[Last time on Arcana, everybody went to Satoshi's apartment and discovered that not only did he have new chickens, but that his past life had been a real jerk too. Shortly after that half the cast left, presumably to go home and catch up on sleep or work. Leaving Satoshi, Taki, and Haruko sitting in his living room.] [Day: Friday, March 26th. Time: Later than you'd think] [Minisession Start] * Haruko has spoken since Katie just left, she looks thoughtful and is still hugging Satoshi fairly tight. * Taki stands in the middle of the room looking at the door for a long moment before she slumps and and yawns. * Satoshi still has an arm around Haruko. While he also looks thoughtful, there's probably a small part of him that's enjoying this. Not that he'd *ever* admit it. You want to lie down for a bit, Taki? * Taki swallows, and then rubs her face, "What happened yesterday? I keep falling asleep...and then I keep thinking I'll wake up." * Taki shuffles over to Satoshi's couch, evicts a chicken and takes a seat. * Satoshi gently removes his arm from Haruko and sits up a bit. "Yesterday? Before you guys got stuck in between worlds, you mean?" Before, after...during. * Haruko slowly lets go and finds a different chair. Well, aside from what I told you... I don't know. * Haruko looks over to Taki. "Want me to go over what happened on our end?" * Taki turns to face Satoshi, but she seems to be looking past him, "You said that Isao was only in the world reversed and Akemi and Matthais knocked themselves out getting you there...but I got Haruko to him and didn't..." I think he came to me, maybe he couldn't do that while I was in that half field. * Taki nods her head, "Nothing makes sense." Exactly. It could be a connection because they're the same card. Has anything made sense yet? * Taki thinks long and hard on that one, "No." We could think for a long time and not come up with a reason for what happened. I think it's more important to concentrate on what we're going to do next. * Taki nods, "Next...Next...I'm going to have Haruko tell you what happened yesterday." * Satoshi nods. "Okay." He looks at Haruko. * Haruko smiles faintly. "Alright... so we go to the apartment. I decide to tell everyone about the Cup, but I was paranoid because of how the reversed cards spy on us so Katie suggested that Kyoko put up a field and I agreed." * Taki nods. So I tell everyone, and then Kyoko can't take the field down. So we experiment some and try to figure out what happened, until eventually you guys showed up. It was scary at first, looked like Saki was attacking. * Taki nods, "She walked into me once...It...every part of me that touched her just..." * Taki shivers before continuing,"Hurt...more than anything since the accident." * Haruko nods. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you Taki." * Haruko then pauses her story for a moment to retrieve her pants from her bag and sewing supplies, she easily threads the needle with her wire. * Taki looks over at Haruko, "Don't worry about it, it's mosly faded..." * Haruko smiles a little at that. * Taki blinks, "She got me again didn't she? That's why I was asleep when Katie screamed right?" * Haruko nods. * Taki yawns again, "Well...there's a little bit of sense." * Satoshi has been listening the whole time. "So then I came in after Saki, because I was following Arai-san, who I'd met outside. I... didn't hurt you, did I? I know it would have been an accident, but I'm really sorry if I did." * Taki grins at Satoshi, "You didn't Saki was the only one who touched anybody by accident." * Haruko shakes her head as she gets to work, she's actually nearly done if you look closely. So, you have some idea what happened there. After that we waited, Katie fell asleep than screamed when she woke up. That's when Taki got up from the pain and we all talked for a bit. Why did she scream? Bad dreams? * Taki nods, "...I think so." I mean, if she was dreaming about the past... * Satoshi goes silent. * Haruko nods and frowns. "I think that's typical for her lately. I also don't think we helped much... I decided that the only way I can answer her questions is complete honesty, I hope it works..." ...When....when we fell asleep on the couch...she had had another one...and didn't want any of us to get close to her....so...maybe they arn't all about her past life. Yeah. It's not like she hasn't had a lot of things happen that would fuel her nightmares. I wish there were more I could do for her. * Haruko nods and continues again. "So, after that I talk to Kyon for a bit in his room, not sure what the rest of you were up to." She looks over to Taki. * Taki looks down, "I wish there was anything I could do for her....I even asked Kaede about it...he said he'd look into it..." Kaede's been a lot of help for her, I think. I don't know... I just don't want to stand by and do nothing if there's a way I can help. I've had enough of that. * Taki nods. * Haruko nods. "I think I actually helped her for a while after that, err, Taki, could you turn on a tap for a while, I can demonstrate, but my hands are full and I'm at a complicated point." I was always afraid of making things worse, but after what happened yesterday, when I stood aside from that fight and you and Kyon got hurt, Haruko... * Taki gets up and starts to walk to Satoshi's kitchen, "Sure." * Taki returns with a cup of water and sets it befor Haruko. * Haruko smiles over at Taki. "Thank you." She then looks back to Satoshi. "You're right, sadly we'll need you to fight sometimes and you are over-cautious sometimes." I don't want to be like Hideo. * Haruko then smiles gently. "But I have faith in you Satoshi, you'll learn, and your heart's in the right place, there are lots of times not to fight. Trust your judgment, we certainly do. You arn't Hideo...and I think we both need to get better at picking fights. (and that was a godawefull pun greg) (I know. I was debating whether or not to respond. ;p) (Uh.. Unintentional. ^^;) * Taki looks at Haruko to confirm this last bit. * Haruko nods. "We're all learning." She looks down for a moment as she misses a stitch. "I know I was wrong with Miho." * Satoshi nods. "We learn from the past. Both ours and others." * Haruko looks over to the two of them, her voice is more than a tad uncertain. "So, can you forgive me for that?" You didn't know when you did it, did you? * Taki nods, "I can, and have." * Haruko smiles slightly at Taki then looks over to Satoshi with a somber expression. "No, but ignorance isn't necessarily good enough. I knew I hadn't tested it, I'd wanted to work with Takeuchi-san, but his powers drain him so much more than mine do." * Taki nods. Well, I can tell that you're deeply sorry for it. So as far as I'm concerned, you're forgiven. * Haruko nods. "Thank you." She then fixes the stitch she was working on. * Haruko smiles half heartedly, "So, I actually got through to Katie for a while, she seemed happy for at least ten minutes." Yeah? Goodness knows she needs it. * Haruko keeps sewing, but as she says this the water rises out of the glass and slowly forms the skeleton of a dove, quickly adding muscles and ultimately feathers and a beak. * Taki nods and then grins for a moment. * Satoshi watches. "Hey, that's really neat! You did that for her?" Yep, and Katie gave her a lot of advice about it. * Haruko smiles more. "Yeah." The water dove flaps his wings and lands over on Satoshi's leg. "The advice as much as the dove was the important part I think." * Satoshi reaches out with a finger and gently touches its back. "It's nice to see her at least talking about her interests. I'd hate to think she'd given them up." * Taki nods and then sighs, "I think that sketchbook was the only good idea I've had all week." * Haruko nods as the dove's back ripples slightly. "I don't know about you two, but I'm going to focus on trying to show her, not tell her, why life is worth it for its own sake. But I think its important not to sugarcoat, she'll see through it sooner or later and be worse off." I'm trying, you know. To be more honest about what I want, not follow along with what other people want just because it'll make them happy. After all we've been through, I think by now I can trust that you guys aren't going to suddenly start hating me just because I might disagree with you. * Taki nods very slowly. * Haruko nods and gives and odd half grin. "Good, because I won't. I've definately worked out who I like and who I don't by now." Anyways, so after a bit Katie gets rather worried about Takeuchi-san, he'd wandered off to investigate the edge of the field. So she rnns off and we run after, and Taki ports out of the field. * Taki nods, "I was just trying to catch her at the botom of the stairs...but I wound up in the bedroom....Weird things allways happen when I try to teleport in fields." * Satoshi looks at Taki. "You know, I was going to ask how you got out. I just got distracted by everything." * Taki nods at Satoshi. Anyways, you mostly know the rest. After that Taki, Takeuchi- san, and I go to check on Akemi and Matthais. Have we gone over that yet? I assume they're all right. You would've said something if they hadn't been. I *really* owe them both. * Taki shakes her head, "I was there for most of it...and all I remember is fighting in the dark, I can't remember why anymore...but it was a stupid reason." And, yeah, that gang guy. He was the only one there? There wasn't a girl with dyed hair and a bunch of piercings with him? * Haruko nods. "They were. We met the seven of wands on the way, he loves fighting, has night vision, and is quite belligerent. There may have been a diplomatic way past it, but..." Haruko sighs. Oh, no, just him. * Taki looks at Haruko, "I...don't thinks so?" * Haruko looks back. "He didn't attack full out until Kaede started heavily questioning him." What'd he *say*? * Taki waits for Haruko to speak. * Haruko looks over to Satoshi. "Just normal Takeuchi-san stuff. He wasn't overly insulting, the guy was crazy." She frowns. "I just think if we stayed completely unprovactive for a while he'd probably have gotten bored and left. Maybe not, but we had nothing to lose by trying." Like I said, he really didn't seem all that stable. Maybe I should've just stepped aside when Saki wanted to fight him... but we really couldn't have afforded a delay then. And you said he had the Wand? That's the part that worries me. A. * Taki looks at the floor, "We never actualy saw the real one at the museum." * Haruko shakes her head. "I doubt that was the real wand. My shield absorbed the blow, the guy with the scythe wen through it." Okay. A wand is different. But if he's working with not- Kyon's group, that adds a whole new level of problems. * Taki nods, "But the more people we know work for him...the more we know who to watch out for..." * Haruko looks confused for a moment. "He works with not Kyon?" Well, we don't know that, but I thought we were assuming that since Kyon met his double in that museum, not-Kyon knew why he was there and had his group beat them to it. And since they got the Wand, if this guy had shown up with it, then likely he'd be working with them. Either that, or he'd stolen it from them, but I really doubt that. * Taki blinks, "...Wait, didn't he say which side he was on?" * Haruko nods. "If it's the real wand, that'd be the logical conclusion. I just doubt they'd give the real thing to an idiot like that." * Haruko looks to Taki. "He was a Jackal." * Haruko has the dove hop over to Taki in a series of small jumps. Which is Akito's gang, I assume, and therefore is probably its own side. Akito didn't seem to care one way or another, really. That sounds right. * Taki holds out a finger for the dove to land on. * Haruko nods. "Anyways, I'm carrying a flashlight and some glow sticks in case of fields, no reason to give this guy more of an edge than we have to." * Taki nods, "maybe the rest of us should too." In case of field, break open glowstick. That's a good idea. * Haruko grins as the dove jumps up on Taki's hand. "So afterwards Takeuchi-san walked Akemi home and I took home Matthias. I gave him some information too, not about you Satoshi, but I think he believed me and isn't worried so much about Judgment anymore." * Haruko grins. "Thanks. They don't give much light, but it's all chemical." Yeah. I was wondering what I was going to say to him if that came up. He was right about Kyon having a lot to do with Judgement. Even if Kyon probably wishes he sees Judgement far less often than he actually does. * Taki lightly runs her hand across the birds back, "But nearly everybody was wrong about how..." So he knows about not Saki as well as the reversed and such now. Think he's concentrating on the drugs for now. * Haruko focuses a little and the dove looks over to Taki and opens it beak at being stroked. She says "Coo." quietly. * Taki nods and grins at the bird. * Haruko then looks to Satoshi. "I think Kyon values you." Really? That's good to know. * Haruko nods and smiles. She then goes "Whee!" And jumps up. "I'm done!" As this happens Taki acquires a puddle in her lap. Ack! * Satoshi starts. "Done what?" * Taki jumps to her feet and tries to brush the water out of her skirt with her hand. * Haruko suddenly looks chagrinned as the dove reasserts himself and then flies into the cup. "My new outfit. Uh.. sorry Taki." Do you need a towel? Uh...yeah. * Haruko looks to Satoshi. "Where can I get one?" * Satoshi gets up and heads for the bathroom. Hopefully there will be no freaky albino guys waiting for him this time. * Taki follows Satoshi to the bathroom. * Haruko blushes. "Sorry Taki..." * Satoshi hands Taki a towel. * Taki grins at Haruko, "it wasn't intentional...so I'll just have to extract revenge and then call us even." * Satoshi looks back at Haruko. "Oh, now you've done it." He actually winks. * Haruko nods and giggles. "Fair enough. You can even do it now, it'll give me an excuse to change." * Taki takes the towel, but walks back to the couch and picks up one of the pillows and throws it at Haruko. * Haruko goes "Oof" and falls down dramatically. * Satoshi looks down at Haruko, then back at Taki. "I think you win this round." Yes, now I have to change into something dry. * Taki steps into the bathroom (pushes Satoshi out of it if nessisary) and closses the door behind her. * Satoshi is pushed out. "Hey, you could have asked." I would've moved. * Taki calls out from the other side of the door, and sounds mildy embaresed "Sorry it's starting to soak through and get uncomftable." * Haruko grins as she gets up and gathers up her robe. "And I'll take your bedroom if you don't mind." She giggles. "As you got to see more than enough last time I did a sudden change." * Satoshi blushes furiously and rubs the back of his head. "Eheh... of course." He looks away. * Taki opens the door again and emerges wearing the towel as a makeshift dress, "what if I were to make you dinner to make up for it." * Haruko keeps giggling as she walks to Satoshi's room and closes the door behind her. "Just teasing. You need to learn witty rejoinders or something Satoshi, it'll better help you defend against Akemi." * Satoshi blushes slightly at this, too. "You don't have to. And, oh, no. Akemi. I'd like to repay her for helping me out at the Tower, but I'm afraid of what she'd ask for." (::RDM prods Taki:: When did you grow your personality back? And will you manage to keep more than five seconds after parting from Satoshi this time?) * Haruko comes back out after about twenty seconds, seems like she's been practicing changing into the garb some before it was done. * Taki ponders, "Her first demand will probibly just be something to make you blush, wait for the second or third one before agreeing to anything." * Haruko is now wearing a light white jacket with red flowing pants, both are a bit too big for her and hang awkwardly at a few points. The stitchwork also obviously shows if you look closely. Still obviously made with great care and love, just not competance. What if she asked me to take her to dinner or something? Would that bother you? So what do you guys.. oh, I'll wait. ::she then heads out again:: * Taki grins at Satoshi, "Only if you don't take me out afterwords, remember, I'm the idiot who made that promise to the fa..." * Taki 's face falls for a moment but she recovers and calls out to Haruko, "Come over here and show off your hard work." * Satoshi smiles at Taki, though there's a bit of sadness to it. "It's a deal. And I would like to sometime." * Haruko spins on her heels and walks back in, she waits a few moments to see if Taki's going to respond to Satoshi. * Taki grins, "But not tonight, I'm underdressed." * Haruko grins approvingly. * Haruko then holds out her arms. "So, what do you guys think?" She slowly twirls around with no small amount of grace, like she's had some practice in robes like this. * Taki turns to watch Haruko spin, "Wow, you put a lot of work into that, it shows." I like it. * Taki nods, "It looks good on you." * Haruko grins. "And now for the test." She goes watery in her newly completed robe. * Haruko 's robes shimmer for a moment and go liquidy with her. Her puddle scoots over a meter to the right and reforms, fully clothed. "Yay! No more nudity!" (must bite back sarcastic and or perverted remarks that Taki would think of, but not say >_<) (Aww... no more assertive Taki? :P) (Not to the point of "I'm sure somebody somewhere will be disapointed.") * Satoshi blushes again. "That's good." * Taki nods, "I'd have died of embaresment if it had been me." * Satoshi turns his head so you can't quite see the blush as much. "Uh." * Haruko nods. "I'll be sure to leave a note for my next incarnation to be careful with this. Anyways, next I guess I'll make a cast and smelt a new set of lockpicks, err... hair pins." She grins sheepishly. * Taki rubs a few spots on the back of her head, "Same thing." * Satoshi clears his throat and stops blushing quite so much. "Have you been 'borrowing' cars again?" * Haruko closes her eyes for a moment and locks down. "No, it's been hard but.. I'm not sure I won't backslip at all." I have faith in you. (Probably horribly misguided faith, but, hey. ;p) * Haruko opens her eyes and looks back up with a surprised expression at Satoshi. "I..." She looks at a loss for words. * Taki falls silent for a bit, "You can do it." * Haruko has a 'still processing' expression... It's too bad you can't just make a bike like made that bird. That'd be hard to ride, though. * Haruko looks sheepish. "I can. Satoshi's right. It's pretty, but it doesn't go anywhere." * Taki nods, "But she wouldn't have to hide it, and it would be hers....maybe go the other way then..." * Haruko nods. "I have to concentrate when I move more than a little water, but maybe... Worth trying certainly." * Taki nods. If nothing else, you'll probably have fun doing it. * Haruko nods and giggles. She then gets a more serious expression. "IF I'm having trouble, could I call you guys? I know there's so much more important going on, and I told Hiroji so I wouldn't have to burden the group..." * Taki teleports across the room, "as long as you let me know where you are." Sure. * Haruko smiles just a little and looks down a little. "Thank you..." (...wait Hiroji?) (/me checks he got the name right.) (Yeah, he's one of the mechanics. Hasn't been onscreen, she's mentioned him before though) (ahh) (Feel free to ask IC. She hasn't mentioned him much, so Taki might have just forgotten or missed it) (Taki won't ask, she'll just assume it's somebody she should know and has forgotten the name of.) (If Haruko's mentioned him, Satoshi probably remembers; if not, he just figures Hiroji's a friend of hers from the context.) (Fair enough) * Haruko then goes back to sitting down, a bit self-consciously. So, um... did you want to rest for a bit? I can bring out the spare futon if you're still feeling tired. * Taki takes a step forward and starts to protest, but grabs for her towel, " Nah, I caAck!" * Haruko turns her head to look at Taki. "What's wrong?" * Taki blushes a bit, "If neither of you mind horribly...I'm going to go get some pants." * Satoshi looks away. "Uh, yeah. Good idea." * Haruko looks sympathetically embarrassed and turns her head. "That's wise." I'll be right back. * Taki vanishes with Satoshi's towel. So... how's the hockey team doing? I think we're going to play Shunyo again in a couple weeks. Our schedule is... irregular. * Satoshi smiles slightly nervously. It's hard when there just aren't many teams to play. * Haruko nods. "Important to have people to compete against." She then grins a little. "Otherwise it's hard to show how much better you are." ( Week #1: Shunyo. Week #2: Shunyo. Week #3: (nobody!). Week #4: Shunyo. ) (Exactly!) * Taki reappears near the door to Satoshi's apartment and wobbles slightly. * Satoshi grins back. "But it's a lot of fun when we do get to do it. A lot of work preparing, but there's really nothing else like it." * Satoshi blinks. "A field? Here?" * Satoshi starts looking around. Wha? * Haruko blinks and runs over to turn the tap on full blast. * Taki is by the way now wearing a pair of blue jeans. * Satoshi slowly walks over to the door of the apartment. * Taki opens it and takes a look out into the hall, where there isn't anybody. * Haruko looks around. "Might just be Jin... You see anything?" * Haruko stays in the kitchen by the faucet for the moment. Okay, look. Whoever you are, hurry up and attack us, or deliver your message, or whatever you've come to do. We've had a very long day, and this is a *bad* time. * Taki yawns, "And do it before I fall asleep again!" * Taki waits...and waits...and yawns again, "Fine...don't." * Haruko shuts off the faucet once she has a full sink, making sure that the drain is plugged so she doesn't lose it. * Taki takes another look up and down the hall, "Where are you?" They usually show up by now. * Satoshi goes back to check his bathroom. * Haruko checks the bathroom. Maybe this one is very shy. I have found people in my bathroom before. They were surprisingly not shy. * Taki keeps an eye on the hall, "Then...what's the point of putting up this up?" To make us horribly paranoid and uneasy? It's working. Can you try teleporting out of it, and then back in here? Need to tell Jin not to bring things back with him. Yeah...but then you'd still be here. I can handle things, I think. And you wouldn't be gone that long. See? * Taki blinks..."That's...realy odd." What is? * Taki gives Satoshi a worried look, "Nothing happened." Try again? * Taki nods rapidly. * Taki seems to flicker in place. * Haruko gives up on the bathroom and goes to check the bedroom that once supposedly housed Satoshi's parents. * Taki rubs her eyes, "anyway, you're still here." * Satoshi blinks. "It's gone. Wait..." * Taki blinks, "It's what?" * Haruko continues her checking while listening to the others. It only appeared after you came back, and then when you tried to port out, it went down. Maybe it's you? But...but...I've been doing this for years and it's never happend before! Well, a lot of us have been discovering new powers. So, why not? * Haruko smiles. "Huh, that could be useful. Well, try again." She closes the apartment door. Uh...right.... * Taki teleports across the room and then looks at Satoshi. Nothing that time. * Haruko shakes her head. "Did you feel anything when you came out of the bathroom? I don't think you were teleporting that time." * Taki walks back to the chair Satoshi had been in and sits down heavily, "No...I didn't feel anything." Well, the field's gone now, so I guess we'll just have to keep this in mind as a possibility. Still... * Haruko purses her lips for a moment. "Are you more tired now than you were a minute ago?" * Satoshi walks to his room and returns with his hockey stick, which he sets against the living room wall. * Taki blinks at Haruko, and then nods, " A bit." * Haruko nods. "Have you noticed yourself suddenly getting tired quickly a lot lately? You've been yawning, but I figured that was just lack of sleep." * Taki speaks quitly, "...just last night." * Haruko goes and grabs a pen and paper out of her bag. She mutters to herself as she writes. "Reentering the room.. proximity to other Arcana? Myself? Satoshi." She then speaks up. "When last night?" * Haruko paces slightly, writing and muttering as she works. "Changing to pants? Unlikely, didn't occur last night." ...I really don't think it's the pants, Haruko. * Taki stares off at nothing in particular, "Just after I got you to the tower...and after Saki knockd me out too." Hmm.. that'd would explain the field in the tower, I'd thought the one from Akemi or Matthias reached through... * Haruko makes a few more notations. "Were you feeling anything across the three times? Just pain the first time..." * Taki shakes her head, "Just the wanting to be somewhere else...but that's the emotion for teleporting." * Haruko nods and looks quizical. "Even now, when you were coming from the bathroom?" * Taki nods, "I thought about being home and then went...and then I put these on...and then did the same to come back." * Haruko keeps writing, making a few quiet comment as she works. "Misfiring of teleport in combination with Kyoko's field and pain may have been partial catalyst.. Particular type of escape desire?..." We should probably talk about this with the others tomorrow. I just wish my field sensing included the ability to tell who was generating it. It'd make things a lot easier. * Taki absently nods at Satoshi, and then looks at Haruko, "No?" Oh, that makes more sense... ::Haruko pauses and blushes:: Right, should have realized. Okay, well so long as you're around Satoshi we can gather more information. Maybe try to keep track of what you're thinking or feeling when you teleport. * Haruko nods. "We don't have to figure out everything tonight, particularly considering how tired you are already." * Taki yawns, "yeah..." Yeah. We need rest. * Haruko nods. "You might want to take the subway home, if you don't grab a nap here first. I'll go with you if you like." Can I help you with dinner, Taki? We might have a good source of fresh eggs. Although we're probably violating the building code here. But knowing Jin, they'll appear and disappear just as randomly as he does. * Taki grins weekly and shakes her head at Haruko and Satoshi, "I'll be fine, and given our luck we'll find the eggs by stepping on them." * Haruko then blushes. "Oh, right, dinner, well, I should be on my way. Thanks for having me over Satoshi." She then goes to gather up her stuff, putting her coat over her robe. You don't want to stay? * Haruko grins a little. "Well, I think it's been a while since you two have had a chance to just grab a nice quiet dinner. I think you've both earned it." * Haruko puts a bundle of clothes in her bag and goes to put on her shoes. * Satoshi smiles. "Thanks. You'll be okay getting home?" (Satoshi's lonely. ;_;) * Taki grins at Haruko, "Well, my dad managed to survive yesterday without me...or maybe he just hide the evedence, Thankyou. And good night." * Haruko nods. "Won't be as much fun as the way here, but I'll cope." * Haruko nods and grins back at Taki. "You're welcome." * Satoshi chuckles. "Sorry I don't have a motorcycle service for you." * Haruko giggles as she heads out the door, closing it behind her. "S'alright." (I think Satoshi can probably manage with just one girl for a while. :P) [And so Haruko made her way home, and Satoshi and Taki had chicken for dinner, but it wasn't one of the live birds, and it was good.] [Minisession End!]