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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Dec 28, 2008 0:11:27 GMT -5
Mamoru glanced up from the paper he had been looking at when he heard both Lucan's voice and the knock. He had of course been expecting the head of security, but he still had no real idea what Lucan might have wanted. He quickly set his paper down and leaned back into his chair before saying, "You may come in ..."
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Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Dec 28, 2008 0:21:43 GMT -5
Usagi had been told that the Head of Security needed to speak with her briefly that morning, and she had barely been given time to emotionally prepare herself before being placed in a room with Mamoru, who was busy reading the paper. Usagi was sure she knew what this was about-- she was about to be lectured about running away the day before. Worst of all, Lucan had invited her Mamo-chan to be present! He sure knew how to lay on a guilt trip... It was horrible! Lucan never yelled or got angry with her, he would just look at her with those bright blue eyes full of profound disappointment. She thought she would wither away from shame each time. It would always feel like she had kicked a puppy...
"It's not fair I have to get this from everyone..." Usagi muttered, pacing back and forth in the room, unable to sit still as usual. Every now and then she would stop and shoot a glare at the newspaper that Mamoru was reading, the editorial board there always said such nasty things about her, and was in the process of glaring at the front page that hid Mamoru when a firm knock sounded at the door. Usagi jumped a little, quickly throwing herself into a chair.
"Err... yeah. Come in!" she said, a little too shrilly out of nerves, after Mamoru had already bid him enter. Attending lectures was one of her least favorite things to do, and yet even after becoming queen it was something she still found herself doing rather frequently...
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Dec 28, 2008 1:05:42 GMT -5
Mamoru glanced Usagi's way when she started to mutter about it not being fair and would have responded to her except that Lucan had then knocked on the door. He sent her an amused smile as he watched her throw herself into the chair and then tell Lucan he could enter in a shrill voice after he had already done so.
Mamoru knew very well that Usagi was probably expecting a lecture from Lucan and he found it rather amusing that even now she could find so many ways to get herself in such a situation. It made his heart glad to know that even after becoming queen of the entire world, she was still the adorable Usagi that he had fallen in love with.
He turned his full attention on Lucan when the man entered, wondering once again why he had needed this meeting. Despite it being what Usagi feared, Mamoru didn't really believe that Lucan had called them both here so he could lecture Usagi. It was then that he heard what Lucan was actually saying.
Mamoru blinked in surprise, not having expected Lucan to want to resign simply because he had lost Usagi. It hadn't even been Lucan's fault, once Usagi set her mind on doing something she found a way to do it. He certainly didn't blame Lucan for not being able to keep up with powers that he had no way of knowing about.
Finally after a moment of shocked silence, Mamoru shook his head and said, "Nonsense Lucan, there isn't anyone in this palace that blames you for what happened the other day. You can't be expected to stop something when you didn't even know that the disguise power existed."
Mamoru glanced over at Usagi, knowing very well that she wouldn't want the head of security to resign for something that she had caused to happen.
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Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Dec 28, 2008 1:48:36 GMT -5
Usagi managed to see Mamoru's amused smile at her just as Lucan was coming in. She had to wonder if he was going to have some schadenfreude out of this lecture. She couldn't blame him if he would-- but she wouldn't have to like it.
Lucan wasted no time getting to the point. It was one of the reasons that Usagi had hired him, but now that he was using it to try to resign, she wasn't so sure she liked it!
"You can't resign!" she cried dramatically, rising to her feet. Blushing slightly at her outburst, she nodded vigorously as Mamoru spoke. "Yes, yes, listen to Mamo-chan," Usagi said impatiently. This was worse than a lecture! Resigning?! It wasn't his fault... Of all of the guilt trips Lucan could pull on her, resigning was by far the worst. She had a mental image of him on the street, panhandling because she had deprived him on his livelihood simply because she had gotten the harebrained idea to play hookie one day.
"Lucan, you're very responsible and all, but I think you're taking this a bit too far. It's not your fault that I ran out or that I never mentioned the Luna Pen and that I can disguise myself with it-- which I should have, but there was so much to mention that it slipped my mind, but now you know, and I won't do it again, so it doesn't matter! I figured if I didn't look like myself, then I would be safe-- but I know that's not true now! Okay? So don't leave of something that was my fault. Please? I am sure that my disappearance caused a lot of grief for you, but I'll make sure that counseling is covered by workers comp!"
Losing her head of security was definitely punishment that went beyond the scope of her deeds. It just wasn't fair!
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Dec 28, 2008 2:47:52 GMT -5
The moment Lucan opened his mouth, Mamoru knew that the man's stubborn pride was going to get in the way. He sighed in frustration before saying, "Lucan, didn't anyone ever tell you that you aren't suppose to contradict your employers?”
Mamoru attempted to think of someway to convince his head of security not to resign. The man was really good at his job and Mamoru was convinced that there wasn’t another soul on earth that could keep up with the responsibilities that Lucan had to deal with. For the most part Mamoru trusted to the senshi to keep Usagi safe, however there were many things that they would never think about. For that Mamoru wanted someone like Lucan there to oversee things, to be able to protect Usagi and the palace from the threats that the senshi might never expect.
He finally shook his head and said, “I should have realized that Usagi needed a break from all of this, but I neglected to realize it as well. I assure you that Luna spends more time with Usagi then you do Lucan and yet she failed to realize that this might happen. Anyway, regardless of whether you knew about the disguise power or not you were still at the top of your game in reacting to the problem.”
Mamoru paused a moment before saying, “There isn’t anyone that I would trust enough to become your successor Lucan and so I would really appreciate it if you would stay on.”
He glanced Usagi’s way before turning back to Lucan, a glint of humor lighting up his eyes as he added, “Besides Lucan, I really do not think that you would want to be responsible for causing Usako to get ill from the guilt she will undoubtably feel should you choose to not stay with us.”
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Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Dec 28, 2008 13:59:52 GMT -5
Usagi just groaned as her head of security blathered on. She appreciated the sense of responsibility and willingness to own up... But it wasn't very helpful when someone was taking responsibility that didn't belong to them!
"Lucan, stop being such a martyr! This is so not your fault. And like Mamo-chan said, you reacted swiftly and precisely to the 'problem.' We both know that not everything is going to go right all the time, you can't catch everything, and what's important isn't always preventing things but being able to react to what develops, which you did. And if I'm stressed, it's my job to find a way to deal with it as a mature adult-- so I have my own responsibility to take for this."
Usagi fell silent for a moment, and then nodded vigorously again as Mamoru said Lucan wouldn't want to feel responsible for making her feel too guilty. A reverse guilt-trip! That's brilliant Mamo-chan! "Yes, stop trying to making me feel bad by resigning, Lucan." She paused, needing to come up with something to get him to stay. It had to be good. "I'll order those new... what was it? The fixed 10X scope with... Something. You know what I'm talking about." She couldn't quite remember exactly what it was. "And...... If you leave..." Usagi wracked her brain again. They needed a task. A mission, to get him to know that he couldn't leave until it was completed. Something that would have to take place several times, and something she could honestly profess to be useful... A vague idea began to form in her mind.
"Besides, if you leave, who's going to teach me and the senshi how to shoot?"
The girls were going to kill her. Mamoru might not be that happy, either, but too bad. He wasn't invited.
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Dec 28, 2008 16:18:14 GMT -5
Mamoru grinned in amusement as he watched Lucan completely miss the fact that he had been joking. However, his amusement faded the moment he heard Usagi talk about learning how to shoot a gun. This was the first he had heard of this idea and he was not entirely happy about it. Mamoru really didn’t like the thought of Usagi running around with a gun, still he decided not to get into that particular argument right in front of the man he was trying to keep around.
Still feeling uneasy with the thought of Usagi with a gun, Mamoru replied faintly, “Well, we can discuss that idea later ... but no Lucan we really are not going to let you go. You are far too great of a head of security. We would have to be insane to let you go, so please don’t make me order you to stay here with us.”
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Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Dec 29, 2008 16:14:17 GMT -5
"Well that's good to know," Usagi said, trying to look serious as Lucan denied laying a guilt trip on her. Consciously, he means. It's definitely a very evolved guilt trip going on here. "Because you're doing a good job of it." At the end, she couldn't help but crack a smile.
"The ones that don't want to participate don't have to. I'll ask around," Usagi said, waving off his objections. "Be prepared, right? Learning a new skill can't hurt." She shot a look at Mamoru as he said they'd talk about it. "No need for that, Mamo-chan!" Usagi exclaimed with a sugary smile. He's supposed to be more decisive about it! "I've already decided, so it's a done deal." She turned her attention back to Lucan once more. "Make sure to drop that letter in the paper shredder on the way out, Lucan. Because I would have ripped it up if you left it here! That's an order!" she called after him.
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