968/Ojiisan in Peril!

Ojiisan in Peril!
Date of Scene:	04 January 2024
Location:	Nounamu Sweets
Synopsis:	Mamoru comes to Nounamu Sweets for a refill on his candy stores after the flood, and discovers that all is not well! Chiyo explains the situation and he does his best to help. Hiking by yourself is dangerous!
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Chiyo Sakai

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The door does its thing when it gets pushed open, and the person who's let in is... absolutely not Darien Shields. Nope! Mamoru Chiba, his hair cut short back and sides but floofy on top, white button-down and jeans and dress shoes under a blazer-length black leather jacket, glasses clean but not spookily reflective like Koji's sometimes are. "Hello!" he calls cheerfully, getting out of the way of a customer leaving. He waits his turn beyond the hello, because he's not rude-- but he also looks around, sharp-eyed.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
The part timer was manning the register area to ring out customers who were busy buying what they had requested. The odd thing was that the shelves in the glass cases were looking strangely bare. Not entirely empty, but with a good deal just absent. The traditional sweets that the old man behind the counter would make were just... Not there.

Where he usually stood is where Chiyo currently was, diligently making as many sweets as she can. While she could do it, and was skilled at it, she wasn't her grandfather. As for him? He was seated on a stool behind the counter with heavy, dark bags beneath his eyes looking a bit thinner than usual while he stares at those working with a difficult to read expression.

The familiar voice and warm greeting cause Chiyo to glance up to flash a quick half-smile herself. "Hello, welcome! Sorry things are a bit slim right now. We still have the lollipops you like if you want though," she assures as she finishes off the flowery daifuku to set down, and dust her powdery hands off on her apron. All so she can step around to the side of the counter to better speak to Mamoru without raising her voice. "How are you?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Anything you'd like to sell me, I'd like to buy," laughs Mamoru, hands in his pockets as he rocks back on his heels for a moment and waits--

--and he doesn't have to wait long. His eyes are bright but the concern on his face is clear. "I'm fine, what's wrong? Is there anything I can help with?"

Right to the point.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai breathes in a deep breath before letting it out in a rush. "I don't know. He's been sick since New Years," she respondsd looking over toward her grandfather with worry. The apron is wrung between her fingers hard enough that it seems like it might tear if she were any rougher.

"I've gotten him to eat a few of my special candies, and he'll be better for about a day. But then... Just back to this."

"He was really fine a few days ago. He even went on his usual New Years hike."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"What kind of sick?" Mamoru asks, frowning, glancing at Chiyo's grandpa again with a slightly more critical eye. "And did he go hiking with friends or by himself?" A beat, and he looks back at Chiyo, uncertain. "I mean, if he's ill, like with a virus or a bug or something, I can't do anything about it, but if it's something else I might... be able to tell you more about it? Or heal an injury... but only if I can touch him, and that's weird. People definitely find that weird."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Those were all very good questions. Chiyo glances back over at him considering all the possibilities a long moment. "He went alone. He's gone on that hike alone ever since grandmother passed." As for symptoms, "No fever. No coughing, no trouble breathing. No stomach aches. Just a headache and he's so tired all the time," she explains as best she can before looking back to Mamoru.

"You can heal now?" That came as a bit of a surprise. Everyone she knew usually tapped her for that particular task, and she could only do so to a limited extent. It's not entirely dismissed as a possibility though.

A small half-smile comes. "If you are willing to try... You could always shake his hand." Lightly clearing her throat she raises her voice to speak. She was still soft spoken, as she usually was outside of her henshin, but she raises it enough to call out, "Ojiisan, one of our regulars would like to wish you a happy New Year!"

This causes the old man to give a faint grunt of acknowledgement with some brightening to his eyes. The old Mr. Sakai stands to shuffle over toward the pair giving Mamoru a sharp eye that was decidedly less sharp than usual. "Mm, yes, the lollipop fan."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm all better now," says Mamoru with a little smile at Chiyo's surprise. "No more dark energy clogging up the works. --all right, for sure!" he agrees.

Hilariously, Mamoru reflexively starts to bow, then remembers he's supposed to actually shake hands, and laughs as he reaches to do so. "That's me, sir," he says, dark earth-blue eyes still bright, and when he actually makes contact--

--as swiftly as possible, with a dim golden glow surrounding their handshake, he searches for anything wrong, anything out of place; any injury, any sign of a youma attack, any dark energy, anything at all--

"Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!"

--and he pours energy in, like a warm sunny day in a flowery field, right in the heart of winter. It's fast, there's no filtering it, it comes from the bedrock and the steam, from the ocean floor and the mountaintops, the electric blood of cities, pure clear springs in forgotten forest glades, pink coral sand on beaches, ancient ruins in desert wastes. It's a home-feeling on a gut-level, anyone who calls this planet home, and it's so real and it's so fleeting, throttled back before Mamoru lets go of the old man's hand.

Mamoru looks a little tired now, but his new years wishes are genuine, and so is his smile.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Mr. Sakai starts to bow as well until the hand is offered. It's eyed with the look of one not unused to foreigners but still not USED to these ways. He's surprisingly adpatable for someone of his age though. Reaching out he takes the offered hand to shake.

Only for the warmth to flood him. That positive energy, that feeling of home, the solidity of the Earth, the life of the trees and plants. A breath of fresh warm air on a crisp cold day. He inhales deeply almost in surprise as the well wishes offered make him feel warm and fuzzy inside. Surely just that, and nothing more.

The color does return to his face though. The darkened bags beneath his eyes seem to brighten a bit as his complexion grows healthier, and his smile more genuine. "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu," he repeats as well with a forward dip of his head in a half-bow of his own. "Enjoy your time here," he offers as well before turning to walk off.

Not shuffle, but walk, normally. Back to the station Chiyo had taken over to pick up the tasks she had been doing. "The weather must be getting warmer," he utters a bit as he starts doing what he always does without complaint.

Chiyo watches the exchange as well as the result looking more than a bit relieved when it seems to have helped. "Thank you. Seriously, thank you. Ojiiisan is all I have other than..." She shakes her head sharply. "Thank you," she repeats again looking more than a bit relieved as she returns her attention to Mamoru.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru looks-- at least a little relieved, but somewhat hesitant. "It's no trouble," he says quietly, but looks back to Chiyo, "but there's something still impacting him. The special lollipops probably wouldn't fizz uncomfortably, but it might not hurt to ask for some wide-area moonlight. Something is probably still taking his energy. If he were just drained on his hike, he'd be getting better by now -- and your candy would have helped him a lot and it would have stuck."

He lets out a little breath. "Even what I gave him might last until tomorrow, but then he'll just get tired again. Until you either find whatever it is or call Usako or Agemaki-san."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai purses her lips together in thought at the news that's given. Another worried glance is shot toward her grandfather as she nods slowly. "Okay. I'll try to figure it out. I'm not really good at feeling those things but... I'll see what I can do." Because now she at least knew something actually was up.

"Thank you, again. It's not much, but pick what you'd like today. On the house," she assures with a wry chuckle. "You kind of look like you need a pick-me-up right now yourself."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh let me still buy more lollipops, they are so much fun to hand out, especially now that the real thing's been found," Mamoru says with a laugh, leaning a little as he goes to get his wallet out. "But I'll definitely pick something from the case!"