2023-07-11: Giving Everything
- Log: 2023-07-11- Giving Everything
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Guy Shishioh
- Where: 3G France - Conference Room
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-07-11
- Summary: Guy catches Akane in the middle of studying, and they catch up about recent events. In the end, their conversations keep coming back to the same place because of the way they're wired -- but each time, they get a little closer.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Some of Akane's days have been... quite packed lately. Akane heads to Montserrat and then to 3G's France offices basically every day; unless she plans to meet up with Rikka, she's no longer even bothering to head back home, electing to sleep in a disused conference room. (Putting a futon on top of a conference room table creates the illusion of a bed!)
Some days she stays in the office full-time; she can attend school remotely, and that's her speed as long as she doesn't do it every day. (She does understand the value of going out -- and has made the conscious effort to, on days when she doesn't, catch one of her new coworkers for at least an hour of hang-out time. She knows how she gets.)
Hinoki has made the executive decision not to have Akane in the booth with her, but instead have her sort through the data analysis tasks generated by deprogramming Leina; while part of Akane wants to ram her face straight into the worst of it, she understands that this is probably safer... and more her remit anyway. She could use a year or two of actual training first.
Right now she's doing totally mundane homework, though. It's a little difficult to stay motivated for geometry when you have more salient problems right there, but...
... well, she texted Utsumi that exact thought once and got a Firm Nudge, so it's geometry time.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy Shishioh has just had a brief check-in with one of the several young women he's come to orbit in the last year and a half, and another one is now sleeping in his conference room.
...well. There's a few other layers of ownership there.
Nonetheless, with everything going on - with *another* counter-Angel operation now spinning up, among other things - Guy should be fully in Chief mode and hauling ass from horizon to horizon to prepare NERV for the dizzying spread of threats on offer. He's here, at the moment.
He knocks on the door with a knuckle, and somewhat amused by the incredible validity of the question, chimes, "Decent in there?"
He does in fact wait for a yes before entering, the black and gold of his Chief coat flapping around his ankles. He can't hide a grin, taking in the tableau. "You're gonna turn into Entouji, at this rate," he teases.
...though then his grin falters. "That worried about her?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Eeh? Yeah, I'm fine," Akane calls when she hears the knock at the door. She doesn't get up to open it, though -- she lets Guy do that on his own; she's still mentally shifting gears a bit. She does, at least, straighten out her workspace -- such as it is -- when Guy enters.
"Ahahaha," Akane starts, rubbing at the back of her head and laughing a bit. When Guy gives her a more serious look, though, she nods. "If I'm not doing something about this, I start feeling kinda crazy..." she admits. "I..."
She feels like she's on the edge of understanding -- but she can't quite put words to her feelings. So instead, she says, "Why not take a seat, Guy-san?" She takes a second to straighten herself out a bit more, pushing her hair back a little. "Anyway -- this is what I can do. Well, that and spend time with her, I guess!" A beat. "I do do that too, before you get on me about it."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Well, that much is familiar," Guy says, and gives her a companionably crooked smile. He ambles over to a seat, plopping down and then pushing himself out so he can turn toward Akane properly. "Still not happy about all this, but...we lose, sometimes, in this work," he admits. "Even when it hurts like hell, what matters is not letting it keep you down."
Lessons he's trying to take to heart from speaking with Alouette, and pass on, in turn.
"Good," he nods, about spending time with Leina. "I probably shouldn't for a while. Haven't even really spoken to her since I got back, so...now's not the time for people with reputations attached, we think. And it's good you're keeping up your studies, too, I see."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah," Akane agrees. "I kinda go back and forth with how much I mind losing, but in this case it's kinda a big deal." She moves her things around a little more, such that she can look down at things occasionally without totally looking away from Guy. ... Sometimes it is hard to meet his gaze, though. She's gotten more comfortable around him, but even so...
"Yeah, I think that might be an okay idea," Akane agrees with Guy, at the idea of giving Leina a little space. "Might be nice of you to take Sayla out some time, though? It's a lot on her too, and like... there's definitely conversations only adults can have, right?" ... he's not that much older than you are, Akane, when you account for the time lost to being in the Shadow Realm...
At the mention of her studies, though, Akane nods. "Even if stuff's going on, like... you can't totally throw yourself into that, I guess. I wanna take university entrance exams and everything too. Even if I go straight into working with 3G, I know you guys have a university partner for credit."
... Is this sensible, future-minded young lady really Akane Shinjo???
"Besides, I don't think we lost as much as you sound like you think we did," Akane points out. "We're definitely all changed, but... I think it won't be all bad changes, either..."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy grunts. In terms of scale, this isn't even in GGG's ten worst, but...the personal side drives it home. "Time was I never let it get to me. Feel like it's bugging me more, this time. Maybe that was just how much flaunting it they were doing."
He huffs in irritation, adding, "I was hoping I could get a big bust to start this whole thing off, but Sayla's advised us to hold our play until we're sure we can get Martha herself. It's better, anyway. Yang says picking apart what's a Vist property from an Anaheim property, and what's likely performing criminal activity from what's probably just full of pottery, is taking them forever." He motions idly to Akane's desk. "As I'm sure you've seen come across your workspace. But as promised, all the internal designations are made."
Turning to Leina and Sayla... "Yeah. I've been giving her space, but...maybe it's a good time. Should probably check in with Rikka, too. You're not all my responsibility, per se, but with GGG fully bought in with Tsutsujidai, it feels right. And..."
His finger almost gets to his neck before he gets it back to the table. He probably shouldn't even bring that up. "I" he huffs instead, "am twenty-four, thank you." If they rescue Mikoto fast enough, the fandom won't even have time to make christmas cake memes! HE'S STILL YOUNG AND COOL
Speaking of that...he considers Akane, as she speaks of her studies. "You've really come a long way. You've got some real fire driving you." He grins, wide. "I like it." Because he recognizes it, but does not quite have enough self-awareness to know it's because of his own overachieving ass.
Akane's final point, though, gets a hem. "That's..." he says, and taps the table with a finger on his G-Stone infused hand. He doesn't even notice he's doing it, but stops when he does. "Miracles come with purpose," he muses, quietly, at some long-gone thought. "That's a good attitude to have," he says, that one more to Akane directly, and brightens. Something still bugging him, but...hard to put a finger on it.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah, before I switched to supporting for Hinoki I was going to be looking at that stuff with Kamuy -- I've seen a little." She's glad they're looking at it now -- it's slow going, and she's impatient, but... she can be talked down from her initial ask of 'thing happens now or I walk' by actually seeing progress and participating in it.
When Guy mentions GGG being fully committed to Tsutsujidai, Akane remembers something she was going to float. "At this point I kinda feel like we should start talking about an official branch. I bet it'd make Gridman a lot less crazy, ahaha..." She scoots in toward the table a bit, looking down. "He definitely thinks he has to do everything himself and he definitely needs to chill."
At the mention of a new fire driving her, Akane says, "I can't just be full of hot air forever," and then chortles a bit at some private joke or another that she's absolutely not explaining to Guy.
(Akamatsu does know the punchline, and Alouette would get it if breadcrumbed to it a little, but Guy hasn't demonstrated whether he's that kind of clown just yet.)
With a small smile, Akane muses, "Sometimes it hurts when you're transforming, and you may not like the first couple forms, but..." She trails off --
-- and then gradually brings a hand up to her hair, twirling a finger in it. "ehehe... God she's amazing. Watching her recover was so incredible, and --"
She starts turning bright pink, abruptly cutting herself off.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
It surely doesn't help that GGG is about as fully onboard as it can get. Shigeru values Akane personally at this point, not to mention being the type of man who's had to throw his weight around at corporate assholes even while the world was coming apart around his ears, and also a Shishioh in his own right with his own strength of pride. Urchin Prickle is not quite as meatheaded as Hyuuma but is still the type to prefer the direct approach and that makes him ENTIRELY ready to just drive a monster truck through the Vist HQ lobby. Yang, though...
Long-li Yang is a man with passionate protective instincts honed by a learned love for his children, both flesh and machine; and a hard-won knowledge of navigating fraught political systems. It will be his word that begins an operation like the capture of Martha Vist-Carbine.
"Huh," Guy says. "Might not be bad. You've got plenty of room. If we build out from Wadatsumi, though, that might mean we're just taking direct responsibility for the colony administration." Hm. His face crinkles in thought. "Not sure that's the play. But it's a good idea for a start. Even when we turn off the Pliers, we'll have plenty to study there for years, I'm sure."
His look suggests he doesn't get the joke, an arched eyebrow and his gaze drifting off as he tries to trace the meaning. "Oh, Lord, there's two of you," he finally sighs, because that he detected.
Her meditations on transformation, though....
He can't help but smile. "That's wisdom of your own, there," he says. "You earned that yourself."
... He smiles as wide as it goes as Akane stops herself cold. "Now you're making me really wanna check in on her," he laughs. "Be proud of that," he adds, after. "You made sure she could come home. And you've been someone she wants to come home to. There's nothing embarrassing about that at all."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Hmmm, yeah. You'll need to get some professional admin guys or whatever, and probably someone to navigate..." Akane pauses, as she thinks about something. "... You know, this one I'm actually gonna just pitch to Yang? It's not your speed."
(The rest of the Tsutsujidai PLANT may be distressed real estate with no owner now, but it's not going to be forever; navigating that could be good for the city as it is now, 3G, and any investors... but Akane's not quite savvy enough to have the full thought beyond 'what if there was land and we sold it'.)
When Guy catches her punning, Akane says, "Review the CK-01 updated files some time. I added a bunch of my notes in there as the original designer." She manages not to beat herself up too much about it.
Guy gives her wisdom in exchange for her own, and Akane nods to him. "Someone to come home to, huh... yeah. Not everyone gets that... that's kind of a big deal." It's a bit of an alien thought -- Akane's not used to coming home to anyone, nor being the person someone comes home to. It struggles to settle in. "I'm just so glad she's safe and she's still... her. When we were on the Garuda, I said no matter what happened I'd be there, but..."
Rubbing at her face a little, she finally admits something she's kept under her hat. "... I was scared of having to pay back the debt that soon..."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Hopefully soon, we can have Taiga help," Guy says, just a little wistful. "Don't know where that man found the time to run the Space Development Corporation *and* Gutsy Geoid Guard, but that's the kind of overlap that'd help."
He manages not to deflate at the memory of just how many of his best friends are still in Triple Zero's thrall. Instead he just rolls his eyes good-naturedly at Akane's tip to check the files. "This is a trap," he says, but they both know he'll do it later anyway.
Guy himself is still chewing on what Akane had to say. You might not like the first forms, huh. But what if...kh.
He absently scratches his G-Stone infused hand.
And then all Guy can do is smile, consolingly, thin and worried. "Akane..." he says, slowly, eyes slowly taking in that worried face.
"...giving everything you have and are to be with the one you love, takes courage too," he says, but there's a clarity to his eyes that seems to escape him often these days. "But I'm glad you didn't have to make that choice."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah. I... want to get started working on that kind of thing," Akane agrees, "but Taiga'd definitely have a better idea of where to start than pretty much any of us." She still doesn't personally know him, but at this point it'd be hard to spend this much time with 3G and not know him by his reputation.
As for the other part... "3G has fallen into a lot of my traps and it's come out better for it every time," Akane shoots back with a playful little smile. It's... a little plastic, but by the same token, it's better than treating that shared past as something untouchable.
"I came pretty close. When she attacked Knight, I ended up getting between them, and holding her, and telling her... no matter what, I wasn't going to leave her. It was the only way to get her to stop." Deep breath in... deep breath out.
"I meant it, too. I didn't care what happened to me as long as I could pay back my debt to her. I was still trying to find a way out, but --"
She cuts herself off. "That's what 'not giving up' meant to me, right then, I guess."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Obviously, we'll give you all the support we can. And once everyone's back..." He believes in it. He needs it like air. "You'll have some of the best the Earth Sphere's had to offer for decades helping you along."
Akane going for their shared past gets her a surprised laugh. "This is a trap and a challenge, then? Those are fun," Guy teases back, rallying.
Ah, but the good tiems can't last. She reveals a dire part of that day. He'd heard of it, but...
"I know what you mean completely," Guy says, and leans back a little, and turns his own gaze off to the middle distance.
"When...when Mikoto was turned into the New Machine Species, I just barely survived. So did she. I bet everything on one final miracle, but...at that point, I was ready."
His eyes scan back to Akane. "I'd rather die together with her than only one of us live on. I still feel that way now. So...I know what you mean."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"I'll warn you, though -- I have a big head start~" Akane teases Guy. They settle into seriousness before long, though -- both thoughts of the future and thoughts of joking around get set aside for a different slice of the past.
"... yeah," she agrees. "You get it. It'd be one thing to be separated from her if I knew she was okay. I could do that. But her suffering alone?" Akane shakes her head, saying, "Never in a million years. I'd go back to fighting you first. ... if I didn't find a way out, I probably would've had to..."
It's said. It's out there. And it seems like Guy wouldn't begrudge her that, either. "But it didn't happen, and instead... I got to know her more." She nods, and says, "I know I feel like I say this every time we talk, but I'm up to fighting for your happy ending too, Guy-san." A beat. "Mikoto said the world wasn't gonna be here for my graduation and neither would she, and once I'm in an argument, I hate losing the argument... ahaha."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy nods. "Yeah. Exactly." Her suffering alone... .... ....
Mikoto....
He rallies himself, but given the subject matter, he doesn't feel obliged to hide his distraction too much. "Even then...even if *you* don't know how you'll get out, don't forget we won't give up, either. I've busted through a Federation blockade to get my payback on people a lot scarier than Martha Vist-Carbine."
Wait, 'payback'? Well, perhaps Akane's heard about Papillon Noir by now.
Still...when she describes the happy ending she got instead, Guy can't help but smile. "It's that wonderful feeling, isn't it? Every little thing she does. I know. Cherish that."
His own happy ending....His smile is sad. "They're going to make it hard for me to fight. I know. They already know she's my weakness and won't hesitate to use it. I don't know what they'll do, but...I'll be relying on you and Alouette to keep me grounded. I can't..."
He has to stop and take a breath.
"I can't fight her alone again."
He lets that sit for several seconds too long before scraping a smile back on his face. "So we'll need you to be extra stubborn."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Papillon has come up in only the faintest passing... but Akane knows that sometimes your pain is your business alone. (Or at the very least, it's not the business of your teenager friends.)
"It's complicated, and it's a lot to navigate, but like... it's definitely..." Akane pauses, trying to figure out how to put words to what she's feeling -- and just stumbles over them, and starts giggling instead.
She manages to serious up again for talk of Mikoto, though. "... Don't worry. I don't mind doing that. We can probably do better if we're at separate desks, even. We won't be tripping over each other."
'I can't fight her alone again.'
"You're not going to have to fight alone. I'll back you up no matter what, whether it's in GaoFighGar or at a desk."
She nods to him, saying, "... I feel like we always end up on this one, ahahaha. I guess I wouldn't be any better about it if it was Rikka, though..." A beat passes, and then: "Did you eat yet? There's a fish dish you can get here and not on Orbit Base that I really wanna try."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy tips his head to the side, a good natured smile on his face. "I admit I'm a bit preoccupied," he says, laughing sadly. "But...you and Alouette, Sayla and Koji...I know I can trust everyone to hold up the line if I need a few minutes, from time to time. It's..."
He draws in a long, thoughtful breath, and then huffs it out into a smile. "It's good," he decides, and nods. "Thank you, Akane. Every day, you prove me more and more I was right about how amazing you could be."
And she invites him...to lunch!! "I did not!" he says, and perks up, because like all male leads from shows aimed at boys under 10 he can be activated by Anime Meat. "Sounds great! Let's check it out."