5/9/2003

03:59 PM

Logfile from Chase.

 

The Hard Rock Cafe

It's much darker inside, where the steady beat of some rock music is constantly being piped into the room via artfully hidden speakers. The walls are filled with records, pictures and music sheets of famous songs and singers. Here and there is the additional musical instrument, protected behind glass cases. The guitars of Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen and 'The Artist formerly called Prince' are among the prized possessions here.

The main area is a set of two platforms, one inside the other, where tables are set up following a square shape. They are all wooden with various stickers affixed to their surface. The bar is off to the side, a few leather stools serving as seats for the people in that section.

Obvious exits:

Exit

 

Chase has himself a booth all to himself. Yep. a booth. Lucky guy. He's also got himself a rather tall drink before him while he sits, Lounged back in the seat, his feet are kicked up on the other side, arching an eyebrow at a pair of giggling girls a table away. He offers them a smile, they break out into more giggles, and then he rolls his eyes and looks at the stuff upon the walls.

 

Mina rushes in, coming straight from finishing her last final with her pack slung over her shoulder.  "Chase!"  She plops down on the bench opposite the Genbu and just /beams/.  "Finished, finished, finished," she chants happily.  "I've got the whole summer off.  Well, from school anyway."  She'll need to find a summer job - perhaps Dr. Grammer's willing to let her stay on as his lab assistant.  Although, after his reaction to her last revelation, she wouldn't be surprised if he decided to find another student worker.  Peeking over her shoulder at the giggly girls, she quirks her lips upwards and leans over the table to tease, "Flirting again, Chase?  You're incorrigable."  But it does her heart well to know that he's moving on.

 

Chase drops his feet off the bench opposite, sitting up a little more straight as she takes her seat, "Hey. Good. How'd it go? You didn't fail too miserably, I trust? Results were already in on a couple of my earlier tests -seeing as they were all multiple choice. Did pretty good. Curve was alright, but it didn't effect me too much." He is wrinkling his nose at her though, dabbing a finger in his soda to flick a bit of it at her, "They /giggle/."

"It went great," Mina just glows with happiness as she slips her pack off her shoulder.  Finals not only finished but finished well.  "It was anatomy, and a cumulative exam, but I think I did rather well, considering."  No easy multiple choice exams for her, she had essays and short answer tests.  "The only test I'm really worried about is English."  Because darn it, it was terribly boring.  "Hopefully it won't damage my GPA too much."  She needs pretty much a 4.0 upon graduation to get into veterinary school.  "And congrats on your exams.  Guess that means you won't be flunking out quite yet, ne?"  Ducking, she giggles herself only to be hit with the flicked soda.  "Ack, what's wrong with giggling?  Girls our age do it all the time.  Anou..."  Cocking her head and tapping a finger against a cheek, she studies the other teenager.  "Don't tell me you've got a thing for older women.  Saa... Lexie was older wasn't she?  And Miaka's older, too.  Anou... what do you think of Cat, Chase?  Remember how you were talking about curves yesterday?  Cat's got more than her fair share of 'em."

Chase smirks, lounging back in the booth, "I am not going to flunk. First off, my parents would kill me. Secondly, Brice would kill me. And thirdly, just because I tend to skip class most of the time, that doesn't mean that I don't know what is going on." Finger taps at his head, as his voice takes on a mock-whiny voice, "I just have to... apply myself." Quickly followed by a roll of his eyes. As for giggling, never mind that Namame accused him of that before. "Giggling. They are probably fourteen, if even a day. I'm /eighteen/." Yes, must emphasize that, despite what the gods would like to change. "Actually, I think Cat said that she was too old for me too, but she sure is a good kisser. Never mind that Lex was /way/ older than me." /Way/ older. At least it wasn't statutory rape, but awfully close. "Will you stop with Miaka. The woman is married, and I wouldn't... how did we even get on this discussion?"

Giggling again, Mina leans against the back of the bench and studies the other seishi.  "Congratulations again Chase, guess we both need to celebrate the end of the school term then, ne?"  As the waitress makes her way over to them, Mina orders a root beer float and a oriental salad without the chicken before turning her attention towards the other teenager as she awaits his order.  "And you skip classes?  For shame."  Forget that she's skipped a couple herself.  "Perhaps I don't want to take psychology with you.  You'd probably be begging me for the notes of all the classes that you've skipped."  Not that Nicholas wouldn't miss the fact that the Genbu ditches his classes... in fact, Mina'd kill just to see Chase getting chewed out by the Seiryuu.  "Cat's too old for you, Chase?"  Blinking at this, she shakes her head.  "Bah, you're such an ageist."  Pause.  "And how do you know that she's a good kisser?  Been stealing kisses from her, you naughty boy."  Waggling a finger, the Byakko leans close to tease, "C'mon, admit it.  When you were kissing her, her age didn't matter one whit, did it?"  As for Lexie... if Chase was sixteen at the time physically, doesn't that count as statutory rape?  "Bah, you're an awfully baby-faced eighteen Chase.  And he, they're cute looking girls.  Just because you're a big, bad college guy now doesn't mean that you should narrow your fishing criteria.  Keep your options open, cowboy," she adds with a wink.  "And we got on this topic because you were flirting with those highschoolers behind me."

 

Chase is once more left to be simply dumbfounded by the young woman. This is happening all too often, much to his chagrin. Unbelievable. "Well, you're invited to Brice's graduation party. Booze, BBQ, and I'm sure I can come up with some kind of vegetable pizza again for you if you wanna come over. Brice'll prolly see if Lee can't come over too, and whoever else. It'll be great." Can't lose with alcohol -because Brice is the only Genbu old enough to buy it. And now Chase will look awfully smug, "Because /she/ kissed /me/. And no, her age was not at all the first thing on my mind at the time." Because it definitely wasn't. Nope. Not at all. "Nothing wrong with going after older women. At least then I know they've got a bit more experience... and don't /giggle/. You giggle."

 

"Brice is graduating?"  Mina's smile widens.  "Hai, hai, I'll be there."  It'll be nice to see Lee again.  She's been avoiding the other Byakko for far too long and she really should meet up with them again.  "Although if Lee's there, don't let Cat kiss you again.  He's still rather possessive of her in this lifetime, though I think she's rather reluctant to be tied down to him again."  And that makes Mina frown slightly, her worry for the other Byakko evident.  Shaking her head, she adds with a teasing laugh, "And you really don't want to add him to your list of seishi who want to hurt you, ne?"  Propping and elbow on the table and resting her chin in the palm of her hand, she blinks over at the Genbu.  "Cat giggles, but on the upside, she jiggles, too.  Anou... so why don't you go after her, Chase?"  She'll just ignore the experience comment, ayup.  Mean, mean cowboy.

 

What is up with all of this animosity directed at Chase? Sheesh. Seishi sure are a touchy group. At least, as far as he knows for the oni, only Reese would like to see him as nothing but a bloody stain on the ground. Ah well. "With his Psychology degree. Maybe he'll end up being a profiler or something for the cops. But yeah, I'd imagine that Lee would be there. And /no/ I doubt she'd kiss me." He rolls his eyes, taking a long drink from his glass. "/Why/ are you trying to hook me up with Cat? I've got Brice trying to hook me up with..." Uhm. "And now you trying too. No thank you." As an afterthought, "I'm so going to tell her that you say she jiggles. Jealous?"

 

"Saa... Brice is working with Lee, ne?"  New York's finest at work.  Mina blinks and cocks her head, "Why wouldn't Cat kiss you again, Chase?  You didn't slobber all over her or anything, did you?"  Of course the Byakko can't imagine him doing that, after all, she knows how well he kisses.  "Because I want you to be happy," she answers his question with sobering frankness.  "You're my friend and so that means I worry about you."  Blink.  "Who does Brice want to hook you up with," she asks curiously.  "Let's see, Soi's taken, as is Nuriko.  There's Anana, but I think Travis would hurt you if you've even considered things.  That leaves Toroki, who's too young, me, and Cat."  Grin.  "Is Brice trying to hook you up with Cat as well?"  Ooh, two pronged attack!  Sweatdropping at Chase's afterthought, she notes wryly, "She already knows that I tell people she jiggles, cowboy.  And am I jealous... hrm, yeah, you got to admit that she's extraordinarily gifted."  Probably why Lee fell in love with her the first time.

 

"No... I..." Okay, this isn't going well. Going to have to tell the whole truth now. "I didn't slobber all over her her. Sheesh. She kissed me on the cheek once to help me lose a hangover after Lexie drunked me up. Okay? While quite a different kiss then what I'm used to, that was all. Damn, girl." Chase mutters something other his breath, only to go absolutely wide-eyed at the next names that fly out of the Byakko's mouth. Ack. Just... ack. "No." He then busies himself with drinking from the glass to try to get some semblance of sense back after that.

 

Mina looks disappointed.  "Only on the cheek?"  Tsking, she leans closer.  "What you need to do is kiss her then.  Because you kiss rather well, Chase."  Nodding her head for emphasis, she plots.  "All right, at Brice's graduation party, ask to speak to her about erm... something important and then just kiss her when you're alone."  That should work, ne?  "Because it seems like you want to kiss her, cowboy.  So you should follow through with that urge."  Blinking at his one word reply, she frowns.  "Anou, is she a classmate of his?  You know, mor-" Breaking off as her salad and float arrive, she beams up at the waitress in thanks and sips at the root beer and ice cream mixture.  Oh, heaven. *.*  "Normal girls can be fun, too."

 

Chase smirks and scowls and generally looks annoyed. "Yes, and she did it and..." And he will look like a deer caught in the headlights as Mina leans towards him. "I am?... I mean, well, yeah, I am. But... Mina..." Whiny voice. "Yeah, well, the last time I followed through on one of those urges to kiss someone, she ended up running out on me." Okay, that last is said with a bit of a smirk. He slumps back into the seat, muttering, "I tried with a normal girl... well, maybe she wasn't exactly all /that/ normal. But she wasn't a seishi or an oni. Even kissed her too. But... obviously, nothing happened."

Mina flushes and leans back, because she was so caught up in pushing Chase towards Cat that she'd forgotten her roll in the whole drama.  "Hai, hai, you are.. demo, the running out... that was because... that was different."  Now it's her turn to be flustered as she studies her float and quickly spoons up the ice cream in hopes of cooling down her burning cheeks.  "You tried with a normal girl?"  Yay, change of subject, change of subject... "Honto ne?  You never told me this.  What happened?  What went wrong?  Was it here, or back in Montana?"

 

Chase almost looks smug as he peers across to Mina, arching dark eyebrows at her, "Different? How so? Look... I'm not about to start kissing on women just to have them run out on me. My ego can only take so much." He wrinkles his nose though, waving his hand dismissively. "She just wanted to be friends too. So... I'm a friendly guy. Not many guys can say they have as many girl... /friends/ as I do." Which is something, he supposes. Ah well.

 

Mina nibbles on her lower lip as she studies the Genbu.  "I didn't run out on you the first time, Chase."  Pushing the salad around her plate as she stares across the booth at the other seishi, she notes softly.  "Things... if things were different, if I'd met you first, Chase..."  She shakes her head, not wanting to make things worse with what-ifs and what-might-have-beens.  "And you really deserve better than me.  You deserve someone who is free to feel the same way."  Looking down again, a look of sadness flickers across her features.  "It's your story, Chase, your perogative if you don't want to share."  Blinking and looking up at the other seishi, she freezes, "Anou... does that mean that you don't want to be friends any more?"

 

Granted, the first time stunned Chase too, but that's besides the point. It was the second that really made things weird. The teenager almost looks embarrassed as he peers across to Mina, "Oh, stop it. I'm not even going to get into this discussion with you out here. You've said what you said before and that is that. Don't be getting all mushy on me again. And yes, we're still friends. Damn, Mina... you really are a drama queen." He glances away from her, sighing, drinking his pop, and generally looking /really/ uncomfortable now. "Lets... lets /not/ okay." And so he'll kick at her leg from under the table, "Drama queen." This time there is a touch more teasing in his tone.

 

Catherine enters with a group of friends of about her own age, laughing and talking easily as they grab a table for lunch. "'I Want Candy' is /not/ my themesong, Carol!" the white-haired woman protests, a note of mock-indignance in her voice. "I would've thought it was something more like... Sheryl Crow's 'Soak Up the Sun'! You have the /weirdest/ taste in music..." Drama-queens and discussion of friendships is not, apparently, on her agenda.

"Am not," Mina retorts huffily and drat it all, they're in a public place so she can't retaliate the way that she usually does.  Especially after that kick in the shin.  Instead, she rummages in her bag and pulls out a posable figurine of Legolas and hands it over to the Genbu seishi.  "Here, got this for you the other day.  Was just waiting for the right moment to give it to you."  And this seems like such an apt time.  At Cat's voice, her eyes widen and she debates between ducking underneath the table and waving her fellow seishi over.  Deciding on the latter, she calls out to the other Byakko.  "Cat!  Cat!  Heard you've been going around kissing seishi."

 

Chase gapes at the figurine. The Legolas figurine. "You did not just give me what I thought you did..." Denial, anyone? He takes the action figure in hand though, smirking at it, "Long flaxen locks... the guy has no ass. What /do/ girls see in him? If you want someone that looks like this, just get a girl." He rolls his eyes, and then peers up and over to Cat, blinking at her. He offers her a wave, and then another kick under the table goes to Mina on principle alone. "Shush, dufus. She's with friends."

 

Catherine's friends immediately give Cat such Looks that promise dire retribution if she doesn't explain at some point soon while she herself just looks completely and utterly blank. "'Scuse me, guys. Old friend who has this bad habit of yelling things in public to get attention -- even when I can't even remember what, for the life of me, she's talking about." With that, she wanders over to Mina and Chase's table, sliding in beside Mina and elbowing the girl. "You kiss worse people, you know, Mina. What /are/ you talking about, and why do you have a Legolas figurine?"

 

Smirking gleefully, Mina nods.  "Call it a 'happy end of term' present, Chase.  And I still think he's hot, and has a mighty fine butt."  But that causes her to flush again, because the conversation seems strangely remeniscent of conversations in the past.  And then she's wincing at the kick in the shins.  Ooh, they're going to be black and blue.  "Stop kicking me," she hisses over at the other seishi, her voice lowered so that her words won't carry past the Genbu's ears.  "You want her to kiss you, ne?  She's here, you're here... good chance as any that you can get a smooch out of this."  As Cat makes her way over to the pair, she beams a smile at the other Byakko, wincing again as she's elbowed.  Yeesh, Chase is right.  The Yang are such a violent lot. ;.;  "We're talking about kissing.  Chase was saying that you would probably be a better kisser than I would.  I bet him dinner here that he was wrong.  Care to help with the bet, Cat?"

 

Chase will peer at the figurine, smirking at it mostly. "A present? Just for that you aren't getting any booze at Brice's party. But I'm sure this'll look just wonderful on my dresser, to compliment the /poster/." Yes, the poster. Still hung up. Either he hasn't gotten around to taking the stupid thing down or... something. But then he is blinking at Mina, and harshly whispering right on back, "I never said any such thing. You're the one who..." But then Cat is there, and he is offering her his traditional crooked grin. "Hey there. I'd apologize for Mina, but there really is no excuse for her." Ack. Just... ack. He winces at Mina's words. Cringes, actually. And he says /nothing/.

 

"Mina? Don't make me make you want to sink into the floor," Catherine remarks mildly, folding her hands on the table before her. "I think I can still manage that." Pausing for a moment to eye that figurine again, she gives Chase a rather sympathetic (though amused) look. "Believe me, I'm used to it. She tell you she used to cross-dress yet?"

 

Blinking, Mina's smile widens as she studies the Genbu.  "The poster's still up, Chase?"  Awww.  "It must be lonely up on that blank wall all by itself.  I'll have to find it a mate."  Or something.  "Sink into the floor?"  Eep.  Why, why couldn't see have been blessed with the teleporting ability?  Why?!  "Anou, does that mean that you don't want t-"  Ack!  Ack!  Flushing bright red, she mutters crossly.  Something about deserts, nomads, and young girls all alone.  "It was safer to pretend to be a boy," is all she'll grump.  "And no fair, you wore frilly, lacey, girly things.  Things that showed off just how jiggly you were."  Yeah, she's not going to be the only blushing Byakko here.

 

"Cross-dress?" Chase echoes, as was inevitable. He peers over at Mina for a moment, trying to picture this sort of thing. And if the smile on his face is any indication, he is definitely getting a charge out of the imagery. That and the smug snicker. Hey, the heat is finally off of him. It is all good. He takes a sip from his drink, smiling back across to Cat, "Well, obviously... Cat would look good in something like that." Do they really want to start in on another discussion about curves, or lack-there-of? "She'd look good in anything." He flashes the woman a wink before grinning back to Mina. And his legs will be tugged away, incase any kicking were to happen under there.

 

Catherine quirks an eyebrow at Mina, chuckling drolly. "As if you weren't capable of taking care of yourself, Ame-chan," she replies. "Of course I wore girly things, but jiggling is a bit of a debatable topic. How was a girl to get a good audience if she didn't wear that sort of costume, hmm? I could've sworn I told you what I did before I ran into Tokaki and everyone. Oh well." She nods at Chase. "She cross-dressed. And talked to Karasuki about sheep when he mentioned why he wasn't interested in girls. She was very amusing."

 

Mina does indeed try to kick Chase.  Only to be met with air.  Grr.  Grr, she growls.  "And stop looking at me like that.  I don't like that funny look on your face."  And hey, even if they're in public, there's only so much that she'll be pushed before she has to retaliate.  Grimacing, she decides that her root beer float is all too interesting.  Spooning up ore ice cream, she sputters.  "I told him I didn't care who or what he slept with, Cat.  He could sleep with a sheep for all I cared, as long as the sheep didn't object."  And now she'll turn back to her ice cream.  Darn it, double teamed.  "And hai, but why tempt fate, ne?"

s/ore/more

 

"Sheep?" Yet another inevitable echo on Chase's part. "I don't think that I really want to know what brought that idea up. Nope." Some things it is really best not to know anything about. Of course, Mina had to go and elaborate. "Oh... stop. Please. Please, I'm begging you." His poor head can only take so much. He peers back at Mina and counters, only he is now looking at Cat as he says this though. "She keeps trying to put animals down my clothes. Her twisted way of feeling me up or something." He rolls his eyes, and then smiles back to Cat, "So, what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in awhile."

 

"Well, you slept with... what was it, a camel, Mina?" Cat can be irrepressible when she wishes to be, really. "Okay, we'll stop, but only since you paid me such a nice compliment, Chase. Not entirely true -- I don't think that anyone looks good in green checked pants -- but thank you all the same. It's the usual. Work. Tori's a good boss, and the clientele at the club's pretty good actually. Bachelor parties sometimes get a little rowdy, but hey, things are good. Pretty quiet. Oh, and trying to avoid going out on dates with Lee. That's always fun."

 

Ye gods, Mina's never going to live this down, is she?  And.. "Chase!"  That's it, he's getting a weasel in the pants next time she visits.  "Just keep pushing it, cowboy.  I know where you live," she adds on a growl.  And that's all she'll say.  Finishing up her salad, she listens in on the conversation between Cat and the Genbu.  Ack.  "It's not as bad as you make it sound," she sweatdrops.  "Camels are warm.  Deserts are cold at night.  Any smart nomad knows about sharing body heat."  And even though she has nothing to be embarrassed about, she's still flushing bright red.  "Anou... if you had another boyfriend Cat, Lee might give up, ne?"  Pause.  "You know, Chase says that he prefers older women."

 

Chase's eyebrows seem to want to strive for his hairline once again, but he isn't going to say anything. Nope. So why do they continue to insist on explaining these things further? "I haven't seen you in green checked pants before, so I'll save any further compliments until then," he adds with a wry smile, grinning back across to Cat. Mina is awarded a wry glance, "And I know where you live too. Don't even start on those threats with me, Mina-girl." He looks just a little bit smug before turning back to Cat, quirking a brow at her, "Why do a note a touch of sarcasm in your tone there, Cat? Lee that bothersome, eh?"

 

"Mina, you're /blushing/. That's so cute!" Cat's just going to try to reach over and pinch Mina's cheek now. Run away, she's in this sort of a mood. "You really need to work on the matchmaking approach, Ame-chan, or you'll wind up with it backfiring in your face. In this case..." She glances back at Chase, an amused glint in her eyes. "No more than usual. So, what were you talking about before Mina gave my friends something to gossip about?"

 

"Am not," is Mina's childish retort to Cat's remark before she sends a scowl Chase's direction.  "Hah, but I have Tori and Nick downstairs."  Hiding behind the Seiryuu, oh how low she's sunk.  "So don't try anything funny, cowboy."  Pause.  "What do you mean, my matchmaking approach?"  Will trying to look innocent throw Cat off the mark.  "And I was serious, we were talking about kissing, ne Chase-kun?"

 

And it is at this point that Chase's forearms are going to come up onto the table and he is going to dig his hands into his hair in exasperation. Probably remain that way for a moment too. He peers over to Cat, "Yes. Kissing. She seems to think that I should just seize the moment and kiss you... this was, naturally, going along with this entire need of her's to try to get me hooked up with someone -which I told her that I really don't need her doing."

 

Catherine glances aside at Mina, then at Chase, then back and forth. Lookit, tennis spectator. "I have Tori and Nick downstairs too. They're pretty decent neighbors. That having been said, Mina?" She laces her fingers together before her on the table, an amused smile lurking about the corners of her lips. "Isn't this a bit of a turnaround for you, wanting everyone to be paired up and in a relationship? Leave Chase alone; he'll make his own decisions, I think."

 

"Anou... this case is different Cat," is all Mina'll say.  Looking over at Chase though, she sighs, "Fine, fine, you don't need my help in finding a girlfriend."  And now she'll finish up her float with a small shrug, "I didn't not want people together, I.. it just was so unexpected when things turned out so badly in the end with Tatara and Suzuno."  Looking away, she sighs softly.  "You all knew that I loved you, ne?  Still do."

 

 

Chase is just going to smirk at Mina for a moment, that'll eventually turn into a frown that drags down the rest of his features. After a moment though, he'll look away from her and back over to Cat with his smile peeking out once more, "Funny how things like that can just change, eh?" He shrugs his shoulders as well, sipping at his drink.

 

"Sometimes we wonder, Ame-chan," Cat says, her tone purposefully light as she leans back in her seat, running her hands through her hair to clear it from her eyes. "Things happened as they did; they're the past, and not even I can change them, not that I'd want to at this point. It makes things all the sweeter now, I think, or will. It is funny, isn't it? Things change so quickly, and then there's a long space of nothing new." She glances between the two of them again. "You know, we three should go do something fun for once." That is to say, she arranges it, then just doesn't show up, leaving the two of them to go alone.

 

Mina's eyes widen as Chase's smirk turns upsidedown and she drops her gaze guiltily.  "Hai, Cat, I know that there's a lot of questions about my decisions.  I... I told Tatara-sama," she confesses on a whisper.  She doesn't say anything more, doesn't need to.  Her features tell the tale of just exactly how well that revelation went over.  "Anou... count yourself lucky, Cat, there's always something new cropping up around me."  And now she'll look up towards Chase, frowning worriedly.  "Even when I think things have calmed down, something pops up to change it all around."  Turning a soft smile over towards Cat, she readily agrees, "Hai, hai, like going out to see a film or something."  And Cat doesn't need to skip out, the other two seishi spend time together alone quite frequently.

 

Chase is left to smirking once more, including a moment to roll his eyes. But he sighs, smiling back over to Cat, "That'd be good. We will have to try to organize that then." He flickers a glance over to Mina though, responding to her frowns with a pinched glance, but in the next breath he smiles to her, "Maybe we need to take a weed-wacker to you some day then if things keep... /cropping/ up." He flashes her another smile though, before it softens.

 

Rising and placing money on the table, enough to cover her salad and float, she gives Chase a soft smile of her own.  "Or perhaps to whack at the things themselves, ne?"  Oh yeah, she'll be seeing the cowboy later.  She's got to vent on someone.  "Jya minna," she says with small wave for both seishi.  "See you at Brice's graduation party, if not before Chase."  And then she's shouldering her pack again and heading out of the cafe.