[Jihatsu] Wataru paces and tries to bring his mind back to cleaning, but he just can't. Satoshi's sounding less fatalistic than he was at first, but it's still impossible for him to think about anything else than the fact that Satoshi is headed into a ritual all by himself with no way to predict what's going to happen. "_Buuuuuuuhhhh_," Wataru declares, and dials Katie's number. --- [Ardweden] Katie is sitting around at home, in her room. Well, sitting is laying, anyway. She doesn't want to get off her bed; she has things to do today but they're not here yet, and anyway her phone is ringing. She rolls over to where it is, on her bedspread, and picks it up. Wataru. Katie sighs and accepts the call. "Hello?" she asks, in English. --- [Jihatsu] "Uh," Wataru says, unprepared for suddenly being in a conversation although yes, he did start it, get it together Wataru. "Hey. It's Wataru." --- [Ardweden] "Hey." Katie flops onto her back. "Sorry I haven't emailed you back." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh... oh don't worry about it. There's been a lot going on. Got home okay from Aomori?" --- [Ardweden] "Yeah," Katie says, the word like a sigh. "All in one piece. His parents don't hate me. Well - any more than they did before." --- [Jihatsu] "Hey, that's a win," Wataru smiles. --- [Ardweden] Katie lets out a small 'heh'. "Or not a loss," she allows. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru smiles. Maybe she can hear it? "Well, that's good. I can't even imagine a meet-the-parents scenario." --- [Ardweden] "Someday, Wataru," Katie says, ominously. "Someday." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru giggles. "Yeah, maybe. Who knows. Anyway, I was calling because I'm super nervous about - did Satoshi tell you about the ritual thing he's doing?" --- [Ardweden] "Yeah. He talked to you." Well, that's not a question, but it's also not an accusation. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods. "He sounds like he's being smart and careful." --- [Ardweden] "He's certainly being _something_," Katie not-agrees. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru snorts, lightly. "Please, tell me the ways in which you disagree with my statement." --- [Ardweden] "Nah." Katie pulls herself up to lie on her pillow. Now her head is properly supported. "I kind of want to leave you hanging." Was that pun intentional? --- [Jihatsu] "Rude," Wataru teases, smiling. "Anyway, yeah. He's probably on his way there right now, and as much as I'd like to think of something else, I can't. Sorry for like, calling you all unannounced." --- [Ardweden] "No, it's okay. I've wanted to talk to you, too. I've just been... things have been hard, and I'm trying to figure some stuff out, so I've been procrastinating." Katie sighs. "Which I guess is kind of out of character for me." --- [Jihatsu] "I know that feeling for sure," Wataru sighs. "Anytime you want to talk is okay for me." --- [Ardweden] "Probably in person? We should meet up." Katie thinks. "I'm having lunch with Kaede today. And I'll have to talk to Kyon. But maybe later today, we can have an anxiety party? And then if Satoshi's really stupid and passes out instead of calling me after this is over, we can also have a panic party." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh god," Wataru laughs. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself. He fucking better call us." Wataru drags his fingers through his hair, tangling them in and tugging. "How long is it going to take, you think?" --- [Ardweden] Katie shrugs, not that Wataru can see it. "You know more about rituals than I do." --- [Jihatsu] "*Barely*," he admits. "I mean, okay sure yes, but it's not like I'm some bigshot expert. I was just telling Satoshi earlier that I usually go by feel. I should really study more, if this is something people are going to expect of me." --- [Ardweden] "I guess... it hasn't really come up a lot before," Katie admits. "In my experience. But Kyon's got a small library about stuff like that." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru COVETS. "Uh - wow. Um really?" --- [Ardweden] "Yeah. It'd probably be a good place to start." --- [Jihatsu] "I mean, I'm down if he is." --- [Ardweden] "I can ask him for you, sometime." Katie stretches, still not getting out of bed. Talking to Wataru. This isn't so bad. --- [Jihatsu] "I guess it can't hurt for me to get to know the rest of you more." --- [Ardweden] "Probably not much," Katie agrees, with a little smile. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru laughs softly. Yeah, this is better than stressing out alone. --- [Ardweden] Katie listens to Wataru's laughter, tiny smile still on her lips. But then it falls away as she goes silent, thinking. --- [Jihatsu] Siiiiiiiiiiilennnnnce Wataru tries to think of a thing to continue the sudden-death conversation! Sudden death, like hockey, shit oh no time not to think about Satoshi being suddenly dead -- --- [Ardweden] "Hey, Wataru?" Katie asks, cutting into Wataru's thoughts. --- [Jihatsu] Ohthankgod. "Mm?" --- [Ardweden] "You haven't actually done anything with Shuffle, have you?" --- [Jihatsu] "Nnnnnnope." Wataru sighs. "I keep meaning to, but... I chicken out." --- [Ardweden] "That's okay. You don't have to at all, you know." Katie's quiet for a second, then says, "You probably shouldn't, yet." --- [Jihatsu] Intriguing. "Oh?" --- [Ardweden] Katie rubs at her face with her free hand. Maybe this was a bad idea. "I had a dream while I was in Aomori. I might know who the World is. But I don't know if she knows, and it's... all very complicated." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru's blood runs cold, and he's silent. --- [Ardweden] Katie listens to the silence, and she sighs. "I'm sorry." She rolls over and gets up, out of bed. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru knows words exist, but he's sort of vague on their exact nature. --- [Ardweden] "Anyway," Katie says, softly, because she doesn't really have a different mode. "I'll figure it out. And I've already talked to Satoshi about it, so." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods, absently. "Okay... okay that's good." His face feels cold. --- [Ardweden] Katie winces. She rubs at her face again and then runs her hand through her hair. It's a mess, but now it's not in her face. She's not sure what to say here. --- [Jihatsu] "You saw her?" he blurts. --- [Ardweden] Katie sighs. "Yeah." --- [Jihatsu] "Is she... is she in Tokyo?" Wataru blinks twice quickly, surprised to find the sudden itch in his eyes immediately translated into tears. --- [Ardweden] Katie's quiet for a moment. "I don't really want to play twenty questions, Wataru." Her voice is gentle. "I didn't want to upset you. Or worry you, or... I just wanted to help you." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru has a jagged exhale. "Help me how," he says. "Why tell me this and then hide the rest. I don't -- I'm not mad at you. Or anything. I just." --- [Ardweden] "Because I know you. You might do something reckless, when it doesn't even have to be done." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru sighs and lets the back of his head doof onto the back of the couch. "Right." --- [Ardweden] Katie smiles a bit on the other side. "When it's safe for me to tell you more, I will. I think you know that. Right?" --- [Jihatsu] Wataru makes a grumpy noise. --- [Ardweden] Katie doesn't laugh. She _doesn't laugh_. Okay, so she laughs a little. The noise is cute. --- [Jihatsu] He laughs a tiny bit too, then. Then he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "Well fuck. If Satoshi knows and is being cool about it, the rest is none of my damned business. I'm freaking out, honestly, like, a lot, but... I promise I won't be an idiot about it. I just... want everybody to be safe." --- [Ardweden] "Yeah. Me too." Katie can be heard opening a can, and there's meowing- oh, she's probably feeding the cat. "That's why it's hard." --- [Jihatsu] "Hahah, I can hear your kitty." --- [Ardweden] "Yeah, Kumaguro's yowling." He can also maybe hear Katie roll her eyes. She sets the food down for him and the meowing stops. "He'll make you think we never feed him." --- [Jihatsu] "Nah, that's just cats. They're pretty great." He has a lengthy sigh. "Okay, so Satoshi's mom is back in town. But we don't all need to immediately flee for the hills and/or drop a Volkswagen Minibus on her?" --- [Ardweden] "That's about right. If she is in town, she's always been in town, and nothing terrible seems to have happened because of her yet. So I'm still trying to find out who she is, now, and what she knows. Then we can figure out what to do." Katie sighs. "Trust me, if I thought we had to run or drop a bus right now, I'd have been telling everyone to get moving days ago." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods. "Okay. That makes sense. I believe you." He puts his glasses back on and thinks for a minute. "Thank you for telling me, huh? Especially given... Given how bad it could have gone." --- [Ardweden] "... Yeah." There's a pause. "Thank you for trusting me." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods. He's not quite sure what to say, now. --- [Ardweden] Well, that sort of makes two of them. But Katie tries, after a few moments. "So, want me to come over this afternoon?" --- [Jihatsu] "Oh...." He tries to think about whether he had anything planned for the day, besides chores. "Sure, that could be fun. For something in particular, or just to hang out?" --- [Ardweden] Katie successfully does not sigh. "You sounded like you could use the company, earlier," she points out, trying to avoid mentioning Satoshi's ritual. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru does sigh. "You're right, I probably could, I guess." [And so they agreed to meet at Wataru's place later that afternoon. End!]