A not very large Car floated in the darkness.
So those were Nephrite's parents, eh? Zoicite snickered, watching the normally smooth and suave - well, he tried to be, at least - Nephrite actually being visibly flustered in public.
Alicorne and his 'boys and girls' had done their job well, it seemed - Nephrite would probably be paying off whatever the 'favor' of a 'full makeover - Court style' for two big SUVs from the mountain-y boondocks at the very last minute - and right before the Biggest Event Of The Year, to boot! - would cost for the next couple of years at least, but it did seem to have been worth it, at least...
And as for Cars looking good... Zoicite turned around, looking at Kunzite. He had transformed into the form Lady Beryl and the Prince Darien had agreed on at long last for today - old-fashioned, dignified and with a certain panache, and still fairly big - and it fit him well, to say the least.
It was weird to see him so much smaller then his 'everyday form', though. On the other hand, not having the crane his 'neck' to look up at him was nice. Well, not having to look up quite so much, anyhow - Kunzite's present form was still quite a big bigger then Zoicite himself, alas...
" - Yo. Are you awake now, at least?"
"Mmmmmm. Sorry, Zoi..."
Zoicite sighed, again. Kunzite did have the tendency to take his time before really revving up properly at the best of times, but this really was a bit extreme, even for him. Which meant that either he'd stayed up late last night (which wasn't very likely but since this was Kunzite, who knew when what kind of inspiration would strike him out of the blue) or that the keeping the form he was currently wearing was taking up even more energy then they had planned for.
It was a general rule of thumb that the more different the transformed form was, the more energy it took to keep that form - and Kunzite's present shape was a great deal smaller then his real baseline, unlike his 'everyday form'.
Zoicite chuckled, then, thinking about Kunzite's 'everyday form'. This first time he'd actually seen him like that, he'd stared with his mouth gaping till somebody - Nephrite, probably - had told him flying minibeetles would fly in. Kunzite's 'everyday form' - though he hadn't know that was what it was, then, of course - was basically something that looked like one of the the cutest city micro-runabouts imaginable - which just happened to be the size of a small house.
A small two-storied house, that is.
He'd thought Kunz just had to be one of the strangest Car he ever would meet, and that part had turned out to be right, actually - just - not in the way he thought like at the time, he supposed...
And once he'd actually gotten to see what Kunzite's real baseline form was like - well. He could well understand just why Kunz wore the form he did, for 'everyday use' after that. One had to get tired beyond belief of scaring kiddy-Cars witless, after all...
Or not just kiddy-Cars, actually...
It was good that most people at Court thought that Kunzite's 'everyday form' was his actual baseline form, though, all things considered, he supposed...
Well, anyway, Kunzite's 'everyday form' - AKA 'The Most Gigantic City Runabout In the Continent' - was close enough to his real baseline form and size that he could keep it up for a fairly long time before tiring. This form he was wearing today, on the other hand, though it had the all-important advantage of looking damn good at a time when looking good was important, really was much more tiring to keep up then the everyday one.
Which was something they all knew, of course, and everybody (including Kunzite himself, eventually) had decided that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages in this case, since it wasn't like they were really going to be trying to kill each other after all, this was a legal aboveboard Tourney - but still, if there had been another way that hadn't involved Kunz using quite so much energy...
Ahh, well, it couldn't be helped. It wasn't like they were planning for Kunzite to fight anybody that could be considered a serious opponent, anyhow... If things worked out as planned, that is.
Zoicite shuddered, then. Plans always went bang and crunchy when they hit Reality, that's why people made backup plans, after all...
Anyway, to the problem at hand...
"Hey, hey, you - Jedite! Jeddy, why don't you go get the nuns and orphans, eh?"
"Why me?" The scooter bristled, wheeling about nervously. Zoicite wondered what was wrong now.
"Well, if you want to take over getting Kunzite to Lady Beryl's..."
"Never mind, I'll do it - Hey, you - "
Zoicite watched Jedite go bouncing off his the page in tow, amused. Well, alright, then...
"Neph - Nephrite, are you coming?"
"Were?"
"Lady Beryl's!" Well, were else could they place such people like Nephrite's parents - they'd both been edged out of the cubby that Neph had found for them with great difficulty - or nuns and orphans from Kunzite's old orphanage, anyhow?
"The Prince hasn't gotten to talk to her yet, I think?"
Oh, come on, it's not like she's going to say no if he asks her charmingly -
And indeed, she did not.
Kunzite seemed to come out of his torpor a little once they started moving, which was a great relief.
Lady Beryl was being as sociable as ever, busy though she obviously was, making small talk with Nephrite's parents and some Cars with some kind of religious order markings who had to be the nuns and orphans. One of the nuns looked...rather familiar, for some reason. Hmmm, that little round cute shape...
"Oh, child! Kunzy, you're looking so fine today..."
The other nuns looked at the little round Car who'd spoken up, blinking, and then looked around, following her eye-windows.
"...Ahhhh... Kunzite? Is this really you, child?" An small but imposing nun spoke out.
"Yes'm." Kunzite murmured.
Yes'm? Zoicite nearly chortled aloud. The other nuns and children 'ahh'd.
"Well, well, well. - You're looking fine today, child. - But isn't that terribly tiring for you?"
" - Not that much, ma'am. It's all right."
"You shouldn't overdo things, child - though you aren't a child any more, I suppose. I'm sorry, Sir Kunzite." The old Car smiled gently.
And then the small round nun rolled forward hesitantly. "...Hello, Kunzy."
Kunzite rolled forward carefully, and touched bumpers with her, looking into her eyes. "Lumena Mata."
Zoicite blinked, then. He knew were he'd seen that little rolly-polly shape, now.
He'd seen it almost every day for more then two years now. It was just that it...
It didn't leave quite the same impression when it was the size of a small house, that was all...
Some Cars never outgrow chewing on things in their sleep.
Like cables. Or other things.
The Car slept on, mumbling.
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(Posted Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:37)
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