She won't let go of him... [CLOSED/ONGOING]

[luvu2bby]

WHO: Minako Aino (luvubby) and Rei Hino (luvu2bby)
WHAT: Valentine's Day gifts are given!!
WHERE: Senshi House
WHEN: 2/14 (backdated)

Comments

[luvu2bby]

Rei hadn't been expecting her to wkae so soon, to be perfectly honest. She know it was a possibility, of course. But she had been expecting at least an hour more. Rei was still tired from waking so early. She wanted a little nap before spending the day with Minako's sometimes-overwhelming boisterousness. Ah well... She'd promised, after all. She couldn't just shoo Minako away until she was ready to wake up.

At least she'd knocked this time. The first few times, when they'd been adjusting still to the idea of separate rooms, Minako had walked right in on Rei changing after her shower; and worse yet, once when she was actually still toweling off. The screaming fit that followed probably reinforced the message clearly enough: for the love of god, knock first.

Rei had changed back into her plaid pajamas already, had been preparing to crawl back into bed. But she answered the door with a small smile, dark hair falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side.

"What's that, Minako-chan?" Rei asked with laughter trying to edge into her voice. "You say I'm the best friend you could ever hope for?"

Rei smirked as the kitten hobbled over to brush against Minako's legs, squeaking expectantly up at them. Rei knelt to scoop him up, pressing a kiss between his ears. "Isn't he darling? He looks so much like... like a mini Artemis."

Breaking hiatus for this fgt B|

[luvubby]

Minako was grateful Rei was at least clothed this time. The Towel Disaster and subsequent, similar instances had been embarrassing and usually ended in flying projectiles, shrieking and (in one case) fire. Minako had never been on the receiving end of a Fire Mandala before and was certain she never wanted that particular experience again. Getting soot out of long hair was difficult, after all.

She shook those thoughts out of her head and smiled widely at Rei, rubbing the back of her neck, a habit picked up from Usagi(curiously enough, Neo-Queen Serenity had broken that particular nervous quirk). "You're definitely the best." Her expression turned wistful, and she shuffled her feet for a moment. "Thank you, Rei-chan. He really does look just like Artemis. For a minute I thought it was him, but..." The blonde girl shook her head and seemed to bounce back from her solemn mood almost instantly. "But he hates sleeping in the same bed with me. I always manage to kick him out on accident."

There was an awkward, somewhat long pause before Minako remembered her reason for coming to Rei's room. "Right! Stupid... Your gift!" She handed Rei the pens and the key, carefully wrapped in bright red paper. "I know it looks really small, but I promise you'll like them."

[luvu2bby]

The cat clung to Rei's tank top as she tried to push him back into Minako's arms. It was a bit of a juggling act, and the little claws managed to pull Rei's shirt just a bit too much and expose a tad too much skin. But she didn't seem to notice... she never even seemed to notice that all of her pajama tops were worn thin, unable to leave much to the imagination. Who else ever saw her in them, anyway? No one that would care much... she usually got dressed before she went downstairs for breakfast, so whatever she wore to bed was pretty much a mystery to everyone but Minako.

Now much about Rei was a mystery to Minako anymore. Not physically, anyway.

Rei took the calligraphy set with a genuine smile, running her fingertips over the brushes carefully. It was a fine set, and the ink would stay nicely on this parchment, she knew. Minako was rather thoughtful like that, always making sure she found high-quality items, never one to skimp on luxury. But this key... it intrigued her.

She turned it over in her hand, tilting her head to the side as her brow furrowed in thought. "What's this for?"

fff sorry for spamming you with offline IMs. Don't worry about it if you saw them. e___e

[luvubby]

Minako watched the little cat grab at Rei and was about to lean in to assist when the kitten's energetic movements caused Rei's pajama top to shift just so. Minako was not unused to seeing Rei in various states of undress: their uniforms left little to the imagination, and they'd shared a room for a while, but this time was...different, she thought. In the quiet tranquility of the early morning, a time she was not usually awake, and before the others had woken up...even Neptune, who woke up early, this situation was almost...intimate. Minako felt her focus pulled toward that smooth expanse of skin. She was transfixed. Had Rei ever had a pimple in her entire life? How could someone's skin be so flawless? And did she have some sort of special exfoliator she was hiding? There was another very long pause, where Minako's mind was torn between wondering what moisturizer Rei used and other, very inappropriate thoughts before she snapped herself out of it and reached to grab the kitten. Her face was a bit flushed, but she was hoping it wasn't too obvious.

"What's what f--oh!" She shifted the kitten into one hand and grabbed Rei's arm with the other, tugging her along. "I'll show you, come on! I worked for a couple of weeks on this...I was so worried that you'd find out before I finished..." As she spoke, she was leading Rei along through the house, trying to keep her voice down so that she wouldn't wake the others.

They reached a door in a far off part of the house, tucked away from the other rooms. "The key goes to this door, if you couldn't tell." Her grin was a bit sheepish now.

"It's a room just for you. I know it's loud here sometimes, so I wanted to make a place for you to have all to yourself when you wanted to be alone."

[luvu2bby]

Blissfully, Rei didn't notice where Minako's eyes were wandering. If she had, she would most definitely be blushing like a fiend, and possibly even throwing a bit of a fit. But that wasn't an issue at the moment. She was still busy marveling the fact that she'd actually gotten a Valentine's gift. Granted, Valentine's was usually a girls' holiday, but she never got anything on White Day either. This was special... this was something to be cherished.

But there was no time for that! Minako was dragging her through the house before Rei could protest, and her eyes were a little wide as she tried to keep up, winding down the staircase as she sputtered a little.

"B- but Minako-chan! I'm not dressed, I can't let Kaioh-san see me in my pajamas!"

Wow, this was certainly a secluded part of the house. Rei could only remember having been here a few times before. Didn't they usually keep junk down in this room? Yes, this was the junk room, she remembered putting her fishbowl in here after the fish died...

Rei hesitated for a moment, looking from Minako, to the key in her hand. She's been working on this for weeks? Rei's face flushed a little as she fit the key into the lock and twisted, pushing the door open.

HERE FGT. e___e

[luvubby]

Minako took a few, respectful steps back and waited for Rei to open the door to the room, occasionally glancing up the stairs to make sure that Neptune or one of the others hadn't woken up. This was a moment just for Rei and her, and she didn't want anyone to ruin it.

When the door was opened, it revealed what Minako had been working on, what she'd been spent weeks hiding. A meditation room. It didn't have the sacred fire(Minako was pretty positive that involved a lot of complicated customs and so on that she knew nothing about), but she knew(or hoped) Rei would appreciate it all the same. She'd picked this room specifically for the windows, which were large and faced the direction of the jungle in the distance. It'd taken a long time to clear out all the junk that had collected in the room, but it was worth it in the end.

"I thought that..." she paused and took a deep breath, "I thought that I'd apologize properly, maybe, by giving you this. This space for yourself, and no one else. I know it's nothing big, just a room, but...all the same. I hope you like it."

[luvu2bby]

Rei's jaw may as well have been on the floor when she pushed the door open. It was so... beautiful. So much more extravagant than anything she'd ever had back home, and it was all her own. She looked back to Minako, questioning with her violet eyes. Was this really just for her...?

She took a step inside, shivering pleasantly at the sound of the fresh tatami crackling beneath her feet. It didn't smell right yet, of course... incense would have to be burnt for a while, to soak into the fabrics of the couches and the straw in the mats. But this was so... calming. So serene.

"Minako-chan," she said quietly, but the rest of her statement got lodged behind the ball in her throat. She smiled faintly and turned, putting her hands to her mouth. This was much better than some stupid cat.

"Thank you..."

[luvubby]

Rei was not used to extravagance, Minako knew, and at the last minute, she had the thought the gift would be too much...but Rei's reaction erased all those worries. She smiled back in a self-effacing sort of way, trying to play at being humble.

"You're welcome, Rei-chan." She wanted to say something else, but not for the first time, she was at a complete loss for words. Minako worked better with action, not thought, had always been this way, but she didn't think impulsive gestures would work this time, or if they ever really worked with Rei. So instead she took a deep breath and said the only thing that came to mind.

"I...I'm happy you like your gift."

[luvu2bby]

Rei was overwhelmed momentarily, and she was smiling so widely, her face felt as if it would crack. She leaped forward and flung her arms around Minako's shoulders, resting gently against the other girl's body. Her face came to rest against Minako's shoulder, losing some of her face in the sweet-smelling spun silk of the blonde's hair.

"I feel bad now," Rei murmured, easing back again to rest her forehead against Minako's. "You spent all this time doing this for me, and all I got you was a stupid cat and some cupcakes..."

Rei laughed silently, shoulders shaking a little. It sounded a bit bitter, though... could she ever do anything that would be good enough for Minako?