1319/Hot Chocolate Break

Hot Chocolate Break
Date of Scene:	20 March 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower
Synopsis:	The Obsidian girls take a hot chocolate break.
Cast of Characters:	Fate Testarossa, Takashi Agera, Norie Okana, Mami Tomoe

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Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Sometimes. Sometimes Fate feels pretty bad. It feels like, to her, that she always seems to call on Takashi when she needs help with something. And some part of her would like to change that.
    That might be why there's a knock on the door to the office sometime after school.
    "Huh, so like. We're not here on business?" Arf asks; the tall wolf woman looking a little surprised for once.
    "No." Fate replies matter of factly as she waits for the door to open, a mysterious bag held clasped in her hands.
"Do you even know if anyone's in there right now?" Arf asks.
    "We can always come back later, if not." Fate replies.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    The knock causes a sound to occur in the office, followed by an "ow!" and then the sound of footsteps. There is in fact someone here right now - Takashi Agera, as expected, and nobody else in the office yet. He's rubbing his hand where it's red - the office is a little bit too full of magical trinkets and tech, and it's more than possible the only flat surface was next to something and he whacked his hand when the knock startled him.

    He opens the door, and looks to see Arf, then looks down a bit to see Fate. And of course, he smiles. "Hey, Fate." he says with a grin. "Does this mean that there's a signature of a Jewel Seed nearby?" He, too, is expecting that's why she's here - but he doesn't seem to be terribly put out by it.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is sad, because Sunbreaker isn't in a sleep forever crystal anymore. She blames society or something for this. The thought the same could happen to her isn't a thought. She is grumpy in mood as she's just putting on her labcoat she wears around the tower and her safety googles on her head as she looks like Jane Goodall of the Dusk Zone now.

She looks up and sees Fate and Takashi. "Ah... Fate-chan. Takashi-senpai." she says.

"Hello." she says in monotone, going from grumpy to...existing at least...pretty fast. Maybe she's glad to see friends.

"Sunbreaker is free now and it sucks." she says.

Pause.

"You hurt yourself are you fine, Senpai?" she asks, monotone- trying to move into concerned, but simply can't.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
It just so happens that Mami is also arriving at Takashi's office at about the same time. It's much less noticeable because she's often arriving at Takashi's office. So really the odds were in favor of this serendipity, but it still feels just a little bit like fate.

She approaches just in time to hear Takashi thru the door and stops just behind the other two. She doesn't wait for them to answer his question, though. Instead she brings up something vastly more important: Takashi's well-being.

"Takashi-kun, are you okay? You really should take better care of yourself. You get hurt enough out in the field," she says, ever the concerned girlfri--strategist.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Oh that's some timing isn't it. Very fortuitous.
    Fate can't help but flinch slightly at the thump from behind the door and the 'ow'. So when Takashi opens the door, Fate looks a little worried.
    "... Are you alright?" She asks, looking ready to start fussing then and there, but Mami beats her to it as she arrives in time with Norie.
    The two of them arriving is a mild surprise but... Not an unwelcome one as Fate purses her lips into a thin line.
"TN-no." She replies; she's not here for a Jewel Seed and there's not one nearby.
    "I just thought..." She just thought but she hesitates.
    Arf gives the girl a light nudge, though, prompting her to reach into the bag. Inside are two thermoses.
    "I brought coffee." She says before pausing. "... And hot chocolate if you don't like coffee." She says.
    "Maybe we can all have some?" She says, because there's clearly more than enough for everyone.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi looks from Fate to Mami. "I'm fine, I just smacked my hand. Trust me, on the scale of things that happen to me it barely registers. I've been stabbed, lit on fire, electrocuted..." he looks at Mami for a moment as he says the next word "...shot, and worse. I'm fine right now, honest." he says.

    And then Fate says there's no Jewel Seed, but there's coffee - which doesn't get as much of a reaction. However, there is hot chocolate, and THAT is more Takashi's speed. "That's very nice of you, Fate. I suppose we're probably overdue a little get-together anyways. And Beryl's out for the day, I suspect." Probably communing with her shadow demon or making more frozen furniture.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"Like I said, you get hurt entirely too much," Mami says as she steps into the door and pats her hand on his chest, pushing up onto her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek before moving farther into the office. For once she does not have a basket full of pastries.

"Hot chocolate does sound delightful," Mami says. The way she says it, it even sounds like it's her preference and not just Takashi's. She's a tea kind of girl. She prefers leaf water to bean water. But if she has to choose between bean water, she's gonna take the cacao bean every time.

And then Mami spots Norie and lights up. For just a moment she contemplates henshining just to give the dour girl a hug, but elects not to. Instead she says, "Well, we should figure out how to make it suck for her and not you, Norie-chan."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana enters after Mami. She looks to Mami and nods to her words. "Maybe I'll sabotage her tests..." she says. She scowls a little, but follows after. "I'll take one of both. And make a bum mocha." she says as she nods. "But coffee sounds good. I have donuts somewhere. Anyone want a donut?" because of course Norie has donuts somewhere in here.

"I've been trying to grow more corn but the kernels don't grow like that. I think the Caspicorn might reproduce another way." she sighs.

She sighs and sits down at the table. "So what we're you working on?" she asks Takashi.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    And thus everyone files into Takashi's office. There is a brief moment of hesitation from Fate.
    . o O ( Maybe I should have brought tea. ) she considers briefly, but it looks like the hot chocolate idea has won the day and Norie will be having some of the coffee so it won't be going to waste.
    All is well that ends well.
    The thermoses are set somewhere where everyone can have ease of access to them, and Fate folds her hands behind her back.
    Arf nudges her again.
    "Ah..."
    A little get together sounds...
    Nice.
    "I just... Mostly wanted to stop by and say thank you. For all your help."
    So...
    Awkward pause.
    Her is where Fate's lack of proper socialization shows through as she looks from Takashi to Norie to Mami. Poor girl spent much of her formative years with Precia too busy to care for her properly and then after that all the relenteless training. She struggles in small things like dealing with people.
    Even ones she's a little more comfortable around.
    Arf sets her hands on Fate's shoulders lightly as though to say 'it's okay!' and the girl seems to settle slightly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "It's appreciated, Fate-chan. It's nice to know that people appreciate you." Takashi says, immediately. He didn't have Fate's incredibly difficult upbringing, but his own childhood lent him enough information to help deal with these situations. "I appreciate your help too, as a note." He adds. "Not just with fighting, but you let me get information from Bardiche that helped Hotaru-chan's weapon work, and several other little things." he tells her before pouring himself a bit of hot choco.

    "I'll take a donut, too, Norie - as long as I'm not cutting into your personal stash too much by doing so. Hot chocolate and donuts is a pretty good thing for the afternoon, in my opinion." He says. "And the Caspicorn probably eat stuff. I mean, it's from the Dusk Zone. Not much growing entirely out of the light and soil there."

    And then, to Mami, he sighs. "Look, I've been working on that. The getting hurt less thing. Or at least being less out of comission when it happens."

    He kind of winces when Sunbreaker is brought up. "Well, I think it sucked a lot for her. She's basically not coming around the office at all anymore, which should make you happier?"

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami watches Takashi as he pours his own hot chocolate, then steps in right after him to pour her own. She looks at him rather suspiciously when he says he's been working on it, but then her expression changes in an instant to a smile.

"Well I'm glad to hear it's a priority," she says with approval in her voice as she situates herself right next to him.

She takes a sip of her cocoa and then considers Norie's offer. Pastries and hot cocoa are pretty classic. And pastries she didn't bake at that! "I'd love a donut, Norie-chan," she says.

Finally she beams toward Fate, "Thank you for the hot chocolate, Fate-chan!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana digs into her personal drawer in the lab where she keeps her work things. There's basically a box of nice pens in here, pads of paper. Her messenger bag annnnd there they are. Her personal donut stash that she places grandly at the table.

"Here they are." she says monotone, still. There's all kinds in the box. But they are cake donuts. Nothing frosted here. Plain, Chocolate, Blueberry, Strawberry, all baked in.

She pours herself her bum mocha and sniffs it as she says.

"That does make me happier." she says with monotone. "I mean. Inso far as I can be 'happy'." she says.

"Always the confusion about my emotions. I still feel things! Just...not good ones." she says looking down. "Angry. Sad. Upset. All these things. But..." she trails off.

"Nevermind. Fate-chan. Takashi-senpai. Mami-oneechan." she asks. "Is there anything I can help with going forward?" she asks. "Beyond my own research into Dusk Zone species. The Capsicorn is cute and I love it..." she says. "But time to study other things that are useful beyond... is viney and eats people." she says..

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    And thus the donuts come out.
    Arf lightly nudges Fate again and she seems to rally from her stint of awkward silence.
    "Ah... May I?"
    Take a donut she means, as she settles in. Pouring some hot chocolate for herself, Fate folds her hands on her lap.
    "Mm. Of course." She replies to Mami, looking a little more pleased with herself after Takashi's praises.
    "Ah... I was going to ask the same thing." She does say to Norie's next question, but...
    For now?
    Relaxing with some hot cocoa with the others is nice.
    It would be nicer if Fate had more time for friends, but with how hard Precia runs her... Little moments like this are fine.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi catches Mami's suspicion - he's learned to read facial expressions as responses to his words, to tailor them better. "It absolutely is, I have too much business to attend to, to go around injured all the time." he says, nodding.

    He leans forward and takes a donut. "See? Even this is... me taking care of myself." he notes, gesturing to the donut, then the table. "I am doing something other than work and study, which is apparently good for you. Relaxing with my friends, with my found family, it's good for me." he says.

    "Norie, I think we need to start thinking about... mmm, more animals, less plants. I have an idea, though. But it's a bit of an ask - I don't think I could trust anyone else with it. I need to find a Dusk Zone inhabitant that could at least be considered slightly cute. I can do things with animals native to the Zone I can't with regular animals, and I have an idea about energy." he notes.

    "But I don't want to get too deep into work. I do know... some cases where you might be able to be of help, but there's also some value in shielding you all from my boss' gaze right now. Things are tense, with the Rainbow Crystals and the guys leaving and what's going on with other departments too - plus I think they still suspect me of having something to do with what happened to Hotaru-chan, with her vanishing." he says.

    "So... I'm not fencing you all out so much as making sure that everyone's efforts go in the best place." he notes. "I should have some way for each of you to help soon. That should be good enough for us to return to donuts and hot chocolate, right?"

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami reaches over and snags a strawberry donut. Strawberries and chocolate is a classic flavor combination. Then she just stands there next to Takashi listening to him as he talks, her eyes turned up toward him.

Sometimes it's really hard not to gaze adoringly. She doesn't succeed this time, that's for sure. Big ol' girlfriend eyes.

But then before they get all the way back to donuts and hot chocolate, she says, "You can always come out hunting with me, Norie-chan, if you're looking for something to do."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana says. "Right you need. Conventionally cute. Dusk Animals." she says. Adding the modifier of conventional to it. Norie's idea of cute is... not conventional. "I'll find animals. Don't worry. Just cute ones." she says.

"Something small. And not monstrous. I know where to 'look' for fuzzy things. Colder climates." she says. "In the Dusk Zone. I guess I'm going camping." she says neutrally.

She looks over to Mami. "Of course I'll help with your hunting!" she says. She sips her hot chocolate/coffee mixture and grabs a plain donut.

Donuts. Found family. Cute Dusk Zone Critters. She can almost feel the happy. Almost.