Procrastinating (Nate, Mamoru)

[Chiba Mamoru]

After Khalid left him, Mamoru first debated getting a new drink before remembering Khalid’s earlier admonishment. He really didn’t want his judgement clouded and so he decided against one for now. He needed his wits about him if he was going to successfully begin courting Usagi tonight.

He glanced around to see if he could spot Usagi, but once again missed her. However, he did spot one of his Shitennou standing alone off to the side. Mamoru made his way over to where Nathaniel was standing and asked, “Why are you over here alone Nate? I thought you were going to spend some time with Makoto. Did you find her ok?”

Mamoru tensed a little, worried that perhaps something had gone wrong when Nate had gone to find Makoto. They had seemed ok together in the garden, but Mamoru remembered very clearly the reception that Rei had given Hiroki upon his awakening. Was it possible that something had changed between the time out in the garden and now? No, he was just being paranoid now. He forced himself to relax and waited patiently for Nathaniel to answer his questions.

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

Nathaniel straightened, standing tall as he saw his prince approach him. Shitennou habits died hard, even in a civilian form-- it wouldn't do for Endymion to see him slouching against the wall, even though it was something he did all the time in this life. His past self wasn't happy about the poor posture and self-carriage. Sometimes it sucked having two different parts of himself with differing opinions.

Still, he gave Mamoru a smile, trying to get him to relax. He certainly seemed tense, leaving Nate wondering what had happened with the Queen. Though, Mamoru seemed slightly wound up as he asked about Makoto. Such inquiries! One question after another. Was the situation between the Shitennou and the Senshi so tense that him standing and drinking was cause for alarm?

"Oh, no, I found her," he said with a wave of his hand, careful not to slosh the drink that was in it. "We shared a wonderful dance, and talked." He was still nervous around her, but things seemed to be progressing, even as it was hard to let her slip out of his arms. They progressed enough that he didn't trust himself with her, didn't trust that he wouldn't ravage her. The emotions were still too high from the melding; he needed time to get used to being human and whole, again. They both needed time to get the alcohol out of their systems.

"And Serenity?" he probed his liege, quirking an auburn eyebrow skyward.

[Chiba Mamoru]

Although Mamoru did notice Nathaniel straightening his posture when he walked up, he ignored it. Standing to attention was just something he was going to have to get use to, especially if he successfully managed to fix his relationship with Usagi. Besides, although he would prefer his Shitennou not to feel as if they had to do something like that, it didn’t really bother him all that much.

He relaxed a little more at Nate’s smile, realizing that he was worrying too much over nothing. Nathaniel seemed ok and his answers confirmed it. It seemed as if his relationship with Makoto was starting off nicely, if only his could go just as well. “I’m glad things are working out Nate ...”

At the mention of Serenity, Mamoru tensed once again before relaxing and saying, “I did what you suggested Nate. I asked her what it would take to fix things. We had a long discussion just a little while ago. She told me what I’d have to do to fix things and it’s going to be hard. She’s not sure it’s even possible and I wasn’t sure I could do it. It’s hard to change habits and a lifestyle that you’ve had for as long as you can remember. I was all set to give up and let her go, but then I talked with Khalid.”

Mamoru glanced over at Nate with an amused grin as he added, “Hiroki is right. Khalid can’t be anyone other then Kunzite. He’s got the look and the personality down and he hasn’t even remembered who he is yet. I think he might be close to awakening though, he was acting a little odd toward the end. He said he felt like he should be remembering something, but he couldn’t think what it was and once he called me Endymion before going back to Mamoru.”

Realizing that he had gone completely off subject, Mamoru shrugged lightly and said, “Anyway, back to Usagi. After talking with Khalid about her, I think I’m going to have to go back to the very beginning and court her. We’ve never had the chance to really get to know each other, perhaps it’ll be good for us. It’ll be hard but, I’m not going to give up. It’s too important, she's too important.”

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

"I wouldn't say I'm out of the woods yet. But there's hope, at least. Far more than I could ever have dreamed of, that's for sure." But he was talking too much, too much nancy pancy and not enough actual facts. It wasn't like him to dwell on such subjects, even with his Prince-- and now this civilian in another life that wanted his friendship.

He listened patiently to Mamoru's explanations about the Queen, frowning slightly, but forcing himself to smile at mention of Kunzite. Unlike Mamoru, he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the leader of the Shitennou awakening... He felt closest to Jadeite, and suddenly the appearance of stern Kunzite... But, that was selfish. Kunzite had the same longings in stone as the rest of them did, even if relationships were tenable, and probably just as likely to be so in this new life. And for the Prince's sake, they needed all of them awakened, and standing strong together. He just wondered what Hiroki would make of it all.

"Look, I'm thrilled and all that you're not giving up. But you talk about 'changing' and that makes me worried. Listen, if a woman wants you to change..." he didn't complete the sentence. Maybe this relationship was more messed up than he thought. "You are who you are, Mamoru. If you want to change to meet who she seems to want you to be, that's fine. But you have to want it for yourself, and not just her. Because you'll both be unhappy if it's just the latter. She can't force you to change who you are, and I don't think she should hold it ransom over you like that..."

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru nodded, but he didn’t say anything more about Makoto. If Nathaniel wanted to talk more about her then he was willing to listen. However, he didn’t want to pry and anyway he had his own relationship troubles to deal with. He certainly wasn’t an expert on things like this.

Nathaniel’s frown made Mamoru feel a little uneasy, his confidence regarding Usagi shaky at best. However, he didn’t react much to it other then to watch his new friend carefully while he continued explaining what had happened during his earlier conversations. As he was studying Nate, Mamoru was also observant enough to notice that the smile that was offered at Kunzite’s mention was somewhat forced. Again, Mamoru withheld any reactions. He had already known that all the Shitennou weren’t the best of friends like the senshi were. As the Shitennou were reawakening into new lives, he hoped that somewhere down the line their relationships might change a little. That was something he couldn’t rush however, so he just remained silent keeping his thoughts on the subject to himself.

His uneasiness grew with Nathaniel’s next words. Mamoru remained silent for a good long time, trying to work through his thoughts before saying anything. He had been far too rash in his conversations and actions as of late. He needed time to put his thoughts in order, to know exactly what he wanted to say before he responded to his friend.

Usagi felt that he had wronged her by keeping his secrets. Although he still felt he had been right in those first few months, Mamoru knew that he had kept those secrets far too long. He had hurt her and probably her friends as well, therefore didn’t that mean he should change? He loved Usagi more then anything and he didn’t want to lose her. She had said that the only way he could ‘make things right’ was for them to get to know each other again. She wanted to get to know him, all of who he was. She wanted a relationship were they didn’t keep things from one another. She had said that there would be years of habits, inclinations of personal character that she thought they would have to address. Didn’t that mean that she wanted him to change who he was on a personal level? Was that fair? She had always accepted who he was before, was it really fair to suddenly ask him to change into someone else?

Finally Mamoru hesitantly said, “I agree with you Nate, I am who I am and I doubt very much that I could ever truly change that nor would I want to. I wouldn’t feel comfortable acting as impulsively cheerful and outgoing as Motoki, a friend of mine is. That’s just not who I am. However, I love Usagi more then anything and I have for as long as I can remember. Even back when she was just Serenity, princess of the moon, I loved her enough to ignore the fact that a relationship was forbidden and risk everything. I need her Nate and I don’t intend to lose her, not then and not now.”

He fell silent once more and searched the room, seeking a glimpse of the woman in question. Finally he spotted her with her friends and Khalid, further up the bar he had just left. For a brief moment he wondered why he had never seen her there to begin with, but then he remembered her heading off in another direction. Perhaps he just never had looked at the bar because he had thought she would be at the other side of the room. It probably didn’t really matter, he knew where she was now and that was the important thing. The tension left him as Mamoru relaxed fully and turned back to his companion.

“Usagi can’t force me to change who I am, but a relationship can’t live on secrets. I can’t claim to love her in one breath and not trust her to share the things that matter most to me in the next. I don’t remember enough about the past to say if Endymion kept secrets from Serenity, if he shared his deepest thoughts and feelings with her easily or not. However, I do know that I have not and it hasn’t been fair to her, not when she shares everything of who she is with me. A relationship is about giving and taking isn’t it? I’ve just been taking and not giving. If I want her back I’ll have to change that and I do want her back. I don’t think I’ll have to truly change who I am, but I do think that if I love her I should be able to be more open with her. Is it really that much to ask that someone you were going to marry at one point in time share who they really are deep inside with you? I don’t think so.”

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

Nathaniel just continued to sip his drink as Mamoru fell silent, waiting patiently for his response. There were just some people that he felt no need to have to constantly be talking, and Mamoru was one of them. Silence was acceptable, in this case. He let his gaze wander for a few moments, looking for Makoto. Finally having found her, he returned his focus to his prince, nodding slowly as Mamoru began to speak.

By the time the other man finished, Nate was feeling much better about the whole situation. Mamoru had managed to articulate his point of view very clearly, and Nate believed that that clarity would serve him the days ahead. Facing the prospect of courting a woman himself, he could empathize that it would be no easy or simple task.

"No, that's not too much to ask. I wouldn't want to be with someone I didn't really know. So long as you're sharing who you are with her, without changing yourself. Hiroki would never let me hear the end of this if he knew I said it, but I happen to like you just the way you are." He was afraid that sounded a little, well... too touchy-feely, and was quite thankful none of the other Shitennou were about to hear him. But was it that hard to imagine that he might actually enjoy the personality of the man he served? They had been through a lot, even though he had been in stone for most of it. Not all change was good. "Well, I'm glad to hear you've jumped back into the saddle, then."

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru nodded toward Nathaniel, happy that the other man had understood. He couldn’t help smirking just a bit when Nate had said what he did about liking him the way he was. Not necessarily because of what he was saying, but because he could imagine the kind of response that Hiroki would have if he had heard it. He was about to respond when he happened to glance back toward where he had last seen Usagi, just in time to watch Khalid scoop her up into his arms.

He immediately stiffened in surprise, not certain why the other man was doing this. Mamoru had no idea how intoxicated Usagi really was, nor even that she was intoxicated. He hadn’t witnessed the amount of alcohol that Usagi had consumed over the course of the evening. Therefore he really had no way of knowing what had possessed Khalid to do such a thing, nor was he entirely happy with it.

Khalid hadn’t seemed the kind of man to do something like scoop the queen into his arms and run off with her, but that did appear to be what he was doing. While he would trust Kunzite with both his life as well as Usagi’s, this man wasn’t totally himself just yet. There could be any number of reasons why Khalid might do such a thing. Mamoru was trying hard to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that didn’t mean that he was going to just stand over here and guess at it. He intended to find out the reason and quickly ...


“Nate ... I’m going to have to cut this conversation short. I need to go see why exactly Khalid believes he needs to scoop Usagi up like he has. If for no other reason then to make certain he doesn’t get shot by Usagi’s security ...”

though if it isn’t an innocent reason, they won’t have a reason to shoot him ...

Mamoru left the comment unfinished as he moved to head off in the direction that Khalid and the others were.

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

Nate followed Mamoru's gaze to the Queen, and raised both eyebrows in surprise as that Khalid guy-- Kunzite-- scooped up Usagi and seemed to be moving out of the room. He hid a laugh behind his glass as security reacted, and watched as Super Cop seemed to be making his way across the room, along with the rest of the Queen's entourage.

Unlike Mamoru, Nathaniel wasn't too terribly worried about the situation. Makoto was with the Queen, as well as Venus, so she was probably fine. And Kunzite had always been such a stickler about duty, and he couldn't imagine that this civilian counterpart was any different, especially considering how much he had been going on about the government when they spoke briefly at the bar.

"If they're going to be that concerned about Khalid, you think that you going over there is going to make security feel better?" Nathaniel pointed out as Mamoru attempted to take his leave. "You can't exactly say: 'he's my Shitennou' and expect them to leave him alone. You've only just met the guy, how would you be able to stop them, exactly? Chill out, Venus is over there, she's not going to let him get shot. Don't go getting into trouble yourself..."

Nathaniel sighed as Mamoru moved off in that direction. He was always so stubborn when it came to Serenity; it wasn't like his comments were going to make much of a difference.

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru paused and looked back toward Nathaniel, having only really taken a few steps toward the commotion. Nathaniel had a point, there wasn’t a whole lot that he could say to make security feel better. Even if Khalid was or at least would be one of his Shitennou, that fact wouldn’t exactly make things any better.

He glanced warily back toward the bar and saw Minako saying something to Khalid. She didn’t look particularly upset and neither did Makoto for that matter, maybe Nathaniel was right and he should just chill out, rushing over there wouldn’t make Usagi any happier any way. It might only serve to make things worse between them, perhaps he should chill out as Nathaniel had suggested.

Mamoru sighed in frustration before turning back reluctantly to his companion. “I guess you’re right ... going over there wouldn’t really serve any purpose other then drawing more attention to them.”

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

"Sorry," Nate said sympathetically. He was sure if it was Khalid doing the same with Makoto he'd have the same feelings as Mamoru. "Give it a few minutes, then maybe you can ask one of them if she's okay."

Finishing his drink, he set it down on an empty table, still leaning against the wall.

"I'd continue our conversation, but I'm not sure you'd listen to anything I'd say right now," Nathaniel chuckled, certain that Mamoru would remain fixated on whatever was going on.

"Want a drink?" he asked, trying to get his liege to relax. "I'm due for a refill. Maybe you could even ask one of the bartenders over there if they knew what happened," he hinted slyly.

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru shrugged in a noncommital way, trying to convince both Nathaniel and himself that he wasn’t worried in the slightest. “I’m sure she’ll be ok. Like you said, Minako is over there along with Makoto ... they wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her.”

He tried hard to keep his attention away from what was going on over at the bar, to ignore what was going on. He gave it a valiant effort, though he failed miserably. He couldn’t keep his gaze from occasionally slipping back in their direction, so much so that he almost missed the fact that Nate was talking to him.

Mamoru returned his attention back to his companion with a sheepish look and said, “I’m not trying to ignore you Nate. I know I shouldn’t worry, but knowing and doing are two entirely different things.”

He had already had two drinks in a rather short amount of time. A third one probably wouldn’t be the greatest ideas and he was about to object when Nathaniel mentioned asking one of the bartenders if they knew what had happened. This was a more preferable idea then waiting until he could ask the senshi if Usagi was ok, though the bartender might chose to remain silent on the subject. They did after all work for Usagi and might not want to talk about her, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. As for the drink, he could always just sip at it. He didn’t have to gulp it down and if it took him a long time to drink it then it wouldn’t do him any harm. Mamoru wasted no time in saying, “That’s a great idea Nate, let’s head over there now.”

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

"I understand," Nate replied patiently, after all he had expected this.

His mischievous smile grew as Mamoru agreed to his suggestion, and he sauntered over to the bar. Somehow it just felt a bit dangerous to be asking for a drink, slyly inquiring about the Queen, for the purposes of Earth's true prince. Or maybe this political ball atmosphere was getting to him.

However, there were many things that Nate was, and subtle was not one of them. He ordered another bloody mary, a spicy one this time, and remarked with a artless, casual air (which he practiced in his head several times before opening his mouth). "Crazy night, huh? You must be working hard..." He did not elaborate as to why it was such a crazy night, and looked pointedly over at Mamoru. His liege was probably better suited to getting this information, and after all, he was the one that truly wanted it.

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru rose an eyebrow at the mischievous smile on his companion’s face, but only followed him to the bar quietly. He waited patiently for Nathaniel to order his drink and speak to the bartender a bit. Even before Nathaniel gave him his pointed look Mamoru had figured he’d be the one asking the questions. That didn’t bother him any. He might not be that good with small talk, but getting people to do what he wanted wasn’t something that he was a novice at. Whether it would work in this case he wasn’t sure, but he certainly wasn’t afraid of trying.

He saw no reason to beat about the bush, after all he wanted the information and so he decided to ask directly. After ordering a Manhattan, Mamoru leaned against the bar and said, “Tell me, would you happen to know what was happening over there with the queen and the white haired gentleman that was with her?”

Mamoru didn’t so much as demand an answer, nor did he attempt to intimidate the bartender. However, he did continue to watch the other man in such a way that it was evident that he wanted answers and that he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he got the ones he wanted.

[Nathaniel Bernhardt]

Nathaniel let out a snort at Mamoru's attempt to get the bartender to talk. And he thought that he wasn't subtle? He wondered how well that would go over, and sipped his bloody mary as it was served to him, waiting to see what the answer would be.

Thankfully, the bartender wasn't really looking at either of them; far too busy using his knife to separate the meat of a lemon from its rind in order to make twists. It was the same much-abused bartender who had served the Queen, so he not only knew what had happened, but his pride had been bruised just enough that he was willing to broadcast the tale to a listening party, complete with several exaggerations to make the tale more dramatic, and his role more important, of course.

"Yeah, he carried her off because her Majesty was hell-bent on binging herself into a coma," he huffed, nothing majestic in his tone as he mentioned the inebriated Queen. "Should've heard the load of crazy she was saying. She asked me for the Everclear 191," he added crossly, "and wasn't happy when I said no. But what else was I supposed to say? That's like drinking rocket fuel."

Nate tuned out as the bartender tried to spin the tale with himself as the hero for refusing to dispense a bottle of pure grain alcohol. Mamoru had his answer now.

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru ignored Nathaniel’s reaction to his direct method of getting answers in favor of sipping at the drink just served to him and waiting semi-patiently for the bartender to respond. He didn’t have long to wait, the bartender was eager to share his story. However, it wasn’t very far into the tale that Mamoru began to get angry.

The moment he picked up on the lack of respect in the bartender’s voice, Mamoru’s gaze had iced over with the same anger he had been dealing with for many a day now. This guy had no right to be so disrespectful to Usagi no matter what she might have been doing. He was just about to lash out at the bartender, had even opened his mouth to do so when he suddenly remembered Usagi asking him to be more respectful of her staff.

Mamoru swallowed down his initial anger and managed to only say, “Is that so ...”

His tone held only a hint of chilly warning as he waited for the bartender to continue his story. Although Mamoru had his answer now and probably didn’t really need anything else. It might prove beneficial to know what else the bartender had to say.