1532/Irreplacable

Irreplacable
Date of Scene:	13 May 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Hinoiri comes home to spoil a convalescing Double Trouble with treats, ask them some hard questions about their past, but most importantly ask them why the heck they impersonated her in the first place. For once the chameleon chose to be vulnerable and it ended with a kiss.
Cast of Characters:	Double Trouble, Hinoiri Kirara

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Double Trouble has posed:
    With their alternate identity off purportedly visiting her parents in Italy, Double Trouble was free to stay in their room looking like themself. Which was good because they couldn't look like anybody else. Not without hurting. Mamoru and Setsuna had worked a miracle, but that miracle left them to heal quite a bit of the damage the slow, painful way.
    So of course that meant junk food and terrible dramas on TV. Presently, they were watching an American medical drama. It was so fascinating to them. Especially all the subplots that had nothing at all to do with medicine. They wondered if real hospitals were like that. Probably not. This world was not nearly dramatic enough.It was a good thing Double Trouble was here. They could change that.
    Just as soon as they finished healing. Ouch.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara pushed the door open and... smirked a little when she saw her. "More daytime soaps, huh? That's the chameleon I fell head over heels for," she said in a teasing, happy tone. She walked over, sitting besides her before... opening a small box. Inside? Were three cupcakes. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. As well as a hand pie?

"Bow made it. He even had a vegetarian one, I liked it," she said, before... gently reaching up a hand to stroke the back of their neck. "How... are you feeling? Any better?" she asked, in a soft, almost cooing voice.

Double Trouble has posed:
    Double Trouble hit the pause button just a moment after Hinoiri came in. They didn't want to miss anything. They don't really move much until she's all situated on the bed right next to them, and then they lean over to rest against her with a small, pained whimper. "I still ache all over, but it hurts a little less than it did yesterday." They nuzzle their head against Hinoiri's shoulder and then they say. "It's okay, though. Every ache and pain just makes me think of you, and then I'm fine." How...romantic?
    But who needs romance when you have food. They look at the box on their lap, their long reptilian tongue slipping out of their mouth to lick their lips because it all looks delicious. "Bow made it? Oh well, I bet it's delicious, then," they say, reaching first for the handpie and just immediately taking a bite.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded, smiling when she saw them eating the food... It warmed her heart. In a way she wouldn't have imagined it could. "I've been telling people that, well... my cover is more or less blown anyway. So I told them I suggested my roommate go home for a bit, and have been taking care of you here." Her hand kept stroking them behind the neck.

The handpie was fig with nuts and a honey glaze. Delicious!

"I.... met with that Kingu guy." Uh oh. "We talked it out, I didn't murder him, so there's that. We came to an understanding. If he ever does this to anyone I care about again, I'll kill him. He understands."

Then she sighed. "I would have, too. I was so... angry. I couldn't... control it. Is this how you felt when I was dying? When Adora..." She went quiet then for a moment, taking a small, deep breath. Then, finally, she tried again.

"When Adora almost killed me. Is this... how it felt? To see me? On the ground like that?"

"... Because seeing you like that... I.... I hated it so much. I hated everything, so much. I would have burned this world to the ground. Happily. And... and I didn't..."

She closed her eyes and tried to work up how to say it. Finally, she just said it. "I don't like it. I don't... want to be like that. I hated it. Is this what friendship is? Is this what it's like to... I would have killed for you... and it just... It made me... finally realize... how much of an idiot I've been... I could have spent so much time with you... and... because of this... I almost lost that chance. Forever... I'm sorry... I'm... going to try and be better about... I'm going to try and be better. A better person. A better friend. Just... just better. For you... you deserve it," she whispered gently to her.

"It's so silly. I've been alone my entire life... but... almost losing you like that... made me realize just how much I don't want to be alone anymore."

Double Trouble has posed:
    Pastry filled with figs and nuts with a honey glaze? Delicious indeed! Double Trouble practically inhaled the handpie, eating it quickly while they listened to Hinoiri. Which is why their mouth was stuffed full of sweet deliciousness and their fingers sticky with honey glaze when their girlfriend confessed her regret for not spending more time with them.
    It had worked. Their plan had worked. Sure they took the beating that was meant for Hinoiri, but for once the damned unicorn learned the right lesson. Well almost.
    Swallowing the last of the handpie and licking the honey off their fingers, Double Trouble shakes their head. "No. I didn't feel anger. I was afraid. I was terrified I was going to lose you. I felt guilt for how I'd manipulated Adora, which surely made things worse." They shake their head and then they smile. "But I'm not as powerful as you are, my love. You can burn the world."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave the softest little sigh before nodding. "I can. Destroying the world likely wouldn't even be that hard. Well... okay it'd be a bit difficult." Her ego, at least, didn't need to worry about deflating.

"... But I don't want to do that. And I'm... going to try and be better. For you. So... thanks."

She smiled up at them. "I also talked with... Bow. About the... well. The war. Etheria. You were like... a spy over there, right? How did... what did..." She squirmed, looking a hint uncomfortable before finally just asking. "When I was... in that portal. That space thing... I saw war. Real war. I saw people fighting and killing each other. It was terrible. I.... don't think I'll ever forget it. War on this planet... is so much different from war on my planet. What... was it like... for you?"

Double Trouble has posed:
    The handpie gone, Double Trouble moved on to the cupcakes, picking up the strawberry cupcake first. They carefully peeled the wrapper off and gingerly held it in their fingertips, opening their mouth wide to take a big bite. Yet they still manage to get frosting on their nose. It's cute. So their mouth is full of cake when Hinoiri asks them that question.
    They've avoided talking about the war in any detail. War is ugly and Hinoiri is not. But if Bow's been talking, then they can't keep quiet. They need to explain their side of things. "War is ugly, Hinoiri. I've killed people. Though that's not what I'm best at. Did he tell you about Flutterina? Did he tell you about how I made a mess of their entire operation?"
    They look down at their cupcake and shake their head, then they look back to her. "Did he tell you how I joined the Rebellion and fought alongside him in the end? Etheria is better off without the horde, and I always pick the winning side."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara couldn't help it. She leaned forward... and licked a little bit of the frosting off the tip of their nose. "You're my precious little chameleon," she said happily. "And I love you... but no. He didn't tell me that. He told me... about a place called Salineas. How you had.... distracted them and, when that happened, it fell. Collapsed, really. How the whole city had been left in ruin, because of your machinations." She was silent for a moment, lost in thought. Trying to figure out how to properly phrase what she wanted to say.

"... He said you reveled in it. That you... enjoyed... seeing those people die. Suffering. But.... he never.... told me that you joined their side in the end. So, in the end you went full sparkle?" she asked in a playful, teasing tone.

Double Trouble has posed:
    "I didn't see those people die, and neither did Bow. That was the whole point of my mission. I kept them all distracted in Brightmoon while Catra and the Horde bombarded Salineas," Double Trouble interjected while she tried to figure out her next words. "They were children playing at being generals, Hinoiri. Salineas was going to fall with or without me, I just tipped the scales toward certainty."
    They took another bite of their cupcake, then, when Hinoiri found her words once more. Chewing slowly. They did revel in it. But not in the death. That was just war. "I did revel in what I did though. Flutterina was one of my best performances. How could I not revel in such perfect drama?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded, letting out a soft sigh. "Yeah... that seems more like you. Even if it wasn't the best result, it's hard not to appreciate a job well done. I feel like that sometimes."

She then closed her eyes and rested her head on the couch, by Double Trouble's.

"... I'm happy you're not the kind of person who enjoys... that. Watching people die. I... got my fill of it, I think. Back home, our wars aren't like that. I guess it comes from having an incredibly powerful ruler, though. Not everyone can be so lucky."

The ruler she'd one day usurp.

"... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I... I should have been there. Why were you even pretending to be me, anyway? You don't really use much fire."

Double Trouble has posed:
    They stuffed the rest of the strawberry cupcake in their mouth. That way they had time to think. Om nom nom. It was very delicious. "Did Bow make the cupcakes too?"
    "I don't enjoy watching people die. I enjoy drama. People die in war, though. That's just how it is," they say. Then they shrug. "It's not like that here though. Honestly, the sparkleskirts are a lot smarter. I mean, you've met Adora and Glimmer. The rest of the princesseses weren't any cleverer." They pause for a moment. "Excpet Netossa. That woman was smart. Catra's a decent tactician. The Salineas plan was hers. I was just the distraction."
    They reach for the chococlate cupcake and start to unwrap it when Hinoiri asks that question. Pulling the wrapper off and discarding it in the box, they look up. "Honestly?"
    They take a bite of the cupcake and, again, get frosting on their nose. Are they doing it on purpose? It did get a cute little lick the first time, so maybe. They chew it and then swallow. They needed just a little time to do this because...they were going...to be vulnerable.
    "I wanted to get someone pissed off at you. So that I could come to your rescue. It's the only way I was able to get any time with you, so I thought we could do it again," they say and then they take another bite of cupcake.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara shook her head. "No. It was from this weird get together the sparkles had. I swung by to swipe you a treat."

She blinked a few times. "Wait, this is SMART? These girls are the SMART ones? Oh dear heavens that's just sad... Never met Glimmer, though. Just Adora... But wow. They stil lwon, though. So thay has to count for something..."

Of course, then Double Trouble told what she was planning. Hinoiri blinked a few times before just... giving a light snort. "You... you almost got yourself killed... because you wanted attention? Oh, Dee... you are so beautiful and wonderful but that is a really dumb plan. That sounds like something Adora or Catra would do." She then paused. Blinked. Before sighing. "Oh gosh, you didn't... steal that plan from them, did you?" Because she could totally see it. "... You really wanted to come and save me? Though? You know... nobody has ever... saved me bbefore. Not since they found me in the forest. Well... at least, not often. Not in years..." Except for Sailor Moon. And Sayaka. But she didn't mention that.

"I'm sorry. I'll try and be a bit more attentive, okay? Just... don't get hurt over me? Please?" She reached up and placed a hand on their cheek. "... I'm powerful. I'm smart. I am so many things... but... you? You are the one thing, in both worlds, I can never replace. So please... I can't lose you."

Double Trouble has posed:
    "You are not going to give me a lecture on bad plans implemented for poor reasons, Hinoiri Kirara," they say, and then lean over and place a kiss on their cheek. Some chocolate frosting rubs off from their nose. They murmur, their lips not far from her ear, "I was in character." Then they sit back and stuff the rest of the cupcake in their mouth. It was too much.
    So they had to listen to the rest of what Hinoiri had to say. And, well, they'd been crying a lot more lately. So it was perhaps a little less surprising when their inner eyelids started to blink away tears. Finally swallowing the cupcake they just say, "I love you too."
    And then they kissed her.