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CHARACTERS: Konoe, Asato, and Heather
LOCATION: Oxygen garden
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: Technology school for country bumpkin cats is in session

Asato had tried really, really hard not to peek when Konoe put up the note.

'Don't watch this'. And if he considered himself a good friend, a good Touga, then he wouldn't. He really tried, he wrung his hands and sat there with the button underneath his fingertip--click it, don't click it. Don't click it. Konoe said not to.

And so far, he'd kept his resolve. Every now and then he'd go back to that broadcast and worry that maybe something was bothering Konoe. If that was the case, he wanted to help. Why couldn't he help? Had he done something wrong? Was Konoe mad at him? He'd certainly done plenty of things to be mad about so far, after all. In the medbay, when they were both sick, he hadn't listened and just hurt himself more, and then Konoe got angry--but he had that coming, because he didn't listen. And the last thing he wanted was for him not to trust Konoe's word.

Or for Konoe not to trust him.

Having kept his nose out of business Konoe explicitly told him didn't pertain to him, Asato's surprised and relieved to hear they're going to the gardens today. A trip to the gardens is a treat in its own right; then he finds out they'll be meeting Heather there and his ears perk right up, his smile bright. Any day they go to see Heather promises to be a good day, because Heather's kind and nice and accepting and patient with him, for reasons he still doesn't quite understand. She's his quiet confidante, and he hopes with all his heart that he can be the same for her.

Yeah, going to the gardens to see Heather is a good idea.

He trots right alongside Konoe as they walk, more puppy than cat. By now, he's spent so much time in the gardens that he knows exactly where to go--fortunate, given Konoe's less-than-stellar sense of direction. Asato's just tagging along for whatever it is they have planned, for the most part, but he's happy to head to the garden, and he can't keep himself from taking a deep breath once they're there. He keeps an eye out for Heather, but aside from that breath he's still quiet. Between him and Konoe, Asato's the less talkative of the two by a long shot.

That's okay, though. No matter what they're here for, he can't imagine two people he'd rather be spending an afternoon with.

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It's been a tense time for them - surely everyone - but Konoe keeps himself fairly composed on the way there. Taking walks with Asato is enjoyable even without a destination, though this one is quieter than most.

He encourages Asato to lead the way today, for the sake of getting to the gardens on time. It allows him to follow behind slightly, too, and gather his thoughts together before things get rolling. Netherlands gave him a lot to think about earlier.

And while he knows Heather as a friend of theirs, she's still someone he hasn't met in person, even after such time. Shyness over reintroductions and this meeting's purpose alike keep him fairly quiet, too. On arrival the end of his tail shakes slowly, while he keeps to Asato's side and listens out for her.

He turns to Asato before they step into the planned spot, pulling his communication device out from his bag, "You brought yours, right?"

While he's seen some improvement in his typing - the whole goal of his last message - he's felt it would be better if they could both use the things to the best of their ability. And doing things together again feels important.

"I asked Heather to show us how to do new things with them."

So the cat-folks are all quiet and graceful and stuff. Heather is not, actively listening for her is probably a lot more effort than they need to be putting in. She grins when she spots them. They are people who deserve equality and she will fight anyone who tries to treat them any differently, but they are so darn cute.

"Hi guys!" It's not until she's already talking that she really notices they're having a conversation that she's proooobably interrupting, oops. Of course, there is one thing she needs to check first, so she waves a hello to Konoe and throws out a hi-nice-to-meet-you-finally, and corners Asato, leaning close and speaking under her breath.

"You didn't watch that network thing he asked you not to watch, right?"

"I have mine," he tells Konoe, pulling out his own device. He's a little more proficient with it, but he just learns as he goes along, mashing buttons until something works the way he wants it. Encrypting is hit-or-miss at best, and he wouldn't even know where to start if he wanted to get into the network like some of the more sleuthing-oriented types on the ship did. Smiley was keeping quiet for now, though, so he could deal with it.

"But why are we--Heather!"

From one thing straight into another. His ears flick up and his tail gives a shake, and he only seems a little bit confused when she corners him.

"I didn't." By the time he figures he should be keeping this hush-hush, it's already too late, but he leans in closer anyway. "Konoe's okay, right?"

Konoe's attention is diverted just as easily, his ears swiveling her way in much the same manner when he smiles at her.

"Heather! It's good to see you, too... um - " He trails off greeting her, blinking a little at the sudden aside. Asato didn't what...?

He doesn't want to ask in case it's meant to be something of theirs, but there's a hint more apprehension on his face than before.

Whoops. Well, she made that worse in a big hurry. Mind you, it's such a small thing it's still kind of a mystery to her why it needed to be a secret. As long as she's not wading into some big mess of Ribika trust issues, she can deal. So she raises her hands, palms up, and shakes her head.

"We're all here, we're all good. So today I'm gonna try and teach you how to use these things." She reaches for her own communicator and gives it an illustrative waggle. "Totally selfish, I figure the best way to figure out if I'm retaining and of what Sulu's teaching me is to see if I can pass it on. So thanks for volunteering." She shrugs, and give Asato a smile that borders on sheepish. "Or for getting volunteered, I guess."

"But--"

But is Konoe okay? Asato can't really be counted on to read the atmosphere of the situation very well, so he gives a slight protest when Heather puts her hands up. He'll ask her later. It's an important question!

"I don't mind." If he was volunteered for something he didn't want to do, he wouldn't be looking this chipper. Thinking about it now, it's a good idea to finally figure out how to use these things, and if it helps Heather out too, then all the better. "Konoe said this would be good, so I came too. That's all."

"That's right," He smiles again, taking her word for it that there's nothing to worry about... at least a little, anyway. Asato's reaction makes him wonder a little. "Learning together saves time!"

He's enthusiastic echoing her, though, hopefully proving himself a good pupil already, and he looks down at his own device again after taking a look at Heather's.

"Is there a plan where to start?" He looks to them both after asking, hopeful he's not rushing things. "If you two want to... yet?"

She might not know too much about Ribika, but she's already getting that manners are a big thing. Instead of letting it turn into a roundabout of only-if-it's-okay-with-you she decides just to jump in.

"Well, if I'm gonna teach I should probably start from what you know already. Konoe, I know you can send a text message, pretty much-" oh dear lord he's so cute, look at him all enthusiastic, hopefully she hasn't just dropped him in the crap by saying that- "which is great. Asato, have you tried that yet?"

"Yeah. I've tried it, but I don't like to do it." It's hard, and he's not always equally good at spelling (thank god for autocorrect functions). "I like to put it so they can just see me. Video."

He learned that pretty early, texting with people like America, and the mannerisms still creep into his text messages sometimes. If someone corrects him, he'll fix it, but so far no one has. Standing beside Konoe, he's just as enthused as his Sanga is, paying close attention to Heather's every word, and they haven't even gotten to any actual learning yet.

"Pushing all the buttons takes really long."

Their considerateness is due more to personality than instinct, and Konoe takes little offense to her assessment of him. It's true after all.

"It's kind of because we have these." Konoe continues, and he raises one of his hands to show what he means. Touch screens and claws aren't the best of friends, and closer inspection of his device's gentle scarring should hint at it.

"But I wanted to learn because I don't want to show myself all of the time."

He's never been one to draw attention to himself if he could help it, and being a cat on a very human-filled ship hasn't made it simple to avoid.

"I think it would be safer if... we at least knew how."

Bigger than his reason for wanting to learn how to type - odds are it's nothing he need to know back home by a long shot - that's all he wants. A little more security for them both.

"Riiight." Heather draws it out, nodding. Honestly, the claw thing hadn't occurred to her before, and she feels a little silly for not having clicked. Still, she nods as Konoe speaks, because it's her line of thinking exactly. "I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do, but I do want to make sure you can if you have to."

She's starting to feel a little weird just standing around, so she plunks down on the ground, sitting cross-legged. Which will be even weirder if they don't follow suit, but oh well.

"Do you know how to send text anonymously? So nobody knows that it's from you, I mean."

"I haven't found out how," he admits. A beat later, he sits down next to her, perfectly comfortable taking a seat and leaning over to peer at her own device. It's not something he can find a use for on the spot, but maybe one day he'll need to send a message without making it known who it's from. Best to just learn how to do it now, right?

He pulls out his own device to compare it to Heather's. Like Konoe's, it's been mangled by kitty-claws. That's just par for the course when you're a Ribika, and he seems less bothered by it than Konoe.

"It's probably safer," he agrees. Not to do it all the time, but just to have the know-how in case it's needed.

His crooked tail twitches as he lets out the smallest "uwah - " at finding himself last to sit, but he joins them at their level quickly enough.

"Ah - I haven't either...." Though he clings to the hope that his recent attempt at a hiding his identity was close enough. He looks at Asato's screen and his own curiously, wondering where to begin while comparing the damage cast, for a just a moment before looking to Heather intently. "Is it hard?"

In truth it might content him a little to find that it is... at least then there could be better reason for him not to understand.

"Well, it took me a couple tries." Although part of her suspects that was disinterest. It sort of goes against her nature to say something and not own it, to not back her opinions all the way. "It's not too complicated, it's really just clicking an extra button. Could get embarrassing if you were trying to be anonymous and forgot, though."

Or dangerous, but she's playing school, not trying to freak them out. She leans, angles her communicator so they can both see what she's doing.

"It's this one here. I think it's best to set it before you start the message, so you don't accidentally send it with your number if you forget. And then you just -"

She sends it, and hopefully they'll both get an anonymous message -

Guess who, kittens?

Asato leans over just a bit more, one hand on the ground to steady himself. If it really was that easy all along, he wonders why he hadn't taken the initiative to learn sooner. Still, late's better than never, and Asato wouldn't know the difference between embarrassing and normal information if it bit him in the tail.

He still jumps slightly when his device goes off, mostly because he was concentrating. Okay, he's really hoping it was Heather who just sent this. If not, they're going to have some issues.

"Heather sent that?"

He tries to find the same button when he sets up a reply to that, squinting at the screen. Finally he finds it, taps it, and just mashes out a quick hello before hitting send, to make sure he's doing this right.

Konoe's reaction isn't so different, though he leans forward a bit less and jumps a bit higher when his own device sounds. True to her word, the message he's gotten doesn't say who it's from....

He lifts his device up higher for him to see, trying to find his way around it, too. A mild sort of awe is left on his face as much as in his voice.

"Just like that?"

His own response is a bit more literal, and with the spare extra letter his takes a bit longer.

heather

When Heather gets not one but two anonymous messages back, she can't help grinning. Maybe she's not so bad at this teaching gig after all. Of course, it's gotta help that she has such eager students. It's all she can do not to reach out and muss their hair up.

"Damn, you guys are good! Just don't abuse it, okay? Or, you know, abuse it all you want and don't tell anyone it was me who taught you if you get caught."

She sits back, looks between the two of them. She really should have come up with a lesson plan before arranging this.

"Is there anything you wanted to know? Anything you've been trying to do and it hasn't worked, or you've seen people doing and you wished you could?

It's just a simple bit of praise, but Asato's practically beaming when he hears it. It feels good, knowing that he's understand things and catching on with what everyone else already knows.

"Oh. Um."

He fiddles with his device for a moment, tail thumping against the ground.

"Making things secret. I can do it sometimes, but I just push the buttons until something happens. And it doesn't really work right."

Encryption. He sucks at it, big time. But that's something he'd like to know how to do for his own purposes. There's something else, something he wants to be able to use in order to actually help the others on the ship, and that's... Well, he doesn't know how to put it.

"And the hidden network. I don't understand it."

The contact surprises him, but he gets a smile on his face of his own, perhaps a little proud of himself, too. He gives Heather a nod, an understanding and a wordless promise all at once.

Konoe makes a sound in agreement as he listens to Asato speak. Behind them, his tail moves to cross over Asato's in still-wordless reassurance. He isn't by himself here. Though he's held back asking, he's had a feeling that he would have the same problem as he did. It's been part of his motivation in the first place - as though there's an entire world they don't understand....

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