<@Grysar> [And, good as their word, the range of the guests at the AndrewSorata apartment shuffled out, leaving the two residents alone.] <@Grysar> [Resume!] * Katie didn't even really say goodbye to anyone, but it's not like she seemed to accept Haruko's apology either. She's washing dishes, thank you. * Kyon comes in, carrying along the teacups on a tray with the pot, and sets them down on the counter beside her, standing there silently for a couple of beats. * Katie inspects the last plate, sets it on the rack, and picks up a teacup. * Kyon lays his hand out beside the tray, in her line of sight, and waits a bit more. * Katie rinses a teacup, sets it in the rack, and reaches for the next one. She sees Kyon's hand in the process and follows it to look up at him. * Kyon looks down at her, frowning slightly. "That was a lot." * Katie blinks. What was a lot? * Kyon waves back towards the table. "That. A lot of speculation. Mostly towards the end." * Katie sighs. "Yeah." She goes back to washing the teacup. * Kyon looks down at her sidewise. "All it is for now." I still thought it would be worth it. * Kyon picks up a teacup with his off-hand. "Think it wasn't?" * Katie shakes her head. She rinses that cup, looks at it, then sets it on the rack before holding her hand out for the one Kyon has. * Kyon passes it over to her. "Got some ideas out of it." Contacting Chikako's a good one. * Katie starts on that teacup. * Kyon nods curtly, and smirks. "See how long it takes for her to write back." Yeah... I wonder how she's doing. * Kyon shrugs quickly. "We'll find out soon. More curious about how you're doing." I'm okay. * Kyon looks down at her, and turns around one of the teacups to line it up with the others on the tray. "Yeah?" Yeah. I was just... annoyed. * Katie rinses this one off, too, and looks it over. She runs a finger over the rim of the cup and then re-washes the thing. Because of the knight. Not *just* because of Taki. But yeah. * Katie rinses this cup off, too, look at it, and apparently it passes inspection because she puts that one aside. She goes for another teacup! Many people were drinking tea. * Kyon smirks, and pushes them down the tray towards her. "We're not reverting. Just being careful. Throwing out dumb ideas gets to the better ones." * Katie takes one of those, then! And she looks at Kyon. "You really think so?" * Kyon nods curtly. "Can't work out a strategy without talking through it. Not going to adopt everything everyone says. And it's not worth worrying about all of it. But still have to talk. Never know who's going to spot what." He smirks a bit more. "Even if some people are less likely." I know. I know, but she's so off base and I *know* she was just... delusional in the past, to the point where she- * Katie cuts herself off. And washes the stupid teacup. Right. I know. * Katie doesn't respond to that, but she is glaring at what she's washing. * Kyon blows out a breath. "We have to invite her along for this. She's already involved. But we don't have to listen to her." * Katie nods, once. * Kyon nods quickly back. "Just leave it." * Katie looks sharply at Kyon. "What?" What she said. Just leave it. It's not going to be right. I'm not going to tell her to shut up. As long as she doesn't go on for too long. But we don't need to take it. * Katie looks at Kyon for a long moment, then just says, "I don't know what you're talking about." She sets the cup on the rack harder than necessary, not bothering to inspect it this time. * Kyon raises an eyebrow. "Just forget what the knight is saying. It's more speculation than the rest of it. Nowhere to go with it. She should be here, but that's all." * Katie makes an annoyed sound. "It's not *just*..." She shakes her head. "It's not just Taki." * Kyon nods curtly, and waits. Or just that about Taki, I... two of them didn't even read the second book, after I went through all that trouble to get it to them. And I don't even know if they read what I sent, because it was 'What if Shuffle is associated with Council of Mysteries?' Of *course* it is! That's why we were looking at it in the first place! * Katie's voice rose slightly with that, but not quite into danger levels. Yet. Telling me that you have some sort of revelation when I'm the one who did the stupid research to get to exactly that point in the first place, I just, ugh. * Katie picks up a towel, starts to dry her hands, gets fed up with it about halfway through, and throws it on the counter. * Kyon nods, and turns more towards her. "Right. But we read it. You and me. Takeuchi and Haruko. And we're the ones who are going to solve this." * Katie looks like she's about to say something about them, too, then just bites her tongue. * Kyon snorts, and shakes his head, slightly amused. "You have to trust some people, Katie." That's funny, coming from you. * Kyon inclines his head, conceding that, and then says, "But I did. The whole time. Just wasn't always you." * Katie looks at Kyon for a second. I'm glad that worked out. * Kyon snorts again. "I came around. And I'm still here." * Katie softens. Just a little. "Fine." * Kyon nods back. "Right." He gestures towards the living room. "Want to go read?" * Katie's eyes follows the gesture to the room. "The second book?" * Kyon shrugs quickly. "Or something else. Could be enough of that for right now." * Katie gazes in that direction for a bit longer, then looks back up at Kyon. She blinks at him, then relaxes slightly. "Yeah. Okay." * Kyon nods curtly back, and heads off that way, then. * Katie lingers behind. She reaches over to trail her fingers on the rim of the kitchen sink for a few seconds before biting her lower lip fairly hard. That done, she follows Kyon into the living room. [And they go off to read books that do not infringe upon their lives and privacy.] [There will even be near snuggling as part of the process.] [End!]