See me now, if you could see me now
-Royal Blood, "Lights Out"


The sunlight this time was nowhere near as loud as it was the day prior and for that, she was thankful. Though sore it was a pleasant sort of ache that she never really would ever mind. Not after what transpired. Sure it would be a bit awkward to move about but it was a small price to pay. The activities though of last night did not answer all of her questions, that lingering voice of doubt refused to be completely slayed. A sigh passed by her lips as she looked up at the ceiling; somethings just might never be answered no matter her search for answers.

She had been awake for an hour by this point, the back of her hand still rested against the side of the bed that had since grown cool by this point. Rei had risen sometime around the time she had awoken to slip off to the shower and if it wasn't for her own desire to not be a hypocrite when it came to her rules, she might have shown her own sort of appreciation to the Martian amid the steam. The sound of water though had since cut off, and true to her estimate of time, her door opened once again.

Cutting over slowly, her gaze left the ceiling to settle on the other woman, picking out the details of her attire. One could learn a lot about how someone dressed after all and the Priestess was hardly any different. Especially when it was a dead giveaway; she was in her robes. Those garments that hid and teased and gave her much to think about while traversing some small slice of Martian surface while contending with her ever so pleasant attitude and absolutely wonderful company.

She smirked. It could have been from the thought or the view at this point.

"Are you going to stay in bed all day?"

That was an idea, toying with it as she instead gave an idle stretch. Nothing she did though was idle, make no mistake of it. She knew exactly what she was doing, just like she knew exactly where the sheet was at in relation to being draped over her body. She knew all of this, inherent and learned knowledge and application of skills. Sometimes, it paid to be a Venusian, more so for this. More so since the simple gesture had given growth to the blush and wide eyed stare levied at her.

"Well, the thought crossed my mind. You're the one though, who decided to leave."

She watched as Rei fumbled for words, staying close by the door as though it was going to save her. The only way that was going to happen was if the door was still between the two of them. Instead, the raven haired woman had willingly stepped back into her arena and, though she was bested the prior night, it did not mean that she had lost the war. Turning to her side the sheet settled across her hip, leaning to rest her head on her hand and stay propped up by her elbow. She didn't say anything because there wasn't a need for words, at least not right now from her. Actions did all of her speaking and what a captive audience she had in Rei.

"I-." Oh, was that a stumble in her speech? Did she just stutter? "You're going to make me regret getting up, aren't you."

Her answer was a half shrug of her shoulders while her fingers traced whimsical patterns on the bed before her. It was a good as time as any to toy, those eyes of the night sky personified followed the nature of her fingertips grew especially wide when her hand came back to cup her breast. Nonchalantly her fingertips traced over her skin; voyeurism wasn't her thing but for the reactions it was provoking she'd be willing to put considerable effort into it. "You're the one who left Priestess." Finally she uttered as she pinched her nipple enough for her eyes to close for a moment before they opened anew. She didn't have to guess that her gaze was smoldering; it already was.

"I don't know though… you seemed rather sore when we woke this morning Princess." Afflicted, Rei still managed to verbally spar even as she was approaching, the activities she was missing out on driving her to move.

Giving a dazzling smile, she reached out instead to grasp hold of the other's garments, pulling her into the bed. "Like I'm really going to complain about that."


A line had formed for the shower and while the other had allowed her to go first, it came with a half hearted grumble about how she had already showered and would have been fine but no. Sadly for Rei, she was naked still, meaning that it did not take very much for her to get the sounds and words to stop. A grin later and she was off to shower, the heat soothing away that pleasant ache to allow her to move better.

A few minutes later, maybe ten, and she was back in the room. Wisely, Rei was quick to leave again to make her second visit of the day while she dressed. That was a moment of debate, a glance out the window said the weather was still sunny but that clouds were forming too. It was going to rain likely sometime in the night. That meant cooler temperatures. The Palace was wonderful during the months that the sun was brightly shining on it, but as the seasons seemed to pass by, she had learned it was fuck all for staying warm in the cooler months.

A blouse and a skirt it was then of slightly heavier material. She had no intentions of going outside or if she did, not for long, but if she went for anything lighter, she knew she wouldn't leave the warmth of a hearth either. Lifting a brush, it was ran through her hair with a silent count in Venusian to a hundred, following habits of childhood despite being an adult now.

She had just finished pulling that length of cloth into a bow when Rei returned, dressed once again in her robes. A thoughtful look but no words followed until she was done, cocking her head slightly in wait to what was on her mind.

The other wasn't forthcoming though, meeting her gaze before gesturing to the door. "Let's get something to eat that's more in the scale of subsistence. Then maybe we can go for a walk or something."

"Mm. I should distribute the mail too, unless Ami or Makoto got to it this morning." Their conversation trailed after them as they finally emerged completely from her room and down the hall, an hour or two later from their previous interruption.

"Mail? Was that why you were late."

"It wasn't like I could exactly formulate words last night to tell you that. But yeah, I sent a letter to my mother; it was long overdue. Then I collected everything that had come in for us and left it on the table."

"No one else could get it." They cleared the hall, stopping in the common room which was empty. The mail bag still rested on the table; apparently neither Ami nor Makoto had been out this morning, or rather, came back yesterday. That within itself wasn't strange but her stomach reminded her that dinner was really, nonexistent the night before. She remembered eating lunch. It caught Rei's attention who smirked. "Start sorting the mail, I'll fix something to eat."

"What, you? You know how to cook?" Oh this was news to her, pausing with the canvas bag in her hands. That she left a question unanswered… she could always provide it if it was really that important.

"Of course I do. We weren't exactly stationary, but there were plenty of times we were in one place for a few weeks. There weren't often inns or settlements, and eating rations all the time was tiring at best. I might not be as good of a cook as Makoto, but it doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing."

It made sense she supposed, not exactly a fan of rations herself. Looking back to the bag she pulled out a few packages, maybe five total of various sizes but all small, and a few pieces of mail that could only be letters. For as technologically advanced that the planets had become even before the Alliance, mail was still an archaic thing. Just like her letter to home, it was paper and pen, sealed to an envelope, and addressed. There wasn't a way to send it electronically and while there was radio communication, that meant there were always others to hear one's conversation. Letters it was then, and that it was leaving the Lunar surface meant careful addressing to signify to which planet, then directions of to where once it arrived.

She glanced up but Rei was busy at something after washing her hands. Turning her attention back to the packages, she found three of the five were for Ami, one was for Makoto, and strangely enough, one for Rei. Intrigued and more than curious, the letters were all for Ami, leaving them on the packages for the Mercurian. Internally she sighed; it would have been nice for a letter from home, but likely her mother was waiting to hear from her first.

It would take a month, maybe longer, before her letter arrived. Then there was the fact that her mother still had to reply and send it back. Shuttles to and from Venus and the Moon were not on a routine schedule yet, so there was always a chance that it would be routed to Mercury first if they had a ship going this direction. At best, it was likely three months if not more before she received anything.

That was disheartening.

Shaking her head she folded the bag up to set aside. If she didn't bring it back to the mailroom, someone would. "You have a package, everything else is for our two absent friends."

With curiosity still needing to be sated, she watched the other's reaction. Rei paused in whatever she was doing with the skillet; a slight sniff and a quick dart of her eyes said it was an omelette, which prompted another growl of her stomach. Once Rei looked over she even held it up for her to see, in case she hadn't believed her. The box was moderate size, the sort that meant you could really hide anything in it without it being really obvious what it as. A sword wouldn't fit in it for instance, neither would a bow, but clothes could. Or a bowl. Maybe a flute if it was disassembled to pieces.

For a moment, as Rei was too busy looking at the box with slight apprehension, she realized that for how well she knew the other, she didn't know really anything about her. That was another disconcerting feeling to go with the disheartening one of just moments ago.

"Who is it from." Oh how she tried to act like she was curious but too much … was it dread? Apprehension was still present, but it felt different. Like it was laced with something, anger perhaps? She turned her attention back to the skillet, giving a show of not being interested at all.

Turning the box back around she read the label. The addressee was simply Rei, at the Palace, with a reference to the Princess' Guards. The rest looked gibberish to her, harsh lines that reminded her otherwise of Mars if she had to be so lacking but insightful to a description. It was all block print, a Lunar standard that had been introduced with the formation of the Alliance. Venusian looked strange written that way for one, recalling her youth and instructors.

"I can't read it. It's in Lunar print but it's not a language I know." She felt, rather than saw, the frown that the other wore. It was confirmed when Rei walked over, looking at the label before she quickly turned away, going back to the skillet to slide one omelette off and prepare the next. Anger now, faint disgust. It figured today those empathic tendencies were going to be in full force, cautiously processing them lest she turn her stomach on its axis. A bit harsher than needed all of Rei's actions were punctuated with a growl. If she didn't say something soon then she would pry but for now she just waited, the box set aside.

Her patience for once paid off as a few minutes later, Rei jabbed a plate in her hands along with a fork before she took a seat with a huff. "It's from the King," stabbing at her food with vengeance.

This simply wouldn't do, leaving her plate on the table she ignore the look that Rei was giving her as she set the kettle on to boil. As her actions became known it seemed to relax the other at least enough not to clang her utensils so loud. Returning to her seat across from her she had already formulated a plan for how to handle this. Things were going so well, all things considering, that an intrusion? Interruption? like this simply would not ruin it. Taking a bite she smiled; cooking was not in her skills in the least. She found that out after more than one bout of flame and smoke. Another bite turned into half of it gone. "Thank you."

"Minako I-"

A gesture of her hand stopped the other, along with the shake of her head. "I'm saying thank you for breakfast, no matter how late it is. I can't cook so the fact that you can without causing plumes of smoke is really amazing to me." It seemed to soothe the raging for a moment, thought she was still upset over the implications of the package that loomed like a dragon. "Take a deep breath." Automatically Rei obeyed; she felt the beginning of desire again and tempered it back. "And another." She watched as much as she felt, the other finding that balance that drove her to sometimes extremes for the love and hate aspect of it.

Rei sighed after, turning to her own breakfast to finish. The tea kettle was boiling so she rose to retrieve two mugs and the stash of tea leaves. The irritation she felt now was something she could decipher the meaning of, gesturing with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I never paid attention for formal ways to do this. On Venus there's a few different ones, and despite my mother insisting I learn them, I never had the patience to sit still long enough. Just consider this the simplistic one, the one without all the pomp and ceremony."

"You learning some patience wouldn't be a bad thing."

It was almost a barb but she didn't draw attention to it, shrugging her shoulders instead as she set the kettle down on a heat treated pad on the table. "Ahh but Priestess, I have patience." She answered with a grin.

"That waggle of your eyebrows says otherwise Irritation. You're probably thinking of something … else."

"What, me? I'm innocent!"

The tea kettle was set back down, the raven haired woman lost to tradition and rituals as she prepared both of their mugs. It wasn't until she was done that she finally said anything more, and that it came with a smile told her everything she needed to know. "Your body last night completely beguiles that statement Princess, and you know it."


By the time their breakfast was done and the dishes were washed, Ami and Makoto hadn't returned. It would have been unnatural save that she knew the two of them could handle themselves. She left the stack of mail for both of them piled neatly on the table top while Rei left with hers. Likely to toss it in her room as she wasn't ready to confront it yet. She couldn't blame her but she also didn't know the full nature of the relationship either. It was still early in the day, and while staying cooped up inside sometimes was appealing, there were too many times she was tired of only having a sanctuary here.

It meant changing but for the sake of showing Rei something more, she was willing to do so.

Her mind made up, she intercepted her halfway down the hallway, grinning mischievously and in such a way that the other knew she was likely up to no good. She could be a force to be reckoned with, more so if she wanted to be. "Change into your uniform and bring your swords. I'm going to show you around a bit."

"Why do I have to change for that. You said that this was our time off." There it was, that stubbornness she had expected at the notion. Adapting that Commander persona wasn't something she cared to do, but the tradeoff was worth it in her logic.

"Do you remember, when we first arrived here, that I said something to the effect about why we landed in the hanger that we did? Because civilians would be in positively in an uproar just for the fact of how you look?"

"Yeah." Rei's stance had shifted slightly but she made no motion to turnabout and go to her room.

"Well then silly, if you change, I'll show you the town. If you go out there like that, there's no promise of what will happen. Probably something bad though, that's pretty typical; Lunarians have a thing for people who look different from them. But, they respect the Army and importantly, the Guard. So we'll be fine."

"There's a town?" A revelation such as this was truly impactful, as it came out as an actual question.

"Of course! We'll stop at the stables and head there; it's about most of the day walking otherwise. While I wouldn't mind staying here all day, this room is sometimes a gilded cage that I need to escape from."

That explanation won, or at least it was enough for conceding. Splitting up she went back to change, pulling out one of the heavier material uniforms from the depths of the closet. The seasons were changing; she was used to heat. Wanting to stay warm by being surrounded by Rei wouldn't go over too well outside, and the want to leave was strong enough anyway. Leaving her armor behind she donned her sword belt, settling it before collecting a spare cloak. Goddess knew that hers had probably been tossed.

She waited out in the hallway for Rei, drawing her cloak on to pin in place as she did. Hopefully it wouldn't rain while they were out. Their uniforms were mostly rainproof, but there was a lot to be said for being stuck in sodden, heavier clothing for hours. The other came out with a grimace to her features, holding her sword belt in hand.

For a moment she looked like she had something to say, instead shaking her head as she belted her swords back around her waist. Irritation and something more. A muttered grumble and she looked up, waiting expectantly.

Perhaps … Rei really didn't want to go. "If you don't want to go it's alright. I should have asked first instead of just assuming." Offering out the opportunity for the other to stay behind if she wanted to.

"No. That's not it." A short, testy answer came back.

Oh this was likely a foolish venture but neither did she want to feel this mood hanging over the rest of the day either. "Is this because he sent you something?"

The glare for its intensity and then the change of their focus told her she was right. Rei looked away to the wall, perhaps seeing completely through it. Her stance remained rigid, unyielding towards making a movement. Minutes ticked by in silence before she finally spoke, the words disjointed in that way of ill practiced handling. "You said you wanted to leave. Let's go."

Shaking her head, her hand opened the door to the Martian's room while her other collected her hand, pulling her along inside. "It's just a room. This is more important."

Stubbornly Rei figuratively dug in her heels, refusing to budge beyond the step taken no matter how much she tugged and pulled on her hand. "Minako no. I don't want talk about it or look at it. I don't care whatever bullshit it is that he sent."

"Then I'll open it." Perhaps the simple actions would lead the way towards the otherwise overwhelming hostility that was suffocating the hall.

"Fine." With that, Rei turned her back, pointedly ignoring her and whatever it was she would find. That was hardly what she was expecting; maybe more of a fight to prevent her? Certainly it wasn't this … this. Lightly she shook her head, stepping inside the room where the box remained, haphazardly thrown on the bed.

As she never carried a knife or a dagger, as much as she should, it took her a moment to decide before regretfully drawing her falchion. It was hardly what it was meant for but if she properly cared for it later, the guilt wouldn't eat at her so, or so she hoped. Drawing the point along the seam lines that held the box top closed, she returned her sword to its scabbard after a customary glance found no residue.

Opening the flaps she was met with folded clothing, black in color and feeling … they felt warm. That was all she could think of to describe it as. Warm and engulfing. Drawing the garment out it unfolded, declaring itself to be a cloak. It looked nice, lacking any sort of decoration save that it was lined with a hue of red that looked too much like blood. Moderately heavy her gaze picked out that it wasn't new; the signs of wear were there but in such a manner that said it had been well cared for.

Setting it aside, she glanced at Rei. Still her back.

Returning to the box, all that remained was a much smaller box and a letter. The customary glance told her right away that it wasn't a language she knew but she could guess it was Martian. It made complete sense, after all. The smaller box she recognized without even having to open it. She did so anyway, blinking with soft appreciation.

Cast of silver and set with a ruby, the necklace was delicate and truly a work of art. It looked old; she wasn't a foremost expert on dating things, more so on pieces not crafted on her home world. It still just seemed old, an antique perhaps. Somehow, the necklace gave that impression and she couldn't rightly explain why.

Closing the box, she collected the cloak and letter, carrying it over to Rei to promptly place in her arms, turning her about to her room as the other fumbled what to do with the sudden introduction of things to her arms. "You need to read what was wrote to you." With that, she pushed the other inside, closing the door behind her.

Maybe tomorrow.


She sat on the couch, trying not to feel an urge to shift while the pommel of her falchion dug into her side painfully. It was better to feed off of the warmth instead as the world figuratively went by. The sunlight played more often than not behind the clouds, the clouds themselves taking turns for darker as they swelled with rain. As the light dimmed she swallowed uneasily, more so as the outside looked more ominous to each passing second. She'd deal with the consequences later, easing her sword away as silently as she could.

Her gaze went back to Rei. She had emerged but seconds after she had left her, stopping her from going to change since leaving likely wasn't to happen. A far away, but firm look, was in her gaze. Pulled along by her hand, she stumbled a few times as the other walked into the common room they had left not really that long.

Trying to ask what was going on got her nowhere, save for a headshake. The Martian sank to her knees in front of the fire, the necklace received dangling from her fingers. When she had decide to rise in the name of changing since all of a sudden Rei needed this fireplace to meditate in front of, there came a warning literal growl that not only stopped her, but ensured she sat back down. The frown she wore had faded to a worried look, perhaps enabling her to sit all this time despite how her falchion wanted to say otherwise.

That was an hour ago. In that time, the other hadn't moved and the clouds continued their ominous look. Here she was, unable to move, stuck in her uniform and sword while the unknown went on. Taking in a deep breath to calm the irritation she felt was its own reward as Rei finally stood up.

About to comment she quickly shut her mouth as the other turned to look her way, rising quickly as she stood. Troubled if the way her eyes darted back and forth, like she saw things that none else could, indicated. Ready to say something they both were interrupted by Luna, of all people, barging into the room. The woman looked beyond winded, holding her sides as she struggled for breath.

Both gave each other a brief glance before they hurried over, in time for the woman that honestly, she did not care for to reach out, grasping them both in a painful grip on their arms. It was then she noticed that the woman's dress was ripped in places, and blood that was impossible to tell who it belonged to laid itself out in some artful splatter. "Please. They're. The Princess. Artemis. Makoto and Ami. We were attacked. Sent me. For help."

"Where are they at?" Her voice, surprisingly, never shook. Firm, it snapped Luna out of her shock long enough for her to relate the location. The details they could find out later, ripping off her cloak she left it on the floor as she ran out the door, hearing Rei's own boo tfalls but moments behind her.