971/Days of Our Outers Episode 971: Ami Visits Casa Del Outers!

Days of Our Outers Episode 971: Ami Visits Casa Del Outers!
Date of Scene:	06 January 2024
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Ami stops by Casa Del Outers to deliver a New Years gift to Setsuna, and she gets to see what the Nurse is like in the mornings on her days off. She also gets to see Michiru baking bread!
Cast of Characters:	Michiru Kaiou, Ami Mizuno, Setsuna Meiou

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Michiru Kaiou has posed:
It's a little after 10 AM on Saturday morning. School is not yet in session, so Michiru's been very busy practicing and painting. Even now, mid-morning, she has already spent several hours with her violin. But now? Now she's taking a much needed break. She's in the kitchen and she's baking.

She watched a video on the internet about how to make cinnamon orange dessert bread, and it sounded so interesting to her that she had to try it. Breadmaking couldn't possibly be that difficult, could it? Oh the overconfidence of youth.

She always finds the most interesting things to do to fill the time before the others get up.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It wasn't too late, nor too early. The sun was up and though it was a brisk, chilly day outside it was pleasant enough to pay a visit to Setsuna's place. Ami waits patiently outside the door until her watch ticks over to ten fifteen as she had determined through her own means of methodology that it was the perfect time to ensure she wasn't going to annoy anyone by visiting too early, but with a large chance of someone still being home.

It was the first time she'd visited though. Nerves were a thing.

Before she can over think things she reaches out to knock a solid three times, and wait again with the Furoshiki wrapped box she'd brought with her held in both hands in front of her.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
There's a knock at the door and Michiru has her hands covered in flour, kneading dough on the kitchen island countertop. That's just perfect. She wasn't expecting anybody this morning. She's never expecting anybody in the morning. She's the only morning person in the house.

"I'll be right there," she calls. It's probably not actually audible on the other side of the door, though. She dusts the flower off her hands on the cute apron she's wearing over her green sweater dress. She really likes sweater dresses. And of course she's dressed fashionably even for weekend breadmaking.

She heads to the entryway and pulls open the door after just long enough that Ami might get the idea nobody is home. She just stands there for a split second looking at the bluenette and then smiles. "Mizuno-san! What brings you by the house?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno wasn't entirely sure if she heard something or not behind the door but she thought she had. Hopeful that she was right she lingers just long enough for the door to finally open. A little sigh of relief is exhaled in a plume of icy breath.

She's currently dressed warmly though, and cutely as well, in Winter leggings of dark blue, ankle boots with only a hint of wedge (no HEELS in snowy weather thank you!) and a cute dress beneath a puffy Winter coat. Looking presentable, wide awake, and not-dressed-for-school she flashes a smile back at Michiru.

"Ah, hello Kaiou-san! I know it's a bit late for it, but I wanted to bring by a New Years gift." The box held in her hands is offered out. "Meiou-sensei was kind enough to send me some gifts, but it took me a bit to figure out something I thought she may like."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou steps back inside and gestures with her hand for Ami to come in as well. "Please come in! I'm sure Setsuna-san will be up soon enough. She'd sleep in past noon every day if she could, I think," she says and then giggles a little. She's an Annoying Morning Person who lives with two people that are definitely not. It amuses her a great deal.

Shutting the door once Ami's inside, she gestures for the bluenette to follow her back to the kitchen. "I'm making cinnamon orange bread. If you stay long enough, you can try it with us!" She gestures toward the place where they store their coats and says, "And if you'd like, you can hang your coat up there. I'd offer to take it, but my hands still have so much flour on them." They do. So much.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno can only smile at mention of Setsuna sleeping late as that sounded like quite a few people she knew. "A few of my friends are similar," she remarks with a quiet giggle. Then into the house she comes.

"Thank you. Pardon the intrusion," Ami remarks out of habit as she steps inside taking a moment to stamp her feet on the mat to ensure she doesn't get anything tracked inside.

The mention of the bread being baked earns a soft, "Oh that sounds lovely!" The area for coats pointed out she dutifully undoes hers to hang it up neatly. "It's quite alright. Thank you for the hospitality. Do you need any help with it? I'm not much of a baker but I'm a fast study," she assures with all the confidence of someone who knew they were smart. Her test scores proved it.

Following toward the kitchen she allows her gaze to roam over the house out of curiosity.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Some days, it doesn't pay to get out of bed. The argument can be made that for Setsuna, that day was the day before yesterday. Sure, she had a slow, uneventful morning and afternoon keeping watch at a mostly-shut-down school...but then in the afternoon, she got yeeted...I mean yoinked by a villain.

After getting back the next day and faceplanting, she took the next day off as well.

Which would lead some to think that she'd be awake and chipper before noon on Saturday.

Those people don't know Setsuna Meiou very well.

Granted, when she staggers into the kitchen wearing just a t-shirt with a picture of a wizard and the legend 'It's called 'Splash Damage', you panzies. Now suck it up or go whine to the cleric' that's comically oversized enough to fake being a one-piece dress, it's a bit earlier than her usual.

As she wanders into the kitchen, she pauses briefly while walking past Ami stop and hug the shorter senshi and give her a kiss on the top of her head...then she keeps going...but when she passes within reach of Michiru, she stops again, then gives another hug deposits kiss to the top of Michiru's head before she finishes making her way to the horridly complicated and expensive-looking coffeemaker that takes up a whole corner of the counterspace and starts making herself some very extra strong coffee.

It's behavior that, for the MOST part, Michiru will recognize as early morning, pre-coffee Setsuna...very very bearlike.

The hugging is new, however.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou laughs at the idea of her teaching Ami anything at all about baking. "I bet you are!" She's got the test scores to prove it. "I am too. I just watched a video on this the other day, and wanted to try it out." Has she ever baked bread before? Well, no.

They're just arriving at the kitchen island when Setsuna rolls into the kitchen looking just like Michiru expected her to, even if she didn't really expect to see her until later when the bread was coming out of the oven.

Then she's hugged. And kissed on her head! She brings her arms to hug Setsuna back, but the taller woman is already off to procure her hot brown morning potion. It's crucial to a personable Setsuna, and so Michiru does absolutely nothing to get in her way.

Instead, she says, "Mizuno-san here brought you a New Years Day present." Then she sticks her hands back into the dough, kneading it just a little bit more before dividing it into three boules, putting those in baskets--where'd she get proofing baskets from?--and covers them with cloth to rise for just a little bit.

She watched a video on the internet. She knows what she's doing. Really.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Squeak. That is the noise you get when you hug an Ami from behind. A look of sheer surprize, puzzlement, and a quickly evolving blush at the kiss to the top of her head too. Then she does it on Michiru as well which gives her an idea of exactly how it looked happening in the first place.

Ami rapidly blinks a time or two. The beeline to the coffee is noticed however, and she lets out a soft 'ah ha' as if that ought to explain everything. Clearly it did. Poor Setsuna wasn't yet awake. As the clearly much needed brew was being sought she risks stepping closer to watch Michiru at work on the bread.

"Makoto-chan really likes baking. She brought me some gingerbread awhile ago that was quite good. Though it wasn't this type of bread, of course."

A little glance is given to Michiru as she drops her voice to remark, "I can wait a few minutes to give it to her, when she's more awake."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
After a minute or two, Setsuna dumps what looks like enough cream and sugar into her coffee to stand the spoon up in, then shuffles back to flop down into a chair at the island before taking a long, deep slurp of her coffee, eyes still more or less closed.

Then, once her coffee is mostly gone, one can watch Setsuna squeeze her eyes closed...then open them wide...then squeeze them closed again.

The process repeats a few times before the greenhaired woman finally lets out a jaw-cracking yawn and starts looking around with something approaching awareness, "...mmm...morning, Michiru..."

The the familar spot of blue attracts her attention and Setsuna looks over, "Oh! Hello there, Ami-chan. What brings you here at this ungodly hour of the day?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou doesn't say anything in reply to Ami because that's when Setsuna sits down at the table. She just watches as her roommate goes through her little wake-up reitual, an amused smile pursing her lips. She glances aside to Ami, to see how she reacts to seeing Setsuna wake up. And then once the green-haired girl is fully booted up, well it's like she didn't even hear what Michiru had said.

The aquanette giggles and brushes off her hands on her apron. She steps around to place a hand on Setsuna's shoulder and then leans in to give her a gentle peck on the cheek. "Morning, Setsuna."

Then she's off toward that massive beverage machine. "Mizuno-san, would you like some coffee or tea?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno is true to her word about waiting. She does so rather patiently with her hands clasped lightly in front of her as she'd placed the fabric-wrapped gift box down on the counter so that it wasn't something she had to keep holding onto. A look of vague amusement is worn as Setsuna boots up to a more awake state and then seems just completely unaware until that point that she was here.

Smiling anew she dips her head politely toward Setsuna. "Good morning, Meiou-sensei." One of these days she might fall out of the habit and call her something else. "I wanted to stop by and bring you a belated New Years gift. I was hoping I wasn't here too early for you so it seems I stopped by just in time."

Glancing over toward Michiru the bluenette gives a smile. "Tea would be lovely, thank you. I try to avoid coffee unless I really need to stay awake. Oh, but--" Here she pauses to step forward taking the box in hand to offer over to Setsuna. "I didn't realize you were such a coffee fan when I picked this up. I would have gotten something else instead." Why? Because it's a set of mixed teas with such names as 'Caramel Flan', 'Chocolate Pie' and 'Sweet Cream Sorbet'.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna actually looks quiete delighted as she looks over the various teas...and it's only a moment later before she's retrieving an electric kettle, filling it with water, then setting it to boil as she rummages for a few settings for tea.

She waves her hand in mild dismissal, "Oh, I AM much more fond of tea than coffee. I just tend to default to the latter after waking for the extra caffeine punch. Pretty much the rest of the day it's coffee for me."

She looks over at Michiru, then waves her towards a seat as she realizes that the teal-haired woman moved towards the coffee maker, "Let's share the largesse that Ami-chan has brought us."

Observation finally percolates further, "Oh! And you're making bread. Wonderful."

She then sits back down at smiles at Ami, "I hope you liked the gift I got you. I was kind of at a loss until I got an idea after hearing about one of Usagi's escapades a month or two ago."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou turns around like an oceangoing vessel, making a wide pass by the coffee machine before turning and heading back to the kitchen island. She gives Setsuna a driveby hug from behind and then slides back into her own seat and smiles.

"It'll be a little bit before the bread is ready, but it should be delicious. It's cinnamon orange," she says. The kitchen does smell of citrus zest, come to think of it.

All there is to do now is wait, and so she does. She waits for the bread to prove, tea to steep, and somebody else to say something.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"You mean when Usagi was changed into Sailor Eclipse and turned everyone that upset her into dolls or other toys? I understand the boy that teased her the most was stuck as a toy for a few days." Ami hadn't been around at the time sadly, else she would have done her best to help of course. There was a bit of curiosity as well as to how such an odd power was bestowed. "I understand there's pictures of Naru as a doll somewhere. I'm sure Usagi has them."

All the prattling about the dolls and the situation keeps her mind off of the gift she'd been given long enough to hopefully keep from looking embarassed. Hopefully. She wasn't very good at hiding her emotions when they popped up like that. Quietly she responds, "It was a very nice gift thank you. It's very..." Here she hesitates. "Is it narcisistic to call it cute?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna has a smile that goes all the way to the eyes...a plus when she raises a hand to cover the smile that breaks out over her face, "Makoto-chan told me about it and mentioned that when she tried to do her attack, it made a plush little lightning bolt...after that, I just HAD to make one...and once I started, I realized how wonderful they'd be as gifts, so that was my Christmas list taken care of for the most part."

She then shakes her head, "And not at all, Ami-chan. For one, you're a lovely young woman, and for two, I specifically made them all to be as adorable as possible...so if you find it cute, that just means I did my job well."

As the kettle hits temperature, she offers the assortment of teas to all to choose, then sets them to steep.

She snags one of the 'chocolate pie' ones to try, herself.

While she waits, she stretches a little, "So anything new and exciting happening with you, Ami-chan?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou picks 'Sweet Cream Sorbet' and smiles as Setsuna says her whole Christmas list was taken care of. "She gave me the cutest Uranus plushie, so I'm sure yours is almost as cute," she says, looking toward Ami. Because, of course nothing is as cute as Haruka in her eyes.

She glances over toward the clock on the microwave. Why bother setting a timer when she can just watch the time? Besides, it gives her something to do while she's listening. She, too, is curious to know what is going on with Ami.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno relaxes a bit as they both seem to find the plushes both adorable and normal. "Of Uranus? But you're Neptune, right?" This mild confusion is only momentary when she explains, "I got a Sailor Mercury plush of myself. And it is cute," she admits finally aloud with just a little shy dip of her head to hide her face.

"Oh I've almost finished my homework for the next quarter!" She announces with pride. Surely that was a significant thing to mention! "I visited a shrine for New Years, of course, and my mother left me a card. Um." Breifly she pauses to select a tea for herself, going for the sweet cream sorbet. It did sound tasty.

"I'm not very interesting, honestly." Looking to Setsuna, and Michiru, she smiles. "What about you two? How are you both doing?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles, "Anyone I knew in a relationship I switched the plushies. Mamoru-san got his early of Sailor Moon, Usagi got one of Mamoru-san's new outfit, et-cetera."

She then rolls her eyes, "On the contrary, Ami-chan. I find all of you exceedingly interesting. If for no other reason than enjoying see you all succeed."

She sighs, "The last time around, your group and ours were...distant."

A slight frown, "Duty, circumstance, and other factors kept Haruka, Michiru and I far away when you probably could have used us."

She then reaches out and pats Michiru's hand, "One of the things that I appreciate the most this time around is that this time, we can actually all fight together and have many, many more allies."

She waits to see if Michiru will add anything of what's been going on with her, "...as for me...well, aside from a little episode on Christmas day that fortunately has been resolved and therefore shouldn't happen again, I haven't been up to a whole lot...well, aside from that thing the other day with Sunbreaker."

Setsuna snorts and shakes her head, "I was at the Infirmary and Mamoru-san had stopped by to give me a New Year's gift..."

She pauses, remembering, then smiles, and with a twist of her wrist drops a plush of an old fighter cat out of her dimensional pocket, "He'd gotten me a bit of candy and this and some stickers based on that probe flyby the other year...when Sunbreaker runs in, grabs me...and teleported me to somewhere near the top of Mount Asama where what I gather was one of her assistants whom had done something particularly stupid and gotten some major shrapnel in themself."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou giggles. "Yes, Haruka got a Neptune plushie," she says, and then Setsuna explains further. She glances at the clock and then to the tea. And then Ami's asking about how she's doing. And so she smiles.

"I'm doing well, thank you. This has been a difficult holiday season for me, but Setsuna and Haruka have really helped me through it," she says. Her parents died less than a year ago. It was all over the news. Their plane disappeared above the Phillipine Sea.

"We've made so many wonderful memories these last few weeks," she says, turning her hand over to grab hold of Setsuna's and give it a gentle squeeze. You know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, finding out Usagi is Serenity. Wonderful memories.

"My New Years resolution is to make more friends," Michiru then declares. And she smiles. "So I'm glad you stopped by."

But that's all for her, she looks to Setsuna and listens. She heard this the other day. She smirks with amusement.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno finds it easy enough to smile at Setsuna's assurances that she's not boring, even if she thinks she may be at this time of year. The explanation earns a widening of her eyes with a soft 'oh' as it apparently clicks as to why they both received plushes of one another. "That makes sense. That's very sweet of you Meiou-sensei!"

Her attention shifts back to Michiru to listen to her with rapt, avid attention. Just as she could focus on all her studies she also focuses on each in turn as they speak. The smile slips a bit to a more somber look. "I imagine it is hard. I'm glad you have each other, then. Also us as well now," she's quick to add with another glance back toward Setsuna. "There's no reason any of us have to seclude one another. We're all on the same planet now. And-" a breif pause as she clears her throat to admit, "It gets a bit lonely at my house, too. So it's nice to have more people in my life that I care about."

To Michiru she smiles anew. "I'm glad I stopped by, too. I've been wanting to get to know you all better."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, "Well, I'm certain that Michiru and Haruka will agree that our house is open to you or any of the girls anytime you care to visit."

She then gives a look that she, of all people understands from lonliness, "And any time you just don't want to rattle around by yourself of an evening, you're more than welcome to come spend the evening with us. And we won't even mind if you want to crash for the night."

She waves a hand to take in the size of the mansion, "We certainly have the room, after all."