(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

[heavenlyskies]

Oh, it doesn't? Well, where is it, let's see?

[Out of all of them, Usagi and Minako were the two that were probably the most used to the idea of something like a familiar. Both of them already had partnered with Luna and Artemis, maybe Minako was just upset because it wasn't him.]

I mean it will probably be hard given that you're used to already have a partner. But who knows those two fur balls might still show up eventually.

[reloves]

.. well, speaking of furballs..

[ Somehow Minako just looks more dejected, but then shakes her head. ]

Hang on, wait here for a moment. I'll show you.

[ The girl runs off after saying those words, but it's not too long at all before she returns. And in her arms is.. well, it's clearly a cat, yet at the same time something is off about it. It's just slightly too big by normal cat standards, and something about its face seems.. smart? Kind of like with Luna and Artemis, really, even though this cat is much bigger and fatter as Minako struggles to keep it in her arms. ]

Here, this is my familiar. But.. why am I the one getting stuck with a fat cat when all of you get really cool familiars?! [ The familiar in Minako's arms doesn't even seem to be bothered by anything it's hearing. It's just chilling. Maybe just glad to be carried. Or it's sleeping, who knows. Its eyes are too thin to tell whether it's really awake or not. ]

[heavenlyskies]

Alright, we'll wait here for you to get him.

[Haruka remained on the bed waiting patiently, though her familiar made a point of drifting around a bit and Haruka would send small puffs of air here and there for her to drift on.

Well, it was certainly feline, though didn't look nearly as nimble or agile as either Artemis or Luna. Rather it looked like something you would see napping on top of a wall or on a counter in an old mom and pop shop. For a moment Haruka stared, though eventually, she could hold back a laugh any longer.]

Maybe they're trying to tell you to slow down and settle down a bit? Are you sure it just didn't eat it?

[reloves]

[ Cue an instant whine. If this were Usagi, she would probably have been crying already. Minako isn't quite there, but it's still an intense whine! ]

Haruka-san!!

[ Please, don't tread on a delicate maiden's spirit like this! ]

That isn't funny, this place is just insulting me..! How could they pair up the goddess of love and beauty herself with something like this?!

[heavenlyskies]

You have a nice pillow at least.

[Alright, alright, after wiping her eye for a moment she'd stop poking fun at the poor thing. But that face, and the way it just dangled there as if completely listless without a care in the world. It was very strange. An electric bear very much suited Makoto with her stubborn head and punch first approach to problems, the familiar Haruka had was fitting due to her ties with the winds and the aloof nature that she gave off generally. So what were they trying to say about Minako with this familiar.]

Maybe it's because of the warmth and encouragement that you give to others.

[reloves]

[ ...

At least that's a slight better - read: non-teasing - answer on Haruka's part. But it still doesn't seem to fully satisfy Minako. Then again, nothing probably could in this sort of situation. It just doesn't feel right for everyone to have these cool familiars and then for her to be stuck with.. well, this.

Even as she shakes the cat a little, just because she's moving around so much, it still seems totally unbothered. ]

I guess.. But it still feels like there's a prank being played on me. [ Like her true familiar is hiding somewhere else, or something. ] This is a total downgrade from Artemis..

[heavenlyskies]

Well sure, anything would probably seem like a downgrade from Artemis. The two of you have faced a lot together and been by each other's side. They probably understood that would be impossible to do.

[The same way that no one would even be able to stand next to Haruka the way that Michiru did, and there was certainly no one that could stand up to Hotaru in Haruka's eyes either.]

So do they have a name?

[reloves]

I don't know. All I know is that it's a boy.

[ Don't ask her why, okay. It's through the obvious method! Just picking him up and looking! ]

Other than that, all he seems to do is sleep or laze around. He won't even tell me his name when I ask him!

[heavenlyskies]

[Walking over Haruka patted its head for a moment before kneeling down and checking it out. Taking a finger she pressed against the pads of its paw and examined its face. It really didn't look like anything special.]

Are you sure it's not just some stray that decided to follow you around? Maybe it's just looking for a free meal and someone to give it attnetion.

[reloves]

[ Yes, just look at this cat over here. It doesn't even seem to react to Haruka's prodding. Sure, it moves, showing that it's alive, but there's absolutely no resistance at all, even though some cats - if not most - would obviously find it intrusive. ]

.. you think so?

[ Minako glances between the cat and Haruka, unsure. She can't deny it's a possibility.. ]

But if that's the case.. then where would my actual familiar be?

[heavenlyskies]

[Wow, this thing was pretty patient. Maybe that was why it was with Minako, it was something that would be able to wait out her boundless energy. Alright, time for the ultimate test, Haruka started giving it's belly a few scritches to see if it would react to that.]

Maybe it just hasn't found you yet. I didn't find Olette until we stopped at the hot springs. And really it was more of she found me.

[reloves]

Found you..

[ Minako repeats the words, seeming to ponder them. But that's not the most important part of what happens here, really. Because the cat does finally seem to react to the belly scritches.

.. but maybe not in an entirely expected way. Rather than rolling over to let the belly scritches happen, like any regular cat might, this cat instead stands up.

Not on all fours, no. It's standing on its hind legs, stretching out its other two paws in the air - almost like a human might.

And it speaks. In a low, male voice. ] Ohh, that really hits the spot.

[ He's hardly even finished that sentence before Minako is already screeching over it with a: ]

He talks?!

[heavenlyskies]

Guess you just weren't rubbing him the right way. But at least now you know, and make sure you have the right one.

[It was a bit strange the way it stood up. Haruka didn't see any markings to relate it to Luna or Artemis, which made her a bit curious about it. Though the hesitation to introduce itself was a little suspicious as well.]

So what's with the cold shoulder?

[reloves]

I was sleeping.

[ Which sure.. is an answer to Haruka's question, though not one that seems to please Minako a whole lot. Her eye is practically twitching at this point. ]

S-See, this is what I mean! Why do you have such a cool familiar, and I have a fat sleeping cat?!

[ Which.. apparently also doesn't bother the cat. He's still just chilling. Whatever. ]

[heavenlyskies]

This does seem like a pretty bad deal.

[Well this cat certainly wasn't impressing either of them. Haruka did wonder what good having such a lazy cat would be, but maybe it had some kind of hidden wisdom or super-secret power that it hadn't disclosed yet.]

Ok, so what's your name?

[reloves]

Cupid.

[ That's the cue for Minako to pick up the cat - and yes, when she's holding it by its sides, it's definitely just letting its legs hang there idly. Like a short version of longcat. ]

What part of you is anything like Cupid, huh?!

[ She's not having it. She may be shaking the cat back and forth over here. ]

[heavenlyskies]

I don't know, give him a pair of wings a bow, and a diaper and he'd be pretty close.

[Maybe this place had a sense of humor, what better partner for the goddess of love than cupid? Haruka went back over to her bed and took a seat again looking across at Minako and the cat. Well it was certainly her familiar, now the question was how helpful it would be.]

[reloves]

He'd still just look like a fat cat!

[ Shake, shake, shake.

That cat sure is getting all shaken up over here, and yet he still doesn't care. When Minako puts him back on the ground, he just curls right back up again. Naptime once more. ]

.. This whole place is a joke. Between the gross lake we fell into and this thing, it's a huge prank aimed at me. [ Minako pouts. She just knows it. When do the camera's appear?

Sure, usually she'd approach this in a slightly more mature way, but right now she's still busy throwing her huffy tantrum because everything feels so unfair. ]

[heavenlyskies]

[Wow, right back to sleep. She certainly had a rather lethargic partner this go round. A complete opposite to her high-energy ​personality. Maybe the balance is what they were going for.

Haruka put a hand on Minako's shoulder, it was a pretty rough start to things. But there was no reason to get down.]

At least we're not alone. And we have a reason for being here, the mission hasn't really changed, even it might be a little strange. You still have the rest of us to support you even if cupid there insists on continuing to take cat naps.

[reloves]

.. yeah, I know. [ She slowly says.

She knows it's true, after all. There's quite a few of her friends here, so it should be alright, but.. it just feels like she's starting with a disadvantage, while she's supposed to be the one responsible for making sure everything goes smoothly with Usagi and Ami and Makoto..

Minako releases a final sigh, and then realises nothing can be changed about this anyway. She just has to be strong, right? ]

Don't worry about me, Haruka-san. [ She says, forcing a smile on her face. ] I'll deal!

[heavenlyskies]

No doubt about that, you're pretty strong and did a great job waiting for the others. And who knows, you might even whip him into shape before you know it.

[Maybe they could get a small laser and make him chase it.]