[Thread] - Snow Cones! (OPEN)

[waterfell]

Characters: OU: Mizuni Ami [PGSM], OPEN
Where: The park, near the pond
When: in the afternoon
Summary:
Mercury is enjoying snow cones to beat the heat (and giving some out). Flavor syrup courtesy of Indigeo, crushed ice courtesy of Mercury herself. Made while you wait! &hearts
Warnings: You might not get one if she doesn't like you?

Comments

[scarlet_tech]

"Mind if I sit next to you?" Skuld asked from behind Mercury, having spotted the water senshi after doing more work on the calculations. It'd been a while since they were able to get together and she was kind of missing hanging out with her friend.

[waterfell]

Mercury recognized the speaker before she saw her. That was normal in Econtra where it was far more common to hear a voice than see the person behind it.

"Snow cone?" she offered impishly. The blue-haired girl held out a cup, which filled itself, so it seemed, with perfectly suited crushed ice. She nodded towards the ground near her, where bottles of syrups sat: cherry, strawberry, blueberry, lime, apple, orange, and mango.

It had been awhile. Mercury shifted slightly to make room for the arrival.

[scarlet_tech]

"Thanks." Skuld said, taking the snow cone and sitting down next to Mercury, mixing a variety of the flavors on the snow cone before she started to eat it.

"So, how have you been?" She asked.

[waterfell]

She was right; it had been Skuld. Mercury grinned, inwardly pleased with herself and perhaps by the encounter.

"It's a quiet time!" she said lightly. "So I thought I'd take care of this heat a little bit." Japan had hotter summers than...wherever this was, but it was warm enough for her tastes.

"But the one who should be asking that is me. Still worried about Belldandy?"

[scarlet_tech]

Skuld smiled. "Quiet time is nice." She said. "I suppose that means things with Kuznite are going smoothly."

Skuld fell silent for several moments. "I don't know what happened to oneechan...but either she'll come to either Urd or me...or she'll find a way to deal with it. It's what she usually does. And at the moment...I'm more worried for Urd. Hild being here...it did a number on her." She said, looking at the water with worried eyes.

[waterfell]

"We've confronted the master, who's at least as callous and reckless as we remember if not more. How irritating," Mercury commented. The words were spoken in a cheerful tone, but she had gained no respect for the 'king' of Earth in the encounter. If anything, she had lost it. A remarkable feat, as Kunzite had proclaimed, to increase the disdain of someone who already had a murderous grudge against you

[scarlet_tech]

Well, it was nice she wasn't QUITE so hyperfocused. Skuld shrugged. "Well, some people can't do a lot against the Entropi. Just trying to find those buggers frequency is hard, not to mention the other numbers I need for the weapon." Skuld commented, taking another bite.

Skuld frowned. "Urd is having dreams. Nightmares. It's making me worried...she was close to breaking. I remember...Hild thinking that and trying to stop it. She was surprised how close Urd was. And I think it's this place...like how I become the Valkyrie, for Urd to be in a place of violence, a war zone, the balancing act she has to do...is making her wobble." She said, biting her lower lip.

[waterfell]

It was true, and almost without her noticing. Mercury could list many things she cared about, many situations and events and people who were important to her. Part of it was because Kunzite himself had said they should focus on other things for the time being, and so she had felt even more comfortable continuing on the path she'd already started towards doing so.

Mercury could hardly say to Skuld that she was also a fool who couldn't keep her feelings towards that man from increasing no matter how hard she tried, and so she hadn't, choosing to focus on their basic alliance instead

[scarlet_tech]

"It's not really trouble as it's...a lot. I have to take everyone ELSE'S powers so I can find the small space that the Entropi would fit. I'm just glad oneechan and a demon were there. That cuts down a LOT of space in the spectrum." Skuld said and sighed. "But...I should have it soon. A few more days and I should have it, barring no more distractions."

Skuld took a bite of the snow cone, chewing the ice thoughtfully. "I did too, actually, but...well, Urd is her weakness. She...wants Urd to be happy and so accepts her wanting to be a goddess. She actually had a good point. Urd...really is more Goddess than me and maybe even oneechan." She said.

[waterfell]

That made sense. It just needed time. "If it's a matter of sorting through readings, I might be able to be useful," she suggested. She may as well; there was little else productive for her to do, or why was she here making snow cones? Another taste of hers for good measure. It was nearly gone, now.

"I suppose that's just what would be expected, for a mother." Those words came quieter. She'd already told Skuld once, her bonds to her own mother had never been cut. She wasn't sure why; she had never had much time with that woman, either. Perhaps it was because that woman made efforts in different ways, or maybe just because that was her mother and as she'd just said, a mother was like that to a child.

[scarlet_tech]

"That's the also the other problem. I have to turn magic into technology and I don't think anyone knows the math I use to do that." Skuld said with a sigh. "Part of the slowness is being sure that all the numbers are right before I move on."

"...I think so. It kind of makes me see Hild a bit different. Still scares the snot out of me though." Skuld said. A joke, to lighten the mood a bit. She wasn't sure if talking about mothers would depress Mercury or not.

[waterfell]

A dead end. Well, she'd said 'if'.

"That's why you need a snow cone! It will help you keep up your energy to work on it." A mischievous grin as more ice filled in the already eaten holes in Skuld's slushy. "Help yourself to the syrup!"

When she lived in the human world, Mercury's mother had held quite a bit of power over her. She was a minor and her mother an adult. Her former self's innate desire to avoid conflict had made her very obedient anyway. Her mother had the power to decide where they lived, how they lived, what they did, what cram schools or exams or functions Ami attended. She wanted a say in her own life, now, even if she went back to the human world some day.

"You're glad your mother is different, but to Urd that's her mother even if it makes her uncomfortable or scared. But if she's scared, she'll give in to what she doesn't want to even more easily."

[scarlet_tech]

Skuld paused and laughed. "You don't know how right you are. Snow cones and frozen yogurts almost have the exact same affect as ice cream. Meaning alternative power source." Skuld said, adding the syrup. Why those worked, she couldn't say. They just did.

"I have a weak will and selfish as is for a goddess. If I was a demon halfbreed, I couldn't maintain Urd's force of will." Skuld said, taking another bite, swallowing after a few moments. "Being scared of Hild is better. Because, Urd says, the moment she accepts her love for her mother, she'll fall to the demon side. But...the thing she fears IS losing control." She said and paused. "Urd is only Second Class...but she could bring the fight to any first class Goddess there is when it comes to power."

[waterfell]

"So that's why you like them. For me, it's just a good taste." There was a blue tongue that was testament to that enjoyment, but it only made extremely brief appearances as Mercury took new bites

[scarlet_tech]

"Well, they do taste good too." Skuld said with a sheepish grin.

Skuld paused for a moment at the request. She'd...actually forgotten about that. She was silent for a few moments, studying Mercury. "...all right. I'll need to repair the circuit, so I'll need the device." She said.

[waterfell]

Mercury unfastened the chain at her waist, and handed it with its charm to Skuld. It was true she could be that protector, but as always she had a more personal reason.

"When Kunzite came, he'd been given a mortal wound in his world. That's when I wanted power in a way I haven't wanted it ever since back then!" She could only think of one or two times she'd ever been that desperate. They'd been to save Usagi. She pushed that thought away.

"Even though I was able to heal him in the end, I did that not knowing if I'd be able to, and I hated that feeling. So I'm even more determined to master those healing spells and not have those regrets again over anyone."

It was a long and bordering-on-emotional speech, particularly for her. "It's foolish isn't it?" she asked, but there was a calm about the smile that accompanied it.