Katou (katoustheshit) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-10-15 20:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, nora valkyrie, yue katou |
Who: Katou and Nora
What: First meeting
When: Shortly after Katou returned
Where: Chateau Katou
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete
Katou had the day off, which meant that he practicing his guitar. He was lying on the couch, his feet draped over the back of it, his guitar resting on his chest.
He wasn’t expecting anyone, so when the doorbell rang he was momentarily confused. Then he remembered about Kanan’s new ‘assistant,’ whoever the hell she was, which meant that he probably should have expected her to show up. He opened the door, filling the opening entirely with his body, and stared at the girl.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked.
Nora had been waiting for the door to open, holding a large bag of groceries in her arms. She’d shopped pre-emptively, taking it upon herself to get spares of the things she knew that Kanan liked. When the door opened and someone else stood there, Nora broke into a bright, bubbly smile that lit up her whole face.
“Hi! I’m Nora. Is Kanan here?” She said, leaning forward just a little to try and get a glimpse past the guy and into the living room.
Katou hated her immediately.
Who the hell did this broad think she was, standing on his steps with her big, obnoxious smile and nosy attitude. He slammed the door in her face.
Well, that was strange. A wind just gusted through here and slammed the door! Right in front of Nora! She frowned just a little, more concerned for the guy on the other side than for herself. He must be so confused! She rang the doorbell again.
Katou headed back to the couch, not bothering to lock the door. After all, anyone with any sense would realize that they weren’t wanted and turn around and leave.
But, of course, when the bell rang again, he realized he’d probably given that Nora chick too much credit. “We don’t want any!” he called, returning to his seat on the couch.
Nora fumbled around with the paper bag, pushing it onto one arm so she could ring the doorbell again. She held the button down, so the chime didn’t stop ringing in the apartment. Maybe there was something wrong with the man on the other side of the door! OH NO! What if the WIND GOT HIM??
Katou could feel his eyebrow twitching. He got off the couch, and angrily swung the door open. “You really can’t take a hint, can you?” he snapped. “We’re not interested, so make like a tree and get off my doorstep.”
Well, at least the wind didn’t get him. Nora was still grinning as the strange-looking man in Kanan’s house snapped at her. She was smiling, though, an eerie sort of smile that came from a person who was either a) fucking with you, or b) not entirely there in the brain. It was a little hard to tell which she was in that moment. (Maybe both?)
“I’m glad the wind didn’t get you!” She said, completely ignoring him, and pushed past him to get into the house. “But I’ve got frozen goods in this bag and I don’t want them to melt!” She could head straight for the kitchen to start putting things away.
The… wind? His confusion dropped his guard, and before he knew what was happening, Nora was in the kitchen. “Hey, wait,” he yelped, and followed her to the kitchen. When it became obvious that she wasn’t going to listen to that protest, he raised his voice. “Hey, stop what you’re doing! I’m buying the groceries now, so you can just take your frozen whatever it is and get out of my house.”
The bag was set on the counter, and Nora was already unloading it. Item after item was being taken from the brown paper with almost inhuman speed. The sooner she got everything put away, the better! But his words caught her off guard. ...get out of my house. Emphasis on the my. She froze and turned to look at him.
“Your house?” She asked. Had she just made a huge mistake? Wasn’t this the right place? She knew the house and furniture well--she’d been here enough--but maybe Kanan had moved in the last couple of days? No. He would have told her. She blinked around, checking to see if things were the way she remembered them; pictures on the walls, stuff on the counter, everything seemed to be in order, but there was always room for a coincidence. “Doesn’t Kanan live here?”
“Well yeah. We both live here. I guess it’s our house,” Katou said, for a moment distracted from his rage. Then he shook his head and glared again. “But I’ve lived here longer than Kanan and it was rented to me, so yeah, my house, my rules. Get out.”
Nora turned to look at Katou, considering him with bright, wide eyes and thin lips. She didn’t look angry or confrontational, but pensive. Light-hearted and pensive. After a really, really long time--which may have only been about thirty seconds, but still felt like an eternity--Nora brightened and gave a little shake of her head. “Nope! Sorry, but I work for Kanan. You’ll have to bring it up with him!” Then she turned to continue putting things away. She started to whistle.
It was worth a shot, though Katou should have known that she wouldn’t let herself get fired just because Katou told her that she was. “Well, fine. I will talk to him. But in the meantime, if you’re working for Kanan you may as well work for me too.” He… might not like the girl, but he could definitely see the plus side in someone doing his grocery shopping for him. “Like buying my groceries. And maybe doing those dishes over there. They’re starting to build up.” Especially since Katou’s prefered dish-washing method was ‘wait until there are no more forks.’
Nora glanced over at the man instructing her to do the dishes, and thought about it for a moment. Then she glanced at the sink. “Hmmm. All right. How much are you going to pay me? I figure… if I’m doing twice the work now--twice the dishes, since two people are now eating off the plates--that means I should get about twice the pay.” She turned back to look at the rude man. “Does that work for you?”
Katou shrugged and began to make his way back to the living room. “You’ll have to talk to Kanan about that,” he said airly. “He’s the one paying you.” Katou sure didn’t need to pay some maid to do his stuff. He and Kanan generally shared their food, so she’d have to at least do some stuff for Katou. “How long are you planning on being here anyway?”
“Sure! I’ll let Kanan know that you hired me to take care of you, too.” Nora finished unpacking the groceries and folded up the brown paper bag to slip … wherever they put brown paper bags. Then she dusted her hands off. “I actually have to run! I wasn’t planning on being here long. So you’ll have to take care of your own dishes today!” She hopped back over to the front door to let herself out now that the other guy was headed back into the living room. “It was nice to meet you!”
“Fine,” Katou said, and had almost relaxed before the full weight of what Nora said sunk in. He leapt up from the couch and met her at the door. “Wait, no, I take it back,” he said. For one, that seemed to imply that he condoned her making herself at home in his damn kitchen. For another, he wasn’t sure how Kanan would feel about that. “I ain’t hiring you. Frankly, I’d rather you didn’t come back. Don’t tell Kanan shit.”
Nora had pulled her phone out to send a text to Kanan. And since she was the cell phone generation, she’d already typed in a message to him before the rude man met her at the door. “Don’t tell who what?” She asked, clicking “send” on her phone.
Katou couldn’t be certain that she’d just sent the text to Kanan anyway, but he still felt pretty sure that that’s exactly what she did. His face fell in quick disappointment, and he could feel his anger rising. Then, he took a deep breath. Anything else he said or did would probably get to Kanan just as quickly. He had the distinct impression that he’d lost whatever exchange this whole thing was. He composed his face in a look of careful indifference. “Whatever,” he said, shrugging with his palms up. “If you’re leaving, then leave.”
Nora didn’t have to be told twice. She gave a grin and a shrug, and then let herself out the front door. She had other things to take care of today, and then she’d be back to check in with Kanan later.