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Only patrol with other Zodiacs.

Don't ever be alone.

Things had been easier when she'd been out in space, fighting chaos monsters. So much easier. There had been no politics to work around, no Black Ladies, no Wisemen. The Opal Crystal had been completely safe. All they'd had to do was fight off chaos monsters and after a long time, that got easy. You only died if you were stupid. Here, you could be the smartest ever and still die. People stole the Opal Crystal, and...

Well. Here was something she could do--she could visit Cas. Well, she could visit him now that she knew who he was. That was a nice part about being in the hospital--now she knew who Sailor Castor really was.

This meant they would make friends.

Unfortunately, apparently Elzo (What kind of name could you make out of Elzo, she wondered) walked kind of slow. It was Saturday, so he shouldn't be in class; but she'd been waiting for a little bit after talking to the intercom. A pair of Hillworth boys had stopped to, um, what was the word... chat her up?

Well, it was something to do!

She was just puzzling over what exactly she was supposed to be putting out when she spotted him coming down the driveway. Cas! There was Cas--Elzo. He was Elzo when he wasn't being Sailor Castor... Speaking of, he looked kind of mad. Was she not supposed to be talking to these two boys? Well... no matter. She could make up for whatever she'd done wrong. "Elzo," cried Elke, clapping her hands together; the two boys made disgusted noises and walked off. She waved after them, oblivious, and then ran the rest of the way over.

There was a hug. A big one, the tightest she could give--which wasn't very, she had just gotten out of the hospital, but. "I wanted to say thank you for coming to visit me!" She beamed up at him, cheeks dimpled and green eyes sparkling with Health and Vitality and many good things. "I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you like that," she added, casting her gaze down to their feet. A somewhat pleading tone entered her voice as she continued, "You seem mad... did I do something wrong?"

"Really," she said, turning to look at the two boys; her green eyes were wide, a little confused, and altogether--augh, how could anyone have dirty thoughts about that face. Those doe-wide eyes. The confused tilt to those glossy lips! It was just...

Well, okay. She appealed to a certain subset. And they were not the sort of people one spoke about in polite conversation, ever.

The bluenette rolled her eyes and took Elzo's hand. No, she was not taking any more risks than she had to in the vein of protecting her Princess! Why would she ever do that? "You are very charming, but the Princess comes first," she whispered back. Her gaze was wide-eyed and innocent (what else).

"I just wanted to see you," was what she said aloud, "is that okay? I can leave, you know, if you don't want me to be here." There was the unspoken, but clear, threat that she would probably guilt-trip him forever if he tried.

Elke couldn't help but smile when other people were happy, and there was something about Elzo's laugh that just demanded that she giggle along with him. So she did, and then laughing said, "Don't mess up my hair!" She straightened the blue locks, then beamed up at him like she'd never met anyone quite so amazing.

"We are going to go get ice cream," she said as they walked down the sidewalk; reaching out, she took his hand. "The Princess is visiting her family, and we are going to go get ice cream." It was almost warm enough to justify ice cream, but from the look on Elke's face if he pointed that out she would be heartbroken.

Broken hearted forever. Or something like that. She swung their hands between them, looking more like a little girl than ever--definitely acting less like a friend than a sister. "Elzo," she said, "Do you like me?"

"Do bosses really get ice cream," Elke was saying, thinking this might be a very good career path to pursue, but then--

She stopped walking and tilted her head. "As a friend, of course," she said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "The same way I like Grayson and Andeon!" The inclusion of Gemini Alpha might not be the best thing--if Elzo knew Andeon, anyway--but surely adding her brother's name in there would work?

The bluenette didn't look like she was going to cry, she looked... curious. Curious was never a good thing with Elke, because it meant she was going to pry. And pry she did--as they resumed their walking, she swung their hands back and forth and asked, "Why do you not like me as a girlfriend?"

There was still a distinct lack of tears in sight, just innocent curiosity.

"Ohhh," she said, nodding. She had been a little worried it was because she wasn't pretty enough, or something--she tugged her skirt back into place, frowning meditatively. What kind of girl would Elzo like?...

...but it seemed like he really wanted to talk about ice cream, so she shrugged off that line of thought to return to later. "It is toooo bitter," she declared, possibly making herself sound even more like a nine-year-old than previously. "I like moose tracks, and butter pecan, and vanilla, but not on the same cone, because then the moose tracks mix up with the pecans and then I am sad, because peanut butter and pecans don't taste so good together."

More information than anyone ever needed about Elke's ice cream habits, but there you go. Never give a one-word answer when you could give thirty words, that was Elke. "What flavor of ice cream do you like, Elzo?"

She approved of Elzo. He was the nicest nice she'd met today, including those two boys she'd met--note to self: Ask Grayson what it meant to 'put out'. Was it like chores? Elke swung Elzo's hand aimlessly again, puffing out her cheeks in thought. Why would they want to know if she took out the trash? Of course she did, whenever Pop told her to, and of course she did it for the Princess, too. That was her duty as a daughter and a Zodiac Guard, to take care of her dad and her Princess.

Elke thought they did not mean like chores, but couldn't imagine what they meant otherwise.

"Okay," she said, nodding her head; "Is it okay with you? If you want chocolate ice cream, that's okay! You know it's okay, right? Because it is." And she pulled on Elzo's sleeve, smiling up at him through her bangs. Then she brushed her hair out of the way. "Right! Right--the Captain said I'm supposed to tell you." They stopped walking, Elke clinging to his sleeve the entire time. Very seriously, very solemnly, and above all quietly, she said, "The Zodiacs will patrol with any Lunar senshi who needs it. Just get into contact with one of us and we'll meet you!"

The serious stuff out of the way, she bounced on her toes a bit and pointed out the ice cream place. "It's right over there," she announced, as if it weren't obvious, and then she led the way over to the little cafe.

Lots of sprinkles and chocolate dip. They had ended up both getting vanilla bean, because as everyone knows, you can't have chocolate dip and sprinkles on butter pecan. (If Elzo didn't know this, he knew it now. Elke took her ice cream very seriously.)

Elke had rainbow sprinkles stuck to the tip of her nose, and seemed blissfully unaware of this fact as they walked to one of the little outside tables. "It is a really bad idea," she said, "You could get hurt! The youma are stronger than ever, Cas. Please promise you'll try to find someone, okay? You can still patrol alone sometimes, I do, but it is a good idea to know where to find your friends!"

There was a hesitation then, while she picked up a napkin and wiped the sprinkles off her nose. (Sometimes you really had to wonder whether she was naturally this cute, or if she was just a manipulative little b***h. The answer could be surprising.) "We're friends, right," she asked, nudging him. "Aren't we?"