<@Ciara> [Friday, February 6th, 2004. Late afternoon.] <@Ciara> [Two days ago, on Wednesday the 4th, the long-awaited package of snacks from America arrived at the Soratandrews apartment building.] <@Ciara> [It was a REALLY BIG BOX. Satoshi did at least think to warn Katie about it beforehand so she could get Kyon to carry it.] <@Ciara> [Inside was a plethora of snacks, each marked with either a light blue or maroon sticky note, plus a packing list that explicitly says whose stuff is whose in case the notes fell off.] <@Ciara> [Man, where do you find maroon sticky notes, anyway?] <@Ciara> [Anyhow, there's also a note addressed to both of them.] <@Ciara> [Katie reads it and it's basically Satoshi saying that he hopes the stuff arrived intact and that they enjoy it!] <@Ciara> [And a "P.S. Joshua says you have excellent taste in snacks."] <@Ciara> [For Katie, there's a bag of bagel chips, a box of goldfish crackers, two boxes of Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn, a box of triscuits, a bag of Nacho Doritos, and...] <@Ciara> [FOUR JARS OF CRUNCHY PEANUT BUTTER.] <@Ciara> [Wataru's stuff will be revealed when Katie delivers it, but it'll fit in two shopping bags.] <@Ciara> [After the box arrived, Katie and Wataru worked out that she'd deliver it to his apartment on Friday afternoon.] <@Ciara> [And now Friday afternoon is here, and Katie is arriving at Wataru's apartment building.] <@Ciara> [Session Start!] * Katie doesn't have Haruko or Kyon to drive her around, so she did this the hard way: public transport, taking the front or last train and avoiding as many people as possible. Still, it's a Tokyo subway, so she ended up pretty shaken by the end... good thing nobody tried to talk to her and there's a halfway decent walk to Wataru's apartment so she can gather her nerves. * Katie is, therefore, feeling relatively calm by the time she gets there. She's bundled up for the winter, with one of her standard bags cross-shoulder and two grocery bags filled with Stuff. She walks up to Wataru's building and presses the buzzer for his apartment. * Wataru is doing his Stats homework. Yes, he is doing it. He is doing it with focus, at the dining room table which is where he usually works, and he has his hair pulled back in a zigzaggy headband, a little corona of fluff haloing his head. He's drinking Coke and eating squid chips, and still has a while until Katie comes by, right? He glances at the clock and finds that it's a good 40 minutes later than he thought it was, wait, what?! And so he's just packing the squid chip bag back into the pantry and rinsing the glass of Coke when the buzzer rings. Katie! * Wataru answers the intercom! "Hello?" Hi. It's Katie. Can I come in? "Sure thing! Come on up. You rememember which one it is?" * Katie nods, though Wataru can't see it. She also says, "Yeah, I'll be up in a little bit." "Okay. See you then." * Katie waits until the buzzing sound, and then she enters the building! She immediately goes for the stairs and takes them up to the third floor, to room 302. * Wataru tries to push the Statistics out of his brain. If ever there was a class that was trying to kill him, seriously. * Katie arrives! And knocks on the door. * Wataru opens the door! And yes, he has forgotten that he's wearing the headband. * Katie is on the other side, and she smiles a touch upon seeing the headband. "" She holds up the bags. "" "" he steps aside to let her enter! * Katie laughs as she steps in. "" She hands the bags to Wataru so she can remove her shoes. * Wataru takes them and tries to peek inside, frowning. "" * Katie takes off her scarf and hat, and she considers removing her coat. How long is she even staying? She looks around, trying to get a sense of the space. "" Wataru takes them over to the dining room table, then! He shoves aside his godforsaken homework and starts unpacking. <@Ciara> [Wataru unpacks three bags of Sweet Chili Heat Doritos, a bag of bagel chips (with a note that says "Sorry, couldn't get any actual bagels so hope these will do instead!"), and a couple packs of Charleston Chews. They are exactly the things he asked Satoshi for.] <@Ciara> [There's also a note in one of the bags as well, addressed to both Katie and Wataru.] <@Ciara> [Also everything that Satoshi wrote has been written in English, and man, he has nice handwriting.] * Katie settles for unzipping her jacket and following Wataru in. She glances at his bedroom as she does so. * Wataru was distracted enough that he forgot to close his bedroom door, too! And inside, there is a Western-style bed, that is unmade, with a dark blue comforter and white sheets. Part of the dark blue is a different shade and has a light blue stripe, and upon a closer inspection would reveal to be a University of Maine jersey, half-folded and sticking out next to the pillow. Which might not actually be that weird, since there are also stripey green PJs and a brown sweater messily hanging out on the bed, and socks strewn across the white shag carpet, along with assorted other minor untidinesses. The fancy black office chair, in front of the desk, has what looks like several clean t-shirts hanging off the back of it. Laundry day gone unfinished? * Katie lingers for a second, noting a few details - Wataru likes Satoshi even more than she thought; where did he get that jersey? - before she moves on to join him at the table. Huh, homework. Math or something. * Wataru is making all sorts of noises of amazement and delight. "" * Katie smiles at Wataru's excitement, because... yeah. But she's way more subdued. "" * Wataru lets his mouth hang open a second. "" Almost without thinking, like a sleepwalker, he is making his way to the freezer with a box of Charleston Chews. * Katie watches Wataru leave, then turns her attention to his homework. It looks familiar... oh, there's his textbook, the same as Kyon's. Statistics. That makes sense. * Katie removes her fingers from the text, leaving it as she found it. "" she agrees. "" * Wataru laughs. "" Chews: freezered. Wataru walks back. "" * Katie turns to see Wataru and nods, understanding. "" She frowns. "" * Wataru nods, easily. Why does she seem so troubled? <@Ciara> [There is a note, if you wish to read it. If you do not wish to read it, there is still a note.] * Katie already read it! But she does pick it up and hand it to Wataru. * Wataru takes it! What is this? <@Ciara> [Also, Wataru, all of your stuff had little maroon sticky notes attached to it. Perhaps it was a key of some sort!] <@Ciara> [The note says hi and that he hopes all the stuff arrived intact and that you enjoy it! P.S. Joshua says you guys have excellent taste in snacks.] * Wataru smiles... And yeah, the sticky notes were cute. He takes one now, and looks at it. So much elegant writing.... Man. Who writes like this! <3 * Katie watches Wataru read the card and inspect the writing. "" she comments. * Wataru looks at her a little suddenly, and carefully puts the note down on the table. "" he admits! * Katie snorts a little. "" She taps the note. "" * Wataru sighs. "" He looks at her, trying to gauge how honest to be. * Katie tilts her head, waiting. "" He looks at her, a little tentatively! * Katie lets out a breath, relaxing a bit, and looks away, to the corkboard. "" * Wataru follows her gaze. The clipping..... And that is when he realizes just how much of himself he's been letting her see. It gives him a bit of a chill, and he tenses up in a way probably no one but an observant Katie would notice. After another instant, he glances briefly back to the bedroom door, the *open* bedroom door. * Katie turns her attention back to Wataru when he's being so quiet- oh. <@Ciara> [Yep, that door is open.] * Katie smiles a little, and she says, "" * Wataru facepalms a little. "" He uh, goes and shuts the door, quietly, then returns. <@Ciara> [When Wataru shuts the door, a small slip of paper flutters out.] * Wataru frowns, and reaches down to pick it up. <@Ciara> [Written on it, in his own handwriting, is "kit kats. Strawberry?"] * Katie leans on the table a little and watches Wataru from where she is. <@Ciara> [Wataru doesn't understand this note. Does he? Why did he write it?] * Wataru wanders over, still looking at the note. Did he want to send Satoshi strawberry Kit-Kats? He looks up at Katie. "" * Katie nods. "" She relaxes a bit more. "" * Wataru shows her the note. "" <@Ciara> [You wrote that note a while ago, Wataru. Just saying.] * Katie nods. "" She thinks back. "" And then she smiles at him. "" * Wataru smiles a bit! " * Katie sighs, and she looks around. "" * Wataru looks at her. Then, he pulls out a chair? but there's also the couch. * Katie pulls out the chair closest to her, then, and removes her bag from over her shoulder. She sits down, setting the bag on the table. * Wataru takes a seat too. * Katie looks at Wataru. "" She shrugs. * Wataru nods a bit, encouragingly. "" Wataru smiles. Because yes, this is true. * Katie laughs a little. "" She looks at Wataru searchingly, for a moment, then turns her attention to her hands, pushing them flat against the table. "" * Wataru has a breath, and nods. "" He chuckles. "" He looks down. "" * Katie looks at Wataru for a second, considering something, and then she says, maybe more harshly than she intends, "" * Wataru looks up at her. * Wataru 's face gets sterner, colder. "" * Katie tugs at her hair and looks away, disgusted. Maybe with herself. * Wataru pushes his chair back, and stands, shocked. "" he says - strongly, but without anger. "" * Katie stops herself from talking and slides off the chair, going to the balcony windows. * Wataru gives her space, but follows her with his eyes. * Katie just looks outside. "" His voice is gentle, and he takes a step closer. "" * Katie says, strained, "" She looks at Wataru. "" She sighs. "" * Wataru comes closer, still careful to keep a physical distance and not encroach on her space. "" * Katie looks at Wataru. "" She looks like she might say more, but she closes her mouth, swallowing whatever it is she was considering. * Wataru tries to keep the edge out of his voice, but is only half successful. "" He exhales through his nose. "" * Katie frowns a little, and she deliberately evens her voice. "" She pauses. "" She shrugs, looking back out the window. "" * Wataru stares at her. And wonders, with some horror, if Satoshi is aware that Katie Andrews was once in love with him. * Wataru looks away and takes a few steadying breaths. * Katie just looks out the window, keeping Wataru in the corner of her eye. * Wataru manages to find words again, after a while. "" He glances at her. "" * Katie rolls her eyes. "" Her tone is half joking, and she tilts her head, looking back at Wataru with a small smile. "" * Wataru smiles a bit. "" He takes a step backwards. "" * Katie nods. "" She heads after him, if he keeps walking. "" "" He thinks. "" <@Ciara> [Was that a joke? It may or may not have been.] <@Ciara> [Either way, Session End!]