2024-02-14: Catchup Time
- Log: 2024-02-14- Catchup Time
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Seolla Schweizer, Alouette Pommier
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo - Takarada/Shinjo Apartment
- OOC - IC Date: 0098-07-25
- Summary: Seolla and Alouette stop by while Akane's recovering from surgery.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
It's a decently busy few weeks at the Takarada-Shinjo apartment; after exams in early July, Akane had a few things to attend to. Now she's recovering from surgery!
Recovery's been going okay, overall; the initial pain is finally starting to subside, and she's a lot more mobile than she was the first few days home. She's still nowhere near 100%, and very much still reliant on painkillers -- but hey, it's like that sometimes.
She's definitely in a position to take guests, though! Right now she's sprawled out on the couch watching the Tarabaman Inferna post-show movie. ... Come to think, it's about time for the annual new show... It really snuck up on her with everything else going on. She hasn't looked at the promo materials or anything!
To the side of the couch is a donut cushion made of sewn-together neck pillows. ... She should really get that under her, but for the moment she's too busy sprawling...
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Oh, exams...
That's certainly the last thing Seolla Schweizer wants to think about. She's definitely still reeling from having outright failed those after a long and difficult struggle to make any real academic headway this year.
It's a little hard not to seethe about why. The so-called School didn't really...at all impart a matched skillset to an academic curriculum, and Seolla's capabilities are all over the place. Technical reading and writing is fine, but holding information over the course of a semester...
Out of mind, out of mind. Whenever it flashes back up, Seolla takes a biiiig old inhale. It's going to work out. It's going to work out! Rendezvousing with Alouette just outside the apartment complex with a big old gift basket in mind, Seolla knock-knocks on the door a little too forcefully. -out of mind-!
"Aaaah, it's been a long while, Akane. I just knew when Alouette told me you were recovering from something like this that, I just had to step in and give something, you know- mmmn, I don't know a ton about the stuff you like, and I didn't really find anything related to, like, the Tarabaman thingy I heard about, that stuck out to me as, "Oh that's a great gift for Akane!", but maybe I dunno, I glanced over something amazing you'd really be into, but. That's the past! Baskets full of nice food are universal, right!"
It's kind of a waterfall of blurting out nervous sentiment just as before. There's a bit of loudness when she deposits the basket on the kitchen countertop, flumping into a chair and fanning herself off. (Simple jean shorts and a tank top with the outline of characters from some old buddy cop show is the attire of the day.)
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette knew Akane was on a break because of an important surgery... but now that she's ready to visitors, Alouette is ready to take her up on seeing the new Takarada-Shinjo residence for the first time. Knowing Seolla was eager to see how Akane was doing too, she decided it was probably best to come as a pair...
They agreed to meet at the entrance - and racing against the blistering Nouvelle Tokyo summer heat (she's still dressed in layers), she arrives just after her friend. "Hey, Seolla," Alouette greets her casually, with a breezy wave and reassuring nod, perhaps picking up on some of her nervous fervor. "Shall we head in? After you... I'll just send a text to let her know we're here, okay?"
Once they find the right number, Alouette follows Seolla in, quickly setting down her own gift - a cute little box of various flavours of tea. "Akane~!" She exclaims, heading towards the living room to see her all sprawled out. "I figured Rikka was already doing a pretty good job taking care of you... and that you probably knew best about what you really need, so I just got you some teas to try out," she gestures, though she thinks Seolla's gift was a pretty good idea, too.
"Speaking of Tarabaman," she starts, glancing back over to Akane. "Is that a new one? Honestly, I have no idea if any of the new seasons are supposed to be any good..." She laughs, finding a nice spot to sit between Seolla's position on the chair, and Akane's couch. "This is such a cute little place," She adds. "Rikka seemed pretty happy about getting to live with you. It must be pretty nice, huh?" Yeah, it doesn't matter if Akane's recovering, she's going for it anyways.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
The apartment's a little small, and it's obvious that the ceiling in the bedroom would be a bit on the low side -- since there's a loft over it accessible from the sitting room. It's... cozy. For two people's living space it might be a hair too small.
When Akane's expecting visitors, at this point, she just leaves the door unlocked and calls, "Door's open!" when she hears the knock. ... It's good for her to open the door, but it's good to let other people let themselves in, too...
Sitting up, Akane pushes her dark hair out of her eyes a little and gives a wave. It's very obvious that she's recovering from surgery -- she clearly looks a little tired despite how much time she's spent sleeping lately. "Hey," she calls, gesturing for Seolla and Alouette to come sit with her. "Ehehe, baskets full of good food are pretty nice..." Food's one of Akane's primary care languages, so the fact that people have brought her a ton of food and adjacent creature comforts like tea has been great. "If you wanna look for Tarabaman stuff next time gifts come up, though, uh..." She pauses. "... yeah, I still like kaiju sofubi." It took her a sec to be certain, admittedly.
"Yeah, it is," comes the answer to Alouette's question. "This was last year's show, and then the movie was pretty recent? A big chunk of it ran while we were out of town, so I've had to catch up." ... then Alouette swings the other topic in and Akane blushes. "... It's great. It's a lot of work, and it's kinda... different from how you'd imagine living together, I think, before you did it? I'm pretty happy, though..."
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
"Sofubi...sofubi..." Seolla's quick to whip out her phone and look up what exactly that even is...and then quick to keep spelling it in different ways before finally landing on: 'Oh! I mean I think I saw some of those...they looked a little bit cheap, though...nothing like the really really nice things I'm seeing here. Hmmmmnnnnn..."
Phone away! Seolla finally takes a look around at the furnishings, at the comfort of this chair, settling in with slightly bad posture, shoulders on the top edge of the seat. Of course, Seolla's first thought on the place is: "Wow, this is so nice...and this much room just for the two of you? I thought you could only have that in hotels..." ...She's only really spent long periods of time, like...in a barracks of some sort, and there's the faintest pang of remembering...remembering something, from so many years ago. Like this kind of space is somehow familiar, now that she thinks about living in one...
There's only the slightest more guardedness in Seolla's posture. "You're both Taraba-fans, huh? I guess I'm gonna have to...watch it with you all to get what's up. Uhhhm, are we too far in the movie that's playing right now for it to make any sense...? Oh, yeah, Alouette, that does remind me that I wonder how Rikka's been..."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Sofubi, huh..." As soon as Alouette matches the word to the definition, she does get why Akane might've hesitated a bit on that, but she doesn't linger on it. "Right... you might be able to find better ones at some kind of specialized hobby store?" She considers, when Seolla says the ones she found looked a little cheap. "Nouvelle probably has a lot of those. Maybe I'll ask Keita-san for next time..."
"That's true," she nods, when Akane says it aired while they were out. "These types of shows air so fast, it almost ended up feeling like a culture shock all over again by the time we were back," She lightheartedly laments.
As for being a Taraba-fan... "I'm definitely not a diehard like Akane is... but I've enjoyed what I saw." She answers Seolla. "There's a certain earnestness to it that I find quite charming." As for whether it'll make sense, she doesn't answer without the knowledge of the series, but she does spare a glance every now and then.
"It's a lot of work, but it's like... you're always in it together, right?" She considers, looking around the place. "I've wanted to try... truly living by myself for once, because I like that kind of privacy. But I can see why this would be nice when it's with someone you really trust." She nods.
As for how Rikka is doing... "She recently joined GGG so I've gotten to see her pretty frequently. The last time we got to really sit down and talk, she seemed pretty happy! But I could tell she was starting to put a lot of responsibilities on herself. I mean, a major and two minors..." She looks to Akane, as if to confirm. "So I'm glad she has people to really look out for her."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"This is actually pretty small for an apartment... usually you'd have a few other things going on. The entryway, the bedroom, and the living area would all be a little bigger, there'd be a separate toilet room from the bathroom..." If this feels big, that says some things about Seolla and they're probably kind of depressing. ... Then again, Akane's old apartment made this feel kind of big, too. "Here you could probably knock out the wall between the living area and the bedroom and do it as a 1DK and it wouldn't be that different from the average 1DK. I think we actually saw some 1DKs bigger than this when we were looking at stuff in Tokyo..."
With a little giggle, Akane says, "... this is gonna get kind of impenetrable. This is more like, the actual ending to the series..." She finally straightens herself up a bit, gesturing to Alouette and adding, "Can you toss me that cushion on the floor?" She pauses the movie after groping around for the remote a bit.
When Alouette mentions living spaces, Akane gives her a nod. "Living alone is okay if it's your choice, but kinda miserable if it's not," Akane answers. "I guess it's worth trying? You definitely need something to break up the, like..." She gestures, before ultimately trailing off. ... She's still on some pain meds.
"Yeah -- Rikka's... really trying her best. I worry about her a little sometimes -- it's kinda crazy how she's gone from Going Home Club to this, but I guess it kinda makes sense..." Akane smiles, thinking about it. "... I'll keep an eye on her," she adds, with a smile. "Not a big imposition."
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Seolla's definitely fidgeting in her seat a fair bit at all the talk of apartment minutiae- it's a teensy bit beyond her it seems, and she tries to re-orient her focus to the movie...but it's just as Akane says. "I mean...hm. I guess I didn't realize Tarabaman got this, like...complicated? And that there was so many of them...I'm more used to, like. I guess the really explosive, corny types of movies with all the one-liners, and guys trying way too hard to be cool..." Seolla ponders for a moment, as one of the suited heroes calls his name. "...I guess you also kinda never know their name in the movie. They'll say it once and you'll forget it, because it's that actor you recognize..."
Leaning over the arm of her chair and peering at Alouette, Seolla thinks about...'living alone'. "Hm, who are you living with, Alouette? I've kind of...always been in shared spaces, it's hard for me to even imagine living long-term by myself. It'd feel weird, quiet. Like, with just three of us in this space it already feels a little empty, and if it's just two..." ...yeah, Seolla's standards are waaaaay off there.
"Eeeeh, she's working that hard at classes now..." Seolla purses her lips a little bit at Rikka's news. "...I'm trying not to think about it. Not gonna think about school. I'm in talks for an internship at a few companies. A few people even got me to an interview with the CEO of Mao Industries. I'm just gonna hope that works out. Haaah..." She's doing a bad job not thinking about it...
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"I guess those are the sacrifices you have to make when everyone's racing for the area..." Alouette considers about the relatively small size of the place. "It might be better than having a lot of space you don't need in the long run, though."
As for the movie being super complex at this stage, Alouette nods. "Mmm, it's a little bit... Tarabaman always has these well-choreographed, high-budget fights. But it's hard to feel invested sometimes, when you don't have all the context of why the hero is fighting. There's a certain pay-off to all the characters' stories coming together." She stops to pick up a pillow at Akane's behest, and she totally... mimics one of the show's Tarabaman's signature moves when she does it. "Oh, do you watch a lot of movies, Seolla?" She asks, after. "I basically never remember actors... unless they're really good looking, I guess." She smirks.
As for living alone... "Yeah, I can see how it might be miserable. Having someone to vent off about your day to can be nice, but..." She looks to Seolla. "Well, a lot of the time I'm on Orbit Base. That's not going to change, but well... I also live with my mom." She picks up another pillow and fidgets with it a little. "She's not bad, and I don't want to just... throw away her kindness. But I can't help but feel distant sometimes, and with the NUNE split, I don't want to trouble her with moving here again."
She's personally a lot more comfortable moving on to the Rikka topic, and she does smile when Akane talks about her. "Aha, yeah... she has a really strong sense of... it's weird to say, but justice? She's really come into her own," And another smirk. "Yeah, I know it's not for you."
Seolla has big news too! "The CEO... wow, that's amazing, Seolla. You should totally go for it." She smiles, encouragingly. She remembered Seolla mentioned it last time - it's nice to see it's really going somewhere. "It must be a lot of pressure, though... so good luck."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"It's been going for like... sixty years. You can just jump on with any season pretty much, with a couple exceptions, but movies are kinda like... three episode capstones for a show? Unless they're standalone." Akane waves dismissively, before adding, "If you want to get into it, I can give you, like, a road map?" She smiles at that thought. Even if no one gets dragged as deep into the swamp as Akane herself... it's still nice.
At the talk of apartment size, Akane nods. "I don't think I'd want to stick around in this forever, but it's fine. ... I kinda like having more stuff than this? I had to give up on mounting," she gestures at a henshin device mounted on the wall, "More of those on the wall." A beat passes before she adds, "... Well, that and with the space the way it is, Rikka kinda... had to stop me... ehehehe..." She rubs at her face, but the cringing is more smiling than self-loathing.
Getting the cushion back under her again, she says, "... It feels weird to be talking about all this stuff, kinda... having interviews, going to college. Responsibility. Sometimes it still feels a little unreal to be growing up, I guess..."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Mmm, it doesn't hurt to give it a try and see if you like it or not," Alouette encourages, in regards to the swamp. It might be fun to get to talk to Seolla about that kind of thing.
"It's probably better not to think of it as 'forever', huh..." Alouette thinks, about apartments. "But probably not so little to the point where it never feels like home. It's important to have a place to come back to, right?" She looks, when Akane points out the wall mount. "Ahhh... isn't that tragic?" She half-teases, half says completely genuinely. "I get it though... maybe you should look for some decorations Rikka likes too? Without just crowding the space."
Akane mentions how weird it is to finally be growing up, and Alouette flips the pillow back down on the floor. "It is.. a little bit," she agrees, but doesn't fully commit - her memory situation makes some aspects of it more complicated for her. "It's not entirely bad, though, at least I don't think so. It's nice to have that kind of independence without just... being completely alone and lost about it." A beat. "What's Nouvelle Tech like, anyways? I might be helping out the CompSci faculty a little on the side, so maybe we'll run into each other sometime."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah, definitely," Akane agrees, about having a place to come back to. "It's... we do have some stuff set up..." Akane gestures to the bedroom, noting, "If you peek in there you might see a familiar friend~"
(It's the Synchrotank music player. There's actually a fair amount of stuff Rikka likes too; it's just that Akane isn't feeling the presence of mind to go into detail. Ah, medication.)
Stretching out, Akane gets herself more fully comfortable. "Nouvelle Tech is pretty good," she says, finding that easiest to talk about. "I'm not sure I'm going to join any clubs, but there's a couple circles I've been looking at..." She nods, saying, "I think it's easier to navigate with someone else? ... It's nice, too, to have, like..." She gestures vaguely, then settles for, "Somewhere new. ... Also, I'm glad all that stuff about Japanese universities being easy was true, ehehe..."
When Alouette mentions that Akane can expect to see her around campus, she smiles. "If you want a secret, you should come to the cafeteria when you're around. You don't have to be a student and it's seriously good."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"A familiar friend, huh~?" Alouette smiles, maybe having a slight idea - though she doesn't have the greatest view of the bedroom from here. She would be very charmed that Rikka thought to keep it around and displayed after moving, though.
"That's good to hear. It looks like it does pretty well in the rankings for at least some things... but it's nice to hear it directly, too." She nods. "Clubs... maybe I'll take a look at what they have to offer, but I have a feeling I'll be kind of swamped by the time I enroll." She admits - but it's still good to put time aside for fun. "I think that makes sense, though. Must be a lot different from high school then..." she says, both about it being easier to navigate with someone else, and it being something new.
"Or maybe you were just well-prepared~" Alouette grants Akane, on the idea of Japanese universities being easy. "It might be a little that, too, though. They get weirdly... competitive in Europe?" She hand-waves. "Like the University of Paris alone is split into all these rival schools... it's so much." She laughs.
A secret...! "Oooh, I'll have to check it out then." She mentally notes down 'Nouvelle Tokyo Tech cafeteria food is good'. "I'm pretty sure Jindai does a tour for the third years when it's time to start applying, so... soon!"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane nods, agreeing, "It's pretty much not the same thing at all as high school." ... And Akane's been to two high schools, which makes her the super-expert, obviously, on what high school is like.
"Coming here to tour is good, but you should stop by on your own too. I've shown a couple people touring schools around... that was nice." She smiles, though she seems kinda hazy as she does it; she seems to notice this, though, after a few seconds.
"Hmmm... I'm kinda feeling out of it," she admits. "Do you mind if we just hang out and put something on the TV? I'm..." She gestures vaguely, settling for, "Still kinda medicated. I'm really glad you guys came, though! Maybe when Rikka gets back we can have a meal together?"
... It really does sound nice.