Third Time's the Charm 1/6pm (Khalid/Mamoru, open)

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru walked the hall of the palace, heading out after having finished his discussion with Usagi. It had been rough, emotionally taxing on both of them. However, in a way he felt better for having gotten it done. He had hurt Usagi so very much, but she was willing to allow him the chance to make it up.

He wasn’t under any delusions that things would be easy from now on. In fact he was fairly certain that there were still enormous hurdles to be leaped before he managed to restore her faith in him. He had a long way to go before she would view him as anything more then a friend that she agreed to go on dates with.

However, as Mamoru had said earlier he had faith that they could work through this. He could show her that he had changed. It was more then just being open with her as he had first believed, he had to show her that he was capable of placing his trust in her.

It was going to be a long road, one that wasn’t going to be easy for him. Trusting just didn’t come naturally anymore, but he would work through this. He would persevere and show her that things would work out.

As he was walking down the hall, he happened to catch sight of a familiar head of silver - white hair around a corner and paused. It couldn’t be . . .

Why would he be here at the palace now? Curious, Mamoru backtracked to the previous hall and headed down it. He didn’t have to go far before he saw the man he had been seeking. His suspicions had been correct, it was Khalid.

Mamoru stepped a little closer and called, “Ku . . . Khalid!”

[Khalid ibn Maleec]

Khalid was coming out of a long meeting with members of the Energy Department. While Usagi had already awarded them the contract, that did not mean that her administration was glad to accept the "hastily" awarded contract. He had been his most charming, but also answering their questions honestly, including the fact that he did not know why it was that Serenity had decided to award the contract without further talks with other companies and that, no, there had been no bribes or incentives.

He would not let it show, but the fact of the matter was that Khalid was a bit irritated. Yes, he had known that he would be dealing closely with bureaucrats, and that some would even consider him a bureaucrat, but that did not mean that he enjoyed that aspect of his job.

As he was heading out of the palace and back to his car, he heard a familiar voice call his name, and he raised an eyebrow as he stopped and turned around to greet Mamoru. "Mamoru. I'm surprised to run into you here. How are you doing this evening?"

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru shrugged a little and said, “I’m doing fine actually. I was here visiting Usa.”

He shifted a little uncomfortably at the mention of Usagi. It had only been three days since he had been caught in the elevator with Usagi. While he hadn’t minded mentioning the event to Usagi over the phone, bringing up the girl with Khalid was a lot different.

Forcing himself to relax, Mamoru continued, “I trust that you are doing ok this evening? I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you here this evening.”

[Khalid ibn Maleec]

Khalid smirked a bit at Mamoru's comment about visiting "Usa." "You do realize that when I told you to woe the Queen I did not mean that you should move quite that quickly, right." There was something about Mamoru. Khalid had only really met him twice, but he felt both protective of the other man and familiar enough that he could not help but rib him a bit.

"By the way, if the bed is boring, that is entirely your fault."

"I'm doing well. Just had a meeting with some of the energy administration. Some of the people that Serenity has working for her could use some lessons in manners and propriety." He shook his head slightly, the most he'd show of his frustration with the bureaucracy.

[Chiba Mamoru]

Mamoru flushed faintly at Khalid’s comment and muttered, “Yeah ... that, that uh, that wasn’t ... I hadn’t meant for things to go that far. It just sort of ...” He trailed off momentarily, shifted uncomfortably once again before attempting to regain his composure and his dignity as he dryly said, “Obviously you weren’t meant to walk in on us and as for the bed, very funny.”

He nodded when Khalid said that some of Usagi’s staff could use some lessons in manners and propriety. “I agree with you there. I haven’t had the pleasure of talking with very many of the people on the energy administration, though I have met some of the other bureaucrats here. The maids here though ... they all need lessons in manners as far as I’m concerned.”

[Khalid ibn Maleec]

Khalid smirked, "It's absolutely amazing just how many times I wasn't meant to walk in on the two of you. One would think that the princess would have figured out how to transport directly to your bedroom." He raised an eyebrow, "Though I think you two actually enjoyed the danger of potentially being caught, despite how much work it created for the rest of us." Not that he was complaining since he enjoyed working rather closely with Venus.

He shook his head slightly, "It was so much easier before monarchy meant democracy..."