985/Days of Our Outers Episode 985: An Bookish Evening for Planetary Bookends

Days of Our Outers Episode 985: An Bookish Evening for Planetary Bookends
Date of Scene:	08 January 2024
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Nurse Meiou returns home after a very long day to find that Ami has taken her up on her offer to let the younger woman crash at her place. A relaxed conversation about reading, studying, and romance ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Ami Mizuno, Setsuna Meiou

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Ami Mizuno has posed:
The couch had been pulled out into a futon thanks to Haruka's earlier preparation. It was neatly arranged with sheets, blanket and a pillow which was just great. Another pillow had been added ontop of it though that Ami herself had brought with her: One of those super-soft character face pillows of Pompom Purrin in a cheery yellow. As for Ami? She'd turned the TV on, volume low so as to not annoy the other inhabitants of the house, but it provided decent background noise.

Ami sits in her light blue pajamas with a ruffle down the front. Something very girly but a bit old fashioned, possibly a gift from her mother. Her legs were pulled up to sit cross legged as she leans forward pouring over the manga she had in hand that had the image of some doe-eyed girl and flowers splashed across the front making it quite clear what kind of manga this was. A pocky hangs from her lips being slowly nibble-nibble-nibbled up into her mouth entirely in an absent fashion.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Not terribly long after Haruka left Ami to settle in, in the backyard of Casa Del Outer, Sailor Pluto herself alights in the backyard from long leap after a roof run into a spot that she'd long ago figured she could easily hit from a nearby building, but that would similarly be obscured from view from most all angles on landing due to trees and privacy walls.

As she walks across the yard, there's a burst of the impression of ribbons and, as one wag put it, 'cosmic nonsense'...which leaves behind Nurse Meiou, who quietly lets herself in the back door and heads for the kitchen.

She purposefully doesn't make much noise at all, as she's unsure if Haruka and/or Michiru is home and she doesn't want to disturb them if they are...which is a bit of an impressive feat given that, as is almost always the case, Nurse Meiou is wearing her customary 3 inch heels.

As she arrives in the kitchen, the greenhaired woman absently reaches into the fridge to grab a ramune...but then she blinks as her ears catch the low sound of the TV in the next room murmuring at a low volume.

Haruka would never have the TV that low...and while Michiru would have it lower than Haruka, that's a bit too quiet for even her.

On a hunch, she grabs some drinks, then still moving far far more quiet than anyone in heels has a right to (you pick up wierd little skills when you're bored for several thousand years), she walks into the main room.

The spot of blue hair causes her to pause for half a second, then Setsuna smiles and continues quietly on so that she can silently look over Ami's shoulder to see what she's reading.

Mainly because Setsuna is a rabid bibliophile, and thus finding what Ami likes to read is rather IMPORTANT information.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
'My Happy Marriage', a recently popular webcomic that had gotten a serialization, an anime, and a live action drama. It was Korean originally but had enough of a fandom behind it that Ami had gotten her hands on a copy of the original webcomic-put-to-print that was translated to Japanese. A story about an alternate meiji-era world where magic still existed. The protagonist was the half-sister of an established family of 'spirit users' who were strong, but she herself had no powers. She was quickly foisted off to be someone's fiancee only to be swept off her feet by a General she runs across instead.

Ami's just at the point where the pair are confessing/proposing to one another in the most awkward of ways. Both saying that they weren't great people, but would take care of the other, and accept one another.

The pocky has vanished. It seems this is what shakes Ami out of her reading momentarily to sit up straight blinking in the dim light that she probably shouldn't be using to read by. At least the font was big in manga. Her hand reaches out for the small box nearby only to notice--A shadow that wasn't hers stretching over her shoulder onto the bedding. Startled, the manga goes flying with a half-yip of noise from the younger girl. It barely makes it a few feet into the air before her hands lash out to smack it shut and slam it back down to her lap hiding it beneath the blanket as her head turns to peer up at Setsuna.

"O-oh! You startled me!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The tall, greenhaired woman smiles down at Ami, "My apologies, Ami-chan. You were rather engrossed in whatever you were reading, and as a fellow bibliophile, I was consumed with curiousity about what you were reading."

She absently twists her wrist...and a bottle of strawberry ramune appears there, which she then holds out to Ami, "Can I offer you something to drink?"

Once Ami takes or declines the bottle, Setsuna absently doffs her labcoat, tossing it onto a nearby chair and reavealing that she had been wearing a light purple blouse and black pencil skirt underneath before she flops herself into one of the nearby recliners, "I take it you're here because of what happened in the dorms?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno reaches out to accept the bottle without a second thought. She may not have as much of a sweet tooth as Usagi or some of the others, but she certainly wasn't about to pass up a late night snack either. "It's all right. It's your home after all," she points out with a smile.

The mention of what she was reading earns the slightest of guilty blushes, and a glance to the book she'd just hidden. "Oh, it's not my usual I suppose, but I wanted to relax a bit tonight after everything that happened today. It's a Korean translation." The truth. Saying it that way made it sound a bit more intellectual than it actually was though.

"Yes. I could have gone home, but I would have had to really rush to make the last bus out. Plus coming back tomorrow morning would really be such a pain. I hope you don't mind. Tenou-san helped set me up."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna shakes her head, "Oh, there's no reason to feel guilty, Ami-chan. One must always cultivate time to read for enjoyment or else reading would become a chore...and then where would we be?"

She absently twists her wrist...and given that she produces a paperback book in her hand, it's probably obvious by now that she's combining a bit of slight of hand with her personal dimensional pocket. Even from this distance, it's fairly easy to see that said paperback book is purple in color with a black band around the spine. The cover has what appears to be a large cauldron with sparkles coming out of it and three 'witch' hats floating above them. The title is in English letters and is apparently 'WYRD SISTERS'.

After a few moments, she puts the book back and wavewaves her hand at Ami as if dismissing her concerns, "Of course I don't mind, Ami-chan. I wouldn't have made the offer if I did. You're welcome here anytime and I'm glad you're here."

She then tilts her head, "...but why would you have to have worried about the bus?"

She frowns, "...has no-one taught you girls how to roof-run? The school is only about ten minutes from here that way."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno relaxes marginally when the talk of reading as a hobby and not just to study is brought up. Her shoulders seem to ease out the tension she had from being caught, and she chuckles quietly. "My mother rarely sees use in anything that doesn't help further progress your knowledge. Or at least mine." The ramune is opened, and she fiddles with it a moment before leaning over the side of the futon to place it on the floor. Better there than the soft cushions. With one quick smack of her hand she knocks the marble into the bottle with a hiss of releasing carbon dioxide that manages NOT to bubble over. Success. It's picked up again to take a quick sip off the strawberry beverage.

"Mm? Oh, I do know how to roof run," she agrees with a sheepish grin. "I just try to avoid doing so when it may lead to a place that could reveal my identity if anyone should see. I created a set of rules for how to handle my two different lives when I awakened." It's all said matter-of-fact without any malice or uncertainty. "That way, I can try to keep things seperate when I need to so I can focus better on one or the other."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, absently knocking out the marble of another bottle of ramune, "Eh, fair enough..." She then absently points in a direction that would intersect exactly where she came down earlier, "Still, there's a spot over in the backyard over there where you can land from roof running here where you're basically concealed from sight from nearly any angle except the one you dropped in from...and once you're down, the trees and privacy fence mean nobody is likely to see you land or de-henshin."

She waves a hand, "...and given it's maybe fifteen minutes roof running here from the school, if you decide to come over some other evening, it doesn't have to be such a severe thing."

As Ami comments about reading for fun, Setsuna tilts her head a little, "...Ami-chan...out of absent curiousity...how many months ahead are you on your schoolwork?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno takes a sip of the strawberry ramune only to pause and twist the bottle around to read the ingredient list. Only out of curiosity, really, and nothing so bad as calorie counting. "I don't believe I've had this particular one before. It's rather nice," she remarks until the question is posed about her schoolwork. Absently she answers, "Just through the school year. I haven't managed to get ahold of next years workbooks yet. The bookstore near campus was sold out, so I could only get the cram session workbooks for those wanting extra practice."

Ami looks up then to flash a smile at Setsuna. The bluenette with bright blue eyes doesn't seem as if this response is in any way out of the ordinary. "But I should still be all right, I'm confident in my abilities to start the next school year without falling behind."

Maaaybe she works a bit too much.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna blinks a few times at Ami. She'd heard tales. Rumours. Stories.

But even so, the reality is a bit much.

She then shakes her head and sighs, "That's becausee they don't EXIST yet, Ami-chan. Teachers aren't expected to have syllabi for next year's classes for at least four or five months yet, because they can't start tailoring classes until they get end-of-year tests and they can judge how the student body is progressing and where everyone will be placed."

She then smirks and gives Ami a bit of a conspiratorial look, "...which means that you basically have the next four or five months off of having to do schoolwork. All you really need to do is show up for attendance and tests and you're golden."

Her grin widens a bit, "...that's a lot of free time you've set up for yourself. What do you plan on doing with it all?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Nonsense, there's participation grades to consider, group projects that may be sprung on us, not to mention the extra credit options," Ami ticks off her fingers. Everything. EVERYTHING was up for grabs for her. "There's actually some possible competition this year for keeping the top spot so I can't rest on my laurels. Plus there's tutoring Usagi-chan and the others. Mamoru-kun is a big help in regards to Usagi-chan, but it still requires a lot of candy to bribe her as well as strict rules about no eating until break time. Otherwise she would be so distracted," she admits with a sigh.

"As for the rest, well, I can start considering which colleges..." She falters a moment even though everything was nicely planned and in line with her. There was always something to prepare for. Always. She still had time before college. Her grades were excellent. And for once she had friends to do things with. She *did* have free time, if she wanted.

"I... I don't know. Maybe I could join a club this year."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna shakes her head, "Ami-chan...you need to stop...or at least slow down a little and take some time for yourself."

The older woman leans over to the side slightly and waggles a finger at Ami, "...I've tried the all-work-all-the-time thing myself...and trust me, that way lies madness."

She then sits back and nods, "...though I DO appreciate you helping Usagi-chan with her schoolwork, I hope you remember that while the girl is not actually dumb, despite how she sometimes comes off at first impression...she doesn't have your casual genius...I imagine you've probably run into a few instances where she's had trouble and it takes you a while to realize that she's missed a concept that was so easy for you you didn't even realize it wasn't obvious?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"... I know. I'm not good at relaxing. Or taking time for myself." Ami glances aside biting on her lower lip. The bottle of ramune is cradled between both hands letting the chill soak into her fingers. It felt nice. Even if it was cold outside, she was warm enough, and cool things always felt kind of nice to her. "That's what Usagi-chan helps me with. She's good at telling me when I need to take a break. Outside of study sessions, of course," she points out. Study sessions were sacrosanct.

"There's-- Do you remember much about--?" Her gaze lingers on the manga she'd been reading before shaking her head quickly. "No, you said already we were seperated back then, I suppose you wouldn't. I keep thinking about one of Mamoru-kuns friends. He seems so familiar."

"I admit I've been working a bit extra hard the past few weeks to avoid thinking about it too much for now."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna leans forward. The part of her that revels in the old lady's joy of meddling in the love lives of her juniors is suddenly VERY interested...but while that part exists, her concern for the younger woman she sees as a bit of a younger sister is more prominent.

In point of fact, she regards ALL of the senshi as beloved younger sisters.

Still, at this moment, curiousity serves both purposes, "Sadly, yes...I was stuck guarding the gates and can't really help you too much from THAT side of things...but then again, all of you seem to be JUST different enough from your former selves that I'm not entirely sure I'd have been of any help even if I *DID* have more details to share."

There's a brief pause as she finishes off her ramune, "Out of curiousity...which one is it that you've been thinking about?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno ducks her head to try and hide her bit of a blush at that. "That's true. Even if we remember things, that isn't this life. That wasn't this world. I sometimes compare it to a dream you can't completely remember. A very realistic one," she has to admit with a sidelong tilt of her head. "But the memories are a bit out of reach for me." Then again she'd spent the least amount of time in henshin than any of the other sailor scouts so far.

At the question she looks over toward Setsuna again, pausing. "Zoisite. Mamoru said he's known as Izou Saitou here and that he would introduce me at some point." There's a pause and she adds, "The cute blonde one with long hair."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smirks a bit, "Cute blonde doesn't really help...as I recall there are two of those...but blonde and long hair? Yeah, I know who you're talking about."

She hrms, "...and Mister Saito..."

She nods, "...yes, I suppose he is indeed rather cute."

She says it in a way that's a mere acknowledgement of 'yes, that is something that I can see someone else saying'...but also without any underlying sense of 'boys are icky and gross'.

She then smiles a bit more and nods, "Well, I wish you luck in that pursuit. I know things are capable of shaking out differently this time round."

The greenhaired woman's grin gets rather conspriatorial as she goes on, "...after all, the one with the longer dark hair is apparently rather sweet on Naru-chan."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Oh, I'd heard about that, a bit. Not much," Ami admits at the mention of the brown haired shittenou. She does grow silent before taking a sip of her strawberry ramune again. Just enough to remark conspiratorially, "I heard she's started to date a model exchange student, actually." Studying aside maybe she did have a bit of a little interest in gossiping over romance.