Scene #8718: I Think This World Is Precious

Owner	Pose
Meika Kirenai	Kagoshima's stormdrain system may not have any crocodiles or piranhas in it (nor, often, even much water in its brickwork channels), but in a part of it long-since abandonded from a Temptation attack, it does play host to a flock of magical girls and their hideout. Musty brickwork, old cigarette butts dissolving in puddles, fairy lights, hammocks, and a handful of other conviniences shape out nearly the only spot in the entire city that's truly just for them. It's dreadfully dull, really, to be stuck down here. Meika knows it, even though she's not one of its two proper residents- so her route back from her after-school shift at work takes her here, and not home with her youngest sister, to burn the little free time she has between then and the nightly vigil of watching for monsters, with Love and Justice. Kyou will understand. I left her dinner in the fridge. She'll be okay. There's no flashlight that warns of Meika's appearance into the lit-up areas of the old, abandonded sewer hideout- that's normal, Meika could navigate here by familiarity, even without leaning the senses she has other than sight. Her footsteps, in faint puddles and against the brickwork, do actually echo, though- there's no need for silence here. For as disheveled as she is, for all her wrinkled clothes smell like recent tobacco, antiseptic, and long-stale alcohol, for the bags under her eyes and the tired pace of her motions, it doesn't seem like Meika is actually intoxicated. In hand, she has a plastic bag from a convinience store, weighed down with supplies to stock in the hideout's minifridge, enough to make it easier on the two magical girls using it more full-time than Cobalt and Vermillion ever have. Lifting the bag-holding hand, and waves up towards Love and Justice from the tunnel floor, before the task of climbing up to the fairy-light lit platform. "Hey, you two. The café had a bunch of scones that were going to go stale, and weren't selling well. I'll leave them here with you both if you promise to leave a few for Kyou. I don't want her to feel forgotten." Catching her breath, up to the top of the slightly-angled ladderway, Meika opens one of the plastic grocery bags to look in, then back at the other magical girls. "They're... blueberry and lemon. Aha... that's sort of a weird combo, huh. It's fine if you don't like them. I got other things, too." She looks in a different plastic bag, and- in a slight panic, pulls a cigarette box out of it to shove in her pocket. It's better they don't get into anything like that. I'm supposed to be looking out for them, too, aren't I? An embarrassed look crosses her face, that she quickly forces a smile to wipe off. Everything gets set down on a wobbly old cardtable that'd long-since been carted down here, and Meika rocks back on her feet, patting dust off her uniform's skirt. "...What have you both been up to?" Meika doesn't expect it's much. She knows what it's like, hiding out down here. But she hopes they'd be happy she even bothers to ask. And it's just close to, but still distant, from a 'How are you doing?' to be easy to say.
Angela	There's something about this abandoned (sort of) underground place that feels nostalgic for the Magical Girl of Love. She is told to stay here, is allowed to leave with supervision, and she is taken to help with battle against the villainous Temptations! There isn't a locked door or anything but aside from that, it feels just like home! Well, it's smellier and dankier so it's not quite as nice as The Facility but the fact that she COULD leave if she really wanted to is a nice element. She just doesn't usually want to because it'd make Meika and Kayoko sad! Of course sometimes she DOES want to leave and then she does leave. But she always comes back. And this time she left without telling anyone where she was going, sneaking out during Justice's meditations. She doesn't come back for some time. But she is back before Meika gets there and is beaming with unbridled bliss. Justice is not beaming with unbridled bliss, Justice's expression can best be summarized as ''concerned''. It might not be immediately apparent for Meika but not only are Chevalier Love's hands behind her back so is a butterfly net that she is holding. SHe has a shifty expression that is mixing with all that joy on her face. And the butterfly net seems to be...squirming? "Meiiika!" Love chirps merrily. "I'm so glad that you're here! I have something I want to show you, oh gosh I'm so excited...!" "Badum... Badum..." The butterfly net says, sort of like a faint drumming noise pounding and muffled. "Isn't this great? We can share the scones!" She says still smiling broadly. "Meika." Justice says. "I feel you should--" Love interrupts. "Anyway I went outside and I went looking and I realized I wasn't pulling my weight as a magical girl--" Justice says, "Chevalier Vermillion, there may be an issue--" "And I managed to find one!" Love swings the butterfly net forward and inside there is a bundle of fur continuously going 'Badum Badum' now considerably more rapidly. "I found my own magical pet!" Love says. "She kidnapped a cherub." Love summarizes. "Now we cn be true team-mates!" Love smiles.
Meika Kirenai	'Meiiika!' Meika's spine stiffens, taken aback by the bombardment of cheerfulness. It's not that she's not getting used to how Love is- this is something More than standard, though. At least her hands are free so she's not going to try and go for a- Oh no. Why aren't her hands free? "...What's that you've got there, Love? What do you want to show me?" Even before the other magical girl shows off the butterfly net, Meika can tell the echo of its shapes, and the shuffles from whatever is stuck inside. There's a faint bit of worry in her tone, that she doesn't quite try and hide- but she holds out hope that maybe it's something normal and okay, for just a moment. "Y-yeah, the scones are to share, I hope you--" She stops, scared about Who Love means to share the pastries with. Justice and Love's back and forth chatter has her taking a step back at each overlapping switch, until she's pressed against the area's railing. "Oh. I see." Meika bites the inside of her cheek, staring at the net and the thump-thumping creature within. It's fortunate, probably, that it's a Cherub, and not someone's stray pet that got scooped up. "...Were you really feeling like you weren't pulling weight, Love? You didn't have to- There's nothing you need to prove, you know..." "Why would you want one?" Genuine confusion. Cherubs are helpful, sure- there's no other way available here to even temporarily parse what's been affected by Temptasions, save them, really- but Meika in particular holds absolutely no fondness for them in her heart. Absentmindedly, she pats at her messenger bag, and her pockets, to try and ensure Drop hasn't hidden within one or the other. "The network's enough, isn't it? Even if Cobalt and I hear first..?" Quietly, crossing her arms, still overall confused and a bit overwhelmed- "We were already team-mates..." She throws a pained glance at Justice, knowing what little she could have done to help with this all is probably already being done. "Did she at least stay out of too much sight, Justice? She didn't get in any real trouble, right?"
Angela	Love plucks the Cherub out of the net by their ears, holding them up like a radish, and says, "Their name is Tacky!" "Tachycardia is too long for her brain." Tacky responds. "Badum Badum." Love doesn't argue. ''Were you really feeling like you weren't pulling weight, Love?'' "Mhm mhm mhm!" Love says. "I couldn't protect them that one time and magical pets are good for helping magical girls get stronger. I thought 'Oh maybe I could still do more'. My powers were enough the Kingdom but these Temptations are really dangerous!" ''Why would you want one?'' "Eh?" "The cherubs are noxious, Love." Justice pipes in. "Really??" Love asks. "Maybe Tacky is just trying to get me to be the best me I can be." Justice's expression is skepticla. ''The network's enough, isn't it?'' "Huh? Oh--I think so! I don't know much about that sort of stuff. I'm just good at blasting!" Justice reaches down and pats Love on her head. "I asked you to promise me, at least, that you would be quiet and unobtrusive." "D--don't worry..." Love blushes. "I remembered that. I mean. It makes sense to be quiet while sneaking ... and hunting! Though I guess uh. I was wearing this." She gestures to her magical girl outfit.
Meika Kirenai	'Their name is Tacky!' "Tacky. Love, maybe you should get rid of it before- Ugh, shut up, Tacky! Be nice to her!" She knows it's futile to sass back to a Cherub. It's just hard to watch, the same way it's hard to hear how Spot treats Cobalt. 'I couldn't protect them that one time and...' Quietly, before Meika realizes what Love might mean, she's interjecting. "Which time..?" It's a soft mutter, quickly followed up by an apologetic grimace. There's too many times Meika hasn't managed to. "I don't think it's going to- to help you, with what you're thinking. But it'll... at least help you find your way back here, if you ever get stuck out, so maybe that's good?" Meika glares daggers at the suspended Cherub. "Maybe it'll try and get you to be better. I don't know. But I think you're... You know. Better than just blasting." Finally, Meika pushes off from where she'd backed up, by the barrier, and goes to sit in one of the handful of makeshift spots to rest on, a little more at ease now with the chaotic happenings. "You know it helps a lot to have more eyes, and hands, right..? You're still a magical girl. I- I like that there's more of us around." Meika fidgets, holding her opposite upper-arm in an overtight grip- It probably hurts a little, but it's a familiar little motion. She must be used to it. "Don't waste any of the snacks and scones on Tacky, at least, Love, yeah? Those are for you two." A look to Justice, and an apologetic nod, summing up 'Please make sure she doesn't'. 'Though I guess uh. I was wearing this.' Meika pinches the bridge of her nose. "Yeah. Okay. Well... it's not like Cobalt wouldn't be watching. Maybe she helped you out, some, if she wasn't busy." Wishful thinking, that. There's a moments pause, and the magical girl breaks out into a small giggle. Then a bigger one. "Jeeze, Love. You've got to be a little more careful! I- if anyone..." It's hard to chastise the Magical Girl of Love, for something as silly as that. The worry and danger are real, but Meika is just smiling too much to take a serious tone. That's rare. "You're impossible..." It sounds so different to hear that from Meika instead of her sister. That's rare, too.
Angela	''Be nice to her!'' "Badumb badumb." Tacky says. Love misses this entirely but punishes Tacky by hugging them so hard their eyes bulge slightly. She just seems so happy. It is actually atypical for Love to actually...care too much about casualties, at least before Tamamo's work. Her need to fight the Temptations was largely selfish, but perhaps it's thanks to that fate magic--she gets to feel miserable about seeing someone die before her very eyes! Justice on the other hand agrees with Meika. "Your heart provides much respite to the spirit." She says. "Pray do not worry overlong too much what you cannot do, focus on what you can. With time, mayhaps we can prevent further casualties." Love breathes in softly and then says, "Yeah... That would be nice. I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before." "We were bound by our cyclical nature, now we are free to feel what we feel." Justice explains patiently. "Thanks, sis..." Love smiles. "Thanks Vermilion. I like there's more of us around too." And once they get Courage and maybe even Happiness here... "Are you sure?" Love pushes Tacky in the cheek and the cherub says, "I don't want scones I want to roll around in trash." Love isn't sure how to feel aobut that and she finally sets Tacky down. Tacky makes a hissing badum noise before ducking behind the table to leer at the scones. LOVE wiggles hyperactively. "Yeah... maybe if we can be a little faster, we'll win every fight!" Justice shares the look with Meika and deftly picks up Tacky while she's distracted and shoves Tacky into a plastic bag from a previous adventure before tying the ends up. The bag starts rolling around on the ground shuffling about on its own. Love doesn't seem to notice. It bounces gently. "I could try to get more eyes too..." "Two each is fine." Justice insists. The relationship between these two is clearly and readily defined. But Meika is smiling and really, that's the most important thing to Love. She sees Meika smiling and that gets Love to smile, a smile that reaches her eyes. She will never forget how fortunate she was to come to this world. Now that she can remember. WIth her free hand she starts to bonk herself on the head and stick her tongue out before remembering that's something cartoons do not actual human beings so she lets her hand drop after. "I'll be more careful... Maybe next time we go out we can steal--" "Buy," Justice reminds gently. "--Legally purchase an outfit that doesn't make me look like a cosplayer." Love agrees.
Meika Kirenai	Tacky's heartbeat noise makes Meika wrinkle up her nose in disgust, and glare more daggers- her glare really is unpleasant, with eyes as red as they are. 'Your heart provides much respite to the spirit.' "...Yeah. That's- that's true. It's nice." It's about the most Meika can directly say in agreement, as she stays still- but it is still a nice thing said Love's way. It's nice for there to be people to lean on just a little, and treat friendlier- and Love is quite an embodiment of that, per her nature. 'I don't want scones I want to roll around in trash.' "You are trash." Meika whispers, looking right at Tacky. It's a luxury to say that to a Cherub other than Drop, to whom it would just be a gift of ammunition. She feels a skip in her heart to do so, even if, as much as Cherubs seem to chatter amongst themselves, it'll probably bite her in the end. 'Two each is fine.' "Yeah, I- I meant more figuratively..? I mean... it's literally more eyes, I suppose, but it's just a... yeah." The girl smiles, and covers up a little laugh with her sleeve cuff. As Tacky, in the plastic bag prison, rolls near, Meika stomps on it, silently, pinning it in plate with her heavy boot. She hopes Love still doesn't notice. '-Legally purchase an outfit that doesn't make me look like a cosplayer.' Again, Meika giggles. "Yeah. But, I could... see if i can scrounge some of the clothes I've got, to get you something first. You can't go out shopping like this, either, so..." The magical girl scratches at her arm, through her jacket's sleeve. "Mom keeps- keeps getting me dresses for Mass, so... you might like those better, right?" Meika certainly doesn't enjoy them. "I'll... try and get my boss to pay me early, if he'll do cash. Then maybe-" A pause, and a sigh. It doesn't last long before her smile is back- forced, more, this time. "Maybe Kayoko will be able to take you out shopping. That'd be fun for you two, right? I'll ask her. Yeah."
Angela	"Badum Badum," Tacky says. "Badumbadumbadum," They don't seem to like being in the bag and run around crashing into everything. Eventually Meika stomps on the Cherub and it goes, "Mheh! Feet!" Love's cheeks still pinken. She laughs bashfully anad says, "Oh! We could share scones too, Meika. Instead of Tacky since I guess they're allergic." This is her compromise in her head and it may even be true! Also she's not sure how to feed the Cherub either, but isn't going to admit that out loud after all that talk about not feeding them. Justice considers one of the trashbins. "Mayhaps it can keep them in there." "Oh if they'd like that." Love says, busily working on the scone and thus missing what Meika is up to entirely. Love caaareefully breaks a scone in half and spins around in place, doing a full two rotations before she faces Meika--givng her plenty of time to stow Tacky away how she'd like. She offers Meika a half of scone before munching happily on her own. She doesn't seem to mind that it is stale. Justice drops back down into a crouch and says, "Thank you for this bounty, Chevalier Vermillion. The accomodations are a decided improvement."