time to liven things up [Kirsten/Open]

[Katsuo Stride]

So Katsuo was going to be here a while. He'd found it out it some time ago, and the distress he'd felt at the time seemed to be ebbing away, little by little. There were plenty of pitfalls to living in this place: the fake food, the crappy cells, the expressionless guards... But Katsuo was actually doing a lot better than he'd been expecting himself to do. He went to his therapy sessions, even though he still didn't see them as needed, and he'd made some good friends. Michigan State wasn't as bad as he'd expected.

But then there were the days like this where he was bored out of his mind. For a kid with as hardcore ADHD like him, this was torture. This place wasn't like school. It wasn't like he could expect to get out of a class, or in this case, a counseling session, and just be able to have time to socialize with the other kids. A lot of his friends in Michigan State seemed to be busy when he had nothing to do. And then when he was being called in to meet with someone or eat or whatever, they would be the ones with free time.

Katsuo sighed and leaned back against one of the trees in the forest near Michigan State. His mind was going crazy. He had zillions of thoughts running through his head at once, and he couldn't focus on a single one. He felt so antsy. He just wanted to get up and move, do something. He was having one of his adrenaline rushes and there was nothing for him to do. What a waste....

It dawned on him that maybe he should have taken his medicine, then he wouldn't have so much energy, but...Well, too late for that.
Katsuo looked out at the expanse of the nasty gray-looking building that was Michigan State, and realized that someone was coming his way. With the sun angled the way it was in the sky, he couldn't really tell who it was.
But one thing was for sure.

Katsuo didn't really care who was approaching him. If it was a counselor or a guard, he could have one of his pointless conversations with them. He probably wouldn't get in trouble, because most of the guards were used to it. And it would at least break the monotony of sitting under trees and twiddling his thumbs. If it was another inmate...

For the first time since he'd arrived at Michigan State, Katsuo decided that he was kind of tired of following the rules. He was tired of being the good kid who did as he was told. He missed playing games, he missed doing silly things just to burn off some of his energy. He'd forgotten to take his medicine, and at the moment, the restless, anxious feeling he had was undoubtedly a result. He decided not to think about the fact that his counselor, as much as he loved and respected her, would not be happy that he was getting back into the whole daredevil process. At this point, he had to. After all, he had ADHD. This was his lifestyle. Even during life before Michigan State, he'd done silly games to spend some of his extra energy.

Katsuo hoped whoever was approaching him was up for a game. He already had a good one in mind.


Muse: Fun fun fun
Tag: Kirsten/Open
Word Count: 617

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

[/blockquote]Kirsten had been bored and upset since the morning. She hadn’t been challenged enough in her stay here so far. She wanted to get out and do something more exciting. She still didn’t believe that she would be staying here for very long. She was going to get out. She just didn’t know how yet. Putting those two facts together, she decided to search for a way out. She didn’t think there was some sort of magic door she could open and be out inside the building so she went outside, deciding to search in the nearby forest. She looked around for a while, going around the edges. Then she saw an opening and had gotten excited and then she realized it was a fence. She sighed and put a hand to the metal angrily, looking out. There were a couple trees and then a road right outside. If she could just get a pair of pliers or something, she would be out.
She turned away from the fence angrily and started walking away towards the inside of the forest. Now that she knew there was a fence, it was pointless to keep searching. Instead, she would go for a walk. She walked for a little bit thinking of what she would do when she got out. She had already planned to travel the world and earn money doing various things for people. Her license had been cut up so that was a minor setback. She hadn’t had proper schooling so that was another setback. But she could deal with both things. She knew she had to get out of this place in order to do any of those things and she knew she would never see her family or friends ever again. This didn’t exactly bother her but it was still sad.
She kept walking for a while and soon she was pretty much lost, but it pretty much didn’t matter anymore. If she got lost, she wouldn’t have to go to counseling or be bothered by guards or have to eat that disgusting cafeteria food. Then, she saw someone from far away. Her back was to the sun so she saw him clearly. He looked Asian and had blond hair which was totally weird for someone Asian. She studied him for a moment as usual looking at his clothes. He seemed skater almost but not exactly. Like someone from Detroit. She tilted her head to the side as she analyzed him. He was obviously another inmate, but what was he doing in the forest? She walked over to him silently and smiled tentatively. She didn’t know what kind of person he was. What was the label Michigan State had given him? Was he dangerous? For that reason, she was cautious as she approached.
“Hello,” she greeted with a little wave. “My name’s Kirsten. What’s yours?” She hoped he wasn’t totally unfriendly. She wasn’t in the mood for grumpy people. She wasn’t in the best mood either so it was unwise to mess with her at the moment. If he was friendly, she might be able to forget her problems for now. Maybe they could play a game of truth or dare. It was her favorite game despite the fact that it had landed her in this crazy house. She was always up for a new dare and was ready for anything someone threw at her. She would accept without any hesitation. Even if the dare did shock her, she could always hide her expression behind a blank expression as she did so well and do the best she could. She never gave up on a dare, no matter how impossible it seemed. She loved challenges. It was a part of her nature. She smiled a little more confidently at this unknown person as she thought of the prospect of a game. Hopefully, he would agree with her.

• • • •
NOTES ?!: Haha, he sounds like me when I'm hyper. Don't worry about it. We all have those days.
WORDS ?!: 649
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.[/center]

[Katsuo Stride]

Katsuo waited for the approaching figure to turn around or branch off in any other direction but his, but whoever it was was making a consistent path toward him. He was thinking of all kinds of crazy things he could do to pass the time now. Someone else around meant things couldn't be as boring as they had been moments before. Content with that thought, Katsuo took off his hat, shook his hair out, and repositioned the cap on his head. It was the only real cover he had from the sun, since the tree he was against was pretty sparse and provided little shade.

Squinting to see the approaching person better, Katsuo decided it was unlikely to be a guard. First of all, he hadn't done anything wrong, at least not that he could remember anyway, so it didn't seem reasonable for one of those big, tough guys to come stalking him out here without a good motive. Second of all, the approaching shape wasn't big or tough-looking. It was the total opposite, feminine and petite. As far as he knew, most, if not all, of the guards working at Michigan State were male.

When the person was finally close enough that Katsuo could actually see her features clearly, he smiled. He recognized this girl. He didn't know her personally, but he had seen her around Michigan State plenty of times. And if he correctly recalled, she'd always seemed pretty outgoing. But she would probably have to be, approaching someone she didn't know just like this. That, or she was as bored as he was. Neither was too hard to believe.

And either way, both worked in his favor.

“Hello,” she greeted with a little wave. “My name’s Kirsten. What’s yours?”

Katsuo was silent for a moment, then did a double blink.

"Wow..."He wiped one of his long bangs out of his eyes. "You are the first person I did not have to say hello to first." He got quickly to his feet, shoving one hand in his pocket and thrusting the other her way. "Nice to meet you, Kirsten. I am Katsuo. Are you...do you want to play a game?" He flashed his cutest smile in the hopes she would agree.

Katsuo was well aware of how odd he probably sounded. They hadn't known each other for even five minutes, and he just out and asked her if she felt like playing a game. He didn't really know who Kirsten was or why she was in Michigan State, but something about her seemed to suggest that she wouldn't turn down his offer. Even if it was kind of poorly timed.


Muse: ;D We should do an escape-attempt thread!
Tag: Kirsten/Open
Word Count: 499

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

"Wow..."He wiped one of his long bangs out of his eyes. "You are the first person I did not have to say hello to first.”
Kirsten smiled back at him. So he was a nice guy and certainly not one of the violent tendencies kids. Those were a bit scary. She giggled lightly at his comment about being the first person to say hello first.
“Well, not a lot of the people around here are very friendly if you haven’t noticed. She watched him get to his feet and extend his hand. She took it happily and shook hands with him. He was slowly lifting her from her bad mood. She owed this guy.
"Nice to meet you, Kirsten. I am Katsuo. Are you...do you want to play a game?"
She liked his name. It was exotic almost. He had amazing manners and the accent was cute. Overall, she liked him. She grinned once he mentioned a game. She loved games, especially ones with challenges. She had always wished Jumanji was real because it had seemed like such a cool game. Of course, it was a little sudden as they had just met but she was willing. Anything was good to get her out of boredom.
“Sure. I was pretty bored and a little pissed a minute ago. A game is just what I need to raise my spirits,” she agreed brightly. “I have a suggestion though.” A sly grin overcame her face. “How about we play truth or dare? It’s my favorite game.”
She knew that with truth or dare she might go a little overboard. She was one daring girl who would do anything from eating dirt to climbing the highest tree and jumping onto a mattress. It was all fun and games. She liked challenges and adventurous things. She was always confident in herself even if she knew things might go wrong. Even when they did, no matter how she hurt, she would put on a big smile and pretend everything was all right. Everything had gone according to plan. It was these things that had pushed her parents away and made them hate her.
While Kirsten thought it was all fun and games, her parents were upset and continuously told her to stop with all her stupid actions and study. Their dream was for Kirsten to become a “good girl” or a little lady, but Kirsten had no intention of being either one of those things and instead opted to be a tomboy completely neglecting her parent’s ideal daughter. Finally her parents had given up and put up a façade of love for their daughter and turned a blind eye when really they totally hated what she was. Kirsten hadn’t expected a thing. She then managed to skateboard into a fountain and end up in the hospital. In the end, her parents revealed their true selves admitting to not caring at all about their only daughter.
Kirsten had been devastated and hadn’t gone home when she was released from the hospital but instead went to her friend’s house where she was dared to steal a car and take it for a spin. She was caught and she was sent to Michigan.
Pain was threatening to overcome her and her smile had actually disappeared. She was usually so good at keeping a straight face but thinking of all that hurt. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking of stuff like that anymore! She shut that part of her mind in a corner away and forced her smile back onto her face. Focus on the now. That was all she had to do now. She looked up at Katsuo, a smile planted on her face.

• • • •
NOTES ?!: Oh, totally! That would be so cool.. First I have to find out where to get pliers... >.< lol, I basically repeated her history when I ran out of ideas. I'm so dumb.
WORDS ?!:616
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.

[Katsuo Stride]

“Um… No. Not really. I don’t like the guards or councilors. I pretty much refuse to talk to any of them. But they are a lot like robots. I think they take a vow of silence or something because you never see them talk.”

Katsuo shrugged. He couldn't blame Kirsten there. He was sure that anyone who did like the guards here belonged in Michigan State. Anyone who held any feelings, however remote, towards those lifeless people definitely had something wrong with them.
Katsuo had made plenty of jokes with the guards for his own amusement. It was never anything too bad. Most of the time they were just playful hints to try and get the security guards talking. It was kind of similar to going to England and trying to get the Queen's soldiers to react to whatever abuse the tourists dealt on them. Harmless fun, really. Besides, those guards made up for it by playing their own silent mind-games with the inmates.
Katsuo specifically remembered leaving the showering room one time with just a towel on his waist. He hadn't even left the actual chamber with the showers before catching a guard peering in. Then, he hadn't been able to resist.
"Enjoying the view?" he'd asked the guard. Then he'd done some really odd dance move, like wagging his hips or something...he couldn't really remember what it'd been. But the thought alone made him laugh.

On the other hand, Katsuo was on really good terms with his own counselor, Ceilidh. He did understand where Kirsten was coming from, in regards to disliking the counselors. It was possible she had been assigned one of the ruder ones. He knew there were at least a few. Ceilidh had been nice to him from the start. That was partly why he felt a little guilt doing another game of Truth or Dare now, after she had been working so hard on convincing him to give it up.

“I love Truth or Dare even though I get in trouble all the time. It’s the reason why I’m in here too, although I think your dare might be a little different than mine. What happened?”

Katsuo hesitated. He wasn't really in the mood to tell his story again. In fact, thinking about explaining it to Kirsten, he realized it would probably sound really silly. She had already claimed her reasoning would likely be different from his. But then again, she probably hadn't been dumb enough to attack a police officer. Instead, he just shrugged again. Maybe they could talk about it later, after the game or something.

At least Kirsten agreed with his game plan. It gave him something else to move onto. And she was nodding and smiling about it. “Then how about… I dare you to…”

Kirsten paused to glance around. Katsuo followed her gaze, curious what she would pick.

“Catch that rabbit.”

It took a moment to recognize what rabbit Kirsten meant. He saw it seconds after she had spoken and had to do a double-take.

It was a rabbit, all right. A real-life, quick-looking, camouflage-colored-brown rabbit.

"Ehhh?" Katsuo's eyes widened at the sight. He was pretty sure this was going to be a hopeless dare. He knew it was tricky to catch rabbits in pre-planned traps, so with his bare hands? Pfft. He didn't have the best reflexes to begin with. He was going to go down, and hard too. But he decided he wouldn't say anything about it. He'd just give Kirsten a good laugh, that was all.

Kirsten had already moved onto something else anyway. “Well, I could ask the same question for a lot of things. How did we get in Michigan State? How do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches taste so good? How come you’re Asian and I’m American? You can’t really find out how some things happen or are, but if I had to answer that, I guess I would say we are meant to meet.”
He realized she was talking about a comment he had made a few minutes ago and nodded. "I can live with that, I guess." Though, actually, some of the questions she had posed he already knew the answer to. Right now he was more set on asking himself how he was going to catch that rabbit.
"Oh, yeah," he remembered suddenly. "We did not set a punishment..."

“I don’t know. You have any ideas?”

Katsuo looked at the rabbit as though it would give him the perfect answer. He was really short on ideas, as well. That was a rare occurrence...
"Maybe we can just make it up as we go along. If the person does not do the dare, they have to do whatever the...dare-er asks them to. And it has to be worse than the initial dare." Katsuo didn't even bother taking off his hat this time. He just scratched the top of the cap instead. "Does that make sense? Gah, I am going to try and catch that rabbit. I will talk to you in a bit."

Making his way slowly towards the high grass the rabbit had settled in, Katsuo momentarily turned around to see Kirsten relaxing by the tree he'd been laying against just minutes before. She looked really pretty like that, with the sun beaming down on her. Katsuo sighed. How and why was it that people he would much rather meet outside of a mental institution were the people he met at a mental institution? Convincing himself that he needed to catch that confounded rabbit, even though he was sure he couldn't, Katsuo braced himself and turned back around.

But the rabbit was gone!

He frowned. Where had it disappeared to? Had it seen him coming? He didn't think animals were that smart, even if he did really respect them. He didn't have the best eyesight either, which certainly couldn't be helping.

Katsuo narrowed his eyes and scanned the grass for where the rabbit may have gone. He would have preferred that he was chasing a white rabbit. The brown color was not doing him any good. And with the gentle breeze working the way it was, making the grass billow back and forth, he couldn't really be sure if any movement was being caused by the animal or the wind.

Then he saw it.

The rabbit seemed to have sensed someone watching it, because it had moved further into the trees. Katsuo was surprised he had seen it at all, because the brown color was almost indiscernible, even when he was looking straight at it. Katsuo tried to keep his gaze focused on the animal so that he wouldn't lose it. He carefully made his way through the grass, crouching a little so that he wouldn't look as menacing to the creature as he was sure he did anyway.

Actually, he got relatively close. He was within a foot of the rabbit--its eyes were practically popping out of its head in fear--when suddenly, it turned tail and bolted. Katsuo had been expecting that reaction at any moment, and surprisingly, dived forward quickly in retaliation.

But he was too late, of course. And he knew it.
Landing on his belly in the dirt, he lifted his head from the ground and was unsurprised to find his hands empty. The brown rabbit, in turn, was nowhere to be found.

Grumbling to himself in defeat, Katsuo spat out dirt and got to his feet, dusting himself off. Actually, he wanted to laugh at himself. He must have looked really silly. Who really dives into the dirt to catch a rabbit they aren't going to catch?

I do, Katsuo thought to himself, chuckling as he made his way back over to the girl who had joined him.

Katsuo rubbed his hands together, trying to get the brown earth gunk off of them. Ultimately failing, he met Kirsten's eye and showed her. "No rabbit. I am sorry. I failed that dare. So what is my punishment?" He sat down next to her and pulled his cap down so that the sun wouldn't hit his face. "You can give it to me any time. I already have a dare in mind for you."


Muse: Haha, it's true! And...Oh crud. Long post.
Tag: Kirsten/Open
Word Count: 744

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

"Have you tried talking to some of the security guards? They are like robots."
Kirsten laughed at his robotic dance. What a strange kid.
“Um… No. Not really. I don’t like the guards or councilors. I pretty much refuse to talk to any of them,” she explained calmly. She hated guards. They forced you everywhere and kept an eye on you when you weren’t even doing anything. A lot of them were perverts who went through her clothes and when they were checking her for any unauthorized items, one felt her butt. They didn’t have lives and annoyed the hell out of Kirsten so she didn’t pay any attention to them. Why should she? “But they are a lot like robots. I think they take a vow of silence or something because you never see them talk.”
"What?"
Kirsten tilted her head to the side questioningly. Did he not like Truth or Dare or something? She waited patiently for him to overcome his shock and explain.
“Whoa...this is like the fated meeting in movies. You know, truth or dare is my favorite game too. It is really the reason why I'm here. But I still like to play it."
Kirsten grinned at the coincidence. So, that was why he had been surprised. It didn’t seem like a big deal to her at all. Sometimes, stuff like this happened. He didn’t even know the half of it.
“I love Truth or Dare even though I get in trouble all the time. It’s the reason why I’m in here too, although I think your dare might be a little different than mine. What happened?” She smiled in encouragement, hoping to hear his story. She was interested since they did seem to have a lot in common. She hoped she had found a good friend.
"We should set some ground rules first, don't you think? Since there are only two of us, why don't we just call this the Dare game? Truth is for people who aren't already in Michigan State. And since we have both been pretty bored, right...what is the point of asking questions when we can actually be doing something? To be fair, I can go first. You can dare me anything you like, because I am ready."
Kirsten nodded in agreement, smiling still. She never picked truth anyways so it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t poor her heart out by picking truth. She was a little sad that he was going to go first since she was bad at daring other people but she still agreed.
“Then how about… I dare you to…” She looked around for inspiration. Spotting rabbit, she grinned. “Catch that rabbit.” She knew from experience that it was quite hard. Those little rascals were quite fast and you had to be quick on your feet to catch them. After that experience, she had been dirty and tired, but like after any dare she was thrilled and happy.
“How did this happen?"
Kirsten giggled. “Well, I could ask the same question for a lot of things. How did we get in Michigan State? How do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches taste so good? How come you’re Asian and I’m American? You can’t really find out how some things happen or are, but if I had to answer that, I guess I would say we are meant to meet.”
"Oh. Hai. And if one of us decides not to do the dare, what is the punishment?"
Kirsten tilted her head to the side once more at the foreign word. Hai? What did that mean? She wanted to ask but wondered if it was rude. Instead she thought about the punishment.
“I don’t know. You have any ideas?” she asked, not one to come up with that sort of stuff. She never had to do it anyways since she never turned down a dare. It wasn’t a part of her nature. She walked a couple steps backwards and leaned against the tree across from Katsuo, making herself comfortable. She smiled at him, lightly and sighed. It was hot. She was wearing another low cut shirt and a mini skirt with a pair of boots. What a mismatched combo. She kicked her boots off revealing small feet. The ground was soft under her feet. It felt cool and made it less hot. A content sigh escaped her lips.

• • • •
NOTES ?!: YAY! It should be in the forest, I think... and thank you for saying I'm not boring. You're so nice! XD
WORDS ?!: 733
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.

[Katsuo Stride]

“Um… No. Not really. I don’t like the guards or councilors. I pretty much refuse to talk to any of them. But they are a lot like robots. I think they take a vow of silence or something because you never see them talk.”

Katsuo shrugged. He couldn't blame Kirsten there. He was sure that anyone who did like the guards here belonged in Michigan State. Anyone who held any feelings, however remote, towards those lifeless people definitely had something wrong with them.
Katsuo had made plenty of jokes with the guards for his own amusement. It was never anything too bad. Most of the time they were just playful hints to try and get the security guards talking. It was kind of similar to going to England and trying to get the Queen's soldiers to react to whatever abuse the tourists dealt on them. Harmless fun, really. Besides, those guards made up for it by playing their own silent mind-games with the inmates.
Katsuo specifically remembered leaving the showering room one time with just a towel on his waist. He hadn't even left the actual chamber with the showers before catching a guard peering in. Then, he hadn't been able to resist.
"Enjoying the view?" he'd asked the guard. Then he'd done some really odd dance move, like wagging his hips or something...he couldn't really remember what it'd been. But the thought alone made him laugh.

On the other hand, Katsuo was on really good terms with his own counselor, Ceilidh. He did understand where Kirsten was coming from, in regards to disliking the counselors. It was possible she had been assigned one of the ruder ones. He knew there were at least a few. Ceilidh had been nice to him from the start. That was partly why he felt a little guilt doing another game of Truth or Dare now, after she had been working so hard on convincing him to give it up.

“I love Truth or Dare even though I get in trouble all the time. It’s the reason why I’m in here too, although I think your dare might be a little different than mine. What happened?”

Katsuo hesitated. He wasn't really in the mood to tell his story again. In fact, thinking about explaining it to Kirsten, he realized it would probably sound really silly. She had already claimed her reasoning would likely be different from his. But then again, she probably hadn't been dumb enough to attack a police officer. Instead, he just shrugged again. Maybe they could talk about it later, after the game or something.

At least Kirsten agreed with his game plan. It gave him something else to move onto. And she was nodding and smiling about it. “Then how about… I dare you to…”

Kirsten paused to glance around. Katsuo followed her gaze, curious what she would pick.

“Catch that rabbit.”

It took a moment to recognize what rabbit Kirsten meant. He saw it seconds after she had spoken and had to do a double-take.

It was a rabbit, all right. A real-life, quick-looking, camouflage-colored-brown rabbit.

"Ehhh?" Katsuo's eyes widened at the sight. He was pretty sure this was going to be a hopeless dare. He knew it was tricky to catch rabbits in pre-planned traps, so with his bare hands? Pfft. He didn't have the best reflexes to begin with. He was going to go down, and hard too. But he decided he wouldn't say anything about it. He'd just give Kirsten a good laugh, that was all.

Kirsten had already moved onto something else anyway. “Well, I could ask the same question for a lot of things. How did we get in Michigan State? How do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches taste so good? How come you’re Asian and I’m American? You can’t really find out how some things happen or are, but if I had to answer that, I guess I would say we are meant to meet.”
He realized she was talking about a comment he had made a few minutes ago and nodded. "I can live with that, I guess." Though, actually, some of the questions she had posed he already knew the answer to. Right now he was more set on asking himself how he was going to catch that rabbit.
"Oh, yeah," he remembered suddenly. "We did not set a punishment..."

“I don’t know. You have any ideas?”

Katsuo looked at the rabbit as though it would give him the perfect answer. He was really short on ideas, as well. That was a rare occurrence...
"Maybe we can just make it up as we go along. If the person does not do the dare, they have to do whatever the...dare-er asks them to. And it has to be worse than the initial dare." Katsuo didn't even bother taking off his hat this time. He just scratched the top of the cap instead. "Does that make sense? Gah, I am going to try and catch that rabbit. I will talk to you in a bit."

Making his way slowly towards the high grass the rabbit had settled in, Katsuo momentarily turned around to see Kirsten relaxing by the tree he'd been laying against just minutes before. She looked really pretty like that, with the sun beaming down on her. Katsuo sighed. How and why was it that people he would much rather meet outside of a mental institution were the people he met at a mental institution? Convincing himself that he needed to catch that confounded rabbit, even though he was sure he couldn't, Katsuo braced himself and turned back around.

But the rabbit was gone!

He frowned. Where had it disappeared to? Had it seen him coming? He didn't think animals were that smart, even if he did really respect them. He didn't have the best eyesight either, which certainly couldn't be helping.

Katsuo narrowed his eyes and scanned the grass for where the rabbit may have gone. He would have preferred that he was chasing a white rabbit. The brown color was not doing him any good. And with the gentle breeze working the way it was, making the grass billow back and forth, he couldn't really be sure if any movement was being caused by the animal or the wind.

Then he saw it.

The rabbit seemed to have sensed someone watching it, because it had moved further into the trees. Katsuo was surprised he had seen it at all, because the brown color was almost indiscernible, even when he was looking straight at it. Katsuo tried to keep his gaze focused on the animal so that he wouldn't lose it. He carefully made his way through the grass, crouching a little so that he wouldn't look as menacing to the creature as he was sure he did anyway.

Actually, he got relatively close. He was within a foot of the rabbit--its eyes were practically popping out of its head in fear--when suddenly, it turned tail and bolted. Katsuo had been expecting that reaction at any moment, and surprisingly, dived forward quickly in retaliation.

But he was too late, of course. And he knew it.
Landing on his belly in the dirt, he lifted his head from the ground and was unsurprised to find his hands empty. The brown rabbit, in turn, was nowhere to be found.

Grumbling to himself in defeat, Katsuo spat out dirt and got to his feet, dusting himself off. Actually, he wanted to laugh at himself. He must have looked really silly. Who really dives into the dirt to catch a rabbit they aren't going to catch?

I do, Katsuo thought to himself, chuckling as he made his way back over to the girl who had joined him.

Katsuo rubbed his hands together, trying to get the brown earth gunk off of them. Ultimately failing, he met Kirsten's eye and showed her. "No rabbit. I am sorry. I failed that dare. So what is my punishment?" He sat down next to her and pulled his cap down so that the sun wouldn't hit his face. "You can give it to me any time. I already have a dare in mind for you."


Muse: Haha, it's true! And...Oh crud. Long post.
Tag: Kirsten/Open
Word Count: 1476

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

Kirsten looked up, ignoring the sun. It felt good against her face. A light wind blew her way and messed up her hair. She groaned and fixed it quickly before turning back to Katsuo. She smiled lightly when he shrugged at her comment about the guards. It wasn’t her fault that authority was so unfair. They were pushy, rude and always falsely accused you. She absolutely hated them, especially the councilors. She wouldn’t give them a chance. She had already given her councilor a hard time and she didn’t seem to have liked that. Kirsten smiled in satisfaction. It served her right for trying to get inside of Kirsten’s head. She refocused her attention on Katsuo. Thinking about Michigan State at the moment was not what she had wanted to do.
Katsuo seemed reluctant to answer her question about his dare. That was all right. A lot of people hid it. She didn’t see the reason though. Kirsten didn’t judge anyone based on the reason for their placement in Michigan State. She shrugged.
“If you don’t want to tell me, then it’s fine. I don’t have to know. As for me, I got dared to steal a car and take it for a spin. I got caught when I ran a red light.” She giggled once she thought of that night. “The police then were chickens and kept giving me this look. It was like they thought I was going to attack them! Well, I should have, but I didn’t. I guess I’m just too nice.” She grinned and winked at Katsuo.
Kirsten went into a flashback of that night. There had been two officers who had been scared out of their wits of Kirsten for no good reason. She had moved in the backseat multiple times just to get a good laugh at them jumping every five seconds. She would have been able to take them but she didn’t think that was right. Maybe, if she explained the whole thing, they would understand. In the end though, her parents had convinced everyone she was crazy and everyone hated her. In the end, everyone hates her. That was the rule. She shook that thought away with the others. Couldn’t she focus on the game for two minutes?
"Ehhh?"
Kirsten snapped out of her daze. Katsuo seemed surprised by her dare. Maybe, he was having doubts. Kirsten had completed this dare but it had taken all day and night. Her parents had probably been upset but they had let it go. Kirsten figured that was their hatred in action too. Every act of kindness was a mask to hide the hate. That was all it was. Catching the rabbit had been hard and her friends had laughed the whole time, but she had been determined to make sure her record stayed clean. Of course, even Kirsten had limits to what she would do, but the rabbit was within those limits. She had caught the rabbit after digging up its den and luring it away with various foods straight into a cage. It had given her a headache, but she had done it.
"Maybe we can just make it up as we go along. If the person does not do the dare, they have to do whatever the...dare-er asks them to. And it has to be worse than the initial dare. Does that make sense? Gah, I am going to try and catch that rabbit. I will talk to you in a bit."
Kirsten simply nodded once more. It didn’t really matter as she always did her dare successfully. She watched him go over to where the rabbit was hiding and turn around. Why was he looking at her? He wasn’t going to catch the rabbit backwards. When he turned back around the rabbit had moved a little further. She grinned as he became confused and searched for it. When he finally found it, she was giggling lightly. He crept over in stealth mode and suddenly, just when the rabbit ran, he dived. Kirsten started laughing really hard. She realized why her friends had laughed at her when she had done this same dare. She clutched her stomach.
She was still laughing when he came back and sat down next to her. She was in hysterics.
“I am so,” she began, and was interrupted by more laughs. She replayed the scene in her head again and again and slid down the tree into a sitting position, still laughing. She slowly calmed herself down, telling herself to take deep breaths. When she could speak again, she glanced at him apologetically.
“I’m so sorry, but that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed, giving him her best apology smile. She used one hand to wipe the dirt off his shoulder. She giggled. “Is this all you got? I can do better than that! When I got this dare as a kid, I actually caught the rabbit. Even though, it did take me all day and night, but hey! I caught it!” She grinned again.
"No rabbit. I am sorry. I failed that dare. So what is my punishment? You can give it to me any time. I already have a dare in mind for you."
Kirsten watched him, smiling. “Hmmm… A punishment, huh?” She thought about that for a moment. “This isn’t very creative, but… Eat dirt!” She pointed at the ground. “Trust me; it’s worse than catching a rabbit.” She made a face. She remembered this dare too. She hated this one and had claimed that it had been worse than all of the other dares she had been given. Dirt was okay to sit on, and to use in gardens, but there was no way that it was meant for a human being’s mouth. It didn’t even look appealing. She smiled encouragingly, before she grabbed a handful of the stuff at her side and offered it to him.
“Yum, yum!” she said sarcastically and giggled. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Katsuo seemed like a cute little kid sitting there with his cap pushed all the way down. She could barely see his eyes. It figures that she would meet a guy like him in this kind of place. She sighed but continued smiling. Life gives you lemon so make lemonade. That was a good phrase to remember. And get pliers. That’s something she needed to remember too.

• • • •
NOTES ?!: I actually hit the thousands... That's a first...
WORDS ?!: 1,075
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.

[Katsuo Stride]

“I am so-"

Katsuo was waiting for what Kirsten had to say, but she was suddenly overcome by a fit of laughter. It actually took a moment for her to get over it and be able to say what she'd been wanting to say. Katsuo just peered out at her from under his baseball cap, waiting semi-impatiently for her words. He was already fairly certain he knew why she was laughing.

“I’m so sorry, but that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Katsuo rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help laughing slightly either.

“Is this all you got?"
Katsuo was surprised to see Kirsten's hand go up to his shoulder to wipe some dirt off, and he pouted. "Oh, I didn't notice that there." Well, he showered every night anyway. He'd make sure it was all gone by the time he was in bed. He wasn't the biggest fan of jumping in dirt piles, though. It wasn't like he had the freedom to go out and get new clothes if he ruined the few he'd brought with him.

"I can do better than that! When I got this dare as a kid, I actually caught the rabbit. Even though, it did take me all day and night, but hey! I caught it!”
Kirsten was still grinning.
Katsuo folded his arms and lowered his cap a bit once more. "Then you would have had to have waited all day and all night for me to finish the dare. It would have been very boring for you, don't you think? Anyway, what is the punishment?"

“Hmmm… A punishment, huh?”
There was a moment of silence, then, “This isn’t very creative, but… Eat dirt! Trust me; it’s worse than catching a rabbit.”

Katsuo watched almost absentmindedly as she lifted a good-sized pile of the stuff and held it up.
“Yum, yum!”

Katsuo looked at it and felt his stomach turn. The smell of dirt alone made him feel sick. The taste? He had never thought he would have to consider that until now...
Lifting the rim of his cap to look Kirsten in the eye, it took everything in Katsuo's being not to laugh. Somehow he managed to give her the most disappointed look he could muster. He looked at the lovely pile of brown stuff in her hand and hesitated. "You want me...to eat dirt..." He was saying it more to himself than anyone else. He'd understood it when she'd said it the first time.

"Hmm...okay, but I already ate some when I dived for the rabbit." He waited to see how Kirsten would respond, then deciding he'd rather just move onto the next dare than argue about why he didn't have to eat something normal human beings didn't eat, he grabbed the dirt from her hand. He closed his eyes and pinched his nose with his free hand, then dumped it into his mouth.
He just hoped he wasn't eating former fertilizer, or a previous ant hole, or anything unpleasant like that. Anyway, it seemed to take forever to down the whole thing. He didn't want to just try and swallow the hunk of dirt whole, because he was worried he would choke. It had the consistency of decade-old glue and tasted bitter, like metal.

Gagging by the time it all went down, Katsuo didn't refrain from showing his disapproval. For some reason, the grass was making him think of bleach. He'd just chugged about a nice cup of bleach. Yummy.
Katsuo opened his mouth wide to show Kirsten he'd downed it all, then he got to his feet and offered her his hand. They would need to be moving around for the dare he had in mind for her.

"I ate the nice dirt. Cannot wait to do it again." He chuckled. "Now, it is your turn. My dare for you is this. You get to go inside the building and goose every security guard you come across. You know what goose is, right?" He mimicked pinching someone on the butt, then laughed. "You can get back at the guards for any way they have wronged you. So it's not too bad... We'll give you..." He looked at the watch on his wrist, then glanced back at the girl. "How does five minutes sound? I'll follow behind you to make sure you do it...and to make sure you don't get in too much trouble."

He folded his arms and waited to see her response. He didn't know if she would agree to it or not--and he had no idea what the punishment would be if she failed or decided not to do it--but he figured he could keep making things up as they went along. Right now, he just wanted to see how this dare went. He'd been trying unsuccessfully to get the guards to do something they weren't supposed to. He wondered if Kirsten could make it happen.

He was also trying to figure out when was the best time for him to tell Kirsten about why he was in Michigan State. Her story was a lot more intense than his, a lot more serious. Then again, she, unlike him, had not attacked the police officers who'd found her.
He shrugged to himself. There would be a right time and place to tell her. But right now, they were in the middle of a game. A very important game.

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

Kirsten smiled at Katsuo, hoping that he would forgive her for laughing. She couldn’t help but laugh again when he realized that he had dirt all over. She felt like going into hysterics again but she suppressed the urge, giggling again before falling silent.
"Then you would have had to have waited all day and all night for me to finish the dare. It would have been very boring for you, don't you think?”
She grinned at him. “Not if I got to watch. That would be more amusing than a clown. All I would need was popcorn and I’d be all set for a night of watching “Katsuo catch a rabbit,” hottest new show around!” She laughed again. He had really released her from the depressing mood earlier. She watched his expression with interest at his reaction to her punishment. He seemed grossed out. She almost felt sorry for making the poor boy go through with it. She giggled lightly again when he spoke.
"You want me...to eat dirt..."
She nodded; a big smile planted on her face and she pushed her hand forward a little more.
"Hmm...Okay, but I already ate some when I dived for the rabbit."
“If you enjoyed it so much, why don’t you have some more?” she laughed. She watched him grab the stuff and shove it in his mouth, giggling as he gagged. She slapped him on the back a few times just for the fun of it. She knew he wasn’t going to choke. His expression was priceless. She remembered her first time eating dirt. It had been so gross that she had almost thrown up. A couple of the kids had placed bets that she would. Somehow she had downed it and some boy had won five dollars that day.
She laughed even more when he showed her that he had eaten. This kid was hilarious. She took his hand and gripped it tightly as she used it to push herself up.
"Now, it is your turn. My dare for you is this. You get to go inside the building and goose every security guard you come across. You know what goose is, right?"
She glared at him as he imitated pinching. “Of course I know what goosing is!” She admired the guy’s creativity. She had more challenging dares but this one would be fun. She grinned.
"You can get back at the guards for any way they have wronged you. So it's not too bad...”
She shook her head, a small smile on her lips and clucked her tongue.
“Katsuo, Katsuo, Katsuo…” she said as if rebuking a bad child. “No dare is bad for me. I love all dares, and this one is no different. I’m going to love this!”
"How does five minutes sound? I'll follow behind you to make sure you do it...and to make sure you don't get in too much trouble."
She quickly grabbed her hair and put in a pony tail using a hair tie from her wrist. Her expression had turned serious. She smiled slightly at his words.
“Five minutes is fine. You better be fast Mr. Daring. I have a lot of speed. The starting line is the front entrance. There is no finish line. You say go, but stay behind me and don’t be too slow or I’ll leave you in the dust.” She smiled at him and put her hands on her hips, totally serious. This was how she was when it cam to dares. She was always ready to face things. This dare seemed interesting and it was a new challenge.
She was ready.


• • • •
NOTES ?!: Meh! It's oookay....
WORDS ?!: 613
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.

[Katsuo Stride]

ooc: Hmmmm, not my best work. But I think the next post is all yours. Have fun!

“Not if I got to watch. That would be more amusing than a clown. All I would need was popcorn and I’d be all set for a night of watching “Katsuo catch a rabbit,” hottest new show around!”

Katsuo shrugged, trying to play at being passive about the whole thing, but he couldn't help smirking as well. Kirsten had to be one of the most exciting people here in Michigan State, so it wasn't too surprising that a game like Truth or Dare had gotten her here in the first place. He still wasn't sure what she would think of his reason for being here, but the more time he spent with her, the less concerned about it he found he was becoming. At least he was no longer in that pit of boredom he'd been suffering earlier. He could at least thank her for that.

After Kirsten was back on her feet and he explained his dare for her, she seemed kind of agitated. Now Katsuo laughed. He hadn't wanted to be too gross about it. He wasn't the kind of person who encouraged goosing.
Except in Truth or Dare, of course.
“Of course I know what goosing is!"

Katsuo chuckled. "Do you?" Then he waved a hand. "I'm just kidding, just kidding. As for the dare...yeah, I know you will do it. But can you do it without getting into too much trouble? You might de-man some of the guards goosing them..." He laughed at the thought. Some of those guards deserved to be knocked down a peg or two. He wasn't saying that out of spite--just out of the reality of things. The guards at Michigan State treated all the inmates like they were inhuman trash. The kids here may have had their share of problems, Katsuo could admit, but rude, obnoxious, and slightly perverted guards would do nothing to help them get better if they kept acting the way they did.

Katsuo watched Kirsten tie her hair up and waited for her response on the time limit. Five minutes seemed good enough for him. Not too short for the whole game to not be fun, and not too long for Kirsten to get into any serious trouble.
“Five minutes is fine. You better be fast Mr. Daring. I have a lot of speed. The starting line is the front entrance. There is no finish line. You say go, but stay behind me and don’t be too slow or I’ll leave you in the dust.”

Katsuo laughed again and raised his hands up as if to defend himself against the girl. "Whoa, whoa...I guess I better to be careful. Now let's go." He led the way over to the entrance to the institution building, opening the door and holding it for Kirsten. He was ready whenever she was. But he was fortunate enough to be the one to say go.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, grinning. "On-ah your mark."
Darn accent.
"Get set.....GO!"

This was going to be fun.

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

"I'm just kidding, just kidding. As for the dare...yeah, I know you will do it. But can you do it without getting into too much trouble? You might de-man some of the guards goosing them..."
Kirsten smiled. She wouldn’t be surprised if she got in trouble. As for de-manning the guards, that part seemed like fun. The guards hadn’t been all too nice to her when they went in her stuff and felt her up. They said they were searching her but she knew that they were really perverts who needed a life. All they had working for them was their strength and Kirsten would bet a lot of money that they were as stupid as they looked and sounded. It was another reason why she liked this dare.
"Whoa, whoa...I guess I better to be careful. Now let's go."
Kirsten followed him to the front entrance. She saw two guards looking at them suspiciously from the inside of the door. She felt sorry that they had no idea what they were in for. She waved at them, a smirk on her lips. They glared back at her which seemed pretty mean to Kirsten. She had just waved hello. Oh, well. She would get them back.
"On-ah your mark. Get set.....GO!"
Kirsten started running. She was faster than most girls and had great stamina. She was pretty fast and had won many races. She ran up to the first two guards who moved out of her way. She turned around behind them and goosed them. They looked at her in shock. She grinned before running upstairs to the counseling rooms. They had their own special corridor. The good thing about this corridor was that it was filled with guards. They patrolled this place to make sure that the inmates didn’t cause trouble when they were being counseled. Today there were six.
Kirsten ran up to one who had his back turned and pinched. She ran to another one who was staring at her in bewilderment and ran around him and goosed him. The guard turned around and glared at her. She just laughed and ran to the next couple who were walking casually toward a door. She goosed them and sped on quick feet to her next target a couple of feet away. He was staring at her, having seen all of the guards being pinched on the butts. He seemed to be in shock. She ran behind him and did the same thing she had done with all of the other guards. She was running backwards looking at the guy she had just pinched and giggling when she hit something hard. She looked up, straight into the face of one of the guards. He didn’t look happy.
“Whoops,” she whispered, still smiling. She rolled around him, goosed him and started running down the hall, looking for another target. Two guards were taking an inmate to counseling. Perfect. Kirsten ran up to the two, went around them and then turned and pinched both of them. Their faces were priceless and the inmate seemed confused that they had stopped. Kirsten kept running, hoping that no one would try to stop her. She glanced behind her, wondering whether Katsuo was keeping up. She had been going pretty fast. She checked her watch and realized she only had a few minutes left. She kept running though, waiting for him to say when to stop.
She saw a couple more guards down the hall, supposedly on break. They had coffee in their hands and were chatting. That was weird. She thought all guards were mute. She quickly ran in between them, turned, and pinched. One of the guys actually dropped their coffee. Kirsten was running out of breath from laughing so hard. She paused for a moment to breathe, putting her hands on her knees and taking big gulps of air in. She stood up ready to go again. Then, she looked at a clock on the wall. Damn, only one minute was left! She ran off to one last guard that was over by a door leading to a fire escape. Quickly, she goosed him and then ran off so she wouldn’t get yelled at. Her time was up. She leaned against the wall and started breathing heavily.
What a thrill.

• • • •
NOTES ?!: I don't like this one... Your post was good though.
WORDS ?!: 722
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.

[Katsuo Stride]

Kirsten waved at the guards almost pleasantly and Katsuo had to bite his lip to keep from snorting. He loved doing that to them too. Mostly because he knew they were well aware one of the last things he wanted to do was wave nicely to them and have a friendly chat. These guards were no different. They dismissed Kirsten's wave and merely glared in response.
Katsuo shook his head. "They have what is coming to them," he whispered.

Then he gave the countdown to begin and boom, Kirsten was off, as quick as she had said she would be. Katsuo was so impressed, he actually did a double blink. The girl had to have been on a track team or something. Nobody just sprinted that well at the start of a race. Anyway, Katsuo realized he shouldn't keep dawdling and bolted after her, looking just in time to see the expressions of pure "unexpected goodness" cross the guards' faces as Kirsten gave them each a pleasant pinch.

This time Katsuo did snort. He'd only ever seen one expression on their faces. This was a healthy change for everyone.

As he passed the pair by, he waved hello and rushed off for the counseling hallway, where he had seen Kirsten heading. That was a good place to go--normally the counseling hallway had the most number of guards in it at once. At the thought of a line of them getting goosed, Katsuo almost tripped on the stairs, he was laughing so hard.

Kirsten was already pretty far along by the time Katsuo caught up, just in time to see one guard, expectant of what Kirsten would do next, just stand there looking dumb.
He got what was coming to him and Katsuo secretly declared that moment, out of all that had happened so far, his favorite. Nobody would ever be able to contend with that man's bewildered and, frankly, dumb expression. Then Kirsten bumped into a guard walking her way--she'd probably been moving so fast she hadn't seen him coming--and Katsuo quickly changed his mind. That was his new favorite moment. Kirsten barely gave the guard a second to register that he had obviously walked into someone before pinching.

When Katsuo had to run by the guard to continue following Kirsten, he merely smiled up at the man and quickly ducked out of the way. Kirsten was already getting far ahead of him.

He followed her past the guards with an astounded, but obviously amused, inmate between them, then another pair on a coffee break. He pretty much skated over the fallen drink and almost lost his balance, he was cracking up so much. His side was killing him between the running and the laughing. Peering down at his watch for just a second, he acknowledged that Kirsten had about a minute left. She was doing really well...Katsuo felt like this dare alone had conjured up all his energy all at once.
Kirsten better give me an intense dare, Katsuo thought to himself, smirking.

He caught up to Kirsten once she paused to take a breather--she had 30 seconds on the clock left now. Katsuo was opening his mouth to say something to spur her on, but she seemed to sense it. Before he knew what was happening, Kirsten was off again. Her final victim was a guard by a fire escape.

He got his due. And the game ended.

Katsuo followed Kirsten over to another section of the Institution and sank down next to her against the wall. The both of them were out of breath after the whole thing, and Katsuo had to take a second to just gather his bearings and breathe a little before he could even comment.

"That...was..." He just nodded his head. That was really all he needed to say and do. Kirsten had definitely felt the same rush of energy. She knew how amazing the whole thing had been. "I did not even...count the guards..." He sighed. "Lost track after the first seven."

Looking Kirsten's way to see how she was feeling about the whole thing, Katsuo laughed and grabbed his side again. "Unnnhhhh...I think I felt something pop. I laughed too much." He wiped tears from his eyes. "What will you make me do next?"


Muse: XD Are you kidding? Your post was great!
Tag: Kirsten/Open
Word Count: 778

[Kirsten Elle Barker]

HEY THERE [KATSUO]
what's it like in new york city ?!
• • • •

Kirsten laughed at Katsuo’s speechlessness. She understood the feeling. She was breathing pretty hard. She glanced at him out of teary eyes. She was surprised he could keep up with her speed, although he hadn’t been fast enough to run side by side with her, she was impressed. Kirsten started counting on her fingers.
“One… two… I think there were thirteen. I’m not sure.” Slowly, she was getting her breath back. She grinned at Katsuo. That had been one of the most fun dares she had ever done. She would have to give him a good dare too. She thought about it for a minute. Nothing that was too dangerous. She didn’t want him to be killed now. She thought about it and finally grinned.
“Let’s have some more fun with the staff here, hmm?” she said. “I dare you to go inside the staff room and borrow a doctor’s uniform. Then, put it on and start teasing the guards with, pretending you’re a doctor.” She smiled. She hoped it was a good dare. It would make Kirsten laugh at least. She stood up slowly. Her legs felt a little wobbly. She had been running a lot so it was understandable. She put one hand on the wall to help her adjust and then found her balance. She offered a hand to help Katsuo up. “One more thing, you don’t get any help from me.” She smiled evilly at him.
This was really becoming fun. She hadn’t had a good game of truth or dare in a while. The dare game was better. Most of her friends would pick truth though so she didn’t have good practice with daring other people, since she was usually the one getting dared to do things. Her parents had always discouraged her from playing these games and tried to keep her brother far from Kirsten. He loved her though and thought of her as his hero. At least, that’s what it seemed like on the out side. Inside, she was sure he hated her. It was only normal that Zachary, like so many other people, would hate her. Katsuo probably did too.
She frowned. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking of this today! All of a sudden, she was getting a little panicked for more dares. It was the only thing that seemed to take her mind off of the pain of being hated and calm her down. She wanted to be distracted. She shifted her wait to her other foot and then the other, a little too hyper. She needed to settle down.

• • • •
NOTES ?!: soooo short~ thx though...
WORDS ?!: 430
TAGGED ?!: Katsuo
CREDIT ?!: made by GLAMOPHONIC !? at caution 2.0.

[Katsuo Stride]

Katsuo looked at Kirsten again and laughed too. She seemed to have enjoyed the dare, at least. In fact, the both of them were laughing so hard it took a moment for either of them to really talk.
Katsuo was actually really glad he'd found someone like Kirsten. Granted, he only knew this side of her right now, the "daring" side that he really liked, and there could have been a whole host of other things about her he wouldn't agree with, but...well...Meh. He didn't know where this thought was going anyway.

“One… two… I think there were thirteen. I’m not sure.”

It took a moment for Katsuo to realize she was addressing the number of guards she'd goosed.
"Ohhh..." He nodded. "Too many. Now you will have a reputation in Michigan State!" He wondered how the guards felt about that. Most of them were your average "tough" guy. Getting goosed by a girl didn't seem the most macho thing in the world. Katsuo had to admit, the expressions had been priceless too. He was pretty sure it was the first time he'd ever seen something besides expressionless-ness on their faces.

Now it was his turn for a dare, and judging by the look on Kirsten's face, she'd already cooked something up. Katsuo gave her a sly smile, but waited quietly for what she had to say.

“Let’s have some more fun with the staff here, hmm?” she said. “I dare you to go inside the staff room and borrow a doctor’s uniform. Then, put it on and start teasing the guards with, pretending you’re a doctor.”

Katsuo paused for dramatic purposes then finally nodded. "Not bad, not-ah bad," he told her. "I can do it, I think."
He watched Kirsten get to her feet and gratefully accepted her hand. Kirsten's dare had been a surprising work-out. But then again, he hadn't really had much of a chance to do any real exercise while he'd been here in Michigan State. Katsuo wasn't sure the Institution really even assisted in mental health, let alone the physical one.

“One more thing..."
Katsuo met Kirsten's gaze.
"...you don’t get any help from me.”

"Okay..." Katsuo wiped his hands on his jeans; they were a little sweaty. "You can come with me if you want. I will make it fun. Lots of fun."
He already had a plan of action in mind. He was going to head for the Staff Office first and hope no one was already in there. He wouldn't be able to get one of the doctor's jackets, in that case. Not without a good excuse. Then, well...the rest was a matter of improvisation. That was probably what was most thrilling. He had no idea what would happen once he put on the jacket and started fooling around.

"Now you get to follow me." Katsuo winked, then began to slink through the hallways, back towards the area where the staff room was located. He was relatively careful to avoid the guards in the counseling hallway, as he was sure that now that they had gotten over the initial shock, they would likely be unhappy and vengeful. It was very possible for them to try and invent an excuse to pick up Kirsten or Katsuo and carry them away to their rooms.
The hallways were quiet other than that, though. The guards who had been sipping coffee were no where in sight, though the coffee spill was still all over the floor. This time Katsuo jumped over it, though he was still snorting at the sight.

It wasn't much later that the door to the staff room came into sight. Katsuo only knew its location after losing his way around the Institution multiple times on his first few days at MS. He'd never been inside--as far as he knew, patients weren't allowed in--but he figured there was a first time to everything, and, well, this was a dare. Rule-breaking was a given.

The door was thankfully unlocked, the lights were off, no one was inside.
Katsuo couldn't help grinning to himself.
It was like the Michigan State staff had set everything up for him and Kirsten. How nice. Very convenient.

Sneaking into the room, Katsuo quickly scanned the area for the doctor coats. The staff room looked exactly like what it was. It reminded him of the teacher lounge in his old high school, actually. But of course, this place was ten times different than there.
Katsuo spotted another, smaller door in the corner of the room and hurried over to that. Opening it up, he was pleased to see all manner of clothing in there, including the necessary doctor coats. It took a moment for him to find one that fit even slightly appropriately, but after looking in the mirror in the closet and declaring himself content, he departed from the room and left it like he'd never been inside.

Let the fun begin, Katsuo thought to himself. He closed the staff room door behind him, rolled up the too-big doctor coat sleeves, then made his way through the halls once more, heading for the ultimately dangerous, but equally prosperous counselor's hallway. Hopefully his counselor didn't catch him--that would be....blasphemous.

It didn't take long to get back up the stairs to the counseling hallway. Katsuo's heart was racing with nervous anticipation about what he was going to do, and he loved it. He hadn't felt this good in quite some time. But he did feel pretty bad, doing what he'd promised he wouldn't. Still, it was such a great feeling...

There was a guard right at the top of the stairs to the counseling hallway, and Katsuo immediately straightened up, coughing slightly to make his voice as deep as it would go. He put on the geekiest smile he could muster. He probably looked like someone's lab rat or something...

"Hello, sir. Good to see you are doing your job--if...standing around and doing nothing is your job."

After he passed that guard, he looked at another one further down the hall and adopted a shocked expression. He began approaching that one immediately, as if he had a very serious reason for doing so. The man actually watched him approach and just stared when they were finally close enough to speak. He didn't seem to expect what was coming.

Katsuo reached up a hand and patted the guy's face almost expertly. He tried to make it look like he was trying to find something specifically, then, trying to seem satisfied, he withdrew his hand and shook his head. "Your face is so cold, so stiff. It seems like your face is stuck this way. You cannot smile, right?"
Katsuo paused and just stared at the guard for a while, scratching his chin like some kind of Sherlock Holmes' character, even if there was no beard to scratch. Pfft, he probably couldn't grow a beard if he rubbed Rogaine on his face.
"Ohh! Surgery, right?" Katsuo's eyes widened, as if he had just come up with the perfect explanation. "You had plastic surgery, yeah? That is why your face is so stiff and expressionless." He tsk-tsked. "You must have had an ugly face. It does not look much better. I would recommend a lawyer and get your money back, mhm."
Then, before the guard could react any further, Katsuo began skipping away, smiling and waving.

That had been great. Too great for words. Now...what next? He also wondered where Kirsten was at this point.


Muse: *cheers*
Tag: Kirsten/Open
Word Count: 1349