2953/Stay With Ramen

Stay With Ramen
Date of Scene:	27 February 2026
Location:	Okujoo Ramen
Synopsis:	Following an off-screen fight, Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon, Ginga Hanma, and Puella Red grab ramen. La Crima, who is also getting ramen, joins them for a time.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Norie Okana, Chiyo Sakai, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
At least the tall boy's taken his gloves off before fishing in his bowl of ramen sneakily with one finger-- but Tuxedo Mask, sitting at a table inside across from Sailor Moon, is absolutely playing with his food. He bounces the strand of ramen, then juuuust manages not to drip broth on his drip as he drops it into his mouth.

He's looking a little scuffed, though his mask is still in place and the fabric of his tuxedo seems to have prevented road rash by bravely sacrificing itself into artful shreds at one shoulder. Sailor Moon has already removed the leaf from his hair.

"You know what the springiness always makes me wish? That I could shoot ramen like rubberbands." He picks up and dangles another noodle.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana shifts a bit. She stands out in front of the rooftop Ramen Shop hesitantly, before marching in with her tickets and presenting them. She walks over and past Tuxedo Kamen. She just walks past. Before she stops, perhaps in a comic moment, to back up, and turn a full 90 degrees almost without moving her feet as she blinks and stares.

Jiiiiiiiiiiii.

Before she finally speaks up. "Wow. You look like a truck youma hit you." pause.

"I...had nothing to do with that." she then says flatly. "I'm here to pickup ramen orders." she says truthfully.

"You...uh. Please don't sparkle my ramen now?" she asks.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
There was another 'cosplayer' that was joining in the ramen eating tonight, a plum-haired girl wearing a military-style jacket and a skirt. Honestly though, there were always cosplayers here it seemed. Ginga Hanma had run a bit late but was now stepping away from the counter with her bowl of ramen in hand as she makes her way to join familiar faces.

Only to pause as she finds a girl that was only slightly familiar to her asking Tux not to ... "Sparkle ramen? I swear I don't have any edible glitter with me tonight," she assures jokingly only to step by and carefully lower her bowl to rest on the tabletop. "Rarely do anymore. I kind of miss that from the old powers."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"But where would the ramen come from, like, is it from your body, like Spider-Man?" She squishes her nose at the thought, and her mouth had spoken up because her immediate first thought was that that controlling ramen could mean infinite ramen which would taste soooo good -

"Eh? Eh?" Sailor Moon turns her head and her eyes bulge.

"We're not trying to sparkle any ramen, don't worry? We're just here to get some after the fight so... um. Yeah. Might want to carry on and come back... different?"

Since Norie is in her civilian form, and they don't want to just give away her identity.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "The contract has been made. Your wish has prevailed against entropy. So, go now... unleash your new power!"

    Amy intones the words with a feigned fake cheerfulness. Then in a normal voice, adds, "Gods, I hope that saying something like that in earshot of him wouldn't actually count. But now--"

    A smile starts creeping onto her face despite herself as she tries not to laugh at the mental image, "Now I'm imagining Puella Noodleshooter, and the thing is it'd work, it'd be a deadly weapon against Witches and Youma..." she covers her face with her hand, fingers splayed.

    "Sorry. It shouldn't be funny. I hope nothing like that has ever happened. But now I'm just imagining... noodle attacks. Noodles binding youma. Spreading a noodle net to catch civilians and pull them away from the battle, I can see it..."

    Yet another 'cosplayer' sitting at the same table, she doesn't look scuffed, but only because her powers reset the damage to her costume. But she was very glad for her kneepads and chestplate earlier when she was sent skidding across the ground. They were pretty scuffed.

    Right now, she tries to take her mind off Puella Noodleshooter by blowing on her bowl of ramen to cool it faster.

    Looking at a bowl of noodles isn't really helping, although she's still managing to not burst into giggles, if struggling.

    Then she realizes the others are talking to someone who came up to them and looks and her face freezes, a moment--

    Norie

    Who Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask reminded her is dangerous

    But letting that change how friendly she is to Norie would be a betrayal of what she stands for

    But also she has to be careful.

    "...Hi. Long time no see. ...So what kind of ramen do you like?"

    Well, she's no longer thinking about Puella Noodleshooter, so there's that.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Sparkle your--" starts Tuxedo Mask slowly, baffled, and then his face clears. "It was just energy, and I know you can eat energy. Here," he pats his jacket down, then reaches inside and takes out a little piece of red candy in a wrapper and offers it to Norie. "Magic candy. No purification, I promise, just a little boost of energy."

He tilts his head to smile at Ginga Hanma. "You should carry around edible glitter just to prank people."
But his gaze slides to Amy and his eyebrows go up. "A noodle net."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon watches Mamoru hand over the magic candy and its clear that she doesn't necessarily think that was a good idea, but she doesn't argue, just bites half of a piece of tempura shrimp, stuffing her face with fried goodness, choosing to enjoy the crunch and juicy taste instead of speaking, for a moment.

"I don't think it's that easy, otherwise Kyubey would probably have a lot more Puella running around. It probably has to be a real agreement."

She is not quite playing with her food anymore.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana stares blankly at the group. "Oh. Right." she says. "Sure lemme just... go. Get my 'sister'." she says as she walks into the girls room and returns moments later, as La Crima. Who smooths over her dress and gives the skirt a flare and then walks back over. She answers Amy, finally, on her way back.

"...it wasn't that long ago, Amy-chan." she says. "Pork. I'm here to pick up ramen for the dorm room. Oh and. Sushi. for the cats." she mutters a little.

Look when your dormmate has cats you feed the cats.

"But that's a different place. Is this what you guys do after a fight? Huh. I feel like I'm intruding. But since I had nothing to do with whatever nonsense you had tonight I'm going to invite myself." so she sits and eyes the candy. "I do eat energy." she says as she eyes the candy and pockets it for later. "Thank you." she says. "I'm waiting for my ramen. May I ask what manner of nonsense you dealt with tonight?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I could. Glitter bombs. Heck, Reshbal would probably enjoy that, too. Not quite as dramatic as their brother, but the drama is still there," Hanma has to admit with a grin of amusement at the thought of Resbhal dramatically emerging from a dusting of glitter.

The departure and re-arrival of Norie's 'sister' has her eyebrows rising. Even so she dips her head down to take a quick sip off the edge of her ramen bowl so that she can ensure it doesn't spill. A bit unmannered, but it worked. "Sometimes," she admits to what they do after a fight. "It's always good to recharge some, and just unwind. Plus it's still chilly out, ramen is amazing when it's cold."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "A noodle net!" Amy echoes back to Tuxedo Mask as Norie walks off, worried that she sounded ridiculous. "Come on, it's... it's food and it kinda looks like string or rope, those are the associations you'd have to work with, I guess. Maybe someone could swing cutting wire powers from it? Or some kind of noodle whip?"

    La Crima comes back. Amy nods at it not having been that long ago. "I like a lot of things. I dunno if I can pick a favorite ramen, but... it'd be hard to go wrong with anything with shrimp in it, or anything with mushrooms and meat..."

    "We..." Amy glances at the others, then back to La Crima. "do frequently go out to eat after. What about you guys? What do you do after one of your monsters turns into something ridiculous you never expected and we beat it up and you teleport away?" Despite the insinuation, she keeps the tone conversational, as if they were talking about an unusual punchclock job.

    "Do you get pizza? Play videogames? Go curl up with a book...?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Mask is grinning at Amy. "No, no, you're fine, it was funny. I like alliteration."

His attention's shifted to Sailor Moon-- she's shining slightly less brightly than she was a second ago, and it's hard to see the minute changes in the muscles around his eyes from outside that mask. He has something to blame instantly, wrong or right, and he's about to turn the subject back to something ostensibly safe...

...when Amy turns into an anthropologist right in front of him. He would choke if he'd been drinking anything; he does not, so instead, his fingertips seek Usagi's bare arm and the warmth of him, of his power, is accompanied by both shock and pride in Amy. A sort of 'omg listen to her she's not losing her shit at La Crima!!' thing.

"Ramen is amazing when it's cold, agree," he says, "mine's still too hot to slurp, though."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima considers how to answer this. "So uh." she says as she leans back and looks away. "Hrm."

"Well. Usually I throw a pitched fit in the Dusk Zone where I can't hurt anyone. Then I go home and eat donuts and read a trashy vampire romance novel a little." she says as she rubs the side of her head a little.

"I'm not sure what the others do. It's none of my business." she says. "We don't usually do the group thing." she shifts uncomfortably. "Ramen is good when it's cold. I guess." she says with a shrug. "Has uh."

"Has Rashmi-chan made any headway on the uh. Thing?" she asks. "I need to ask her myself I guess but I don't wanna be a bother..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Glitter bombs would be pretty cool," Sailor Moon replies to Ginga Hanma, "Plus, sometimes it's nice to have an attack that doesn't do as much? Like, when Kamen-kun hits people with his Glittering Rose Bomber!"

Norie leaves only for La Crima to return, and at least there's less worry about identities getting tossed around, but now there's the uncomfortable reality of spending time around La Crima... and when she and Tuxedo Kamen touch, the half thought vanishes under his pride for Amy and her amusement at her turning those investigative inquisitory tendencies on someone else, 'yeah, it's pretty funny, wait you thought she'd go off?'

And then there's a question, and she has to actually focus in on La Crima, having only half-listened to her explanation of what she usually does when they stop her from hurting people for her own self-interests no, dial it back, focus on the other thing, its nice that she has hobbies that aren't bad, it's,

"Sorry, I'm not sure," Sailor Moon says politely, "Techie stuff kind of goes over my head? I don't think she'd find it a bother."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles in relief when Tuxedo Mask explains that actually he was just pleased with the alliteration.

    "Vampire romance... so is the protagonist the vampire, or the romance interest, or both, or..." She trails off. "...I haven't really read any vampire romance stories." Well... "...It's one of those things you see parodied and referenced but I've never... actually read the source material? Like, what's it actually about?"

    She looks between Tuxedo Mask and La Crima. "What thing? And uh... cold ramen, really? I guess I'll have to try it."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Rashmi? That thing? Ginga Hanma takes a chopstick full of noodles to quickly eat while she allows her gaze to shift toward her friends noting their responses to that, too. Given Rashmi was one of her roommates she was keen to hear what this was about. The mouthful is quickly gulped down.

"Cold ramen is usually eaten in Summer, Amy-chan," she supplies helpfully. "With fresh vegetables, and dipping sauce."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I don't know what thing either," says Tuxedo Mask apologetically, shaking his head. And then he laughs at Amy and picks up his bowl in both hands. "I meant ramen when it's cold outside. Any soup, really." Now he slurps.

When he's done he sets his bowl down and picks up his chopsticks again, holding them over his bowl with his hand on the edge of the table. "You should definitely ask her though."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Like cold soba," Usagi adds to Chiyo's explanation, though she's smiling at the misunderstanding. Before more can be said, La Crima's order is called, and the Dark Lieutenant stands to retrieve her food and depart before it can become cold ramen instead of ramen to fight off the cold.

Usagi relaxes a little more, chomping the rest of her tempura and stirring some chili oil into her ramen to boost the heat factor. She doesn't say it out loud, but she feels distinctly more comfortable with her gone.

"Vampire romances are usually romances where the love interest is the vampire, though sometimes they're both vampires. It's part of romantic fantasy! There's some anime about it, too, but some of them are kinda bloody."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's mind is trying to race ahead of the conversation, identifying branches and future topics.

    In a way they're both influenced by vampires, she realizes. But she's not explaining it here, probably.

    And having an association shaped by an idea -- Hinoiri mentioned her Witch had little bat wings -- is rather different from having an ancient evil monster curse you into a dark energy being and try to take control of you.

    ...That does seem like it might take some of the draw out of vampire romance stories, but maybe not.

    While Amy's thinking about this, La Crima gets her order, and Amy learns she misheard but also that cold ramen is a thing. "Huh! Well I'll have to try it, but also," she nods to Tuxedo Mask, "hot soup is great on a cold day, yeah."

    She takes a bite of her ramen and ah, it's still too hot -- and she realizes she can numb it and regenerate the tiny burn.

    Which makes her feel a little more distant from people, but also, she's thinking how many times has she accidentally bitten her tongue, cheek, or lip in the past 2½ years and she could have just healed it even though it wasn't a battle wound, she's done it for cuts and scrapes why did she never think of--

    She's not looking at Usagi as she frowns, but one might think she has a problem with vampires.

    She chuckles a bit at the comment about bloodiness. "I mean, I'd assume blood would be involved..." She watches La Crima walking off, oh well, guess she doesn't get an energy vampire's thoughts on the matter today. Remember it as a subject to talk about next time you meet!

    Amy looks back to Usagi. "Part of the romantic fantasy of... being a vampire? Getting turned?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Well it's..." Ginga Hanma pauses as she tries to figure out how to explain the whole vampire thing with a bit of a blush. "I mean... necking?" The word comes out as a little squeak, and she clears her throat some. "It's not about being a vampire, I'm pretty sure."

Awkwardly she shifts her weight in her seat trying not to seem as if she might have maybe sometime at some point been one of those girls reading such things. Then again she had been an avid reader at manga club when she first met Usagi.

"It's like, this mysterious powerful person is interested in YOU, and that's really um... " Oh what was the word. "Interesting."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
When Usagi relaxes a bit, so does Mamoru. Chiyo gets a smile at the explanation, and then the masked young gentleman goes back to eating noodles, leaning over the bowl. He hopes that Chiyo and Amy and Usagi forget he's here so he can listen to this without making them feel self-conscious by chiming in~

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Amy looks into the middle distance and frowns.

Luckily, Usagi has known Amy for like, two and a half years now and understands very well that she's just the kind of person who gets lost in her thoughts and forgets to pay attention to the people talking to her, so she doesn't assume she's frowning at her, and instead devours some of her ramen - bit of noodle, bit of shrimp, bit of baby corn - as she waits for her to come back to Earth.

"No, I mean like, gory blood," she explains, and then nods as Chiyo offers her expert opinion. "Exactly, it's about the biting being hot. Intimate, you know? Someone putting their mouth on you, taking your blood, your lifeforce, making it part of them - that whole deal!"

She said you know, but she is realizing that Amy probably does not know, even a little bit.

"And yeah! It's about the fantasy of being this ordinary person that an extraordinary, amazing, even dangerous person... decides is special and The One They Want!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Gory blood. "Oh." It's about necking? "Ohh." But also, mysterious powerful person. Amy smirks a bit. "Like a princess from outer space sweeping you off your feet and calling you an angel?"

    She sips a bit of drink. "Not that I knew that all the time, but... anyone at all being interested in me was quite a change, and she did give off this air of... charisma? Force of personality?"

    Usagi explains further. "Being drained is seen as hot?" Amy looks like she's thinking about something, and mutters to herself, "[That explains a lot, I guess.]"

    "I wonder if this is an allosexual thing, or..." She looks more focused in thought. It takes some mental gymnastics to disassemble the common fantasy into its key parts and then translate it into something similarly aimed at her. Draining bits of (regenerating!) life force, though?

    Usagi's words put more pieces into place. "Ah. And you're not only special... They need you."

    Red eyes look down at the table. "That makes sense. I can see why that kind of ending now." She mutters again, "'You needn't feed on anyone but me', huh..."

    It still feels kind of... distant, somehow, and she's not sure why.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Mask could not possibly be happier that he is wearing said mask. He's blushing while he silently eats his ramen; he's blushing so hard Kazuo can probably see the heat clear across town. He feels incredibly self-conscious for some reason? And then Usagi says the last thing she says, and he sets his bowl down and reaches for her again; if she lets him touch her, she will undoubtedly start blushing as hard as he is.

"Ah, sou, one of us must be vampire," he teases right out in front of Chiyo and Amy's ramen, the cheesiest line ever. "And you're amazing and I am always trying to get bit~"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ginga Hanma doesn't forget her ramen at all, but she does rest an elbow on the table to prop her chin on while the conversation goes on. "Or a General on the opposing team deciding you're worth risking things for." That could be referring to Usagi and Mamoru! Or it could be referring to something she's been through herself.

She doesn't e xplain more though because Tux suddenly says that right in front of her ramen how rude.

"Well you *do* have the cape for it," she teases right back with a chuckle at the pair.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It is the work of an instant to reach out, grasp Mamoru's hand, and pull his wrist to her mouth, where she takes a delicate, teasing bite, pressing just hard enough that he can feel her teeth dig towards muscle, leaving the start of an impression, but not enough to cause real pain.

"Maa, Mamochan, you just had to ask~"

Oh she really did that right in front of their friends.

And then she turns to Chiyo and Amy with a smile, "Don't take him too seriously, he's definitely not the vampire in this polycule. It's probably actually Kazuo-kun, but, you know how it is~"

She nods towards Amy, nodding as she relates it to her own experiences, but can tell she's getting lost in her own head again, and sighs, a little, reaching out and poking Amy in the middle of her forehead. "Amy-chan, can you try to stare more with us?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Or a Dark General deciding to risk things for a heroine... "I can at least follow the attraction there, inspiring someone to-- oh" She glances from Chiyo to her other two friends as she realizes that literally did happen. She's not sure what to say about that though...

    ...But she doesn't have to, and Amy giggles at Usagi play-biting Mamoru's hand then and there.

    She starts to ask, "Who--" but she says it's Kazuo, and... Amy doesn't know him too well, so can't comment.

    She starts thinking to herself and--

    poke!

    "Huh??" She blinks and looks at Usagi. "About which thing?"

    She mentally queues, as honestly as she dares, "About how vampire motifs shaped other monsters, about how I only just now realized that whenever I burn my mouth on hot food I can just regenerate that immediately for nothing compared to actual wounds, about stories I've read, about trying to take what appeals to others and trying to figure out how it could be reshaped to appeal to me or at least for me to understand it better, or... I think I'm caught up now? And the... do people find being drained that hot, thing, but that also maybe fits under some of the other headings. Hmm..."

    And she looks thoughtful again as she reviews how to better categorize her list of what's gone through her mind.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Ow!" yelps Mamoru when Usagi makes him put his money where his mouth is, despite it not actually hurting, and he's already laughing about it in startled mock-outrage. He pulls his hand back, shaking it out exaggeratedly. "Sailor Moon bit me!"

Then he smiles a little apologetically at Chiyo when she alludes to the Phantom menace-- and he laughs. "Poor Kazuo. We'll have to malign him in his presence next time. It's true, though, he is the vampire," he finishes, getting up. "I'll be back in a minute, I have to disinfect this bite--" and he slide-steps away to the restrooms.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ginga Hanma just shakes her head slightly with a wry grin at the antics. "I should have just stuck with my stupid crush on Kazuo, it would have been so much simpler." A pause as she considers the crinkles her nose. "No, nevermind, I heard his boyfriend likes to set people on fire. Still better than half the guys I apparently choose."

At least there was still ramen! She returns to eating while listneing to the conversation gon on around her.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Any of those things, as long as you say them out loud instead of drifting off into space to think about them while you're sitting at a table with us," Usagi answers a little dryly, though without anger or even frustration. She's going to have to think about some of that for a little before she says anything...

She is pointedly ignoring Mamoru's ow, smiling with the energy of a saint who has never done wrong, a Buddha on Earth. When he gets up to disinfect the wound, Usagi blows him a kiss.

"His boyfriend doesn't -" she pauses, "His boyfriend is willing to do that, but, I don't think you would have really liked dating Kazuo anyway?"

She reaches out, awkwardly pats Chiyo on the head, and says, "I'm going to go help Mamochan disinfect that, okay, bye~"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Sailor Moon bit me!
    "Oh no!" Amy says, with mock concern. "Will you turn into a were Sailor Moon?"

    "Wait, Mamoru burned--" She tries to put that together, Izou burned things, oh is Kazuo dating Izou also?

    And then Sailor Moon is leaving. "Oh! Here, I have disinfectant in my first aid she's gone."

    Well, she has hot ramen on a cold night. She will enjoy it.