01 [It's late evening on October 13, 2003. And Katie's eighteenth birthday! Hooray!] 01 [Right now, Kaede, Taki, Kyon, and Katie are sitting in Kyon and Katie's living room and hanging out. Three of them are drinking soda/coffee/tea, and one has nothing (yet). Also, Katie tried to passive aggressively kick Kaede out of the apartment and Kyon came in with the save. How bizarre is that?] 01 [Anyway, right now conversation is going exactly like this:] 01 * Taki ponders. "I think most of the schools had art classes, but they mostly focused on presentation." 01 * Kaede grins. "Well I'd rather learn from someone who knew their job if I wanted to learn it, so I guess you'd just have to teach me instead." 01 * Kaede then turns to Taki. "And probably. 01 * Taki thinks for a bit. "If I took a class in ice sculpting, I think I'd have a harder time not cheating than Kaede does." 01 * Katie nods at Kaede, her fingers curled around her glass. "Sure, we can set up a time." 01 * Kyon finds this amusing, until he realizes this probably means it'll be here. 01 [Session Start!] 06* Kyon realizes Taki doesn't have a drink, actually. He looks at her and asks, "Drink?" 06* Kaede snerks. "We'll have to see." He swirls his glass around a bit, looking at the ice cubes. "Right now, it feels like I have to schedule life...not that that wasn't really any different from back then but..." 06* Taki looks around to see what everybody else has. "Uhm, tea please, thank you." Bottle? That's fine. 06* Kyon nods, and pops off the couch again to get that. 06* Katie watches Kyon go as she says to Kaede, "That's because you don't know what else to do." Probably right about that. 06* Kyon brings back the bottle, passes it to Taki, and sits down beside Katie again. He shifts his ice pack more back into place. 06* Taki opens the bottle and blinks at Kyon. "How'd your game go?" We won. Close, but we won. 06* Katie reaches over and lightly sets her free hand on Kyon's. 06* Taki lifts her bottle before drinking from it. "Congrats!" 06* Kyon tenses his hand a little instinctively, but it's over after an instant or so. "Yeah. Try to do better next time. But winning means we might have one." 06* Kaede glances over for a moment, then sets his empty glass on the coffee table (with coaster, if available) and takes his coffee, sipping it with his eyes closed. "That's what's important. To always keep moving forward." 06* Taki nods. "I sometimes miss playing, but, without Watanabe it felt pretty pointless, and it got harder to not cheat the more into the game I got." 06* Katie blinks at Taki. "You mean Satoshi?" 06* Kaede opens his eyes and looks at Taki with that too. 06* Kyon smirks. "Wouldn't the refs notice?" 06* Taki nods at Kyon. "Yeah, but the angrier I get at the other players, the more likely I was to accidentaly freeze their skates to the ice, and then I'd get mad at myself for doing it, and then I'd have to keep from freezing my own skates... or the puck. It was kinda bad at the end." 06* Katie shakes her head. 01 You two are making me glad I'm not working on anything I can "cheat" at. 06* Kyon looks amused and offended in equal measure. "Yeah. Sounds like you were ruining the game." 06* Kaede sips his coffee for a moment. "You can't cheat at art by noticing the little details better than anyone else?" I still can't do it at a very long range, so mostly people thought I was tripping them normally for getting too close, and it took a while to figure out I was doing it at all. 06* Kyon takes a slug of tea, and answers Kaede, "Still need to get them down right. Even if you can see it." 06* Kyon looks back to Taki sidewise. "Must have been penalized a lot." It's true. It might be even more frustrating if you can't. 06* Taki nods and drinks more tea. Haruko should never take up swimming. 06* Kaede snorts and pauses in his drinking for a moment. "Even she's not foolish enough to be *that* unsubtle..." He ponders that statement for a moment. If he's self-correcting it in his head, he's not showing it. 06* Kyon shakes his head curtly. "Maybe sculpture. Not swimming." He smirks. "She might get lost." 06* Katie was bringing her soda up for a sip, and she ends up laughing instead. 06* Taki grins. "I don't know, there arn't many cars inside of pools to distract her." 01 No, but if she turns into water while in the water... 06* Kyon nods to Katie. "It's about separation." 06* Kaede tilts his head to Katie. "Hopefully she remembers how to reform the swimsuit." He rolls his eyes. "Lord knows Akemi would want to have that power." 06* Taki blushes a bit. "I hadn't thought about that part." 06* Kyon looks at Kaede sidewise. "Why'd she want that?" 06* Kaede looks over at Kyon. "Could you imagine the publicity she would get if she dived into the water in a swimsuit and emerged without one? Or in a different one?" 06* Kaede rubs his head. "Thank god I'm her manager and not someone who'd take advantage of someone who'd try to capitolize on that..." If she disappeared in the meantime? Might be the wrong kind of publicity. ... It'd be a good trick for a stage magician, wouldn't it? 06* Kyon smirks. "Could probably work out how to lose it in the pool, anyway. Doesn't seem the type, though." He nods to Taki curtly. "Yeah, you'd fool everyone." 06* Kaede snorts. "People'd explain it away as CGI on tape. And anyone who knew about it would make sure to keep the camera crew distracted from what was *really* going on. Akemi's smart. She'd make sure of that." 06* Katie shakes her head. "It wouldn't be worth it." 06* Kaede sips his coffee. "Course not." Does well enough without, anyway. 06* Kaede nods. "She's getting more and more popular. She's got quite the following..." He swirls his coffee a little bit. That's good, isn't it? Can be. It's good for her career at least. 06* Kaede glances at Taki. "It also means it's harder for you to be able to hide from it." Ahh, is it causing her trouble? 06* Kyon knocks back some more tea. "But there are ways. Just have to be careful." 06* Kaede nods to Kyon and looks over at Taki. "Not that she'd admit to, no." 06* Katie squeezes Kyon's hand, lightly. "It is what she's always said she wanted..." 06* Taki nods and sips her tea. "I'm only hoping for being a little bit famous, and just for my cooking." 06* Kyon flexes his hand in response, just a light pulse. "Probably easier that way. People just see your food. Not you as much." Seeing your body, definitely different. Though I'm sure actors have it worse. Because they get a whole fake personality. 06* Kaede shrugs. "She handles it pretty well. She's braver than I could be." 06* Taki nods and then sips her tea. 06* Katie nods and says, "I know I don't want to be famous." 06* Kaede raises an eyebrow. "Not even as an artist?" 06* Katie shakes her head. "Not really. I mean... it's fine if people want my work, and even if they know my name, I guess..." 01 I just don't want them to treat me that differently. I see it enough with Kyon. 06* Kaede sighs. "Yeah..." Ahh... 06* Kyon nods curtly. "Yeah. Just for one of us is enough." 06* Kyon smirks. "Probably be even more noticeable if we both had to go out wearing sunglasses and hats, coats together." You could just tell everybody that you're Americans. 06* Katie giggles. "*I* am." 06* Kyon nods, still smirking. "So she'd know." 06* Taki nods at Kyon. "So only you'd have to lie. Unless Katie's got some way to make you an American." Nothing that wouldn't require us moving there. 06* Kaede glances at Kyon. "Not something you're considering, is it?" Ahh, I guess you could go visit Satoshi. 06* Kyon shakes his head curtly. "I'm under contract. We'll visit. Do tourism. But not move." 01 Besides, both of our immediate families are here. Visiting them can be hard enough without crossing an ocean. 06* Kaede smirks. "Hey, maybe we'll by chance get to tour with you at the same time." 06* Katie snerks and glances at Kyon. 06* Taki nods. "That sounds like it would be fun." 06* Kyon drinks some more tea, and shrugs quickly, then winces slightly. "Could happen." 06* Kaede sighs and loses it for a moment. "They've been talking about it recently actually. Akemi's turned them down. Wants to finish up her studies here first. During the breaks though..." 01 Do you want to go? 06* Kaede blinks and looks at Katie for a moment at her question. 06* Katie sips soda back at him! I...can't say I'm sure, actually. It'd be important to her, I know. I wonder how much it'd cost... oh, I bet your sister would want to go too. 06* Kyon sticks with his tea for now. Not his side of the conversation. 06* Katie leans up to Kyon and murmurs, "Can we cake?" 06* Kyon nods curtly. "I'm on it." He tenses his hand one more time under hers before drawing it out and heading for the kitchen again. 06* Kaede sips his drink. "Might. She's going to be fairly busy herself though." Ah... that's true. 01 How is Nanami doing? 06* Kaede smiles at Katie. "Busy with school. And her self-defense classes." He sighs. "I still can't believe her though." 06* Kyon takes out some plates, and transfers the cake to another plate, too. He then looks back towards the living room, and then goes to find some candles in one of the drawers to stick in the thing. 06* Katie blinks. "I didn't know she was taking self-defense classes." 06* Kaede turns his cup in his hands and looks at it. "It's just a recent thing. And of course, she wouldn't sign up unless she knew I was going to sign up with her..." He frowns. "I think everything that happened back then got to her and she wanted to learn how to take care of herself..." 06* Kyon stops in with some plates and forks, which he puts on the low table, and then heads back out again. 06* Kaede keeps turning the cup. "Plus she's planning on getting ready for the Defense Force when she gets old enough..." So she's kind of preparing for that. 06* Taki nods. "I think I remember you saying that before." 06* Kaede nods a bit. 06* Kaede turns and looks at Katie. "So why is this conversation all about me now on your birthday?" 06* Katie blinks, a bit off guard. "Um..." Pause. "I don't know?" 06* Kaede snickers. "It's fine." He shakes his head. "Actually it's good to reminisce with friends once and a while." 06* Kyon looks at the cake, lights the candles easily, and then picks it up. "We'll change it up for now, though," he calls in, and then comes in bearing a black forest cake with two candles stuck in the top, a 1 and an 8. 06* Taki smiles proudly at the cake. 06* Kaede glances at the cake. "It looks like a good choice. Nanami would approve." 06* Katie looks up to see cake and cheers. "It looks great!" 06* Kyon sets it down on the table, and then looks at Katie expectantly. I can assure you that it tastes just as good as it looks. 06* Katie looks down at the lit candles, and then closes her eyes for a moment to make her wish, then blows out the candles. She is now officially eighteen! 06* Taki asks uncertainly, "Should we sing?" No. 06* Kaede smiles and claps for Katie's official turning 18. "Congratulations on your birthday." He then glances at Taki and frowns. "I think it might be a bit too late now." 06* Katie giggles. "I wasn't expecting it." 01 Kyon doesn't want us to hear how bad he is. Ah, okay. I've never been to an American style birthday before. 06* Kyon crouches down next to the table. "Singing just lets the candles melt." He starts cutting up the cake. 06* Katie pulls candles out of the cake, setting them aside before Kyon does that. 01 It doesn't take *that* long. 06* Kaede pushes his glasses up his nose, and deadpans out. "So practical. On her birthday even." 06* Katie says that in a tone that means they've had this talk before. 06* Taki stays quiet. 06* Kyon smirks up at her. "Too late now, anyway. Try again next year." 06* Kaede stage-whispers to Katie. "Just for that, I think he should have to sing it personally tonight when you two are alone together." 06* Katie grins mischievously at Kaede. Now the idea is so very in her head. 06* Kyon passes Katie the first slice. "Just making her life harder." Isn't that what I do in the first place? 06* Kyon smirks, cuts another place, and hands it to him. "Got me there." 06* Katie takes the slice and a fork. "Mmm hmm," she says, distracted by cake. "This looks *really* good, Taki." And she has a small bite. 06* Kaede takes second slice but holds onto it until everyone has cake. 06* Kyon passes one to Taki, and then takes one for himself before settling back in next to Katie. 06* Katie settles back into the couch, clearly happy that she's eating cake. "Thanks for the birthday party," she says, generally. 06* Kaede eats the cake and doesn't respond. He assumes it's primarily to Kyon and even if it isn't, he's not going to be awkward enough to take credit for it. 06* Kyon nods curtly, and looks over at her sidewise. "Sure. Welcome." 06* Katie beams at Kyon and eats more cake! 06* Kaede eats another bite. "Did your family do anything special for your birthdays?" 06* Katie shakes her head. "Nothing that special. We'd go out to dinner and then have cake and ice cream at home, with presents after. Sometimes it had to wait a few days because of Dad's job." 01 I'd invite some friends back in the States. Extended family never showed up because they didn't live close by. They call today? 06* Katie nods. "Yeah, Mom wished me a happy birthday from both of them right before the game, and they're holding my present for the next time I visit." 06* Kyon nods. "Right. Good to hear." He tries some of the cake. It's pretty good, he finds. 01 Dad was working, of course. 06* Kyon nods curtly, and smirks. "Of course. Just have to track him down later." 06* Katie grins. "Yeah," before having another bite of cake. Still talk with them often? 06* Kaede has a bite of cake as well. 06* Kyon has some tea withe the cake. It's not that it's dry, it's just easier that way. 06* Katie shrugs. "Maybe not as much as they want?" 01 But yeah, pretty often. They like Kyon. It helps. 06* Kaede chuckles. "That's one thing I'm glad I don't have to worry about..." 06* Kyon smirks. "If I can play nice with parents, she could manage if she had to, too." 06* Katie nods sagely. "I can mostly play nice with parents." True. Though you're a baseball player, which doesn't really say anything about you. She's a model which people tend to make more assumptions about. Though I don't doubt Akemi's ability to charm almost anyone. 06* Kyon looks at him sidewise. "Don't know about that. Pro athletes get that jock reputation. All brawn, no brains." 01 That's kind of funny, when you think about it. 01 I mean, at the very least it requires a lot of work and the ability to think a certain way. Depends on the sport, I suppose. 06* Kaede shrugs. "Some just require you to follow certain orders real well." 06* Katie is almost done with her cake now. "I guess that's true." 06* Kyon eats a bit more of his own. "Got a lot of time to think in baseball. Helps if you know how to." 06* Kaede nods and listens. No more spotlight, yay! 06* Katie nods. She eats the last of her cake and sets her plate on the coffee table before looking around. "Wonder where Kumaguro's hiding." Probably my room. Could probably get him out, though. 06* Katie shakes her head. "I was just wondering." She hops to her feet and wanders off, probably to get the presents! 01 (Leaving Kyon and Kaede with each other, hahaha!) How old is he now? 06* Kyon thinks back, and his expression clouds for a moment. "Five." 06* Kaede nods. "You two have been through a lot together then. In a way at least." 06* Katie walks back, giftwrapped package in hand. "I don't think Kyon would be who he is without Kumaguro." 06* Kyon looks rather cool. "Yeah. Probably not. He means a lot." Well of course. Just like I wouldn't be who I am without Nanami.. 06* Kyon snorts. "She's like a pet to you?" 06* Katie snerks. 06* Katie also sits back down, reclaiming her place next to Kyon! 06* Kaede rolls his eyes. "Kumaguro totally like just a pet to you?" Yeah. Pretty much. A trusted pet, but he's a cat. Can't expect too much from him. Mmhmm. 06* Kaede sips his coffee in silence. He's less amused than the other two. 01 Okay! 06* Katie pats the package on her lap. "Can I open this now?" It's your party isn't it? Absolutely. 06* Katie grins and tears off the wrapping paper. Gifts never get old, really. 06* Kyon watches her. "Got something for you, but I thought I'd wait. Unless you want it now." [Katie opens her present! Inside is an art book. The artist is relatively unknown, but on the cover is a picture of a tarot card (The Magician to be precise) except the picture seems to be drawn to represent a peacock instead. Inside, all of the tarot cards are included, but drawn up as birds.] 06* Katie says distractedly, as she looks in the box, "No, that's okay." She pulls the book out carefully and starts flipping through it. I never thought of him as a peacock before... A force of malevolent elevators personified, but not a peacock. [Next to some of the cards are written some names, particularly the names of everyone from the group. Two and Three of Pentacles has both Kaede's and Akemi's names signed in more formal brush strokes, with Akemi's name particularly done up with hearts.] 01 (Is that Akemi's handwriting? XP) (Yes) 01 (Hahaha.) (So when Akemi becomes famous, the book becomes worth millions!) (Just that page) 06* Kyon looks at the book next to her, and seems actually kind of impressed. 06* Kaede glances at Katie for a second to watch her reaction, but focuses on the conversation and coffee. 06* Katie keeps flipping through the book, pretty engrossed by what she's seeing. "Where did you *get* this?" Took a while to find. I figured on an art book early on, so I just took my time browsing. 06* Taki moves so she can see the book. "So, what kind of a bird does the artist think you are? And the rest of us?" I figured if everyone signed it too, it'd be a good memoir... 06* Katie nods. "I'll just have to make sure nobody else sees it." 06* Kaede snorts. "It's just a harmless picture book signed by your friends by the picture they liked the most, right?" 06* Katie nods, still looking at the book. "I know, I just..." She sighs, then says more softly, "I want to be careful." 06* Kyon nods. "Sounds right to me." He finishes off his cake. 06* Taki nods. 01 I know that it might feel like it's over, and maybe it is, but- I still think we should be careful. 06* Kaede nods slightly, and is silent. 01 Taki's a carrier pigeon, by the way. Haruko's a magpie. 06* Katie stops on the Knight of Cups' picture and asks her, "Can you sign this for me?" 06* Kyon snorts a laugh. "She would be." 06* Kaede pauses for a moment, glancing at her, coffee in hand. If there's any emotion in his voice, he's trying to mask it. "Happy birthday, Katie." Uhm, of course, where's a pen? 06* Katie smiles at Kaede. "Thanks." Pause, then she says, "I mean that. This is an amazing present." 06* Kaede nods slightly. "I'm glad you like it." 06* Katie gives Taki the book and gets up, going to retrieve a pen for her! 06* Taki marks her page with a finger and flips through some of the other cards. 06* Katie returns with a pen! "Here you go." It's getting late. We should probably go soon... 01 Aww, okay. 06* Taki lays the book flat on the table and writes her name as carefully as she can. She's not much of an artist, but she can at least draw enough straight lines to sign her name... crooked. 06* Taki then blows on it to dry the ink. "Uhm okay." 06* Kaede looks at Katie. "Well, it is..." 06* Taki holds the pen out to Kaede, realizes he's already signed, and tries to give it to Kyon. 06* Katie nods, shifting her weight as she stands. "Thanks for coming. And for the book. It's really great." I...if we could get it to Satoshi somehow, that would be best...hopefully he's able to visit *sometime* soon... 06* Kyon will take it from her, and try to find his place. "Got a late start, after the game." He sets the book down for now, if they're seeing people off. 01 Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard though. 06* Katie grins. "After all, he might come back for Taki's graduation." 06* Taki looks away. "That'd be nice." 06* Kaede nods a bit and gives her a light brief hug. And an awkward one. "You take care then. Enjoy the rest of your night." 06* Taki blushes and stammers out. "I.. I've g-gotta go. Th-thanks" And then she vanishes. 06* Kyon nods curtly to the guests, and then shakes his head, slightly amused at Taki's departure. 06* Kaede turns and stares at where Taki was. "What was..." He sighs. "Nevermind." 06* Katie blinks at Taki's disappearing act as she hugs Kaede back. 01 Yeah. Anyway, thanks, Kaede. You have a good night, too. 06* Kaede steps away after the hug and nods, then gives Kyon a light polite bow. "Kyon. You have a good evening." 06* Kaede gets his shoes on and heads out! 06* Kyon bows in return, slightly surprise. "You too. Thanks for coming." 01 [Session End!]