(cafe search / imagined intimacy / hotel meetup)
I’m living in Tokyo, or somewhere like it, and heading into the city to meet friends to play a game at a tea shop. Last time, we had to search around because the first few places wouldn’t let us stay for a long time.
I consider going back to the first place, but it wasn’t ideal, so I keep looking. I pass a high-end grocery store and go inside. They have a lot of ice cream cookie sandwiches, but I realize I can’t buy them if I’m going to leave them sitting in a café for hours. I check the store hours—it closes at 23:30—so I think I could come back later before heading home.
I check another café, but they don’t allow eating inside. I start thinking the first place might be the best option after all.
Then I pass another place—bright and sunny, with a bar along one wall and full window panes at the back with tables. It looks promising, so I decide to ask if they’ll let us stay and play games there.
Later, I’m in a hotel for some kind of conference or convention. I’m in bed, about to sleep, when I imagine a scene that feels very real, like it’s happening right next to me. There are two people, one slimmer and one larger, with the larger one having a metal left arm.
I shift perspective and become the slimmer person. There’s a sense of teasing and anticipation, and I follow along, unsure but responsive, waiting for direction and reacting to what the other person does.
Then I get distracted by something outside the window. The window opens into the middle of the hotel, where there’s a large internal walkway system and you can see the banisters of all the floors.
I think I see HS Friend M on a lower floor, just below my balcony. I go to check and confirm it’s her. She’s with other HS friends (group of four), gathering in a room below.
I call down with cupped hands to ask the room number—5360, on the fifth floor. I rush to grab my things—my phone (which I think isn’t charged, but it is), my glasses, my room key, and slippers, though I can only find one.
I feel like I have something important the next day, but I can’t resist going to see them, even if it means staying up all night.