For No Other Reason

Makoto hasn't had any particular reason before now to go up to the roof of Mamoru's building - the balcony is good enough if someone needs a little air, even if it tends to get a lot more through traffic than balconies are normally supposed to.

But Mamoru mentioned that Nephrite had gone up to the roof. It doesn't take her long to make her way up; pulling open the access door, she steps out into the open air, eyes searching for the familiar outline against the glitter of the cityscape and the darkened sky beyond.

"Neph?" A little bit quiet - just in case he's concentrating on something. Mamoru did say that Nephrite had been looking for her... but Mako would not entirely put it past Mamoru to say so just to send her looking for him.

Even though she was going to do that anyway.

Nephrite would not exactly say that he has taken ownership of the rooftop, but he has certainly staked his claim over a patch of it. He's squinting into a huge telescope, pointed up at the night sky. A handful of lawn chairs are clustered around it, optimistically inviting any who would like to sit around in the cold for hours while he works at patterns they cannot see.

He turns when Makoto calls, and for a moment it is like his eyes have to adjust to a different sort of light. He blinks dimly across the rooftop at her a few times before his face splits into a grin. "Mako!"

He stands, ready to hug her when she nears. "Welcome to my roof. It's--well, it's not cozy at all. But I've got a thermos of coffee, if you'd like some."

That greeting does away with any hint of hesitation on Makoto's part. Smiling brightly, she moves across the rooftop to meet him, and puts her arms around him and leans into the hug without a second thought once she's reached him.

"Hey," she says as she smiles up at him. "I'd love some coffe. Mamoru-niisan said you were up here, but I didn't realize you had a whole little setup going." She's not in a hurry to step back, but she does turn an interested look toward the telescope. "Anything interesting going on in the sky tonight?"

Nephrite hugs her tight, tension draining from his shoulders the moment he does. "Well I can't hide out in the palace all the time. Especially not now, with Flower Boy running around. But I also need to keep a watch on things. Good thing Mamoru's got ownership of the whole top floor, or this could get awkward with the neighbors real fast."

He chuckles. "When isn't the sky interesting? It's all a mixed bag. Moon in Leo, but Altair is making a showing in the east. There's a lot to keep an eye on."

He bends and picks up a thermos, handing it to her. The coffee inside is creamy, heavily sweetened, and just a little bit spiked with whisky. "But what brings you here? I mean, I was hoping you'd be by. But I always hope you'll be by."

"I'm pretty sure you've told me what at least some of that means," Mako admits, ducking her head slightly in embarassment as she accepts the thermos, "but I can't quite keep it all straight yet. Translate for me?"

She tries a sip of the coffee, makes a quiet appreciative sound before she looks up to meet Nephrite's eyes again. Her head tilts a little at the question. "Do I need a reason?" she wonders. A lopsided smile tugs at her lips. "I wanted to see you. Hear how you've been doing."

He smiles back. "I don't know, you could have gotten sick of me after my house tried to eat you. Some people might consider that a deal-breaker."

He plops down in one of the lawn chairs and starts messing with one of the dials on the telescope. "Leo is Mamoru's sign. So the Moon in Leo, that's good. He could use any boost he can get. Altair is a mischief-maker. Not really what we need right now."

He sighs and looks back up at her. "But Jupiter is rising. Where I'm standing, that's never a bad thing."

"Oh, come on." Makoto seems almost a little affronted at the idea, for just a moment before her expression shades into gently chiding instead. "It's not like you knew that would happen, right? And the chances that it could happen again seem pretty low. It was a freak accident, it'd be stupid to hold that against you."

Rather than take a seat in one of the other lawn chairs, Mako wanders over to where Nephrite is sitting, coming to stand beside him with the thermos of coffee in hand - not quite in his space, but certainly within easy reach. His reference to her guardian planet brings a pleased, faintly foolish smile to her face, though it doesn't last long before she also lets out a quiet sigh.

"He's not doing too well, is he? At least now we know it's that flower that's controlling Fiore. If we get it off him..." Abruptly she pulls a wry face. "Ah, who am I kidding, it's never that easy. But we'll deal with it anyway."

He bumps his shoulder up against her, leaning his head against her side. "He's not great, no. And as much as I know what it's like to have someone's voice in your head, twisting your thoughts, I still need to kick Flower Boy's ass for that. Just a bit."

He smiles wryly up at her. "But at least we've got a master florist on our side. Does flower language say anything about evil mind control?"

She laughs, just a little, a quiet hitch of breath as she drapes her arm comfortably over his shoulders. "Not that I can think of," Makoto says; "sorry. I'm still mad at his stupid evil energy-draining mind control flowers for looking so much like stargazer lilies. It's going to take forever to shake that association after we get rid of the things. So unfair."

Even as she complains, she's leaning into Nephrite, taking reassurance from the warm and solid physical presence of him. "...the plants are crying," Mako murmurs, looking down. "I don't get it nearly as bad as Mamoru-san, but I can feel it a little. Like a voice I can't quite hear."

"The nerve! Why couldn't he at least pick something a little less pretty?" Nephrite's laugh is brief, a moment's reprieve.

His arm slips around her waist now, his face leaning into her shirt. All these stars overhead that he looks to for answers. Can they even be properly heard over the cries of the Earth below? "We'll get him, Thunderbird. We'll stop his stupid counterfeit flowers."

"I know." She does know - of course they'll stop it, if only because the alternative is unthinkable. But it helps to hear him say it out loud.

Mako's arm around Nephrite's shoulders moves a little, until she can smooth her hand gently over his hair. "It'll be okay. We've got experience now with beating the evil out of people. Just gotta track him down and kick his ass some more."

She's quiet for a short space, before finally she makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "Sorry," she says. "I didn't mean to bring up such a stressful subject. Have you been holding up okay?"

He may be one of the less cat-like members of this particular apartment complex, but Nephrite still makes a sound of contentment deep in his throat at her hand stroking over his hair. "I'm okay. It just never feels like I'm doing enough. We've barely had time to figure out what our role is, and now we're pushed off the deep end. And he's been through so much already, you know? He doesn't deserve this now." Nephrite does not feel the need to clarify which 'he' is being referred to, here. Both the most important one in his own life, and the one who Makoto happens to think of as a brother.

He sighs against her shirt. "You and him, you have to deal with what's happening. I can't hear what you hear, though. All I can do is hang around and keep an eye on the stars. I just... it doesn't feel like enough." Also his former house tried to eat his girlfriend, and there's probably some symbolic implications of that that he'd rather not think about at the moment. Rather like the jar of marbles he's got stashed in the back of his closet.

He bobs his head against her side. "And you? It got pretty rough back there." Brunette curls, bodybag. "On top of... all this. You okay?"

Despite the heavy conversation, Makoto can't help smiling a little at that contented sound. It's all the encouragement she needs to repeat the motion, fingers smoothing over and through that long hair.

"I know what you mean," she says. "It sucks that we can't even manage a decent rest before things start going off the deep end again. But at least this time, he's got you guys supporting him. He didn't have that before. Don't count out how important it is, just having you here."

She's quiet for a while after saying this, still but for the steady slide of her hand against his hair. "I'm all right," Mako says at last. "It wasn't fun, but... it didn't really show me anything I haven't had a few years to deal with already. I think you probably had it rougher than I did."

It is entirely possible that Nephrite did have it rougher than Makoto, but since the proof they would need to determine that is currently contained in a bunch of dark red marbles in a jar, he cannot really say either way. What he does know is, better than living under the rule of the Dark Kingdom is not really a positive baseline.

He sighs into the feel of her hand on his hair. "Well, we can agree on one thing," he finally says. "That decor was awful. I'm so over the gothic thing. So tacky. It wouldn't go with this apartment anyway. I'm thinking of aiming for a more modernist look. What do you think?"

Quiet laughter hitches out of Mako, surprised and unexpected. For a moment her hand stops against Nephrite's hair as she considers this suggestion, trying to come up with a mental image.

"Hmm, I don't know," she says eventually, and her voice is lighter and a bit more playful than it was a moment ago. "You're not going to end up with some of those space age egg chairs that it's impossible to figure out how to sit in comfortably, are you? If you're thinking of going that route I might have to put my foot down."

Nephrite's voice takes on a false whine. "But I was going to furnish the place entirely with egg chairs. You haven't even seen my plans for an egg bed yet."

The sound of her laughing makes him grin. "I guess you get veto power. Not just because the guys might try to set me on fire if you stop coming around to use the kitchen. You know, for other reasons too." His arm tightens around her waist, and suddenly he's pulling, practically toppling her over, his arms wrapping around her to control her fall onto his lap.

"Oh come on," Makoto protests cheerfully, "I wouldn't make everyone starve just because you have no ta--hey!" The words break off in a yelp as he tugs her off her feet and into his lap. His arms around her cushion the fall and keep it from turning into an entirely awkward tumble, but she is still holding that thermos of coffee, and for a few slightly panicky seconds much of her attention is focused on holding it high over her head and trying to keep it something resembling upright.

Then she's settled against Nephrite's chest and she's laughing again. "It would've served you right if that had gotten all over you, you know," Mako says as she squirms around a little, until she can actually put the thermos down somewhere safe. Once the coffee emergency is dealt with, she's free to snuggle in comfortably. "Egg bed," she repeats, amused and mock-exasperated and clearly not in any way upset with this whole turn of events. "Really. You can decorate your room however you want, I'm just saying if you want me to hang out there I'm going to want a comfortable place to sit."

"I'm almost certain I've had worse things dropped on my head than coffee. And it would have been totally worth it." He grins, arms folding loosely around her.

He pretends to think hard about her terms. "Comfortable? You mean you don't pick furniture strictly based on whether it fits into your niche aesthetic? This sounds complicated." He lets out an exhausted sigh. "How about you help me pick. Wait--are we at the furniture shopping stage? Is it too soon for that? Does that come before or after the part where one of you gets eaten by the carpet? I can never remember."

That sends Makoto into a brief fit of giggles, even as a hint of color starts to rise in her face. "I have no idea," she says when she's managed to stop laughing. "Are there rules about this kind of thing? I feel like once the house tries to eat someone, you've kind of officially gone off the script."

Settling into his arms, she breathes out contentedly, lips her head back so she can watch his face. "You could always get Mamoru-niisan to take care of furniture for you once he's feeling better. You'd end up with some kind of magazine showroom, though. Maybe it's best if I help after all."

Nephrite wrinkles his nose. "Well we can't have that. He can live in a doctor's office if he likes, but I want to live somewhere with personality."

He leans over and plants a kiss on her forehead, his breath smelling of coffee and whisky. "If you'd like me to stop dragging you on every domestic excursion I need to make, let me know. I'm just not-so-subtly looking for any excuse to have you around."

The touch of his lips to her forehead stops her, all teasing falling away as a flush of pink rises in Makoto's cheeks. "I'm not complaining," she manages to say, suddenly earnest. "I'm happy, spending time with you."

After all, despite her claims it's not really the thought that the guys might starve themselves if left to their own devices that keeps her coming by on a regular basis to take over the kitchen. At least, not mostly.

"...you don't need an excuse, you know," she adds after a moment's pause, watching Nephrite's face carefully. "If you want to see me, you can just call."

"Call," he repeats. His red-brown eyes meet hers, amusement playing in them. "That sounds way too easy. Are you sure that works?" His smile fades. "Honestly, I know you have a lot on your plate. I don't want to be overly demanding of your time. But I can attempt to use this expensive pocket communication device once in a while if you really want me to."

"If the phone's too complicated," Mako suggests dryly, an answering amusement sparkling in her eyes for a moment, "you have a communicator too. Probably better to save that for emergencies, though."

She smiles now, but it's a lopsided, wry thing. "If we try to wait until things aren't going crazy," she notes quietly, "that might never happen. Even if there's a lot going on, I'd still rather see you when I can."

His arms tighten around her. "Yeah, crazy seems to just be what we're in for. You're right, we could wait around forever for everything to settle down, and miss out on what we've got. I don't want to miss out."

He rests his chin on her head, fingers twining through her brown curls. The stars overhead shimmer with their secrets. "So. I'm thinking green curtains for the place. What goes with green?"

"Mm," Makoto agrees, relaxing into Nephrite's embrace. "I don't want to miss out, either. Let's not do that."

Up here, high on the roof of this tall city building, the distress of the trees and plants is muted, a little more distant. The breeze that washes over the roof is cool, but Mako is warm and comfortable and content. The breath sighs out of her as she closes her eyes.

"Pink goes pretty well with green," she can't resist suggesting with a smile. "I hear."