(open) help out a newbie

[reloves]

🧙 WHO: Minako Aino and you!
⚔️️ WHAT: Minako is new to town, so it's time to explore.
🕒 WHEN: Mid-July
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: Should be none, will edit if that changes!


(a. at the senshi (and friends!) house)

[ Minako's arrival hadn't exactly been.. pleasant. Somewhere between everything being so chaotic back home right before she showed up here instead, then suddenly being dropped into the water out of nowhere, and then getting covered in gross jelly stuff didn't exactly make it the most fun course of events.

But at least Makoto helped her over to the house, and now Minako has been able to bathe and get all that junk out of her hair, things are starting to look up a little more. Or at least, Minako thinks she looks presentable enough to be seen by others.

Which means she starts wandering the house, peeking her head into all the rooms so she can greet people with a: ]

Hi! [ You know, casual. Just showed up here. No biggie. ]

(b. on the streets of camelot)

[ If you just happen to be calmly walking along the city streets, your moment of relative peace and quiet gets interrupted really, really quickly.

Because you might suddenly feel something jumping on you. It happens so fast that you can't even see what it is, other than that there's a sudden pressure on your head, like something is clinging on for dear life up there. If you try to remove it - which is possible if you put some effort into it - you'll find it's a cat. A kind of.. odd-looking cat, since it's a little too big for your usual cat, but it's still definitely a cat.

Or even if you don't manage to remove it, there's suddenly a blonde girl outright charging at you, yelling out-- ]

Wait!

[ What do you do. Do you run. Do you stay. Do you ponder why your life suddenly turned out like this? ]

(c. outside a bakery)

[ After having managed to recover her familiar, Minako is making sure to tightly hold it to her chest, not wantin to start an entire chase scene all over again.

Which means things are a little bit calmer right now. Instead you might find the blonde girl standing outside a bakery, staring at the delicious goods inside, looking like she's about to drool right over them. ]

Ahh, it looks so good, right? [ She squeezes the cat-like creature a little. ] Maybe you were just hungry too.. Rough is the fate of those who don't have money.. [ Please, Minako. You literally have a house full of friends you're staying with. Cut down on the melodramatics.

Still, her stomach growls. Loudly. That chase must have taken some energy. Do you help out this poor blonde girl. ]

(d. on the streets of camelot, less chaos edition)

[ Or maybe you, very simply, just find the girl walking up to you on the middle of the streets. Do you know her? Probably not! And yet she talks to you so casually, as if you're not total strangers. Welcome to the power of an extreme extrovert. ]

Hey! Sooo.. if someone wanted to practice these new powers everyone's talking about, where do they do that? Won't you help a cute girl out?

[ Look at her batting those doe eyes at you! You're locked into this fate now. It's inescapable. ]

(ooc: as a note for those who have threaded with me on the tdm, i am more than willing to carry those over as in-game canon, so feel free to assume those interactions happened! c: )

Comments

A

[roseeclair]

Hey~

[Said room is a rather roomy kitchen, one with a good-sized herb garden in the window sill and several pots and hanging planters of more heat-tolerant plants decorating the rest of the space.]

Just in time; chicken curry and rice is ready when you are, and I fried up some tonkatsu too!

[And knowing her for two years, the stew's spice and consistency is perfect to Minako's tastes.]

[reloves]

Thanks.

[ Minako looks around a little as she glances around the kitchen. Her hair is still wrapped up in a towel, though she thankfully managed to get it more or less clean at this point. If water didn't take care of that junk in her hair, she seriously would have screamed loud enough for the entire city to hear.

So right now her focus is no longer on her hair. Instead she can't help but think - while looking at the kitchen - that this definitely looks like a Makoto style kitchen. Somewhere between all the plants everywhere, and how homey it is.. ]

Can't believe I'm making you cook for me right off the bat. [ She says, smiling slightly. ] That must mean I owe you one now, huh?

[roseeclair]

[Makoto chuckles back as she starts dishing up Minako's plate.]

Hardly! You know how much I love cooking you guys. [And it's been too long since she could cook for Minako and Haruka in particular.] Think of it as a welcome party!

[Welcome to Avalon, and less likely to be spoken unless Minako brings it up... welcome back to the land of the living.]

[reloves]

[ Oh, it smells so good already! Minako honestly can't help but lean in a little when Makoto is putting the food on the plate, just to be able to smell it..

It really does smell like Makoto's cooking. It's not even like it's been that long, but.. well, time moves strangely when you're not exactly alive, huh. It somehow feels like it's been an eternity since she's just been able to sit down with the other girl like this and eat. ]

A welcome party? [ She smiles though, deciding to keep the topic a bit lighter for now. ] Well, in that case I'm missing the presence of some cute guys to keep us company, you know!

[roseeclair]

[That gets a light chuckle as she passes the plate to Minako. Warm, fluffy white rice, curry with a perfectly spiced roux and plump chicken meat and fresh veggies, and to top it off crispy, juicy pork cutlet with golden brown breading and perfectly sliced.]

Oh trust me; this place has plenty of cute guys. [Wink~] You missed the two living here by a couple of months!

[reloves]

[ Honestly, Minako is ready to dig in. She's already grabbing some eating utensils, ready to dig in, but then she stops.

And rather than looking at her food, she stares at Makoto with wide eyes, clearly shocked. ]

You've been living here with cute guys?! Without me?!

[ MAKOTO, HOW COULD YOU. This is a betrayal! ]

[roseeclair]

I-it's more complicated than that, and you weren't here yet! So Usagi-chan went to another place between home and here and met Ren-san there and they... well long story short, he kinda fell for her? And Camus-san is Ren-san's friend from home, but he's kinda quiet. So Ren-san bought us the house, but when Mamoru-san showed up, I guess Ren-san and Usagi-chan broke up, he decided to move out, and then Camus-san went with him. You'd have to ask Usagi-chan for more details...

[It's Complicated, at its finest.]

[reloves]

[ Makoto, please?!

If it wasn't for the fact that Minako has gone through so much wilder stuff back home so recently, this would take top priority in Minako's mind. Right now it's shoved off to the side a bit more, but it's still just.. so much.

It keeps her from fully digging into the food. She's just staring at the other girl. ]

I suddenly feel a major headache coming on.

[roseeclair]

[She gives Minako's hair (or... towel) a few pats before going to fill a glass of ice water for that headache.]

Yeah, I still have a hard time figuring it out most days. Oh! You'll like this part though: Ren-san also runs a karaoke bar here! Usagi-chan and Yuzu-chan work there; so did I until Naoto-kun hired me for his tea shop!

[reloves]

At least this place having a karaoke bar is one saving grace.

[ Of course there's others. For one, Minako is very happy to actually be surrounded by her friends - even if it may not necessarily be all of them - and have a place to stay at.

But she'll probably seem more appreciative of it once she's been able to process today's events after a week or so.

She stares at her food again before finally taking a bite.

Aahh. At least this is good. Makoto's warm cooking..

.. though, speaking of the other girl.. ]

You work at a tea shop? I guess that kind of suits you..

[roseeclair]

[Okay good, she's eating, Mako was starting to get worried again! At the mention of the tea shop, though, Makoto lights up again.]

Yeah, it is! I wait tables and help with the baking. Naoto-kun's an amazing baker on his own too, and he blends all the teas himself, and they're hands down the best teas I've ever had, I mean it!

[Is she blushing? Yes, she's absolutely blushing.]

[reloves]

[ ...

Minako is sitting here.

Slowly chewing a bite of food.

But her eyes are most definitely on Makoto, all the way until she's swallowed the bite that's currently in her mouth. ]

Mako-chan. Are you blushing?

[ DID YOU THINK SHE WOULDN'T NOTICE. ]

[roseeclair]

Ah, well, yeah. We uh... we've kinda been dating for a few months now?

[Yup, Mako-chan has a steady boyfriend here.]

[reloves]

[ It's a small miracle that Minako doesn't outright choke on her food when she hears that. She looks like she's about to, really, and she stands up, slamming her hands down on the table as she does so. ]

You've been dating?!

[ ... ]

For a few months?!

[ Geez. You die for a while, and then you suddenly come back to life and one of your best friends ever has already been dating without you having a clue!! ]

And you're only mentioning this to me now?! [ Minako, it's been like.. an hour at most since you showed up here, please. ]

[roseeclair]

I-I was trying to ease into it! I just dumped a ton of info earlier!

[Not to mention she was kind of expecting a grilling for this "betrayal," just like Ami flipped out when she learned that Makoto and Usagi haven't been going to school here.]

[reloves]

And you thought mentioning your boyfriend wasn't the very first piece of information you should have told me about?!

[ Granted, the other stuff Makoto told was actually way more important. Even considering Minako standards, technically.

But this is definitely important information to her too. ]

How did you meet?! What's his full name? His birthday? His starsign? His blood type? Is he handsome? Did you kiss yet? Is it a serious thing?! Tell me about your most romantic moments! Is he treating you well or do I need to visit him and beat him up?! [ No, she didn't bother to stop and breathe in the slightest between saying any of that. It's like a waterfall of words streaming forth right from Minako's mouth. ]

[roseeclair]

[YUP, no one expects the Venutian inquisition!]

O-okay okay, slow down! [Deep breath.] Kurogane Naoto; we met at a quest helping out the farming district prepare for the spring planting. He made sure I didn't work too hard, and I shared some of my bento since he forgot his lunch. His birthday's four days before mine [so they're both Sagittarii], blood type B, he's very handsome... n-not yet... but he's treating me really well. [Her smile goes tender.] And... yeah. Yeah, I think it's serious.

[She'll get to more romantic moments in a bit, she needs to catch her breath first.]

[reloves]

[ Please, Makoto, there's now slowing down when it COMES TO LOVE.

But Minako is definitely filing all this information away in her mind. You know. For purposes. Blackmail purposes if he ever breaks Makoto's heart, that is.

There's one thing here, though, that stands out to Minako more than anything else. ]

.. what do you mean, you haven't kissed yet?

[ She looks so surprised. Haven't they dated for months?! Minako has kissed people she never even dated, please!!! ]

[roseeclair]

[YUP, she should've expected this!]

I-I know I know I know! But like... this is kind of a first relationship for both of us and I don't wanna rush him, but then I do wanna kiss him but I have no idea how to do it and I don't want to mess up my first kiss and look like a loser! I've only kissed him on the forehead and cheek so far!

[reloves]

Hey, what's there to be so worried about if the two of you are serious?

[ Her cheeks are puffing up now. This is clearly serious talk. Minako is forgetting all about her meal for the moment, because there's no way she can give one of her best friends advice and eat at the same time. ]

Even if the first one isn't great, it's not like it's the only one you'll ever have for the rest of time! You'll have plenty of chances to do it over, that's the beauty of romance..!

[roseeclair]

[Oh wow! That speech was honestly beautiful, Makoto's sniffling back tears!]

M-Mina-chaaan...!

[reloves]

[ She may be puffing out her chest a little bit at this point. Proud that her love skills are being acknowledged. ]

So don't hold back! Mako-chan, next time you see him, just go for it!

[ Do it for all of them who don't have partners to kiss!! ]

[roseeclair]

Yeah!

[Well, maybe time after next so he's not STUPID DRUNK, but for now, LOVE FOR THE LOVE GODDESS! Have a hug, Minako!]

You're the best, Mina-chan! I've missed you so much!

[reloves]

[ She'll take that hug for now. Especially while she's also being called the best. Thank you for propping up her ego, Makoto. ]

Of course, of course! I mean, what are you going to do without me? Ami-chan is married to her textbooks, and Usagi-chan's engaged! [ Not to mention Rei's BURNING DISLIKE OF MEN. ] I don't even know how you survived so long without having me around!

[roseeclair]

[A faint laugh.]

Yeah. [It's a dramatic moment but... Makoto pulls back to give her a real smile.] I've had the others here, and lots of new people... but still really missed you, especially when this thing started. I'm really glad you're here.