markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .030

[Today is Catch Up Day. There are more than a few people Katara hasn't heard from in a while, or that she meant to catch up with after first meeting them when they came, and so after morning chores she sits down to make a couple of voice posts. All messages are filtered between 70-80 percent, and the filters are mostly there as a courtesy to keep from trolling your journals.]

[Filtered to Longshot... and not against Jet.]
Hey, how are you guys doing?

[Filtered to San]
Hey, San! I haven't seen you in a while so I thought I'd try the journals. How are you?

[Filtered to Ginko]
Hey... are you still ~~there~~ using this thing?

[And some time after she's done with those, she begins making house calls. Sigmund, she has not yet satisfied herself about your ribs since you won't give her a straight answer... and she wants to hear if there's been any news about Katie, so that house will receive a knock on the door. Also, there have been a few 'normal people' she's met that she's concerned about, so she'll be making her way to Alexis' building, hoping to bump into her. She'll also be stopping by the Straw Hat house. She doesn't want to embarrass Nami or anything, but she does want to see with her own eyes that she's okay. If you think she should be checking on your character too, she probably is, or feel free to stop her as she goes along the road.

...although when she returns to her house much later, Katara realizes Something Important and makes a voice post.]

[Filtered AWAY from Ginko]
Does anyone know how to prepare a garden for the winter? There has to be something you can do to keep them so that they'll grow the next year, right?

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[...cornered. That's what she's feeling. Cornered. And uncomfortable. Was everything - not that it had been anything - but... Katara's heart sinks, just a little.]

What do you mean?

He told me I looked prettier when I was being sarcastic.

Are you seriously going to tell me that you're getting out-stubborned by some birds?

Oh. [That's... not so bad, actually. Although that's a part in her interaction with Michael that she didn't really understand, it's not something she finds herself minding as much as... whatever it was that made her feel sick.

It was still confusing, though.]

He told me I looked prettier when I blushed. I think. [And she might be grinning back, but there is a very faint - nearly undetectable blush that goes with that.]

You think?

[The staring just makes him feel even more exposed and embarrassed, which he deals with by... staring resolutely at his knees. He waits for a little while before speaking up.]

Have they healed?

[Has she ever mentioned to you that your chi system feels like a Sabertooth Moose Lion used it as a chew toy? And then stampeded it for good measure? No? Because she'd really to. It takes all that time just to get used to what's normal in his body again.]

It feels like you're all back to normal. [She smiles at him, removes her hands and streams the water back into the waterskin.] I'm glad - I was worried you'd do more damage to yourself. But it looks like you're being careful.

Well, he didn't actually say it was me, specifically. [Thus revealing to herself and probably to Alexis that she has been giving this way too much subconscious thought. Of course it was her. Who else was there? And Katara knew she was pretty. Even if she wasn't as pretty as a lot of the girls here, the basic fact that she was pretty didn't change.

So she shrugs a little wryly, hoping to shift the subject.] But he's very nice. I know that he was glad he didn't hurt you during the experiment.

It's just... a friend of mine planted it with me. It's a good memory. I want to take care of it.

Mm. I can understand that. That's why I want to help. I want to be part of what's so important to you.

I could help you prepare your garden if you'd like, I'm preparing mine for winter anyway.

Ones that are used to it, yeah. The rest you either protect...or let nature run it's course and replace them in the spring. Lot of crop plants are like that.

She's...really, really small. [ He had to say it like that for the sake of it being true. ] Really small.

She rode home on my hand.

[Not to that degree, no. But he wouldn't be surprised.]

Can I wear my armor again?

[Katara's eyes widen to be the size of saucers.]

Wow. That's... [Got to be so very not fun.] Where is she?

[She nods.] That should be fine. From what I can tell you're completely back to normal.

[There will now be an awkward pause as one of the thousands of questions Katara has attempts to fight its way out of her mouth.]

Oh, I see. ...and only some of them come back the next year anyway, right?

Right this way. [ Just gonna head on into the living room, where Nami is probably residing in a dollhouse or on a pillow or something like that. ]

[He can practically hear all those questions rattling around in her head, and it leaves him conflicted. Some of it, he doesn't want to talk about; but some of it, maybe it would be better to just get it over with. If only he was entirely sure which was which.

Instead of saying anything, he just looks her in the eyes, calmly. If she wants to question him, she'll have to find the courage to do it herself. He isn't going to prompt her.]

[She follows along...]

['Why are you so weird?' doesn't seem to be an appropriate question, and she forces that one back. ...but she can't hold them all.]

You are all right, right?

[Because that's really the most important part. If his chi is going to like, turn inward and start eating him or something, she'd like a chance to stop it.]

[...she's not sure how to feel about this. The garden was... sort of a special thing between herself and Ginko, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to come back and take care of it either. She just.. didn't know how to.]

That's really nice of you, thank you. But... this is something I'd like to learn how to do myself. I may never get another chance. But if you wouldn't mind letting me help you with yours so I could practice, that would be really great!

[That actually baffles him, and it shows.]

You just said that I was.

[Alexis shrugs. Oh, she knows this plight well, but she's not her father's daughter for nothing. Teasing? What teasing?] Well, were there other girls around?

[Small pause. A subject change, is it? All right then.] Yeah, he seemed pretty concerned.

But I mean... [She sighs.] Is there something going on inside you that your body is fighting? Why is your chi system like this?

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