week three | dates

[showhost]

You worked up your courage and asked someone out on a date! Good job!





Now you have to hope the producers are kind re: where they send you.

Comments

[gravkitty]

[Kat generally prefers to kick her problems away - with the help of gravity or otherwise - but pounding the clay to get it ready for the wheel is still satisfying, even if there are already flakes of it drying on her skin and flecked into her hair. She wipe her forehead with her forearm, leaving another streak.

(Good thing Dusty stayed home for this one!)]

Nope! At least, I don't think so. Maybe I was secretly an artistic genius before! [She definitely does not have the muscle memory of an artistic genius, clumsy and unpracticed.]

We'll just have to make it cup-shaped, right? How hard can it be?

[hgeegh]

[Oh, no, her forehead . . . But she's still cute, even with clay smeared all over her face!

Distracted by this earthly vision as he is, Sanji doesn't do anything with his share of the clay for a good long moment before remembering where he is. He goes back to kneading with more purpose, which soon becomes a series of comfortable, practiced motions once he puts more strength into it.]

People make a living out of pottery, but this is just a beginner's class. Between the two of us, we should be able to manage.

[gravkitty]

I know! I've seen some stuff that artisans can make, and it's amazing... not just cups and bowls but fancy things like tea pots... and even music boxes!

[The flight of fancy seems to get away from her for just a moment. Kat, who's going to be lucky to make a mug that doesn't fall over when set on its bottom, looks a little thoughtful for a moment.]

Hehe, I wonder if I ever had one of those... [Mmm. As fast as a butterfly alighting on a branch before taking off again, Kat bounces off of that fleeting thought quickly.]

[hgeegh]

[Still kneading the block of clay, he nods along to her list. There are some truly magnificent dishes out there for plating food. He understands the importance of visual appeal; his meals are said to appear incredibly aesthetic, but artisans really are something else.

Sanji, however, is slower to leap off the branch.]

You wonder? Are you not sure?

[gravkitty]

I don't remember.

[Kat says it easily; she's gotten used to explaining this, though it still doesn't come up very often. She hasn't pushed the subject much since being here.]

It's not that big a deal, but... there's a lot I don't know about my past.

[hgeegh]

[The clay is abandoned summarily as Sanji straightens to attention.]

You lost your memories? That's terrible! You don't sound too bothered, though . . .

[gravkitty]

Well... I've followed every lead I could, but there's just been so much happening... I guess time got away from me in a lot of ways.

[A year passing in a matter of days, always feeling somewhat out of place no matter how much she tries to carve out her home.]

It's hard to find someone who knows anything about how I was. Er, am.

[hgeegh]

Really? You must've been a real enigma.

[Having no idea of who she once was—he can't imagine what that must feel like. Is it as lonely as it sounds frustrating? Is Kat now very different from how she was then?]

Then are you planning on using the wish for that?

[gravkitty]

Hehe, that's me. The cool and mysterious Gravity Queen of Hekseville! ... Actually, Raven is way more cool and mysterious than I am!

[Kat strikes a pose at first, showing off her best femme fatale mystique pose, then releases it wth a bright little giggle. It's true; for the most part, people have just taken her for the way she was. Revealing more of her past was never at the right place or the right time.]

We talked about using my wish for that, but I actually think I'm gonna help her out instead.

[hgeegh]

[Now, that's a mysterious name for a cool lady. Kat is still plenty alluring though, so much so that Sanji can't help grinning widely at her pose. Gravity Queen, eh? She has so much energy that she uses in charming ways, and she never speaks ill of anyone.]

That's awfully kind of you, Kat! Ah, but does that mean Raven's in trouble of some kind?

[gravkitty]

No, Raven's okay! She's great, actually... but these kids that she -

[She stops, thinking over her answer. Raven's story is hers to tell, and there are things she probably doesn't want people knowing.]

- that she really cares about, they've been locked up and sleeping since we brought them back to Hekseville. I don't know how to fix it because it's so weird... I thought I could use my wish to wake them up.

[hgeegh]

Not just locked up, but asleep, too? That must mean they haven't been eating, either. She must be so worried!

[If he wasn't already motivated, that alone would be enough to fire him up for the wish.]

But are you sure? A wish is a rare opportunity. You might never get a chance like this again, and your memories . . . [They're precious. They're her.]

[gravkitty]

Well... It'd be nice to get my past back, don't get me wrong. I haven't given up on finding a solution yet.

[There's no way this show could know what nobody else does and picked her according to who she was supposed to be...right?

She's just kind of sitting in front of the pottery now, expression creased.]

... They don't have anybody else, Sanji. They've been gone for years. The bus crash they were in is an urban legend by now.

[Time is the cruelest thing in the world. It's never really given her a break. Her or Raven.]

[hgeegh]

Years . . . ?!

[Kat is missing parts of herself, and all she thinks about is others. First the welcome banner and now this—she'd put Raven and these kids before her own plight without an ounce of self-pity for what she'll be losing in the process. She's consistently looking out for the voiceless. Only a truly kind soul would do that.

Inspired thus, Sanji gathers his bearings before giving Kat a fervent nod with a smile.]

You're a real hero, Kat. Let's get you that wish, then: Raven and the kids have been waiting long enough.