646/Call Me On My Cellphone

Call Me On My Cellphone
Date of Scene:	25 October 2023
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Sailor Eris reaches out to Sailor Moon on the advice of the mysterious Hematite.
Cast of Characters:	Hikaru Amanaka, Usagi Tsukino

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Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
    Hikaru has spent the last few days since Hematite tossed her a cellphone and told her to call 'Sailor Moon' in more than a little bit of anxiety. Was this really going to put her in touch with that magical fighter for truth, love, and justice? Was it some kind of trick? A cruel practical joke? What if Sailor Moon didn't want anything to do with her? It was all a lot to go through. Evne more so because of the awkward disconnect she had begun to feel between herself as Sailor Eris and herself as just plain old Hikaru. Finally, though, she had settled on needing to reach out--operating solo was starting to feel not just lonely but a bit scary. Dark energy, bakeneko, ghosts... It was too much. So, she found a quiet rooftop to perch on with phone in hand and transformed. Scrolling down the list of numbers, she selected the last one, the one that the mysterious Hematite had told her would reach Sailor Moon. She paused, then punched the call button and clamped the phone against her head, waiting for it to ring.

    "Please pick up," she mutters mostly to herself. What a sight, a magical girl on a lonely rooftop fiddling with a cellphone like any other teenager.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino was wiped. Not for nothing, but getting drained really took it out of you - she was going to have to make sure Naru-chan had so many more snacks on hand, because if she felt this tired out by the whole thing, when she had magic, how did Naru usually feel? Even if her feeding La Crima hadn't made the other girl look at Usagi like she was high-grade sushi ready to be devoured, she wouldn't exactly be lining up to get drained again.

She'd dragged her way through classes, though, napping at lunch and again after class, and that was what she was doing now, when the phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

And - "Argh! Who's calling me?!" She grabbed blindly at her phone, blinking crankily, and the second she saw that it said Hematite on the ringer, she was answering.

"Hemachan? Wha's goin' on?" A huge yawn mangles her words.

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
    Hemachan? Were the two that close? Kinda cute. But also it made Eris feel like she was seeing part of someone that maybe she wasn't allowed to. She stayed dumbfoundedly silent for a moment, partially to process this revelation and partially from the sheer shock that someone had actually answered the phone. There's a long pause, then she finally manages to speak up with a low, distinctly feminine tone that probably doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to Hematite.

    "N-no! I'm not Hematite. Sorry. He gave me this phone and said I should call you. Uh. Call Sailor Moon..." A pause, awkward once again. "I'm... Sailor Eris. Which probably doesn't mean anything to you? But uh, I'm a senshi. Like you. I ran into Hematite dealing with a bakeneko. Thing. The other night." Nailed it, Eris.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The dead silence is enough to cue Usagi into the fact that this is not Hematite. And while she's not ashamed that anyone heard her call him Hemachan, she is concerned that someone has one of his phones. This isn't the one the Princess of Sarek had stolen - she'd changed the name of that burner number to Jerk Thief Bad Hero with no shame at all - but he would have told her if someone else had a phone, wouldn't he?

But before she can ask any questions, the other person is speaking. Sharing their name. And it's -

"Oh wow! Um, hi! Sorry, I - I am not used to getting calls from... Sailor Eris, you said?"

Luna is already climbing up to her bunk, scrambling closer, and Usagi rolls her eyes a little and puts the phone on speaker. Is Eris even a planet? Well, the moon wasn't a planet either, so she probably shouldn't walk right into that one, but - "I'm Sailor Moon. Um, just so you know, you're on speaker, because my ah -"

"Advisor," Luna cuts in primly. "Sailor Eris, you are speaking with with Sailor Moon and her advisor. Hematite put you into contact with us?"

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
Oh. Oh this feels so awkward and Eris /hates/ it. She squirms a little, privately glad she can't be seen for the moment. She takes a breath as she hears the response, then a second voice joins the conversation. An advisor? She stays quiet for a long moment, trying to decide what to say next.

"Ah. Yes. Sailor Eris. Hematite gave me this phone when I met him the other night. He said I should get in touch with you..." She trails off, not quite sure what to say next.

"I never thought I'd actually talk to Sailor Moon, heh." A nervous laugh, almost a giggle follows.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"That's awesome! Ah, Hematite is so -" reliable, but she probably shouldn't say that to a stranger or a senshi, "Helpful when he wants to be."

Yeah! That sounds suitably ambiguously positive!

She clears her throat, trying to make herself sound more mature and older.

"I didn't even know there was a Sailor Eris," she admits. "But I've still been trying to get a count on how many of us there are. Have you been on your own? Have you been like, awakened long?"

Luna is pondering, her ears pinned back as she thinks. Her memories are vague, but she faintly recalls something about a neighboring kingdom...

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"Reliable seems like a good word for him," Eris agrees in her most diplomatic tone. She doesn't know much about the way things are going between the other senshi and this mysterious guy in a cape, so she'd better try and not step on any toes. The questions should have been expected, but she still finds herself fumbling a little for answers.

"Ah, well. I didn't know there was one until I was awoken, either," she admits. "I've been mostly on my own and I guess I've been awake for, um. Not very long. I've just been doing what I can, fighting some monsters here and there and getting used to it--I wasn't even sure if I should reach out to others. My life got a lot more complicated you know?" Another moment of silence follows, a heavy pause as she tries to figure out how much to say.

"I don't really know much except what I've figured out myself." Maybe she can keep any weird dreams to herself.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"That's him," she says cheerfully, "I've like, brokered an alliance with him. When we can, he and I help each other out."

That was a truthful way to put it, when you really think about it. Luna was definitely giving her the side-eye, but this was the truth.

"I get it. My life got a lot more complicated when I woke up too." and her tone is gentle, sympathetic. "I transformed for the first time back in June, but and it seems like most of the others have been kind of waking up between then and now too. One of them just woke up this last weekend!" So don't feel bad, and don't worry, you're not alone! "We're kind of all figuring things out. I'm glad Hematite told you how to get in touch with me - it's not good to have to figure this all out on your own. Between the monsters, the bad guys, and school and life and stuff, it's a lot. Having a friend makes it easier."

She probably shouldn't just give away her name to someone she just met. Probably shouldn't offer up her school, either, but - "Do you go to Radiant Heart?" - there are so many magical people here, it's fine.

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"I kind of thought he had something to do with the bakeneko at first. Mysterious guys in capes seem like bad news to me..." Eris admits sheepishly. As Usagi goes on to describe all the challenges that come with being a teenager and also a magical soldier of love and justice, Eris nods in agreement. Not htat Usagi can see her. Weirdly, it is pretty comforting to know that this isn't something that she suddenly has to go through on her own. At least the magical girl part.

"Yeah. I don't know how I'm gonna fit in fighting monsters and protecting people when I have cram school to worry about most nights." Fighting evil by moonlight is surprisingly difficult when your parents are paying good money for you to go to a good cram school. Eris shift sfrom stnading to sitting on the edge of the roof, dangling her feet out into space.

"Oh, uh..." What a question. How is she supposed to answer. Obviously the answer is "yes" but what does she do if Sailor Moon goes looking and is expecting to see a girl.

"Yeah... Yeah, I go to Radiant Heart." The die is cast.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I guess I can see why you'd think that," Usagi lies, like a liar, because she had certainly only had trust for Hematite from the moment she'd met him. Admittedly, he had been helping her when she'd first met him, so that was easy, but still! "This thing with the youkai showing up, that's not him though. He's actually been trying to stop it too, because Tokyo being flooded with demons is bad news bears for him too."

He's a good guy! Her boyfriend is a very good guy, doing his best to do good things for the city!

"Were Hematite to do something with a monster, it would be akin to carrots attacking people, or ice cream that stole your energy instead of giving you a sugar rush," Luna says dryly, because she isn't fully on board with Usagi's PR spin. "Sailor Eris, you are not alone. Your fellow Senshi are also here - and even beyond them, there are many other children gifted with magic, who have made it their responsibility to protect this city. You should not abandon your studies."

Usagi rolls her eyes a little at Luna, flopping back on her bed - Sailor Eris may hear the sound of the springs squeaking.

"What she said. It's kind of hard, balancing it all, but you don't have to do it by yourself. If you run around trying to do everything, you'll get really tired! Especially because school is no joke; they're really grilling us here at Radiant Heart." It's so annoying! "If you want, we can meet up sometime. We can do it in henshin, so we can be on like, a cool rooftop where people don't spot us or something. I'm guessing you probably want to keep your name to youself, and that's a good idea."

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"Yeah there were a couple others there, too. They weren't senshi, that's for sure," Eris agrees. Whether she could really name who they were or know what their deal was is a whole separate question. The squeaking of bedsprings is curious, but Eris isn't one to do much prying just yet. She fidgets with the hem of her skirt, considering the information being poured out for her. It's very kind of them to help her, to offer advice. She sighs and the sound mixes with the rustle of breeze sweeping past her.

"Yeah, Radiant Heart is a pretty good school, honestly. That's why my parents wanted me to go in the first place so I'd be surprised if it was the sort of place you could get away with slacking off," Eris continues with a faint laugh. "But I'm used to studying so it's not that hard for me, I guess. It's all I've ever really done, study. So... this whole thing is a big change for me." She leans back a little in her seat to stare across the skyline, brow furrowing.

"Maybe," Eris says in a thoughtful tone. "It would be good to meet but... it might also be good to know how to get in touch with you and others." She's half talking herself into it, half not sure if it will be of any use. And besides that it's a bit scary, putting yourself out there to meet someone new and mysterious when all you know is that they're also a mysterious magical girl.

"It's mor elike... I don't know how people would feel about someone like me actually being Sailor Eris," she muses. "I wouldn't want to make anyone upset, you know?" Whatever that means.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Mhm. It was a big surprise for me and L- my advisor," her voice breaks a little, because Luna stomped a paw into her chest to make her not give away her name. She shoots her a betrayed look, huffing. "She was expecting to find us Senshi, and we found all these other types of magical kids instead."

Which wasn't a problem for her, but, Luna had been pretty stressed!

"Same for me! With my parents, anyway, not studying - once I got accepted, my mama and papa were not letting me turn it down. I'm not really a big studier, but Sailor Mercury - she's really into studying." Oh boy, two of them who pretty much did nothing but study? Usagi was going to have to drag them all out for karaoke, her and the Senshi and Mamochan. "As for getting in touch, we've all got these communicators! I'm sure we can get you one, just so you can like, talk to us, call for help, that kind of thing, you know? It's important."
R
"Indeed," Luna agrees firmly, "Sailor Eris, once we have met, I would be able to provide you with a communicator."

She has to make sur this is the real deal, of course, but if so, it would make no sense for the girl to not have a communicator.

But then they're both puzzled, by what Sailor Eris says next, meeting each other's eyes in a moment of mutual bafflement. Usagi takes the lead. "But you are Sailor Eris. It's not like it was going to be someone else. You're you and you're Sailor Eris. Whatever you're like, it doesn't change that. We Senshi, we're kind of in this thing from the start. So why would anyone feel any kind of way?"

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
Eris stifles a laugh at the slight slip of Sailor Moon's tongue--whoever the advisor was had obviously had to stop her form spilling any sort of secret. It felt nice, having this chat with someone else who kind of got it. The last month or so had been some of the more crushingly lonely times of Eris' life and it was a relief to hear someone say that they understood after Eris let out some of her feelings. Maybe she should do this more often? Not that she could, necessarily. Her situation was probably pretty unique.

"A communicator? That would be a big help. Thank you so much. I was worried I'd be pulling out this phone to call you anytime I needed to talk," Eris admits, laughing aloud this time.

"Well... My situation feels a bit complicated, I guess. Because of who I have to be when I'm not Sailor Eris," Eris says softly, feet kicking out into open air. "I need to make sure that I don't let my parents down, you know? It's just complicated. Awakening changed a lot of stuff for me." It had pulled back the veil that had hung between her and the world. The realization that had come with it had hit like a truck and it felt now as if she couldn't simply turn back and pretend not to understand who she was. Of course, it wasn't as if she could pretend that she could just let go of everything expected of her as Hikaru, either, right? And it wasn't like anyone would be thrilled to find out a Sailor Senshi was a boy. Or at least that she had to be one when she wasn't protecting the city.

"Sorry. I don't know if I can or should say more than that, especially if we're keeping our real names to ourselves."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It was different, meeting another Senshi like this, a cold call over the phone, instead of a meeting in battle. It makes her think of her first meeting with Pluto, with understanding who Pluto was - but even that had had blood and terror sunk in, even if it was the ordinary terror of worrying for your friend after an accident. This is so much calmer, so much easier. Usagi smiles, laying back on her bed, thinking about it.

"Mhm. They look like watches, so you wouldn't have to hide it from your family, and they can call and text. And they work, even if someone has a magic barrier up. Really useful, that, it happens more often than you think."

It hasn't happened in a little while, the barrier, but she's pretty sure that's more because of who she's been fighting with than anything. Wako-chan could put up Zero Time, and the girl with the book who was Not going to be called Book Girl could put one up too.

"There's Mahou Fite Club on campus, too. Inai-sensei, the guidance counselor is in the know; she hosts a self defense class for everyone, but after, we have trainign just for us. You can definitely meet more people there too." This is important - Usagi has learned a lot more about fighting than she would have ever managed on her own without it, and if it's only been a month or so for Eris, then she coudld probably still use the practice.

"I'll tell you my name when we meet up, Eris-chan. I don't really mind other Senshi knowing - but my advisor," and she sticks her tongue out - Luna bats at it, and Usagi stifles a shriek, trying badly to disguise it as a cough - "Ah, my advisor just thinks that kind of thing should be in person, that's all. But you don't have to share yours. And - whatever else you have to do, you're one of us, you know? We'll help you out, Eris-chan."

A pause. She almost asks about the Silver Crystal, about the princess, but Luna seems to read her thoughts and shakes her head, so Usagi leaves it there.

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"Is that what that club is? I thought it was like... for people who liked anime or fighting games or something," Eris says with clear suprise around the actual purpose of the Mahou Fite Club. It's a little wild, thinking that such a thing was just out there at school for everyone to see and hear about. She holds the phone a little closer to her ear, as if it might comfort her to hear the other's voice. And it does, she finds. Sailor Moon is so warm and kind and comforting, it's easy to believe that maybe things will work out. That she might be accepted. That someone might be able to help her figure out what it is she's doing next.

"If it's like a watch, that makes it easy. When... when should we meet? Where?" She asks. "I can probably skip cram school once or twice before my parents find out and start getting annoyed or asking questions. Or maybe sometime in the evening. Do you live in the dorms, or at home?" Eris wonders perhaps if she is asking too much questions. But she's one of them. Surely a few questions couldn't change that.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's not really a club, but I guess if enough people started talking about it, enough people might think it's one? I think Inai-sensei started the name to be ironic - and oh, just so you know, I don't think she's really a guidance counselor, so she can't like, actually help you with your classes and stuff. But she used to be like us, so she knows a lot about - all of this stuff. The easier stuff and the harder stuff. She gives really great advice, as long as it's about being a magical girl and not how to get out of your biology class."

Alas, she has tried and failed on that score! She rattles this stuff off, comfortably and with ease, sharing her resources and secrets to make it easier for Eris.

"I live in the dorms. I'll introduce you to my roommate, if you want! She's in the know too. I'm free in the evenings, or if you want to meet by your cram school, I can swing by there too, I guess? That would work! I usually try to do patrol three or four times a week, just to keep an eye on things, and riding the train will get you across the city real fast."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's not really a club, but I guess if enough people started talking about it, enough people might think it's one? I think Inai-sensei started the name to be ironic - and oh, just so you know, I don't think she's really a guidance counselor, so she can't like, actually help you with your classes and stuff. But she used to be like us, so she knows a lot about - all of this stuff. The easier stuff and the harder stuff. She gives really great advice, as long as it's about being a magical girl and not how to get out of your biology class."

Alas, she has tried and failed on that score! She rattles this stuff off, comfortably and with ease, sharing her resources and secrets to make it easier for Eris.

"I live in the dorms. I'll introduce you to my roommate, if you want! She's in the know too. I'm free in the evenings, or if you want to meet by your cram school, I can swing by there too, I guess? That would work! I usually try to do patrol three or four times a week, just to keep an eye on things, and riding the train will get you across the city real fast."

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"I'll keep that in mind. But I've never tried to get out a class," Eris admits with more than a little amusement in her voice. She leans forward, resting chin on her hands as she chats with Usagi.

"Um... The dorms are probably easiest, to tell the truth. Just let me know when and we can try to meet? It's not like I want you to have to swing by my cram school just to say hello. I don't want to be bothersome!" So considerate. She still feels nervous and a little jittery, but the warm, comfortable sense she gets from Sailor Moon is helping to soothe away a lot of her worries.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Ahh, lucky! I tried to convince them that they should let me take one of the other science classes instead, but no one bit," some classes, with labs, you didn't have to take with the entire rest of your class. Usagi, who absolutely did not want to dissect anything, had tried her best to get out of biology, and failed miserably.

Those poor frogs!

"The dorms are good with me then! But it's really no trouble - I mean, I live at school, but I dunno if you do; it would be kind of troublesome to come back to school after leaving and then still have to go back home, wouldn't it?"

That's assuming Sailor Eris doesn't live in the dorms, of coursde. "

"But don't worry! I'm good with anything. And you can text me on this phone, and I'll answer, so we can figure out a good day and make it happen."

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"I live in the dorms, too. Don't worry about that." Of course, Eris /is/ worried mostly because she's in a boy's dorm and isn't sure about getting onto a girl's floor or a girl's room without attracting attention and rumors about just what might be going on. That's a problem for future Eris, however.

"I'll text you, I guess? Maybe on Friday or Saturday would be a good day to actually meet..." She muses, half to herself. "Thanks for the help, Sailor Moon. It's good to know I have allies in this thing."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, good!" Usagi claps, audible over the phone. "Very cool! Most of the other Senshi do not live in the dorms, so it's cool that there are more of us here!"

It's just her, Mako-chan, Ami-chan, and Minako-chan, this really bumps their numbers...

"Yeah, text me. Any time! I'll change this phone's name to yours, and I'll tell the others to look out for you! Call me anytime, okay? It's really good to meet you, too."

Hikaru Amanaka has posed:
"I will! And uh, feel free to reach out to me here, too. If you want, I mean." Eris says hurriedly. She's smiling, and maybe that makes it through to her voice, too.

"I'll talk to you soon, Sailor Moon."