorter woman, "...given that you're not going to be trying to wring info out of me, I imagine you'll be far more interested in the CAR than terrifying your passenger..."

She then shrugs, "...so while I'd be happy to try again to get what you see in this kind of thing, I'll understand if you just want to spend a few hours communing with the holy machine spirit."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka just smiles. She can't stop smiling. Especially not when Haruka gives her puffed up cheeks glare. Then she smiles and it takes her a lot of energy to not almost prance in place with excitement. "Well, since lately the only thing you hide from me are apparently going to be the most amazing surprises ever, it would really just be shooting myself in the foot to squeeze you for information, now." she says, laughing.

    "I tell you what. Why don't you ride along with me while I slowly get accustomed to it. Every car - even the same model - is its own unique personality and what you can push out of it changes car to car..." then she looks down "...though I'm gonna get amazing out of this one for sure." she says.

    "Anyways - ride along with me while I get used to it, and the track - and whenever you want to, when it hits your limit of too fast, I'll slow down and let you out before I rev up any higher." she says. "Does that sound okay?" she says. And it's in her voice. Some part of her clearly feels bad for the whole 'interrogation by speed demon' she subjected the older girl to. "... I never apologized for that time, did I? So... I'm sorry." she says. "It was a bit much of me."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna twists her wrist and punches a button that audibly unlocks the doors, then tosses the keys over to Haruka, "No apologies needed, Haruka. While at the time, I was somewhat put out...it became quite apparent WHY you were suspicious like that."

She shrugs, "Anyway, as I recall, the main track is something like twenty kilometers...so as long as you don't mind dropping me at the buildings, that'll be fine...though I'm going to try to hang on as best I can so I can maybe get a feel why all my simulated attempts to drive end so...spectacularly."

She grumps, "...one game the car literally just exploded when I picked up the controller...it's not even supposed to be able to DO that."

Another pout and puffed cheeks.