-1 Darien rolled his eyes and leaned against the door frame as he watched Serena run off. How long did was she really going to stay away from him? Their minds were linked, after all. Where was there to hide? Suddenly, he felt a great tug and was thrown forward onto the floor, hit his knee sharply. He released a string of curses. "Ow, Odango," Darien snapped mentally, pushing himself up. What was that all about?
"That was not my fault!" Serena shrieked back. He heard the fAmyliar sound of her wailing and ventured out of the staff room. Motoki was looking at her strangely from behind the counter.
"Did you trip over your own feet again, Miss Klutz?" Darien questioned. Why would they fall down simultaneously for no reason? It was as if their feet had just been pulled out from under them.
Serena sniffed and stood up. "No," she told him mentally. "I just fell down." Once more, she attempted to dash toward the arcade's exit.
Seconds later, Darien felt a strong pull near his navel that seemed to jerk him forward. He felt his feet slide a few inches before he fell onto his rear. Scattered laughter erupted from some of the arcade's patrons; he glared at them. His gaze settled on Motoki, who was barely containing his mirth. "What is so damned funny?" he demanded. Serena was whimpering in his head; he saw her nursing a bruised knee.
"Um maybe the fact you fell down for no apparent reason? It's pretty out of character," he exclaimed, emitting a chuckle.
"Right. I'm sure you've never done it, say in a place that will remain nameless in front of a person who will remain nameless." Darien grinned cheekily at his friend's chagrined face before hastily adding, "Gotta go." He was feeling the wrench in his body again, and he refused to fall down in front of people again. "Serena!" he called mentally as he headed out the sliding door. "Stop moving!"
"Make me!" the blonde countered, her pigtails giving her position in the crowd in front of him away.
"Okay. If you really want to do it that way," Darien responded. He stopped dead in his tracks, digging his heels in to brace himself. As he saw the blonde's head disappear below the crowd, he smirked to himself. Lucky that he realized this little side effect first.
"Pain," Serena groaned. Though she had realized what Darien was planning, it hadn't been enough time to stop. She stood and brushed the dirt from catching herself off of her palms. She forgot for the moment that Darien was behind her, which allowed him to catch up. "Leave me alone, jerk!" she hissed to him. "Don't make me scream."
"You wouldn't do that, Meatball," Darien replied disbelievingly. When Serena's mouth opened wide and he sensed her filling her lungs, he quickly placed a hand to block her. Then mentally, "I won't touch you, okay?"
She considered this for a moment, try to assess Darien's current vibe. The hot, needy feeling was gone. "All right. I guess," she said begrudgingly.
"Wait a second." Darien ordered. A thought had just occurred to him. "Do the senshi trust me?" He learned the answer from Serena's face. Well that and a snipped of conversation he heard that included the word "enemy" and "get him out of the way if we have to." He eyed the girl warily. "I don't think going to them is a good idea."
The blonde rolled her eyes back at him. "You were all gung ho before. You're going to let a teensy little thing like the senshi maybe wanting to kill you stop you? Not on my watch." Serena marched the way she had been going, which disallowed her to see Darien turned the other way. Mid-stride, Serena's body was forced backwards a step. "Oh, come on!"
Despite the waves of annoyance he was receiving, Darien steadily put one foot in front of the other. "I'm not going."
Serena clenched her fists and planted her feet, only to fall on her rear. "Damn you, jerk!" she screeched at him. When she felt him flinch at her tone, she seized the opportunity to run a few steps. It was Darien's turn to stumble backwards, though he kept his balance. "Come with me! We can't get apart. Where else is there to go? I am not going to your apartment, and my father would kill you if you so much as walked past my house."
Though the image Darien received of Serena's father holding a shot gun was alarming, his eyes narrowed. This was so not a good idea. He couldn't believe he was allowing Serena to talk him into it. He jumped forward, causing one last tug to annoy her. He then jogged over to her.
Serena smacked him lightly in the back of the head. "Stupid," she said aloud.
Rubbing his head reproachfully, Darien asked, "Who are we going to see, then?" He sincerely hope it was Amy. Sailor Mercury seemed both most likely to be able to solve the problem and least likely to potentially beat him in the fight. Not that he thought any of them could beat him in a fight, but definitely not Mercury.
"Lita," Serena answered cheerfully. She was kind of getting the hang of this mental connection thing, and she was pretty sure he had no idea that she was hiding her additional motive of wanting a cookie to cheer her up. Given focusing on these things kept her from hearing him entirely, but she was willing to sacrifice that to get cookies. Being stuck with Darien was tiring work; she deserved a reward or at least a sugar rush.
Darien blanched, earning a puzzled look from another pedestrian. "Did you just tell me that we're going to see Lita, Sailor Jupiter, the only senshi capable of beating me down?" He tried to tamp down the apprehension he began feeling. There was no reason to give Serena something to tease him about.
"Don't worry, Jerkface. She likes you more than all the others. Besides, any one of us could easily kick your butt," she assured him, poking her tongue out at him.
"I seriously doubt it," he disagreed. As he continued walking, an annoyed look was firmly planted on his face.
Darien walked along as slowly as his bond would allow as Serena dashed down the hall of the apartment complex to knock on a door. The excitement coming off of her was amazing. Was seeing one of her friends who she attended school with almost everyday really something to get so worked up about? When Serena turned to glare at him at the end of this thought, Darien answered his question with a yes.
Without warning, the door creaked open, and Lita peeked out from above the chain. "Serena-chan!" she began, smiling. "What are you--" The brunette did a double take as Darien appeared behind Serena. "What are you two doing here?" she finished. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she made no move to unhook the chain.
"Long story. Let us in. I'll call the others." Serena waved her hand dismissively.
Darien hope that his mental voice didn't sound as high-pitched in Serena's head as it did in his. "You're going to bring them all together? You're not planning to kill me to solve the problem, are you?"
Still frowning, Lita closed the door slightly. The chain rattled before she was able to pull it back open. She stepped aside, allowing Serena and Darien to walk by. "You know where the phone is." Lita continued to eye Darien warily, even as she gestured him toward her living room.
"No, I'll just use the communicator," Serena responded, shuffling ahead of them into the living room. She plopped on the hunter green couch and whipped the pink device out of seemingly nowhere. She didn't see Lita's expression of surprise.
Though he sat near her on the couch to see the interesting device, Darien was still uncertain, and Serena was too busy focusing on calling her friends to reassure him. "Do you see how she's looking at me? I could take a beating, but you don't exactly bounce back from being struck by lightning."
"Everyone, come to Lita's as soon as possible. I want to tell this story only once," Serena said into the small object.
"Meatball Head, how many times do we have to tell you that these are for senshi business only?" Raye's voice complained.
Focusing carefully on Serena's activity to avoid Lita's eyes, Darien saw the priestess's face on the screen. He had heard Raye talk to Serena that way before, but she was their leader. It seemed the senshi show her more respect.
"This is senshi business, Raye," Serena retorted. "Just get here soon." She pushed a button, turning it off. Her pressing plan of contacting the others over, she was hit by waves of anxiety from Darien. "You wuss," she commented to him mentally, unable to keep from smirking slightly.
Darien huffed back at her before noticing that Lita was staring at him with overly wide eyes. "Way to go, Brainiac. She looks like she's about to go iTop Gun/i and say since you've told me, she'll have to kill me."
"Darien, aren't our new video phones neat?" Lita asked, glancing at Serena pointedly. She continued to stare at Darien intensely.
Serena rolled her eyes. As fun as it was to keep Darien on pins and needles, that wasn't really helping the situation. She ignored his complaint at this thought. "It's fine. He knows," she said flatly.
Lita immediately went from wide-eyed back to glaring. "Why? How?" she demanded. She popped her knuckles menacingly, a move that did not go unnoticed by Darien.
"Not by choice," Serena grumbled. "It was his fault." She turned away from her friend to glare at him.
"How is it my fault again?" he countered mentally, glaring back. His focus on Serena was probably for the best, since Lita almost started from her chair to pummel him on the spot. There is no way that this could be pinned on him. He had to always be ready to step in to save Sailor Moon.
"I had to look at the youma, jerk. You didn't," Serena snapped. As hard as she tried not to wince, his implication that Sailor Moon always needed to be saved hurt.
"What if it had tried to skewer you, as usual?" Darien argued. He flashed memory after memory into her mind of different youmas attempting to land one last attack, only to be distracted by his roses.
This put Serena very much on the defensive. She was a heroine. She didn't ask for his high-and-mighty, white knight bullshit to come to her rescue; her wounds healed quickly anyway. "That is such a lame weapon, by the way. Who throws flowers?"
Darien frowned. He had heard something in her speech, but she was still gripping at him mentally. "Wait a second. What was that about the youma?" he said aloud, deciding it was the best way to talk over her and also the least likely to result in a headache.
"It caused this!" she replied, giving him a strange look. It was just like him to try to get out a of conversation by changing the subject. He could have at least chosen a new topic.
It was Darien's turn to roll his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he demanded.
Serena stared at him blankly for a moment. "Of the two of us, you're supposed to be the smart one. It doesn't help to know what caused it, anyway." Serena rolled her eyes right back.
"How do you know?" Darien asked. The hand he was resting on the arm of the couch had formed into a fist, which he pounded once in frustration.
"Okay. The eye rolling is making me dizzy. I can't say much more for the conversation that the two of you seemed to pick up in the middle." Lita looked between the two, confusion written on her face. "I feel like I'm missing something."
Serena turned to look at Lita. She had completely forgotten she was there; she pretended not to hear Darien's snide response to this. "You are. I'll explain when they're here." Brightening all of a sudden, Serena asked, "Can we have cookies?"
A short time later a knock came at the door. Lita went to answer it. "Serena-chan, is your homework done yet?" Amy asked as she walked towards the living room. She was met with a loud sigh. She came to a complete stop, almost causing Lita to knock into her, when she found Darien sitting next to Serena on Lita's couch.
"That's what I thought," Lita whispered to her, gently pushing the newcomer through the doorway.
"Good evening, Darien," Amy greeted. Though significantly less threatening than Lita, she too stared at him with suspicion.
"Good evening, Amy," Darien echoed, shifting uncomfortably. No matter how good her cookies were, he still wasn't sure about Lita. Adding a second unfriendly senshi to her side, no matter how small, wasn't helping.
"You know what they say about the quiet ones. Amy's smart. She knows about dissolving things in acid and such." Serena couldn't help but tease Darien; it was nice to have the upper hand. Even the disturbing images the statement called up in Darien's mind didn't chide her all that much. "I hope you brought your computer, Amy. You're going to need it," Serena commented aloud.
"I could have guessed," Amy agreed. "I know something is wrong when you two are getting along." She smiled briefly.
"We're not." Serena grinned, glancing over at Darien.
The man was frowning slightly. Serena's friends didn't seem to think highly of him at all. "Am I that mean to you, Meatball Head?" Darien asked her silently.
"Yes," she said, answering the same way. She glared at him sidelong.
"There that is again. I've been sitting with them for fifteen minutes and feel like they're having whole conversations with their body language," Lita announced to Amy.
"Sorry," Serena and Darien chorused, only to be saved from further explanation by the second knock at the door.
"What is going on?" Amy asked the pair on the couch, taking advantage of their temporary aloneness.
"Darien knows about us, to start with," Serena remarked. She could always rely on Amy to try to act as a sort of counselor or detective, trying to figure out the problems and look for the ways to solve them, whether they were tangible or not.
"I guessed that by you telling me to get out my computer and his lack of reaction," Amy responded, without looking up from the computer she had pulled from nowhere. Sometimes the things she said seemed so sarcastic, but Serena had never caught her intentionally doing it.
Darien stared at the tiny computer with interest. He admired the golden symbol on the cover as well as the sleek design.
"It's the Mercury computer," Serena informed him mentally, catching the line of his gaze.
"Meatball Head," Raye's voice began from outside the room, "this had better be important." The sound of her voice gave away that she was less than pleased.
"Cheer up, Raye. I'm sure it's interesting, anyway," Mina stated. Her ever bubbly attitude made up for Raye's.
"You can say that again, Mina," Lita grumbled as she stepped into the living room, Mina and Raye following closely.
"Sere! Why didn't you tell me that you and Darien," Mina began. Her eyes were lare, and her smile larger.
"Woman, if you finish that sentence I'll tell Andrew about you know what," Serena threatened. She was pleased to see her friend's mouth clamp shut, even if the other blonde still appeared to have stars in her eyes as she sat on the couch across from them. She turned to Darien who had suddenly begun choking. "Are you dying?" she asked him hopefully. She managed to gather from his thoughts that he was highly amused by Mina's crush on his friend.
"What did you want to tell us?" Lita prompted, looking on Darien's antics with slight worry. She sat back in her chair, as calmly as possible.
"Darien?" Serena asked him mentally, casting him a sidelong glance to make sure he had recovered. She saw that his face was still red, but he had straightened somewhat. "You can tell them."
He looked at the four girls, considering them. What was the best way to go about this? Darien shrugged. "You are the Sailor Senshi, and I am Tuxedo Mask."
The group looked shocked. Amy glanced up sharply from her computer, before typing furiously at it. Raye and Lita stared openmouthed. Mina's eyes widened impossibly; she proceeded to beam at them after a moment.
"Way to go, jerk. You almost gave them all heart attacks. Do you know the meaning of the word tact?" Serena demanded mentally, giving him an annoyed look. "Before you say anything, that wasn't the entire point. During the battle earlier, you four were watching me. I was watching to youma to aim at it, and Darien was watching it to make sure it didn't come after me. Just before it disappeared it flashed; that's the problem. It made us telepathic."
"What?" Amy exclaimed without looking up. The lack of interest was a bit confusing for the telepathic blonde, but they were hopeful that she had perhaps already gleaned something from the scans she'd been performing.
"What am I thinking?" Raye challenged. She glared at Serena, who responded to this by staring at her with a look that plainly asked 'are you kidding me?'
Darien sensed a distinct annoyed vibe coming from Serena. Focusing on it for a moment, he realized that she was thinking that Raye was upset with her for getting into this situation with a guy she had a crush on. Raye had a crush on him? Serena was totally jealous. He ignored her heated look at this thought. "We can only hear each other's thoughts," Darien answered patiently, unable to completely hide his grin for a moment. "That isn't why she called you, though. The serious problem is that it's starting to be a physical bond as well. We can only be so far apart."
Amy looked up, pausing in her typing. "Please demonstrate," she suggested, gesturing a hand around the room.
The two stood simultaneously and walked away from each other. Just before they had reached either side of the room, they were forced to stop. "Oh no!" Serena whined as she turned around to face him. "It's worse!"