[Jihatsu]
Izumi gives Wataru a thumbs up. "It's a plan! An adult plan!"

"Speaking of adult plans - YOU said you had a guy for me?" Wataru grins!

[Ardweden]
"What?" Izumi asks, surprised. "Noooo, I didn't say that." Pause. "Did I 
say that?

[Jihatsu]
Wataru narrow his eyes. "You said he was perfect for me and even looked 
good in a suit. It sure sounded like you meant someone in particular."

[Ardweden]
Izumi looks at Wataru blankly for a moment, then she bursts out laughing.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru's face is very very still. "So you were pulling my leg. *Thanks*."

[Ardweden]
"I was talking about *you*!" Izumi cries, somehow delighted even though 
Wataru looks like he's going to kill her.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru just facepalms, and then chuckles, and stuffs some fried chicken 
in his mouth.

"So *I'm* the perfect guy for me. Yeah, all right. Sounds about right." 
Sigh.

[Ardweden]
"Nooooo," Izumi corrects again, waving both hands. "I mean that's how 
I'll introduce you to- to- whatever guy I meet who's totally into guys 
whenever I meet him."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru peers at her over the rim of his beer. "...Oh." 

He blushes a bit! ^^;

(and presses send on another email from his phone)

[Ardweden]
"Didja just send Satoshi more pictures?" Izumi asks as she reaches for 
the tofu.

[Jihatsu]
"Nyyeeess." Wataru has a crooked smile. "Do you want to give him a 
message or anything?"

[Ardweden]
"YES." Izumi reaches for the phone.

[Jihatsu]
"Oh god." Wataru lets it happen, though.

[Ardweden]
Izumi takes the phone and writes out a text to Satoshi!

_hi satoshi! im here w Wataru! wish u were too cuz he is SO CUTE in his 
suit!! <3 oh and ty for being such an awesome friend!!_

And then she hits send before Wataru can stop her.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru has a hand over his face, but lets her do this. Friendship. 

He takes the phone back and writes,

_That was Izumi. She had half a beer. My most prfound apologies._

and then he hits send, noticing too late that there was a TYPO in there.

_Profound, sorry._

send.

Guh. Like Satoshi would care about one typo. Now he'll think Wataru is a 
total weirdo.......

[Ardweden]
Izumi has had a WHOLE beer, thank you very much, and is working on a 
whole second beer! With fried chicken, which she puts into her mouth and 
declares, "Kara-age is the best!"

[Jihatsu]
Beers have been happening since Wataru left to collide with Kyon and 
Katie! I see!

"It really is pretty good," Wataru says, nomming an edamame. He looks at 
Izumi, who seems to be having so much fun....

[Ardweden]
Izumi beams at Wataru, then notices he's not having as much fun as she 
is. "What's wrong?"

[Jihatsu]
"Look over there." He nods towards the door. "See something orange, high 
above eye level?"

[Ardweden]
Izumi peers. And peeers. And then she squeals. "I SEE IT!" Pause. Looks 
to Wataru. "What is it?"

[Jihatsu]
"The stupid hair of Kyon Sorata."

[Ardweden]
Izumi blinks. And looks again. And then, "For *real*? OH YEAH his Coming 
of Age Day is the same as ours!" Logical leaps, she can make them on 
occasion!

[Jihatsu]
"Yeah. And. I literally bumped into him when I went out." =_=; 

[Ardweden]
Izumi blinks slowly at Wataru. "Oh." She pushes his beer to him. Dude 
needs beer.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru takes, and then downs, his beer. 

[Ardweden]
Izumi watches Wataru do this. Yup, he clearly needed beer. She turns and 
orders another one for him!

[Jihatsu]
Wataru smiles. "I guess I have to be a grown-up, huh. Which Kyon's 
vengeful pixie of a girlfriend doesn't think I'm being." He rubs his 
face. "I dunno, man. I guess it's silly to assume that just being an 
adult means people will leave you alone."

[Ardweden]
"They gave you a hard time or something? Just 'cause you ran into him?"

[Jihatsu]
"I was on the phone with Aunt Midori, bad connection, run into Kyon, and 
I think I apologized or something, but then Katie - the girlfriend - 
guh." He rubs his face. "Whatever. She got all up in my grill, just 
because I didn't want to tell her what's wrong. But seriously, how is 
that any of her business? I thought I was cordial about it. Anyway. As 
long as they don't come in here."

[Ardweden]
Izumi nods, then nods again. "She's weird," she agrees, partially because 
declaring some girl you already think is crazy 'weird' is a lot easier 
than putting down your crush. "Y'think they will? I mean! Sorata's 
standing outside."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru glances over their way. "Maybe. They can't be waiting for me, can 
they?" Ugh. Like a couple of stupid lions. "Waiting in wait, debating how 
best to beat me up when I leave." 

Food. Wataru needs food in him, now. He has some tofu. Where's that beer?

[Ardweden]
"... Why would they beat you up?" Izumi looks worried now, food and beer 
forgotten.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru pushes his empty glass around. "They probably won't.  ... Forget 
it, I'm just... It's been a weird 24 hours." He smiles at her, looking a 
bit tired but ready to let it go.

[Ardweden]
Izumi nods, then the beer appears and she pushes one to Wataru. "Don't 
worry," she assures him. "I, Izumi Motobuchi, am here for you! And 
nobody's gonna..." She stops, thinking of something, and something closes 
behind her eyes. She looks down at her beer, and the sight of it helps 
her regain courage and she starts again: "Anyway! I'm not gonna leave 
you. I promise."

[Jihatsu]
He thinks he knows what that's about, anyway.... He reaches out for her, 
and takes her hand. "Okay! Man, am I glad I have you."

[Ardweden]
"Me too," Izumi says, squeezing Wataru's hand. "I mean I'm glad to have 
you! Not myself. But I am glad to have myself too." She beams!

[Jihatsu]
Wataru grins! "It's nice, to be glad you have yourself. Maybe there's a 
goal for me, for this year, huh?" He grabs the beer with his free hand, 
takes a nice long drink. "And make them glad they have me, too. Cause I'm 
not ... whatever it is they think I am, that they can poop on me like 
that unprovoked."

[Ardweden]
"Yeah! They shouldn't treat you like that!" And then Izumi realizes she 
has no idea who Wataru's talking about. "Who's they?"

[Jihatsu]
"Sat.. Sakuragaoka Asshole Party. Or whatever. It was fun getting to know 
them, and we have a bunch of stuff in common, but.. I feel like..."

Wataru looks away, expression a bit closed.

[Ardweden]
Izumi takes Wataru's other hand. Now she has two Wataru hands, and he 
can't get beer. But she does look very earnest. "What? C'mon, Wataru."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru exhales. "Maybe... Maybe I thought, like, subconsciously, because 
they accepted me so quickly that first night? Like, maybe,  -- no, this 
is dumb," he frees one hand to rub his face. "It made me feel like one of 
the cool kids, all right? Everybody looked like they had their shit 
together, and they were so kind to me at first, and ... I was like, you 
know. Hey, the Popular Kids like me. Maybe .. maybe high school really is 
over." 

And then he sags, with a heavy sigh. "I really *am* not adulty."

[Ardweden]
Izumi watches Wataru sag. And sigh. And then she shifts her beer with her 
free hand so she can pick it up, and she does. "Maybe it takes work." She 
drinks!

[Jihatsu]
He glances up at her... "I bet. I mean," he sits up a bit straighter, "no 
one ever said being an adult would be easy. It really got under my skin, 
though, that - like how old is she even, 16? Okay probably more like 18? 
POINT IS, you know? Who does she think she is, telling me off about 
maturity?" Wataru BEERS. "Who do any of them think they are, really." He 
huffs. But immediately decides his didn't mean it. "Nah, it's mostly her 
and Kyon," he shrugs. "The others haven't been bad to me. I mean, 
Satoshi's a miracle. And Haruko was pretty cool. Oh, and I even met an 
idol through them, I think! I tried looking her up online but I forget 
her last name, so it didn't really go anywhere."

[Ardweden]
Izumi nods. And nods again. And nods again, while she drinks her beer. 
"Weeeeell," she says, "everyone's different. And it can be hard to get to 
know them 'cause, I mean, a lot of the people who need friends most are 
the same ones who push them away. Like you! Like when I met you you 
really didn't want to be friends for like." More beer. "EVER. But it's 
awesome you and Satoshi hit it off so good, and you and Haruko too! I 
think I remember her from uh. From the thing. She was pretty cool."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru has a 'yes, granted' expression at the dig about him not wanting 
to be friends until she basically forced him, but then, he frowns. "What 
thing?" Wait, what? "Haruko?"

[Ardweden]
"Yeah! The thing. From the ramen, when I met Sorata? She was there, she 
had her hair in a ponytail, like." Izumi gestures, but her own hair is 
short and there are flowers in the way so that totally doesn't work, 
like, at all.

[Jihatsu]
"Oh, the ramen thing. Huh." Errrr get away from my Izumi, Arcana 
Weirdness! No! 

[Ardweden]
"Yeah I think maybe we ran into each other other times, too." Izumi tries 
to recall, but it's too hard and she has more sweet Arisugawa beer 
instead. Not that it's really sweet; there are some sweet notes to it to 
help counteract the bitterness, but the point is it's good, okay? It's 
good. And it's also alcohol, and she's an adult.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru also drinks. "Well, so, yeah. Izumi, tell me, should I keep trying 
to be their friend? Or is it stupid and dumb?"

[Ardweden]
"If you wanna. I mean, you said you connected on lots of levels, right? 
And they're Satoshi's friends? Soooo." She finishes off her second beer 
and sets the empty mug on the table, thinking. "That's all stuff." Sage 
advice, Izumi.

[Jihatsu]
"It is," he says. He takes some tofu. "It is stuff. You're right."

[Ardweden]
"Yeah." Izumi grabs a handful of edamame and starts eating them. "So," 
she says around one, "you gotta uh, you gotta... decide if it's worth it. 
BUT. I think it's probly worth it to at least be on good terms with them 
because. Satoshi friends. You don't wanna make him choose." She waves for 
more beer. "Still, you don't wanna be someone you're not 'cause that's 
dumb and we're adults now."

[Jihatsu]
"You are so right all the time." Wataru chews on edamame as well. Yes.

[Ardweden]
"Nah! Just some of the time." Izumi eats edamame.

[Jihatsu]
"Some of the time." Wataru agrees. "Thanks for being my friend. You're 
cooler than all those chumps." _Except maybe Satoshi._

[Ardweden]
She gives a triumphant V sign! "That's why I'm your best friend!" Izumi's 
not the telepath - that's also Satoshi - so she doesn't react to the 
unsaid bit.

[Jihatsu]
"Sure are!" Wataru grins. "OH SHIT we gotta do purikura today. We 
gootttaaaaa."

[Ardweden]
"YES OH MY GOD. A MILLION PICTURESTICKERS."

[Jihatsu]
"I AM GLAD WE AGREE." He drinks a bunch of beer. "Hey, wanna go do that? 
I could use some air. And then Doucheball and Ms. Douchepixie can get our 
table and we don't have to sit with them even by accident. Work for you?"

[Ardweden]
"Yup!" Izumi says cheerfully, probably missing Wataru's namecalling 
entirely.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru calls for the bill, then! Yeah! The air couldn't come too soon. 
Air please.

[Ardweden]
Wataru receives the bill before too long. The waitress apologizes for any 
wait even though, compared to how long it took to get everything else, it 
took no time at all. While Wataru digs out the money, Izumi starts 
talking to her excitedly about how wonderful she was to them and how 
great the waitress' hair is because seriously HER HAIR IS SO GREAT.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru tries not to be embarrassed - and she's so adorable, so... it's 
not that hard. He also tells the waitress that if it's ok, they'd like to 
leave their table to their friends who are waiting up front, party name 
Sorata.

He pays, and leads Izumi out! Passing by Kyon and Katie again. 
"Hey," he smiles at Katie - is this a sincere one? "Listen, you guys can 
just take our table."

(let's pretend he's not like, deliberately ignoring Kyon -- I just know 
that Moti is quite busy, so it's simpler like this?)

[Ardweden]
Katie looks back at Wataru, her own expression a bit closed, and is about 
to respond when Izumi waves cheerfully. "Hi Sorata! Hi Sorata's 
girlfriend! Whoops!" She grabs hold of Wataru for a little support, 
giggling. Katie blinks at Izumi, then she turns her attention back to the 
guy who just offered his table, her eyes suddenly amused.

"Thanks," Katie says, and she sounds genuine. "My ears were freezing 
off." She hesitates, then says, "Hey, listen... I'm sorry about earlier. 
I didn't mean to come across as pushy or something. I was just..." She 
gestures vaguely.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru levels a smile at her that's *definitely* sincere, now. He nods! 
"Sorry I snapped at you, too. I was really worried and jostled and - 
yeah. Got me at a bad time." He is also, perhaps less noticeably but 
every bit as much, hanging on to Izumi for support, although in his case 
it may be more emotional than physical. 

[Ardweden]
"It'd help if you weren't so scary!" Izumi puts in helpfully.

Katie looks at Izumi, then at Wataru.

[Jihatsu]
Wataru laughs, hand on his face. "You should try the Arisugawa beer, it 
is Izumi's favourite," he says, as an apology and explanation. How 
Japanese of him!

[Capfox]
Kyon smirks, and then bows at a nice, respectable 45 degree angle. "Thank 
you for your patronage."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru just looks at him funny, bows back because Japan, and then looks 
at Izumi. What?

[Ardweden]
"Whoa!" Izumi slips a little with Wataru's bow, but she bows back!

Katie's eyes shine with amusement. "Make sure you guys drink water, 
okay?" She might have never drunk alcohol in her life, but she knows a 
bit about physiology. "And, uh... Wataru? Do you want to get together 
sometime? With me and Haruko, I mean, and not tonight."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru blinks. Uh! Invitations! What!

"Uh - s... sure? Yeah, what about? I mean, all right!" His hackles are 
back up, slightly, but it's obviously just instinct at this point. Jumpy!

[Ardweden]
Katie waves her hands. "It's okay! It's just so we can know each other 
better, because we share friends. Haruko being around could help." She 
smiles, a little nervously - a similar smile to the one she's been using 
on Kyon's parents.

[Jihatsu]
"Yeah, all right. Let's do that." Wataru offers a smile!

[Ardweden]
"We're gonna go do purikura!" Izumi chimes in excitedly. "Do you wanna 
come? We can bring Haruko!" Like she's right there or something.

Katie's ready for it this time, and she smiles gently at Izumi. "No, 
that's okay. You guys went through the trouble of giving us your table. 
We should use it."

[Jihatsu]
Wataru seems relieved. "Great, well - enjoy the rest of your evening, 
and, uh ... You have my number, right, Katie-san?"

[Ardweden]
Katie looks in her purse and pulls out her phone - a thin, older model 
with a small blackbird charm on an orange string - and cycles through 
some numbers. She shows it to Wataru - that's it! "I'll text you later, 
okay?"

[Jihatsu]
"Sounds good!" Wataru is so ready to leave!

[Ardweden]
Katie also seems to figure it's a good time. "Congratulations!" she says, 
not raising her voice but managing some decent enthusiasm anyway. She 
waves to both of them.

"Congrats!" Izumi calls back, because uh- well, why not? Maybe Katie's 
Coming of Age Day happened too? Sorata Kyon's obviously did. And today is 
completely a day for congratulating people!

[Jihatsu]
And off they go, to purikura-land! Wataru gives Kyon some kind of 
appropriate expression of parting!

[Ardweden]
Once Wataru and Izumi are far enough, Katie looks up at Kyon. "Come on," 
she says, her expression a combination of exhaustion and relief. "You 
need to get drunk so your father isn't disappointed tomorrow."

[Capfox]
Kyon smirks, and opens the door for Katie. "Not going to get drunk. But 
I'll have something. He'll only really be annoyed if I don't do 
anything."

[Ardweden]
Katie fakes a look of disappointment and steps back into the izakaya. Oh 
look, it's still super loud and packed with people in formal wear. She 
adjusts her ear helpers to compensate.

[Capfox]
Kyon follows her in, frowning and getting the eye of the waitress, so 
that they can grab Wataru's former table before anything happens!

[Ardweden]
Kyon catches her eye, and she immediately recognizes him as 'Sorata' that 
Wataru had mentioned earlier. She gestures for him (and Katie) to follow 
her before she moves towards the back, urging away a couple of giggling 
girls who had spilled over from their group and into the small table in 
question.

Katie glances at the exit while the waitress does her thing, noting how 
far it is from the table, then the bathroom which is much closer to said 
table, and then she looks up at Kyon. She follows him once he starts 
stalking over there.

[Capfox]
Kyon settles in at the table, leaving Katie the more defensible seat, and 
grabs a menu. How much of their stuff does this place serve?

[Ardweden]
Katie quickly takes the seat offered, pulling a table hook out of her 
purse and hanging it next to her. For his part, Kyon sees two of 
Arisugawa's beers listed on the menu, as well as a sake. One of the beers 
is their featured draft tonight, even.

[Capfox]
"They've got the Miracle Dry on draft," he says approvingly. "The right 
one to have."

[Ardweden]
Katie can't help but smile a little, despite the atmosphere. "Are you 
going to get that one?"

[Capfox]
"Got to report in the morning. Can't just drink the competition's beer."

[Ardweden]
"But it's good to try it to find out what it's like." She pauses, then 
asks, "Right?"

[Capfox]
"Right," he says. "Maybe theirs first, then ours." He smirks. "Go out on 
a high note."

[Ardweden]
Katie laughs. "And food," she puts in. "I'm pretty hungry."

[Capfox]
Kyon nods quickly. "Requests?"

[Ardweden]
Katie grabs a menu and looks it over. "Edamame? And... yakitori."

[Capfox]
"Right." He looks off into the more open area for waitstaff 
possibilities.

[Ardweden]
The waitress from earlier, whose hair is not quite as amazing as a drunk 
Izumi made out earlier that day, is dropping drinks off at another table. 
She spots Kyon's glancing, though, and once she's finished she heads over 
to Kyon and Katie's table.

"Can I help you with anything?" she asks him, with a friendly if tired 
smile.

[Capfox]
"One Asahi Super Dry - a large draft. One order of edamame, one yakitori, 
one nankotsu-age." He looks at Katie. What do you want to drink?

[Ardweden]
Katie looks up at the waitress. "Cola, please."

The waitress nods, noting the order without writing it down. "I'll bring 
your drinks out first, and we'll have your food ready as soon as we can. 
Is there anything else?"

Katie, for her part, shakes her head.

[Capfox]
Kyon shakes his head, as well. "That's it for now."

[Ardweden]
The waitress nods again and leaves. To take more orders and get Katie and 
Kyon their drinks! Probably.

[Capfox]
Kyon shifts in his seat, and tucks the menus away. He doesn't exactly 
look easy here, but he does look settled.

[Ardweden]
Katie's about the same, though Kyon knows her well enough to know that 
even the settled part is probably a lie. She starts tracing some sort of 
picture on the table with her right index finger. "Is there anything else 
you think you'll want to do today?"

[Capfox]
Kyon shrugs quickly. "Promised I'd do this. Can see afterwards what we 
feel like. Could just go home, though."

[Ardweden]
"Sure. It's your day, right?" Katie makes a swirling pattern on the 
table. "I feel like I stole enough of it with that Wataru stuff."

[Capfox]
Kyon snorts. "You stole exactly none of it."

[Ardweden]
Katie looks up at Kyon, and she smiles a little. "I guess so, since it 
turned out we had to wait anyway."

[Capfox]
"Should have made reservations. Just figured I'd be spending the night 
with my parents."

[Ardweden]
Katie puts her elbows on the table, leaning against it. "But then they 
decided to have a date night, huh."

The waitress returns! "One Coke," she says, putting a glass of cola in 
front of Katie, who slides it closer to her. "And Asashi Super Dry, 
tall." This one goes in front of Kyon: an imperial pint, orange-yellow in 
color with a creamy looking head. And then, if nobody needs anything, 
she's off again!

[Capfox]
Kyon lets her go off. "Thought they'd want to spend more time." He 
shrugs. "Maybe they wanted space." He picks up his glass and looks at 
critically. It does look like a beer should look, that is true.

[Ardweden]
The beer's a little bubbly; obviously a lager instead of a stout or the 
like.

"Maybe," Katie says, watching Kyon inspect the beer. "That stuff about 
inheriting the brewery was a surprise."

[Capfox]
Kyon smirks. "As much as I heard about family history, hard to believe 
that tradition never came up. Must be supposed to surprise people."

[Ardweden]
Katie laughs, a little. "Or maybe just you. How often do they get to 
really surprise you, anyway?"

[Capfox]
"Not often," Kyon admits. "Never was that kind of kid." He raises his 
beer glass.

[Ardweden]
Katie raises her soda. "Kanpai," she says with a smile.

[Capfox]
He echoes this, and takes a sip. It isn't bad beer, but it's not great, 
at least by his standard.

[Ardweden]
Katie sips her Coke! Then sets it down. "How is it?"

[Capfox]
"Too dry. Super dry is too far."

[Ardweden]
Katie makes a little face. "Drinkable, though?"

[Capfox]
"Yeah." Kyon smirks. "Not going to learn much from it, though."

[Ardweden]
Katie sighs dramatically. "Too bad." She sits back. "And you got a tall, 
too."

[Capfox]
Kyon shrugs curtly. "I can drink it. Not terrible. We'll build up to the 
finale."

[Ardweden]
Katie nods. "My drink..." She holds it up. "Tastes like sugar and 
carbonated water. And a formula for syrup that a small handful of people 
guard with their lives."

[Capfox]
Kyon snorts, and looks at her. "Good. Wouldn't have wanted them to mix up 
your order."

[Ardweden]
"That'd be awkward, wouldn't it?" Katie sips her soda. "I wonder if I'd 
even like beer."

[Capfox]
Kyon smirks. "Could offer you a sip of mine, but you should wait if 
you're going to try."

[Ardweden]
"For the highest chance of success possible, right?" Katie puts her chin 
on her hand, thinking. "Maybe I will."

[Capfox]
Kyon raises his eyebrows, surprised. "Right. Okay. Where'd this come 
from? Special occasion?"

[Ardweden]
Katie laughs. "This *is* a special occasion." She's about to say more, 
but then the waitress from earlier returns, laden with food.

"We're sorry for the wait," she says, placing orders of edamame, 
yakitori, and nankotsu-age on the table. She smiles, mostly at Kyon. "May 
I help with anything else?"

[Capfox]
Kyon gives things a quick look over, and then shakes his head. "Looks 
good."

[Ardweden]
The waitress gives Katie a glance, who shakes her head, and then she 
smiles and bows and asks them to please let her know if they need 
anything else. And goes on her exhausting waitressing way! SO BUSY.

Katie, for her part, immediately grabs one of the yakitori spears. She's 
hungry.

[Capfox]
Kyon just sips his beer. Not about to get between Katie and eating some 
yakitori.

[Ardweden]
That's *probably* not the best idea, no.

Katie devours half the spear before she makes a happy noise. "I didn't 
know how hungry I was." She starts going at it a little more sedately.

[Capfox]
"Stressful day. Probably ran yourself down more than you thought."

[Ardweden]
"I'd think you'd be the one stressed out," Katie points out in between 
pieces of chicken. "But you're calmly drinking beer." 

[Capfox]
Kyon shrugs quickly. "What's there to be stressed about?"

[Ardweden]
Katie finishes the last of the chicken on the skewer. She reaches for her 
soda. "The really big ceremony today and your parents coming down to see 
you? Those aren't every day things."

[Capfox]
"They're also over," he points out, and takes a sip of beer. "Know my job 
as well today as before. Just as adult as I was yesterday. And they're 
somewhere else."

[Ardweden]
Katie just shakes her head, half in wonder. "I have no idea how you have 
those chemical reactions under control." She pokes edamame with her 
stick, bringing some over to her plate. "Maybe you *are* a robot."

[Capfox]
Kyon smirks. "Just knowing my place, and what I'm doing. Don't need to be 
metal for that."

[Ardweden]
"A fleshy robot?" Katie hazards. She puts the skewer down and starts on 
the pods, popping beans out with her fingers. "It has to be kind of nice, 
though."

[Capfox]
"Yeah?"

[Ardweden]
"Yeah, having your future mostly sorted out." Katie shrugs and puts a 
bean in her mouth. "I think it sucks because you probably can't just do 
what you want later. But it's also got to be kind of nice."

[Capfox]
"Can be. Good for me to know where I fit. And they've been respectful. 
Letting me do the things I want before I get back to it. But we've got a 
history, and that's important."

[Ardweden]
Katie nods. "Yeah," she says, picking up another pod. She turns it over 
in her fingers, looking at it. "It's really important to you."

[Capfox]
Kyon looks at her sidewise. "You really prefer not knowing?"

[Ardweden]
"Not knowing what? My future?" Katie looks back up at Kyon. "I was saying 
that your family's history is important to you."

[Capfox]
Kyon nods curtly, and takes a sip of his beer. "Right. And there have 
been people who haven't cared before. Gone off to do something else. And 
that's fine, as long as there's somebody."

[Ardweden]
Katie nods, and she starts removing beans from the largely neglected pod. 
"But you're the only one now." Pause. "Right?"

[Capfox]
"The only main one." He smirks. "Good thing about all the genealogical 
records in Japan. If you need to find a distant relation, you can. But 
could you handle it if it just got dropped on you?"

[Ardweden]
Katie snorts out a little laugh. "If records said that I'm your closest 
living relative, I think we might have other problems."

[Capfox]
Kyon snorts a matching laugh, and looks at her more full on, amused. 
"Definitely not something we have to worry about."

[Ardweden]
"Nope!" Katie chirps. And then she shifts in her seat. "But this is what 
you want, right? Picking up the family business? Continuing the legacy."

[Capfox]
"Yeah," Kyon says simply.

[Ardweden]
"Okay." Katie has a thoughtful look in her eyes. "That's great, then. 
It's great that it's all working out."

And she goes back to attacking her food. Because she is seriously hungry, 
and it's not like she ate much around Kyon's parents because they're HIS 
PARENTS.

[Capfox]
Kyon sips his beer, and looks around the place. It's definitely raucous. 
He's glad he's wearing his hat again. Not going to push the conversation 
if Katie's not talking, though.

[Ardweden]
Katie isn't, instead busying herself with food and non-alcoholic drink. 
She's also doing a good job of pretending that the cramped quarters and 
noise don't bother her, having settled in as best as she can.

[Capfox]
As she is eating a bunch, Kyon will ask if she wants more! No reason not 
to order another round of food.

[Ardweden]
Katie looks up at Kyon. How much has he eaten, really?

And then she nabs a piece of nankotsu-age.

[Capfox]
He has eaten a little bit! Not nearly as much as she has, though.

[Ardweden]
"I guess you'll need something too, huh," Katie says, a little 
sheepishly.

[Capfox]
Kyon pops one of the nankotsu-age in his mouth, and smirks. "Not like we 
can't order more. Eat what you want."

[Ardweden]
Katie smiles, still a bit sheepish, and picks up her soda. "Then I think 
we're going to have to."

[Capfox]
Kyon nods back, and grabs up a menu to look. "Anything you want?"

[Ardweden]
She sips the cola and shakes her head. She already ordered what she 
really wanted!

[Capfox]
Kyon scans the menu and then looks around for trying to spot the 
waitress! It may be busy, but maybe he can still spot her quickly.

[Ardweden]
Being able to see over almost everyone's heads helps! She's taking an 
order three tables over.

[Capfox]
Kyon calls out over the din at her. Because that's what you do at places 
like this.

[Ardweden]
The waitress notices the second time Kyon calls out, and she heads over. 
"I'm sorry about the wait," she says. "Can I help you with anything?" She 
checks to see how they're doing on their drinks.

[Capfox]
Kyon's mostly done with his beer. "One of the Arisugawa blondes. An order 
of the croquettes, and a chijimi."

[Ardweden]
"I'll have them out shortly." The waitress looks at the other drink, but 
it's only half empty and Katie shakes her head.

And then she's gone! The waitress. Not Katie. Katie stays there, and she 
starts running her finger over the top of her glass.

[Capfox]
Kyon closes up the menu, and drains the rest of his beer. At least 
there's a better one coming soon.

[Ardweden]
Katie breathes, and she keeps trying to relax. It's hard, though. People 
aren't even talking about anything that interesting - there's just a lot 
of "now that I'm an adult"ness going on. And drunken laughter. So much 
drunken laughter. "Have you ever been drunk?"

She blinks at her own words, then looks up from her glass to Kyon's face. 
Whatever her intentions, they're out there now.

[Capfox]
He blinks, looking over at her directly, setting the glass back down on 
the table. "Can't chance it." He shrugs curtly. "I have to drink. Can't 
run a brewery without trying the product. Developing the palate. But I 
can't let go."

[Ardweden]
Katie nods, unsurprised. She looks around. "I wonder what it's like."

[Capfox]
"Doesn't look fun. People doing it to let loose." He smirks. "Can have 
fun without that."

[Ardweden]
"Yeah," Katie agrees as she turns her attention back to Kyon. "And it's 
not worth the risk anyway. Still." She shrugs. "I wonder."

[Capfox]
Kyon cocks his head and looks at her. "You could try. Not too far, but 
some. Somewhere safe."

[Ardweden]
Katie just shakes her head.

[Capfox]
Kyon considers this for a beat, and then snorts and says, "I probably 
wouldn't, either."

[Ardweden]
Katie grins. "Yeah. I trust you, but... yeah."

 06* Kyon nods curtly in return, and smirks. "So when you try some of 
mine, don't go too fast. Probably don't have much tolerance yet."
<@Grysar> * Waitress returns with an Arisugawa blonde, the croquettes, 
and the chijimi. The croquettes look a little mass produced perhaps not a 
surprise given the crowds, but the chijimi has a particularly pleasing 
shape.
 01<Katie> Let's find out if I like it first.
 06* Katie pulls her glass closer to herself to make room for the food.
 06* Kyon nods a quick thanks to her, and picks up his chopsticks, 
cutting away a piece of the chijimi. He juts his chin at the glass. 
"Right."
<@Grysar> [The waitress scoots back to her work after acknowledging the 
thanks and verifying that there's no other immediate orders. At the table 
on Kyon's sides some a small group is being a little loud but 
sentimental, proud that they all made it this far together. On Katie's 
side, there's a group of girls discussing their hopes for dating people 
that are actually mature and discussing whether any of 
<@Grysar> a range of coming of age prospects actually qualify for that 
description. Their voices are more hushed, although under the influence 
of alcohol they've slowly gotten a bit louder.]
 06* Katie looks at the beer, then up at Kyon. "Want me to try it now?"
 06* Kyon nods again. "No reason to wait." He pops the chijimi in his 
mouth.
 06* Katie moves her soda to one side, then, and slides the beer over to 
herself. She sniffs it. Smells like beer. She's certainly smelled beer 
before!
 06* Kyon watches sidewise as he sets to chopping a croquette in half 
with a chopstick.
 06* Katie lifts the glass dubiously, but she has a sip - not tiny but 
she's not gulping it down - foam getting her on the top of her lip. Her 
eyes go wide, and she carefully sets the glass back down while she 
swallows it, her face screwing up a little.
 06* Kyon bites off a quarter of the croquette, crunching it lightly, and 
watches her reaction cautiously, turning to look more directly now.
<@Grysar> [The aftertaste of the beer is on the sweeter/maltier side, 
though some of the initial bitterness remains.]
 06* Katie looks at the glass, then pushes it back to Kyon. "I can drink 
it," she declares, "but I don't like it."
 06* Kyon furrows his brow, but nods curtly. "What don't you like about 
it?"
<@Grysar> [Katie does notice that she's not alone in her preference at 
the sentimental table behind Kyon, two of the party are downing their 
drinks with gusto but there's also a young man and woman who are nursing 
their drinks. The young man had actually similarly screwed up his face 
earlier, but tried harder to hide it.]
 06* Katie huffs and sits back, picking up her soda and sipping it. "It's 
really bitter," she says. "And - it's not like anything I've tried 
before, so I don't know how to describe it... it just tastes wrong. Is it 
all beer or just that one?"
 06* Kyon thinks for a beat, and then says, "If you think that one is 
bitter, then probably all beer, for you. That one's pretty light."
 06* Katie leans down to see the beer, a little better and a little more 
obviously. "The color's pretty," she comments. "But you don't just mean 
color, right?"
 06* Kyon nods quickly, and sets his chopsticks down by the chijimi. "No. 
Although the color is important. It's a blonde. It should be clear and 
light. Got an amber hint to ours. But the taste isn't that heavy."
<@Grysar> [Now that Katie does lean in some, she does notice that the 
smell is a bit less forceful than earlier beers she's sniffed at. That 
said, while lighter, it does still smell and taste like beer.]
 06* Katie nods, thoughtfully. She seems interested even if she didn't 
like it. "So does the color indicate something about the brewing process? 
It's not something that's added after, just so it looks a certain way? 
Darker colored beers taste one way, lighter ones another?"
 06* Kyon nods, and then cocks his head slightly. "You could color the 
beer after. But you shouldn't. Comes out different colors depending on 
how it's brewed. And what's added. Color does guide. Stouts are dark, and 
more bitter."
 06* Katie laughs. "I guess I *don't* like beer, then." She sips her 
cola.
 06* Kyon smirks. Not a surprise. "Can find really light, sweet ones. 
They mix syrup into that kind in Germany. But that's not really beer."
<@Grysar> [And the lesson continues for a time and the food is consumed. 
Katie learns much, including getting a better feel for some of the 
brewery problems Kyon sometimes brings home.]
<@Grysar> * The waitress returns to clear away your plates, interrupting 
a topic that had largely run its course. "Can I bring you anything else?"
 06* Kyon looks at Katie quizzically.
 06* Katie looks down at her empty glass, then back at Kyon. And then the 
waitress! She shakes her head.
 06* Kyon looks back at her, and shakes his head, then. "Just the check."
<@Grysar> [At the table behind Katie, talk has turned to everyone's 
future careers and the tones are again hushed, hopeful but somber.]
<@Grysar> * Waitress slides the bill over to Kyon and proceeds about her 
business.
 06* Katie idly listens in on the career talk as she glances around the 
place. It's gotten a little bit quieter.
 06* Kyon looks at the bill just to make sure it seems reasonable, and 
sets it down again. "Think we've done what we were supposed to for the 
night?"
 06* Katie hmms.
 01<Katie> We went out, ran into people we knew, got food, and you drank 
two beers. ... I guess the only Coming of Age thing we didn't *really* do 
was talk about the future, but you did that earlier with your parents.
<@Grysar> [The group behind Kyon have finished paying their bill and 
clear out. One of the guys who had more to drink is obviously fading 
fast, the other declaring his love for the people that got him through 
these past two years. The young woman seems charmed but downplays what 
he's saying while the young man who nursed his beer is alert but real 
quiet.]
<@Grysar> [Every now and then Katie sees a familiar face in the crowd, 
but more people from her college and the odd high school student she 
didn't really know.]
 06* Kyon listens to them for a second, and then says, "Future's clear 
for now. Particularly after talking with my parents. Business is clear. 
Relationships are clear." He smirks. "Can say a few words for form?"
 06* Katie has been listening to them too, and at Kyon's suggestion, she 
laughs. "If you want to." She folds her hands and waits, expectantly.
 06* Kyon raises an eyebrow, resting an elbow on the table, and then says 
deadpan, "I have great love for the people who got me through the past 
two years."
 06* Katie cracks up, bringing both hands to cover her mouth. "<I wish I 
recorded that somehow!>" she says, behind her hands and between laughter.
 06* Kyon smirks, and presses up from the table. "<If you could have, I 
wouldn't have said it.>"
 06* Katie just grins and stands, too. "<Some day, Kyon...>"
<@Grysar> [Some day... but not today.]
<@Grysar> [End!]