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[bratherine]

kate galloway
@didnot

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[mindthebass]

fair point.

i'll call in and check the vegan options, anyway.

[bratherine]

good

( read: thanks )

if not, i know a place or two

( which is a way of saying she'd like to not cancel on account of her dietary choices. How flattering. )

[mindthebass]

i'll let you know.

i'd invite you to my place afterwards, but i have a roommate.

[bratherine]

plenty of places we can go after

( but maybe they don't need to plan to the finest detail )

we can figure shit out tonight

[mindthebass]

(oh, so that's a yes. he kind of expected it to be a one-time thing, not him testing waters.)

deal.

[bratherine]

( it was fun. Why give up on a fun thing when you're in hell?

But, honestly, as long as theyre both enjoyimg themselves, post-restaurant plans could be as simple as grabbing a drink and sitting by the river. )

cya later then

[mindthebass]

(what a trip today has been. he's met the boss, played for her, had been said that tamamo would endorse him... and what the hell does he even want, really? no fucking clue whatsoever. it's always like this - he'll go for it because he has no other desires, no other fallbacks.

but enough. a quick text to kate should tell her that he's downstairs, acoustic guitar on his back and warm clothing keeping his frail body styled.)

[bratherine]

( She's just finishing up getting ready when the text arrives, so he'll have to endure a moment's waiting before the noise of someone hurrying down the stairs
fills the apartment halls. )

Hey.

( Casual as anything, and probably making Shin's wrapped up warm chic look a little out of place with her cropped hoodie and jeans combination, hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She steals a glimpse at the guitar on his back before pushing the door to the building open and letting them both out. )

Been working?

( She's guessing. )

[mindthebass]

Kind of. I've met the boss?

(it's fine if they're mismatched. shin offers her a hand to hold, but if she doesn't take it, he doesn't mind either way as he starts to guide them towards the restaurant. he's excited like a kid on Christmas, it's been years since he had real food from home!!)

She said the Tamamo Clan would sponsor me, so I'm... Thinking on that? Solo doesn't sound so fun!

(A WHINE, BIG ASS BABY.)

[bratherine]

( No handholding, not yet. Instead, Kate may or may not be biting her cheek to hide the urge to smile at the excitement which bubbles out of him so palpably. )

Why not? Get to do whatever you want.

( Honestly. Whiny. Would that Tamamo would sponsor her ass to do anything other than run plates of tiny food to snooty fuckers. )

[mindthebass]

But being on my own is not fun at all, Katie! And when you're sponsored, the last thing you do is to get to do whatever you want... I was even shipped to the middle of nowhere once...

(AND NOT BECAUSE OF HIM, MIND HER.

the place they're headed is not that far away, so once he enters, he even hops in place - the smell of the seasoning awakening his brain, and his smile couldn't be bigger.)

Come on, come on!

[bratherine]

( You know how sometimes, there's a whole bunch of important things that should take precedence in your response but that one little thing overrides them all?

Yeah, suffice to say that, as she follows him into the restaurant, the only thing Kate says is; )

... Katie???

( Kat, sure. Katherine if she's in trouble. Katydid if you're her brother looking for a smack. But Katie? )

[mindthebass]

(HEHEHEHEHE.

his index finger touches the tip of her nose, a very gentle boop before he just repeats it.)

Katie. ♥

(and goodbye, food is his priority, he's OUT TO GET THEM A TABLE.)

[bratherine]

( Murder is bad. Murder is very bad. With a loud, long-suffering exhale, she follows him to the table, before simply commenting; )

Y'know Kate's a nickname?

( i.e. it doesn't need to be made into another nickname. )

[mindthebass]

Did you know that people can have more than one?

(don't murder the man who gives you free orgasms with the most loving touch, kate. sounds like a waste.)

[bratherine]

( Ughhh. She may not murder but she does throw him a rather rude hand gesture from across the table before she gets the menu.

Thank fuck everything has descriptions, though Kate really hopes she doesn't have to try saying any of these names. )

[mindthebass]

(aw, look at her. adorable.

he knows what he's ordering. rostade rödbetor med rosmarin and lamb fillet, topped with a nice beer. he has no problem pronouncing the names, of course, and if she shows him what she wants, he'll order for her as well.

he's tapping the table in his joy, uncontained excitement leaking through his powers, when one of his songs starts playing as the background music. he laughs to himself, surprised, when there are fickles of images around them. he sees himself, brown hair, bass in hands - his audition. the image is extremely inconsistent, but the voices can be heard clearly. he feels his happiness as if it were yesterday, running excitement and wonder through his veins... and due to his power, his own past feelings echoing through her as well.)

... Huh? Do you see this?

[bratherine]

( She debates between a couple of things before eventually going for the vegetarian meatballs. All these places to eat in hell are really messing with her usual diet, but she supposes between the training and her usual exercise, it shouldn't make that much difference.

so she'll follow his lead and grab a beer too.

And it's almost normal for five minutes, except for the fact that Kate swears she's seeing flickers of colour in Shin where there were none before, and—

The fact that the restaurant has half-transformed into something different, now. )

... Aye. ( She's feeling it too. An excitement which bubbles inside her, a high like knowing you're ahead of the competition, comfortably in first place.

Uh. Hm. ) You're doin' that.

( But Kate doesn't seem in any particular hurry to get him to stop, because now she gets to nosy at all the people in this audition with him. )

[mindthebass]

(it feels just so incredible to see hachi's face. not that he doesn't like his bandmates, but hachi is just so special to him. a mom he has never really had, and his smile is so big watching her mesmerized that it hurts his cheeks as he watches her bliss. things were good back then, weren't them? no takumi. no drama. just friends, together, just pushing one way or another for hachi and nobu, and now all that isn't there. he feels a rush of nostalgia, like that had been a million years ago, and then she speaks.

even a hand tries to reach the blinking image, before he remembers he can't really reach for a memory.)

Me?! How? I'm just a normal person?

[bratherine]

( Clearly that no longer applies. Kate's hand reaches out when she sees Shin going for the image, gently resting on top of his wrist. She's not sure if this memory reel does anything, but the phrase better safe than sorry seems like it's the wisest course of action here after everything that happened last month. )

...Said y'met th' boss. Were it just for music?

( That's how she got her first power here. Tenkohime dragging her in for a lecture on how she can kiss people and make their senses sharper. )

[mindthebass]

... But I want to hug her.

(please. please. let him go to hachi. longing, yearning, lacking, all things that come to him, and he doesn't even know she can feel it.)

She wanted me to play to her... The boss, not Hachi...

[bratherine]

( Ah—

It's strange. Intense. Uncomfortable. A million things which make Kate want to snap Shin out of this even before the lingering worry of what if this is some Haniwa shit adds to the reasons to be wary of whatever new power Tenkohime's saw fit to give him. )

Shin. Look at me.

( C'mon, please. ) Did she tell you anything?

( Kate got a pretty clear rundown on what her power could do, so surely Tenkohime actually went into what the fuck this is, right? ) Told you she'd given you something?

[mindthebass]

(no. it's so hard to look at her, when all he sees is hachi. all he really wanted to see for a month stuck in that jail cell, and he didn't even have the chance to see her before he ended up here. it's where he is going to end up in a bit.)

... I felt different playing for her, but I assumed t'was... Jitters. She said clan is more than willing to sponsor my continued career in music, if I agree to pay royalties... But he should also be careful, now, with that voice of his...

(he's standing up, kate, sorry... he wants hachi, but the memory ends, only voices, and none of them are hachi's. the visions morph, though. a car. his dorm. his bed. yasu. it's guilt and sadness that washes over him, depression, the feeling that every bone in his body is heavier than himself.

fuck. this is his return from prison. the day he ended up here. fuck. fuck.)

[bratherine]

( Crap.

She's pretty sure everyone in the restaurant will be staring by now. Wonders if they can even see what's going on, the memories which flicker around them both.

She hopes not. For Shin's sake.

But things are changing, and now there's voices — fragments of them, anyway, like trying to hear someone on a shitty phone connection — and different places. Shin's on his feet and whatever this is isn't stopping and Kate needs to figure out some way of making it do just that.

... Ugh, she hopes this power upgrade works, grabbing his hand and brushing her lips to it, concentrating on dampening his sense of hearing. If it started with whatever music was playing, maybe not hearing it will end it? )

[mindthebass]

... I didn't get to see her back home.

(kate might think hachi might be a lover, with how sad he looks and the complete lack of resemblance between them, the sadness that he's feeling, pushing and pulling him in so many directions. he doesn't even notice his hand being taken, but he does feel the volume of yasu's words diminish, even if they still echo in his brain without the reminder.

he's well aware that the company is in the black. all because of his stupidity. because he couldn't deal with it all. that's exactly why this is hardly a reason to celebrate. he sits, defeated, the images surrounding them fading until the usual chatter of a restaurant fills the air, muffled to shin's ears.

kate might notice that he didn't let go of her hand. he won't say it, but he needs it.)

... You asked what happened. That's a little bit of what happened. I can't-- I can't face them. I don't have the courage to.