908/Year-End Picnic

Year-End Picnic
Date of Scene:	20 December 2023
Location:	Botanical Gardens
Synopsis:	Takashi and Mami share a picnic lunch on a suspiciously warm day in December.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Mami Tomoe

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Takashi Agera has posed:
    It's an unseasonably warm December day in Tokyo today, and so Takashi has invited Mami to the botanical gardens for a picnic. Narisawa's hard to beat, but this way he doesn't have to try. And girls like flowers, right? Honestly, the botanical gardens are really just nice to look at anyways.

    So he threw some sandiwches together, and a couple sodas, and a kettle with a bunson burner (that trick he learned from Dr. Tomoe) and headed out to meet her there.

    By the time Mami shows up he's already on the open part of the grounds overlooking the part of the gardens that still has color - the massive series of greenhouses. The clear glass affords a pretty good view of brilliant color from flowers that offsets the dreary nature of winter - though today is sunny. He's got a blanket out and is sitting on it, with a cooler and that burner and kettle, and some silverware.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Normally Mami is the one with the picnic basket and blanket. But Taskashi said he'd bring lunch and she wants to see what the boy does. So she shows up with little more than her winning smile, perfect hair drills, uniform, and wool coat. It may be warmer, but it's still cold out.

She spots Takashi and his spread and makes her way toward him. "Well, look at all of this," she says with a smile, clearly pleased. She stops right next to Takashi and bends at the waist to plant a kiss on his cheek before situating herself on the blanket right next to him. "What a lovely idea for a date. What'd you make for lunch?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Lunch may be where Takashi is a little bit less thoughtful, but in his defense he did come up with the idea spur-of-the-moment. And he's no baker like Mami. So it's more of a finger-food kind of thing; sandwiches, fruit-and-cheese shishkebabs, some onigiri with fish within. But none of it bought at a store (which means the onigiri look absolutely less than perfect) so there was some personal effort put in.

    He smiles, red in his face a smidge after the kiss, as he pulls them out. "It was kind of not planned, but it hasn't been warm like this recently, so I'm glad you could make it today." he tells her. "And I've been meaning to talk to you about a few things." he says.

    "And you know, while you still look beautiful in the lab, the glow of computer monitors and flourescents doesn't really do justice to just how pretty you are. So I thought I'd take advantage of the day to look at both kinds of flowers at once." he says, gesturing to the greenhouses and then to her.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe settles herself in close enough that she could just lean against Takashi if she wanted, but with enough room that they can comfortably eat next to each other with some elbow room. She watches as he lifts the food out of the basket. She's smiling as she watches. "Well, it always makes me happy to know you're thinking about me," she says. "This is such a beautiful place to have a picnic!"

She blushes at the compliment, but then turns to look at him and lofts her eyebrows. "A few things? Should I be worried?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Always." Takashi replies to Mami's inquiry about worry. "You know me, I'm like a trouble magnet." Trouble that he seeks out, really.

    He leans forward, grabs a bite of sandwich, so there's a delay. "But in this case, it's just... I dunno, I wanted to talk with you about... things." he pauses to take another bite. "Like... are you happy? Do you feel like you have a good life?" he asks. "And I don't mean a good life in comparison to the car accident business. I mean like... if you had the power to change things, what would you change?" he asks.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe goes straight for the not-great looking onigiri. They look perfect to her. They look like the secret ingredient is love. At least, that's what she thinks. She's got a mouthful of rice and fish as she contemplates his question. Intoning a "Hmmmm" around it as she looks thoughtful.

"Every day I get to live is a gift," Mami replies, and it sounds just a little rehearsed. She's certainly said that before. "But these days I have you, and I have the girls, and I have so much possibility open to me. For the first time in years I feel like I might be able to do something more than the endless grind of hunting witches."

"So, I don't know what I'd change, because I've already changed so much, and things are better now than they ever have been," she says, offering Takashi a big dopey grin before taking another bite of riceball.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "That's good, then. Really good to hear. And... so you don't worry too much, part of the reason I'm asking this is that... well. There were some... things, lately, with a friend from another divison, have made me think we should talk about it. Because they were a lot more unhappy than I thought, to the point of being desperate. And because... you could hunt Witches without being part of my crew. Hell, you could hunt witches with me without being part of Obsidian. I mean have you looked in a mirror? I'm not blind." Takashi says, very seriously.

    "So, I wanted to see how you were feeling. Make sure I wasn't doing the same thing twice over. Because you know, I can't do what I do outside of Obsidian. I can't really be me. Much less help Norie or Fate or Hotaru... or you." he says, stopping to finish the rest of his sandwich rapidly.

    "I mean. Obsidian's whole motto thing is Change the World. Even if we all can't agree on exactly how we want to change it. And I have my own thoughts, too - I do want to change the world, and adjust the path I see it on. I do have plans, big plans. And there are things that I truly do think only I can do, things that need to be done. But one thing that I don't want to change about the world, is that you're in it. That you're in My World, specifically. So I had to ask, because... I really don't want to turn around and see you're not at my side. Or worse, on the other side, pointing a gun at me." He pauses, and smirks. "After all, I really don't want to repeat that experience."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe eats the rest of her onigiri and then reaches for a little finger sandwich. Takashi's talking, so it's time to eat. She'll have her time to talk soon, surely. That's how these things work.

Just finishing the last bite of her small sandwich when he finishes talking, Mami smiles and rests a hand on his forearm. "Takashi-kun, don't worry. I'm happy with my choice. I have so many things I've always wanted, and for the first time in forever, I don't feel alone." She gives his arm a squeeze. "And that's all because of you. Because of us. I'm not going anywhere."

Then she giggles. "Of course, that doesn't mean you won't find yourself with a gun pointed at you. I did promise Hotaru-chan that I'd stop you from doing anything stupid."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi shakes his head and leans into the arm squeeze, leans a bit closer to Mami. "Oh come on, if I never did stupid things, I wouldn't have put so much at risk to date you." he says, bluntly. "Of course, it looks pretty smart now, but that's the thing. Sometimes a risky decision looks smart when it works out, and stupid when it doesn't." he notes. "I've got a pretty girl holding onto my arm as we sit on a picnic here sharing food because I made a decision that could have easily been called stupid at the time. And I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for you to find people who would say the same thing about your decision to accept it, right?"

    "Sometimes decisions that seem stupid or even cruel or evil in the moment, turn out to be brilliant and kind in the end, because there are factors not everybody can see." he says. "I can't take you into the Dusk Zone and show it to you. Maybe one day. But it's beautiful... and there are also things in it that terrify me to my core. I have access to information most people don't, along with the ability to make use of it - intellectually, energetically - that they don't. So you might not want to shoot me even if it does seem stupid in the moment."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"Better me than one of them," Mami says, with a shrug. "At least you know I won't hurt that handsome face of yours. Can you say that for Sailor Moon or Miki-san? I think not." She leans up to place another little kiss on his cheek, as if to emphasize how much value she puts on that face.

"You worry too much for a villain, Takashi-kun. You've been very upfront with me at every step of the way. I know just what organization I've aligned myself with. And I know that eventually I'm going to end up doing things other than hunt witches," she says. It's a team, after all, and she's not the only one on the team with needs.

"But that's some real boy logic there. I think that sometimes we can definitely tell when a stupid idea is actually stupid. Besides, even if my gun is pointed at you, I'll listen to you explain yourself. So really, it's all up to you whether you get shot or not."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi smiles a bit. "Villain, visionary, the difference is really in whether I'm right or not, isn't it?" he says. "But alright. I'm at least satisfied I'm not going to wake up and discover you faked your own death or anything." he says, then pauses. "It's complicated."

    "Anyways, that's not the only thing I wanted to talk to you about, but... this should be a lot easier." he says. "Speaking of doing something other than hunt witches... I've got some research coming up that I need to do in-person. In-person in Seattle, in the USA and Paris, France." he says. "I'm not going alone - Sunbreaker and her friend are coming too. It was kind of last minute for me and I didn't get a lot of time to plan it - but I still managed to get tickets." he says. "Two sets of tickets, actually... if you want to come. And if you don't try to make me top spending Christmas Eve with you sharing a meal in a French resteraunt in actual France. Cause that's about the best I think I could possibly do."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Friend in another division. Faked their own death. Takashi seems really shaken up by whatever happened that prompted this whole discussion. She knows him well enough to guess who he's talking about, but it's really none of her business. If it's who she thinks it is, he's only a professional acquaintance to her, and if what she thinks Takashi is implying happened, this just means they'll get a rematch eventually.

But then he said two magical words Paris and France. She doesn't even give him a chance to finish his thought before she bursts out with, "Yes!!" She all but explodes at him in a hug, both hands wrapping around him as she manages to lean in even more. Indeed, she somehow manages to almost tackle him from sitting right next to him.

"Of course I'll go with you. That sounds like an amazing trip! Do you need me to help with your research, or am I going to just be seeing sights while you go off and do science things?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi is tackled which is exactly the response he usually wants from things like this. Well, as long as it's good tackling. Which it is! "Honestly, it's more Sunbreaker's jam than mine. A lot of what we'll be doing is pretty much sightseeing anyways, tracing ley lines and the like. Sunbreaker's got a whole project she's working on, but I really just want to confirm some suspicions... and not be here for about a week." he admits.

    "Oh right, Sunbreaker. You know her from hits like 'I drained energy from a familiar and now I think I'm captain crunch' when you met her. But she's not normally that... bad." he says. "Actually, she's pretty smart, just... not from around these parts, and by these parts I mean this whole dimension." he says.

    "Oh, and partly I'm going cause I speaking English and French fluently. Among other languages." he says, unable to resist adding the last part. "So I may have to help with that. Get us to hotels and around the city and all of that. But the project's hers, I think it's just gonna confirm what I already know - it's just different than where she's from and she's trying to figure out why - which I'm admittedly kind of curious about, but her world also doesn't make a bit of sense so that could be the only difference." he says.

    "You should have enough grief seeds even if something goes wrong and you have to henshin, right?" he asks, his voice betraying a concern he isn't aware he's even showing.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe remembers Sunbreaker alright. That girl had made an impression. One thing Mami distinctly remembered was that she was pretty. And here Takashi was booking them on a trip to, more or less, go help her with her research. She's not on their team. At least, not the little family team, even if she is on their broader team. Still, seems like a lot of trouble for someone else's research.

But maybe he's just a dumb boy. "So what are your suspicions that you want to confirm, then?"

She considers the other question for a moment, taking a mental inventory. "If we're just gone a weeek? Yes, I should be set. Helping Norie-chan with her research has seen to it that I have several."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi doesn't even see Hinoiri as relationship material, truth be told - doubly so now that he's sure she isn't merely a little off her rocker but is a literal factual unicorn in her natural form. So he wouldn't be expected Mami to worry about her at all.

    "That the ley lines - the natural pathways for magic to flow, like rivers are to waters - coalesce in certain regions, flowing outward. Tokyo's one of them - the Clover Tower's built right on top of that nexus." he says. "The math and some previous Obsidian studies indicate they're probably all starting from two other points in those cities, but up until recently we haven't quite had access to the level of precision needed to actually map them." he says.

    "Maybe we can learn something about it from them. I don't know what Sunbreaker's trying to confirm or deny. She may or may not actually tell me, too." And then he pauses. "And it'd be convinent for me to be out-of-pocket for awkward questions about people who certain inviduals know I have spent time, and whatever crazy scheme they're working on. Norie can take care of running the place for a week. And I just get atrocious reception on my company phone when I'm out of the country, such a shame that. Sometimes calls never come through at all. It's almost like the phone is off."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Well that all but confirms her suspicions. There's only one person he could be talking about. There's only one person Takashi would be this worried about and this close to that they'd be worried about him.

Mami nestles into Takashi, her arms wrapping around him and squeezing tightly, her face pressed against his chest. "Is your brother okay, then?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "As far as I know - Norie saw him maybe die, but he got better? But, I told him I wouldn't rat him out or anything. And I don't really know his game plan anyways. I guess by not telling me, I am not burdened." He says, looking up at the sky.

    "Apparently he didn't want to wait for me to figure out how to fix his condition... Or he couldn't. In any case, I was too slow." he says, quietly. "Pulled in too many directions, prioritized the girls over him. Didn't realize how much he hated it here." he says, after a moment. "How desperate he was to get out of Obsidian, even if that meant also getting away from me..." Takashi says, leaning into her hug and putting his arms around her to squeeze, too. "It's whatever though, we're just cut from different cloths, in the end."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"As long as he's happy now, right?" She asks. It's a bittersweet thing, she knows. She's been there. She knows what it's like to have someone she cares about choose a different path. A path that does not include her. A path that will probably never include her, not now.

She gives him another squeeze.

"So, when do we leave? You said we'll be in Paris for Christmas Eve?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Her squeeze and question is enough to pull him out of some kind of spiral. "Yeah, I guess it's not really my problem now anyways." he says, shrugging. That's not to the question. "I have other things to worry about, like the fact that... we're leaving pretty quickly. Late at night tonight because of the distance we have to travel." he says. "Well, closer to tomorrow morning... I bet we're going to sleep on the plane a lot." he admits.

    "Hey, advantage to being on our own is we can do wild things like this with little prep, right? But should be enough time for you to go home and get packed and all. I've got an Obsidian Driver picked out to get us to the airport." It's not Eudial. He'd like to actually *get* to the airport. "We'll be leaving Paris the day after christmas, so yeah. this week in Seattle, and then on the weekend we'll be in Paris."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe squeals with excitement and her hand shoots out into the air, palm out. "We fly at dawn!" Probably not. From the sound of it, they're flying before dawn. Quite fitting. It's always darkest then, and they're with Obsidian.

"I hope you thanked Sunbreaker for helping you figure out a good way to top Narisawa," she says with a giggle, and then tilts her head up and pulls on his arm to lift herself up to kiss his cheek again.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi turns and kisses her lips when she comes in for the kiss to his cheek, instead. "Like I said, just don't ask me to top this, this is the top, I found it." he says after.

    "And I would thank Sunbreaker but you always have to be careful with her. Praise goes to her head." Unlike the boy Mami's currently talking to.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe's cheeks flush when he steals that kiss. Oh ho! She liked that. She smiles and giggles. She leans in, her arm around him squeezing tight and her cheek pressing to his. Then she gestures out in front of them with an open hand again, just like before. "I have faith in you Takashi-kun. This is just the beginning of our relationship. You think this is the top now, but you're an Obsidian man. Change the world."