<@Grysar> [Date: Saturday, December 13 2012. Location: Split screen!] <@Grysar> [Satoshi has been working on an email over Friday night to Saturday morning. So it's actually on the later end on Saturday Japan time.] <@Grysar> [Satoshi, I'm assuming you're in your dorm room. Katie, are you coming home for the night, or have you been here a while?] <@Grysar> [Start] 06* Katie is coming back to the apartment later in the evening, arms full of research material for her Biology group project. She's flushed and pleased, opening the door and sliding her shoes off. She already knows Kyon isn't there, so she doesn't bother saying anything. Instead, makes her way to her room like the slipperless barbarian she is, nearly tripping over Kumaguro on the way. 06* Satoshi is indeed in his dorm room, at his computer, working on finishing this e-mail. Paul has gone out to get breakfast. 06* Satoshi sighs and taps his chin with his left hand as he ponders. 06* Katie makes her way to her room in the dark, because it's not actually *that* dark, and flips on the light. She drops her books on the desk, turns on her laptop, and heads off to grab something to eat. And feed Kumaguro. That may be even more important. <@Grysar> [Katie: Heading off internally or hitting a convenience store or the like?] 01 (Internally!) 01 (Unless there's nothing she wants to eat. That can be a GM call. ^^) 06* Katie feeds the cat first, in any case, and when Kumaguro is no longer trying to kill her she starts looking for food for herself. <@Grysar> [And there actually is not that much available in the fridge. Looks like Kyon had to raid it and determined that some of what was left had gone bad.] 06* Katie ughs, noting what is and isn't in the fridge. She goes to grab her shoes and coat, again, and as an afterthought gets her hat, too. It's cold! 06* Katie runs off to grab groceries. And snacks. Right now she wants snacks. <@Grysar> [Kyon had used the subway for his trips today. That said, perhaps to her surprise, she hears a quiet beeping from the storage of his motorcycle on the way back in. It's not a sound the bike typically makes.] 06* Satoshi is hungry, because the energy bars he keeps in the dorm are only so filling. But! He has finished the e-mail and hits send. 06* Satoshi then shoots a quick message to Haruko before he heads out to get some food. "Sent. Hope this goes well." 06* Katie pauses midstep, her arms now full of groceries instead of books. She takes a slow step back and then looks in the direction of the motorcycle. <@Grysar> [The motorcycle sits there. Although there's a different ring. And now that she's focusing on it, she recognizes Haruko's text notification chime is the source of this latest sound.] 06* Katie blinks. She follows the sound to what might be a phone? <@Grysar> [This particular storage compartment is not typically locked. That said, the sound goes quiet by the time she's closer.] 06* Katie is not so easily deterred. She carefully sets an armload of groceries down, opens the compartment, and looks in. <@Grysar> [There's a sheet with a quick vehicle check up report in fairly attractive handwriting. Beneath it lies Haruko's phone.] <@Grysar> [The phone had slipped under, near as Katie could tell. The checkup report is dated earlier today.] 06* Katie sighs. "Really, Haruko?" She slides the phone out from under the paper and puts it in a grocery bag. That done, she closes the storage compartment, grabs her groceries, and heads up to the apartment once more. <@Grysar> [And arrive she does. And after she gets settled in, maybe eats a bit, whatever her usual routine, she finds an email from Satoshi waiting for her.] 06* Katie has a book on farm animal care open now and Haruko's phone nearby. She actually opened her mail with the intention of e-mailing Haruko to let her know she left her phone behind. Upon seeing Satoshi's message, she lets out a small 'huh' and clicks on it. "Dear Katie, It's been a while since the last time I talked to you. Admittedly, we're living on different continents now, which makes it trickier, but people can manage to stay in touch despite being physically very far apart. In the same way, people can lose touch when they're right near each other." <@Grysar> * Kumaguro was napping by the food dish, but stirred a bit when Katie returned. That cat hasn't actually stood up yet. That's a thing you have to build to. <@Grysar> [For the record, Katie does notice that the email came through while she was out. Probably shortly before Haruko's phone got that text message if you want to be precise.] 06* Katie pet Kumaguro, for the record. She likes the cat, even if he tries to murder her on occasion. 06* Katie gets partway through the e-mail, checks the timestamp, and then looks at Haruko's phone. 06* Katie goes back to reading the mail even as she reaches for said phone. <@Grysar> [Haruko's phone is not a flip phone, and while fancy for the time the screen is still black and white. It is reporting one text from Satoshi Watanabe with a little pictograph envelope.] 06* Katie 's finger hovers over the envelope, then she stops herself and puts the phone down. 06* Katie goes back to reading the e-mail. "I feel like e-mail isn't maybe the most personal way to do this, but if I wait for the perfect time to try and coordinate a phone call (for that matter, I don't even know if I have your current phone number), I'll just keep putting it off. I've put off writing this e-mail long enough anyway." <@Grysar> * Kumaguro stands and brushes against Katie's leg. Is the cat congratulating her for being a good Katie? Probably not. He'd totally read your email if he knew how. 06* Katie reaches down and pets Kumaguro and mentally notes that, yes, Satoshi does not have her current phone number. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro deigns to accept further petting. For now. "Anyhow, I wanted to see how you were doing, and, well... apologize for a lot of things. Again, I know e-mail's only so personal but ...yeah. The distance between us... I pulled away because I didn't know how to handle things, because I felt guilty for not noticing things and then even more guilty for not handling things. It fed on itself, and I let it feed on itself, and I was incredibly stupid. I don't know if 'I'm sorry' can begin to cut it - that's for you to decide - but... I'm sorry." 06* Katie reads the paragraph, glances at Haruko's phone again, and then rereads the paragraph. She scrolls up to read some earlier parts before reading the paragraph again. 06* Katie blinks a few times and continues reading. <@Grysar> * Haruko's phone sits there, unlocked. "I'm not under any illusions that writing this e-mail is going to magically fix things and everything will be good and happy again. But I've missed talking with you. I'd like to tell you my crazy America stories and hear how things are going in Japan. I'd just... like to talk, if you wanted to." 06* Katie keeps reading! <@Grysar> * Kumaguro notices that Katie's attention is elsewhere and scoots out from under her hand and begins playing at the base of the desk. 06* Katie laughs at the cat and grabs a dangly toy, making with the dangling while still reading. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro is placated, batting at the toy and standing up a bit to take higher swings should Katie pull it away. "It's totally within your rights to say, 'Nope, you had your chance, and I really am not interested in talking to you now.' I'm hoping that's not what you decide, but if you do decide that, I will respect it. It would be stupid not to." 06* Katie snorts a little. She pulls the toy away from Kumaguro, giving him some more attention before reading the rest of the e-mail. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro does a couple full stands, amusingly almost walking once. He then abruptly switches tactics and tenses his hindquarters before leaping up onto the desk, meowing with triumph! "But I wanted to try. I don't want to keep running away. I also don't want to treat you like you're fragile and easily breakable. ...and that's a lot of 'I want' and 'I don't want.'" 06* Katie snerks. "Kumaguro." She picks up her laptop so he can't flop all over it before she finishes reading. 06* Katie reads that and says to the computer (and Satoshi), "At least you're saying it." She picks up Haruko's phone again, looks at it, and tosses it lightly so it lands on her bed, bouncing once. Out of reach is better. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro pounces towards the laptop but is denied by Katie's quick thinking. 06* Katie is wise in the ways of cats. Or maybe just this cat. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro meows plaintively. 06* Katie looks at the cat and says, dryly, "Satoshi e-mailed me. Behave or you're getting kicked out of the room until Kyon comes home." "So if you want to talk more, please e-mail me back. Or you can call me:" <@Grysar> * Kumaguro doesn't admit wrong, but does settle down in the warm spot where the laptop used to be. He looks over at Katie but is otherwise still. 06* Satoshi lists both his Japanese cell phone number, which is the one he had in high school, and his US dorm number. 06* Katie rubs Kumaguro behind his ears. Upon seeing the numbers, though, she has to stop to pull out her phone and add the new one. "I really hope to hear from you. Take care. --Satoshi" 06* Katie sighs. She picks up her laptop and makes her way to the bed, sitting down and rereading the whole e-mail. 06* Katie closes it, opens a new one, and sends Haruko an e-mail: "I found your phone by Kyon's bike. Let me know when you're coming by to pick it up." She hits send. <@Grysar> [Katie sits down gently and Kumaguro shortly thereafter bounds over to join her. However, it turns out that Katie is more graceful than a cat, because his arrival bounces the bed slightly, knocking Haruko's phone off just as Katie is reaching for it and knocking it onto the floor. Fortunately, there was no shattering with the fall. So it's likely unharmed. Maybe? Are modern phones more delicate?] 06* Katie ughs. "You are attention starved," she tells the cat. 06* Katie leans over to pick up the phone, checking it for damages. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro meows in agreement. 01 You know that you won't get treats this way. <@Grysar> [No harm done. It looks like there were already some surface scratches and Haruko was wise enough to account for klutziness in picking her phone. That said, there is an open envelope now and a message Sent. Hope this goes well. 06* Katie sighs at the text message. Well, it's nothing she didn't suspect. 06* Katie goes to put the phone in the drawer, so at least it's out of sight, then returns to her laptop. She opens her e-mail, pauses, and closes it. Then she pulls out her phone, flips it open, looks at it for a long moment, and closes it. <@Grysar> [The notification then minimizes, joining the longer log of messages between Satoshi and Haruko before being put safely away.] 06* Katie stands up AGAIN and goes to her desk, hunting around for her phone card. <@Grysar> [And she finds it with no difficulty.] 06* Katie takes the card and goes back to her bed, sitting on it and letting Kumaguro finally have her laptop. <@Grysar> * Kumaguro perches on the shiny cat platform, now that it is returned to its proper purpose. 06* Katie dials numbers, then more numbers, then finally Satoshi's. She puts her phone to her ear and waits. <@Grysar> * Paul returns from breakfast waving to his roommate. "I'm so glad they installed those new waffle--" He's interrupted by the phone which he picks up instinctively. "Moshi moshi." 06* Katie blinks, then responds in Japanese, "Hello? Is Satoshi there?" 06* Satoshi , despite his best efforts, can't help but wince a bit when Paul answers the phone. <@Grysar> * Paul is startled to actually hear Japanese. He takes a second to process. You can do this Paul. "Tyo-TTO Mat-Te Ku-Dasai." He then holds it out to Satoshi. "Satoshi-san." He then looks incredibly chagrined. 06* Katie pulls her phone away and looks at it. She's not near anyone except a cat, so she doesn't hide her baffled expression. She puts her phone back to her ear. 06* Satoshi eyes Paul. "Yes?" he says, actually fighting an instinct to revert to his native language. <@Grysar> * Paul then sort of backs out of the room, commenting quietly, and in English, just to make sure that he isn't overheard. "I'll leave you with your vivacious caller." He then slips out, closing the door. 06* Satoshi picks up the phone. "Hello?" he says, reverting to Japanese because it makes sense now. 06* Katie replies in English, her voice dry but amused, "Is he confusing me with Haruko? I don't think I've ever been called vivacious." 06* Satoshi blinks, not that Katie can see him (and she may not be able to hear him blink. Maybe.) "Oh, uh, wow," he stutters in Japanese. "Hi! I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon! And, uh, yeah. I think he was." 06* Katie switches to Japanese because it's probably easier on Satoshi. "I didn't know we sounded alike. Hi. How are you?" I guess he was thinking since a girl was calling me, it was her? I'm... okay. It's good to hear from you. How are you? 06* Satoshi sounds a bit nervous. Most people wouldn't be able to pick it up, but Katie definitely can. 01 I'm okay. 06* Katie continues in an almost distressingly normal tone of voice (when contrasted with Satoshi's nervous one). "I just got home from meeting with a group for a Biology project, actually. One of our members dropped, but I think our paper and presentation will actually end up better for it." That's good. I mean, not that they dropped, but that you'll end up better. I'm working on getting ready for finals here. No papers, just studying... and I've been slacking off some, I have to admit. Liam's been giving me grief about it. He's one of my teammates, and he's really good at the whole studying and practicing balance. I'm not sure how he does it. I could ask but then he probably won't let me hear the end of it. 06* Satoshi is still somewhat nervous, and babbling a bit, but he does sound like he's starting to relax a little. 06* Katie listens. "Yeah. It's got to be harder when you're worrying about sports, too. Are your tests at least spaced out?" Yes, thankfully. The two roughest ones are last. Intro chem and pre-calc. I'm not actually sure why I signed up for chemistry, to be honest. I should have done a different science. 01 You're doing intro? Maybe I can help, if you can scan and e- mail me the study guide. Really? That would be great! I'm hitting the library this afternoon so I'll do that then. 06* Katie glances at her clock. "When would that be, my time? I guess I'd be asleep. Or maybe just waking up." Oh, um... yeah, that'd be something like 3 or 4 in the morning. I'd hope you'd be asleep then. But it's e-mail, so... you can get to it when you can, and then I'll see it afterwards. Test's in almost a week. There's time. 01 I thought so. I was just curious, and I thought you'd know better than me. 06* Katie pauses briefly, then says, "You've been talking to Haruko, right?" <@Grysar> * Kumaguro is napping on the laptop. Keeping Katie safe from knowing when the just mentioned mechanic will be rushing over to retrieve her phone. Yeah, we message each other. Call occasionally. She said she'd been hanging out with you some. 01 Yeah. We played DDR. You two became close, after what happened. <@Grysar> [Pause!]