Hi, hallo, hola, Salute!

For once, Emilia was willing to wait for him. And wait, and wait...

Okay, a few minutes later maybe not so much. Was he really that stubborn? Did he just not hear? Emilia tapped the cane once more, then waited again

And waited

If only she had some type of personal mirror to see behind her without turning. A few moments later, she realized she did though, in the form of her phone. Couldn't shoot a laser off of it, but she could turn on the camera and look behind her. It was from that and a little angling that she eventually spotted Kat. He was almost close enough to shoot

Which means that naturally she had to come out, which is precisely what she did. She brought her knee to her chest then pushed off, firing recklessly towards him before quickly retreating back to her old spot. She could repeat that until he caught on or she hit him

Luckily, she wouldn't have to wait long though, since a noise coming from his vest marked her success. Naturally, she got a little cocky and came out to spin circles around him, chuckling

"Told you being a coward will never pay off!"

If only she knew that wasn't the end of the game

#katahiko #ch4

Pew Pew | Emilia | Ch4 | Closed for Katahiko

emiliamonde‌:

The confirmation that it wasn’t done yet left her slightly disappointed to be completely honest. She knew 3 days was pretty quick, and he got sick and all, but part of her was wondering if he postponed due to their deal…

No, he would never do that. He’s a bit of a coward, but in the cute, screaming at everything way, not the taking advantage of someone due to his own fears way. Besides, if she were to think of it anymore, all she’d do was sour their current activity

“Oho, pretend? Now why would I try to imagine you as a bigger threat?”

She had only a small understanding of how the chair would get in the way. He might’ve had two legs, but she had sick wheel tricks and that’s what really mattered. She made sure her vest and gun looked alright, then proceeded to roll off

“Yep, gonna take that as a “I may or may not have fallen behind”. It’s alright, I’ve been learning some cool tricks on this bad boy in the mean time anyway” she said as she rolled in a tight circle around him, her front wheels in the air. She had been practicing a little extra in the last 2 days, admittedly, but that was beside the point

“Time for this quote unquote “fair match”. Don’t know exactly how to start it up, so whenever you’re ready I guess”

She really thought she was the one better off, huh

The disappointment in her face, however brief, still hurt. Movingonmovingonmovingon. He knew very well he still didn’t have the faculties to deal with this right in front of her. Let’s try not to compound any guilt complexes when given other options. Especially when the other option was a game, heck yeah…

Katahiko grinned back at her. Trash talk that didn’t hit anything too personal, now that’s what he’s talking about.

“It’s starting to look like you’ll just have to see for yourself, hm~? I know you’d rather hear my voice at every opportunity, but sometimes it’s more dramatic to not see it coming. And you’re still free to underestimate me at your peril—I cant stop you~”

Oh, well there she went. Time to try to suit up, apparently.

While doing so, he very blatantly ignored the first part of her statement, but he couldn’t not check out the tricks. He applauded, with the usual lack of actual sound.

“If only laser tag awarded points for style, huh?”

“Typically each team has a base on opposite sides of the course to start from. Lemme seem if I can find some rules here…”

"Oh shut it and start the game" she cut him off with as she rolled away. Honestly, him being quiet seemed more like a personal challenge than a punishment for her, and who needed rules? All she knew was gun at target equals points, get more points

Despite her vast knowledge, she did eventually find this base he had briefly mentioned. A little too far away to shoot from, but it was at least a good spot to plot. Her plotting in particular consisted on practicing her backwards steering for a good minute or two, knowing very well that the targets on her back were almost completely covered. This would make aiming difficult, sure, but she'd have all the shots she wanted if he couldn't hit her. Once she felt confident in her own driving abilities, she ensured everything was on before taking off, alternating between driving and stopping to actually aim her gun

She should've thought of the one arm thing. Luckily for her, walls were a thing, and she took the opportunity to camp out behind one. In a rather unfair move, she set herself up to where she was facing a corner, then smacked her cane on the floor behind the chair. After that, all she had to do was simply wait, her face and gun turned back to the open space

"Damnit, knew I shouldn't have carried the cane on me" she yelled, not only taunting him but trying to make her location more obvious

#ch4 #katahiko

Pew Pew | Emilia | Ch4 | Closed for Katahiko

emiliamonde‌:

An immediate scream, how thrilling! The fact that he tried to stop himself shortly after only made the reaction funnier to Emilia, although it was what she expected

However, her initial amusement soon faded somewhat with what he said

“….I thought so? Why, have you been not holding your end of the bargain or something?” She asked, a sly grin stretching across her face. She didn’t seem upset or suspicious, that was good. She was slightly upset her leg might not have been done, truth be told, but he was in the infirmary for a few days. That seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse

“… Guess that means I just have to kick your butt here! Never played Lazer tag before, but it looks fun and nerdy! Right up your alley!”

Katahiko couldn’t say he appreciated Emilia’s taste in humor, but at least she was entertained. Not much more he could ask for, really.

“H-Hah?”

Thankfully the answer was so blatantly obvious he couldn’t not take that as a joke. He’d said three days—which in retrospect was incredibly stupid—and it had definitely been a lot longer than that. But if she wasn’t going to push it, he sure wasn’t, either.

Moving on, then!!

“Always here for fun! Not sure how it’s supposed to be nerdy, exactly, but whatever works for you.” After a brief glance around to make sure he wasn’t going to trigger any other lovely anxiety things she could have set up, he knelt to examine the laser gun. “Haven’t played with this particular kind before, so you can pretend we’re evenly matched~”

…Being in a wheelchair was probably a distinct disadvantage actually, but he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to counter it. Take off his arm? Or would the wheelchair give some of the back panels cover and even it out?

Well, if Emilia asked he’d come up with something, but no need to draw attention to it otherwise. Even if he’d announced a good deal of paralympic games, laser tag was very much not one of them.

The confirmation that it wasn't done yet left her slightly dissapointed to be completely honest. She knew 3 days was pretty quick, and he got sick and all, but part of her was wondering if he postponed due to their deal...

No, he would never do that. He's a bit of a coward, but in the cute, screaming at everything way, not the taking advantage of someone due to his own fears way. Besides, if she were to think of it anymore, all she'd do was sour their current activity

"Oho, pretend? Now why would I try to imagine you as a bigger threat?"

She had only a small understanding of how the chair would get in the way. He might've had two legs, but she had sick wheel tricks and that's what really mattered. She made sure her vest and gun looked alright, then proceeded to roll off

"Yep, gonna take that as a "I may or may not have fallen behind". It's alright, I've been learning some cool tricks on this bad boy in the mean time anyway" she said as she rolled in a tight circle around him, her front wheels in the air. She had been practicing a little extra in the last 2 days, admittedly, but that was beside the point

"Time for this quote unquote "fair match". Don't know exactly how to start it up, so whenever you're ready I guess"

She really thought she was the one better off, huh

Pew Pew | Emilia | Ch4 | Closed for Katahiko

emiliamonde‌:

Well, he didn’t seem to be falling for the vest trick, but she knew very well that one was far-fetched. Still, she could jump out from behind the wall at him

“Don’t trust notes!” She screamed as she rolled towards him at high speed (as high of one as she could muster at least). She stopped about a foot or two away from him and chuckled

“You feeling any better? I hope so, cause I gotta find some way to apologize for the minor theft that may or may not have happened. This place seemed up your alley; don’t know why, but you’d at least be up for one game, right?”

He didn’t seem too sleep deprived, that was always a good sign. Then again, she didn’t know exactly what signs she was supposed to be looking for

Apparently Katahiko was feeling much better, because his exaggerated startle response was actually in sync with Emilia’s attack. He kinda actually shrieked, but he managed to cut it off before it could do too much damage. His heart was still about to thrash its way out one way or another, and the sudden surge of stress made him dizzy enough to grip the wall for balance. Maybe not that much better, then.

He couldn’t help giving Emilia a dirty look for that stunt, but it gave way to bemusement soon enough.

“You need to apologize…?”

He shook it off. No time for that. The important part was that he hadn’t just lost the dang thing. It was hers, anyway, he’d just been holding onto it until… Hhhh. Hhhh. Maybe if he just didn’t bring it up it wouldn’t come up and everything would be okay and he didn’t need to work on avoiding her hardcore. No, what he needed to work on HE WASN’T DOING THIS RIGHT NOW.

“I mean, yes! I’m feeling much better, thank you!”

And swiftly move along before she had a chance to stay on that topic.

“I’m pretty much always up for a game of something~ Are you big on laser tag, or just think it looks cool?”

An immediate scream, how thrilling! The fact that he tried to stop himself shortly after only made the reaction funnier to Emilia, although it was what she expected

However, her initial amusement soon faded somewhat with what he said

"....I thought so? Why, have you been not holding your end of the bargain or something?" She asked, a sly grin stretching across her face. She didn't seem upset or suspicious, that was good. She was slightly upset her leg might not have been done, truth be told, but he was in the infirmary for a few days. That seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse

"... Guess that means I just have to kick your butt here! Never played Lazer tag before, but it looks fun and nerdy! Right up your alley!"

#katahiko #ch4

Pew Pew | Emilia | Ch4 | Closed for Katahiko

For the most part, Emilia hadn’t visited anyone in the infirmary minus the two seconds she spent stealing from Katahiko. She wasn’t completely heartless though, she fully intended on checking up on people. Just when they were up and about, and she could rely on taking them somewhere fun. That’s exactly what she did with Kat on the third morning, starting with a note taped to his door

This is the ghost of Mariko trying to lead you to your death with another dumb note. Come to the Lazer tag arena

There was no denying she was in poor taste, but at least she thought it would lighten the mood. In true Emilia fashion though, if Kat did show up, he would see that she was nowhere to be found (aka conviniently hiding behind a nearby wall). Rather, there would be a vest and gun conviniently laying on the ground. It appeared as though there was neon cloth on it. Looks like she also wasn’t fair

Thankfully when he’d first realized his collateral of sorts was missing, Katahiko just didn’t care about anything enough to freak out about it. Now he couldn’t help but be a little nervous, and the phrasing of this note was *not* helping, but…But could people just talk to him geez it was so much less sketchy.

He did want to scope out the laser tag arena a little better, obviously, but this was… But he was just being paranoid! As usual. Nothing to worry about, just a game invitation he couldn’t possibly decline, and…

He still ended up just kinda standing there when he found the equipment. The intent was obvious, maybe too obvious, and…

He was trying so hard not to be an anxious wreck now that he’d regained the strength, but it was so much harder when someone had literally been shot a few days ago.

Well, he didn't seem to be falling for the vest trick, but she knew very well that one was far-fetched. Still, she could jump out from behind the wall at him

"Don't trust notes!" She screamed as she rolled towards him at high speed (as high of one as she could muster at least). She stopped about a foot or two away from him and chuckled

"You feeling any better? I hope so, cause I gotta find some way to apologize for the minor theft that may or may not have happened. This place seemed up your alley; don't know why, but you'd at least be up for one game, right?"

He didn't seem too sleep deprived, that was always a good sign. Then again, she didn't know exactly what signs she was supposed to be looking for

#katahiko #ch4

Perfect Match !! C3C2 !! Katahiko !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

<Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to test it once I’m back on two feet>

Emilia no. She listens carefully to all the features, nodding. That’s… impressive, actually. She was definitely getting modifications once she got a permanent one. Maybe a gps

<Yet? You could probably punch someone pretty hard with that thing; don’t see why you’d need more weapons besides to look cool>

She wasn’t gonna bother asking what myoelectric was at this point; she’d forget it in two seconds anyway. Instead, she’d stare at him for a minute, hesitant to make a deal. She really liked that thing, and he did barely anything to initially get it. Maybe a compromise was needed

Katahiko laughed a little.

<I’ll make sure yours is ballpit-proof, then.>

<I… guess? That still requires, like, back muscles, though. I don’t have a propulsion system on here. If we’re just talking grip, then yeah, superhuman strength there, but the rest of the weapon is only as strong as the one who wields it, so to speak. Also I can’t keep spares of every part on me, so I’d hate to wreck it if I don’t have to.>

Hahhh okay. Well. It wasn’t completely a no, so that was all right. He nodded. A little weird that she was giving him reason to not finish the leg for longer, but he wouldn’t let it tempt him. Probably.

<I don’t really need it. Like I said, I’d just be more comfortable if I actually physically know where it is. If someone else manages to get their hands on it, they can just slip into my room in the dead of night and…> He swallowed. <Yeah. I’m not saying I’m sure you or Honey or Yuri would definitely lose it or get pickpocketed, I just… There’s not a lot I can do about my own safety right now, and I’d at least like that much.>

Emilia can't help but laugh a little. That had to suck; being able to destroy anything but not being strong enough

Good solution there, just be strong.

Emilia was well aware that he could just postpone work on the leg with such power, but she didn't think that was in him. If it was, she'd ask for progress or just steal the card back anyway

Perfect Match !! C3C2 !! Katahiko !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

Emilia only laughed at his frazzled state, contemplating if she should sprinkle in a little talking here and there to scare him. At the end of the day though, she didn’t want to die in this glorified nurse’s office, so she opted against that

She nodded along to his explanation of the hand, one thing sparking her curiousity especially

“Bonuses? Like, you got Inspector Gadget stuff in there?>

Probably not what he meant but a girl could dream. Maybe once she was out of here she could get something like that with her leg. At least a flashlight in her foot

Oh if she knew.

Katahiko let out an audible whoosh of a sigh as she resumed signing. Who needs exploding nanobots to kill you when it’s so easy to give you a heart attack.

<Ahah, yeah. That would, uh… work interestingly in the ballpit. Probably come out with a couple stuck in it. Aesthetic.>

<Something like that~ No taser yet, but there’s at least a Bluetooth speaker, wi-fi range extender, flashlight, and time/battery level display. It’s only one limb, and not quite an entire one, so there’s not too much you can try to fit inside if you still want it to work, you know, as an advanced myoelectric arm, but. I do have a few things, yes~” Quite possibly he’d noticed her not catching that word earlier, so why not sound fancy? Okay, sure.

<No worries!! I build things for fun, so it’s really not that stressful. It’s like doing puzzles, except actually cool. I’ll get it out as fast as I can!!> And therein lies the stress and death. Kat don’t.

He glanced at the door, paused, then looked back to her. He massaged his wrist a bit before attempting to continue.

<I, um… I can’t ask for payment with a clear conscience here, but I kind of… Would it be okay to ask if I can be the one to hang onto our—> he had no reason to think Mariko knew ASL, buuuut it couldn’t hurt—<group purchase?>

He pressed his hands together briefly and took a step back.

<Don't worry, I'll make sure to test it once I'm back on two feet>

Emilia no. She listens carefully to all the features, nodding. That's... impressive, actually. She was definitely getting modifications once she got a permanent one. Maybe a gps

<Yet? You could probably punch someone pretty hard with that thing; don't see why you'd need more weapons besides to look cool>

She wasn't gonna bother asking what myoelectric was at this point; she'd forget it in two seconds anyway. Instead, she'd stare at him for a minute, hesitant to make a deal. She really liked that thing, and he did barely anything to initially get it. Maybe a compromise was needed

Perfect Match !! C3C2 !! Katahiko !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

“Oh yes, if only we had similar faces” she said, feeling as if sign language was not gonna convey the pure flatness and sarcasm to that statement. Did she think she was basically cuter Katahiko in terms of features? Absolutely, but that’s beside the point. She gave a nod of pity as he started to talk about the doctor, looking around at the room. 3 people at once, that had to be some sort of record

<Excuse you I am the least of his problems, and if he really couldn’t deal with it then he’d just let me out like I keep asking. If worst comes to worst, I’m sure Lily probably has a basic pointer or two, considering she has her own now> she pointed out, once again not knowing the science but figuring that Lily would at least be able to tell him what felt good and what didn’t

As soon as she heard how long she’d have to wait, Emilia started to beam. That wasn’t bad at all; she’d be stuck roaming around in the wheelchair for about two days after, then it’d be back to business. She didn’t know what myoelectric was, but she couldn’t care less right now. Shouldn’t have left her with such high expectations

<Woah, that’s awesome! I guess an arm is kinda tougher too, given you have to be able to grab stuff. I guess I can forgive you if it’s not the best though, just as long as it can help. If you need my help with anything during the process, definitely let me know though>

Katahiko jolted at the comment, barely registering the actual content in favor of WHY ARE YOU SPEAKING WITH YOUR MOUTH. Any witty comebacks were cancelled by the frazzling of it all.

He did still laugh at the “excuse you,” though he wasn’t that chill with her already wanting to leave. Well, with Mariko here it was kinda understandable but.

<That’s true. I need to be checking up on her more, honestly, because I can’t imagine a jury-rigged prosthetic I designed in, like, one day wouldn’t have anything in need of changing. I just haven’t seen her using it yet, so I keep forgetting to ask… Maybe she hasn’t tried it, anyway. That’s her own choice.> He shrugged. It kinda stung to think his work had gone to waste, but that was better than hurting her worse. And she’d at least been polite enough to accept the offer, even if she never planned on using it. He could respect that.

OKAY. OKAY HE DEFINITELY HAD TO CHURN IT OUT AT RECORD SPEED THEN. He’d run right back to the drafting table when they were done here. His wrist was kind of starting to hurt just from today, but it was probably nothing to worry about. Pacing yourself whomst, he didn’t know her.

<I’m glad you understand~ I can probably say I have one of the most complex functional hands on the market, if not the most. The human hand has fifteen muscles, and the forearm has twenty, so you can imagine the complexity of movement involved, not to mention me building a few other bonuses in. Wrists are infernally tricky, too. Not too much for me to handle, though~>

Gh all this talking was not making his wrist feel any better. Just shake it out for a second.

Emilia only laughed at his frazzled state, contemplating if she should sprinkle in a little talking here and there to scare him. At the end of the day though, she didn't want to die in this glorified nurse's office, so she opted against that

She nodded along to his explanation of the hand, one thing sparking her curiousity especially

"Bonuses? Like, you got Inspector Gadget stuff in there?>

Probably not what he meant but a girl could dream. Maybe once she was out of here she could get something like that with her leg. At least a flashlight in her foot

Oh if she knew.

Perfect Match !! C3C2 !! Katahiko !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

<Maybe if I had your eyes> she quickly responded, pointing to the glasses after. It was hard to be playful and sarcastic when she couldn’t use her tone, but she’d certainly try. He’d either get the joke or not give her a leg

<Don’t worry, I understand all that. I’m just really really excited about getting one made just for me, regardless of quality>

Welp, no moon boot leg, it seems. Based on that answer, she safely assumed wheelies were out of the question too and pouted. Oh well, it’d still be cool, right?

<So you need springs in it? I guess that makes sense, jumping and stuff. I’m not exactly a scientist though> she added, extending her full leg towards him. Honestly, she could continue signing all day; she had no other way to exude energy being stuck on a bed

<Well, it’s natural to be jealous of every part of me, so I can’t blame you for wanting them.> No worries Emilia, just about everything was a joke to Katahiko except when it wasn’t.

<Okay! Just wanted to make sure! Since I mean obviously you’ll want a super-rugged one for exploring later, but… Yeah. Okay!>

She was that excited, huh? He’d have to work extra-hard on it, then. Couldn’t be sure it would do any good in the end, but if she was looking forward to it despite that, then he had no excuse to slack off.

He shuffled closer carefully to start measuring before realizing he couldn’t do that and talk at the same time right now. Dang. He hurried to get everything he thought he needed (that wasn’t too awkward to try to measure) and jot it down before giving her a little more space.

<Like, design to finish? I mean, I already hashed out a lot of details last night, but I can also only base it off Yuri’s so much since I’ll have to be using different materials.> …Had Yuri even tried hers? He hadn’t caught her with it on, but… <It’s all really too new to me to give an accurate estimate, but I’ll try to have something ready in three days.> Kat that’s literally half the time you spent on Yuri’s. Are you sure about this. <If we want comparisons just for funsies, the first time I put together an arm it took about four months. Of course, we’re obviously going with mechanical systems instead of myoelectric for yours, so that sure helps, but. Yeah. Kinda guaranteed not to be my absolute best work. I’ll figure it out, though, don’t worry.>

"Oh yes, if only we had similar faces" she said, feeling as if sign language was not gonna convey the pure flatness and sarcasm to that statement. Did she think she was basically cuter Katahiko in terms of features? Absolutely, but that's beside the point. She gave a nod of pity as he started to talk about the doctor, looking around at the room. 3 people at once, that had to be some sort of record

<Excuse you I am the least of his problems, and if he really couldn't deal with it then he'd just let me out like I keep asking. If worst comes to worst, I'm sure Lily probably has a basic pointer or two, considering she has her own now> she pointed out, once again not knowing the science but figuring that Lily would at least be able to tell him what felt good and what didn't

As soon as she heard how long she'd have to wait, Emilia started to beam. That wasn't bad at all; she'd be stuck roaming around in the wheelchair for about two days after, then it'd be back to business. She didn't know what myoelectric was, but she couldn't care less right now. Shouldn't have left her with such high expectations

<Woah, that's awesome! I guess an arm is kinda tougher too, given you have to be able to grab stuff. I guess I can forgive you if it's not the best though, just as long as it can help. If you need my help with anything during the process, definitely let me know though>

Perfect Match !! C3C2 !! Katahiko !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

Despite all the excitement with Romeo earlier, Emilia found herself incredibly bored in the infirmary. None of the other people here could exactly hold conversation, and moving around was next to impossible. That’s what made her happy to see Katahiko approach. He could solve both of those issues, and he clearly knew sign language, which helped with the whole motive issue

Please give her any idea that isn’t that, Katahiko

And okay cool, no need to segue into that conversation if Emilia was already starting it herself. That made things easier. Though, uh… Those sure were some ideas.

He let out a short breath and shook his hand out. Arm was getting tired.

<Uh, I can definitely check out what’s in there, and it’s good to have some kind of energy storage-and-release in lower limb prostheses, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to work with that here. The last thing I wanna use for a foot is something kinda slippery inside. I guess I should look at it before I knock it altogether, but. Yeah.> He huffed a tiny bit at “fake limb,” but anyway. <Do you mind if I take some measurements of your legs? Probably a better way to get a good fit than guessing off sock lengths. If this method even counts as a fit?> “Hmm.”

<Maybe if I had your eyes> she quickly responded, pointing to the glasses after. It was hard to be playful and sarcastic when she couldn't use her tone, but she'd certainly try. He'd either get the joke or not give her a leg

<Don't worry, I understand all that. I'm just really really excited about getting one made just for me, regardless of quality>

Welp, no moon boot leg, it seems. Based on that answer, she safely assumed wheelies were out of the question too and pouted. Oh well, it'd still be cool, right?

<So you need springs in it? I guess that makes sense, jumping and stuff. I'm not exactly a scientist though> she added, extending her full leg towards him. Honestly, she could continue signing all day; she had no other way to exude energy being stuck on a bed

Perfect Match !! C3C2 !! Katahiko !! Closed for Emilia

After a very long day of investigation and designing, Katahiko finally dared to approach the infirmary. Since Emilia knew he was doing this, it was probably best to get some actual measurements instead of all estimations. And maybe ask what she actually wanted. But it was obvious, right? If it would work, he wasn’t sure—he’d have to use materials he hadn’t already used for the other one, but there were more materials to access now—but she already had a nice cane so it would be fine? Or it was all an exercise in futility because he was not even remotely certified for this and he didn’t even know if Yuri had ever even tried hers and she probably had and just didn’t mention that it didn’t work at all because she was a nice enough person and what was he doing.

He stopped for some deep breaths before entering. Romeo had been moved a bit farther, it seemed, so he could come in far enough to talk with her, right? Well, all circumstances considered he actually needed to be in the same partition for her to “hear” him today, so hopefully he could get there. He hadn’t tried to bring his laptop, because he pretty much had all the confirmation he could ask for that she knew sign language.

It was a little hard to do so on the curtains, so he knocked on part of his arm before attempting to step into her Zone.

<Is it a good time to talk about your leg?> he said, in ASL. A weird, kinda one-handed ASL that still occasionally involved both of his hands somehow, but hopefully it was still understandable. Especially if it may have been a little sloppier than usual today. At least he was still smiling.

Despite all the excitement with Romeo earlier, Emilia found herself incredibly bored in the infirmary. None of the other people here could exactly hold conversation, and moving around was next to impossible. That's what made her happy to see Katahiko approach. He could solve both of those issues, and he clearly knew sign language, which helped with the whole motive issue

Please give her any idea that isn't that, Katahiko

Anywhere But Here !! Katahiko !! C1C2 !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

Emilia, shockingly, wasn’t taken back by Katahiko’s yelling. In fact, it got a chuckle out of her, and she decided that in this case, imitation would be the best form of flattery

“I KNOW” she screamed back, being almost as loud, possibly just as much as the announcer. What he said was fake news, but let them have their fun. However, as soon as Emilia said that, her face scrunched up as she thought of something

“Wait…but the voice I’m hearing is me…so does that mean I technically don’t know? It’s also not quite as loud as that. I don’t quite understand how the transmitter thing works yet, I just know it isn’t fun” she added, genuinely putting some thought into it

She soon found herself distracted though as the tuned the instrument just a little

“Haven’t done the whole army thing yet. Maybe that will be my next goal in life”

When she thought it was ready, she started to play a different song; one she played just about everywhere she went as a warm-up

Shame you don’t know the name

There was that stupid voice again. It only drove her to continue the song, only stopping when she realized that she had company

“Just a little warm up. Don’t think we could do that one unless you’re cool enough to know French and English. Anyway…”

She looked around the room, wondering what he was talking about with the smell. Was that just one of his hallucinations

“Trust me, if I had random plane parts I’d use them for something better than decoration, as cool as that would be”

Katahiko hadn’t even considered the possibility that suddenly screaming could have upset her, but he was glad regardless that she joined in. Aside from, like, the physical ear pain, but hey it sure obliterated the crashing noises for a minute.

“Nyoho, impressive~ Are we gonna have to have a dB-off here?”

And he missed about half of her next bit on account of trying to back away from encroaching walls, but he could sure agree with the end of it.

“Nyehe, whatever works! Fair amount of traveling there, too, isn’t it?” Ignoring any other parts of that occupation, because ignoring negative things was how he was functioning right now.

And some practice playing, it seemed. Maybe she hadn’t done much on the ukulele in a while.

“Obviously I’m cool enough. The real question here is, is French cool enough for me? I’m afraid I haven’t been convinced of that yet.”

“I can still pronounce it fine, though, if you just tell me what to say! Or anything else is fine! Whatever you think you’d enjoy the most right now!!”

He made a vague mumble in response to the decoration comment but had no interest in continuing that part of the conversation. Moving On.

She raised her eyebrows in amusement

"You get to use mics for your job. I had to learn how to call for people and cabs in crowded noisy streets, you sure you wanna try me?"

Spoilers: trying to outscream the announcer was a terrible idea. She was full of those.

"Hm, maybe there'd be traveling, but no real exploring...you okay there? You seem to be zoning out a bit. Don't worry, I can promise there's no creepy, unusual things here"

She couldn't quite explain the street light she was seeing in the room, but she decided she wasn't gonna acknowledge it unless he said something

Hearing him diss one of her favorite languages like that definitely got a look of disapproval out of her, despite the fact that she was still smiling

"And you know cool, you glorified toaster" she said flatly. Woah, okay. She snickered a second later

"Anyway, I guess if you can pronounce it, then we're all good. There's this one song I used to play all the time; first one I learned actually. Name's kinda going over my head at the moment, but all that matters is that I know the chords and most of the lyrics. I'm pretty sure Eddie always liked this song"

And with that, she played a few seconds of the song; probably 20 or 30. The part in particular she seemed to know well was French, and it was obvious this was a song she knew from memory

"Tell me you're at least familiar with it"

As she continued to play, Emilia began to see more and more of what was a familiar environment for her. Cute little street somewhere in Europe and night, lit by only the dim, warm streetlights,crowded with people who would occasionally stop by her and drop something in her hat, which was resting on the ground by her feet. This was a picture she didn't seem to mind. For a moment, she let herself forget about the prison she was currently in, and allow herself to genuinely feel like she was back where she belonged

Anywhere But Here !! Katahiko !! C1C2 !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

Emilia really had to think over how to word the distressed statement. The last thing she wanted to do was admit the motive was getting to her; all that would do was open up a huge can of worms she didn’t exactly feel like talking about

“Not so much me…but more the voice screaming at me. She seems kinda angry right now” she answered with a chuckle. The thing about him not being shy got yet another laugh

“Yeah, I figured. I’m not exactly used to angel either, so I feel you”

She held her ukelele for a moment, pretending to polish it as she made sure that there wasn’t anything else weird. When all her anxieties were finally calmed, she strummed a few chords to make sure it was in tune

“Used to play all the time. Got a lot of attention just standing out on the corner of some random country, strumming for fun. Gotta see if I can remember that one song you wanted”

That’s when Emilia began to hesitantly play a few notes, humming the words along. While it was hard to hear, her singing voice seemed very smooth and somewhat deep. She was probably a good singer. She looked back to him for approval as soon as she thought she had the notes down, only to see something seemed…off. He was sniffing a lot

“Don’t think there’s really gonna be smelly anything here. I’m a slob but I’m not that bad.”

Ahah, that. Yeah, he probably should have picked on a different part of that line. Saying he’d give angels’ voices a run for their money, maybe? Well, too late now.

“Well, that’s not very nice of her. You really shouldn’t try to be loud unless you’re gonna be positive about it. Here, like this.” He cupped his hands around his mouth.

“EMILIA IS AWESOME AND DESERVES GOOD THINGS!!!”

He at least hadn’t aimed that directly at her, but wow that was really unnecessarily loud. Even the residual ringing in her ears would probably neutralize the transmitter for a minute. Ow.

“And whaaat, really? What’s the problem there? Not demure enough? The angels I read about destroy entire armies, so I don’t think that’s really a requirement.”

Katahiko didn’t know enough about ukulele care to tell she was faking that.

“That does sound fun!! And any song is fine, really!! That was just the first thing I think of when I think ukuleles, nyehe.”

Whatever they ended up doing, this looked like it was shaping up to be a pretty good duet. And—ah shoot.

“Yyyeah, I would be concerned if you were such a slob you somehow ended up with random pieces of fuselage in here. Or maybe just impressed? Depends on how you look at it.” He was trying to joke, but he couldn’t quite shake his distinct look of discomfort.

Emilia, shockingly, wasn't taken back by Katahiko's yelling. In fact, it got a chuckle out of her, and she decided that in this case, imitation would be the best form of flattery

"I KNOW" she screamed back, being almost as loud, possibly just as much as the announcer. What he said was fake news, but let them have their fun. However, as soon as Emilia said that, her face scrunched up as she thought of something

"Wait...but the voice I'm hearing is me...so does that mean I technically don't know? It's also not quite as loud as that. I don't quite understand how the transmitter thing works yet, I just know it isn't fun" she added, genuinely putting some thought into it

She soon found herself distracted though as the tuned the instrument just a little

"Haven't done the whole army thing yet. Maybe that will be my next goal in life"

When she thought it was ready, she started to play a different song; one she played just about everywhere she went as a warm-up

Shame you don't know the name

There was that stupid voice again. It only drove her to continue the song, only stopping when she realized that she had company

"Just a little warm up. Don't think we could do that one unless you're cool enough to know French and English. Anyway…"

She looked around the room, wondering what he was talking about with the smell. Was that just one of his hallucinations

"Trust me, if I had random plane parts I'd use them for something better than decoration, as cool as that would be"

Anywhere But Here !! Katahiko !! C1C2 !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

How were so many people here this smooth? At this point, Emilia was starting to feel less charmed, and more like this was some type of competition she had to win. Oh well, both were equally as exciting to her

“Also heard somewhere that angels come down singing when people are in distress” she said with a wink. Honestly, she was going more based on stereotypical, cartoony depiction of angels, but she didn’t know that much about religion

Joking around like that also seemed to lift her spirits just a little too. What helped her even more though was his suggestion to leave, which was a prime excuse for her to flip off the voice in her head and run off. Before leaving though, she stopped in front of the door

“Hey hey, no need to be shy. If you’re fine with giant and Honey, then you’ll be just fine there”

And she was off. As soon as she got into her room, she spent a minute or two rummaging through the humongous mess that was her half until she found her ukelele case against the desk. She opened it up and was ready to play…

Until she noticed all the loose change in there. It was a wide variety of coins, all presumably different forms of currency, and she was shocked the instrument even fit given how full the case was. Curiously, she picked a coin up, only to discover that she was holding her cleaning rag

“Heh…gotta make sure to polish her off before playing” she said with a half hearted chuckle, trying to brush off what had to be a strange situation

That one was news to him, but okay! Just roll with it, as always.

“Oh dear, does that mean you’re in distress? Perish the thought. I’ll be happy to help you out of it, though~”

He laughed.

“Wow, ‘shy.’ I don’t get accused of that one a lot, nyahaha!”

That had sure sounded like an open invitation, so he followed her into the room. A fine mess in there, but he somehow wasn’t surprised. Was this what his room looked like to other people…? Eh, who knew.

And that was an… interesting look on her face. At least it wasn’t terror? Probably? But definitely something wrong. And something she didn’t want to admit, so no point asking her to.

“Well, good to know you take good care of it! How long have you had that? Do you play a lot? Though I guess I’ll be able to figure that out as soon as you start playing, nyehehe.”

…The smell still hadn’t faded. Hhgh. Just—whatever. No big deal. Right now he just needed to focus on Emilia. It would go away eventually…

"Not so much me...but more the voice screaming at me. She seems kinda angry right now" she answered with a chuckle. The thing about him not being shy got yet another laugh

"Yeah, I figured. I'm not exactly used to angel either, so I feel you"

She held her ukelele for a moment, pretending to polish it as she made sure that there wasn't anything else weird. When all her anxieties were finally calmed, she strummed a few chords to make sure it was in tune

"Used to play all the time. Got a lot of attention just standing out on the corner of some random country, strumming for fun. Gotta see if I can remember that one song you wanted"

That's when Emilia began to hesitantly play a few notes, humming the words along. While it was hard to hear, her singing voice seemed very smooth and somewhat deep. She was probably a good singer. She looked back to him for approval as soon as she thought she had the notes down, only to see something seemed...off. He was sniffing a lot

"Don't think there's really gonna be smelly anything here. I'm a slob but I'm not that bad."

Anywhere But Here !! Katahiko !! C1C2 !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

Emilia was initially charmed by his attitude (which seemed to match her’s a lot. Huh.). However, she soon found that vanishing as she realized that her fib wouldn’t work. She couldn’t exactly say she was looking for games to shut herself up though.

“Heh, bold of you to assume I know how to play most of these. I guess I gotta learn one of these days though”

“Woah, haven’t got to play it since we got here!! Give me a minute and I’ll grab it” she exclaimed. Oh thank God, he was providing a distraction. Emilia’s face lit up as she heard of the possibility of playing it

Wait, Over the Rainbow? Do you even remember the lyrics to that

Her smile disappeared as quick as it appeared as she rubbed her head. As if that would make the thoughts go away. However, she quickly saw that Katahiko seemed in discomfort too, which made her back away just a little

“What’s wrong, my face scare you that much?” She asked flatly, trying to make light of the situation

“Oh, you’ll learn~” Which was more a response to the first part than the next, but hey, all-purpose comment. “I’m sure I could explain any of these if you need it, nyehe!”

Haha, excellent!! It was a party now, and she seemed appropriately excitOH CRAP OH CRAP WHY WAS SHE UPSET ABORT ABORT. Bad song?? Bad memories??? Crapcrapcrap.

Uhhh okay better opportunity to jump back in! Since he wasn’t recovering from terrifying flashes of visual hallucinations or anything. Seize the chance! Even if she, uh, didn’t seem any less upset. Time to hope that was jokingly so?

“Welllll, angels do always seem to end up saying ‘do not fear’ when they descend, so it seemed like an appropriate reaction~”

Dang.

“You’re just running to your room, right? I wouldn’t say we have the best acoustics in the house in here anyway, so mind if I tag along, at least to the hallway?”

…It was more a matter of the room suddenly smelling like avgas, which was presumably a hallucination and wouldn’t actually go away like that but WHATEVER. It was all in his head so why not try some placebo action to fix it?? Yeah. Yeah.

"Also heard somewhere that angels come down singing when people are in distress" she said with a wink. Honestly, she was going more based on stereotypical, cartoony depiction of angels, but she didn't know that much about religion

"Hey hey, no need to be shy. If you're fine with giant and Honey, then you'll be just fine there"

"Heh...gotta make sure to polish her off before playing" she said with a half hearted chuckle, trying to brush off what had to be a strange situation

Anywhere But Here !! Katahiko !! C1C2 !! Closed for Emilia

emiliamonde‌:

Emilia, in the mean time, could be found screaming at herself as she tried to act in denial and spend more time with other people. Today though, she found herself in the game room, desperately scrolling through games as she tried to remember which one she played with Eddie and Carrie before going to Japan, just as she seemed to be asking herself

“No, no, no, wrong”

She grumbled at her little success, only to hear singing coming from the hall. Her ears perked up, and she found herself impressed by the mystery voice. Emilia was about to go follow it, but there was no need, for the voice revealed himself as Katahiko. She listened to him with an amused grin

“Well well, come here often? I was just browsing, but everything seems kinda boring anyway. Should’ve been told about the musical going on out there; I could’ve brought my uke. If you like duets, that is” she answered, leaning on the same table and holding her head in her hands

“Every once in a while, but no point hanging around if you’re not here~” he said, as if he didn’t spend way more time in here than in the dining hall. “And none of these could ever be boring if you’re playing with the right people! I don’t think we’d have any trouble ourselves~”

“Nyehehe, excuse me, sometimes I fail to announce things I’m the star of. I can stop and start anytime, though! Is your uke in your room? I can do that one Hawaiian ‘Over the Rainbow’ if that’s more suitable.”

Katahiko was glad for her grin, but HUH WOW her face was close all of a sudden he’d just—

He flinched again, hard enough to rattle the table, his eyes squeezing shut. His grin tensed a little more, but he looked back to Emilia from where he now stood a skosh farther away.

“But I’m happy to take any requests, of course.”

He shook a bit, but his voice didn’t.

Emilia was initially charmed by his attitude (which seemed to match her's a lot. Huh.). However, she soon found that vanishing as she realized that her fib wouldn't work. She couldn't exactly say she was looking for games to shut herself up though.

"Heh, bold of you to assume I know how to play most of these. I guess I gotta learn one of these days though"

"Woah, haven't got to play it since we got here!! Give me a minute and I'll grab it" she exclaimed. Oh thank God, he was providing a distraction. Emilia's face lit up as she heard of the possibility of playing it

Wait, Over the Rainbow? Do you even remember the lyrics to that

Her smile dissapeared as quick as it appeared as she rubbed her head. As if that would make the thoughts go away. However, she quickly saw that Katahiko seemed in discomfort too, which made her back away just a little

"What's wrong, my face scare you that much?" She asked flatly, trying to make light of the situation

Anywhere But Here !! Katahiko !! C1C2 !! Closed for Emilia

Katahiko was doing… questionably during motive. While he generally kept a smile plastered on his face, he still froze up frequently and fled to his room a lot more often than an obligate socialite like him seemed to prefer.

When he wasn’t doing whatever all that was, he could frequently be found in the halls singing loudly, as he was today. So Emilia was probably not taken by surprise when he stumbled upon her in the rec room. He slid an elbow onto one of the tables like a singer seductively leaning onto a piano and grinned. One corner of his mouth was twitching a little, but it be like that sometimes.

“Fancy meeting you here~ Whatcha playing? Or looking to play, ehe.”

He flinched suddenly, gaze averting, before looking back to her. His grin held firm.