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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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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....