<@Grysar> [Date: Saturday February 14th, 2004. 7 pm.]
<@Grysar> [Taki hasn't been to Nikola's place yet, but she got the address 
from her sister not that long ago.]
<@Grysar> [She's been a highly productive messenger, delivering chocolates 
across the city to great success (although it does look as if Haruko's 
roommate might be taking a finder's fee from the one delivered to her).]
<@Grysar> [The Arai household is in a lower rise tradition community called 
Yamaka, it has a open air shopping street but also one of the city's larger 
cemeteries.]
<@Grysar> [Driven by messenger instincts, Taki finds herself within a few 
blocks of her last target. She has an address and phone number as well if she 
wants it.]
<@Grysar> [Start, what do you do?]
* Taki checks the address again and looks at the buildings around her. 
Japan's a great place to live, but there's no logic to the street naming or 
numbering... when there is numbering.
<@Grysar> [Taki takes a moment to orient herself and confirms that she is in 
the neighborhood and chome. In fact, she thinks it might be just down this 
street.]
* Taki goes down this street, and if it doesn't pan out, she'll ask a 
shopkeeper for directions!
<@Grysar> [It does end up taking one shopkeeper query, but soon enough, she's 
there. The townhouse has an understated elegence to it and is two doors down 
from a small temple.]
* Taki tries not to stare or estimate how much a place like this must cost. 
She can totally do this and not wreck everything.
<@Grysar> [Picture: 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregsanders/18326186061/in/dateposted-public/ ]
<@Grysar> [The townhouse is large to Taki's metropolitian eyes, but it is a 
family abode, which makes it less crazy than Kyon's apartment any day of the 
week.What do you do now Taki?]
* Taki takes a deep breath to calm herself and then checks the street door, 
is the building open or will she have to call up to be let in?
<@Grysar> [It is closed but unlocked at present.]
* Taki opens the door and looks for the stairs.
<@Grysar> [No exterior stairs in this case, just a small outside alley with a 
variety of potted plants and a closed door to the house proper, less ornate 
than the two black street facing ones.]
<@Grysar> [There are some sounds of movement inside. Cooking sounds if Taki's 
not mistaken.]
* Taki stops to smell the... no, not procrastinating anymore. Totally going 
to the next door and not wonder who takes care of the plants, or who's 
cooking or if she's going to interupt their dinner, it'd be rude to show up 
to a meal unannounced, or ... GAH DOOR. Going to door.
<@Grysar> [Taki successfully navigates her way to the door. She's actually 
somewhat together. She has the chocolate she prepared in its container. She 
can do this!]
<@Grysar> [There's a small set of three metal chimes in a wooden case by the 
door along with a hanging ringer. Knocking is also an option. Or just wait 
until someone opens the door. That's an option too.]
* Taki looks to see if the chimes are labled.
<@Grysar> [There is an ornate kanji for "Welcome" beneath them.]
<@Grysar> [Taped underneath that is a piece of paper with a few words in 
cyrillic that Taki can't read.]
* Taki picks up the ringer, puts it back, pauses, reaches for it, pauses 
again, and then gives up and uses her phone to call Nicola.
* Nicola's phone rings a few times before she finally picks it up. "Yes, 
hello?" She sounds slightly out of breath.
<@Grysar> [Taki did hear a phone ringing on the inside of the house 
simultaneously.]
<Taki> Ah, hello. It's Taki, I didn't have a chance to see you at school, so 
I've brought you some Valentines chocolate. I probably should have called to 
say I wanted to come over before I did.
* Nicola sounds surprised. "Oh! A few moments, please?"
<Taki> Of course, please take all the time that you need.
<Nicola> I will be there soon.  
* Nicola hangs up, and a minute later, she opens the door for Taki. She's 
dressed simply, in a pale blue blouse and jeans, although they look very nice 
on her. She's also wearing a fairly plain red apron, and her hair is mostly 
pulled back into a bun, though a few strands of hair have come loose to frame 
her face. She has a wooden spoon in one hand. "My apologies; I am making 
dinner and I needed to tend to a component. Please come in."
<Taki> Ah, thank you and please don't let me distract you from your cooking 
too much. 
* Nicola lets Taki in. "Guest slippers are here," she says, indicating where 
Taki can leave her shoes. "If you are all right, I need to run back to the 
kitchen for just a moment. The living room is over there."
* Taki steps through the door. "I... just totally forgot what I was going to 
say. So, uh, thanks and I'll go over there." She changes her shoes and goes 
to the living room.
<@Grysar> [The living room is pleasant and understated. By the door there's 
place for hanging coats, a seperate rack for belts, and a mix of western and 
japanese furniture. There's a few different photos showing the whole family 
at various ages, some of which might have been taken in far colder climates 
and with more cyrillic in the signs. The two sisters are obviously younger in 
those.]
* Nicola goes back to the kitchen. There's the sound of a pot lid being moved 
and a few other assorted noises.
* Taki eyes the belt rack in confusion for moment and then her eyes widen and 
she resoutly turns away and to the table where she takes a red wrapped box 
out of her bag and sets it out. Nudging it a few times until it's about in 
the center. If Nicola isn't back by the time she's done with that, she'll 
start looking at the photos.
<@Grysar> [In the older photos, Taki does note that Hinako's mode of dressing 
appears to have slowly picked up while the family was in Russia. The most 
recent of those photos has the whole family dressed up in a more western 
fashion with Hinako visably uncomfortable and Nicola at ease. That photo in 
particular is a reminder of the resemblence between the sisters, particularly 
given the younger age.]
* Nicola returns a few minutes later, sans spoon and apron. "I'm sorry for 
the delay. I was making dinner for myself." She notices Taki looking at the 
photos. "Are you curious about any of them? I could tell you more if you 
wanted."
* Taki steps back. "Ah. Just a bit. I've never left the Home Islands. What 
was your home like?"
* Nicola thinks for a moment. "Colder. More open, in the sense of the way the 
buildings were laid out in our town. Our house was bigger." She pauses. 
"Tokyo can feel cramped sometimes. But it is not all bad. I like the trains 
and the shopping streets and the department stores."
* Taki nods. "It gets colder up in the mountains where my grandparents have a 
place, but it never felt like home, and everything was too far apart. I 
missed having all sorts of things nearby, and my friends."
* Nicola nods. "I miss the cold sometimes, but it can be very hard to adjust 
to it if it is not what you're used to. I think I would enjoy the mountains 
here. I have yet to leave Tokyo, though there is much to do here, and it is 
rather expansive."
* Taki blinks. "You didn't go on the senior trip either?"
* Nicola shakes her head. "I was ill. It was unfortunate."
<Taki> Ahh, that's too bad. Hopefully this summer you'll be able to visit 
some of the nicer places we have to offer, although they may be too warm.
* Nicola considers things for a moment. "Perhaps. Do you have travel plans 
for this summer?"
<Taki> Nothing for certain. I want to hear from the colleges I applied too 
before I decide if I want to celebrate or spend my summer hunting jobs and 
honing my skills. If things do well, I'd reallly like to be able to spend 
some time traveling with you.
* Nicola blinks. "Oh?"
* Taki looks down. "Ahh, I'm getting ahead of myself. I suppose I should ask 
if you have any plans yourself before trying to invite you on a trip that may 
not even happen."
<Nicola> Nothing definite.  I am also waiting to hear back from the 
universities.
* Taki raises her head. "Well then, let us both hope for the best of news."
<Nicola> Do you have a first choice among your schools?  I am hoping for 
Korubane.
<Taki> Ah, I've a few friends who go there, and another who might. I'm hoping 
to get into Hattori Nutritional College, but I've also sent in some other 
applications that are more likely to actually happen.
<@Ardweden> [Just as Taki says that, she smells something... burning? 
Something's burning.]
<Taki> ... Ack! Nicola! Your dinner!
<Nicola> Oh no!
* Nicola runs for the kitchen!
* Taki follows her, to help save what can be saved.
* Nicola was making some sort of tomato-based sauce on the stove top, but she 
didn't turn the burner down quite as much as she should have when she went to 
let Taki in, and now there's some definite smoke eminating from the sauce 
pot.
* Nicola reaches out to pull the lid off, then hesitates.
* Taki tries that calm thing again. "First take it off the fire, and do you 
have any other pots?"
* Nicola reaches out to move it to the other burner. "Yes."
<Taki> That's good. The stuff at the top and the center of your pot should 
still be good, and we're lucky some below that too. Just have to be careful 
to not get any of the burnt parts into the second pot. And you didn't set 
your kitchen on fire so you're still doing better than my dad. Whom I love 
dearly, but can't be trusted with anything more complex than instant ramen.
* Nicola laughs as she sets the first pot down and goes to the cabinets for 
the second. "I would like to avoid fire, yes."
* Taki turns off the burner when Nicola is away.
* Nicola retrieves the second pot, which is a bit bigger, and holds it out. 
"This is acceptable?"
<Taki> Mhm, I'd rather go smaller but if this is what we have to work with, 
we'll work with it.
<Nicola> This is it.
<Taki> Then put it next to the first one, open the window, the pot, and find 
out how far ahead of myself I've gotten assuming there's anything to save!
* Nicola places the pot and goes to open the window. "I suppose my lack of 
experience is showing, yes?"
* Taki grins. "If we got everything right the first time we'd all be 
machines, and every time after this when you make this recipe you'll remember 
this happened and not make the same mistake."
* Nicola comes back from opening the window and smiles. "Oh, this is true. It 
is just... a bit embarrassing to burn sauce in front of someone who intends 
to go to a culinary school. But you are taking this well in stride."
* Taki smiles and points up at the ceiling over the stove. "In my apartment, 
there is a new patch of ceiling from about there, to..." She moves her finger 
to the other side of the stove, "there. Most of the problems that two people 
can get into in a kitchen I know how to deal with. It's when there's a dozen 
or so and they all seem to need supervising and nobody knows what's going on 
that even I start to panic."
<Nicola> Well, you were not screaming on the day of the school festival.
* Nicola reaches for the lid of the sauce pot.
* Taki nods. "It felt like I was. Let's see what we've got."
* Nicola removes the lid and peers in. "I think it is salvageable. There's 
some black around the edges but the middle looks all right. Come see?"
* Taki walks over and stand next to Nicola to look in the pot. "Yeah, this 
isn't so bad."
<Nicola> Thank you for noticing the burning so quickly.
<Taki> It's just something that I had to learn how to do. Now, we gently pour 
about half of this into that, and then taste test to see how badly burnt the 
bottom half is before deciding what to do with it.
* Nicola goes to retrieve her spoon to assist in scraping.
<Nicola> So pour, and then scrape?
<Taki> Aaah, no scraping. None. If we scrape anything up it'll make 
everything taste burnt. Pour, taste, maybe pour more, finish soup, clean pot.
* Nicola sets her spoon down. "I see." She lifts the sauce pot carefully and 
tilts it towards the new pot.
* Taki rubs her face. "Ah, sorry. That was rude of me."
<@Ardweden> [Nicola manages to get the soup into the new pot with minimal 
burnt tomato casualties!]
* Nicola shakes her head. "I did not find it so." She finds two clean spoons 
and dips one in, then tastes the sauce. "I think this is good." She holds the 
other spoon out to Taki. "Care to confirm?"
* Taki takes the spoon. "Certainly, I'll give my will someday be professional 
opinion." And with a quick itadakimasu she tries some.
* Nicola watches. "And what does your someday professional opinion say?"
<Taki> Hmm, that we mostly saved the sauce, but I don't have much hope for 
any of the veggies that sank to the bottom of the pot.
* Nicola sighs. "We shall live." She turns the burner on under the new pot.
* Nicola looks at Taki. "I am sorry, by the way. I didn't mean to occupy your 
night with my attempts at cooking."
* Taki laughs nerviously. "Don't worry about it, I came here last so the only 
other responsibility I have today is schoolwork. And I think more people 
should enjoy cooking, it's fun, tasty, saves money, and you can enjoy the 
results with your friends and family."
* Nicola nods. "Everyone else was out tonight so I thought I would try my 
hand at it."
<Taki> Well, other than my distracting you, you've done well so far, and even 
though I've already eaten, I'd like to try just a little bit more when it's 
done.
<Nicola> I am being indecisive as to what to have with it.  There is some 
leftover chicken I could warm up, or there is pasta, or even rice.  
<Taki> Hmm, chicken and pasta would be the more traditinal Italian choice, or 
you could make a sort of rice pilaf... I suppose it comes down to "have you 
eaten enough protien today" and "do you have time to cook the noodles before 
you get hungry or just throw something in the rice cooker?"
<Nicola> I have time, I think.  So perhaps the chicken and the pasta, then.
<Nicola> [And so Nicola, with Taki's help, makes chicken and pasta.  There is 
more small talk and cooking anectdotes, but poor Taki's Valentine's Day box 
sits unnoticed in the living room.  She keeps waiting for just the right 
moment, but it hasn't come yet.]
<Nicola> [Nicola makes sure that Taki has as much as she wants when it is 
done.  And it's not too bad - fairly simple, but pretty good for someone who 
apparently doesn't cook all that often.]
* Taki doesn't eat very much, she had already eaten. "Ah, that wasn't bad at 
all, and I've just remembered that I left a dessert in your living room when 
this started. Although, if I had known this was going to happen I would have 
made something lighter, and perhaps mint flavored."
* Nicola smiles a bit. "I will take not bad at all as a compliment, given 
that we were not even sure it would be salvageable."
* Taki laughs nerviously and goes to get the box with the chocolate.
* Nicola starts clearing the table.
* Taki returns, sets it in front of Nicola's spot, and then starts to fidget. 
It's not her home, so it'd be rude to offer to help, but Nicola didn't spend 
most of her life here and might have other traditions.
* Nicola sits back down and looks at the box. "This is very nicely done," she 
says. She carefully unties the ribbon on the bag.
<Taki> Thanks.
* Nicola then removes the box from the bag and opens it. She looks at the 
heart inside, then at Taki. "Ah," she says quietly. "Now I see why you were 
so willing to spend your evening here."
<Taki> I ... kept trying to come up with clever things to say, ways to ask, 
and they were all kinda impossibly cheesey. So I thought I'd go with the 
actions and my heart.
* Nicola looks at the chocolate again, then back up at Taki. "I am not quite 
sure what to say," she replies. She reaches a hand up to tuck some stray 
strands of pale hair behind her ears.
* Taki nods and looks down. "You… really don't have to say anything right 
now. I don't know if you like girls, I don't even know if you know if you 
could like girls. But I've had a crush on you for a couple of months, and 
even though your sister kinda terrifies a little… a lot, I've enjoyed the 
time we spent together, and want you to think it over, maybe?”
* Nicola takes a breath. She looks a little overwhelmed, but not unhappy or 
offended. "Could... I..." She lets out the breath.
<Nicola> I am sorry.  Let me try that again.
* Taki forces herself to sit down and not somehow loom over the taller girl. 
"Please."
* Nicola has a tiny little smile. "I suppose this is what my sister was 
talking about. Sometimes I wish she would be less mysterious. But she has her 
ways."
<Nicola> And she is very set in them.
* Taki nods a few times and then stops herself.
<Nicola> If this were to happen... my parents could not find out.  
<Nicola> You need not worry about my sister.
<Nicola> She will keep it secret.
* Taki nods. "I... okay. I'm okay with keeping it a secret.
* Nicola leans forward slightly. "From your friends as well?"
<Taki> Uh... that may be impossible. Some of them, well they can see right 
through me like your sister.
* Nicola raises an eyebrow. "Hasegawa-san?"
* Taki shakes her head. "I think Mikage would just guess. I've got other 
friends, from back when I was at Sakuragaoka. You haven't met them."
* Nicola leans back in her chair. "Well, perhaps I should meet them next, 
then."
<Nicola> Get their measure, and we see where to go from there.
* Nicola has an expression that may be rather like that of her sister right 
now.
* Taki nods. "I'll see what I can do. When you get into Korubane a couple of 
them will be your upperclassmen."
* Nicola looks curious. "Well, I have yet to be accepted, but it would 
potentially be good to find out more information about classes and the like."
<Nicola> At any rate I will leave the arrangements to you.
* Taki stands back up and bows western style. "Then I will arrange things to 
your satisfaction." She also manages to remember that the best dramatic 
flourish would end poorly for everybody and she'd still have to come back for 
her shoes.
* Nicola smiles. "Excellent. I will look forward to it."
<Nicola> Thank you very much for the chocolate!  May I try some now?
<Taki> Of course!
* Nicola carefully picks it up and takes a bite. She is eating your heart, 
Taki; surely there is no deeper metaphorical meaning here.
* Nicola says, "This is lovely," after she finishes swallowing.
* Taki nods. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."
<@Ardweden> [End!]