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well she likes me, so i can't imagine she won't like you too.

do you want me to grab you something out of the kitchen, or would you rather rest? it was a pretty long trip, and i'm sure being around those two wasn't all that restful

[He doesn't know Reyna, but Karkat.... Karkat.]

[ there is a slight delay before she responds to this one. hajime is... figuring out how to word this. ]

it was an
experience

i rather see you first before resting!!

[He laughs. He can't help it? That's probably the most negative thing he's ever heard Hajime say about anything.]

i'll grab some snacks out of the kitchen and meet you back in our room? that way i can introduce you to the countess

[ it takes a lot to truly get on her nerves and yet ]

alrighty! ♡
i'll see you soon, number one!
i missed you

[Doki. There's a few seconds delay on his part before he texts back.]

i missed you too. i'll see you soon.

[True to his word, by the time Hajime 2 gets back to their shared room, Hajime 1 has some of the prepackaged snacks from the Monolith and some of the fruit from the farm ready for her. He's busy waving a pink ribbon around for Countess Cocoapuffs, the forked-tailed, four-eyed kitten to chase around.]

[ she walks in, looking slightly more tired than what he is probably used to seeing, but the moment hajime sees that cat she just. squeals and runs over to them. ]

Oh my gosh, Number One! She's gorgeous! A star!

[He glances up as soon as the door opens, a bright smile crossing his face when he sees it's her. The fearless Countess leaps into the air in surprise and latches onto Hinata's shoulder, clambering up his sleeve to sit on his shoulder. Obviously she needs to be Taller to meet this new person! While she doesn't hiss, her forked tail flicks a little ominously.

Hinata, for his part, yelps from the dig of claws, but doesn't dislodge her.]

Number Two!

[He'd give her a hug, but there's a cat on him now? He just puts a hand on the kitten's back to steady her.]

I'm really glad to see you... I'm glad you weren't hurt.

[ admittedly there was an #incident with a plant that leaks acid that caught all of them by surprise, so she has some nicely hidden burn marks. hinata does not need to know about that though it's a minor detail. ]

It was all peachy! The roughest part was when the current went all whooooshhhh around us and took us away!

[ she holds her hand out for the countess to sniff it?? ]

[Hajime... Hinata definitely needs to know about that?! But since he doesn't at the moment, he just shakes his head and rubs his fingers soothingly over the back of the kitten's neck.]

It's okay, Countess, she's a friend.

[The Countess sniffs suspiciously at Hajime's offered fingers before apparently deciding to take Hinata at his word, digging her claws into his shoulder and leaning forward to rub the side of her face against Hajime's fingers]

Roxy said these kinds of mutations are normal with cloning and that she's perfectly healthy...

[All four eyes blink up at Hajime.]

[ ugh so cute. hajime scratches the back of the countess' ears, cooing slightly. ]

I love her. She's perfect! And she seems to like you.

[ or tolerate him. it's hard to say sometimes with cats. ]

Ow, ow...

[He gently tries to lift her claws from his shoulder, which she of course takes great offense to and hops down, rubbing herself against Hajime. Hinata doesn't seem offended at all, just massaging his poor shoulder with a huff of amusement.]

Yeah, most of the time I think she likes me.

[But who knows for sure. He drops his hand from his shoulder and looks her over, noting the tiredness as his smile turns a little more sympathetic.]

Do you want to talk about what you guys did when you were, uh, lost?

[ she just sits down on the floor then to better coax the countess to her to play. ]

We mostly tried to fix the sub-- ah, seamoth, that we had. None of us are really mechanics, but Reyna had more experience than the rest of us so that was mostly her job while we tried to help. We also explored the island in case there was anything useful to bring back to base.

[ she doesn't sound annoyed with saying this, but her usual pep isn't there. whether it's the tiredness or she really is just that grumpy about her time with the others, it is hard to say. probably a mix of both. ]

[The Countess is 100% up for playing. Playing is the best thing?? Hajime has been accepted as her new friend. For the moment, anyway. Cats.]

Ah... you know, I wonder if we shouldn't make sure a mechanic goes with everyone when they go on missions. Or... I bet Souda or Dirk would teach you some basics, if you asked. Souda's the Super High School Level Mechanic, after all.

Did you guys find anything?

[She does sound really tired to him, though... maybe it's just the contrast with how much energy he's used to seeing from her. He wavers for a moment, then, a little impulsively, reaches out to take her free hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Perk up, cute Hajime!]

Edited (html...) 2016-09-26 17:26 (UTC)

[ she immediately smiles at him for the hand squeeze. ]

Mostly just a lot of different plants. We brought back some tasty fruit and seeds for it all! Oh, and the baby.

[ just. the baby. whatever that is. ]

[Ah, she smiled... he's glad. Now that he's at least gotten a smile on her face, he pulls his hand back to try to get the Countess's attention again. Unless she wants to keep his hand, which is perfectly fine.]

B-baby?!

[wait, hang on-! that is definitely not being given the proper amount of urgency!]

What baby?!

The baby! That's just what I've been calling him since Reyna hasn't picked out a name yet.

[ she starts playing with her communicator and then holds her wrist out to him so he can see pictures of a baby land shark. ]

The island got hit by a pretty bad storm one night towards the end of our stay there. We found a cave to stay in and were okay, but his mama didn't make it. It was sort of a very last minute decision to take him with us since the other sharks didn't seem to want to take care of him.

Oh...

[He presses a hand to his forehead and sighs with some relief. He thought she meant a human baby?? He's absolutely certain there is no one on this entire base who's qualified to be a parent right now.]

That's really kind of you guys, to take him with you. I just hope he gets along with cats...

[Please, landshark baby, leave their cats alone... But on another note:]

Seriously, I'm really glad you're okay. Was the storm the only bad thing that happened?

[ it takes a village to raise a child!!! or a base. or something. no let's hope babies never show up here. ]

Mm, there were other mishaps? But it's the kind of thing you'd expect to happen after getting stuck on some remote island.

Hmm...

[He just kind of gives her a look, but alright, if she doesn't want to talk about specifics, he's not going to force the issue. Instead he's just going to lean forward to pet the Countess some more.]

Well... next time you go on a mission like that, let me know and I'll come along. I've been working with Dirk as much as I can, so if something happens to a seamoth, maybe I could help.

[ that look is ineffective, she continues to just attempt to become best friends with the cat. ]

Hm, I wouldn't want to disturb you. You probably have other things to do than hang around me.

I like hanging around you.

[He says that, looking down at the Countess and batting lightly at her tail. So it looks like he's saying that to the kitten instead of answering Hajime, but so it goes.]

Speaking of that... did you know Dirk and Jake are courting each other?

[What... on earth does Dirk and Jake's relationship status have to do with hanging out with her?? There's no train of logic to follow there. At all.]

[ yes what... does their relationship have to do with hinata's apparent appreciation of hanging out with his mutant cat. how strange.

hajime just blinks at him, but when she's talk there's no real hint of her confusion in her tone. ]

How cute! They seem like they'd be very uwaaah, you know? It's a good feeling.

[Please define "uwaaah."]

Haha, yeah, I think I get what you mean. Anyway, Dirk asked me if I knew anyone who'd want to go on some kind of ironic 1950's American double date with them... Want to help them out?

[...Yes. This is. The way to make your feelings clear to a girl. But they're tentative feelings, and he's still not totally sure he wants to act on them yet? For one thing, all their FTEs have been in his direction, which he's not used to. He has to max her affection meter before he makes any sudden moves??]

He did say you'd have to wear a poodle skirt.

[ it mean uwaaah obviously. ]

Poodle skirts are super cute! I can make one, I've missed my Fabricator. [ hajime it belongs to everyone..... ] But okay, I'll go on a date with you.

[ hinata did attempt to phrase it as just helping the two guys out but like. double date so it's still a date. ]

[Is it really your Fabricator...?

But whatever, he's not going to fight for it. Besides, she's way more talented at it than he would ever be.

Except ah, she called it a date... after he'd gone through all those verbal hoops to try to make it sound more casual. He can feel his cheeks starting to burn a gentle pink, which... hopefully she doesn't notice?? He did not think this far ahead abort abort.]

Ah... that's great, I'll let them know. You're sure you don't have other things to do than hang around with me?

[Turns her own words back at her in the hopes that she realizes how silly it sounds.]

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