What if this whole crusade's
A charade
-Nine Inch Nails, "The Hand that Feeds"

There was every intention then to head out to the yard, for the blonde to point out things to her; a better tour than when she had arrived. Borrowing rather reluctantly some of Minako's clothes meant she could train, though to be honest she really was not looking forward to it. It was not her robes which she was more than used to, even if she wore garments like a shirt and pants under them. The off gray of the clothing was not her, no matter how it brought out the darkness of her hair. It was almost too light for her complexion, as pale as it was. She endured it for the sake of breakfast though.

That had been their intention.

The moment that they had stepped out of the room of a far warmer atmosphere did a literal stampede of women descended upon them like the rare storms did upon her home. Instead of showers of rain, literally soaking all in its path, it was hands and arms, instantly separating her from the blonde who no matter her training, was no match. Who would have thought that such a horde was all it would take to usurp Minako from her, until then, near unshakable stance?

"There you are. We've been waiting for hours for you to be ready. I don't know what backwater planet you are from, you ill bred disappointment, but in the Lunar Palace we do not tolerate this lazy behavior."

The sea of women, most reminding her of tales of spinsters, each cast both a disapproving look as they parted, but it was their leader, an old woman with hair the color of a freshly forged sword who spoke. Tightly bound in a bun to the back of her head, she was far shorter than the rest but commanded far more than any Warlord, the King of Mars, or Minako could ever hope to. Combined. A pair of spectacles made of some wired frame perched on the tip of her nose which, despite being shorter than her, she still managed to look through in a disapproving manner.

That it bore some beaded chain to drape around the back of her neck was to be expected.

In her hands she held a notebook and a pencil, already scribbling away at it even as Minako had made a rally on herself. "We are expect-"

"Hmph. You would have been there by now if you really were. Lazy children these days. In my day, we would have not kept our elders waiting." The seamstress instantly cut the blonde off, brushing her aside as if she did not even matter.

"But-" Valiantly, she tried again.

"Don't you 'but me,' you Venusian hussy. You're lucky I already have your measurements though perhaps I should have you remeasured for everything. You look like you've packed on a few pounds since you left for uncivilized lands."

She could almost hear the sudden snap as Minako's jaw closed, her eyes narrowing pensively. For a split second she almost thought that the blonde was done but she did not fail, launching into yet another attempt to not be brushed aside. "The Queen-"

"Don't you dare mention Her Grace like she will save you. Why she allows such a shameless Venusian to be here is beyond me. You're the cause of all this reckless behavior that's been happening as of late." The woman would not allow a word in edgewise, stepping up and invading what personal space she might have had left at this point. Minako had long since done that she realized, and yet now she felt like all the irritation she had before was nothing in comparison. She rather missed it all at once, the woman looking her over before shaking her head with a tsking sound. "This will not due. With us, young lady. You might be some barbarian but I will be damned if you look like it."

Her gaze cast helplessly to the blonde, who could do nothing but shake her head sadly and sigh. There was no choice in the matter, nothing that would save her. The tasking was hers and hers alone to endure. Without much of a gesture or remark edgewise, she was pulled along, almost marched at that, with the horde down the hall. Looking behind over her shoulder she just barely managed to make out Minako mouthing "I'm sorry" to her before she was ushered forward without any further delay.

Time seemed to drag with the speed of an unyielding rock in the unwavering sun. Part of her had long since stopped wondering how long she had been standing here. The other part perhaps was dead, long since driven to an early grave by way of sheer boredom. It made her envious; that had to be far better than this. Anything had to be better than this, standing atop some box with her arms held outstretched to her sides as the dozen women pressed cloth measuring tapes to all aspects of her body while the head seamstress continued to take their numbers down. It didn't matter that a dozen was ten too many; they all seemed to be working regardless towards their taskings.

Stripped down out of her borrowed clothing, she couldn't rightly tell if it was a sound of approval that it had fit, or if was exasperation that she was wearing such. In a simple slip and panties she was silently glad however that the room was fairly warm, otherwise she would have considered death a far better venture. The far wall looked interesting enough to stare at blankly, almost as though she was meditating while the measuring tape was ran along the inside of her leg, from the edge of her panties all the way down to her ankle.

Ignoring the number that was called out, she allowed herself to not be so coherent. It gave her time to think of things that she had rushed through, ignoring as the moment did not allow it. How it felt to be here, away from home. Was it home though? The people she left behind were almost her family, if she had not distanced herself from them. Her grandfather … but he was long since gone. Her father? She wanted to laugh. The man might be her father but he certainly was not, not to her. It didn't matter that he was the King.

It meant that she was indeed the Princess, the epiphany hitting her that had she but realized… she would have known exactly who Minako was looking for once she had related her. Instead she had clung to her ignorance, never wondering why the blonde had sought her out, or why she had sworn an oath, or much of anything other than the need she expressed to be around her. She wanted to sigh but it wouldn't do; there were still far too many measuring tapes assaulting her barely clothed form.

The blonde was a dangerous subject yet her mind went there next. Maybe she should have felt ashamed for the things they had done, for the things that they had done to each other for that matter. It still heated her skin, feeling her pulse race before she swallowed and pulled her mind quickly, but abruptly, away from thoughts of the Venusian's naked body. She wasn't entirely sure why she cared so much, why she wanted her to lose control, to put her faith in someone else. In her, for that matter. Why was she so strong all the time? To rise above the image cast of her yes but why didn't she know that she had others around her that wanted to help her?

From the little she had spoken to Makoto and Ami the night prior, before she went to go look for the blonde, both spoke rather admirably of her. Her easy going disposition and cheerful personality that quite beguiled a fighting spirit and untarnished sense of honor. Both were more than willing to help her out however they could, but it was the lack of time they spent with her, that she wasn't rushing off somewhere else, that seemed to prevent all of that.

Both had related that out of all the time they had known her, only she, the Priestess, had been around her the most. Maybe that was why she had felt so passionately about it all. How she could see the struggle, the hope that the blonde held to while she was drowning. That someone would come along and offer her saving without a price, without a blemish to her soul.

Her gaze oblivious, she did not notice that the head seamstress had since stepped out, likely to deliver the list of numbers to the tailors to begin the tasking of producing her a wardrobe in but a day. Not to mention the gown for the ball. She was hardly looking forward to that, her gaze intent before her she missed the rest, how the others had silently walked out. Honestly, she was not paying attention in the least, standing instead on the box with her arms hanging down at her sides.

The fact she felt the press of the measuring tape to her thigh she didn't even attribute to anything odd or out of place, until it lingered just a little too long. The fingertips that held it against her skin seemed far more interested in touching her skin, if the way they slowly smoothed the cloth tape along her leg was any indication. Drawn from her reverie with a start she looked down, meeting the blonde's playful gaze and smirking lips. She was raising a finger, pressing it against those one and the same smirking lips at that… before measuring her hand from palm to the end of her middle finger.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" She managed to ask, feeling both curious as to how the blonde managed to get in here, how she managed to drive the others out without a word, and a bit grumpy to have been standing here for who really knew how long.

"Of course." A giggle followed as she ducked behind her, hands proceeding the tape that was being fitted against her hips. From around her the blonde peered up at her, "You should not question your superiors Rei."

Unable to help it, perhaps even if she wanted to, she felt a thin smirk pull at her face. "No? I thought questions were valued by leaders."

"Hmm." Was the only response she got, the blonde's body moving back behind her. Her hands retracted the measuring tape, finding it necessary to do so as instead it pressed against her ass, following the curve of her panties from her hip down. At once her features heated, swallowing hard. "That is true, but it isn't valued as greatly as loyalty…" The tape trailed in her hands, thumbs hooking over the straps of her slip she wore, moving the offending garment effortlessly off of her shoulders. It fell down in a pool at her ankles, at her feet, a pool she almost wanted to step from but her legs simply refused to move. "And obedience."

Around her Minako stepped again, her jacket she had been wearing since that morning had since been removed. Whether it was from the increased temperatures in the room or not was impossible to tell, for she felt her own body quite heated as she stood almost on display, clad only in panties that were being eyed almost as though the blonde planned to lead an assault herself on them. "Raise your arms above your head."

It seemed too outlandish yet up her arms went, watching as almost sinful delight appeared in the cerulean gaze. Her arms almost dropped once Minako's tongue flicked between her red lips but the sharp glance up at her kept her hands stretching towards the ceiling. Rather than go straight for her breasts as she expected her to, it was the tape instead pressing just under her arm and down her ribs, stopping at her hip. "So." That sounded the best way to start a sentence out, attempting to change the subject as her arms were allowed to be brought down and instead, her legs to widen her stance for another impromptu measurement to take place, this time around her left calf. "Is sewing another task on your long list of responsibilities here on the Moon?"

At her back she heard soft laughter, "If you're asking if I am the head seamstress, then no." Behind her, she could feel the sudden warmth that could only be brought on by another body close to her own. Her eyes dropped, transfixed for the moment, as Minako's hands reappeared at either side of her waist, dropping the measuring tape that fluttered down to the floor. To her breasts both hands went, heated and smooth at the same time. In her ear she felt a soft breath followed by sultry words, "I just figured that I'm more qualified to … accurately handle your measurements."

All the swallowing she had done prior was for naught, not after this. Most of her thoughts slipped away with the blonde's hands cupping her, brushed aside like they didn't matter at each pass of her thumbs. She felt the blonde hum softly in her ear, feeling her soft breath landing against her bare shoulder before her chin went to rest there. "This…" she started to say before she couldn't rightly figure out a reason why she should say some anything in the first place.

"I like the way my hands fit perfectly to your breasts. Almost like I was made for you." Was all Minako had to answer with to her stutter. As if she needed to explain with words when she was proving that very thing with her hands. "Or maybe … I like the way your breasts fit perfectly to my hands. Like you were made for me." At her back she felt the blonde press in closer until there wasn't even a scant breath of air between them. "I like the way you feel against me, how I fit against you." She wasn't imagining it, there was a twinge of longing within the otherwise always confident voice. Even being so brushed aside by the seamstresses, she hadn't been so cowed. She hadn't sounded so alone, not like this.

She should say something, but it was impossible to. The blonde may have ditched the jacket but she could feel her body regardless through the almost thin shirt. At her back she could feel each breath she took, the press of her breasts against her skin no matter the clothing. Of course there was also the matter of her hands that hadn't stopped in there almost nonchalant squeeze and release, intercepted by the pass of her thumbs or her fingers.

The choice to speak was out of her hands. Rather than let them hang pointlessly at her sides she felt hers rise of their own violation, closing over the blonde's. They didn't pull Minako's away though, curving instead as she stood there, saying nothing, doing nothing other than breathing. It was a few moments of silence before she leaned back against her, feeling the blonde's arms cradle her body.

"You always feel so warm." Came the softly murmured response. "I feel like I could just close my eyes and sleep."

"Standing up? In this … whatever room this is? Someone could come walking in at any moment." Her voice came back at that point, feeling her features flush in reminder that she was just in panties, that was it. Other than the hands that were covering her, it was still rather how she didn't want to be seen.

"Mm you're right." It sounded sultry, dangerous … like Minako didn't have a care for her concerns over being walked in on. More so especially as her hands slipped away out from under her own, skittering fingertips trailing down her navel until they hooked in the waist of her panties. Down they were pushed, "We should take advantage of the time while we can."

"Wha- what are you doing?!" Aghast she tried to struggle out of Minako's grasp, only to nearly lose her balance. Stepping from the box she had been standing on for the past time unknown. Spinning about her arms rose, crossing over her breasts to lend her modesty, a facade ruined as in her stumbles, her panties had inched down her hips to linger against her thighs, hardly covering anything about her.

She was met with the blonde tilting her head at her, a smirk rising on her lips before she sat down on the box of all things. "Are you concerned over someone seeing you nude?"

"It's … it's not proper. Someone could…"

Minako looked positively bemused by the notion, if the smile on her features as any indication. A show was made of thinking before she in agreement. "You're right."

Her guard dropped at how quickly the blonde was agreeing to her, feeling her hands relinquish their guard over her body. "I am?"

"Mm yes. That's why," without warning Minako's hands found a handhold on her panties, abruptly pulling her forward to her. Down her legs they fell once she released them, the blonde looking coyly up her body, "you're going to keep an eye out on the door."

What sounds of protest she could offer were given instead as something like a squeak. It was undignified for certain, sounding weak if she thought about it for a while. Save that she couldn't; that was impossible the moment she felt the blonde's lips trail along her stomach. Or maybe that wasn't really impossible; no truly it had to be when her lips skirted along her pelvis moving steadily lower. No, no that wasn't it either. The true impossibility came when her legs; already parted from being pulled forward, were further so when the blonde's face brushed between her thighs.

She couldn't think, she couldn't speak outside of some gasping sound as she felt Minako's mouth against her. Abruptly her arms dropped from their shielding of her breasts; that certainly was pointless really, reaching instead for her fingers to thread within the blonde hair that was perfectly within her grasp. Maybe later she'd think about that box in a better light, instead of it being that thing associated with the torture of standing atop it for really who knew how long.

Why was she so worried about thinking though? The question was not long to last or to plague her mind, pushed aside with each flick of Minako's tongue. Her fingers tightened within the blonde locks, half realizing she was supposed to be keeping an eye on the door. Fuck, that was impossible, as impossible as thinking was. Her balance felt challenged, swaying on her feet … so desperately glad for her handhold as she felt teeth lightly close about her, drawing the overtly sensitive nub of flesh into her mouth.

All the sounds of before meant nothing now. They were just practice, a rehearsal of sorts for the ones that followed. Pressing against Minako's skull her hands tightened, feeling her hips move of their own accord. It perhaps was exactly what she was supposed to do, if the steady sucking she felt there was any indication. She couldn't look at the door, fuck, she couldn't even say what a door exactly was, not right now. Her head fell back, sightless eyes staring unblinkingly at the ceiling as she tried so desperately to breathe.

Fuck breathing. Fuck she honestly didn't need to do anything at all like that. She just needed to feel this, to live in this moment. Fuck the door, fuck breathing, fuck that she had just been measured for gowns and training clothing and things to wear to bed that she had never imagined owning before. Fuck it all … let her just have this moment, it was all worth it. That the words, or that word in particular, was falling from her lips in throaty moans she wasn't even aware of until she felt the blonde giggle against her.

Even then she didn't care. It was simply impossible to as she let go, feeling her climax claim her much in the same fashion that the blonde had. Her coherency was a joke, everything and nothing existed right now, only pleasure. It was only when she felt arms around her, and even then she was hardly so aware of them, that her thoughts were even remotely considering returning.

The breath in her ear though, the whispered words though, she wouldn't ever forget. "And I love … the way … that you taste … most of all. The way that you sound. The way that … despite how you don't want to … you let go."