190/Birthday Conspiracy

Birthday Conspiracy
Date of Scene:	01 August 2023
Location:	Obsidian Tower
Synopsis:	Hotaru and Darien discuss both when Takashi's birthday might be and what to do about it. Absolutely zero hijinks will ensue.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Hotaru Tomoe
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
A teenaged boy - Hematite, but in a tailored suit - with glasses and longish black hair, pulled into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck, looks into the lab and scans it briefly. He doubletakes at Hotaru sitting by herself and steps in, glances to make sure no one is particularly nearby, and comes over to the desk she's at. "Hey, Tomoe-san, right? You're friends with Takashi?"

He literally just used the word 'friends' in Obsidian Tower. Of course he's Hematite, who else does that? He looks as friendly as he almost always does, mild and calm, smiling without anything sharp behind it. It's a far cry from how tense he was at the business meeting. "Do you have a minute? Nothing bad, I promise."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked and glanced up. Who was... glasses? The ponytail? Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she scrutinized him. 'Tomoe-san'? Oh, respect. Who was he and what did he want with Takashi? He better not--

Then the realization hit. "Oh! Shields-senpai!" she said quickly. Oh ho. She DID recognize him. And he even got a senpai! Yes, Takashi had told her about him. "You're Takashi-senpai's brother, right? Errr... friend?" she asked. He often said he was like a brother, so... close enough. But also that things were kind of weird lately... she didn't understand it, but she was at least trying to be polite. She started to gather up the cards, putting them away. "He's not here right now, but you're welcome to wait for him. And... yes. I have minutes. Plenty of... minutes," she said that last part in the tone you might expect from a child who was far, far too used to being told 'wait here, I'll be done soon' and had long, long since learned that 'soon' was often anything but.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yes, that's me! And oh-- no, I was looking for you, actually! I think you met my sist-- kohai? Apprentice?" Darien laughs at himself, waving a hand. "Himeko. I think you met her at school, right? She mentioned meeting a Hotaru, and she doesn't usually take note of people so I thought I'd come find out. But also," he says, cheerfully taking a seat and lowering his voice, "do you know when Takashi's birthday is? I have memory problems, so I don't know if I never knew it or just forgot it, but I feel like it might be a summer one."

He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would say 'soon' and not mean it, but then, he also doesn't seem like the kind of person who would participate in creating Midnight Tokyo.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked a few times. His Kohai? Pyrite? OH! Himeko! She lit up a little bit. "Oh, yes! I like her, she's sweet," Hotaru said with an entirely straight face and an incredibly genuine smile. "She has a good energy around her, reminds me of Yochu." ... He... may not know who Yochu was. Probably a good thing.

The question, however, made her pause. "His... birthday? No... I... don't..." she admitted. "I could ask him..." she said, though she looked conflicted. "... I should have asked him before now. Oh! Maybe we could steal his personel file?" she offered. "It's probably in the witches 5's office. I could distract them if you don't mind grabbing it."

... She definitely didn't look like the kind of child who'd go straight to company larceny. But then, technically it would be stealing for the underlings of her daddy, so she didn't think it counted. "That way we could surprise him!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I will absolutely grab it," says Darien firmly. "Do you know where it is? I mean in the file structure." A beat. "Wait, are the personnel files for divisions separate? Because I have access, I just only pay attention to my own employees, generally speaking. If they're all together, I have-- hang on a second--"

And right there in the room he just. Henshins. The ponytail and glasses are gone, the suit's replaced by Hematite's uniform -- complete with cape thank you -- and the Dark General's pulling a laptop out of thin air. He puts it on the desk where Hotaru had been playing solitaire.

"When's your birthday?" he asks, grinning. "Should I look that up too, or do you know it? I should look up mine."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "Oh, probably. I just figured it might be fun to... right. I guess it probably is with all the others. It's probably with the rest of them. Mine's January 6th," she said. "You don't know your birthday? Oh... right. Takashi-senpai said you didn't remember a lot of things about..." she trailed off.

"... He only ever says good things about you. He doesn't do that for many people. He usually says rather bad things about most people. But... he really seems to like you."

Awwwww. She wanted to make her senpai look good.

"Oh! But we can't look at anything other than his birthday. It'd be wrong and invading his privacy." Oh, sure, breaking and entering was okay, but invading his privacy...

She'd watch him work, though, but after a few minutes... "I like your cape. My henshin has a cape too, it makes me feel like a super hero."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Sorry, it'd definitely be more fun to break in, but I'm lazy and this is easier," Hematite says apologetically, and then smiles crookedly at Hotaru as he selects things, types in search terms, et cetera.

He's looking at the screen now, but he's answering the not-quite-questions. "I like him a lot. He was my friend here before anyone else was. I think we grew up together, which is probably why he kicks all my brother instincts into high gear. Don't worry, I'm not looking at-- what?"

Another quick glance at Hotaru. "It's not in here. You have a cape too? Everyone should have capes, they're great for damage mitigation and flair."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "The easier way probably is the right way." If there was one thing Takashi had taught her, it was take the easier way that... actually, it was that even geniuses make mistakes. But it was also the value of doing things the easy way.

"... It must be hard... not remembering anyone. I'm... sorry you have to go through that. But... at least you still have someone, right? Even if you don't remember him. He remembers you," she said, trying to give him a comforting smile. A smile that wavered when he said it wasn't in there.

"His... file isn't in there? Is yours?" she asked. "Uh huh. Takashi-senpai made it for me. Well, he actually made the device and... apparently... the device made it for me? It's kind of cool. The outfit, I mean. I even look like I have real arms and legs again when I'm henshined."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm all right," Hematite says, appreciative but also gently discouraging feeling bad for him. "I remember enough to get me in trouble," he laughs, and then he turns the screen to face Hotaru. "His file's in there, just not his birthday. Only the year." A few more clicks and typings, and his own file comes up. No birthday at all. Residence listed as the dorms at Radiant Heart. He frowns. "I was going to say maybe it's because we're minors, but that doesn't make any sense. Well."

Hematite sits there for a moment, staring at his own incredibly scanty -- except for responsibilities -- file, and then shakes his head. "We'll just have to make one up for him." It's already 'we'. "I was thinking I'd gather extra energy and give it to him, do you think he'd like that?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, glancing at the screen. "How... can they not know his birthday? Shouldn't there be a birth certificate or... something?" That didn't make any sense. They didn't just... pick him up, out of the garbage. Actually, now that she thought about it... "I'm technically an intern, I wonder if my file's in there?" Well... either it wasn't, or it was hidden somewhere with *much* higher level clearance than even he had. Likely it just wasn't in there, though. She was just an intern, after all.

Then again, Firefly was officially listed now. But that file was very scant.

"I... think he would like energy, yes. But I don't think that would be the best gift for him. It's kind of like giving him money for his birthday. OH! Wait, no, that wouldn't work. Maybe we could... no, that wouldn't work either. Maybe... no..." She started pacing, a look of consternation on her face. "Maybe... energy is a good idea. I know the things he wants right now are... energy, more space," she said before glancing around the walk-in closet that doubled as his office. "And toys. OH! We could get him a robot! Maybe we could ask that nice sparkle skirt with a robot we met that one time if she'd let us like... make a copy of her robot for his birthday! I mean, I know technically we're enemies, but birthdays are very special occasions, right?" she asked. "And it'd just be a copy! Maybe we could like... get one of those toy robots from the toy store and fill it with energy and make it all like... robotic and energy monster like? Do you think that would work?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Is there something wrong with giving money for a birthday? I mean, it's better than socks, isn't it?" asks Hematite, abruptly concerned. But Hotaru's still brainstorming, and the teenager's eyes widen. "Oh I like that. I don't know how well it would work, but-- we can also ask about copying that girl's robot, for sure. How about energy and a dark-energy-animated robot? Would you know how to do that? I only know how to make youmas out of it, and I don't think he'd want a youma."

How little he knows.

"I mean if he wants a youma, we can definitely do that! What I really want to make for him is some kind of reminder to take the energy and get out of there instead of keeping fighting the mahous that come after him."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked. And then gave him a look that said 'Sir, I am a twelve year old and even I know money is a terrible gift.' It was a very, very vocal look. "I... honestly don't know. I'm not the best with dark energy. Every time I use the dusk portal things I get... sick," she said softly. "So I don't... know a lot about them. Takashi-senpai does, but it wouldn't do to bring him a gift like that. Hmmmm... maybe... we could... try and make a robot youma? That like... can't fight? Then make it so it can only grab him and dusk port away?"

"... We'd need a robotic expert... maybe... Ummmm... Darn. He usually does the machine things. OH! Maybe we could get him energy AND robotic parts to make his own robot? Like... a dusk robot? Does the dusk zone have robots in it? You and your friends have gone in there a lot, right? So you'd know?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Well if we ever find out my birthday, money or energy is fine," says Hematite, wrinkling his nose and closing his laptop. He vanishes it back into whatever dimensional pocket he's got for it, then propping his elbow on the desk and his head in his hand. "But you're right."

He thinks. "I mean, yeah. We can get him parts and a bunch of energy, and yeah don't worry, if you need anything with dark energy or the dusk zone and Takashi-kun isn't right there, just hit me up and I'll take care of it. I can only really be in there for an hour before it starts getting uncomfortable, but that's plenty of time..."

Hematite rubs his eyes, sitting up. "Um. That's certainly plenty of time to scope things out to see if a robot could hang out anywhere. I don't think there are any already there. But if it's a magic robot, it doesn't need working parts, right? So maybe the ... sparkle skirt? with the robot, maybe she'd let us just 3d scan it. And then we can make a non-fighting youmabot, like you said. But we wouldn't have to find another robotics expert..."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe sighs. "Of course money is fine. But... Takashi-senpai deserves better than 'fine'..." she mumbled. She didn't have a lot of friends... or... until recently... any... so it meant a lot to her that HE got something nice.

"Right. Okay, then we have a plan! You see if you can find anything in the dusk zone, I'll see if I can find the sparkle skirt with the robot! If we work together, then I'm sure we can find something!" she said proudly. "And... I guess... worse comes to worse... ummmm... hmmm. Maybe we can see about trying to get him more office space? I... I don't know how we could do that, though.... unless one of the witches 5 get fired... OH! We could try and get Kaolinite fired! That'd clear up a lot of space AND get her to stop messing up daddy's research!" she said. Then blinked and shook her head. "No. A gift for someone else should NOT be a gift for you. I'll see if I can find the girl with the robot!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Sounds like a plan!" says Hematite cheerfully, dusting imaginary dust off his hands like they just came away from constructing something. He picks himself up and straightens his jacket, then bows. "Thank you very much, Tomoe-san! Maybe I could even help him stabilize some space on the other side to add to his office space? I don't know if that's something I can do -- but thanks to you, we definitely have some great ideas."

He definitely doesn't sound like someone interested in Midnight Tokyo.

"Oh. Also, you pick the day! And-- as far as the elephant in the room goes-- maybe if we're in the field together sometimes, I can talk with you about Midnight Tokyo. I wanted to see what you thought of it, but not here."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a happy nod. "Yeah! But ummm, just... make sure it's not too dusky. Or... I might not be able to visit him if he needs it," she said softly. "Not... not that he depends on me or anything. But.... I guess I could send Yochu, though. Ummmm... t-thanks. For... listening. Most people don't do that. And... please... don't get him socks. I don't think he'd like socks."

However, his mention of elephant made her blink. Ohhhhh. Maybe something... nah. Not gonna worry about that yet. "I'll need to think on it. A day that's special... and coming up soon. It'll be... fun..." The face she made at the mention of Midnight Tokyo, however, spoke volumes. But she quickly hid it... instead going as neutral as she could. But she was no longer smiling. "I... think talking about it would be... a good idea. I hope you have a nice day, Shields-senpai. Tell Himeko-chan I said hi, please," she said with a small grin.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The look on Hotaru's face absolutely prompts one of relief on Hematite's face; he looks rueful a second later, though. "Sorry to bring it up, but yes, it'll be good to talk about it. I think we agree."

Then he de-henshins in a quick wash of sparks like a piece of self-lighting charcoal and bows dramatically. "I will absolutely tell Himeko you said hi! And I hope your day goes better. Have fun getting a robot copy!"

All that said, he manages to sweep out of the room without his cape.