Title: Points
Author: Chash
Fandom: Sailor Moon
Pairing: Nephrite/Motoki (main)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Nephrite is not a puny human. Yet.
Notes: I blame the crack. Honestly.
One.
He is not in love with the puny human because the puny human is a) puny and b) human, and this really speaks for itself. After all, he is one of the Four Generals, servant of the mighty Queen Beryl, and above such base emotions as lust, love, and anything related to puny humans like Motoki, whom he hates and does not love at all, because he is a puny human, and annoying, and makes him work at this horrible place, and is always talking to that accursed turtle.
Not that he notices this, of course, because he does not love the human. He is devoted to Queen Beryl, and he is just in this hellhole of a karaoke parlor because the Master refuses to send him back to the Dark Kingdom where he belongs.
The Master wants to be a puny human too, which is insufferable. The Master, who has always been so powerful, wants to give up that power and ignore his past and laugh with the princess, who is always laughing and looking like an idiot, which the Master often calls her.
He does not understand humans. They all appear to be completely insane.
But especially that Motoki human is insane, and the biggest idiot of all of them. He moons over things, like that girl (who is probably Sailor Jupiter, he thinks, but he can't be sure, and something happened and he isn't sure any of them are Sailors anymore, or what he is anymore) and the turtle, and not Nephrite, not that Nephrite minds, because he doesn't want to be mooned over by a puny human.
See point one of this entire…he isn't even sure what this is. It is a declaration of not love or lust or any kind of positive emotion, and of hate for the entire human world, even for that girl who he thinks is Sailor Mercury, for whom Motoki seems to think he has a "thing." His is one of the four generals—he does not get "things." "Things" are undignified and human, which he is not, despite what those inane nicknames imply.
He is absolutely not angry when Motoki perks up as that Makoto girl comes in, because that would be a stupid human thing to do, and no matter what the Master says, he is not a stupid human.
"Welcome, Mako-chan!" says Motoki with an idiotic grin on his face. Of course, Motoki is an idiot, and not just because he's a human. He's an idiot in his own right.
Makoto smiles and holds up her pass, which has that cursed turtle that Motoki bought her. Nephrite would never use such an item. Not that he wants one, or wants Motoki to give him one of any of this. Because Motoki is a puny human.
See point one.
"You're supposed to say welcome, Nephikichi! Honestly, you're never going to pay all this stuff off if you don't put a little more effort into it!"
"Shut up!" he rages, because the puny human has no right to talk to him in this manner. Unfortunately, in the process of glaring and not thinking that Motoki is at all cute when he's annoyed or worried or really actually constantly, he knocks something else over and Motoki makes that face like he's just so disappointed, and still, of course, not cute.
"Man, you're going to have to live with me for ever at this rate!"
"I will not live off your charity!" he says, because he has absolutely no desire to live with Motoki forever. Of course not. None at all.
"Then stop breaking things!"
Makoto does some sort of infuriating giggle that he's sure Motoki finds cute and a little wave as she goes to meet her friends.
Good riddance. Not that he's jealous or anything. Because he's not a stupid, puny human.
He's pretty sure his logic is going around in circles. And might not be logic. But it is not being in love with Motoki, which is the key.
He wouldn't mind being in love with Sailor Mercury, relatively. It would be better to be in love with her than the turtle boy, because she is at least further removed from puny humanity. She was at least once from the moon. Motoki is nothing except for a puny human with an even punier turtle, which Nephrite would never be jealous of just because Motoki seems to like it better. That would be even worse than being jealous of Sailor Jupiter. Which he isn't.
"Better get started cleaning this up, Nephenie," says the puny human with a sigh as he bends down to clean up.
Nephrite throws down his broom, and Motoki jumps at the noise.
"What are you doing?"
"What makes you think I can't clean up myself?"
Motoki sighs dramatically, because humans are so taken with dramatics. Nephrite finds it sickening. "I know you can," says Motoki, picking up the broom and sweeping up Nephrite's mess, "but it goes faster if I help."
"Thank you," he mutters. Motoki makes the exaggerated face like he cannot believe what he's just heard, but Nephrite is rapidly learning that the face is not an exaggeration and just Motoki's nature. He is simply an idiot with a very expressive face.
"Two times! Amazing! Keep this up, Nephikichi-kun, and you might turn into a real human!"
Nephrite knows deep inside him that Motoki doesn't know what he's saying, but that doesn't prevent his knocking the cash register off the counter.
Two.
Nephrite is not sure what exactly happened. He knows that the world ended briefly, and he knows that he gave life back to the Master somehow, and he knows that the past lives are over and that the girls who come in are now girls, and not Sailor Soldiers.
He does not know what he is, other than not a puny human, and he thinks, in his more honest and calm moments, that this might just be stubbornness.
He knows that he works part time in a karaoke parlor with an idiot, and that he sleeps in the idiot's apartment at night, and that the idiot snores.
He does now know how he feels about this. Feelings that are not some form of anger are new.
Three.
Motoki is in love with two things: the turtle and Sailor Jupiter, who is no longer Sailor Jupiter and now Makoto, because Nephrite will never call her "Mako-chan." He does not use such suffixes. Just as he, unlike the idiot Motoki, would never call anyone by a nickname like "Nephikichi" or anything like it. Because he is not an idiot.
He does not really care, of course, how Motoki feels about anything, because Motoki is nothing more to him than any other puny human. See point one.
It is becoming somewhat of a mantra.
"Payday!" says Motoki, grinning. "Here you go, Nephuri!"
Nephrite has given up trying to get Motoki to call him by his real name. "I owe you some of this, don't I?" he says, looking in the envelope.
"Don't worry about it. If you need it, you can keep it for now," says Motoki, waving his hand.
"All I have I owe to you," he says stubbornly. "Since I am living off of your goodwill."
"Nah!" says Motoki.
In the Dark Kingdom, he would be dead.
Nephrite is not sure how he feels about this anymore. This is worrying.
Four.
In the end, he bought a little fish charm for Ami, because Motoki wouldn't let him not buy anything.
"For those awful cookies," he says.
She laughs quietly, her teeth imperfect behind her hand. He does not have a thing for her.
Unlike so many other things he claims to not have, this time it is actually true.
Five.
It hurts him to admit it, but he is becoming more human.
He knows this for many reasons—mainly, that he can admit it. If he were not becoming more human, he would have knocked something over.
He doesn't want to inconvenience Motoki any more. He wants to pay back what he owes.
He does not know if he wants to return to the Dark Kingdom.
He is fairly confident there is no more Dark Kingdom.
Six.
"Amusement park?"
"Yeah!" says Motoki, grinning his idiot grin. "Mako-chan asked me if we wanted to go. It's a triple date," he says, blushing, "if you and Ami-chan come."
"I don't want to date her," says Nephrite, glaring at Motoki, who smiles more. It seems to be his response to everything.
"It's not dating her, it's just you two hang out at the amusement park. You could stand to be more social, Nephikichi-kun! And it's not like everyone will be dating—Mako-chan said Minako-san and Rei-chan are coming too."
He considers, and gives in, because he isn't doing anything else.
Motoki cheers and hugs him, and he pushes him away roughly.
Motoki keeps smiling.
Puny human. Puny human, puny human, puny human, puny human.
With surprisingly strong arms—he does at least look puny.
Puny human, puny human, puny human, puny human, puny human, puny human, puny human.
He has to get out of here.
Seven.
"Master," he hisses to Endymion while the girls are taking a picture of just themselves.
"Mamoru," corrects Endymion.
Nephrite ignores this. This is not the point. "What happened—to the others from the Dark Kingdom?"
Endymion shrugs and looks pained. "Kunzite and Zoicite…I think they…"
Nephrite understands. Before, he might not have. "And Jadeite? Beryl-sama?"
Endymion shakes his head. "I don't know. Why?"
"I cannot stand this body!" he says, though the opposite is true. He can stand it too well. This is the concern.
"Aren't you glad to be free of your past life?" asks Endymion. "Look at them," he says, gesturing to the girls. "They don't have to fight anymore, and they're so happy."
Nephrite says nothing.
"You're happier too, you know."
He does know. It worries him.
"I am not a worthless human!" he says, because this is not a lie.
"No, you're not. Is Motoki?"
"What?!"
"Are humans really worthless?" asks Endymion, before he turns to go see the Princess, who is laughing.
Mamoru, he supposes. Mamoru and Usagi, and Zoicite and Kunzite and Jadeite are dead.
"Hey, Nephuri! Let's go ride the teacups. Mako-chan doesn't like them," says Motoki, dropping his arm around Nephrite's shoulder. "Ami-chan, do you want to come?"
Mercury, Ami, that girl, whoever she is now, looks between them and smiles a little, showing her imperfect teeth, "No thanks. I think I'll sit this one out. Rei-chan and Minako-chan are going to the Ferris Wheel with Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san. I think Mako-chan and I are joining them. We'll meet you later, all right?"
Motoki's arm is warm around his shoulders, and he nods.
He is not in love with the puny human. He is not.
He is reconsidering the definition of the word puny, not the word love.
This might be a step up. It's certainly a step. The direction is just confusing him.
Eight.
He is not in love with the puny human.
He is in love with Motoki.
Motoki is in love with Makoto.
Once, he would have tried to kill someone, or hit something, or do something rash and ultimately futile to make Motoki love him.
He understands humans now, though, and has learned from Beryl's mistakes. He can't make Motoki love him.
But he can work at Crown and go to the amusement park sometimes, and he can throw the cash register down when he wants to.
And maybe one day he'll pay Motoki back, and maybe one day Motoki will love him, but he doesn't think it even matters.
He knows better than that Usagi girl, and better than Mamoru who was his master, and better than Beryl, because he knows that Motoki not loving him is not reason enough to destroy the world.
He kind of likes the world, and, much as he does love Motoki, he has to face facts: it's not worth destroying all of humanity over him.
Because Motoki's an idiot.
See point one.