[OPEN]

[thisloveisjustice]

WHO: Tatsuo Kihara and... anyone who even vaguely knows him
WHERE: Tatsuo's new apartment in Tisse, which is a step up from the trash heap that caught fire last month
WHEN: Saturday evening, June 10
WHAT: House warming party! There's pizza and ice cream! If you're really nice, bring a gift. Otherwise, just bring yourself.
WARNINGS: Tatsuo's not providing alcohol, but if you want to BYOB he's not going to stop you.

The text went out Friday morning. JUST SIGNED CONTRACT FOR NEW APARTMENT! HOUSE WARMING TOMORROW NIGHT AT 7! [INSERT ADDRESS HERE]

Come Saturday night, there's a stack of pizzas and 2-liters of soda on Tatsuo's counter and ice cream in the freezer. As for the rest of his apartment... look, it's a huge improvement on his last place.

The entry opens into the living room where Tatsuo has a couch and coffee table. Rather than a table in the 'dining room' next to the kitchen, Tatsuo has set up his office. A desk for his laptop and two bookcases full of various books and science periodicals. There are two tall stools at the counter and though it's a galley style kitchen, it doesn't feel too cramped since there's just the high counter between it and the living room.

The door to the bedroom is opposite the entry and there's a double bed, a nightstand with lamp, and a small dresser. Take a quick right and there's the bathroom. Need more space? There's decent sized patio off the living room.

There is nothing by way of decorations, with the exception of a small framed picture of him and his mom sitting on his desk. Hey, his last place did catch fire after all.


A. SET-UP/ARRIVAL

Did you help him move in earlier in the day? Are you an early arrival or do you sneak in half past eight?

B. FOOD

There are two pepperoni pizzas, one cheese, one Hawaiian, and one supreme. No sneaking off with a tub of ice cream though. Especially not the mint chocolate chip in the back of the freezer. Or did you bring a bag of chips as your house warming present? It's perfectly valid.

C. MUSIC & MINGLE

Tatsuo has his phone hooked up a to a blue-tooth speaker and a selection of 80s classic rock and 90s pop songs are playing. Do you agree with his selection or do you take over with your phone? Maybe now is the time to discuss when country music officially jumped the shark with that guy over there. [occ: legit a conversation I briefly had with coworkers last night]

D. CLEAN UP

The party has wound down. Who's asleep on the couch and who is helping Tatsuo clean up?

Comments

[sotenbori]

Ah, he's got game. See, there's some pluses here.

[ look on the bright side when it comes to weird memories, right?? ]

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo laughs at that]

I wouldn't necessarily call it game. She was pretty forward, saying she was new in town and wanted to be friends with him.

[sotenbori]

Just let him have this, Tatsuo.

[ this one small thing. ]

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo holds up his hands in defeat]

Alright. I mean, I can't blame her. He looks just like me, so the dude is good looking.

[sotenbori]

Exactly! There's no surprises there.

[thisloveisjustice]

So why is it I can't seem to get a date?

[He's... half joking really. It's not like he's lonely or constantly getting turned down (mostly b/c he's not asking anyone out?), but at the same time his last girlfriend was back in college. He's well into a major dry spell.]

[sotenbori]

Aw, if you're not gettin' dates it's 'cause ya just haven't found the right person.

[ he believes in him ok ]

Ya could always try that online datin' shit, right?

[thisloveisjustice]

Or maybe I'm destined to be forever alone?

[he's joking, really]

Though I feel it'd be unfair of me to date anyone who wasn't already on the app. How would I explain anything otherwise?

[sotenbori]

Huh. I hadn't thought about that.

[ but it's a fair point..... ]

[thisloveisjustice]

Like, it's impossible to ignore when the weird shit gets started. Hard enough none of my coworkers notice it. If the person I was seeing didn't notice... I think that would be rather awkward.

[which makes him wonder how all the high school students on the app are managing with their non-app family members]

[sotenbori]

There's still plenty of fishes in the retrospec sea.