Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]

[notthistrain]

Cloud knew he should be taking the opportunity to check out the rec field during the day. The fresh air would be a welcome change from the crowded stuffiness the Institute usually provided, and he would have a chance to scope out the area when it wasn't all under the cover of darkness. When offered a choice, however, he remained in the sun room

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[mukuchi]

Talking with Chekov had been good. He'd learned more about the guy and hadn't had to carry the conversation himself. Plus he'd received extra strawberries for Mitsukuni; and anyone willing to give his cousin a present was a good guy in Mori's book. The taller teen made sure to swoop by Mitsukuni as he headed out to wherever he was going, depositing the two strawberry packages in his hands before his nurse shooed him away. They were still trying to break "William" of his bad habit of clinging to his family apparently. It was annoying, but not enough that Mori would fight the staff for it. He'd see Mitsukuni again soon enough.

Very soon, hopefully. It made Mori nervous not to have his cousin in his sights.

His nurse ushered him to the Sun Room and he went obediently, making a beeline for the kittens. If he couldn't play with Mitsukuni today, then he'd have cats. He liked cats. They were warm and--

Ow.

Mori glanced down and saw one industrious calico kitten already trying to claw its way up his pant leg. Leaning down, he picked it up and set it on his shoulder. A second tabby cat soon joined the first and then he went to find a couch to lie down on. The two kittens were busy trying to settle on the back of his neck and on his shoulders, so he figured it best to get somewhere that they wouldn't have far to fall if they made a mistake.

Taking his seat, Mori lifted both animals off his shoulders and put them in his lap. That lasted for all of two seconds before the calico was climbing up his shirt front while the tabby sat and cried. Sighing, Mori picked that one up and cradled it in his arms leaning back slightly so the calico could better rest on his chest. This was one way to pass the time until he could see Mitsukuni again - even if it resulted in little claw marks everywhere.

[For Anise!]

[gald_digger]

"Where would you like to go, Dolores?" Anise's nurse was asking her in a gentle voice as she was escorted from the cafeteria. As nice as the nurse was being, her mannerisms just felt patronizing to Anise. "Most of the other girls should be going to the Greenhouse about now. Do you think that would be fun?"

"Hmm..." When they entered the Sun Room, Anise stopped to look around. Sure, the Greenhouse was more interesting than the Sun Room, but what really mattered was the company! Given the choice, Anise would much rather spend her shift with a good man than with another girl.

...Speaking of which.

The girl's wandering eyes caught sight of one such 'good man,' seemingly being swarmed by kittens. The sight was pretty funny, and it immediately brought a smile to her face. "Actually, I think I'll stay here. Later!" she decided, hastily dismissing her nurse as she skipped over to see Mori. How long had it been since they last had a chat? Too long, obviously.

The girl stopped a few feet away from the couch he was on, giggling as she greeted him. "Ehehe. Looks like you're popular!"

[mukuchi]

The kitten was trying pawing and pushing at Mori's neck and the teen just closed his eyes, roling his head slightly to the left. If it wanted to do that, let it. The calico was playing and the little tabby in his arms was settling. It hadn't take long for another to pop up and sit on his foot - a little black furball - but apparently it had gotten bored and wandered off soon after. With his eyes closed, he could hear the cat purring as it kept kneading at his neck and Mori couldn't help but absently hope it wouldn't start trying to suck on his hair. It was far too short for that to--

Someone approaching. He cracked one eye open when he heard the giggle followed by a familiar girlish voice. Anise, the girl he'd helped at breakfast that one time and who had come with him and Mitsukuni a few times on Cake Club runs. He remembered that the Host routine worked to keep her happy and so he smiled at her faintly. Carefully balancing the kneading kitten on his shoulder and the tabby in his arms, he stood and motioned for her to have a seat, bowing just enough to be polite but not enough to cause the cat to lose its hold.

[gald_digger]

It was with some amount of awe that Anise watched as Mori moved, standing up straight and even bowing, all without disrupting the felines perched atop him. Rather than sitting down, she almost wanted to clap for him, like he were a street performer. But that might have been a little too much, so instead she just flashed him a cheerful smile and accepted his silent offer, plopping herself down in the indicated seat.

"It's been a while, huh?" she commented, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. "What've you been up to?"

With all of the crazy things that had been going on, Anise hadn't been able to touch base with the Cake Club in a while. Besides being busy, Anise just didn't want to show her face around her new friends when she wasn't able to give them her best smiles. Now that things were back to sort-of-normal, that could change. It was good to keep as many friends as possible, right? And it was doubly good when those friends were rich.

[mukuchi]

Anise seemed a little wowed by Mori's movements and he looked at her curiously for a moment. He was used to having animals and people sitting on his shoulders so he'd gotten pretty good at moving without disturbing them. After all, Mitsukuni had been riding his shoulders and piggy-back since they were kids. And Piyo-chan didn't have the claws to hang on like cats did. Then again, she usually roosted on his head so it was a little different.

Once Anise was seated, Mori took his place next to her, letting the kittens readjust to him sitting. As for what he'd been up to, he pointed to the cats and then shrugged a little. Same old, same old. "Helping Mitsukuni." The Cake Club had been doing the same thing as always, trying to brighten up life even a little bit here. They'd accomplished cake a few times, made a new ghostly friend and several other things, but it was still the same as usual for him. More important was Anise and her friends and so Mori turned the question to her, tilting his head a little.

[gald_digger]

"Honey, hmm...?" It was a good thing those two had their nicknames. Their full names were still a little too awkward for Anise's tongue. "You two are pretty close, huh? It seems like you're always looking out for him."

Whenever she saw him at night, Mori was usually hovering around that kid. Thinking about it, Anise remembered how Honey had mentioned before that they were 'best friends'. It had to be nice, having someone like that around. Anise had tons of good friends with her, which she was really grateful for! But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel the tiniest tinge of jealousy for those who still had their single most precious friend by their sides.

She noticed the small motion of Mori's head, and soon realized what was implied by it. "As for me..." Well. She couldn't exactly go on about all the horrible events of the past week in a casual conversation like this. Best to gloss over the details as much as possible. "You know, just the usual! Getting in trouble, getting out of trouble... hehe." Saying it like that would make it seem like nothing serious had happened. The playful giggle and the smile she tacked on to the end of it hopefully reinforced that impression.

[mukuchi]

Saying they were pretty close was a bit of an understatement. Mitsukuni was Mori's cousin, the Morinozuka family had served the Haninozuka family for centuries, they'd grown up together, gone to school together, played and trained together since the time they were born. He was Mori's most important person and he'd spend the rest of his life protecting him and helping him. It was just the way their families worked. But instead of laying all that on poor Anise, he just nodded his agreement while the cat on his shoulder let out a mewling cry.

He reached up to pat it on the head as he listened to Anise give an extremely vague sort of answer. But the way she laughed and smiled made it seem like she didn't really want to elaborate. Mori wouldn't mind listening to her if she needed a shoulder to lean on, but he wasn't sure if she'd feel comfortable with that just yet. Still, he gave her a questioning look and then picked up the tabby cat in his arms, setting it on her lap. If she couldn't talk to him, maybe having a little kitten to talk with would help.

[gald_digger]

Mori really wasn't much of a conversationalist, was he? Anise had noticed this a long time ago, of course, but it was still weird how someone could stand to say so little. What was actually even weirder, though, was how Mori managed to do that while still keeping the conversation from turning horribly awkward.

Anise was a little surprised when one of the kittens was set in her lap. She'd never really interacted with the institute's cats before, and even back home, where plenty of strays roamed around, she didn't have much contact with cats. With her family's situation, they couldn't afford a pet, so Anise had learned not to get too attached to the ones she'd find around the city. That way, she wouldn't be tempted to bring one home, and then have to be told to take it back outside.

With one hand, Anise lightly rubbed the tabby's head, which caused it to shirk out from under it, then start to push its furry face against her hand, rubbing its whiskers against it. Huh. She didn't really get it, but it seemed to be happy doing that, so the girl returned her attention to Mori.

"Hmm...?" she hummed in response to that look he gave her. "You look like you want to ask something. Ah! Could this mean you're interested in me!? Hee hee..." She pretended to be oblivious to what he might have been wondering about, while taking the opportunity to flirt a little. Why not?

[mukuchi]

She was a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of the furball in her lap and Mori fretted for a moment that he'd done the wrong thing. What if she were allergic? Or afraid? Or-- She started to pet it and Mori let out a sigh as his worries dissipated into thin air. Maybe she just wasn't used to cats and that was why she'd been so surprised. The kitten seemed content at least, rubbing its face against her hand lovingly.

He smiled a bit and patted the calico's head as it continued to scramble around, finally settling on falling into his lap to curl up. He dropped his gaze to follow it for a moment and then looked back to Anise. She didn't seem to want to talk about whatever was bothering her, so Mori would leave well enough alone for now. Instead, he figured it might be okay to play along with her game and he nodded. It wasn't exactly a lie after all. He was interested in her. She was a nice girl and a friend of theirs. Wasn't it natural to be interested in friends?

[gald_digger]

"Ooh! You really are? That makes me so happy," Anise gushed. She wasn't sure if Mori was serious or if he was just being polite, but she was having fun, so she happily kept going.

"Well, since you want to know more about me... My favorite season is summer, my favorite color is pink, and my hobby is cooking!" she carried on excitedly, listing various bits of trivial information. The kitten in her lap, seemingly picking up on that energy, rolled over onto its back and began batting at her hand playfully. Anise played along, raising and lowering her hand for the tabby to swipe and grab at it. "What about you, Mori?" she asked, grinning at him. "Got any exciting hobbies or talents?"

[mukuchi]

Season: summer. Color: pink (like Mitsukuni, actually). Hobby: cooking. No wonder she'd joined the Cake Club in the beginning. Mori had already sort of guessed at that one when they'd first met. She'd been trying to taste all sorts of foods to figure out their recipes as he remembered. Maybe the next time he was in town, he'd go to the bookstore and try to copy some recipes from a cookbook down for her. He made a mental note to do that and continued listening.

In contrast to the lively kitten in her lap now, the calico was starting to go to sleep, curled up in Mori's lap. It matched their personalities a bit really. And as for Anise's question, he thought for a moment, then pointed to the animals because caring for them was one of his hobbies - what with Piyo and the tanuki. Helping Mitsukuni was a given. Oh, but there was one thing he did other than Hosting that might be considering 'exciting.' Hosting wasn't really a talent, either. He just did what he did naturally. "Kendo. Japanese sword." Just in case she didn't know what kendo was. He didn't need to boast about how he was the National Champion or anything. She'd asked for his talent, not his rank.

[gald_digger]

His hobby was... cats? Animals? Hmm. Anise supposed Mori was saying that he was an animal-lover. It wasn't something she'd normally guess for a big, quiet guy like him, but seeing the way the kittens here seemed to adore him, it was easy enough to believe.

"Kendo? Oh, Honey mentioned something like that before, but I didn't know what it was. So it's a kind of sword-fighting? How cool!" And it was 'Japanese-style'? Right, those two were from Japan. It seemed like a lot of people were. Anise had to wonder if maybe Japan was a really big country, if Landel was taking so many people from it.

"That must be a really useful skill to have around here, huh?" she went on after a moment. Better than her skills, anyway. It wasn't fair how fonists couldn't use their full power, no matter what equipment they had! Boooo.

[mukuchi]

Anise was cute. She was so eager to get to know people and such a friendly girl that it was easy to see why Honey had liked her off the bat. The two of them had very similar personalities actually and that set Mori at ease. He didn't feel the need to speak more than he usually did around Anise either. Like Mitsukuni, she seemed to understand what he was trying to say for the most part. No one could understand him like his cousin did, but Anise was doing a pretty good job so far.

He nodded in response to Anise's questions about kendo and shrugged a little when she said it was cool. It was just something he and his family did, like Mitsukuni and his martial arts. They were the sword and shield to the Haninozuka family, so it was only natural that he trained in those arts, too.

As for how useful it was, Mori had to pause for a moment. He was mostly using the staff techniques here rather than any kendo techniques. And his training in kendo club had mostly been for tournaments. He knew the more rough and tumble fighting techniques, of course, but he hadn't really had a reason to use them yet. Upon realizing that, he shrugged again and moved his hands to imitate the position when holding a staff. "Use a staff instead."

Lowering his hands, he looked at Anise and wondered what sort of things she used. He remembered her saying something about how she was a fighter, but he'd never had the opportunity to see her in action. "What about you?"

[gald_digger]

"Huh... so you can use a staff too? You're pretty amazing!" Anise enthusiastically commented once Mori clarified. Swords and staffs? It was pretty impressive. But what made Anise happiest was that it gave her an excuse to keep showering Mori with flattery. Guys liked that, right? Especially when it was their skills and strength being praised.

When asked about her own abilities, Anise placed a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. "Hmm. My abilities aren't that useful here. I'm a fonist and a puppeteer, so I usually blast enemies with fonic artes or make Tokunaga beat them up..." She tilted her head, groaning slightly as she thought about how she couldn't do much of either at Landel's. Her artes kind of worked, but they were pretty pathetic.

"I usually carry wands or maces back home, so I've been carrying a meat tenderizer here. It's kind of similar, I guess." Just, it didn't work as a fonic amplifier... which was usually the main thing Anise needed from a weapon. Earth's weapons kind of sucked as far as that went.

[mukuchi]

Mori just blinked in confusion when Anise kept flattering him, shaking his head slightly. Mitsukuni was far more impressive with his hand-to-hand combat. For his small size, he was able to throw Mori around like a rag doll and had done so on more than one occasion. To Mori, that was impressive. He only did what came naturally to him. A staff allowed him to make greater use of his height and his long arms, keeping enemies at a distance.

What Anise did sounded a lot more impressive. He wasn't sure what a fonist was, but a puppeteer? He knew that. Kind of. To think that Anise was able to make something else fight for her was pretty cool. But more than that, she was strong enough to wield a mace. A mace. Mori suddenly got the strange visual of tiny little Anise carrying a knight's iron spiked mace, clubbing mutated rats in the face.

Yeah, that was weird.

"Fonist?" he asked, looking for clarification of the one term he didn't understand. The rest was impressive enough, but to fully understand what she was capable of, he needed to know that one word.

[gald_digger]

At Mori's question, a small, sheepish smile crossed Anise's face. Right; someone from Earth would have no clue what a fonist was. She knew that, but it was hard to get used to that when it was such common knowledge where she came from. And what was even harder was that she couldn't explain it simply by talking about fonons, since he wouldn't know what those were, either.

"Hmm... I guess only people from Auldrant would know about fonists, huh? That's what we call people who can use fonic artes. It's... not exactly magic, but it might be easiest to think of it that way." Trying to explain fonons to someone who'd never heard of them would be too troublesome, after all. "Basically we can use, um... certain particles in the atmosphere to make attacks, like with fire or water. I only know how to use light and dark artes, though."

Did that make any sense? Anise studied Mori's face, wondering if he understood.