6/12/2003
04:32
PM
Logfile
from Chase.
The
Berkley Apartments - 302
Clearly,
apartment 302 is a bachelor's land that knows no womanly touch. While the
apartment is clean, even immaculate, it's hard to mistake the gender
preferences of the decor. The main room is painted a neutral creme color with a
tan border that displays many different kinds of fish around the world; On the
walls, glass-windowed storage cabinets hold poles, tack and bridle for horses,
nets, ropes, and any number of bestiary-related clutter, most of which can't
possibly be of any use in the city. Tools hang on a cork board on the far wall,
ranging from different gauges of wire to a welding torch. Contrastingly, the
kitchen is decked out in warm shades of red and white, with an expansive spice
set and expensive cutlery visible among the otherwise immaculate countertops.
Stranger yet is the complete absence of electronics; No clock, TV, radio, or
telephone grace the entire apartment, and both the table and the massive bed
that sits in the bedroom seem handmade, if awkwardly so.
Obvious
exits:
Exit
Mina
knocks uncertainly on Chase's door, probably unnecessary if the Genbu's home as
he can get an inkling of who's standing outside his door. Hopefully he doesn't decide to pretend that
he's not in, because she's stubborn enough to camp outside of it until a) Kenny
lets her in or b) Chase needs to make a run down to Brice's for supplies.
But
Anana brought over chili yesterday, as he can live off of that for at least a
couple of days. There is also the option of climbing out of the fire escape and
using Benito to hold her off -no matter that the dog will probably do whatever
she asks of him. Chase does seem to hesitate within though, setting the game
that he was playing on pause with the slightest of frowns. Why couldn't she
have just stayed away? After a moment though, he finally climbs up off of the
floor and goes to the door to open it. His expression is schooled into
something of blandness, even if there is a touch of apprehension there.
"Hey, Mina."
"Hello,
Chase-kun," Mina meets blandness with open apprehension herself, fidgeting
slightly. Perhaps this was a bad idea,
perhaps it's too soon, but she's been missing the other seishi terribly. "I... Anou... How are you doing, cowboy?" She bites at her lower lip nervously,
raising her gaze so she can study Chase's reactions more carefully before
attempting a tentative smile. He opened
the door, that has to be a step forward, ne?
There
is a brief flicker sadness in his eyes before Chase is turning his head away,
masking with the movement of opening the door further as if to invite her in.
"Don't just stand there fidgiting in the hallway," he mutters, almost
at a resigned sigh. "Come on in. Want something to drink?" While
waiting to see if she does so, he finally looks back to her with wariness.
"I'm fine. You?"
Taking
a deep breath, Mina crosses over into the room a smile directed towards the
paused game. "Whatcha playing,
cowboy?" Yes, she's trying to
lighten the mood and not being terribly subtle about it, either. "Anou... I know I should've called
first," she turns around again to face the other seishi with a sheepish
smile. "Demo, I figured you
wouldn't talk to me." Drink? "Hai, hai, have any coke? Or any other sort of soda pop's fine with
me." Biting her lower lip again,
she forces another smile. "Fine
myself." And then she has to giggle. "I don't suppose you've seen the
Italian Job, have you? Because FINE can
stand for something else, too."
Chase
closes the door after her with a silent shut before moving away and heading for
the fridge in the kitchen. "We've got pop." Although he isn't exactly
sure what kind they do have. Looks like he is playing one of the older N64
games with that Hyrulian himelf, Link, on it. "I'm talking to you now,
aren't I? Although yeah, if you'd have called I might have told you I was
already busy." At least he is honest, in a way, that is. He returns with a
can in hand, no glass, handing the Coke over to her. "Never seen it."
"Zelda,
huh?" Mina may not be a video game
fan, but she hasn't been living under a rock for the past decade. Wyoming, not a rock. At his honesty, her face falls slightly
before she forces another smile on her face.
"It stands for Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic and... I forget what
the 'E' is, but the first three seem fitting, ne?" Perching herself on the edge of his sofa,
she lets her gaze rest on Chase, studying his body language. "What have you been doing these past
couple of weeks? Not getting into trouble,
I hope?" And then she'll flash him
a teasing grin. "Though you look
okay, so things must be going well?"
Chase
cracks open a can for himself as well, taking a drink, and then looking across
to her. At the description, he frowns just the faintest, mostly in annoyance,
"I'm not that bad. Just the traditional description of fine, Mina."
Gaze flickers away and to the frozen scene on the television as he continues,
"Same old, same old, I suppose. Been around, been home for a little bit,
been around some more."
"I
was talking about myself," Mina laughs nervously, popping the top herself
before nursing the sugary drink.
"Demo, I suppose it's not that funny, ne?" And now she's studying the floor in silence
for a moment before rising.
"Anou... I... I guess stopping by was a bad idea. I'm sorry, Chase-kun." She hangs her head, her features shadowed by
her vivid curls. "It's just that
I've missed you. But I'll go
now." And she'll head towards the
door and a slow, defeated pace, pausing to add, "Arigato for the
Coke."
Chase
isn't exactly making things easier, is he? As she stands up to leave, making
her goodbyes, the teenager frowns, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment,
opening them with a glance askance, and then the reluctant sigh. "Sorry. I
suppose I'm not being a very good host or something. Not very nice. You don't
need to leave if you don't want to, but I wouldn't blame you."
Mina
pauses with her hand on the knob of the door before she turns, leaning her back
against the wood and closing her eyes herself.
"Iie, I don't expect you to be nice, Chase-kun. I hurt you.
I hurt myself. I know that it's
not that easy to pretend that didn't happen, demo, I wish we could go back to
the way that we used to be. I wasn't
lying when I said that I've missed you, that I miss you still." Her shoulders slump and her gaze tracks over
to the Genbu again. "I suppose I'm
pushing things again, ne?"
Chase
moves around the side of the couch only to drop into the already weary spring
cushions with a boneless flop, and not managing to spill any of his soda as she
he does so. "You didn't hurt me, I did it to myself. Just... forget
it." His free hand waves negligently towards her as if dismissing it all.
"I was an idiot, and I really don't want to set myself up again for..
whatever. So if you're thinking that things are going to be the same, you'll
have a very long time to wait."
"I
don't want to forget it, Chase-kun," Mina closes her eyes, making her way
to the couch. Placing her can of soda
on the coffee table she hovers and then settles down on the couch beside the
Genbu, careful not to touch him.
"You weren't an idiot," she reassures, reaching over to pat
his knee. "You were following your
heart. You were being true to
yourself." Withdrawing her hand
and clasping it with the other in her lap, she admits dully, "It was my
fault for kissing you. For making it
worse." And then her eyes are
watering, silent tears slipping down her cheek. "Why... why can't things go back to the way they used to be,
Chase-kun. Before you liked me that
way, when we were friends.
Remember?"
Chase
visibly tenses as she comes near, watching her warily. He tries not to react at
all as she touches his knee, but fails miserably with his sigh. The briefest of
frowns turns down at his lips, annoyance making an appearance again as he
replies, "Mina, I really don't want to talk about this. I'm going to start
yelling and make you feel miserable, and I don't want to." Oh no. Not the
tears again. He makes a conscious effort to look anywhere but at her, "It
isn't that easy to just erase whatever and make things the way you want them,
Mina. You might think it is, but it isn't."
"Damn
it, Chase," Mina even drops the -kun as she wipes furiously at her
eyes. "What do you want to talk
about then? When will you forgive me,
what do I have to do to make things right again." She balls her hands into fists, frustration
evident in her features as more tears leak out. "I've got the distinct impression that you don't want to
talk to me at all." And that
hurts, it hurts a lot. "I know
that, I know that we can't change what's happened between us, but is it wrong
of me to wish that things were different.
Not this awkward, or cold, or even so... so painful," she ends with
a sad sigh.
Chase
blinks at her cursing. Now, he doesn't hear that very often from her. Startles
him enough to actually look back at the girl. "Mina, I don't blame you for
this. There isn't anything to forgive. And you made it abundantly clear, more
than once, I'm just some friend of yours and nothing more. Fine. I
just..." He sighs, glancing away again, "I just don't want to set
myself up again, or make you feel weird. Save us a whole lot of grief that
way."
"Demo,
you're not likely to set your cap for me again, ne? So there won't be any weirdness.
This," Mina gestures to her stiff and awkward seating arrangement,
"This makes me feel weird. And you
are not just some friend, Chase-kun, you're my best friend. Not having you in my life for the past month
made me realize how important you are to me.
You're not some throw-away person, you're someone that I'd like to keep
in my life. So I'm going to fight for
us," she adds with determination.
"I'm going to keep hoping that we can be friends again." She's already ruined thing with one
important person in her life, she's not about to repeat the same mistake again.
Chase
is reluctant, extremely reluctant, and it shows in his features and the way
that he makes sure to sit a little away from her. He doesn't say anything about
her first words, actually looking away a little. Who's to say he still doesn't
carry that torch? Still. The very idea of, yet again, having to shove
everything away and keep quiet about stuff doesn't exactly make him want to
turn cartwheels. Ugh, not again. "Mina.. I don't know..."
Mina
doesn't push, though she would like to.
But the last time she pushed Chase, it blew up in her face. "Chase-kun... don't you miss me
too?" She drops her gaze to her
lap and shakes her head, "Gomen ne, I... I hadn't thought of that
possibility." And now she'll just
sit in awkward silence for a minute before she blinks, looking more
determined. "Tell me that you
don't miss our friendship and I'll... I'll go.
And I... I promise never to bother you again." She lifts her gaze, her stormy aquamarine
eyes searching out his sea green ones.
"But I won't give up on our friendship so easily. I won't let you slip away from me if there's
hope."
Chase
drags his fingers back through his hair, nearly groaning as he does so. If this
isn't torture, he doesn't know what is. Dropping his head, weary eyes peer
through the fringe of his hair and on to Mina once again, muttering with
accusation, "You're killing me here, you know?" Annoyed, he glances
away, scowling, shaking his head from side to side, "Yeah, I miss things,
but... I just don't know."
"I'll
behave, Chase-kun," Mina promises, his confession causing her eyes to
light up with hope. "I won't kiss
you again. I won't do anything that you
don't want me to do." She juts out
her chin, looking stubborn. "I
promise not to hurt you again," she adds softly. "No matter what else I have to do, I won't let you get
hurt." And then she's cocking her
head at the Genbu seishi, studying him hopefully. "Will you trust me enough to be my friend again?"
Never
mind that he would actually prefer that she does kiss him again. Chase sighs
though, frowning with something of disappointment, before he lifts his head and
watches her with continued wariness, "Don't make promises like that."
He finally does take another sip from
his pop, buying a little time before continuing, "But I'm not sure that I
can do this, Mina. Not how you want me to, and I don't want you expecting
such."
"Why
not, Chase-kun? How else can I prove
just how important you are to me?"
Mina has been making all the calls regarding their friendship therefore
at Chase's words she frowns and then nods her head. "Hai, then we will do things your way. Just tell me what sort of friendship you
want us to have and I will do my best to fill the role that you want me
to. I don't want you to feel awkward,
either. I want this to work out, us to
work out." And as she's talking,
she'll reach over and try to grab one of the Genbu's hands, her eyes reflecting
her earnestness.
Chase
really, really hates having boundaries set on things, especially the way that
Mina wants to describe things. So, he scowls in response, glancing away again.
"Mina, I..." Really sucks to be without the right words either.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to say or tell you." And so, he'll
fidget, that is until she takes his hand, and he lets her without argument, and
the slightest of tensing.
"Just
tell me what you want," Mina encourages softly, squeezing his hand
briefly, but she doesn't let it go. The
fact that he's letting her have any contact with him has her hoping even
more. "I'll let you set out what
you want from our friendship this time, Chase-kun. I'll let you decide on the rules, or lack of them if you'd
like." She shakes her head ruefully,
her light curls bouncing. "We
tried it my way, and it didn't work. So
we'll try it yours, ne? Couldn't mess
things up more than they are right now."
Chase
sighs slightly, looking down at her hand before squeezing his eyes shut. Sucks.
Really, really sucks. He draws in a couple of breaths before trying to school
his features away from where they were headed, dipping into sheer willpower to
do so. "Lets just see how things go, okay?" He slips his hand out of
hers though, instead using it to take up his can of pop.
Mina
frowns as he withdraws his hand, hurt flashing briefly in her eyes before she
blinks it away. "Demo, I don't
want things to remain like this, Chase-kun.
I don't want things to be so stiff and jerky between us. I want to be able to tickle you again until
you're giggling helplessly. I want to
stick weasels under your clothing and come over with more Legolas things. I want to annoy you so much you have to
freeze my bra again." She sits
back, sinking into his couch. "I
want to pounce on you, learn how to shoot from you... go camping with
you..." She gives a defeated
sigh. "I just want to be with you
again."
Chase
continues to look away from her for a long moment, studying something other
than her for the moment as he tries to figure out what to say or do. The
briefest of frowns creases his features, and then annoyance is showing again. A
breath, and he turns to finally look at her. Head tilting a little to the side,
he watches her with eyes filled with resignation, "Oh, dammit. Don't look
at me like that. I can try, okay? And I suppose, maybe... maybe we could do
that stuff. It'll make you happy?"
And you
had to know this was coming. Mina
flings herself at Chase, wrapping him up in a genki hug. "Arigato, arigato Chase-kun!" And then she's babbling happily, "It
will make me happy, just being with you makes me happy." But then she sobers and draws back, studying
the other seishi worriedly, because she's being selfish again. "Demo... will it make /you/ happy? I don't want to force you to do anything
that you don't want to do. I... that's
how we got here in the first place, ne?"
Chase
doesn't quite squeak, but it is a very near thing. As he is glomped by the
girl, he tenses momentarily before drawing his arms almost reluctantly around
her. Well, at first and then he is plodding bravely on to give her something of
a squeeze. The look though, he tries to avoid, instead sliding up off of the
sofa, "If you're happy, then I'm happy, of coarse." He then turns to
look back down at her, "Everything alright now?"
Mina
sighs happily at the return squeeze, eyes closed. But then he's sliding up off the couch at her question and she
studies him worried. "..." But she's not that experienced in
relationship and thus takes him at his word, cracking a mischievous smile. "Almost," she giggles in response,
and then she's concentrating on the seishi who will get a warm fuzzy under his
clothing again. And then she'll laugh,
nodding her head in satisfaction.
"Now everything's all right."
Chase
watches her for a moment, nodding his head, "Okay. Look, I've got a thing
that I need to do though in a few minutes. Maybe we'll talk again la-"
Things crawling in his clothes again. O.O "Mina!" Yes, he'll curse at
her, stifling a snicker while trying to reach underneath to yank the thing out
from under his clothes.
"Hai,
hai, I'll be going now," Mina nods happily over at Chase, trotting towards
the door. "Have fun with my little
friend." And then she's turning
the knob and slipping out the door, pausing long enough to toss a happy
"Jya ne!" over her shoulder.
And then she's gone. And they
will definitely be talking again later.
Poor Chase is going to think he's got a stalker in the Byakko. n.~