1/24/2003

04:47 PM

Logfile from Chase.

 

                     120 E. Houston Brownstone - Apt. 1                    

---------------------==================================---------------------

Sparse is the decor of this rather spacious room. A low table in lacquered black is set in front of a low couch, the cushions barely above the floor, while woven mats have been placed about to cushion footfalls. A few watercolors have been hung from the walls, lending a splash of color to the austerity. The entertainment unit off to one side and computer desk in the corner being the only concessions to modern achievement.

The living room opens onto a small dining room which as been furnished just as sparsely. A black lacquered table stands mere inches above the floor, and has been surrounded by what appear to be leg-less chairs. The only touch of color comes in the form of a single vase containing an arrangement of bright flowers, and two large water colors depicting birds amid spring blossoms.

The fairly modern kitchen is usually hidden behind a closed door, as is the bathroom.

Hiroshi(#236) and Anana(#253) are here.

Exit: Out (to 120 E. Houston Brownstone-2nd Floor)

 

"Yeah, well," Anana is saying to Chase as she knocks once, twice, thrice on the door, "We just need to figure out what to do about everything, and this is their apartment." She pauses, then grins slightly. "You know Trevor McConnell? He's one of the Suzaku. One of the ones who wasn't there."

 

Chase nods vaguely. Another name. Rather too many of them. "Can't say as I've ever met the git." But, seeing as he is Suzaku, his opinion is already a bit tainted. "But I'm sure this'll be entertaining." Wry, so very, very wry.

 

Hiroshi opens the door and blinks at the one who had been knocking with eyes that just aren't yet awake. Seems the boy was sleeping. "H.."  Well, he wasn't expecting to see Anana on the other side, and it's quite clear in the expression on his face.  "Anana.. Oh, you're here for the translation, come in." As for her companion? Well, he doesn't know him, but he's gestured in as well.  "Sorry, you'll have to give me a minute, I fell asleep reading." 

 

Hiroshi

Light brown hair falls about his shoulders in thick waves, the bangs falling over his forehead and covering his eyebrows. Large green eyes gaze out from under youthfully thick eyelashes, the slight pudginess of his cheeks and slight bow of his mouth adding to the child-like appearance. Standing at about 4'9, he's hardly tall, giving away his age as something around 13.

He wears a loose T-shirt of faded blue, the sleeves reaching his elbows and the collar a bit too big for his neck. Over this, a baggy pair of denim overalls is worn, the legs a touch too wide and long for the wearer--the cuffs nearly covering the well worn tennis-shoes on his feet. The dark wristband of a watch can be seen upon his left wrist, the face turned inward for convenience.

He is awake and looks alert.

 

"/Chase/! He's not a git! He's kinda nice, even if he's always preening, and he /is/ handsome." And Anana's something of a fan. As the door opens, however, she falls silent, a pointedly neutral expression upon her face, should such a thing be possible. At the invitation, she steps in, slips off her shoes, and waits for a beat. "I got your voicemail. And what I thought was right before is. Lexie's the Yin gods' priestess." That's about all the information she's sharing at the moment, in as crisp a voice as possible. "Chase, this is Hiroshi."

 

Chase smirks. "Preening? A peacock. I'm not surprised at all." But then the door is opening, and his face takes on a slightly skeptical look. Oh, look. Another little. Dark eyebrows arch upwards, a glance is flickered to Anana, and then comes the grin. Oh, what a grin it is. He follows after, bobbing his head to Hiroshi. "Nice to meet you."

 

Hiroshi walks to his laptop, though the usual shuffle of his slippers is missing today. Seems someone hasn't been out of the house just yet, so putting on socks, much less slippers, hasn't entered his mind.  "It's a bit rough, but it.."  Chase is glanced at before he turns to regard Anana.  "Should I just give it to you without the long explanation, then?"  One hand holds out several sheets of print covered paper while the other pushes the lid down on a silk covered box containing a brush, ink sticks, and an ornate inkwell.  "Sorry about the mess, I stayed home today and it shows."  Chase is given a polite nod in the midst of this, and the boy attempts a smile.  "It's nice to meet you, Chase." 

 

Anana isn't about to try to warn Chase if he glares, oh no. Perfectly suitable with the way she's feeling about Hiroshi at the moment. "Long explanation?" She glances up at Chase, then shrugs. "We need all the information we can get. Why did you stay home?" No. That wasn't concern. It's /never/ concern. "You're not sick, are you?"

 

Chase stands just behind Anana, smile wry. No, no glaring. Kind of hard to glare at someone who looks like that. He tucks a hand into a pocket, thumb hanging out as he shrugs his shoulders, "I don't suppose it matters. Not like I haven't heard enough stuff lately. What is a little more?" You know, just to make his head good a jumbled.

 

Hiroshi shakes his head, looking very tired.  "No, I just didn't feel well, if that makes sense, but I'm not sick."  He just doesn't get it, that's all. If he understood half of the emotions he's capable of instead of rationalizing them, he wouldn't have these reactions.  "Oh, then I can speak.. he's one of yours."  It's an assumption he's comfortable making.  "The entire thing was meant to be read aloud and translated via homonyms. It wasn't an uncommon practice, but usually meant for poetry and personal records.  The bit about the stars is interesting with the news about the new stars found by one of the telescopes, but I'll have to look at a few pictures and charts before I can draw any conclusions."  And after all of this, he nods to Chase.  "Hai, it can seem quite overwhelming.. Oh, and I know about Lexie. I was told by a mutual friend who believes you should not have sugar." 

 

Darn, and here Anana was hoping that she could get at least one good glare for Hiroshi out of Chase. Oh well. Now /she's/ feeling a little guilty, and it shows to a point. "You shouldn't stay up so late studying," she says, a touch of sharpness in her voice overriding the very subtle worry. She's not going to cave, no she's not, not so easily. "And half the people in the city don't think I should have sugar, but do you mean Johnston? New stars... oh yeah. My brother was talking about that."

 

Chase blinks owlishly down to Hiroshi, and then blinks again. "I think I remember that being mentioned before in the news. The thing about the stars." But that is pretty much all he can contribute to this part of the conversation. At Anana's query of Hiroshi, he nearly facepalms, but instead just rubs his forehead with a hand in a rather poor imitation of such.

 

Hiroshi picks up his laptop and brings up a few pictures to show them to the two.  "Hai, they were supposedly blocked from view by dark matter clouds, which would have kept the light from reaching the earth. I just find it hard to believe that the clouds in three different areas moved all at once. There's only two things that could do it, and one of them is still theory. I doubt there's a black hole close enough to pull the matter away, because the light from the stars /still/ wouldn't be seen."  Anana is given a nod, and her words elicit a rather tired sigh. 

"Hai, I shouldn't, but I couldn't sleep."  Both seishi are given a questioning glance.  "I could try to chart them now, if you're curious, just to see if they mean what I think they mean." 

"We haven't learned this stuff in class yet, but... I think I can follow it," Anana admits, shrugging uncomfortably. "And I thought you were mad at me, Hiroshi?" That's slightly plaintive-sounding, indeed. "But if you could, then... please? 'Cos we're trying to figure out what's going on." So much for pride. "Chase? Do you have a headache?"

 

Chase sighs softly, flickering a glance down to the display. "New stars, dark miko... I'd say it is a safe bet what it means, but it doesn't hurt to be sure and know what we could be dealing with here." Even he can follow reasoning now and again. He shoots a glance at Anana, slowly shaking his head from side to side, "Ohhhh, just a cast of too much information."

 

Hiroshi turns a rather wide eyed look on Anana. "I'm not angry."  Hurt? Yes. Angry? No. He just has to hide it so that everything goes smoothly.  "Too much information, Chase-san?"  This asked rather innocently as he sits on the floor, pulling out a few sheets of paper and his brush set with a touch of apprehension-- as if he may find some sort of horrible monster lurking in the brush strokes he's about to execute.  "It actually makes up a constellation, but I'll break it down into its star components." That said, he swallows hard and begins to draw the characters that will eventually become a charting for strange new stars. 

 

Anana settles down easily next to Hiroshi, though she gives him an odd look for his demurral. "A new constellation, hmm?" She glances up at Chase again, then smiles wryly. "Well, we /were/ looking for information, weren't we?" she asks of him, even if her expression is a rather strange mix of resignation and interest. "How can you say it's /too/ much information?" Oh yes. Misinterpretation is /lovely/.

 

Chase grins wryly, once more looking from Hiroshi to Anana and back again. He must corner the glomp-happy girl later. Slowly, he shakes his head from side to side before peering back at Hiroshi, and prompting, "The stars?" He moves beside Anana once more, shooting her an amused glance before the teasing nudge, "Never mind that, shorty. Back to these stars..." He peers down at Hiroshi's work.

 

Hiroshi seems to ignore the conversation going on between the two as he writes, his eyes fixed on the paper.  "Hai, four of them, in fact," is finally said as he starts on the very last line of characters.  "Nearly like Seiryuu, only much larger. It's probably a..."  His voice trails off and, as if he'd totally lost concentration on his work, the brush stops in mid stroke, making a rather large ink spot on the paper.  Normally, Chiriko can maintain firm concentration on what he's doing, this seems to be one of those abnormal times, as he now merely looks down at the paper in front of him.

 

Anana looks up at Chase. Oh no, that's not a blush of embarrassment. "Don't. Start," she grits out between her teeth. "Bad." Pause. "Hiroshi?" Her attention is distracted from the game of scold-the-wolfish-one as Hiroshi stares at the paper. Waving a hand in front of face, she frowns. "Hiroshi? Don't space out on us here."

 

Chase simply smiles back at Anana, one of those annoying smiles -I'm sure you know the type. But as Hiroshi begins to check out, this seishi is left to blink at him. Kids. Always spacing out. Daydreaming. He is fairly sure there is a medication for something like that. "What was that about Seiryuu? Hello?... Hiroshi?" He frowns slightly, leaning around to try to poke the boy in the shoulder.

 

Hiroshi doesn't even seem to see the hand, though his eyes do go a bit wide before he drops the brush.  "S-sorry. It happens sometimes, my concentration slips."  Or his mind stretches into places it shouldn't be going.  "Seiryuu? Oh, it's nearly like Seiryuu, only much larger, less inclined toward movement. I think the English word would be .. Leviathan? I can't be certain, though, until.."  Shudder. That was just too messed up for him.  "Just give me a minute and I'll start over." 

 

Anana catches Chase's annoying smile and makes a face at him before turning back to Hiroshi, perplexed. "That's... anything but like you, Hiroshi," she points out warily. "Leviathan? I don't know that one at all, and... are you sure that starting over won't make you blank out again? Didn't you say that sometimes the scroll did that, too?"

 

Chase simply peers at Hiroshi for the longest moment, one rather confused look upon his face. Maybe he could use a bit more sugar in his system. "Sure you are okay, kid?" a touch of concern in his voice. He slowly shakes his head from side to side, peering at the blotted paper, "Leviathan? Hrm."

 

"Sometimes when I study it very closely, or if I'm trying to hand copy it, yes."  Hiroshi gives another involuntary shudder at the admission.  "Like something was watching me, or like something very bad was going to happen. I think it's a side effect, or something. Studying too much, reaching for information.. and that I have a very good imagination."  Let's hear it for having powers that you don't know about!  "Leviathan is about the nearest I can come to it. It's a yin element, I think. Inactive for the most part, but a powerful force for stagnation." 

 

"Don't try to do this alone, then," Anana says, and there's all the force of a flat-out order in her voice. "Have Kourin, or better, Johnston here with you if you try to chart it out. I don't think that I could do anything to help with this, without being in your head and I don't really want to do that right now-" Ow, diss? "-and anyway, you're the only one I know who /can/ do this, and we need the information, don't we, Chase?" She finishes on one last squeak of air, having babbled all that out in about fifteen seconds."

 

Chase listens quietly to Hiroshi for a long moment, flickering a glance askance to Anana now and again. "Well yeah, I'm with Anana on this one. I'd suggest you leave your studying, kid, for when you have more of your... companions with you." Ohhh, it took a major force of will not to say something along the line of idiots, imbeciles, and a couple of other colorful descriptions for the other Suzaku. He nods his head slowly, "Is that the only one? This Leviathan?"

 

Hiroshi shakes his head.  "Ie, the last time it happened, Kourin-san was with me and it didn't make any difference. It's just an overactive imagination, that's all. I'll just have to learn to control it, but it's very hard to do at my age."  At least he can recognize that, which might be a bit disturbing.  If Anana has dissed him, he seems not to have noticed, though he does frown a bit.  "I suppose that I could try the other constellation. That might not be so.. wait. You two are here, wouldn't that have made a difference if there was a difference to be made?" 

 

Chase's willpower is much appreciated, and Anana gives him a smile for that. /She's/ familiar with his sarcasm. "We're not Suzaku seishi, there's a difference, as you remember well. And so do I," Anana points out, shrugging. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but you /do/ dream, remember? Like when you dreamed of the stars of Suzaku before Miaka tried the summoning ceremony the first time?" Now she'll just try to subtly kick Chase to keep him from commenting, and, well... nearly lose her balance doing so. "Ahem." Let's not do that again.

 

Chase sighs softly, "Not like that, kid. Its just better to have someone around in case something bad were to happen? Your zoning out business is awfully disturbing." At the kick, he snorks or something close to that. A glare is shot at Anana, "What was that for? I... Oh, you can just walk home." He isn't going to spring for bus fare for her now. "I wasn't going to say anything... too mean."

 

Hiroshi looks up at Anana.  "That's because the charts said that something bad was going to happen, my imagination just ran off with it, Anana."  He believes this very firmly.  "Hai, I know, but it's just that Kourin-san was here, and it didn't change anything. In fact, the same thing happened when I charted /her/ stars."  This is getting far too messed up for him.  "I think I'm getting a headache."  Poor kid. Isn't enough that he has to carry the burden of being his age and in college? "Anou.. Chase-san? You may want to move quickly. Anana is quite talented." 

 

"/Too/ mean," Anana quotes, then quite promptly sticks her tongue out at Chase. If there were ever any doubts about whether she's a kid, well, there really aren't now. "And you wouldn't make me walk home alone, because /you're/ a softie. So there." Leaving Chase to consider that, the pink-haired chibi turns to Hiroshi again with a rather grumpy look upon her face. "You really need to get to know yourself better, Hiroshi, 'cos doing things like that without believing in it's really not good. Anyway, I can't hit /him/. He dodges too quickly most of the time." Visibly considering what she'll do next, she resolves on: nothing. "Aspirin. For your headache. It'll help?" Yeah, that works.

 

Chase looks after Hiroshi with a bit of a frown, "I think you'd also better cut down on the star charting for a little bit. Everyone can get their astrological chart done another time." They can just live a little longer getting their numbers for the lottery. And then it is back to smirking at Anana, smirking some more, and then he finally relents. Damn. "Hush, I have an image to keep up with these people." Hand reaches over as if to toussle her hair, then a look to Hiroshi.

 

Hiroshi shakes his head.  "Nah, it'll go away. I'm about the only one I know who does it this way, and we need the information."  Anana is glanced at as he begins to start all over again.  "Get to know myself? Anana, you confuse me in more ways than one."  Oops. Ok, that'll just slide on by.  "Image?"  He's not going to mention the image that he has, that would just make matters worse.  "I don't think that this leviathan is remaining as stagnant as it would like, and if we've given it reason to notice us, we're very much in trouble." 

 

Anana arches an eyebrow at Chase. "You... an image. Right, well, I'm not going to even /comment/, then. And why do I confuse you?" From one subject to another with a completely different person; it's a good thing that Anana can keep track of what she's talking about, most of the time. "Ah, it doesn't matter. Stagnant as it would /like/? What does that mean? The Yin gods /don't/ want to be unsealed?"

 

Chase peers at the pair of them, and considers doing another of those facepalms again. Instead, he simply clears his throat, offers an amused grin at Anana, then it is back to the ever-confuzzled Hiroshi, "Don't even try to figure her out. It isn't worth the time, Hiroshi." He shakes his head from side to side, "So, it's awakening? Is it the only one? There are more, I'm assuming."

 

"For many reasons, Anana-san, which would take me a very long time to explain."  Besides, Hiroshi just doesn't want to go into it right now.  "No, I think they want the final seals broken, but the nature of the leviathan is stagnation. Think of it this way--It's bigger than creation, and takes no notice of the ants below it. For some reason, the giant has noticed the ants, and has begun to walk on their anthills. If we've managed to get the attention of something that big, the other three are certainly already moving. However, it's the leviathan that we may have to fear the most."   Chase's words are given an odd look, but the boy shrugs.  "It's in my nature." 

 

"Chase?" That too-sweet smile upon Anana's face, accompanied by a tone that contains far too much saccharine, ought to be warning enough. "Are you saying that I'm not worth trying to figure out? Or that he shouldn't try because he won't?" Though what she'll do to someone who's considerably bigger than her is really open to interpretation. It's a good thing there's a distraction at hand. "Oh, good. Does this mean that..." Her expression twists into a rather concerned one, indeed. "The priestesses will have to summon the Four Gods again?"

 

Chase doesn't trust Anana's smile, but he grins right on back at her, crooked and boyish and everything. "I think that you are a big enough girl that you can come to whatever conclusion all on your own." Whatever self-preservation instinct he has, it just kicked in. "Glad I'm not an ant." He smiles softly, "Okay, so we know all of that now. Now what?"

 

Hiroshi frowns, looking a bit worried as he attempts to come up with an answer to the question.  "If my theory is correct, we'll need all four mikos to summon at the same time. We may even have to be in a specific place to do so, but I'm not sure.  This means that we have to work together, because our mikos need all of their seishi in order to summon their gods, unless the artifacts in that exhibit contain more than the scrolls."  Yes, that was plural.  "And I'm working on translating the other scrolls as well."  Chase is glanced at with the most serious expression he can muster.  "To this one, we're all ants." 

 

"I thought so." Any thought of attempting to harm Chase is gone now in the face of revising plans; Anana's expression is solemn once more. "Ashleigh..." Oh, this is not news that she wants to bring to the group, no, no. Her hands look to be, on first glance, neatly folded in her lap, but upon a closer inspection, they're white-knuckled. "Unless we find the shinzaho, if they're even here, we've all got to keep from killing each other. Oh, this is going to be so much fun." Sarcasm? Maybe. It seems to be a Genbu trait.

 

Chase plucks the ball cap off his head, combing fingers back through his hair, and then he is replacing it anew. "Oh, that'll work really well," he murmurs, sarcasm dripping from his voice just as with Anana. He sighs softly, then nods to Hiroshi in understanding, "Saying it is one thing, actually getting it to happen is quite another." He frowns abruptly at Anana's mention of the miko, oddly silent. "I need a moment." A breath lather and he is looking to the girl, "And I think that you two need to talk.' *hint-hint* "I'll be just outside. Come when you are ready, Anana." With that he gives Hiroshi a bob of his head, then heads out.

 

Hiroshi nods to Chase but blinks at his words. "Anou.. It was nice to meet you, Chase. I'm sorry I couldn't give you better news."  Anana is glanced at, as are her hands, and the boy manages to smile.  "Ie, no worrying. This time, things will go right for all of us, I'm sure of it. In fact, I'll do everything I can to make sure that both of our mikos are safe. We have to rely on all of them this time, so that makes her my miko, too."  Well, at least he tried.