Session Start: Sat Jul 10 20:28:09 2004 * Lord_Darkmoon gets off at his stop. He's not said a word aside from answering Sakura's questions on the phone. He does not seem very Aware of what's going on around him at the moment. * LadyMallet doesn't get off her stop- she gets off of train with Darkmoon, and gently tugs on his pants leg as she pulls him out, looking quietly at the ground. .... wait up. * Lord_Darkmoon pauses, almost startled. "Huh? Oh." He looks around. "...this isn't your stop..." He shakes his head. "Sorry, that was rude. What do you need, Leena?" ... I'm... not sure. I think I just need to talk at someone, and... you're kinda in the same situation. I think. You know a place around here we can talk? Preferably with ice- cream, and if you're not busy.... *blink* Oh? ...I'm happy to listen. Come on, no point in standing around. My house -- oh, ice cream? Hm, there's a place around here...this way. *sets off at a pace calculated for Leena's short legs* * LadyMallet doesn't have trouble keeping up. She can do a lot with those short legs. She -is- walking normally, though, and she'd got a distracted look on her face, like she's in thought. * Lord_Darkmoon and Leena make quite the pair. He's got a very similar expression at the moment. ... well, I guess... it's kinda like you and Tiara. Why do you two hate each other so much? * Lord_Darkmoon almost misses a step at that; it obviously caught him off-guard. "It's...complicated. The simple explanation is 'She's a bitch.'" He blushes a bit in shame. "Pardon my language." ... it's okay. Well, what if she apologized to you? Out of the blue? * Lord_Darkmoon chuckles darkly. "I cannot imagine why she would. She was one of those who ... talked down the Feral Beast after..." he trails off. Yeah, it'd never happen. But...if she did...I don't know. It would, I suppose, depend why. But no, it'd never happen. I'm sure you heard her jape after the first time you saw me transform. ... yeah. ... I'm still not sure what I want so say, really. So I'm kinda rambling. I don't even know why I'm talking to YOU of all people. ... but I am. * Lord_Darkmoon leads Leena to a corner mom-and-pop ice creamery, holds the door for her as she enters, and leads her to a table. He waves at the youth behind the counter - obviously a part-time after-school job - saying, "Hi, Sora-kun," absently before sitting down. The worker looks at him funny for a bit. * Lord_Darkmoon looks at Leena at that. "Um... sorry?" So...what happened between you and P-- Athena? Well... she apologized to me. She was nudged to do it, and she didn't want to do it, but she meant it. ... for saving two ladies. ...wow. That's... much more than I would have expected from a P- - from her. ... yeah. ... today has just been really confusing. I'll say. Hey, are you alright? That dive you took looked painful. * LadyMallet pshaws. "I'm fine. I've taken worse than that." It got away, though. * Lord_Darkmoon chuckles. "Yes, you have. ..." She did. But you couldn't have fought her. Didn't you see what she was? Some real powerful fish. Still squish the same if I coulda gotten to her. * Lord_Darkmoon lowers his voice. "Leena, she wore a golden crown. I'll give you three guesses as to what she was. Even you couldn't hurt that, anymore than you could hurt our equivalent." ... still woulda tried. ... I think what's confusing me the most about today, though, is that... someone was actually nice to me, because of this whole gig. Things have just sucked since this team. * Lord_Darkmoon looks away at that. And catches "Sora-kun" looking at him funny, and looks down at his hands in his lap instead, before hardening his jaw and looking up again. Honestly...I've been glad of this team. It's the first one I've...fit in with. The first one not to ... despise me. ... eh? *glances at Sora* ... because of Feral? ... *looks aside guiltily* Yes. But I'm useless without it. Hmph. You're not strong without him. That's different from useless. Sometimes I'm useless and strong. Not against the traditional enemies. Against ... our group's foes, it's different. ... Feral is useless and strong. You can't say you're useless without him. Perhaps. ... why is so damn frustrating that talking at you is helping? ^^; I don't know? Maybe that damned article has something to do with it. Hardly. I'm still gonna kick the Queens ass for okaying it. * Lord_Darkmoon looks up as the youth comes over and asks what they want, finally. "I'll have my u-- er, a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of cherry in a coke float. For you, Leena?" * LadyMallet orders, without missing a beat, "Triplescoop vanilla, double-fudge, and strawberry, with a scoop of rocky road on the top of that!" Oh, extra syrup on that, too. * Lord_Darkmoon chuckles as "Sora-kun's eyes go wide at that monstrosity Leena ordered, and walks away. "Poor Soramaki, he's usually got help. Looks like he's on his own today." * LadyMallet giggles. "I can eat a lot more ice cream transformed. The ice-cream headaches take longer to kick in." * Lord_Darkmoon nods. "I don't think Magical Girls frequent his store, either. Wonder how his parents convinced him to work today; there's a Kendo tourney Wednesday. He'd usually be practicing for it." Darn it... just realized. Without my cousin here, I'll probably not get a discount. Ah, well. I'll have to remember to tip him well. ...sorry. So, did you accept her apology? ... I don't know yet. It's not an apology exactly... more like being let back in the tea club. ...you never quite explained how that worked. The Tea Club is...a front, right? But it's like an apology, because she's the reason I had to leave. She's not stopping me from getting back in. ... yeah. It's like the 'in' crowd of MG's. Huh. That's decent of her, though hardly nice. I guess, for you, the question is: Do you want to get back in? Hell yes. But it's like accepting her apology if I do. Kinda. ...and, what about the others? Can they now, if they want, join? That was why you fought--and lost--to Purity, wasn't it? Before this whole team, I was a -proper- magical girl. In the in crowd, kicking ass on the front lines, life was good. Going back to the club would be like a step back in that direction. ... that, I don't know. * Lord_Darkmoon 's expression darkens at the mention of "proper" magical girls. I suppose it's a question of whether they =want= in, too. I don't know if I want to go back to that, either. As much as I've had to do... this... it needs to be done, and I'm strong enough to do it. ... have you seen Sakura's card? How they list her as a renegade? Can't be both. * Lord_Darkmoon shakes his head. "Only briefly; Taki was showing them to us at the Agency." * Lord_Darkmoon leans back as Soramaki sets down the desserts and walks off again. * Lord_Darkmoon takes a bite and a sip, and looks thoughtfully distracted as he stares out the window. * LadyMallet starts snarfing down ice cream at a scary rate. I...wonder how much he's hiding... *half-muttered* * LadyMallet pauses. "... thanks for listening. It helped, I think." * Lord_Darkmoon digs into his ice cream float with very neat, polite bites and sips. You're welcome. It's...nice to be able to call my teammates "friends". It's...different. Well, yeah, that's what a team is. Or at least should be. Perhaps. But this is the first time I've experienced it. I just hope it lasts...or the whole requirement to be...what we are...ends. ... we wouldn't hold together if we weren't friends. One or all of us would crack. I doesn't matter if we won or lost. ... if I was in this with just Sakura, I'd have lost it by now. I wouldn't have been able to take it. Sakura is the first Princess I've met that was actually a decent human being. Someone -worthy- of the power and title. I've...come to like all of you. I-- I think I'd still-- *looks away* ... still what? * Lord_Darkmoon takes a big gulp of the float. Don't you lead me on and then trail off like that! * Lord_Darkmoon shakes his head, and looks Leena in the eye. His own eyes are as uncertain as she's ever seen them. "You don't think-- do you think the Shipbuilding Corporation people knew about...the thing that was there this afternoon?" Of course they did. In our world, there's no such thing as a coincidence. * Lord_Darkmoon sighs dejectedly and stares into his melting dessert. "I was...afraid of that. They're probably even...working with her." It's not a question of 'if', it's a question of 'how deep' and 'why.' ... *sip, [SIP], gulp* * LadyMallet snarfs more ice cream. She's got 2 of the 4 scoops gone by now. I... My f-- fa-- ...? ... father? * Lord_Darkmoon sighs. "I'm going to have to tell everyone at the debriefing tomorrow, anyway..." He looks up and meets Leena's eyes, nodding. "Yes. My father was there." ... ouch. I couldn't-- couldn't question him, much. But he was hiding something. ... how old are you, really? I've never seen you out of uni... ... and he probably hasn't seen you in uni. Me? I'm just as old as I look. 17. Why? * Lord_Darkmoon might be lying about his age, from the way he didn't quite meet her eyes. .. eh, no biggy. Well, again, thanks for the ears. ... if you want to use mine, go ahead. * Lord_Darkmoon smiles weakly. "Thanks. I'll...take you up on that, if I ever need to get something off my chest. I'm..always willing to help, too. Even if I'm not the most social of people." * Lord_Darkmoon finishes off his float, managing to get all of it without the obnoxious "slurp"ing sound usually associated with a mostly-empty drink. Eh. You weren't gonna try and lecture me or anything. You're quiet, and listen, not like Taki or Mina... Kyo's fun to talk to, but she's not deep enough, sometimes, and I don't wanna bog Maya down with this. Heh. Poor Maya. I am glad she got that job, though I pity her for it. * LadyMallet hops to her feet, and formally bows, deeply, at Darkmoon. "Farewell for now. I gotta get going, Hardhat's still out there." ...be careful with that search. * LadyMallet nods. "Yeah." * Lord_Darkmoon rises, and likewise bows. "I shall see you tomorrow, my Lady." He then carries the dishes with the ease of familiar habit over to a bin - it does not look like customers are supposed to do that - before handing Soramaki a 2,000 yen note and telling him to keep the change. ... you work here normally, don't you. * Lord_Darkmoon opens his mouth, but Soramaki beats him to it. "He most certainly does not. I've never even -seen- him before." Darkmoon, for his part, looks embarrassed, and hastens out of the place. Well, seeya! *waves, spin/jumps to turn around, and almost-walks out with the familiar, over-bouncy over-energetic gait of hers. * Lord_Darkmoon explains, outside. Actually, no... Sora-kun's a friend of m-- my cousin's. We eat here a lot. She gets a discount, 'cause the Soramaki's like her, but we also help them clean up sometimes. ... you don't have to mince words. Say what you mean. * Lord_Darkmoon rubs the back of his neck. "He probably didn't recognize me because I'm transformed. Anyway, see you later. It was nice to just talk, for once." He bows, and heads presumably to his home. * Lord_Darkmoon pauses. "Huh?" What I mean? Your mom, right? Huh? * Lord_Darkmoon looks...either confused or guilty, it's hard to tell. You cut yourself off... I'm not the one you should be covering yourself with. Say what you mean, if you can, and you can with me! You better, or I'll start calling you Dorkmoon again. *she winks at him* ^_~ * LadyMallet jets. * Lord_Darkmoon winces, then waves at the fleeing Lady before heading off to his home. [End!] Session Close: Sat Jul 10 22:03:32 2004