1902/A Purrfect Opportunity to Talk

A Purrfect Opportunity to Talk
Date of Scene:	28 August 2024
Location:	Riverside Path
Synopsis:	Sailor Moon and Sailor Neptune ran into each on a patrol just in time to take down a youma. With the dark energy purged, the creature is nothing more than a little calico cat, that captures Sailor Neptune's heart, while she and Sailor Moon talk. A walk back to Casa del Outers is the first chance they've had to talk - even a little - in quite a while.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Michiru Kaiou

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Another Wednesday, another patrol, another youma fight; a perfectly ordinary evening in the life of a Mahou.

...maybe not a perfectly ordinary day in the life of Sailor Moon, though, because she can honestly say it in't typical for Sailor Neptune to join her in battle. Still, between the two of them, the youma - an enomous beast with huge fangs and spikes along it's back - is quickly weakened, and gripping her Crescent Wand, she carves into the air the golden circle. When the line is connected, silver beams of light blaze forth, accompanied by equally silver mists, which surround the beast.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

The youma whines and mewls as the Dark Energy is burned away from it, shrinking, shrinking, shrinking - until there's nothing but a ragged looking calico cat with a dirty bow around its neck, mewing helplessly. Sailor Moon's heart melts immediately.

"Aw, poor little kitty... here, don't you want a treat?"

Thanks to Luna - and really, thanks to Koji - she's always got cat treats on her, and a little push of the salmon snack tube has the cat sniffing inquisitively, and then all but leaping into her arms to eat. She picks it up with confident surety of a reliable cat owner, and then turns to face Sailor Neptune, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you for helping me! I wasn't really expecting to run into anyone this evening." A pause, as she looks down at the cat, as she remembers their last encounter, and then she adds, "I hope you've been doing well, since we last saw each other."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Sailor Neptune doesn't usually patrol by herself. Usually it's her and Uranus together. But sometimes she needs to get out and think. So she'll just wander where the currents take her, and sometimes that leads her to a youma that needs fighting. Thankfully, this time it wasn't just her.

Neptune really shines in a support role. Using her Submarine Reflection, she finds the weakest, most vulnerable spots so that the pair of them can focus their attacks. Just one Deep Submerge and a flurry of smaller attacks and it was ready for Sailor Moon's purification.

Her lips press into an amused smile as she approaches looking at Sailor Moon with the cat. The girl is so good with it. She dips her head when the blonde speaks and lets her eyes lid. "I have. It's been relatively quiet, thankfully," she says. "I've honestly spent most of the last month in my studio, practicing for my busy fall season."

She turns to look around the park and says, "I was just out for a walk with my thoughts." She takes a deep breath and lets it out before looking back to Sailor Moon, "and they led me here to you."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The little calico cat in Usagi's arms is definitely going be taken to the Animal Care Club, where it's sure to be loved on and cared for until someone picks it up and takes it home, or to a shelter. She'd consider seeing if Rei-chan wanted a shrine cat, but, well, there was the matter of Phobos and Deimos. And she'd consider seeing if Wako-chan wanted a shrine cat, but, her shrine spot was at her fiancé's house, and she was pretty sure that would be rude.

So for now? The poor thing will come back to Radiant Heart with her. And before then - it will stay in her arms, a perfect cuddly weight. Not that she wants something to hold onto! It's clearly just to console the kitty.

"You're going to be doing more concerts?" Of course she's heard about Michiru Kaiou's musical career... from Ami-chan and Luna, admittedly. What can she say? She's hardly the classical music connoisseur! "I'm sure you'll do great. You've got such a great reputation for a reason, right?"

That's reasonable to say, yeah? Not too effusive, not too stiff, all that? But then Sailor Neptune looks around the park, and says that she was with her thoughts when they lead them to Sailor Moon, and she pauses, waiting for a moment - but there's nothing else shared. So she ventures, "Maybe I can help with them, then?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Neptune steps closer and reaches out with her gloved hand to give the cat a few scritches between its ears. "I think I'm the most at ease when I'm performing," she says softly, almost like she's saying it to the cat. "I've always had concerts. My father always made sure."

She pulls her hand back and looks up to meet Sailor Moon's eyes. "I was relieved that my whole life did not flash before my eyes," she says. And really if it would happen to anybody, it would be her. "But Paris did give me some perspective."

Taking a breath, she launches right into an apology. "I was a real bitch to you and Mercury, and I'm sorry. I should have waited longer to reach out until I had a better handle on my feelings and could be kind."

She really does not do small talk.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The cat purrs a little, when Neptune scritches it, still licking away at the snack tube Moon has offered it. It's clearly well-socialized, and though the dirty ribbon invites a tale of toe, purification has done it's job. The demons that haunt this little cat have fled.

The quiet words might not mean much to the cat, but they add pieces of a puzzle for Sailor Moon; not that she knows where to fit the pieces, but they're still pieces. They're still something to consider and think about.

And then - before she can even respond to the near blow that is the mention of Paris, though it was always right beneath the surface - Neptune is dropping right into the heart of things.

And boy, is Sailor Moon glad for the cat, because she can't flail ridiculously when there's cat.

"You - I mean - " it's not like she disagrees. But it would be rude - and mean - to say so. "Thank you for the apology," she says instead. "And I wasn't exactly at my best either. I'm... also sorry it took Paris and like a whole month -" a month and thirteen days, yes, she has been counting the days since the end - "For us to talk again."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou had never had a pet. She'd never had time for one. She traveled constantly. And she'd just never really considered she might one one. So, when she reached out to scritch the cat between its ears and it pressed its head against the scritches and purred? Neptune decided right then and there that cat was coming home with her.

Her eyes lid and she smiles, shaking her head before looking down at the cat again. "Everything happens in its own time, Princess," she says. "The currents brought me to you tonight for a reason." That reason is calico and cute. "Perhaps if we'd talked sooner, this would not have happened."

She reaches out to scritch the cat some more. "You're going to need somewhere to go, aren't you?" She coos. They are not that far from the mansion. Michiru had not been walking for very long before she'd felt the youma's energy and henshined. She looks up to Sailor Moon and grins. "Wanna walk me home? I think the house needs a cat."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The cat is happy to be patted, happy to be snacking, and more than willing to be scratched - it turns its head this way and that to encourage more scratching, in it's favorite spots.

Sailor Moon is, to put it simply, very amused by this. She's never seen someone fall this hard and this fast, and if she could, she'd tell Luna to take notes. (Not that Luna isn't cute! But she sure hadn't won Usagi over this easily.)

"Maybe so," she agrees, looking down at the happy, relaxed cat. "If you want to keep it, I've got more snacks in my pocket. I always keep a bunch of them, because of Luna and Anko."

Between her own precious guardian mau cat and Mamoru's bakeneko, the snacks never went to waste. At the request, she considers carefully - and nods, with a faint smile. She'd been to Setsuna's house recently, even if just the outside - so this time... this time she can head over, again.

Baby steps.

"Sure, I can do that. Do you want to hold it, then? The walk home will let them get used to you." There's a faint smile on her face as she offers the cat.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
"Oh, uh, sure!" Neptune had not really thought that far ahead, but if the cat was going to come home with her. If it was...her...cat. Then her holding it made sense. She brought up both hands to gingerly take the cute little calico from Sailor Moon. Cradling it close, she looked down. And then back up to Sailor Moon. It was such a pure, honest joy in her eyes.

Smiling, she turns and starts to walk down the path in the direction she'd been coming from when she arrived. "So, I've mostly a hermit since we got back. What have you been up to?"

She looks aside at Sailor Moon for a moment before looking back to the cat. She brings one hand up to scritch under its chin and she coos, quietly, "What are we going to call you?" She's listening, really.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon is very careful in handing over the cat, and then showing Neptune how to hold it, including actually adjust her arm if she's allowed, until the cat is comfortably cradled. She's not nervous about Neptune having the cat - especially when she sees the joy in her eyes.

Cute. She'd never had a pet either, until Luna crashed into her life, and it's not like Luna is exactly a pet, but - there's something precious about holding a small life in your hands.

As they walk, she considers the question - "Well, Kamen-kun is working on moving out, so I've been helping with that. And a few other things happened... Hinoiri-chan got turned into a pegasus - she'd call it an alicorn - about as big as that cat for a while. And Hope Blossom - she's the pink haired girl with the bow and the benotafraids? - lost a few of her chara, they're uh... a little full of Dark Energy, now. Trying to experiment on Witches, to save them. But considering how projects on Dark Energy go..."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Neptune allows her arms to be moved and positioned. She's not ever held a cat before, and she hates doing things poorly. Sailor Moon obviously knows what she's doing. She has Luna.

Once they're walking, she listens as she idly scritches the cat in her arms. She's mostly looking at the cat but also where they're going. She knows the neighborhood pretty well and can typically walk around with her eyes closed. She can feel her way around.

She doesn't really know what to say about a lot of those things, but there's a point of contention and it's on a technicality. That's exactly the kind of thing her autistic brain loves. So out of everything Sailor Moon says, what does she latch onto? "A pegasus does not typically have a horn, but an alicorn does. Did she have both wings and a horn?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"She had both, but I've seen them called pegasus when they have both too," Sailor Moon says with a shrug, "I'll call her an alicorn to her face if she wants to be called one, but in my head the species is always gonna be a Pegasus, you know?"

If Hinoiri says she was an alicorn then Usagi will accept that she calls herself an alicorn! But you know? There's more than one term that's right, and the one she's used to is the one she's used to.

"She wanted to become one when she blew up the sun, too, but she didn't manage it. This time, I think it was an experiment? And she was tiny."

Very cute.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru just tries to imagine Hinoiri as a tiny alicorn, and can't help but giggle. "So she didn't quite get what she wanted. It must have been so frustrating for her to get so close and still fall short." She couldn't resist. The pun popped into her head and demanded she speak it. "I gather she's better now."

They get to one of the exits from the park, and Michiru leads the way out, walking along the street toward the house. "So there's some little chara running around trying to save monsters with Dark Energy?" She blinks. That's not the end of the world she's seen either. Tokyo is such a strange place to live. "That can't possibly end well, though it sounds like they're at least...well-intentioned?"

Looking back down at the cat--her cat--she smiles and makes some cooing sounds. "You know. If you and Kamen-kun ever want to come to a concert. I can always get comp tickets."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Honestly I think she was happier that way," she sighs a little, thinking about it.

"I mean, obviously she probably likes being bigger than a cat. But, she had magic. She's taking it hard that she doesn't have any now, and she's not been able to unlock anything on her own... and I don't really know what to tell her, because I mean, it's not like I think she went all destroy the sun on purpose, but I also don't want to take her up to the Moon to see if she turns out like Naru-chan either?"

Did that make sense at all? Should she have said any of that to Michiru, when they aren't exactly friends?

Too late now, and at least there's something more relevant to talk about - "Yeah. I mean, they're..."

She grimaces.

"There's more to Witches than it looks. And they're trying to figure out how to help them, and I mean - who wouldn't want them to be helped? But they're Hope Blossom's dreams, and I don't think they can do it on their own, so when I run into them, I try to talk them into going home."

She shrugs, then looks surprised.

"I've never tried, but - that'd be nice, maybe. I'll let you know."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
They really weren't that far away. They turn around a corner and it's the street the mansion is situated on. The gates just a little ways off. By the time they get there, Michiru's playing with the cat, letting it get her still-gloved hand. It's like wearing armor. Soft, silky armor that the cat's claws definitely can't pierce.

"Well, I'm glad they're trying to help. I just hope it turns out alright. If you're there, I'm sure it'll go just fine," Michiru says, looking up to smile at Sailor Moon for a moment.

Passing through the gates, she walks across the drive to the front doors of the house and stops, turning to Sailor Moon. "Would you like to come in? I'll send my driver out to get some things for our little friend here." Looking back down at the cat, she plays with it some more. "Yes, you're a big scary kaiju aren't you? So ferocious."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'll let you guys know if it looks like it's going to end up going nuts," Usagi says honestly, "Though, who knows if you'll get the notification in time to help. But... thanks. There's a lot of people worried about them, so I think it will turn out alright."

They really weren't far away at all. Just one more corner, and there it is - the mansion that the Outer Senshi live in. The mansion Hotaru Tomoe lives in too, taking shelter from Obsidian. Firefly. Saturn.

Usagi's faced a lot of things, over the last few months. Many of them she wishes she'd never had to deal with. Hotaru... is something she can put off, at least for a little while. Michiru's apologized for the things she said, back then, and Usagi's accepted the apology - but she hasn't forgotten the words. And maybe, right now, she's being a bad leader. But.

"Not this time, I've still got a patrol to finish" she says, and there's not a hint of shame, but maybe a bit of regret in her eyes. "But I'm glad we got to talk. And I'm glad you got to meet this little creature. Thanks again, Neptune-san."

And she dips into a polite little bow, before turning and hop, hop, hopping across the rooftops of the neighborhood, continuing her patrol.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Neptune smiles. "Of course. You have a patrol to finish," she says, echoing back the rationale. "We aren't going anywhere. You'll just have to stop by again soon so you can make sure Kaiju's getting settled in properly," she says. Seems like she decided on a name already.

She lifted a gloved hand to wave to Sailor Moon as she hopped away, and then turned into the house. Her henshin dropped as she passed through the door and she set the cat down on the floor. "Alright, you little monster, let's find you something more to eat, huh?"

That cat is going to be so spoiled.