Chapter 7

Abel drinks some more of his tea-energy drink mix as he reads the papers Kato brought with him. Most of them are mere gibberish, such as half a dozen long, detailed descriptions of different philosophical questions and five complicated math problems that few people of average intelligence could ever solve. In his mind he's already solved the first two of the philosophical questions and memorized the math questions, yet he needs time to put them into words so he reads them over and over, trying to figure out what's the best way to start the answer for each. He also found two torn papers from a coloring book, each picturing a crow, though he set them aside, due to the lack of pencils. From the opposite side of the table, he hears a constant flow of babbling as Kato tells him about the people he's met the past week. He doesn't memorize much of what he's saying, just enough to nod at the right times and answer if he's asked about his opinion. He doesn't mind it, he actually finds it quite calming, but he knows he wouldn't want to be an active part of the conversation.

Once he's done with the questions and problems and colored the pictures with the ballpoint pen he's been using this far he bundles them with a paper clip and puts them back into the folder. Kato grabs the folder from his hands and lets out a loud "Wow".

"You actually filled these out, huh. Every single one? Whoa. I was expecting you'd just hand 'em back to me or something". Kato takes the papers out of the folder, reads each answer carefully and puts them neatly back into the folder. He's visibly both awestruck and amused.

"Lookie here. No inconsistencies, no faults, not even one word crossed out. Amazing", he laughs as Abel looks at him with a confused look on his face.

"What? You thought I'd actually make you do my job for me? That hurts, brother".

Abel's learned enough about how Kato talks in the past years to know he doesn't mean that. He grabs the folder back and hides his smile the best he can.

"I would've done it, though", he swears, looking straight into Kato's eyes, "and you know it".

"You got me. Why else would I have brought this sort of stuff? Philosophy, maths, arts -", Kato answers, his expression suddenly turning serious, "- and animal symbolism".

"You really know me, huh. Who knew?". Abel isn't even trying to hide his amazement.

Kato stretches his neck with a sincere look on his face. "To be honest, the only reason I said I have work to do is that I'd get to spend as much time with you as I could. The people back in the lab are so boring and mean. I'd just want to talk to them, help them, be friends with them. But nooo, the work's all that matters. Sure, I do my part, but there should be more to it".

"Yeah, though Cass gets like that too when she works".

"Is that true? As far as I've seen she's everything but boring".

"You should see her work. She has her own timetables and everything. Hell, she's like the mean version of my mother".

Kato chuckles, then checks the time. "Look at the time, we only have half an hour to get to the theater. We'd better go".

"Yeah".

Kato and Abel leave the coffee shop and run to catch the tram that's already at the stop.

Once they get to the theater Kato pulls the tickets out of his pocket. "Hall three, seats four-fifteen and sixteen".

"We've still got time. I'll go get some snacks", Abel answers and checks what the snack shop in the theater has to offer. He ends up getting a bottle of water for himself, some Coke for Kato and a box of popcorn.

"Hurry!", Kato shouts as Abel gets to the checkout.

"Coming", Abel hisses as he grabs some notes from his wallet, "keep your pants on!".

They hurry to the hall and once they sit down Kato takes off his shoes, leans back and lets out a loud "Ahhhh". He grabs the drink and the popcorn Abel hands him and starts munching on them already when the advertisement rolls.

'This is going to be a long movie', Abel thinks to himself once he realizes he can't get the twins off his mind.