* Katie watches them go and almost deflates, flopping on a chair. She looks over 
to Kyon, checking his eyes, before blinking and looking at her watch. "Oh no."
<Brett> [Saki leaves too.]
<Katie> (With the cup!)
* Kyon looks over at Katie sidewise. "What?"
<Katie> My parents!
* Katie fumbles for her phone.
* Kyon looks over at Katie, and shrugs quickly. He strides from the room, 
slapping his leg a couple of times as he goes. From the vicinity of the kitchen, 
electric can opener noises can be heard.
<Kyon> (After a little bit, anyway.)
* Katie tries to think of what to say and likely fails miserably, as tears sting 
the corners of her eyes by the time she manages to dial her home number and put 
the phone to her ear.
<Brett> ( *ponders saying the power in Katie's house it out. )
<Katie> (If power goes out, the phones still work. ^^;)
* Kyon calls from the other room. "You want anything?"
<Kyon> Doesn't even have to be cat food.
<Katie> I- I guess so.  No dinner.
* Katie shifts a little, waiting.
* Kyon calls back. "So? What do you want?" His voice turns bemused. "Kumaguro 
won't like it if you share his food, but I've got other cans."
* Katie tries to keep her voice level and mostly succeeds. "Don't really care. 
My parents. I'm trying to call my parents."
<Brett> [Katie's parents answer and are, as expected, rather worried about 
what's going on this time of night.  Make something up Katie :P]
* Katie blinks, then jerks upright. "<Mom! Dad. I- yeah, I'm okay now, I just- I 
got stuck. I got... I couldn't leave.>"
<Katie> <Because I couldn't!  I couldn't.  I- I might've died if I left, and I 
knew, and I couldn't call...>
* Katie sobs a little. "<I'm sorry. I don't want to scare you. I'm so sorry.>"
* Kyon comes back and stands in the doorway with some leftover beef curry over a 
bowl of rice and some chopsticks. He leans against the doorframe and watches her 
with a hint of unease.
* Katie keeps talking and crying. She doesn't even seem to notice Kyon's there, 
though she more than likely does. "<Because there was this thing. It's 
invisible, but it kept other people out, and me in, and I couldn't do anything 
about it but stay and- and maybe die. Only I didn't.>"
* Kyon points to himself, makes a phone talking gesture with that same free 
hand, then raises a questioning eyebrow.
* Katie keeps crying, and it really comes through now. "<I'm sorry. Maybe you 
think I'm crazy, and maybe I am, but I- I don't know what to tell you anymore. 
It's insane. People are trying to kill me. People are pretending to be me. They 
even tricked you!>" Her voice cracks at that, and she coughs, then continues 
hoarsely, "<I love you, I do. But I dunno what to say.>"
* Katie looks up to Kyon and blinks, trying to get the water out of her eyes.
* Kyon cocks his head, then mouths, "If you want me to say something, I can 
try."
* Katie listens for a bit, still crying, but her breathing starts to steady 
some. "<I know. Yeah, I know. Kyon- he wants to talk to you. He's a friend. I'm- 
I'm sorry.>" She practically throws the phone to him before burrowing her head 
in her arms.
* Kyon catches the phone, and then steps gingerly across the room, making sure 
not to step on people or spill the curry. He starts to talk as he hands her the 
bowl. "<Hello. This is Kyon Sorata. I apologize for the lateness of the call.>"
* Kyon sits next to Katie, and gives her a side glance to see if she's eating. 
"<She's just fine, if somewhat stressed. It's been a long day. She got stuck 
somewhere where she wasn't able to call out. I did, too.>"
* Katie isn't eating. She's curled into a little ball and doesn't want to come 
out.
* Kyon rolls his eyes, and pokes her leg gently.
* Katie doesn't react.
* Kyon closes his eyes for a second, then speaks into the phone. "<Mostly, she 
was within a particular kind of interference field. One of my friends is working 
on it for a project, and it took a while to get it down again. But, there's no 
lasting harm from it.>"
* Kyon moves the phone away and whispers at her, "It'll get cold. Cold curry's 
nasty."
* Katie shifts a little, peeking over her arms at the curry. She stares for a 
moment, then slowly uncurls and reaches over, picking it up.
<Brett> ( The curry eats Katie! Fool! It WAS evil! )
* Kyon shakes his head. "<Like I said, it was a stressful day. The field took 
longer to get down than we thought, and she was very hungry. She's eating now. I 
think she just got carried away.>"
<Katie> (Wah!)
* Katie pokes at the food a little, has a taste, and then starts eating quickly.
* Kyon looks sidewise at Katie, and considers that for a second. "<Do you mean 
for the evening, or for longer than that?>"
* Katie starts and looks at Kyon with wide eyes.
* Kyon waves at her impatiently to keep eating.
* Katie swallows, looks at her food, and does start eating again.
* Kyon nods quickly. "<That's what I thought. Sure, it's not a problem. I 
wouldn't send someone out without calming down and eating first. I can give her 
a ride back, if you want."
* Kyon looks over at Katie again. "<It's fine, sir. I'll bring her by. We'll see 
you soon, then.>"
* Kyon hangs up, and looks down at Katie. "Going to give you a ride home, when 
you're ready."
* Katie swallows and asks, hesitantly, "What did they say?"
* Kyon holds the phone back towards her. "They're happy you're OK, more than 
anything else, and I should watch you until you're ready to go back."
* Kyon glances at Remi sidewise. "Need to get rid of her at some point."
* Katie lets out an odd sound - kind of like a hiccup - and she sets the now 
empty plate down. "Was gonna ask."
* Kyon shrugs quickly. "Can take her after you. Or call a cab, and take you both 
that way."
* Katie nods.
* Kyon looks back to Katie. "Feel any better?"
* Katie seems to think about that as she stares at the wall in front of her. "I 
don't know."
* Kyon smirks. "Not asking for definitive pronouncements. General feel will be 
fine."
<Katie> Maybe?
* Katie looks at Kyon. "I just... I don't know. I did a stupid thing, right?"
* Kyon shrugs quickly. "Maybe. Depends on what your views on leftover curry 
are."
<Kyon> Your parents can deal. Obviously. Since they are.
* Katie smiles a little, then moves, gathering the pencils that sort of got 
strewn across the floor. "They don't deserve this, though."
<Katie> But I'm not better.  I'm not there anymore, but I'm not better.  And 
it's... I hate it.
* Kyon shrugs quickly. "For them, it doesn't matter what they deserve. They get 
what they get." He watches her collect them. "You hate where you are now?"
<Katie> Yeah.  I hate where I am.
* Kyon smirks at her again. "That why you want to go home?"
* Katie puts the pencils in their rightful place and continues, in that numb 
voice, "I didn't mean it like that."
<Katie> I guess it's more like I hate what I am.
<Kyon> Yeah? And what's that?
* Katie stops for a moment, then puts the box in her satchel and zips it. "It 
changes. But it's not the same. It's never the same."
* Kyon nods quickly. "Implied by the changing. The same as before, you mean?"
* Katie nods. "Yeah."
* Kyon leans forward. "No way to go back to that, though. You can change so you 
like yourself better, but experience changes you."
* Katie looks back down at the ground. "But I don't want it to. It was-" Her 
voice cracks. "I thought I was going to die. I was so sure."
<Katie> I got used to the idea.  Back in the beginning, that I might die.  But I 
never thought-
* Katie shuts her mouth, audibly.
* Kyon shakes his head, almost ruefully. "I can't promise you won't. But I can 
promise that I'll try not to let it happen. All I can say is, you are who you 
are now, and you can accept that or not. Still have a lot of people who want to 
be with you."
* Katie shakes her head, still looking at the floor. "Even if they don't know 
who I am?" She rubs at one of her eyes. "Even if I don't know who I am."
<Katie> I have to get better.
* Kyon inclines his head a bit. "If that's what you want to do." He smirks. 
"It's true, though; you don't need to know who someone is to want to be with 
them. Otherwise, half the dramas on the air would have no stories."
* Katie laughs a little.
<Katie> I guess you'd know all about that.
* Kyon gestures dismissively. "My job. And I'm good at it."
* Katie looks up at Kyon, then turns her attention to Remi. "Do you think 
they'll wake up if you take me home? With our luck, they would."
* Kyon looks at her sidewise. "You talked with them. Probably prefer to know 
you're back, anyway."
<Katie> Okay.  We should go, then.
* Kyon nods, and looks pensively at Remi. "I'll call a cab. Drop her off while 
I'm out. Shouldn't take long, got a company nearby."
* Katie nods.
* Kyon cocks his head, and presses himself out of his seat. "Don't worry so 
much. You'll end up like the bike salesman." He grabs his phone out of his 
pocket, and calls for the cab.
* Katie blinks, then shakes her head, chuckling a little. She grabs her satchel 
by the strap and pushes herself to her feet.
* Kyon picks Remi up unceremoniously, balances her against his shoulder, and 
heads out to wait for the cab.
<Brett> [End in here!]