2024-02-19: Best Friends-In-Law
- Log: 2024-02-19- Best Friends-in-Law
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Hass, Namiko
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo - Takarada-Shinjo Apartment
- OOC - IC Date: 0098-08-06
- Summary: Namiko and Hass stop by to see Akane and Rikka, though Rikka's out at the time filing some university paperwork for both of them. The Rikka Corps and Akane have a nice, meandering conversation.
- CW: somewhat frank surgical talk
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
July is vanishing, and in its place comes... August?!
August brings some new needs -- like straightening out some things with the university, asking for some accommodations now that the recovery timeline is here, filing some paperwork -- but also some new things that are good. Akane's finally gotten a followup procedure to reduce scarring and discoloration, as well as a basic check-in; she's still on painkillers, but... significantly less now.
Right now, she's alone in the house, for the former reasons. her painkillers have been tapered enough that she's pretty comfortable cooking on her own, though, and the kitchen seems to have become her primary battlefield. She's putting the finishing touches on the beef for gyudon; usually she isn't so hungry for beef, but ever since the first week of recovery when fish just wasn't cutting it, she's pivoted to a lot more red meat...
... but she's having fun with it, at least. Clad in an apron, T-shirt, and skirt, she moves to deal with a few dishes before they start piling up.
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
Meanwhile, outside the door, trouble approaches, in the form of two young women...!
It's actually just Namiko and Hass. Hass, for her part, is dressed in a stylish half-length dark gray hoodie over a somewhat form-fitting pink shirt, and a black skirt with chunky boots. Her mask today is white, adorned with a simple cartoon smile that might have been drawn on with a fabric marker. It's hard to say.
She rings the doorbell! And once Akane arrives at the door, she's got a small box of chocolates in hand, offered to the girl. "Happy bottom surgeryyy~" she proclaims, somehow cheerfully despite her somewhat flat affect and lack of a visible smile.
<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.
Namiko, for her part, has picked out a little pinstripe sleeveless blouse and navy short shorts, the grin of a schemer on her face.
"Heeeeey girl!" Namiko cheers, and presents a big balloon on a string she's got in her left hand. It has a picture of a big happy sun on it over a field of peaches.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Uh -- coming!" Akane calls toward the door, before taking one last opportunity to survey the food situation. ... It seems like things are pretty well together and can afford to just sit on the backburner (literally!) for a bit, so she makes her way to the door and gives the new arrivals a slightly tired-looking smile.
"Good to see you two," Akane says, taking a few moments to straighten herself out a bit, tugging at her apron. After a few seconds, she accepts the chocolates with a nod. "Thanks," she adds, taking a few moments to breathe. Gesturing for Namiko and Hass to enter, she says, "Uh, take a seat wherever. We've got a couch and a few cushions. Oh, uh -- don't use the cushion that's like, a bunch of neck pillows sewn together? That one's mine." ... She also probably ought to wash that, she reflects.
"How're things going for you two?" she asks, before adding, "Oh, uh -- Rikka's filing a bunch of paperwork with the university for both of us. She'll be back later this afternoon I think?"
<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.
Namiko slips into the main room, finding a spot to let her balloon float for a while. "Oh, things're great, ya know?" Namiko chimes to Akane's pleasantry. "They've got me banging wrenches on the Neuronoids so the Usshis can all work together on the Genesic Machines." She laughs, brightly. "Got a lot of stuff for the new kids to do, at least, I guess, that's nice. Hell of an intro course, though."
She finds a seat on a stool, feet knocking lightly against the floor. Her eyes find the cushion Akane was talking about and she asides to Hass, "Told you we shoulda got the frozen peas," with a chuckle.
"Oh, yeah? Already got her on errands, huh?" she giggles, fiendish, and then reigns herself in. "Good. You gotta rest up for now!"
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
"Sorry if it was an unwelcome surprise," says Hass, "But it felt weird calling ahead about this for some reason. To me, at least." She scratches her cheek.
There's a subdued little giggle at Namiko's remark, as she plops down on a cushion. Hass was thinking about getting Akane something a little more expensive than chocolate, but she worried it might be in poor taste--budget issues aside.
"Yeah. Training's been taking up a lot of free time... piloting, chemistry... it's a lot. But it's going great," she nods, before leaning a bit closer to Akane.
"So... how's it feel?" Her eyebrow ticks up slightly.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane considers immediately eating the chocolate -- but she wants to wait for Rikka, she thinks, so she sets it aside instead. ... It's really tempting, though.
"I think everyone really appreciates having you guys around. New people are kinda... we need the help," Akane says, as far as 3G staffing issues go. She picks up the cushion she indicated earlier and heads to the couch, getting it situated under her before sitting down.
"It's nice, though, uh," Akane pauses, looking to Hass. With a slightly awkward smile, she concedes, "... Really painful, even after all the pain meds? The regenerative therapy stuff the other day started the first time I've felt like I had my brain together and wasn't hurting since last month..." She rubs at the back of her head. "It's still nice, though."
She considers adding something else, but mercifully thinks better of it. Instead, she says, "I think the weird thing is, like, I was expecting to be so miserable I wasn't hungry, but instead it's kinda the opposite..."
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
Hass nods a little. "Good. That's probably the gender euphoria hitting... it's hard to be miserable when your body feels right. How long did the doctors say the pain would last?"
As for the 3G staff issues... "Yeah, it really feels like we're all hands on deck. I didn't intend to, but I've actually been helping out with the Neuronoids too... still learning the tools, but I'll get there. Helps me understand just how they operate, too..."
<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.
"Yeah, I bet. Right now the vets are all panicking about, uh, all the fire absolutely everywhere, or else working on collecting data about the Genesic Machines now that they're mostly actual objects you can see with your eyes," Namiko says, idly bobbing on her seat. "Gotta have someone to do the daily work! It's kinda cool."
"Hmmm...yeah, I guess it's a big surgery, huh," Namiko muses. "Glad they're helping get the pain under control now. But..."
She flips her hand in Hass' direction to acknowledge her girl's thoughts. "Right, that," she agrees.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Well, I'm tapering painkillers? We have another check-in next week," Akane answers, with a nod. "I'm expecting it to be totally wrapped by then, or at least, like, not something I'm thinking about." She lets out a small sigh, saying, "Man, this month really whipped by, though..."
Talking shop seems pretty easy for Akane -- though she didn't stick around in Mobile Corps long enough for this to feel fully like shop. "Yeah, I bet -- you two get to show up right for some really wild stuff," Akane says, with a giggle. "Oh, right -- uh, do you guys want to stick around for dinner? I've been doing gyudon prep... I was planning on having some leftovers, but I don't mind just, you know, serving four."
Getting situated a little more, Akane adds, "It's definitely less bad than I was afraid of. ... It kind of sucks to be moving so slow, though? Like, the other day we had to get down into the basement shelter area and the whole thing was just..." Here, Akane makes a face, scrunching up her nose a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
"That'll happen when they put you on the good stuff." Hass nods. "I'm glad it's going smothly, and I know you're gonna be happier like this. I thought about having it done myself, but..."
She wrinkles her nose a little, her mask shifting up. "I'd kinda miss it, I think."
Ahem. "Oh, there's gonna be enough? Sure, I think we'd love to." She looks over at Namiko, and as Akane talks about the shelter, Hass wrinkles her nose too. "Yeah. I can imagine that wasn't fun..."
<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.
Namiko makes confirming noises, humming and nodding along to Akane's story. "I bet! You've had all this stuff goin' on! Probably sleeping a bunch, too."
Namiko asides, supportively, "You know I'll support whatever makes you happy, babe."
Then she brightens up a lot at the prospect of eating over. "Yeah, for sure! It'd be great to spend time with you and Rikka again." She beams at Hass. "Yeah!" she repeats.
As for having to go to the shelters...she grimaces a little. "Yeah, I bet...that whole thing was weird. Glad you two were OK. I didn't even think how that must've been like..."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Ehehe..." Akane giggles a little at Hass, mildly embarrassed. "It's kinda complicated. Stuff like that is always kinda... the only one who's really gonna get where you are on it is you, right?" A while ago, she would have found that lonely. Now, in a way, it's kind of nice to think about...
Pushing her dark hair back a bit, she agrees, "Yeah -- I kinda missed you guys. Ako stopped by the other week, though it was only for a couple minutes?" She's drawn some conclusions about why that would be, though she's not going to dunk on her for it. "Marusan's been insanely busy, but she did at least call and say she was going to send a gift basket soon. Oh, uh -- Hayakawa and Yonezawa called too actually! That was nice."
She loops back to the shelters after a bit, though. "It wasn't super bad during? I'm pretty mobile. But..." She wobbles a hand. "After sucked. I didn't have time to snag my cushion or anything, so I ended up kinda sore all night..."
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
"Really complicated," Hass nods in assent. "It's all really personal. All unique. Pretty beautiful, isn't it? Especially having friends who get that." Laying her head on Namiko's shoulder, she adds, "And partners... but I think you 'n I are going to get each other a little better, Akane."
"You can talk to me about this stuff any time, okay?"
"Well, glad to hear those two are keeping busy, at least, and that they've managed to touch base... was a little worried with everything the Foundation's gotta be going through."
A nod as Akane circles back around to the shelter. "Ah, yeah? I was thinking the stairs would be the killer after having surgery down there... but yeah, sitting around is gonna be the big thing, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.
Namiko throws her arm around Hass' shoulder, leaning into her partner much the same. "Heheh," she giggles, but leaves her own contribution there.
"Oh, wow, good! I haven't heard much myself...You hear about it, but it's amazing how fast you lose track of people after graduation, huh?" ... She rubs Hass' shoulder, fondly. "We got lucky," she murmurs.
Looping back around, she muses, "I guess you can't exactly stand around in a shelter environment even down here, huh? And here I thought all the Earth shelters had couches and a working bar and all that."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Nodding to Hass, Akane affirms, "Yeah..." She smiles, saying, "It's kinda nice to have someone to talk about this kinda thing with. I didn't really have anyone, even online, for a long time."
The graduation topic is easier than dwelling on feeling like she's having a hard time getting around. "No, yeah, like... yeah. I think it's probably Marusan up to stuff... I didn't have either of their numbers, so it has to be her." How does she find the time and energy to meddle for everyone, Akane wonders to herself.
She considers how to approach the Earth-and-space divide... and what she settles for is, "They're definitely better than a lot of stuff in space, but like... still..." She wobbles a hand. "This is kinda on the cheap end for apartments in Nouvelle, so the shelter's actually kinda cramped... If we were closer to Bay Tower or further from the industrial sector it might be kinda a different deal."
She looks around, glancing up to the loft area above the bedroom. "... It's still nice. Not lonely at all. What about you guys, though?"
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
Hass nods a little. One of the mercies of the world Akane created for them was that... at least in her memories, fuzzy as they are, she never wanted for support.
She'll have to thank her for that sometime.
"I'm really glad we've all been able to stay in contact. I don't know where I'd be without you guys," she says matter-of-factly. "Marusan's pretty thoughtful, isn't she?"
"Well, you've seen what quarters are like on Orbit Base. It's definitely on the small side, but we're getting by. The common areas are really nice, and-" Her eyes light up in a way they don't often. "The spa is incredible. We need to get you two back up there and maybe get a day to just hang out together."
<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.
"Oh, yeah, she's a meddler. She's a better meddler than I am." Namiko huffs. "I just pick up anyone I can see and lead a dance party, she'll find your fourth grade teacher or whatever." ... "That's not meddling anymore, huh," Namiko hums.
She still beams as Akane describes the shelter situation. "Well...I'm glad you've got somewhere safe, yeah? Even if it hurts your butt sometimes."
Then she snorts a laugh. "The Orbit Base shelters are just running for a normal suit and then back to your station," she snickers. "Guess that's an armed base for you..." But then Hass speaks wisdom. "Oh man! Yeah! Spa day!? Yeah!? Yes!?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"She's scary, but... I kinda like it. The world needs scary people sometimes," Akane says, with a giggle under her breath. "I'm not cut out for that." She rubs at the back of her head, and almost says something else, but instead...
"I did just get cleared for bathing, like, without having to think about it," Akane says, at the mention of a spa day. "I remember when I got rescued, I definitely spent a while in there..." ... Oh, she can go swimsuit shopping again and not feel weird about it! That's a good one.
... She'll need a new Dive Suit, too, actually... finally nothing that even looks remotely like the plate...
Looking thoughtful, though, she agrees, "Definitely a spa day before classes start up again. It might be kinda last minute, but sure!"
<Pose Tracker> Hass has posed.
"I think that might qualify as doxxing, sweetie," Hass tells Namiko with a little nudge. "Yeah. Good-scary. The sort of person you're glad is on your side~" She rests her chin on her hand. "And that's okay. We all have our strengths."
"Whole thing qualifies as a shelter, I think, Nami. Shields, armor, bulkheads... it feels pretty secure up there. And I'll be real, Akane. Moment we're gone, you should get in there and soak. I'll be upset if I see you with legs and not a mermaid-tail coming off that shuttle when you visit."
Self-actualization's hard. Akane deserves to take all the time she needs.