Travel. G. ttm. prompt 38-abacus
Fandom: None. Original stuff all teh way!
Prompt: #38 - Abascus
Warnings: None at all.
Rating: G
Summary: The same girls as were in Devotee, except this is when they were younger and Kat has just returned from her trip to Japan.
A/N: I kinda stayed up and wrote it, I just could NOT write it. lol. But I was trying to write something school related as well, so it's not the only reason I pulled an all nighter but woot, fun because before I wrote this I kinda fleshed them out and even a character that has yet to be introduced.
Chinese & Japanese Abacus @ Wikipedia
Photo used in banner gotten from here: Abacus 2 by sh0dan @ SXC.hu
Brush: Mythic_Swirls01 (Know who made it? Tell me, and I'll credit.)
Enjoy!
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"Why do you have this old thing?" Lindsey asked Kat, who was unpacking her many suitcases about a wooden abacus with black frame and black beads. She brought home more junk than she left with at the start of the summer. She had spent it in Japan, just being a total tourist and relaxing. At first her Dad had come with her just to be sure she got there all right and got settled in, but then after a week he left for home but she stayed behind.
"Oh, I just thought it was cool. Don't you think it's kinda cool and has a certain charm? It's not like I'm going to put to rest the trusty calculator and start using this. Actually turns out it's a Chinese suanpan and not a Japanese soroban." Kat told her, as she stuffed clothes in a hamper she had dragged from the bathroom for her dirty clothes. It's not a whole summer's worth, that would be mad because then she would have run out of clothes ages ago but only like maybe a few days worth and the hamper had already been half-full or half-empty, which ever way you saw it.
"Well, what's the difference between them?" Lindsey asked her friend, who was now untangling god knows what from the bottom of one of her suitcases. Maybe she should help, and not just lie on her bed like a mop but she was just exhausted. mainly because her parents had gotten home yesterday and her Mom got the brilliant idea to rearrange some furniture that morning. Mumbling something about Feng shui or her Chi. Yeah, right her Mom knew as much about those two things as Lindsey knew about airplane parts.
"You see those two beads that are separated the whole way from the rest of the beads? That tells you it's a Chinese suanpan, because a Japanese soroban only has one bead though they might have in the lower part 4 or 5 beads." Kat told her, as she plopped down on the bed beside her and used the abacus to illustrate her point. She still had a a whole suitcase to unpack. So, she went a little crazy, who doesn't?
"Okay, a few more questions. A) How do you even know this, and B) Where did you get a Chinese one when I thought you were only in Japan? Which if I got my geography right is a completely different country. Both in Asia, but not the same country." Lindsey told her, as Kat got back up of the bed and was fighting the zipper on the last suitcase which was caught on something on the inside of said suitcase.
"B) I was in some kinda shop that sold old stuff, and A) One of the people working there told me. It was very interesting, I'll let you know. I'm not even going to dignify that Japan/China thing with an answer." Kat told her, as she finally managed to open the suitcase but landed on her backside on the floor when it did. Evil suitcase. This made Lindsey laugh out loud before she got up and helped Kat who still sat on floor and was shaking her head a bit.
"All right, I give. Yes, it does have a certain charm and will go great in your Asian themed bedroom. You can be such a geek." Lindsey told her, as she heaved her to her feet and Kat glared at her for a moment for calling her a geek and then smoothed out her pants and turned back to the evil suitcase.
"Do you want your presents or keep calling me a geek?" Kat asked her, as she turned around and crossed her hands over her chest and looked at her red haired friend. So, far Lindsey had never dyed it to Kat's knowledge. But it was a different story with Kat's own hair. Yes, she was a natural blond, but as soon as she could she had it actually dyed red but at the moment it was dyed a more auburn color and almost bordering on brown.
"Ooh, I get presents? I'll be nice. Let's see it." Lindsey told her, and grinned at her, at the thought of fancy Japanese stuff. She was also just glad that Kat was home, because the last few months had been really boring and now they could go out and celebrate Kat's twentieth birthday which had been about a week ago. They had actually been talking online on her birth date (yeah, she got online occasionally there) and Lindsey had linked her to a photo of a great looking chocolate cake but it wasn't the same.
"Did you doubt it even for a second?" Kat told her, as she went again to the evil suitcase and pulled a few plastic bags from the bottom of it which made some other contents fall from the bag and onto the already messy floor. Oh, yes, it was good to be home.
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The End.
09.04.2007