2082/Conspiracy of Joys

Conspiracy of Joys
Date of Scene:	19 November 2024
Location:	Mamoru's Apartment
Synopsis:	Rashmi and Mamoru talk after Chibiusa makes her chaotic entrance to the timeline, and she has a housewarming gift for him. And it's so sweet I stg.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Rashmi Terios

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's later, after the chaos has died down and some people have gone home and others are elsewhere in the immense apartment. Mamoru has taken out a pint of absurdly chocolatey ice cream and offered a selection of pints of ice cream to Rashmi. There are flavors other than chocolate.

(Mamoru's has his name on it so if he can't finish the whole thing everybody knows it has his germs in it.)

"I'm so sorry," he says again, still rueful. "You came to visit and absolute nonsense happened. And yeah! This is a mosaic, I had it poly-sealed but who knows if it'll stay nice. If it needs to be fixed I'll just get takeout for a while."

The curtains are all drawn in the outside living-space area, and warm indirect lighting brings out the gold in the polished floor outside the kitchen. But it's in the much smaller (still large for a Japanese kitchen) kitchen that they're currently socializing.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Mamo-kun," Rashmi laughs, having taken a scoop each of strawberry, pineapple, and yuzu ice cream and is curently leaning against the counter. "Have you not noticed that our lives are absolutely *stuffed full* of magical nonsense? I'd... kind of have been shocked if *something* weird didn't happen, but I gotta admit... children falling from the ceiling was *not* on my contingency list."

"The mosaic is just *beautiful,* though... Honestly the whole *place* is, especially with all the trouble it took to get it finished!"

Tactfully not mentioning trouble of a more casual sort, because that's just crass.

"Also," Rashmi says, setting her spoon against the side of the bowl, "I... have some apologies to make to you, Mamo-kun. Amd I'm also sorry I didn't take the chance to sooner."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Crass to remind one's host of one's host's magical tantrum? Probably, yes. It lies, however, unspoken and nearly visible, and it's hard to tell if Mamoru turns a little red from the compliments or from remembrance.

He's at least grinning, though. "Thank you! Usako encouraged me to get what I really wanted, and I'm glad she did. I'm really happy with it. I'm -- I'm really happy, Rashmi-chan." It's almoost shy, at the end. Almost.

Then Mamoru blinks, tilting his head inquisitively. "Apologies? For what?" He laughs. "Are you sure you want to remind me?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I mean... not really?" Rashmi says, lifting a shoulder. "But that doesn't take the responsibility away, so... I'm sorry for forgetting you're afraid of fire, for one. I'll *try* not to let that happen again, especially if I have to throw something *at* you."

Rashmi sighs. "I just got... kind of caught up in the heat of the moment, and with all that paper and me in the chair-throwing stage of frustration, I just went for the simplest solution to the problem."

Shaking her head, she takes another look around the apartment. "I'm glad you're happy, Mamo-kun. You *deserve* it. *All* of you do."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Ohh-- it's all right," Mamoru says with sincere reassurance, waving his ice cream around. "And you apologized at the time! Plus, I had to be stopped, and fire is a weakness, and so even if it hadn't been an accident it would be okay with me now."

The tall teenager cocks a crooked little smile and admits, "I'm working on getting better with fire. I mean, Zoisite uses fire, and so does Sailor Mars -- I'd better get over it." He pauses. "Though it would have been really funny if you threw a chair at me."

Now he's definitely a little pink, and he briefly fusses with his ice cream, looking down into it and smiling, and when he looks up his dark blue eyes are serious. "Thank you. I just-- thank you, for being supportive, and for putting up with me when I was full of dark energy, and for showing me your greenhouse, and for everything." A beat. "And for whatever's in that really exciting box."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You're welcome," Rashmi says, with matching sincerity. "Seriously... I know it's just who I am, but it has been a *real pleasure* to help you guys out however I could."

Her eyes move to the package, and a wide grin splits her face. "Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there! Really looking forward to you opening it too, go go go!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Pink! For a guy who wears so much black and white, he's sure putting the blood vessels in his face to work tonight. Fortunately, Rashmi doesn't linger on feelings too much longer, and Mamoru's excited, he's always so excited about presents for *him*--

He's very careful opening the package, which is absolutely not 'go go go' but he's not doing it to make Rashmi crazy, he just doesn't like to waste pretty paper. (Obvious from the fact that he flattens it on the counter once the tape's come off...) (okay maybe he's a little bit moving so slow to troll.)

But finally it's open, and it smells *s good*???

Mamoru blinks up at Rashmi. "It's not a box of food, is it?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"It's food *adjacent,*" Rashmi allows with a merry laugh. "But c'mon, you could buy out the three nearest conbeni if the mood struck you, gifts of snacks are *not* good enough."

She falls silent as Mamoru unpacks the box; many, many smallish canisters full of powders and flaked leaves, all contributing to the amazing smells coming out of the box in general...

...And then three *big* lacquerware containers, of the sort normally used to store flour and sugar on the shelf. These are the bright red of the Korma Chameleon, and each labeled with hand-painted lettering; 'GM' 'V' 'TM'

"...So I wanted to get you a nice rice cooker," Rashmi says, when the first of the big canisters comes out. "But Chiyo-chan said she got you a big one, and I thought for awhile what to get you for a housewarming gift. ...Then I talked to Mami and Papi, and here you are. Spices from the Korma's greenhouse, and Mami's big three blends. ...That binder still in the box is general instructions, like how many scoops for however many people you're planning to feed."

Leaning back in her chair, she smiles at Mamoru, and in that moment manages to achieve an echo of the look that seems almost perpetually on her mother's face. Ananda Terios has, after all, made her life a conspiracy of joys, and tonight Rashmi seems to have gotten a taste of what that means.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's an exclamation at every spice Mamoru recognises, and interested sounds, and also sounding out the names of some of them and checking Rashmi's face to see if he got it right or wrong. There are a couple that he has to pause and open to get a faceful of scent, too.

When he gets to the big canisters, he takes them out carefully and looks at Rashmi while she's speaking-- and he's just smiling, grinning, because that's so much thought and work put into a gift for him, for his house-- and he looks almost overwhelmed again, but not the same kind as before, with the chaos.

"Thank you so much! I'll write a note to your parents, too, this is wonderful. This is amazing," the black-haired boy says, taking off his glasses and rubbing at his eyes briefly. They may be a little too bright.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The correct terms are nodded at encouragingly, the incorrect ones, gently corrected with a couple of repetitions; Hindi and Japanese are such different languages, after all, it just makes *sense* that pronunciation would be a skill.

And when she sees his eyes brighten, her smile turns gentle, and she tilts her head in much the same way as one would at seeing a cat do something *particularly* adorable.

Wordlessly, she spreads her hands a bit, the invitation for a hug left for Mamoru to pick up. He's already overwhelmed enough as it is, after all, let him decide if he wants to add physical contact atop that.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
(It's safe, there's not going to be a problem if Usagi comes in while there is hug going on because Rashmi is Friend! And also in a committed relationship--) (Otherwise there might have been, hahaha. Aha ha.)

He's not ashamed, he's better at showing his feelings than he used to be, but Mamoru's a little embarrassed still that physiology being uncontrollable means that sometimes you cry when it's silly to. But.

But. He sees that no-pressure invitation, and he decides all at once that it's okay if Rashmi touches him, and he goes and accepts that hug and he hugs back tight. "That 'welcome home' you gave me earlier," he murmurs, "nailed it."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Good," Rashmi says back, wrapping her arms about her friend and squeezing. "*Good.* You deserved that, too."

Rashmi's emotions are, often, much like her surface thoughts; a bit of a whirl, background chatter of a half-dozen different worries all nattering at once, but behind it all, is genuine, heartfelt caring, of the incredibly wide pool of 'people who matter' that encompasses almost everyone whose name she knows, and more distantly, all the people whose name she doesn't know. And the satisfaction that her gift, her opening words, landed exactly where they were hoped to; she's quite proud of herself for bringing *this much joy* with this little effort.

Armed ballistic toddlers aside? This has been a good welcoming party.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's a slightly damp little laugh, and that squeeze is nice, and Mamoru's so, so happy he honestly doesn't have any idea what to do with it-- in the messy pool of his own emotions, there's evidence of how much he's been withdrawn from nearly everyone, and now he's engaging again and it's a lot. It's a lot for this boy.

It's a good overwhelm, though. Mamoru draws back, smiling with still-bright eyes, and he laughs again and takes off his glasses to rub at his face again. He lets his hand drop and puts his glasses back on.

"Then welcome to my home," he says warmly.