130/Getting to know you

Getting to know you
Date of Scene:	21 July 2023
Location:	Dorms
Synopsis:	Mio and Amy have a talk about being Magical girls. Pizza is involved.
Cast of Characters:	Mio Morita, Amanda Faust

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Mio Morita has posed:
The walk back to the dorm was quiet. Mio still has that fire in her eyes, like she is ready to go out and kick the tar out of any phantom empire lacky who gets in her way. A smile forms on her face as she goes. She glances upward from time to time as Pin is currently on her head, pretending to be a doll of some sort.

As soon as they arrive in the dorm, Pin takes off flying. "I'm sorry Mio-chan! I didn't mean to cause your identity to be found out." She gives a weak smile. "But Blue-sama wasn't too angry so that is good! Plus you're still a Precure! You can still fight creatures of darkness and collect Cure Cards! We can still get your wish!"

Mio smiles, "Its okay Pin. It was an accident. I understand." She makes her way to the bunks and climbs up to the her bunk. The strawberry blonde flops down on the bed and sighs in relief. "That could have been a disaster but it wasn't! And now we have some stuff we can talk to each other about! We are friends and magical girls! That is so cool! We can help people in ways that no one else can!" She cheers.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh gods. Oh gods. She pulled a rocket launcher on a god. Remembering being told off by someone with such an air of authority still makes her shake inside. Amy grabs a tissue from her pack and blows her nose and dries her tears after transforming back. Then she walks back with Mio lost in thought. Honestly, the expression is near-identical to her usual resting bitch face, barely subtlely sadder. Her lips just slightly pursed, eyes a millimeter less open.

    Finally back at the dorm room. A safe place. She closes and locks the door and sort of blankly stares at Pin. Magical talking flying fairy. This should be INCREDIBLE, but she's still just...

    Amanda, too, slips off her pack, sits on her bunk and then flops down on the bed on her back, letting out a long breath. Mio's words to reassure Pin come faster than she can voice her own. Mio is... so excited now. It's hard to keep up with her.

    Before the talk with blue, it was Mio who was sullen and Amy that was fired up. It's almost funny how that's reversed.

    "Ah? Uh... uh, yeah..." the redhead replies halfheartedly. "Sorry, I just... geeze. That was... That was *terrifying*! It was, it was all bravado, a mask! I mean, the bit about... not wanting to have regrets anymore and standing by you was TRUE, b-but still, I pissed off a god and, that coulda gona... I coulda messed everything up! Again!"

    She takes a couple of breaths, trying not to get too worked up.

    "I... I... I've been a magical girl for not even four days yet and I came so close to messing it up... And... and I'm... supposed to keep it up? I'm not cut out to be some flawless hero..."

Mio Morita has posed:
"I don't think you upset Blue that much. He is really chill. You did pull a rocket launcher on him but he didn't get mad or anything. He understood that you were trying to protect me. Thats the important thing right?

She pokes her head off the bunk, her hair hanging upside down, much like her face at the moment. "I've been a magical girl for a little better than a week. No one said we have to be perfect. We just gotta try our best. Thats all that is expected of us." She smiles. "You are a magical girl! You can be more than just a mundane person. So what you have flaws. I got flaws too! I am kind of a ditz ya know? I have trouble focusing on my homework and all sorts of stuff. Also I am afraid of failing. You saw how I fell apart when my secret came out."

Pin flies down to Amy. "I know you're not a Pretty Cure but I can help you too if you want. You are really nice and a good friend. That is super important. Like Blue-sama said, Friends make us all stronger. Especially Magical Girls."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda has started to curl up on her side on the bed (facing away from the wall). She turns her head, glances behind her, reaches her arm back to grab her teddy bear and pull it into a hug, curling up around it. "That wasn't mad? That sounded pretty mad. I've heard people talk to me that way a *lot*."

    Mio is flawed too! "Yeah but I... I'm supposed to be... I'm the older one. I should be smarter, and wiser, I should know better..." she winces as those words leave her mouth.

    Pin is addressing her! She looks up at Pin, blinking, and sniffles. "I... you really think so?"

    Then she looks away again and sighs. "Yeah. Friends. Where were those before? People are a lot nicer now that I look like this. I'm still me. I've always been me. All that changed is..."

    Her voice chokes. "I'm cute. I w-wished for it, but... it's hollow. Knowing it changed so much. Knowing people couldn't like me for ME..."

Mio Morita has posed:
"I don't know who you were before your wish. I don't know your wish. All I know is who you are now. If you changed so much from your wish, you should make the best out of it." Mio smiles. "Besides I think I'm older than you!" She giggles. "Just take a look at who you are now and embrace it!"

Pin chimes in and flies around Amy. "Mio-chan is right! You have a chance to start again and make your life how you want it. So you're a flawed magical girl. So is Mio. You are still fighting for the same thing right? To make the world safer. I don't know who or what you are supposed to fight but you have a pretty scary rocket launcher!" She giggles a little bit.

Mio sighs, "I didn't know you before you came here. I Like to think I would have been friends with you before too. You are a wonderful person and you stood up for me to an actual god! I can't ask for a better friend." She pauses and laughs, "You wished to be cute? Okay. Your wish worked!" She giggles a little bit. "Did you make your wish for them or for you?" She asks honestly. "Because if you made it for others, its just going to be hollow because you can't please everyone. If you made it for you then you have something really cool. You changed because you wanted to."

Amanda Faust has posed:
All I know is who you are now.

    Amy stares into the distance.

You have a chance to start again!

    Amy mutters, "I don't deserve this..."

You're fighting to make the world safer!

    A smiles starts to creep onto her face and she sits up, swinging her legs off the bed. "Yeah! I gotta keep fighting, for everyone I can save..."

I like to think I would have been friends with you before too.

    Amy tenses up, wide-eyed, fingers gripping the sheets beside her, like she just saw something *horrible*. The mental image of how it would look to others, their past few days of interactions, if it'd been *Mallory* talking to Mio. If it was *Mallory* sitting here on the bed--

    NonononononONONONONO she forces her brain to stop picturing things in a near-panic.

    "I-I... I... I made it for me..." She holds the fingertips of her right hand to her throat. It's suddenly *striking* to her, how high her voice is.

    "...I changed because... I had the chance to become a magical girl. To really *help* people. To, to have a more exciting life instead of day in and day out of just... I guess I was just *waiting*, for something like this to happen. If it hadn't... I'd have never done anything..."

    "But... magical girls were fighting in front of me and they needed help. I didn't... I didn't get to think it through, the logistics of it. I didn't really... have a *plan*. For what would happen to my life. I certainly wasn't thinking about going back to *school* again, and everyone seeing me as a teenager... I just... I chose to be a Hero, and... this once... I didn't worry about the consequences."

Mio Morita has posed:
"I'm going to guess you were much older before. The way you speak sometimes makes me think you are more mature. So this really is a second chance for you to do stuff that you never got to do! You are a teenage girl in an amazing school and you are making friends. It sounds to me like the person you are now is a pretty good deal"

Mio hops down off her bed and onto the floor. "Plus look at it this way, We are at a school where we can do pretty much what we want to as long as we aren't breaking rules and are attending our classes." She smiles a little and plops down on her desk chair. "You are a warrior of light in a world that is being plagued with darkness." She spins around to face Amanda.

"It sounds to me like your real wish was to try again. This time you are actively making a distance. Sure you didn't think about the consequences but you gotta admit, they aren't so bad. You're making friends, You've got a pretty cool roommate." She pokes her tongue out playfully. "And you get to use a rocket launcher I guess. Thats pretty cool." She smiles and spins in her chair.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A second chance...

    There's a lot wrong with... Mallory, getting *this* specific second chance, she thinks, but...

    Mio hops down. Amy looks up at her. That's right. Regardless of who ended up in this situation... Amanda Faust, or the yet-unnamed red puella magi, has the chance to touch people's lives for the better. And as long as she's doing that... She deserves to enjoy herself a little, right?

    She smiles at Mio, sitting across the room in her chair. "A lot of things are confusing and I don't know what I should think, but... I always wanted to be an ally of justice. A... Hero."

(ed: I guess we're going with the convention of Hero for [yuusha], and hero for [hiro]? She's definitely been using [yuusha] every time in this and the previous scene.)

    "And as long as I'm doing that... making people's lives better... I should enjoy it." She stands up. "Thanks, Mio-chan." She walks over and holds out her arms for a hug. "You too, Pin!"

Mio Morita has posed:
"You're most welcome! That's what friends are for after all! We talk to each other and help each other when we are down!" Mio smiles as she gives the encouragement. She quickly stands up and hugs Amy. "You're welcome Amy-chan."

Now then, since our lunches were messed up, how about I talk to my dad and get some pizza delivered!" Mio giggles a bit. "I can totally go for something good. Like Pepperonis and bacon!"

"Can I have some too?" Pin asks curiously. "We don't have that stuff too much in the Blue Sky Kingdom."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyes widen a bit. "Free pizza?" she grins, "Heck yeah! I usually go with sausage and mushroom, extra cheese if they skimp on the cheese. Half-and-half? Though I wouldn't mind bacon too... guess I don't have to skimp on toppings." She holds a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Haven't had pizza on someone else's dollar in... .... ......well, a long time."

    She looks to Pin. "Blue Sky Kingdom? Is that, like... an entire world of... whatever you are? What's it like there? What did you do before coming here?"

Mio Morita has posed:
"Okay! Lets go do it in halves." She quickly picks up her phone and brings up the phone number. A Moment later she is calling her dad. "Hey Dad, can I have some money to order a pizza. Lunch kinda didn't go well today and my roommate and I didn't get to really eat much." A moment later she is calling and ordering pizza.

Pin smiles. "The Blue Sky Kingdom was a beautiful place. Its like an entirely different world There isn't just fairies there. There are humans too. We help out the humans there. I was actually a messenger. I would carry messages around the palace. Sadly something happened and the phantom empire showed up. The King and Queen were put in a mirrors as were many of the rest of the people in the Blue Sky Kingdom. I think the Princess escaped to Earth but I didn't hear anything but rumors about her. Some say she became a Pretty Cure."

Mio hangs up the phone. "They will be over with a pizza in about a half an hour." She smiles. "I'm sorry to hear about that Pin. We are going to beat those Phantom Empire jerks and send them back to wherever they came from!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda listens, amazed. "Dang. So it's not just here we're saving, there's a whole other world..."

    She looks thoughtful again. "So, they call themselves the Phantom 'Empire'... but if they put everyone in mirrors instead of conquering, like... who *are* the Phantom Empire? Is it a misnomer for a small group of... megalomaniacs putting people in mirrors for some reason, or are there, like, civilians?"

Mio Morita has posed:
Pin winces over the whole thing, "The people who are put in mirrors are used to call Terribads. They are giant monsters that spread misfortune. Also there are the Kindabads that are the size of adult humans, just all black and have red sunglasses." She shakes her head. "There are humans who have been endowed with dark magic. They have the ability to put people in mirrors, turning their futures to misfortune. They can call forth terribads!" She frowns. "There are 3 generals in this area alone. Namakelder, who is like a lazy grasshopper. Hosshiwa, who loves sweets and considers herself a real Lady. Then there is their boss Oresky who has a very big ego."

Mio sits down and listens. "Sounds like we have our work cut out for us. How can you help me? Not that I am ungrateful."

"Well Fairies can spawn the cure cards when you defeat creatures of darkness. We also help out where we can. Like we can give you advice on what cards to use and when. They are not all for show. You can mix and match them to make cute outfits too."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda begins to pace, thoughtfully. "So they somehow... draw out monsters from people. I mean, I've *seen* it, I just didn't know what was going on. So... 'empire' is kind of... just them being full of themselves? Like, there's three here, but... is Tokyo their staging ground for conquering Earth? There aren't... zillions of them all over the planet, right? Is this an organization of like a dozen people? A hundred? A thousand?" She shakes her head. "I guess I don't know... but it certainly doesn't sound like a whole *empire*."

    Amy considers. "The bird lady... she said she was spreading misfortune for her queen. But how does that *help* them?"

    She blinks and looks at Pin. "Wait, did you say you get some kind of power-up for defeating monsters? What, like Rockman? Do we have to figure out what order to go after the generals in to use their elemental weaknesses against eachother?"

Mio Morita has posed:
Pin frowns, "There are 3 here. There are many more generals and then there is the Queen. Queen Mirage. She hates any positive emotions. Love, Happiness, Hope, Everything. She is bad enough but her right hand is absolutely terrifying. The Pretty Cure Hunter. There were rumors that Queen Mirage speaks with someone else but I don't know anything else about it."

Mio speaks up, "So By spreading misfortune, these guys are trying to shut out positive emotions and take over that way. They are trying to get a foothold here on Earth." She sighs. "We aren't just fighting a small group of jerks. We are fighting a war."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Hates positive emotions... Were these people even human? Either way, what are they now..."

    Amanda resumes pacing. "It sounds like a saturday morning cartoon but real. Hates all positive emotion? That doesn't make sense. Why are they even trying, if they don't have hope of success? If they do win a battle, will they gain no joy or satisfaction from victory? They dream of a different world more to their liking and *reach* for it."

    Amanda stops and shakes her head. "Of course, it's not like pointing out such logical inconsistancies will make them abandon their cause. It's probably just... a simplified explanation, anyway; either because it's too complex to explain during a fight, not *worth* explaining to their enemies, or," she starts pacing again, "details about the specific truth might give us insight into their weaknesses. Hmmmmm. What could they really be after?"

    "...Maybe it's way simpler than all that. Whatever powers they have draw on the negative emotions of others, so it's others they want to suffer, not to see total victory of such things even over themselves. But you said the queen hates positive emotions? Hmmm. Could it be as simple as she had a sucky life and hates seeing other people happy...? Although... I'm not sure any of this actually helps us defeat them..."

Mio Morita has posed:
Pin shrugs, "I don't know. I didn't get to know them. I only know what I saw when I was escaping. Blue-Sama rescued me. The whole thing is messed up. I want my home back. If helping the Pretty Cure to defeat them, I am happy to help!"

Mio frowns, "Its a lot to take in." Mio states. "Right now we have another situation that we need to address. We gotta learn what we can do. The best way to do that is to fight those jerks whenever they show up. We can find out what we can do. We both have magic. We both have weapons... well I technically am a weapon in a way. I got my fists!" She giggles happily. "I think when we get strong enough the generals will come into our circle and we will be fighting them directly."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods. "We'll do our best to get your home back." She hmms at Mio. "I wonder if like... maybe we could find some out-of-the-way place to experiment with our powers and see what we can do." She looks away, paces again. "Actually, I guess for non-destructive stuff we could even practice right here! Unless it needs a lot of space or something."

    Amy stops and looks at Mio again. "Your fists, you said? Have you ever taken a martial arts class? Even if the magic makes a poorly-thrown punch powerful and stops you from getting a boxer's fracture, surely proper martial arts strikes enhanced by the same magic would be even more effective, right?"

Mio Morita has posed:
"I haven't. I always thought violence wasn't the answer to conflict. That changed when I became a Pretty Cure. I actually punched a Terribad a bunch! Also I used magic on it. I made a beam and hit it. Then I purified it!" She smiles happily. "It was really exciting. Judging by what Pin said about the generals around here, I think I encountered Oresky. He was really egotistical. I never seen someone so full of themselves."

She pauses and then smiles. "I Think one of the teachers is teaching self defense classes. That could be useful for both of us. That would give us at least some training."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "You made beams too?! Hmm. Figuring out what else you can do is something to look into if we can find a training spot..."

    Self-defense classes? Amy nods. "That's probably a good idea. I took a class once long, long ago, but I have a lot to learn."

Mio Morita has posed:
Mio smiles and stretches. Then there is a knock at the door. Mio quickly goes to the door and unlocks it. She opens it and surprise! Pizza's here. She grabs the pizza and signs the papers to pay the man. She turns and comes back in, locking the door behind her. "Pizza's here!" She practically dances back to her desk and sets down the pizza. "I don't have paper plates though."

Pin flies over to the pizza. She sniffs it a few times and her eyes light up. "Mmmm It smells really yummy! Are you sure I can try it?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. "They come right into the dorms? I'd have thought we'd pick it up at the entrance..." She looks at the pizza and considers. Without paper plates, her next suggestion would be paper towels, but they probably don't have those either. She'll have to buy a roll, or grab one next time she makes a supply run to the apartment.

    "I mean, I have no idea what's safe for you to eat, but if you're generally fine with human food -- bread, cheese, tomato, and generally the same plants and meat we eat, you're probably fine. I'm gonna go rustle us up some paper towels or something." She heads out to the kitchen to see if there are napkins or paper towels there -- failing that, she'll take a bunch of paper towels from the bathroom.

    Once she's back, she takes a slice of pizza (using the paper to try and keep at least *some* of the grease off her hands -- hmm, sooner or later she's going to get clothes dirty and need to wash them. Note to self, grab detergent and bleach and fabric softener from the apartment too. And maybe cleaning supplies? Hmm.)

    "Mmmmmmmh!" The smile on her face is genuine. "I haven't had fresh pizza in *weeks*! And I think it's been years since I didn't just get it from the cheapest place... this is really good!"

Mio Morita has posed:
Mio takes some of the paper towel from Amy and quickly folds it up neatly. She gives it to Pin before taking another and folds it a little for herself. She gets in the box and offers Pin a slice who happily takes one. Mio collects a slice for herself and she takes a big bite. "Mmmm This place is great. They make such good pizza."

Pin takes a bite of the pizza and her eyes become stars! She takes another bite really quick and exclaims, "OISHI!!!"