1239/A Healthy Helping of Crow

A Healthy Helping of Crow
Date of Scene:	01 March 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Following her fight with Kyouka in Glorious Misunderstandings, Mmaoru Chiba offers to heal Fuyuko's injuries. The lemon face is legendary.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Fuyuko Yuuhi
Tinyplot:	The Game

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
    Unknown Number: hi i heard you got a split lip. you want it fixed before work
    Unknown Number: btw this is chiba we met exactly once

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Well that was a Fucking Lie. She distinctly remembers meeting Chiba twice - once, with the soon-to-be-rug, and once in a particularly awkward moment in her offcice.

    Fuyuko Yuuhi: How exactly do you plan to fix that, Chiba?

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He would argue that that was Darien Shields and he doesn't know that guy, and also fuck that guy, and also other expletives probably. Either way he is sixteen and cloak and dagger is funny to him.

    Mamoru Chiba: with magic? i mean how else
    Mamoru Chiba: ???
    Mamoru Chiba: look. fix ow, y/n

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
The Mamoru Chiba she remembered actually went by Darien Shields, and he was kind of a dick. He also didn't have any magic that could help a split lip...

    Fuyuko Yuuhi: Damn, you're annoying.
    Fuyuko Yuuhi: Fine. Are you near Mitakihara?

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
    Mamoru Chiba: i do my best :3
    Mamoru Chiba: yeah i'm not too far from the mall
    Mamoru Chiba: tell me where to meet you
    Mamoru Chiba: public is fine idc

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
    Fuyuko Yuuhi: Meet me at the corner of x and y.
    Fuyuko Yuuhi: There's a coffee shop. I'll buy you a cup in exchange.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
    Mamoru Chiba: deal

It's not too long after that there is a stupidly tall teenaged boy with glasses and a black leather jacket at the corner of x and y. The minute he sees Fuyuko, he gives her an analytical once-over, seeing how she's moving-- but once he's in greeting distance he offers a perfunctory bow. "I can get anything else she gave you too, but I'll warn you people say there's some sort of emotional load attached. It's just magical healing."

He offers his hand. "Coffee'd probably hurt less without that," he says, managing not to smirk even a little bit. It's not in his voice or his body language or his face. Darien would be smirking.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Most people don't pay close attention to the fairly tall young woman who walks through the coffee shop doors, wearing typical business casual as she is - flats, slacks, a collared shirt in violet and a black lazer. There's a black mask on her face, and her dark hair hangs in her face, helping to hide the split in her brow and the bruising covered by make-up.

She's not moving gingerly, but there's a hitch in her stride that hints at bodyache.

She stares at the offered hand, then shakes it grimly. "I'll cope with it."

And then she pulls the mask down, and yep, there's the swollen lip, the bruising dark at her mouth.

"Healing first, coffee second."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
She agreed, she took his hand, she gets -- first -- the lack of ache, the warm calm anaesthetic, the quiet golden glow around their clasped hands. He huffs in something like amusement when he finds out she's nearly as hurt as Kyouka, but there's no bite in it.

Then there's the load, which isn't actually emotional at all: it's a feeling of safety, of respite, of something big and old to steady against, of a bedrock cave in a storm. It's a feeling of a long, long memory that goes back before history, of something ancient and encompassing and welcoming, of belonging. It's the fields and mountains and cities and oceans, it's lazy days and someplace to come back to.

And it quickly but methodically goes through and erases bruises, soothes inflammation, relieves pressure -- seals cuts --

And then Mamoru's letting go, lightly pulling his hand away. "I take it with cream and sugar," he says cheerfully, "because it offsets the awesome unapproachability of my jacket. Do you have a few minutes to talk? Nothing personal, I swear."

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
She agreed, she took his hand, and at first, with the lack of ache, she has no regrets. Kyouka could put some weight behind a punch, and they'd both been furious. Fuyuko is still furious, in that cold, numbing way.

But it isn't just the anesthetic - it's the load, and Mamoru has seen a couple of reactions to his healing at this point, but probably none of them like Fuyuko's, as her lips pucker and her face contorts against her own will, the expression of someone biting into an orange wedge and realizing too late it was actually a slice of lemon.

It's awful. Warm and steadying, inviting her to curl up and let down her guard -

By the time he lets go, every muscle is tense, and she has to breathe deep - easier now - to force themt o relax.

"Depends on what you want to talk about," she says brusquely, then promptly exits stage ordering line; either he can follow her to the line or he can wait for her to make their orders - either way, she feels a little more in control.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru does not talk at all about any of her reaction: he'll think about it, but like other things, it shall not be mentioned. Instead, he follows her into the line and says, "About the pokemon that really easily manipulated Kyouka into starting a fight with you tonight."

His hands are in his jacket pockets and his stance is just shy of insouciant. He's playing to type. He's sixteen and he's making it show. His glasses never gleam hard enough to obscure his eyes, he's got that anti-reflective coating on them-- so the play doesn't quite work. He's quietly angry.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
A flicker of rage crosses Fuyuko's face; the mask is pulled firmly up, covering mouth and nose, hiding some of her expressions but not the fury in her eyes. Only the fact that she's already embarrassed herself in front of one teenager keeps her from biting out something sharp and cutting.

"She knows as much about her as I do."

No need to elaborate on who the she was. With Fuyuko, there was generally only one she to worry about.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Fair," says Mamoru, digging his hands deeper in his pockets. Then, "Sorry." It doesn't sound especially sorry, but it also doesn't sound like continuing. It also doesn't sound like a quip is following.

Kyouka was, of course, completely correct. Kyouka also hasn't had a chance to apologize to Fuyuko yet. It's a bad time to try and get any information.

He's carefully looking away to where he can see Fuyuko's expression in a reflection when he says, "By the way, the lollipops were me."

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
The anger in her expression cracks and then shatters, replaced by utter exasperation. "I had to send a memo about that."

He might know, actually. He hadn't yet lost access when the memo went out.

"What do you want to know about the rag doll and why," she grits out a moment later, her temper clearly eased. The line moves, and they move with it. Someone in front of them is ordering what sounds like a monstrous drink with six different flavorings.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I know, it was a great memo, I could hear the disbelief and utter disdain in the subtext," Mamoru says with a shiteating grin. "Not a trace of it in the text. Pure art."

He makes a face at the person ahead of them in line -- not quite Fuyuko's lemonface, but definitely imagining a flavor that's served at bars in hell.

"If there's anything the first one said to you that Kyouka missed, or if there's anything you might know about their planet or their boss -- because the thing is deliberately playing you two against each other, and if it really wanted to do what it says it wants to, why would it come anywhere near you?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"Some kind of revenge, probably. I did kill her predecessor, which I don't care about and she clearly does."

Seeing as she couldn't shut up about her being a murderer. Ancient history, long adapted to her identity, and yet -

"Probably the only thing I knew that she didn't was that Aurora had the gems for our nascent kouhai, and that isn't relevant anymore. We were stupid kids. We didn't exactly ask a lot of questions, back then."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And then they're at the front of the line, and Mamoru keeps his mouth shut unless Fuyuko looks at him to order his coffee. He waits, thinking, until the coffee's in his hands and Fuyuko's done, and then he says, "I have legitimately never met a mascot as rude as Corona. I want to figure out what she wants from you two, playing you against each other like that. Maybe it's just revenge. Maybe it's the gems. If I find anything at all out, do you want me to text you? Or just leave you alone?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Fuyuko makes their orders, plain black coffee for her, Mamoru's surprisingly non-monstrous coffee for him, and pays with an Obsidian card; yes, she's treating this as a business expense. It's her right.

"You've probably met most of them when they needed something from you or their charge," she huffs, shaking her head. "Corona doesn't have any charges yet, and she hates my guts."

She wants to say, leave her alone. She wants to say, mind your own damn business. But -

"Text me. If you find something out."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Will do," Mamoru says, raising the coffee in salute. He doesn't seem to want to give her shit, or to want anything from her, and he sips his coffee as he heads for the door. Perhaps it won't be a mistake, despite the emotional load on his healing. "Thanks!" and he's gone.