342/Forever, With Fireflies

Forever, With Fireflies
Date of Scene:	07 August 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	For some reason, Naru wandering off at the cookout makes a couple of people nervous. Especially when she doesn't come back. Nothing happened! ... she thinks. (Hint: Naru is not the best judge.)
Cast of Characters:	Kazuo Saitou, Usagi Tsukino, Naru Osaka

---

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Naru went off, earlier, looking for Koji, who'd been feeding the feral colony. Koji came back! Naru ... did not.

This is why, after twenty minutes or so (look, there were s'mores and Usagi, delay was going to happen), there is a tall pale shadow making his way through the nighttime woods, checking the most likely trails. Slowly.

Slowly because he keeps pausing to hold branches out of the way, because constantly stopping for that is much faster than constantly stopping to rescue Usagi from her own hair.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Thank you, thank you," might as well be the refrain of the forest, because every single time Kazuo holds aside a branch, Usagi thanks him, and considering they are in the woods -

"I'm sure everything's fine and Naru-chan's just distracted by all the kitties." She is telling herself this as much as him.

Naru Osaka has posed:
It is dark in the woods, although they aren't THAT far from civilization, aka the school, it's plenty dark enough. The fireflies keep blinking here and there, ensuring that there's a certain etherealness to the whole scene, over and above the barely there crescent of the moon above.

There's a little gap in the trees not far along the path, and that's where Naru has settled. The little empty bowl on the edge of it says that there are likely kitties here on the regular, but none are here right now, and there's a long ago fallen tree that Naru's perched on, watching.. it appears that she's just watching nothing. The fireflies, perhaps, or the growing darkness in the quiet little clearing.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's not that Usagi is scared. After all, being scared is the first step to panic, and she's not panicking, because everything is fine. Naru-chan has been held up by kitties, or something pretty she wants to sketch (did she bring her sketchbook, though?), normal things that don't start with monster or end with Jadeite. She's not scared.

Even if the longer it takes to find her, the more her hearts starts to pound and her voice gets louder as she calls out Naru's name and then Kazuo moves another branch and there's a gap in the trees and and there's Naru-chan, sitting on a collapsed tree and - staring.

At a bunch of nothing.

Usagi is bad at sensing magic, as clairvoyant as a rock, but the hair rises on the back of her neck. She's not used to seeing Naru so - quiet. Still. Just sitting alone like this, off in space. Is there something here? "Naru-chan?"

Walking to her in quick, worried strides, looking around suspiciously for trouble, hyper vigilant. "You didn't see a ghost did you?"

It's a joke. It falls a little flat.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Usagi is moving up, talking to Naru. Kazuo therefore hangs back, keeping an eye out. On the trail behind them, on the path at the other side of the gap, on the quiet brief trails of fireflies.

(On the patterns not-quite formed by the fireflies. On the hints of skittering movement in the darkness, near the forest floor.)

Naru Osaka has posed:
"It might have been." Naru answers thoughtfully at Usagi's 'joke'. Which is probably just exactly not the answer that Usagi's worry was looking for. Still, her smile is gentle, and there's no panic or worry in it. She does blink a little, as if fully registering for the first time just how dark it's gotten. The fading of the light creeps up on a person, and it certainly crept up on Naru.

"Was I gone that long? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you both." Naru reaches her hand out for Usagi's, to give it a reassuring squeeze and let her come sit on the tree as well if she wants. "I heard Koji leaving this clearing, and spotted the cats and then decided I just.." she pauses a half breath. "Needed a moment of quiet."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is thrilled to hear that ghost is definitely still a possibility, but she takes Naru's hand, threading their fingers together - just as she'd done with Darien, though now she's the one needing that extra touch of reassurance. She breathes, feeling Naru's steady, solid realness, and huffs loudly, pulling on her usual overactive energy like armor. "You were gone forever, Naru-chan! I knew you'd be with the kitties though... even if they ditched you."

She flops herself down besides Naru, gesturing for Kazuo to come closer. Her broach is in her pocket, in easy reach, if they're both close by she can protect them if something was here -

She's not convinced there's nothing.

"I guess we did gather all the introverts into one clearing, huh?" Her voice gentles a little more at this hint of a more mundane cause.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"They're not even watching." In the darkness: fireflies, not blue eyes. Kazuo drifts toward the two girls, apparently unhurried. "If the cats aren't here, maybe we shouldn't be either." Though Usagi's flop suggests that that may be a pointless concern to voice.

Surely it's coincidence that his approach puts him in the line of sight between Naru and the patch of nothing she'd been watching. (If anything's here, he hopes it's that and not the fallen tree. It'd be hard to put himself between the two girls and that.)

Naru Osaka has posed:
"For"Ever"" Naru echoes right back to Usagi, with a little bit of a tease to her tone. Still, it's the sort of teasing that comes with a squeeze of their joined hands.

"We did rather gather a pack of introverts into one party, although truly, not too badly." Naru leans her should against Usagi's watching Kazuo approach them. Her eyes move past him, to another spot as if evaluating what was there, or might still be there. "I was watching the fireflies dance. I think. Brighter, and beautiful, it was easy to lose track of time, just watching them." Her voice has just an edge of still ever so faintly dreamy to it, not enough to think she's stoned or anything, but a pleasant memory.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Forever," Usagi agrees, recognizing the teasing and letting it go because her hand is being held. "I was worried! And so was Kazuo-senpai. Anything could happen you know, in woods like this!"

It's a reasonable concern, especially from a known crybaby like Usagi, right? Nothing to be worried about! Definitely isn't a sign she's worried about a local slasher murderer!

Still, Kazuo-senpai has a point, so after just that moment of flop, Usagi rises, tugging lightly at Naru to encourage her to get up. "The fireflies are pretty with the group, too. Come on! I left Darien, and he's probably sad about it -"

This is not a lie. Now that Naru is with her and safe, Usagi is very much aware that she kind of stole Kazuo-senpai and herself away.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Usagi gets to tug Naru. She has roommate privileges. Kazuo does not have roommate privileges, and also suspects that if he wanted to try to drag Naru anywhere he wanted to go, his next move would involve coming up with an explanation for the school nurse of how he wound up with a hand full of broken glass shards, and oh by the way was he going to need surgery and would it help any, he needed those tendons?

Presuming of course that Usagi hadn't already garrotted him with her hair.

... speaking of Usagi ... huh.

"You were sitting there for a while," he observes to Naru. "And I don't think you brought your hoodie... and that tree's a lot of mass to dissipate warmth in. Did you start getting chilly? Tsukino-san, how's her hand?" He might possibly be the only person in history to keep calling Usagi that.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"No.. not cold at all." Naru shakes her head at Kazuo's question. "Although I should be." She pauses again, as if confirming that the evening has indeed gotten chill out here and that she should, by all rights, have noticed that already.

And indeed, she /is/ cold, even if she hasn't processed that yet. Her hand is chill, there's goosebumps on her bare forearm, but she doens't seem to mind it, even when her forebrain is considering that.

Naru is tugged off the fallen tree, to stand and then she looks back over to where she was watching and then back towards Kasuo. And then Usagi. And then back to Kasuo. Her words are for him. "I'm not used to the weird being gentle and not stealing things on its way through. I can't feel it anymore, can you?"

Because clearly one should ask the other civilian these questions and not Sailor Moon.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Your hand is cold," Usagi says, because Naru-chan is wrong and Kazuo-senpai is right and there is something to be concerned about here. The concern stays, but the gentleness drops away and as soon as Naru is standing, Usagi shifts their positioning such that Naru is sandwiched between Kazuo and Usagi, her eyes fixed on the patch of darkness Kazuo had been watching.

She doesn't see anything. That doesn't mean anything.

"You should get back," Usagi says, and the words are a slip, because it should be we, but - if something is here, she should take care of it, not just leave it be. She's never tried to fight a ghost, if it is a ghost, but either way - "Kazuo-senpai in the lead, then you Naru-chan, then me. If something's here, we shouldn't be."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"I don't know whether I've been feeling the weird or just not trusting what I can't see," Kazuo replies to Naru. "I don't have your experience with it. Let's get you both back to the fire, for now? Where your hoodie is. Also chocolate. And possibly something resembling coffee." And, well. Fire. Which might show more clearly if something is eating heat in the area, or free energy, or anything else.

Also a facepalming cat. He is not going to admit that he'd feel somewhat safer around a facepalming cat, which may or may not know something, but he wouldn't particularly mind being around it right now anyway. Maybe Luna's also keeping an eye on Naru. Maybe without her around, things would be worse. Not counting on that, but it's hypothetically possible.

-- it may only be the fact that Usagi has a cat that facepaws that is why Kazuo doesn't argue about the proposed order. Just turns carefully to pick his way back along the trail, and make sure that the landmarks he spotted on the way out are still there. At least Usagi might have an idea when to duck this time.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"It's alright." Naru assures Usagi, no matter that her hands are cold and she's been just hanging out, chilling with goodness only knows WHAT in the woods at night. That's not creepy at all. "I'm pretty sure it's gone now, and besides. It wasn't /that/ kind of weird. Full hit points and mana."

Because there's lots of types of weird and Naru feels confident enough on the different flavours.

Naru also arches a brow at the 'you should get back', because usually pretty much everything is a 'we'. "I might not be magical, but I'm not completely ineffectual." She protests.

She generally is, but that is wholly and entirely besides the point and her ego appreciates her making an effort at self esteem. Misplaced as it might be.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You're not ineffectual, you hit a monster a with a shoe," Usagi groans, and depending on if Naru had mentioned that little detail might be a huge give away in and of itself. "Naru-chan, you're amazing! But if there's something out here it already like, tasted you or something, and there's no need to risk going from snack to meal."

A pause.

"And maybe it didn't snack on you and I've just watched too many scary movies against your advice, but there's no need to risk it, right?"

Someone's told Naru about magic. Or, giving her full credit for brains, she's figured it out after the mall, which - uh oh, does Naru remember the mall? The monster? Usagi's going to have to hope so, as she very lightly prods Naru forward, to follow Kazuo's path.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Hit a monster with a shoe. Kazuo grins at a nearby tree, and is faintly reassured when it does not grin back. He stays remarkably quiet. Probably because he's learning considerably more from listening to these two talking than he would if he opened his mouth instead of just marking and clearing the path for them.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I am really quite aware of what it feels like to be a snack, and that was not it." Naru points out as she catches a branch that Kazuo held aside. Granted, he held it aside at his head height and well.. hers is quite a bit lower, but the theory is sound.

"I am amazing adjacent, and that's fine." Naru is firm on that point. She has already done one round with the disappointment factor about her magic skills, she has come to terms with it! Dammit! Mostly. Generally! Enough at least! Or so she's telling herself quite firmly.

"There was a great deal more functional things hitting that monster than my shoe." Naru also points out, further enlightening Kazuo as he blatently listens in. "And far more capable people."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Okay, fair, I've only been snacked on once," and it was really her own fault, "Nut still, I bet we're not going to see a unicorn in these woods. The party has food and chocolate and kitties, and the woods have ghosties and mushrooms. We're making the right choice."

Usagi follows closely at her heels, laughing her hands in dismissal at Naru's point. "It's less impressive if they're more capable. Who cares about what all of them could do? You threw a shoe at a monster that could have eaten you! Without any special powers! The wound to its dignity probably kulled it before anything else."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
All Kazuo says, as he indicates a turn in the path for the two of them, is: "You didn't freeze up."

There's humor in that, yes. But it's not a joke. It's more like an invisible shared wink. The first step in Doing Things is not having magical powers. The first step in Doing Things is just ... doing a thing. After that comes trying to do it effectively.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Fair point, I have not seen a unicorn." Naru has to concede that point, even if there's a certain 'yet' to her words.

Naru turns at the indicated spot, the path back not quite following her path out. This one is much more efficient. "It was weird that it wasn't eating people." Naru points out to Usagi. "It seemed more devoted to property damage than snacks."

A couple of quick steps ahead lets Naru give Kazuo a little prod with her finger. "I bet you wouldn't freeze up either."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"If we see a unicorn, at least that should probably go well," Usagi says cheerfully. Never mind that nekonomimi were cute too and that American cat girl had been very mean. Unicorns were different, right? Right!

"It wasn't eating people at all. Which, given its teeth -" she is very grateful about that, actually. And honestly? She is pretty sure Kazuo-senpai wouldn't freeze either. Darien said that Kazuo was safe if he was with the two of them - Darien and Usagi - but not if it was just Darien, or his other friends. That had to mean something, right? That Kazuo-senpai could hurt people too. Which meant he had power, maybe. Which meant he could hurt monsters too. "I think Kazuo-senpai would make the monsters cry."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo is prodded. A different tree is grinned at. "If a monster tried to eat me, I'd probably try to punch it. Which would probably mean I got to find out its skin secreted weird human-glue or something. Sometimes running away and coming back with help really is the best plan."

Maybe the help would make the monsters cry?

Naru Osaka has posed:
"My experience says that running away is rarely a luxury that one has." Naru comments thoughtfully and then adds after a moment. "Nor am I confident on who, exactly, I would call even if I did have time."

The hazard of henshin obfuscating who, exactly, she was with at the mall. Or in the mirrored coffin, or or or.. "Although Inai-senshei would probably be upset if I didn't call her for help." Naru concedes, even if she has a teenage attitude about asking a /teacher/ for help.

"Make the monsters cry by punching them?" Naru's voice holds amusement. "You could have them stick and then slam them into the ground, Kazuo."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Inai-sensei is a good person to call. You should keep her business card on you," Usagi certainly does. Even if she hasn't used it yet, stubborn and successful.

"...secret human-glue..." Usagi's face wrinkles. "I am not here for that. No."

Naru salvages the idea - "Oh! You could do cool wrestling moves to it, because you'd be stuck to it!"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Wrestling the monster. And slamming it into the ground.

The first thing the trio still in the realm of Fire and Meat and Reasonably Domestic Felinelike Creatures hear of their wanderers' return is Kazuo laughing.