[Sunday January 18th, 9 PM, Japan / Sunday January 18th, 7 AM, Maine] [Highlights: Satoshi - Sharp, Cold. Wataru - Volatile, Cold.] [Jihatsu] Wataru adjusts the camera, and waits to see Satoshi come online. He's in a green t-shirt with a Super Mario one-up on it, and a black-and-grey mottled hoodie loosely open over it. And pants, presumably. He's got a cup of corn soup, and looks rather well-rested! He got all his homework AND chores done, and feels like a very competent grown-up tonight. Yes! --- [Ciara] Satoshi connects to the video chat client and the window pops up on his screen. Wataru can see that he's got on a hoodie of his own - a bright blue one that reads Maine Hockey on the front. He's also wearing jeans, even if they won't show up on the feed. His hair is loose and he looks a bit tired; even though he's the type of person who generally sleeps well and gets up early, he did just have back-to-back games this weekend. He's got a silver metal coffee tumbler on the desk and is taking a sip from it every so often. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru grins! "Hey!!" He waves to the slightly pixelated, incredibly cute Sleepy Morning Satoshi. <3 --- [Ciara] Satoshi salutes Wataru with his coffee tumbler. "Morning! ...okay, I know it's not morning for you, but it is for me. All hail the dorm lounge coffee maker." --- [Jihatsu] Still grinning. "Sweet," he says! "Ahh, I never had dorm life. It's such a cultural cliche in America, too. You like it?" --- [Ciara] "Yeah, it's pretty nice." Satoshi takes a sip of coffee. "First-year students are actually required to live in a dorm, so it's mostly that and some second-years. And for all I disappoint Paul by being the least Japan pop culture-savvy Japanese guy ever, he *is* a genuinely nice guy and we get along well. Just... painfully earnest sometimes." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods. "It sounds like something that works well for you, yeah. I'm like... way too shy to make it work, I think." He sips his corn soup! "-- Corn soup," he chuckles, contrasting to Satoshi's cup contents. --- [Ciara] Satoshi laughs. "Oh, man, corn soup. I miss that. There's corn chowder here, and it's similar, but not quite the same." He sighs. "Lots of things that aren't quite the same. I would have thought that I'd be *less* homesick this semester, but..." He shakes his head. "Never mind. We can talk about that later, if there's time. But yeah. There have been a few roommate swaps, but mostly people seem on good terms." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods. "And, it sounds like your team's on good terms too, huh? 3- 0? That's sick!" He has a crooked grin. --- [Ciara] Satoshi half-smiles in return. "Well, that was Friday's game. We lost last night. 1-0, so it was close and we played really hard, but... they took us seriously. Us personally, even; they had better defenders against our line this time because of that goal we pulled off on Friday. Still, it was fun. I'm a little more tired than I'd normally be, though. Two nights of intensity. First back-to-back games since November, actually." He drinks some more coffee. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods, and then his face falls a little, concerned. "Oh... Dude, you want to go back and get more sleep? We don't need to video chat right now, if you're beat!" --- [Ciara] Satoshi shakes his head. "Nah, it's fine. I normally get up around 5:30 most mornings anyway. I'm kind of crazy that way. It's good to keep a consistent schedule. Just needed the coffee a bit earlier, that's all." --- [Jihatsu] "Whoooaahhhh. 5:30?" Wataru *stares*. "I've.... I've gone to *sleep* at 5:30." --- [Ciara] "I like to get up and get some extra skating in. Of course, it means getting up long before sunrise, when it's still dark and cold and there's pretty much nobody around... and a lot of evenings, I'm coming back in the dark, too..." Satoshi sighs again. "Tokyo, it's so full of people and light. Here it's totally different. Not bad, in some ways. It can be very pretty. I already want to go back to Acadia and see how it looks now. Not sure we'll be able to swing that given how all our weekends are occupied, but... oh! I did go grocery shopping yesterday." He gets up and walks off-camera for a moment, then returns with a bag of Doritos. "Ta-da!" --- [Jihatsu] "*Yeeesssss*. Oh my god, I don't deserve you." Wataru beams! "This is not fair, if you don't tell my what your favourite snacks are I'm going to have drag the information out of your *friends*." _Who I am now on speaking terms with,_ is the implication, yes. --- [Ciara] Satoshi laughs. "They might actually tell you now. But, okay... Kit- Kats. The chocolate ones are nice but I like having a bigger variety. Especially the strawberry ones. And I was already sending Katie some stuff, so it's really no trouble. I do still need to ask her if I can ship everything together, but I'll check in with her today and then hopefully mail it all out tomorrow." He grimaces. "I sent her a text to ask about something without really thinking about the time zone difference, and I woke her up in the middle of the night. I really didn't mean to." --- [Jihatsu] "Aw," Wataru makes a face. "She didn't turn her phone off?" He scribbles on a corner of scrap paper, _kit kats. Strawberry?_ --- [Ciara] "I guess not." Satoshi pauses for a moment. "So. The fact that I can actually consider asking both of you to let me send a single package to one address." He grins. --- [Jihatsu] WATARU GRINS TOO. "It is super super weird. Right?" He has a deep breath and a free exhale, leaning back a bit and running his hands through his hair. --- [Ciara] Satoshi laughs. "It's *fantastic*, is what it is!" --- [Jihatsu] "Yes. Oh my god." He sighs. "Man. Satoshi. Seriously. I did exactly what you said. Maaan it was hard, and super scary, and I was a nervous wreck and parts of that conversation were painful as hell, but...." He gazes at Satoshi, through the camera. "I was actually honest with her. And I think she was honest with me. And it's not like we're best friends now or anything, but she's finally seen that I'm on you guys's side." Wataru thinks for a moment. "And I guess I see she's probably more or less on mine too, huh." --- [Ciara] Satoshi nods. "And you both have some common ground... being Japanese- American, growing up over there- no, growing up over here and then going over there... And yeah, I wasn't expecting you to become instant friends. Just... to be able to work together, to give each other some trust. It wasn't easy for you, but... you did it. I'm proud of you guys. And I'm sorry, too... I should have had more faith in you. All of you." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru has a soft smile.... "You made it happen," he says, simply, with a little shrug. "Nothing to be sorry about." --- [Ciara] Satoshi looks completely surprised. "I... I guess I did? Or at least I helped. You all were the ones who really did it. But..." He smiles. "I helped do something good from all the way over here." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru beams, at the incredible cuteness of this. "Yeah you did," he says, bringing his fist up near the camera for a virtual fistbump. "Nice one." --- [Ciara] Satoshi laughs. "Okay." Virtual fistbump! --- [Jihatsu] YEAH. WE JUST WENT THERE. RAD. Wataru giggles! "Anyway... yeah. We all worked hard for this, which is, I think, why it worked the way it did. Poor Haruko-san, though. She really didn't seem comfortable. Like, third wheel or something, although I did try to keep her involved?" --- [Ciara] Satoshi's expression is wry. "Well, the switching over to English part probably didn't help. ...she and I talked about it a little tiny bit." He sobers somewhat. "If things had gone worse, she probably would have stepped in more and acted as a mediator." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru looks sheepish. "Sorry about the English. You know, I didn't really notice half the time, and then..." He swishes the soup around in his mug. "It's none of my business, but it looked like there was *stuff* going on between Katie and her. I thought it would probably be best not to get involved." He looks up at Satoshi again. "Was that wrong?" --- [Ciara] Satoshi shakes his head. "There's history between them, and it's long and it's complicated. Not getting involved right now is definitely the right decision." He sighs. "There's history between all of us, and Haruko has a tendency to worry about things. Anyhow." He takes another sip of coffee. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru seems a bit relieved, and goes with Satoshi's flow of changing the subject. "Anyway, it was a really... Interesting conversation. You know, they thought I was asking them over because I had questions? I guess I did, but maybe I hadn't been clear enough when I said I wanted to talk about stuff. My main thing was telling Katie about the paintbrush, like you said I should." He scratches the back of his head. "You're right that getting that out in the open ASAP was probably the best idea. Terrifying, though." --- [Ciara] "Nobody said it was going to be easy." Satoshi shakes his tumbler, trying to determine how much coffee is left. "But you did it. And you all agreed not to use powers on each other, which seems fair." He looks uneasy for a moment. "The telepathy... that was okay, right? I asked first and you seemed to be having fun with it, so..." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru blinks, confused. "Yeah...?" He has a still-confused smile. "It was totally fun. And we could play around with distance stuff at some point, if you want." --- [Ciara] "Okay, good." Satoshi looks reassured. "I just wanted to make sure you hadn't changed your mind or anything. I mean, you are totally allowed to change your mind at any time! Just... yeah. And I've already promised Haruko that I'd try experiments with her first, so I intend to keep that promise. But if it works out, who knows?" He smiles. "Anyhow. How are we doing on time?" --- [Jihatsu] Wataru checks his clock. "Ahh, I forgot to set a timer, but I think it's been seven minutes." There is some clicking as he finds a timer online. "I'll put 50?" --- [Ciara] Satoshi blinks. "Really? Only seven? Man, we covered a lot of ground." He looks at his clock. "Looks like closer to ten according to my clock, but... and this is all right? It's not going to get you in trouble?" --- [Jihatsu] Wataru smiles. "It's cool. I got this." He sighs. "Anyway, no worries about doing experiments with Haruko first, if you promised her that. I mean, you've known her way longer than I have. By the way. *WHOA* about her powers. I - don't tell her, but I got seriously jealous." --- [Ciara] Satoshi chuckles. "Oh yeah? What did she do?" --- [Jihatsu] "She took water, and made it do a little dance. Like." He blushes. "She made it skate. Like a person." Blush. --- [Ciara] Satoshi looks a bit confused now. "I'm not entirely sure I'm following, but it does sound like her." He grins. "She likes to show off." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh - sorry. Yeah. She like, glorped water out of a bottle and made a little dude out of it, and a disk, and then the dude skated around the disk. It was hella impressive." --- [Ciara] "Glorp." Satoshi chuckles. "I love it. And okay, I think I have a clearer picture of what she did now. I wonder if she was thinking of her plans for today. Maybe going over it mentally before she tried it again." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru looks at him inquisitively? "What's happening today?" --- [Ciara] "Oh, she's going skating with someone." Satoshi finishes off the last of his coffee. "I still feel a bit bad about the last time we did it. I was trying to teach her how to do a spin, and she wiped out a few times and scraped herself up." --- [Jihatsu] "Aww," Wataru makes a little face, and sips his soup. "Well, I hope it goes better this time." His eyes catch the timer, and he blinks. How was that five minutes! They haven't even gotten to the important stuff yet! --- [Ciara] Satoshi thinks for a moment. "Actually, by this point it's already happened. So hopefully it went well." He catches sight of Wataru's expression. "You okay?" --- [Jihatsu] "Time's flying, that's all," he chuckles, looking back at Satoshi. "And I feel I'm not really saying any of the things I want to say yet. So. Hey." He takes a deep breath, leaning back in his ergonomic chair. "Katie told me about the End of the World." --- [Ciara] Satoshi makes an amused sound. "Well, *that* was a hell of a topic switch." He straightens up in his own chair. "What exactly did she tell you about it?" --- [Jihatsu] Wataru chuckles, looking down. "Yeah, I'm sorry. But I really don't want to have to squeeze this into five minutes at the end or whatever, you know?" He looks back up, cheeks lightly coloured and expression lively. "She told me shit I could not believe. But it's all true, isn't it. Mystical gates and demon worlds and all of that. It all really happened." His eyes grow slightly troubled. --- [Ciara] Satoshi nods. "Pacing is important. Especially when we're talking about this kind of stuff. But yeah... it really did happen. I mean, you were there and all, even if you didn't quite understand what was going on." He pauses. "That must have been *terrifying*." Another pause. "What do you remember from that night?" --- [Jihatsu] Wataru thinks... "I can't remember what called me out of bed, but... I left the house in my freaking pjs and stuff. The construction site..." He rests the warm rim of the cup under his bottom lip. "I had to go back there. And then... All of you were there. And Mr. Connery. You were all fighting Sho - everything was moving so fast - and there was this... Like a gaping wound in space." He puts the cup down. "Mr. Connery looked right at me, in my Canucks flannel pajama pants and my stupid lime-green Crocs, right," he shakes his head, smiling. "And he said something like, "Save my grandson!" And then..." He looks up at Satoshi again, finally. "You know what? For a moment, I want sure who he meant. Jin, or Sho. They both looked like they needed saving.... But... I followed my gut, and focused on Jin. He knocked Sho into that... I guess it was a portal to the demon world, huh." Wataru frowns. "And then I - somehow, I managed to catch him before he fell in too. I remember I got a good grip on his stick, and held it up although everything was pulling at it. And he bounced off it and rejoined you guys." He has a wistful little smile. "I guess... I'm not surprised none of you saw me, I wasn't that close, and you had a lot of celebrating to do." --- [Ciara] Satoshi bursts out into delighted laughter, of all things. "I am so sorry, Wataru," he says, trying to get himself back under control. "I realize that we're talking about the most serious of serious stuff, but... can I just say how much I am enjoying the fact that you faced the end of the world in Canucks pajama pants? They should feel lucky to have such a devoted fan." He clears his throat a few times. "It's a very good thing that you chose Jin, and not Sho. A very, very good thing. Sho was all kinds of wrong, but... you probably know that now. And thank you again for saving Jin. He could be really frustrating at times, but he was a good person. He certainly didn't deserve to end up through that portal. I haven't seen him since that night, though knowing him, he could just show up out of the blue someday. And... well, we didn't know Winston was there, either." He gets a contemplative look on his face. "It was a strange, strange night. Everything that was going on, it amplified our powers somehow. Like... I was a conduit. I was able to link all our minds together, so we could all just communicate to each other by thoughts. It was amazing. We were all just... the closest I can come to it now is knowing where Liam's going to be on the ice. Obviously *that's* not a telepathic bond, but... that night, everything that was going on, all our problems, we could just put them aside for a while and be united in one purpose." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru smiles, glowingly.... "It *could* be telepathic. And... God, I know what you mean, you know? It's so simple when things are clear. When you know what to do. Like you said - being the guy you are on the ice all the time?" He sighs, still beaming. "And it's amazing that your powers were emphasized like that. You guys looked like ridiculous badasses, huh?" He chuckles, and his beam turns into a bit of a blush. "For the kid in the jammies on the sidelines, I remember looking at you all afterwards and wishing I could be part of all that coolness and camaraderie." He sighs. "But I also liked that no one saw me. I could make a difference - like you in America, you know? Make a difference from all the way over here." Wataru sips his soup, which has gotten colder. His voice gets quieter. "Plus I could still hide, like a scared little rabbit, and go back to my rabbit hole once I'd helped save the day." --- [Ciara] Satoshi chuckles. "I'm pretty sure Liam's not Arcana. I mean, I've never tried to use telepathy with him, but I'd be really, really surprised if it worked. No, we're just really good linemates. But yeah... on the ice, there's no time to second-guess things, no time to agonize. Be smart. Be decisive. It's not like you're never going to turn the puck over to the other team, or have a shot go off the post, but you have to work past that and trust that your teammates have your back. Anyhow." He leans back in his chair. "I wouldn't knock rabbits, to be honest. They're clever and quick. And if it comes down to it, they can and will fight back. And then they get to go to the moon and make mochi... okay, that's probably stretching the metaphor a bit too far. Still... you found us again, eventually." He smiles. "I'm glad you did." Then he looks at the clock again. How much time has passed now? --- [Jihatsu] It's been about a half hour now, total! Wataru chuckles. "So long as I get to come back and don't get stuck up there, I'd go make mochi on the moon." He sighs. And mulls over what Satoshi said about teamwork, for a while..... Hm. "That's right, it only works with other Arcana, huh. The telepathy." He thinks. "It's weird to think that we're all connected like that. And have been for like. Eons or whatever?" He sighs again, deeper this time. "I really do just feel like me, though. Especially right now. I feel kind of good about me right now." --- [Ciara] Satoshi thinks. He's quiet for a while. "When was tarot first invented? Is that when everything started? Or is this something even older than that and when someone finally did come up with tarot, that's the form that it ultimately took?" He lets out a breath. "Man. I've never really thought about this at all." Another breath. "But there's nothing wrong with being just you. You should feel good about yourself. Things went really well." He smiles again. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru smiles too. "Yeah, it did. Oh!" He actualy pushes his chair back and gets up, revealing that he is indeed wearing pants - brown and orange flannel PJ bottoms. "Man, I wanted to show you this when we were talking about rabbits before, but..." he goes out of frame for a moment, then comes back. "Check this out." He brings a drawing up to the camera! It's a rather stunning work in coloured pencils, of a very familiar night, with Tokyo Tower silhouetted in the crackling lightning and snow. And there, in the shadows - a wolf, lying dead, with a small rabbit triumphant over it. "KATIE MADE IT," Wataru glees. --- [Ciara] Satoshi's eyes widen. "Oh wow," he says quietly. "That's *amazing*." He leans in closer to get a better look at it. "That really is the night of the End of the World. And there's the rabbit. And the wolf is... is Sho?" After a moment, he leans back again. "I don't think I've seen any of her work in a while. And... she gave it to you?" He smiles again. "That means she thinks pretty darned well of you." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru beams...! "Yeah. Wolf is Sho. She says the rabbit represents me, and also Jin - but she didn't want two rabbits, for like, artist reasons. It's a more powerful metaphor like this..." He gently puts it somewhere safe and sits back down. "I'm gonna have it framed," he adds. --- [Ciara] "You *should*. It's definitely worth it." Satoshi's hand goes to his coffee tumbler for a moment before he remembers that it's empty. "Got a place in mind to hang it?" --- [Jihatsu] "I was thinking of my dining room, next to my cork board. Where I have like, pictures of friends and family and stuff..." --- [Ciara] Satoshi nods. "That sounds like a good spot. I've got a cork board, too. Got my game schedule, some photos..." He looks off-camera for a moment, presumably in the direction where it's located. "I didn't really decorate this place all that much. Paul's got all these posters and wall scrolls, and I've got... well, pretty much just the cork board. I should get another one so I can hold more pictures." --- [Jihatsu] "Pictures are cool," Wataru exclaims! "I've got one of my little sister at camp, and bunch of purikura with Izumi, and one of my favourite hockey player in his previous career..." he giggles, a little shyly. "And ticket stubs and stuff. What kind of stuff's on yours?" --- [Ciara] "What, you've got a picture of one of the Canucks before he started playing hockey?" Satoshi grins. "Okay, so... I've got a couple of framed ones on my desk: there's me and Kaede at graduation, and Haruko posing with her bike. Then on the cork board, besides my schedule... the one I sent you of me and Liam and Grant, one of Katie in a cafe, me and Haruko and Taki during ice skating, and then I just put up me and Liam at the Canada border and you and Izumi on Coming of Age Day. I've got more pictures, but I tend to swap the older ones out and the newer ones in because I only have so much space. So another cork board makes sense." He smiles. "Maybe this summer when I come back I can get one of everyone, though that would definitely merit a frame." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru beams! "That would be amazing! I've gotten one framed one, too. Hold on. I've got to show you the most embarrassing picture in history, but I kinda love it." He darts off! And returns about 20 seconds later, brandishing a studio portrait of a quirky Asian-American family - balding and tired dad, poised and cushy mom, overexcited pigtailed little girl, and... Supremely awkward teenage boy with a fresh haircut and braces. --- [Ciara] Satoshi leans in very close to his laptop screen to get a good look at the picture, out of camera range, so Wataru can't quite see the expression on his face. He studies it carefully for a while, then pulls back. He's still got a smile on his face, but there's something a bit sad to it, almost wistful. "You had braces," he says, with an amused sound. "Can't say I ever cared that much about my teeth." He flashes a brief grin, showing the gap, but it's quickly replaced by that same sad smile, a cloud passing across the sun. "I think... maybe you look a little more like your mom and your sister a little more like your dad? But yeah." He sits up a bit in his chair. "I can see why you love it. Thank you for showing me." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru sets it on his desk, and sits back down, smiling gently. "You're welcome. I wanted to share it with you." He looks at the picture, an echoing sadness filling his features. "I think you're right. About me looking a bit more like my mom, I mean." He glances back at his screen, and Satoshi. "And yeah, I had braces," he chuckles! "Orthodontics - WAYYYY more common in the States." --- [Ciara] Satoshi makes another amused sound. "I've noticed. I guess, if I really wanted to, I could get a replacement for this missing one, but like I said, at this point I don't really care. Makes me look more like a hockey player anyway." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru giggles! "You definitely have a tough-guy look about you. I bet people avoid you on the ice." <3 --- [Ciara] "Yep," Satoshi laughs. "I am just that scary. They see me coming and they get out of the way. Unless they're Massachusetts. Massachusetts is also scared of me, but in a 'Hey, let's stick more defensemen on this guy' kind of way." He leans back in his chair again. "I'm glad you're not scared of me." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru blushes slightly, smiling! "I'm glad you're glad, because I'm really not. Scared of you, I mean." A wave of fondness washes over him, perhaps visibly... "Those other guys, yeah, but I'm working on that," he chuckles, glancing away in slight embarrassment. Youresohotyouresohotyouresohotyouresohot--- --- [Ciara] It's probably good for Wataru's sake that Satoshi isn't using his telepathy right now. "You've got time," he says. "Time to get to know them, time to work with them. And speaking of... we're down to our last fifteen minutes. What else did you want to talk about?" --- [Jihatsu] "Oh man! Um," Wataru glances at the timer. "Maybe we can stop it now and keep talking over email or IM or whatever? The shorter, the better, given Aunt Midori." --- [Ciara] "Sure, that makes sense. I really enjoy talking with you, but like I said, I really don't want to get you in trouble." He waves. "Have a good week, Wataru. Take care." --- [Jihatsu] "Hey hey, conversation isn't over!" Wataru giggles. "We're just switching media. Right?" --- [Ciara] Satoshi looks a bit confused. "I know, I'm just not going to see you for a while? So I wanted to say that 'in person,' so to speak." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru's expression softens. "I see..." He grins. <3 "Yeah, all right. Makes sense." He blushes slightly. "Take care, Satoshi. See you in text format in like two seconds, and have an awesome week too." --- [Ciara] "Later!" Satoshi closes the chat client. Then he texts Liam and Grant if they want to meet up for Sunday Morning Breakfast Waffles. --- [Jihatsu] (Encrypted email) (9:49 PM Japan / 7:49 AM Maine, i.e. seconds later) Heyyy :) So! Yes. Overall, the meeting was super scary but went well. I don't know where we're gonna go from here, though. Do you think I should email her or something? Or would that be weird? --- [Ciara] (Encrypted e-mail) Date: January 18, 2004 (9:59 PM Japan/7:59 AM Maine) Subject: Meetings To: Wataru Yamada I'd say maybe wait a couple of days and see if she or any of the others get back to you. Alternately, you could check in with Kaede and Haruko about the ritual. It'll probably take some time to find something that works with their schedules. Heading out to get breakfast now, so answering might be a bit delayed. Satoshi --- [Jihatsu] (Encrypted e-mail) Date: January 18, 2004 (10:01 PM Japan/8:01 AM Maine) Subject: Re: Meetings To: Satoshi Watanabe Dude, where did you go! And whaattt breakfast. Betrayal! I've been sitting here checking my modem! I guess I wasn't clear, I thought we'd just bump over into IM or something and keep talking. It's cool though. [Wataru looks at his cold, congealed corn soup for a while.] I'll wait before contacting them, then. [The next part, he writes and deletes a few times before leaving it in] I hope Haruko feels better soon, she seemed kind of sick when she came over.... What's breakfast gonna be? [Wataru presses send and heads off to rinse out his cup and use the toilet. Two can play the ignoring-you game. So there.] --- [Ciara] Satoshi is on his way to the dining hall to meet the guys when his phone buzzes. He pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the e-mail. Oops? Then he texts Wataru a reply: "Uh, sorry? I thought we were gonna keep talking and do other things. Especially once you sent an e-mail." "But yeah, I haven't had breakfast yet, and as not-scary as you think I am, you wouldn't like me when I'm hungry. ;)" He hits send and proceeds on his way! --- [Jihatsu] Wataru scowls. That *didn't even answer or address his questions.* "All right. Miscommunication. No problem." He sends it, and stomps away to the kitchen, where he wishes there were more chores to do! Curse his productivity! He can't even remember what he wanted to talk about with Satoshi now! He scrubs the counter, and then tugs at the towel super hard between his fists. _How could he just brush me off like that? In the middle of a conversation?_ He grabs his phone. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have brushed you off with 15 minutes to go! Haha. Enjoy breakfast!" Send. _God, I'm so passive-agressive. Calm down, Wataru._ He runs his hands through his hair. _Okay, it's okay. You're just not as important to him as he is to you._ Wataru grips the towel until his knuckles turn white, then throws it as hard as he can on the ground. _You're having a tantrum, Wataru. Yeah, yeah._ _Fuck this shit._ Wataru sweeps his empty hand hard to the side, and the pile of correspondence on the end of his kitchen counter slams hard into the wall, sticking there for a moment before fluttering down. He exhales. He goes and sits on his couch. "Anyway, I've mostly been able to avoid Kyon in class, by the way. Win!" Send. _I should stop sending him meaningless texts._ "I should stop sending you meaningless texts, lol. Get back to me when you're around? I'll reply. If I'm not asleep by then." He hesitates....... this is a level of passive-aggressiveness that might just drive him away. _But wouldn't I be better off if he didn't like me? If I didn't..........._ Wataru sighs, pressing fingertips against his closed eyes. _If you thought you were managing not to fall in love with Satoshi Watanabe, you were a sad, sad idiot._ Hand over his face, Wataru presses send. --- [Ciara] Satoshi is in the middle of breakfast with Liam and Grant (and Joshua, who just kind of showed up out of nowhere; he does that sometimes) when his phone buzzes. His hand goes to his pocket out of habit, but then he hesitates. He said he would be at breakfast, right? He can probably reply in a little bit once it's over. Then the phone buzzes again. And again. And now the others are staring at him. Liam especially. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru takes a shower. It's a long one. --- [Grysar] Liam looks over at the phone. "This an emergency? family? long-lost love?" His voice is light and easy but with a definite hint of skepticism. --- [Ciara] Satoshi pulls out his phone, which has just buzzed one last time. "Um, it's one of my friends from Japan." --- [Grysar] Liam raises an eyebrow and with a broad sweep of his hand purloins the phone. He types while reading aloud. "Hi Sato cannot come to the phone right now due to hockey bonding. After we will release him forthwith. Domo Arigato, Sayonara. CWB+F" He hits send, waits a moment, and powers down the phone, handing it back. "So, back to breakfast." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru comes out of the shower, frustrated and alone. Still dripping, he checks his phone.... ... and frowns. Who the *fuck* is this. Who the *fuck* is reading his messages to Satoshi. He pulls in a few breaths through his nose, forced, livid. He does not deign to grant a reply to that bullshit, and leaves his phone on the dining room table when he goes to bed. _Fuck you, whoever you are._ --- [Ciara] Satoshi grabs the phone back. "Hey! Liam! Geez!" He attempts to power the phone back on, but he must've forgotten to charge it the previous night because it's just not happening. "Why the hell did you do that? I could've just silenced it!" --- [Grysar] Liam looks calmly at Sato. "No phones at the table." Grant nods in agreement. "My auntie wouldn't give my phone back for a day." --- [Ciara] Satoshi jams the phone back into his pocket. "Well gosh, thanks for trusting me." He stands up. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'll see you guys later, okay?" And he walks out of the dining room before any of them can reply. He heads back to his dorm room, plugs his phone into its charger and boots up his laptop. Wataru's not online, and he hasn't sent any e- mails. Once his phone powers back on, he checks his texts. Four of them, all from Wataru. After he reads them, he sends one in return: "Wataru? You there? You okay?" No answer. He waits a bit, then sends another. "That last one was from Liam. Sorry, he was way out of line." Then another: "And my phone ran out of charge. I'm sorry." And one more: "I know this sounds like a bunch of bad excuses, but it's not. I swear." Finally: "Night, Wataru. I'm sorry for all this confusion. I really did enjoy this morning." He sets the phone down and rests his chin in his hands. He's not entirely sure what happened there. It was just a simple misunderstanding, right? He didn't do anything wrong. He'd thought talking to Wataru for an hour meant talking to him for an hour, so he was surprised when Wataru suggested cutting it short. But he didn't want Wataru to get in trouble with his aunt, so it made sense to do that. And then... yeah, okay, technically they weren't supposed to have phones at the table, but Liam could've just given him the chance to silence it. It's not like there were any official rules about it. Just their own unofficial ones. Stupid Liam. He *owed* Satoshi. He wouldn't have gotten any points on Friday if Satoshi hadn't scored that goal. Same with Joshua. They *both* owed him. His cell phone buzzes, and Satoshi eagerly reaches for it, but it's just a message from the team captain reminding everyone of a meeting later on. He makes an ugh sound and sets it back down. For the first time in his life, Satoshi doesn't really want to think about hockey right now. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru, meanwhile.... Listens, for a while, to his quiet apartment. Listens hard, wondering if he'll pick up a phone buzzing all the way in the dining room. But after a surprisingly short time, the anger fizzing inside him combines with the late hour, into a knockout cocktail of RAGE SLEEP. Wataru sleeps, and Wataru dreams. --- [Grysar] Wataru slips into a deep but troubled sleep. Dreams come, but they are disjointed and lack the sense of firmament or reliability of his prior visions of the past as his inner turmoil jumbles past and present and twists words and meaning. His first vision takes place during a cloudy, chilly night, in a lonely and delapidated playground adjacent to a police station. An old woman with long and brittle, snow-white hair is pushing a conventionally handsome man, resembling Satoshi but fifteen years older or more and wearing a bowler hat, on the swings. Wataru instinctively recognizes the former as the Queen of Wands and the later as Judgment. "God," Judgment is saying, almost wistfully, "I haven't done this in... a really long time." The old woman smirks behind the man. "Aren't you glad we came?" "It's something to do." The Queen of Wands pushes the swing again, keeping her hands to the chains. "Never go with the Knight?" "Not to a park, not really." Judgment sounds a touch distant at that, his eyes thoughtful. "She's never really asked if we could go, or suggested it, or anything." The Queen nods curtly, and smirks. "No interest in carefree fun?" "No time, it seems like. Every time we think about doing something, some other crisis comes up." The Queen of Wands nods again, giving Judgment another push. "Got to make time. Always something else to do if you don't." Judgment sighs. "I know." ==== When Wataru turns around, the scene is different, the city streets are lively and the weather is warmer. For a moment, he's certain that he'll be witnessing the inevitable breakup Judgment has planned. Instead the Hanged Man sees the Queen of Cups waiting outside of a nicely appointed Chinese restaurant. He's a handsome young man with long bluish hair, wearing a fairly nice crimson suit that was probably pretty fashionable and slightly expensive once, back in the 20s before the crash. Instead of a tie, he wears a clerical collar and crucifix. It seems like an adjustment or two was made to get it to fit him properly, but they were well done. The Ace of Swords arrives shortly after, and the Queen of Cups gives him a wide, warm smile. He's a strikingly handsome young man, completely outshining the Queen of Cups and every inch the bishonen. He's wearing a sharp, tailored black suit and is carrying a katana, though the Queen pays that no mind. He bows to the other man and says, calmly, "Good to see you made it." The Queen smiles back, charmingly, and returns the bow. "I wouldn't miss it." They go into the restaurant together, all decked out in lacquered woods and deep reds and golds, and sit across from each other at a small table. At some point, perhaps predictably, their conversation has turned to romance, with the Ace saying, "I have been on dates before, but never with any emotion behind it. I kept holding onto the silly ideal that the one I love would grow to accept me." The other man nods, a fascinated look crossing his face. "That's hardly a silly ideal, I think; not nowadays when we largely can choose our mates for our own reasons and not family or financial needs." The Ace chuckles. "In many respects, that makes it even harder." "I suppose so," the Queen says, chuckling as well. "It can be far easier at times to have others handle choices for us. But I tend to think it's far more satisfying when we find our own path. So long as one avoids the genuinely silly ideals of unrequited love and the like." He says 'unrequited love' as if it's a slightly vulgar phrase that he's somewhat embarrassed to invoke. "I'm certainly intent on trying... Circumstances aren't going to change. I was naive for believing they might, I admit... But some things just aren't meant to be." The Queen tilts his head slightly. "I don't quite follow you." "Let me clarify," the Ace says calmly, folding his napkin as he does so. "The one I loved isn't interested in men." The other man was leaning forward, but he sits back, having been caught slightly off guard. But he recovers well enough. "Naiveté in such a case is understandable. Expected even. The mark of maturity is reaching the conclusions you've come to." He then looks genuinely sympathetic. "The worst part of love is that it can make a demon of hope, which I've seen be a far worse tormentor than many supposedly more negative emotions." === Wataru is walking down an institutional hallway which incongruously is filled with a slowly moving mist. A small tent with decorative fabric on the sides is set up in the middle. You carefully slip in through the flaps, unnoticed. A woman, or perhaps a girl, wearing an elaborate scarf and veil crystal ball sits and speaks with a woman with blue and red hair. "Bah, knight of cups. Messenger doesn't mean loyal servant, it is not a synonym for samurai." Perhaps it is the mist, but you don't see the cards here, a fact you didn't notice until the card was mentioned. Regardless, the hearer seems a bit offended by that last comment and the fortuneteller quickly continues. "Hold your hand, this other reading you mention is correct, if you continue on your present path. Your ethos of nobility and loyalty both benefits you and will destroy you. You are too fixed on a particular reading. Tarot has a Western origin. Mercury was a messenger of the gods but also a fairly benign trickster, tending towards flights of fancy." Wataru look back at the hearer, she seems different somehow. The hair more typical, the face far more severe. The fortune teller continues, "You can't blame yourself for having a bad boyfriend. However...." She leans in, likely peering into the ball but her face remains obscured. "I see this pattern repeated unless you learn to express your needs." She holds up a finger, cutting off a response. "And seeking their fulfillment elsewhere when you are disappointed." The fortuneteller is suddenly pushed up against the wall of the tent by the red and blue haired woman, she has knives in hand and her expression like nothing Wataru has ever seen on Taki's face. "Do you think I have not yet realized that my card seeks to control me?" Wataru then wakes with a start. Light streams into through the windows and it's at least an hour and a half past when he intended to get up. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru wakes up, and is completely disoriented. The light is hitting him in his face through horizontal blinds he doesn't recognize... Everything is blurry.... His body feels heavy, and he's freezing. He pulls blankets around him - unfamiliar, soft, dark blue - and closes his eyes again. Wataru wakes up, and feels a sense of urgency. Dreams, he needs to write down his dreams. Dreams, but what were they? He dreamt of waking up in his own bed but not recognizing anything, but before that...? He looks at the clock - 10:34. Oh shit, it's Monday. Fuck!!!! Statistics! Well... Actually, yeah. Fuck statistics. Wataru fetches a notepad, 4- color pen, and his tarot deck, and sits crosslegged on the bed, trying to remember. "Judgment," he writes. He makes two columns: "Dream," and "Reality." Under "Dream," he writes "Satoshi all grown up and GQ." Under reality, he writes, "Satoshi." He adds, under the Dream column: "swing set?????" They were talking, he recalls. Dream Judgment and some old lady. Talking about... About him? No, he remembers - about a Knight. But who? He wonders who dated Satoshi, in his dream. Or... Could that have been a past life...? He adds "PAST??" over the Dream column, and then under Judgment writes "white haired lady" and immediately crosses it out when he remembers it was the "Queen of Wands." "White haired lady" gets moved into the Dream column. Piece by piece, he lists the people he saw in his dream - connected, when he can, to who he knows embodies the card now - and finds the cards in the deck, laying them out. Looking at them, not in a divinatory way, but analyzing the image, the connotations. Finally, he lets out a heavy breath, sitting back and stretching out his legs, and admires his scratchy, multicoloured handiwork. Judgment - Satoshi all grown up and GQ. (aka Hideo) swing set????? - Satoshi Queen of Wands - white haired lady. I've seen her before? - Kyon Sorata Queen of Cups - ridiculous blue-haired guy in WTF anime suit. relationship advice - Haruko Page of Swords - [left blank] - Katie Andrews Knight of ??? - dated Satoshi - [left blank] Ace of Wands - [left blank] - Masaru (was Judgment for a while?) Ace of Swords - beautiful guy who's interested in men - ????? who is this guy ??? - that girl with the hair. Maki? sad about love - Still Maki Eight of Cups - ??? - Reiji Ozora ??? - ??? - Yushiro (DECEASED) ??? - ??? - Fuyuko (Deceased D:) Magician - ??? - Sho something (DECEASED OR CLOSE ENOUGH) ??? - ??? - Tenjirou Torajima (ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST) Oh, the Two of Pentacles - ??? - Kaede Three of pentacles - ??? - Akemi-chan (are they really dating within their suit, is that weird? It feels weird) ??? - ??? - Jin The Hermit - (Would it just have still been Winston because he's old?) - Winston Wataru looks at it. It's wonderful. _........I should probably destroy this._ He sighs, and glances up. It's. It's nearly 1 PM?? He suddenly remembers his bladder, and stumbles to the bathroom. And as his analytical frenzy of the morning subsides, he remembers Satoshi, and... Liam.... Wataru runs to the dining room table while drying his hands, and checks his phone. Ack!!! MESSAGES!! He reads them, feeling increasingly shitty. God, did I really.... "Hey. Yeah, sorry about the confusion. I didn't want to make you feel bad." Which... Well, *now* he doesn't want him to feel bad. Now he feels like last night was a semi-hysterical blur. _God, what kind of a fuckup am I?_ He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose, message unsent. _Okay, take a minute. What is it I really want to say here?_ _I'm sorry I was a huge petty jealous bitch at you, but I think I'm in love with you and I hate both myself and you for it. How was breakfast?_ Wataru sighs, watching as the backspace erases what he had written. He rereads Satoshi's messages, and then his own, wincing at the garbage contained within. _So? Cut and run, or attempt a rescue mission?_ Wataru sighs. Of course he'll try and rescue the friendship. Just because Satoshi is straight and half a world away - good job picking the least eligible guy ever, Wataru! - doesn't mean the friendship isn't real and important. It's a mess, but rejecting the whole thing out of hand is ridiculous. He's not gonna be ridiculous! As tempting as it is to just throw it away and go hide in a hole... He's just going to have to tough it out and do something about the love mess. Yep! Just gonna have to work on that, without losing his connection with Satoshi, because... Wataru sighs. This is gonna be hard. "Hey, Satoshi. Sorry, I crashed after we talked last night and missed your messages! Liam seems like kind of a jerk, but I'm sure I'm just getting the smallest glimpse of him - he's your friend, so, I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. How was breakfast?" Wataru rereads, likes what he sees, and then adds, "Miscommunication sucks, but it happens, so let's just both make sure stuff is clear next time! It's not anybody's fault. Let's talk soon (email or whatever?); actually, I had the most insane dreams last night. I think you were in them? But not YOU you. If you know what I mean. Although, if it actually was not-you, then it was a really goofy situation that I can't imagine actually happened, so... Yeah. ^_^ Remind me to tell you about that. Sorry again about last night! Take care, Satoshi!" He wonders if it's too apologetic, but... He *did* majorly fuck up last night. So. He presses send, and then goes to scrounge for some breakfast. To hell with school today, seriously.