2022-09-27 - Tanks For Your Insight
| Title: Tanks For Your Insight | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Sitting on top of a water tank in a factory yard in the middle of the night is the perfect place for a heart-to-heart, right? | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Keiyou Industrial District | |
| OOC - IC Date: September 27, 2022 - Friday, January 15, 2016 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Keiyou Industrial District +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Stretching across eight districts, Keiyou Industrial Zone is like a small city unto itself, consisting primarily of factories, power plants, warehouses, refineries, and other heavy industry. Boxy, soot-stained buildings, multi-story chemical tanks, and baroque masses of pipes and girders dominate the architecture, and a distant clanking or hum can be heard at all hours of the day throughout most of the district. Cranes, forklifts, and other heavy equipment are common in this area, as are metal gratings exhaling steam, dizzying catwalks and ladders, and tall stacks of shipping crates. The buildings closest to the bay are often the most presentable, so as to avoid besmirching its beauty overmuch. The district cannot help but encroach upon the bay, however, for it is its lifeline, providing thermal power, naval shipping, and copious quantities of water for industrial purposes. Keiyo long ago outgrew the land allotted for its uses, and so artificial islands have been built up to permit its continued expansion. Since its relatively low potential for civilian casualties (particularly at night) appeals to magical girls, and its profusion of powerful industrial machinery appeals to their foes, combat is not infrequent in this area.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
It has been... a rough few days for Kyouka (and, one imagines, for everyone involved in the incident at Dark Burger.) While there's no real way to compare the damages between any two of the participants, for Kyouka personally it was... a real low point. To have reached unimaginable new heights only to have her efforts rebuked and rendered meaningless...
The tolls, physical, magical, and emotional, have all resulted in a few not-very-fun days, and ones where she actively sidelined herself for her own health. It is not her favorite state of things, but now that she's feeling at least a little better, she's decided to do something interesting to help make up for a few lost days of training.
And so she finds herself here in the industrial zone, in one of the more interesting environments she's found yet. Lots of interesting structures to climb and jump over or on, and she's currently taking things easy as she warms up and gets a feel for the area. As long as nobody catches her here, it should be pretty fun...
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto was fine, apparently, when they got away; her own downcast feelings didn't linger too long, in favour of trying to cheer up Fate. She was encouraging and sympathetic, though never in too many words -- and with plenty of admiration for Hayate.
Then she kind of slipped out the back of Hayate's and disappeared, because, apparently, it was dinnertime.
(Mikoto did not bother to stop and explain the weight of missing dinner, with a girl she so often left behind.)
She hasn't been seen at Juuban since then -- but this, of course, is because she's an Ohtori student. Today, of course, Mikoto has already eaten dinner -- the pork dish tokachi butadon, which is, just like every other meal this week, the best meal Mai's made this week -- and now she's out on patrol, balancing old, old scales.
And, as it happens, balancing.
Still in her Ohtori uniform, a long black case slung over one shoulder, Mikoto makes her way across a narrow cross-beam without a single care for the several-metres drop below. Once she ambles over to the more completed side of the scaffolding, her legs bend, and she leaps from her standing position up to the next set of slats -- latching onto the metal with her hands, and swinging, back, forth, back, forth, until she spins herself all the way rightside-up to the next floor.
There she sits, legs swinging, arms extended against the metal as she looks up to the first quarter of the moon with a smile on her face.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka did her best to be supportive of everyone else present at Yagami house, but really didn't have much energy for it, after all but exhausting her mana supply unleashing that attack against Shadow Stern. It was only, if one would believe it, her second fight, and the magical girl game is definitely not one she is used to yet.
She's looking a lot more spry tonight, though. Dressed in her favorite running outfit of sweats, hoodie, gloves and sneakers, all in black (all the better to not be spotted in a place she probably shouldn't be in), she's currently making her way through a tangle of tanks and pipes, scrambling up for handholds and making short leaps back and forth with relative ease.
Nowhere near the level of the other untransformed magical girl, but still a lot better than the students her age who only exercise as required by P.E. class.
She makes her way to the top of an assembly of tanks, the highest vantage point in her local area, and takes a moment to enjoy the view, scanning the area... and then she pauses as her gaze catches Mikoto amongst the scaffolding. She doesn't want to yell and draw attention to herself, but she does raise a hand in a wave to see if she can catch the other girl's attention.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto is paying attention -- she's come out here to make sure no one's causing trouble, after all. And Mikoto, as it happens, has very good eyesight, so when she catches that movement and looks in that direction, her face brightens to see a girl waving there. Mikoto waves back, and proceeds to tilt backwards --
-- and fall?! --
-- wait, no, she hooked her legs over the metal, and she uses the momentum from them to loop herself back down, dropping to her hands on the metal strut below. Mikoto proceeds to tilt to the side to right herself up with an absolutely precarious cartwheel, and bound down the rest of the way, from foothold to foothold, with absolutely feline grace.
Getting up the storage apparatus which Kyouka has climbed onto is much the same -- finding footholds on cold metal, and Kyouka may well see the way she does test each one before she puts her weight on it, though she's practiced enough that she doesn't hesitate a moment longer than she has to before she's hopping up to the next.
Once she's atop Kyouka's assembly, she beams, to the other girl. "Hi! Nice spot!"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka's eyes widen a bit in surprise as Mikoto just, falls backwards off of her perch, impulsivly taking a half step forward to rush to help her--until she sees Mikoto catch herself with her hands.
"Dang," she says to herself. She watches Mikoto move with no small amount of admiration. She considers herself pretty fearless (well, she's fearful, she just manages it appropriately), but the 'backwards fall to handstand' maneuver is not one she's ever thought to try.
She's grinning as Mikoto makes her way up to her position, "Damn, Mikoto. You've got some moves." The almost-timid way she formally greeted those she knew at the Dark Burger a few days ago? That is not the warm, enthusiastic greeting she's giving now. "And thanks! Feels good getting out and about after..." and here her energy dips just a little, "... well, the last couple days. How've you been?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto beams with pride, at Kyouka's praise, and affirms: "Yup!" Modesty... has never been one of her strong suits.
(Let the record show that Mikoto was absolutely showing off back there as soon as she realised someone was watching her.)
Her head cants a little, the braids which frame either side of her face tumbling about her cheeks. (The rest of her hair is quite, quite short, but those braids are a little feminine reminder.) "I'm good," she assures her, and hums through her lips as she stares at Kyouka for a moment -- before she turns on a heel. In a smooth motion she unshrugs her black case from her shoulder, and lays it down on the flat of the water tank in the same motion she uses to sit herself down, legs swinging over the edge. She is all too casually precarious.
"Kyouka!" She says, hand waving at the wrist to call her to sit down, too -- and Mikoto addresses her yobisute, without any honourific at all, in such a casual way that perhaps she doesn't even realise the offence she'd cause to a native speak. She presses, a moment later: "You okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka chuckles as Mikoto just... brazenly confirms how awesome she is. Some people might call it bragging, but she's of the opinion there's nothing wrong with being proud of your skills.
Her own hair is, a bit like her, a bit messy and untamed, and also short and dyed black with purple streaks. (The most feminine thing about her might just be the fact that she is, in fact, a girl, and not much else.) She raises an eyebrow as Mikoto just studies her for those few moments--and then promptly turns away to perch herself on the edge.
Kyouka shrugs it off and follows suit, walking over to the edge, crouching, planting her hands on the edge, and then kicking her legs forward over the side so she park her rear down. From there she leans back, bracing her arms behind her for support. If she takes offense at the lack of honorifics, she doesn't show it. (She does, in fact, know how to use honorifics--she uses them all the time, and used them at the Dark Burger, but is just in a mood tonight where she doesn't feel like bothering.)
She reflects on that question for a moment. "I mean, I'm doing better than I was a few days ago, at least. Still... trying to process what happened, a bit, you know?" She glances sidelong at Mikoto. "I've only been in two real fights so far, so this is... all really new to me."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"...?" Mikoto vocalises a question mark, as she tilts her head at Kyouka, which sounds a little like a rising-tone grunt, tongue all pressed to her teeth. Her lips part just slightly, her brow rises a little, she blinks once and once and once again.
"Huuh... did good, though," Mikoto concludes, after a moment of that silence, as her eyes close more deliberately, and her lips lift to a grin. "Kyouka's got good kicks!" She noticed that axe kick??? She sure did notice that axe kick.
Mikoto pats the black case beside her. "Miroku's Element, not Device," she explains, with what can be, charitably, called a conservation of words. "So there's lots other people can explain better. But if Kyouka wants to talk about it, I'm not new." She is also, judging by her uniform, a high school student, despite her particular manner of speech and her remarkably short height. (Mikoto has grown a few inches over the years; she's still not even five feet tall yet.)
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka tilts her head a little as she takes in Mikoto's speech pattern. A bit... unconventional, but then again, Mikoto's not the only friend she has with some speech quirks. And besides, she's used to far, far worse from all the places she's visited.
She smiles at the compliment, though here it is a bit reserved. "Thanks... though, I only managed to do that well because of Fate's help. She helped us figure out how to work together better." The details of how aren't important at the moment. The compliment about her kicks though, brings out a grin. "Thanks. Yeah, I do a lot of martial arts, so kicks and punches I got in spades. You were pretty awesome yourself. I saw how you escored those civilians to safety at the parade. I think if you hadn't done that I would've, just to be sure..."
In response to the introduction she brights her right hand forward, pulling the sleeve back so that Strike Wolf's standby form, a five-sided purple gem sitting on a black leather bracelet is revealed. "Since I never got to do introductions last time, this is my partner."
<Strike Wolf,> says the device pleasantly.
As for talking about it... shr shrugs a little as she places her hands back behind her. "I dunno. I thought I was getting a grip on things and then... Well, that happened." She takes in a deep breath and lets it out. "That thing was so powerful... but then again, because of that, I discovered that Strike Wolf and I could do that. I'm still not sure I believe it. Does... all this stuff ever get any easier?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Oh! The parade!" Mikoto brightens, as she places the other fight Kyouka must have been in. She hums affirmation, and says: "Lost Ivy knows Ogres real good, so it's good to listen to her when they attack. I don't got the kinda magic to defeat Ogres right, so it makes sense, getting me to keep people away."
She smiles, brightly, to the bracelet. "Hi, Strike Wolf! I'm Mikoto! And Miroku's in here!" She indicates the black case, again. Mikoto... doesn't seem at all phased at talking to an object like a person. "Miroku doesn't talk like you," she adds, a beat later. "But I know how Miroku feels, anyway."
It's not normal for an Element to have thoughts and feelings of its own, but never mind that.
Mikoto leans back against the water tank, all a-flop on the cool metal. She makes another of those wordless noises, humming between her lips, looking up at the stars. (One star, red and near to the moon, is visible to her and not to Kyouka; her eyes pass over the HiME Star, and then away. She makes no comment on it.)
"When Kyouka started martial arts, it was pretty hard, right?" Mikoto breaks the silence to ask, finally. "Messing up, and getting real tired... I bet sometimes you didn't wanna get out of bed the next day. Right?" She pauses, for a moment, and presses on: "But the next year, you could do stuff which was really hard without even thinking about it, I bet. And the stuff that was hard then got easy the year after that. Well, I dunno if I'd say that means the stuff that was hard before wasn't hard... it was still lots of effort. But once Kyouka knew how to do it, it felt easier, right?"
Mikoto shrugs, elbows lifting up, for a moment. "This stuff isn't easy. We don't do easy stuff. But it's okay for it to take more effort while Kyouka figures out how to do it. When you do, it'll feel easier, 'cause you're not trying to keep up and deal with what's going on at the same time."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka nods in agreement about listening to Lost Ivy. "Yeah, I don't think I have the right kind of magic either, so I'm glad she was there to deal the final blow. Fate and Endo were amazing, too." She looks down at the device on her wrist. "Though, Strike Wolf was amazing, too. Keeping that barrier jacket going reaaaally saved my hide, there."
Strike Wolf responds to the introduction with a, <Pleased to meet you.>
Kyouka has no idea about Elements, but is all too happy to introduce herself regardless. "Pleased to meet you, Miroku. I'm Kyouka Okazaki."
She looks thoughtful as Mikoto expresses her thoughts on training and things getting easier. "Huh..." she looks back up to the sky as she thinks back. "Yeah, actually... I haven't thought about those earliest classes in years, but it /did/ take a lot of effort. The stuff I can do now would've totally blown away a younger me, too. And that's even before you start adding in the magic to that equation."
Kyouka lays back, lacing her fingers together under her head to provide a little bit of cushioning. "Yeah. Strike Wolf and I are working hard to figure out how to work together well, and integrate magic into my fighting style. Well, when we haven't been told not to use magic, anyway." That was very firmly explained to her at Yagami House, and she's dutifully stuck to it the past few days. "I think it's finally starting to click. When Strike Wolf and I performed Shining Moonlight Strike together, it was..." She inhales deeply, searching for just the right word... and not finding it. "... I dunno, like something just... clicked. Or like I finally let myself really believe in it, maybe? I know I still have a ways to go to catch up to the rest of you though."
But she's grinning a bit as she says that. "But I do love a challenge..." she muses.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Endo and Fate are really strong!" Mikoto enthuses, brightly.
Miroku does not reply to the introduction. Mikoto does not share its feelings on her new friend.
She hums encouraging noises, though, as Kyouka processes what she's saying. "Mm-hm!" She doesn't interrupt, though, letting her spool out her entire thought process, the way she's come so far with her martial arts, the way she's trying to use magic now too.
Mikoto isn't going to mark Kyouka down for not finding the right word; Mikoto has enough trouble finding words on her own. Her own thoughts aren't terribly verbal, so it's a constant act of translation.
"Yup," she agrees, finally. "Challenge! Challenge! Keep fighting, Kyouka!" Mikoto tilts her head, her enthusiastic support dimming, a little, in consideration. "Kyouka's practice is Kyouka's practice, so I can't say how you should get better," she says, and doesn't say something else. "But I'm glad Kyouka has something to believe in, too." Her tone is almost a shade melancholic, for a moment --
But no, in a flash it's gone, and Mikoto is grinning to her. "Kyouka and Strike Wolf will be okay! If you want to fight, we'll all help, too! Soon, this stuff will be normal!"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka is happy to make the introduction anyway, even if she doesn't get a response.
The only thing harder than learning to use magic might be trying to describe it; it is still a very weird thing to have your entire worldview shifted like it has been for her.
Kyouka grins at Mikoto's enthusiastic refrain of 'Challenge!', glancing over at the girl. She catches that slight dimming, and is curious about it, but decides not to pry. Besides, soon enough she seems to rebound, so it's best to let that aside. There is a brief, questioning look on her face as she catches it though.
"Oh, I want to fight. We want to fight, right buddy?" She unlaces her fingers so she can stretch out her right hand high above her, letting the sleeve fall so the device is visible.
<Affirmative.>
"There's no way we can turn our backs on... all this stuff going on, not when we can do something to help. And I still need to find Strike Wolf's creator, too. Though..." she grins a bit more, turning to look at Mikoto. "Speaking of helping... I don't suppose you'd fancy a spar sometime, when I'm back in fighting shape?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Okay!" Mikoto beams, brightly. She pauses, and adds: "But if Kyouka wants to stop ever, it's okay. There's people with magic what don't fight too much, 'cause they don't want their normal to have fighting in it. You don't gotta fight just 'cause you can."
Mikoto happens to be in love with someone who would prefer her battlefield to be a bevy of baitos, so she has to at least acknowledge there's a choice here.
That there's a choice here...
She falls quiet, as she thinks about Kyouka's next question. For all her enthusiasm, her smile can't stay on her face, as she turns her expression back up towards the sky. "Bad idea," she concludes, finally. "I'm practicing real hard with Fate about it, but... when I'm fighting..."
Mikoto stretches up a hand to the sky, sighting a red star by her ring finger.
"... sometimes," she explains, tone distant, "I can't really control myself. And... those who fight me are enemies... it's hard for me to get out of that way of thinking. So... it's safer if we don't, okay? At least until I get better."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka nods as Mikoto tells her that there's a choice not to fight. "Yeah, I know, but... I dunno. It's not in me to stand by when someone's in need of help." She raises Strike Wolf once more, considering him. "If I hadn't stepped in, some asshole would have Strike Wolf right now, doing who knows what to him. But he called out, I heard him, and... I had to do something."
After a moment she adds, quietly, "... even if that something was a terrible, terrible idea."
"Though I suppose when I do find his creator and return him..." she lets that thought trail off. It's not one she likes to entertain often, and even though she promised Strike Wolf her help, the thought of going back to normal now is... well, just as alien as the idea of magic being real was before.
She lowers her hand to rest it on her stomach, and then regards Mikoto quietly as she explains. Finally, after a long time, she nods. "Yeah, alright. I respect the honesty, actually, and I appreciate that you know your limitations." She looks back up to the night sky. "Maybe someday when you've gotten better, or I have, or both..." 'Better' being two different things for each of them, of course.
"So... what do you like to do for fun? I'm... well, I just moved to Japan a couple months ago, so I'm still new to the area."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto considers that, as she lets her hand drop back down, to her shoulder. "I don't like lying on purpose," she says, because she can't say she's never lied. "And I think it's good if Kyouka sees there's stuff we're not good at neither, even if we've been fighting way longer."
She takes a breath, and smiles. "And... I'm glad Strike Wolf's okay now. Once Kyouka finds where he belongs... even if Kyouka don't got magic after that, you still won't be alone. There's girls like that here, too. Um... it's better if I don't send you to the girl I'm thinking of, though," she adds, a shade awkwardly, as she considers Kozue. "Before, I did something bad to someone she really cared about, so she hasn't really forgiven me... I'm okay about that, but since she's good at staying mad, I think you'd better run into her some other way. It's okay! You'll figure it out, Kyouka!" Mikoto sounds awfully confident about that.
Mikoto sits up, hands all propped up between her knees, as she looks out over the district. She's grinning again; apparently a cheerful girl like her can't be sad for long. "And, there's lots of fun things in Tokyo! I love Mai's cooking! It's the best! And I like Eri's cooking, too! She's not as good as Mai, but she's getting better! Yumi can't cook, but I like watching cooking channel with her 'cause we order food! And I like climbing! And I know all the cats in Tokyo! I'm part of Animal Care Club now, too!! And I like drawing, and calligraphy, too! I like hunting, but Mai says I can't bring animals back, so usually I just catch fish. And that means swimming! I like swimming! And I like dancing machines in the arcade, too! And going to festivals! I get to go to festivals all the time, now!" She doesn't pause for breath once until that list ends.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I don't like lying, either..." There's something guilty in the way she says those words. She nods to Mikoto's point about there being some things the magical girls aren't good at, sometimes. "Right. Duly noted."
"Yeah, I'm... really glad he came out of that fight okay." Kyouka lifts Strike Wolf just enough so she can look at him over her own body. "You gave me a scare, there..." She doesn't mention the crying she did the other day. She lets her wrist rest again as she contemplates. "Yeah... I found out the hard way that people without magic don't remember magical things, but... I get the feeling that even when I return Strike Wolf, and I don't have magic, I'll still remember magical things. Feels like a one-way street, there..." She gives Mikoto a considering look as she explains but yet doesn't about something she did to someone in the past. "Hmm. Well, I'm glad I won't be alone, then. I'm sure there's some other way I can help you guys out even if I have to give up my magic."
She sits up when Mikoto does, smiling as she listens to Mikoto gushing about... all the things. "Oh, I've met Shimanouchi-chan and Yumi-chan. And I like cooking too, and climbing! I'm in Track, but I do take care of a pet dog at home--" There's a pause as she considers. "... but he gets along with cats if you introduce him to them right. I haven't done any hunting but I do love fishing. It's one of my favorite things to do with my dad, along with camping." She looks a bit saddened for a moment. "I wish we got to do that more, but his work keeps him busy, and now I'm busy with school stuff, too."
She tilts her head a little. "Dancing machines...? What're those? I, uh, haven't really played a lot of video games, so..." She brightens. "Oh, yeah! I'm looking forward to seeing some festivals, too. My family's moved around a lot, so I've seen festivals in lots of different places. It's always cool to see what they're like. I was really enjoying the parade, too, until... well, yeah."
She leans forward, forarms braced on her knees, but with most of her weight still safely over the water tower. "We moved around a lot, and I saw a lot of cool things, but... I missed out on stuff like arcades, or... karaoke, or... heck, anime and manga. I'm looking forward to getting to try it all, eventually."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"If you know, you know," Mikoto agrees, or confirms -- sometimes it's a little hard to tell. She seems pretty confident that Kyouka won't forget magic even if she returns Strike Wolf, though.
Mikoto looks up, again. "It's scary, when someone can damage your weapon like that. There was a girl who could cut Elements, once... Miyu Greer." And Mikoto visibly kind of tenses up just saying the name. "Even though Miroku's different, fighting her was still really scary... I've never fought anyone scarier than Miyu. Not Natsuki, not Endo, not Ren, not Vita, not Mami... Miyu was definitely scariest." She's silent, for a time, as she remembers the chips in Mai's rings, the anger boiling in her veins when she saw them.
"It's okay to cry about it," Mikoto assures Kyouka, instead.
On happier topics, though, she looks enthralled at the concept of Kyouka's pet. "I like dogs, too!" Mikoto insists, brightly. "I grew up somewhere there weren't many people, and then I had something to do what kept me from having too much fun, so this stuff's new to me, too. But it's okay! We can see it together!" Mikoto is entirely too cheerful about that concept, and so, perhaps it follows --
"And, the dancing machines is the ones in the arcades!" Mikoto explains, chipper, belatedly. "Wanna go see? We can go right now! There's snacks above the arcade, too!!"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Yeah," Kyouka agrees, on the topic of weapons being damaged. Her right wrist draws inwards, holding Strike Wolf close. "I couldn't feel his link anymore, and I was so scared..." she continues in a voice that's not quite a whisper. "I was concerned he wasn't coming back."
She listens intently as you explain about Miyu Greer. When she sees you tense, she gives your shoulder a soft pat, as a comforting gesture. "I take it you're not normally supposed to be able to cut Elements, then..." she asks softly. Still trying to catch up on all the ins and outs of the different magical girl types.
She blushes a little as the crying is brought up, glancing away. "Yeah, yeah..."
She grins as Mikoto mentions she likes dogs. "I'll invite you over to meet Wolfy sometime. He loves everybody so I'm sure you two will get along." When you mention seeing everything together, she grins broadly. "Now that's what I'm talking about! I love trying new things, and sharing the experience is even better."
She ponders that, pulls out her cellphone from under her hoodie to check the time, and nods. "Yeah, alright! I can stay out a bit longer." She plants her hands down on the edge of the water tank, and lifts herself up, bringing her feet under her so she can stand again. "So, where's this arcade?" she asks as she starts to climb down from the tower. "Oh! And have you ever had freshly grilled fish? I'm talking like, pulling it out of the river and ten minutes later it's on a fire..." She keeps up the chatter as they head for the arcades, happy to be seeing something new with a friend.
