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Michelangelo had to admit, Minnie was ripped. If he couldn't tell by her general build, the weights that she carried gave him the entire story. He had tried to lift a few of them, and he had succeeded some, considering that his equipment wasn't the lightest thing in the world… but also. Damn.

No wonder the back was so stuffed.

“Should be around the corner there. Down a gardened driveway. Hedges should be recently trimmed. I have a professional gardener that comes on the weekends.” He should actually check in on Toki when he got a chance. Note that to himself–

It was actually one of the only ones on the block. Michelangelo wasn't worried about her missing it.

One of the myriad advantages of being as rich as he was, he supposed.

Yeah, this one,” came the confirmation, though he didn't quite spend too much time reinforcing it. He knew what he had. He figured she would know soon enough, and there would only be a few options from there. She would either be intimidated, flabbergasted, or perhaps overly nice. Rude, hopefully not, but–

Alright, so impressed. Flabbergasted might have been the closest one to that description. He snickered. “Ah, thanks.” To her, he winked. “Sadie definitely likes the gardens. Other stuff at the mansion too. I've got a whole hot tub area in the back. And a pool.”

And a bar. And a lot of other things. Minnie would likely see it all eventually if she came over enough. Michelangelo did like inviting people over for as much time as he spent hanging out with the Bells these days.

“I try to keep the loaded thing kinda quiet though. Don't super like bragging about it.” It was moreso a truth in his life rather than something he flaunted. “I like that I can use it to help other people in my life. Like you, in this case. Or to give other people like the Bells some back up. Or charities. Or even things like the various music groups in Destiny City.”

He paused.

“I do really like holding a banger party though.”

“Believe me,” Michelangelo pinched his nose, “know enough people in my circles who look like snobs without trying to be one of them myself.” And he knew there was a lot of unlearning he had to do even with his own older sibling–well, parent–trying to get in the way of what his grandparents and what his peers tried to influence him to think. Maybe sometimes he still seemed snobby! The fact that some people still hadn't been anywhere near a masquerade still surprised him just a bit!

… No problem, though! He would fix that! Just like he was almost ready to take the unnecessary bribe before she overrode it herself. She wasn't wrong. She didn't really need to attempt to bribe him. She was already leaving and he knew that.

Flexing, though?

Alright. He would take an eye candy bribe. In the car, he leaned back, watching as Minnie exited the vehicle to grab one of the bigger boxes, filled with free weights. He grinned. “Oh, twist my arm why don't you,” his returned commentary was a purr. “How dare you tempt me with such a gun show!”

Instead of just admiring though, he should probably give her a location–

Probably.

“If we go through the back of the house,” so through the deck area, “we can probably set this stuff in the back room. Not really using that area for too much at the moment. You may see my roommate, don't worry about him.”

Let Michelangelo worry about Dorian if he showed up. Dorian was probably just gonna roll his eyes anyway and keep going.

He was definitely not all that committed to keeping her out in the first place, but that could be their little secret, anyway. Their little secret, as he indeed went more for the outdoor stuff than the heavier things. He knew he could handle some of the heavier things. His job-that-wasn't didn't have him not lifting things.

But it was nothing that significant.

“I'll stick with the outdoor stuff. I mean, I am a professional musician, but I'm a woodwind player,” true! “not a percussionist or anything like that,” also true! He started toward the doors he had been directing with some of the outdoor furniture she was suggesting. “Think you got the heavier stuff.”

She definitely did. Damn--

Oh, right. He probably should explain the roommate. How much had the Negaverse explained the whole oh by the way there's actually aliens thing to her? He knew that one of their earlier propaganda things was that the senshi and knights were aliens but now some of them actually were, which was amusing. Was it still propaganda in the face of reality?

But what was he like? Depressed. Suicidal. A plant that needed more time in the sun than he let himself get. A man who would rather mope than do much else. A person who had some interesting stories if pried. Mostly a man who just wanted some edible flowers. “Depressed, mostly. He's a little bit taller than me. Really likes plants.” And alcohol, but he'd leave the recovering alcoholic by force part out.

For now.

“He's a senshi. Same level as you. Just… older.” By a lot.

Michelangelo couldn't help a bright laugh of his own in turn. “Okay, but could you imagine? Some of those double basses are bigger than I am.” He had seen people at work on them, though! As a saxophonist, he was familiar with all the string instruments in jazz, and he was impressed with all of them! Double bass was amazing. He couldn't at all touch that.

Would certainly be a damn workout though… well, maybe. Probably more than the saxophone. Perhaps. Sometimes he got really into it–

As he was walking up to the door, he noted to himself that Dorian did seem to have a lot in common with Sadie. Maybe not the height, quite. He was taller than Michelangelo but not by much. As a 5’6” man, it wasn't too hard to be taller than him as a man. But depressed and liked plants? That tracked.

“I mean, I think Sadie still clears him by at least a head,” Michelangelo set down what he was holding so he could pop the screen door to the sunroom open, “but otherwise? Absolutely. They definitely have quite a bit in common. Think Dorian's in deeper than they are, though.”

Well. To a degree.

He didn't think the actively suicidal thing held true for Sadie.

Once he got the door open, he gave another gallant bow to gesture her inside, before working to move ahead to get the next door open to the main mansion area. They'd still be in the back area, but at the least they could get everything out of the way.

Of course, there were only two people regularly living there at the moment. Arguably, these things he could almost put anywhere, and they wouldn't really be in the way…

“Get guns to make Zee envious,” Michelangelo noted to himself, snickering. “That'd be a fun one–,”

Hearing directly from someone who would have minimal context for Sadie's mood that she seemed to be doing better now had a way of brightening Michelangelo instinctually. Good. Honestly, Sadie did seem happier. But there was a note of placebo effect–maybe he just hoped she was, so that's what he saw–and having it confirmed. “Thank you! It's honestly been nice to see them brighten up, y'know?”

Now if only he could figure out how to mirror that success on the alien there.

Unfortunately, he knew that was an uphill battle. The alien had a lot more working against him in some ways. For one, the alien had lost literally everything. There was no getting around that. Everything Dorian had told Michelangelo backed that up. And what did Michelangelo say to that? What did he have to offer?

What, realistically, would working to restore his world even do?

He shook his head out of it, glancing over his shoulder. “Yeah, should just take a couple more trips overall. I'll keep the doors propped open.” He wasn't really concerned about someone waltzing in to steal something. They'd notice, anyway.

Michelangelo mostly let Minnie handle it herself. For one, It seemed like she was up to the task. For another, and he had to admit, there was a part of him that was definitely admiring the gun show. What could he say, he was a man of obvious taste–

It also let him take a moment to actually inspect it as it was laid out to figure out. If there was a better place to put it. He could move it to the basement. But if he did that, then it would have to go down the stairs, and it looked like she was already a little bit winded. Why make more work when it wasn't necessary? There were only two of them in the house. If it stayed where it was, it would be quickly accessible when she needed it to move back out.

And, for another, there was already another certain roommate eyeballing him from a short distance as Minnie settled against the wall.

“Think it'll be fine there,” noted Michelangelo, glancing between Minnie and Dorian. “Only two of us live here anyway. I don't need too much accessibility to the back of this house at the moment and that's mostly out of the way. If anything, I can have one of my house workers move it downstairs.”

Dorian cleared his throat.

Michelangelo glanced up to offer him a playful half-salute, which earned a beleaguered sigh.

“Michel,” came the short response, “did thou forget to inform me of a bedwarmer again?”

Michelangelo's brows knit. Rude, but– “No– look, she's one of us. Just storing a few things inside the back entryway for now. Minnie, this is Dorian.”

Dorian's response was more of a grunt than a greeting, but at least it was something, Michelangelo figured. “Greetings, Minnie.” At least that was a greeting. “By us, do you mean knight or senshi?”