1196/The Corn is always watching

The Corn is always watching
Date of Scene:	27 February 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Hinoiri and Naru discuss their new lives as captors of the corn. Naru... sends many texts.
Cast of Characters:	Naru Osaka, Hinoiri Kirara

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Naru Osaka has posed:
It's a big day, getting grabbed by cranky corn, and kidnapped and shoved into a musty terrible building. As much as it feels like sleep isn't much of an option, Naru at least crashed not so long after they got there.

Thank you adrenaline crash.

It's early, and Naru is awake again. She has taken over the chair for the moment as she sits with her phone and texts.. well.. plenty of people really. There's a frown as she glances to the amount of power left in her phone and there's a bit of a sigh. "I swear, I need to start packing battery banks, they're just heavy."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara did... not sleep well. The ground was hard. The corn was annoying. And she was a mix of distraught and angry and sad and annoyed.

If someone didn't save them soon she'd miss the mock exam. There was no way she was going to let a little thing like La Crima's unwarranted assault and kidnapping cause her to miss a test!

... But she still didn't understand WHY. Why would Norie hate her so much? She'd never even met her outside of henshin. Heck, she'd even got La Crima her familiar. So why? Why the hate? Why sick angry corn on her?

She wondered if she should just henshin and be done with it... but then Naru would know. And if Naru knew, Usagi would know. And... she didn't want to admit to either of them that she was the one who kidnapped and hurt Naru so long ago. Better to just... wait it out.

Besides, it took time to gather that dark energy in order to henshin. She had to be in a proper state of mind and, while her 'device' couldn't be taken...

It didn't mean henshining was easy.

However, when she saw Naru on her phone, she cocked an eye and got up... groaning. "Ow... floors. Not good beds. Now we know..." She sat on the bed with a huff. "Did she really not like... take your phones? Rookie mistake, that." ... Nevermind that Hinoiri DROPPED HERS!

"What's a battery bank?" ... She was serious. Then again, she, supposedly, hadn't had a cell phone back home.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Totally rookie mistake." Naru has to agree as she looks over to Hinoiri. "The floor is pretty awful to sleep on, I can't argue there." She nods towards the food. "I haven't looked to see if there's anything that's vegetarian in the options. If you're hungry and there's not, I've got a couple protein bars in my bag, but we should probably be gentle on how much we eat until we know if she's actually coming back. At least we've got water, so food isn't /quite/ as important."

Naru is pretty calm about it all as she glances at her phone. "A battery bank is a battery you can plug your phone into to charge. About the size of another phone, but heavier." She looks over and makes a face. "I don't have a phone charger with me.. and I'm actually surprised that there's power in here to be honest."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara shook her head. "Nah, I'm really not hungry. I'm... just annoyed, mostly. Ugh. This is really going to put a crimp in my study plans. If Ami manages to beat me because I wasn't able to properly study, I'm never going to forgive her," Hinoiri muttered.

"Sorry I got you dragged into this. Apparently she just... hates me... you know. It's weird. I mean... I've... had people dislike me a lot in the past. I've had people ignore me. Had a few girls promise vengeance... but I don't think I've ever had someone really hate me before. But... it feels like she wanted me dead? And I didn't... I can't think of anything I did to warrant that. A part of me is like, obviously she's just upset I beat her in a test or something. But... I just... it keeps nagging at me. Probably nothing. I don't know."

"... You ever have someone hate you? And uhhhh... get any responses? Do you have a signal in here?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I could totally go for a coffee." Naru gives a little shrug. "But yeah.. it's more annoying that anything, really." She can't help but smile a little at the competition between Hinoiri and Ami over test scores. "I suspect you'll be fine, and 'I got kidnapped' is a pretty good excuse for missing a test." Not that such a thing will be confort, its true.

"Enh." Naru is easy going about the 'getting dragged into it'. "I mean.. I could have run away, but leaving you by yourself with someone who hated you THAT MUCH seemed like a really bad idea. Especially when you don't really know why. And being kidnapped is pretty lonely, so at least you have someone to talk to." Naru looks curious about the niggle in the back of Hinoiri's thoughts. "I mean.. if you come up with whatever's nagging at you.. we might be able to guess at something?"

Naru does nod as her phone pings. "Yeah, the signal isn't great, and I didn't actually see where we went. Did you? Kazuo wondered where I was, we were supposed to meet this morning, and now Usagi knows too. So they'll try and find the building at least, but I couldn't really help them narrow it down."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a light shrug. "It's not about my grades, they're always on point. It's about... knowing I can win," she muttered. "An excuse, at the end, is just that. An excuse. But I guess I'll jsut beat her at the next mock exam..."

Hinoiri just gave another shrug, though. "It's nagging at me that she feels this way. Not the why. The why makes no sense. I'm not exactly the nicest person. And lots of people are jealous. And I don't really get lonely, I'm used to being alone." ... That didn't sound pathetic or anything. She gave a sigh. "Wow. That sounded more comforting in my head. You... shouldn't have gotten involved, though. She might hurt you. You're not exactly... ahem... known for not getting hurt in these kinds of things."

She laid back on the bed with a groan. "We're in a warehouse. A really old, abandoned warehouse. It's not like we're in one of this world's largest cities, filled with enough warehouses you could hide other cities inside them all." Pause. "... It's the one with corn?" she said, motioning to their 'warden'.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"But you already know you can win." Naru points out as she sets her phone down for the moment. "It's just you and Ami trading back and forth who gets the top grade, it doesn't change anything about how smart either of you are."

"I'm not quite as fragile as all that." Naru gives a little shrug. "I'm also pretty comfortable with my own company, and by the end of being isolated for days.. I appreciated visits. There's a difference between being alone under your own control and being confined. You end up in your own head a whole lot more."

"I was too busy freaking out about the trip.. but did you pay any attention at all to even which direciton we went from where we started?" Naru asks, looking over at Hinoiri.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"I... want to say east. But my sense of direction isn't the best. Doesn't your phone have a GPS?" Hinoiri asked before closing her eyes and just relaxing back.

"... And it's not us trading back, though. I haven't actually beaten her, only ever tied with her. But she apparently thinks I'm not capable of doing such a thing," Hinoiri grumbled, the anger in her voice quite evident. "No way I'm going to let that stand. I've just been too relaxed here lately, that's all. Back home I was always the top, just need to start expecting that again," Hinoiri said before giving a light yawn.

"I don't really see much difference, but you do you. Confined or abandoned, alone is alone. I try not to get too hard into my own head, it always results in backfiring in some way. If you spend too much time second guessing yourself, you'll be afraid to take the steps forward you need to get what you want."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"GPS is super borked inside buildings. Especially ones with a bunch of metal and stuff." Naru shakes her head on the GPS potential. "So no luck there. Although if it connects at all, even just a moment.. folks can track my phone and then we won't be here too long."

"And ties aren't good enough? You haven't worked out sharing?" Naru asks curiously. "Like the pair of you are brilliant, why not work together and be even /more/ brilliant?" Because it seems so simple to her.

Naru shrugs. "I disagree that alone is alone, but perhaps I'm just too much in my own head." She considers. "Although I wouldnt' say that I'm too afraid to take the steps I need to take, so perhaps I'm not quite that in my head, or something."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara grumbled something under her breath. Seriously. These people had gpses, but couldn't get them to work through buildings? Or at least on their phones. "After this maybe they should jsut tag you. Make sure they can track you no matter where you end up." She at least said it in a teasing tone.

"It's... not the same. I wouldn't expect you to understand," Hinoiri muttered. It wasn't good enough to be 'as smart as the smartest girl in school'... she had to prove she COULD be better. She was capable. She couldn't be perfect. She had to be better. She lifted her hands up and over her head. "Mmmff... Don't worry about it. Who all is looking for you, anyway?" ... She wondered if Sayaka was... If Double Trouble was...

"Naru-chan, I say this with love. I believe you live more in your own head than you do the rest of reality. Most people, when they see a monster, run away. Or... at least can..." Blink. Blink blink. She sat up and just stared at Naru. "... Why do you run towards the monsters? You don't have magic, right?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I've got a tag in my bag, but I expect it's probably having the same GPS challenges my phone is." Naru gives a shrug, because yes.. tagging Naru was a legit conversation that has been had. And implemented, at least to some degree.

"I mean.. so far I've texted Kazuo, Usagi, Adrien and Kyouka. So some combination of them are probably going to start looking.. and then whoever else THEY talked to." Naru glances to her phone and then back over to Hinoiri. "Anyone you want me to text and let them know you're alright, just y'know.. a little captive at the moment?"

"Not to my knowledge, no." Naru shakes her head at the question about magic. "I mean.. at least to start, I didn't so much run towards monsters, but they usually had me grabbed or something and keeping my wits about me generally meant I could help.. and I guess I cling to that idea even still? I can help, at least a little bit." She gives a shrug. "As I said.. I'm not /that/ fragile."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just STARED at Naru when she said she was, in fact... tagged.

... Who. The fudge. WHY? WHY WAS THIS A THING? WHY DID IT MAKE SO MUCH SENSE?!

She laid back down and sighed, closing her eyes. Who she'd want to tell... about her... disappearing and...

She stared at the roof for a few moments. Seeming to be considering it. "I guess... Starfish... maybe. Sayaka, yeah. But... ummmm... maybe... tell Usagi-chan to tell my roommate I guess. So she doesn't worry. She's not really magic, though. So I doubt she'd get it..." Double Trouble might... be able to use this to their advantage, at least.

"I don't know. Being helpless isn't something I'd want to draw a lot of attention to, is all. You keep drawing attention like this, you're bound to get into some... other troubles, I guess. Eventually. Maybe... but what do I know? I've been cobbed today. Seriously. Who throws a CORN COB at someone? Like... bad enough she kidnaps me. But in such a lame way, even? I deserve a better kidnapping than this."

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's just another shrug at the STARE from Hinoiri at the notion of Naru being tagged. It DID make sense.

"I can text Sayaka.. I'm not sure who Starfish is." Naru picks up her phone again to be able to add those messages to her extensive texts already today. Her poor phone battery.

"I mean.. I've been kidnapped.. twice now, although this one barely counts. I'm just along for the ride, I suppose." Naru mmms and then contineus. "And shot twice.. and I'm still here, and sane and willing to be part of the community. So perhaps the sanity is questionable, but I really wouldn't call me /helpless/. Stubborn, certainly." She pauses a moemnt and then giggles. "The cobbing was pretty funny. I mean.. honestly.. this /whole thing/.. is pretty funny." She grins. "Just think.. you're important enough to be kidnapped? But it is pretty lame, not gonna lie."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Starfish is my nickname for Sayaka. She has a whole thing for mermaids and stuff, it's cute. She might worry if I don't at least make some effort to contact her..."

She cocked an eye at Naru. "Yeah, sorry about that. Didn't think you'd get caught up in this. Then again, I didn't think this would happen, at all. I just needed a new coffee maker since my last one broke. Cheap mass produced crap," Hinoiri muttered. "And it's not like I haven't been kidnapped before, I've always been important. Just... most people know better." To be fair, it had only happened once. Turned out having a sovereign bust down your walls kiiiiiiind of left an impression to most not wanting to have to do such again.

"And the cobbing was NOT funny. Nor was the cob trying to eat my leg." Pause... and then she snickered. "Okay, fine. I can see how, from an outside perspective... the cobbing was pretty funny."

Hinoiri sat up again. "Sorry. I don't... I'm probably not the best company right now, huh? Wanna like... play a game or something?" She got up and walked to the food stuff... rifling through it, grumbling as she went.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Awww.. it's a cute nickname!" Naru grins and then sets her phone down again. "I pinged Usagi to talk to her and your roommate to let them know that you're okay. One text seems a better bet than sending more right now. I really am trying to keep battery for longer."

Naru shakes her head at the apology. "La Crima made a choice, and she for all that she apologized to me as well, she also still took me."

Naru grins at the snicker. "See? It's actually hilarious. We're held hostage by cranky corn, and omg.. this really is pretty funny."

"Is there anything over there to do? At least there was books and a dvd player at the place I ended up being held. That was nice." Naru gets up from the chair to stretch. "Or we can just chill. I'm sorry about your coffee maker. I tend to just do pourovers. A good kettle and then a filter holder.. at least when I'm not asking Adrien to make me coffee."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Yeah, she was a pretty cute girl. An absolute disaster, mind. Like. Falling apart at the seems. But she's doing way better now. And... there's... some granola bars. Meh, we won't be here long enough for it to matter, I'm sure." She pulled one and of them out, opening it and taking a bite. "Smart. Conserve resources, wait for an opening, play to the kidnapper's vanity, get a message out if you can, don't antagonize," Hinoiri recited to herself...

She walked back to sit on the bed. "Cranky corn. Apparently that I made upset. It'll probably be cranky popcorn by the end. I hope you know you're going to get utterly wrecked," she snapped at the corn. If it cared, she couldn't tell.

"And... not really. Food. Just... ugh. Hate this. So... I guess... you know. I never asked. When did you and Adrien start going out? I mean, yeah, you two had chemistry but I figured neither of you would ever actually pull the two nerves between yourselves to ask the other out."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"There's plenty of messages out, and hopefully a GPS ping at some point." Naru points at Hinoiri with a grin. "You get to practice not antagonizing our kidnapper. I'm just /saying/."

And Exhibit A on antagonizing the kidnappers. Who knows what the corn shares with its mistress? Owner? Friend? The nuances of corn-vampire relationnships are not something that Naru has spent a lot of time with.

"We started dating in late December." Naru smiles a little. "Just before my birthday. So a couple of months now.." She pauses and hunhs softly. "Feels like its still new, and also that it's been /forever/ that we've been together. I guess that's good?" Her smile is fond as she speaks about the boy. "Yeah.. there's chemistry. I'm glad we figured ourselves out and actually started dating."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara scowled at Naru. "Well, maybe if my kidnapper wasn't ridiculous I'd be less antagonizing. What am I supposed to do? Cower? She already said she's going to try and explode me with magic or whatever. Not like there's much else I can do," Hinoiri grumbled, taking an angry bite of the bar.

She then sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Sounds pretty good. You two are pretty chill. Guessing he's aware of the magic stuff, too? Like us? I, admittedly, thought he might be magic for a while... but honestly? I doubt it. He's really pliable. Unless there's a magical boy out there who's a total push over. 'Sailor Gopher' I guess," Hinoiri said in a playful tone. "I doubt it. Still... good guy. Definite issues with his dad. Has he gotten any better at telling his dad to shove it?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Sometimes, you just have to accept a certain level of ridiculousness." Naru comments with a shrug. "And you don't have to cower, but you also don't have to egg her on. It's a fine line." Which she has every faith that Hinoiri is going to stomp all over. It's fine.

"Yeah.. he's another aware but no magic type." Naru nods in agreement. "And no.. he's still not very good at telling his dad to shove it." She quirks a rueful smile. "He mostly deals with his father's assistant..I'm not sure if that's better or not." She giggles a little at Sailor Gopher. "I mean.. he'd make an adorable gopher. We went to a critter cafe, and the prairie dogs were absolutely adorable."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara stared at the corn before... "No. I refuse. There is only so much ridiculous I will stand for and accept. I draw the line at unbearable angry corn. What's next? Dancing polar bears shooting lasers?" she asked with a light chuckle, shaking her head at the ridiculous of it all.

"He definitely seems like the kind of guy who'd be a good gopher, at least. I... think I'm gonna take a bit of a nap. Wake me up if you need anything, okay? Or if like... the angry corn lady returns... or we're about to be saved."

... She really did NOT get much sleep last night.