2025-04-01: Many Returns
- Log: 2025-04-01 - Many Returns
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Rikka Takarada, Knight
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo - Takarada-Shinjo Household
- OOC - IC Date: 0100-04-01
- Summary: Knight and Second stop by the Takarada-Shinjo (soon to be Takarada) household to give a housewarming gift -- and start sorting through things.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
We all love late March through early April, when nothing ever happens!
... Really, how 'nothing ever happens' things are the last couple weeks is kind of odd. No class, few leads on science crime, and what leads there are mostly falling to 3G Blue's non-Mobile Corps divisions... Akane Shinjo, at least, is at a bit of a loose end.
She's gotten back to her art, at least; she kind of wants to do Comiket again this year... She doesn't have something screaming at her to do it the way Your Truth screamed at her to do it, though. She could just drop an H-doujin this time -- the concept behind To Do Anything has been back in her head, lately... but does she really want to be that kind of artist? (Would it reflect poorly on 3G, at this point?)
She puts her face down on her desk, hidden away in her study, and lets out a loud, "Nnnuuuuuhhhhh..."
Balam promptly hops up onto her back and smashes his one-eyed face into the back of her skull. He is rewarded with another, "NnnnnnUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH..." followed by "I'm going to delete my To-witter and become a hermiiiiiiit..."
Sounds like someone could use something to break up her mental routine a little more.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Nothing ever happens.
...It's true, at least right now. No school, and what work they have gotten has been more of the 'dispatch and observe' sort rather than anything active. Maybe that's for the better, but it does leave them all a bit at loose ends...
Thankfully, Rikka does have a project to keep her busy now, at least. The abandoned MR-1 they'd picked up out of the salvage yard has been coming along nicely. True to her word there's still a while yet before it'll be in any state to actually run, but at least now it no longer looks like they have a rusty wreck taking up space in their garage.
...Externally, anyway. On the inside, it still needs a lot of work. In fact, Rikka has just finished up some repairs on it - and a subsequent shower and change of clothes to get rid of the scent of machine oil. She pauses in the hallway as she passes by Akane's study, hearing a loud 'nnuuhh' emerge - followed by another, louder one. Soon enough...
"Don't do that." Rikka says, leaning lightly on the back of Akane's chair, her arms folded over top of it. There's a small, teasing smile on her face. "I can always go right to the source, but think of all the disappointed fans..."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Ding, dong. A ring of the doorbell, followed shortly by three brisk knocks. Out on the front step, an odd couple stands and shifts awkwardly. It's Grid "Knight" Knight and Anosilius the Second, standing outside with bags in their hands. Oddly enough, a small dinghy - an actual boat - sits aground in the driveway, motor raised. The two wait patiently for a response, making light conversation - or, what passes for conversation, anyway.
"I'm still not sure about this," Knight grumbles.
"Knight-kun, we talked about this. It'll be good for you!"
"We can just go during business hours..."
"Those are soooo boring! Don't you want to catch up?"
Knight makes a strained face.
"Besides, I already promised Rikka we'd drop by, and that's that."
"Fine. But I'm not doing... That." Knight does not elaborate on what he means by "That".
"Suit yourself~"
The two continue to wait on the porch as Akane is assaulted by her cat.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
As much as Akane's starting to find the scent of oil growing on her, she's happy Rikka isn't making the whole house smell that way all the time. As Rikka comes up and checks on Akane, Akane -- surrounded by action figures and empty tea/tomato juice bottles -- lets out a slightly less miserable sigh. "You're right, but..."
Balam rolls over onto his side -- then the doorbell rings and he rolls off of her, landing unceremoniously on the floor with a thud. (Feet down, at least.) Akane has no choice but to stand up and stretch a bit and start heading down.
"You look really good fresh out of the shower," Akane notes to Rikka, as they head down the stairs. It's not long before they arrive at the door -- and Akane greets Knight and the Second with a smile on her face.
She opens the door, and -- well, it's another thing for the two of them to actually be right there in front of her. She breathes in -- and then looks up to Knight, only to not quite be able to meet his gaze in a sustained way.
"Knight... it's really good to see you," Akane says, though there's some awkwardness in her voice. "And you brought Second, too." It feels like it's been an eternity. What does she even say?
She moves to make it easier to enter; Balam trundles down the stairs behind her around now. His one-eyed gaze meets Knight's briefly, and he lets out a high-pitched meow of greeting.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Akane sighs and Rikka smiles. She looks toward Balam as he rolls onto his side and she starts to reach over - and then, the doorbell rings. Rikka looks up, Balam thuds, and Rikka steps back away from the chair to give Akane room to scoot out. She follows her down the stairs - and when she compliments her, Rikka smiles.
"Thank you." Rikka replies, running her hand through the hair with a bit of an emphatic swish.
They make it to the door - and there they are. Knight and Second. It's been a while since she's seen him... though for Second, it's been much more recent.
"It's so good to see the both of you again. Welcome to our place - make yourselves at home." Rikka greets, stepping away from the door. "How have you two been? Especially after..."
Her gaze lingers on Second, the spa incident left unmentioned but hanging in the air. The small talk may, hopefully, give Akane time to find her words.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight's honed senses hear footsteps and light conversation growing closer from behind the door, and the hairs on his body all stand up, as he adopts a slight deer-in-headlights expression. Second gives him a small, supportive pat, and they relax a little as the door swings open.
"Ah- Akane Shinjo. Rikka Takarada. A pleasure." Knight immediately answers with a flat, businesslike response that flies out of their mouth as fast as a bullet. Unconsciously, their mono-eyed gaze seems to burrow into Akane like a drill, even as she can't bring herself to meet it. The awkward staredown is mercifully broken by Second, who steps in front of Knight to greet Akane.
"Akane-san! Rikka-san!" Second gives her trademark spread-finger wave with one hand - the other is carrying a bag, after all.
"We thought we'd drop by! Warm the house, and all. It's great to see you both as well. I've been doing just fine!" Second is as perky as ever.
"After- After what?" Knight asks, catching on to the sentence left unfinished.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing to worry about, Naiiito-kun." Second winks at her partner. She swore to not mention the Spa Incident in front of them, lest some hapless science criminal end up with a sword in their gut. Human matters aren't particularly their concern after all.
"May we?" At Akane's motion, the two of them step inside. Knight catches Balam in their eye as he gives a meow, and squats down at eye level with the feline. The two stare at each other for a moment, eye memeting eye.
"And a good day to you, noble warrior."
The two head further and upstairs to the common room, taking seats at the table and placing their bags beside them.
"How have you two been?" Second gets the conversation started.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Shifting her weight uneasily on her foot as Rikka trails off, Akane discreetly moves to take her hand gently. She's... a little worried about both of them, still, even if nothing happened.
Akane can tell that Knight's struggling with this, and in turn that means she is struggling with this; she can tell Nidaime's trying to keep things from spiraling, and that much, at least, she can appreciate. "C'mon in," she says, with her own slightly forced smile.
Turning her gaze to Knight's knee for lack of being able to get much higher there, Akane says, "His name is Balam. He's really sweet..." As they head up the stairs and get situated in the common room, Akane says, "Things have been going really well. Um -- we're engaged now," she says, showing off her engagement ring briefly. "It's been a while... did you two go somewhere?" ... Part of her wants to ask a less 'nothing' question, but she feels like she doesn't deserve to hear the answer.
Instead, she scoots toward Rikka a little bit again, pushing her dark hair back. "Oh... do you guys want something to eat, actually?"
'Awkwardly bribe with food' remains a favored strategy.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Knight, Second." Rikka replies, as the two of them greet her in turn. Akane takes her hand discreetly, and Rikka gives her hand a gentle squeeze. She seems to be handling it well today, at least - thinking about it barely broke her metaphorical stride.
And so, Second announces why they're here!
"Oh, that sounds great. Thank you - I'm glad you both could get a chance to see the place." Rikka replies with a smile. "And, I'm glad."
Knight asks on the unfinished sentence - but Rikka doesn't elaborate. It's probably for the best.
And with that, they start inside. Rikka smiles as Akane introduces Balam. She settles in - and when Akane explains that they're engaged, Rikka displays her own engagement ring in return.
It makes an excellent pair with Akane's.
"Mm-hm. I'm still happy about that..." Rikka comments. "Other than that, there was some excitement a few weeks ago, but things have been otherwise pretty uneventful here..."
Akane asks if they want something to eat, so Rikka listens for their answer.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"Balam. . . A fine name." Knight gives a firm nod.
Sitting rigidly at the table, straight-backed and with arms crossed, Knight raises an eyebrow at the announcement of marriage.
"Oh, congratulations. That's good to hear." Knight is still composed, but the slightest hint of a smile crosses their face - imperceptible to anyone who doesn't know them, but still there. Second looks much more visibly delighted.
"Ah! Congratulations!! That's a big deal for a young couple!! Those rings are so pretty! Do you know when the wedding is? Are you taking it slow? Are you-" Knight cuts Second's gossipmonger tendencies off by fielding Akane's first question.
"We've been in the Hyper World. Training." Knight doesn't elaborate beyond that, but what they were doing isn't really easy to put into words, considering it's an actual separate plane of existence.
At the mention of food, Second perks up again. "Oh, do you have any of those cracker packs? I love those." Knight remains silent. Discussing food with Akane is. . . an awkward topic, to put it very lightly.
"Uneventful can be good! We have some business to discuss, but that can come later - we'll swing by the office, if you don't mind?" Knight nods in affirmation.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
It's weird to think that 'the assassination-by-kaiju of a sitting NUNE official on OCU soil' constitutes 'slow month,' at this point, but unfortunately that's where they're at... Then again, maybe that's a sign of effective coping. It's hard to be sure.
Akane's attentive enough to notice that small smile -- and it's a relief. She honestly wasn't sure what they'd think about that; it's not like Knight needs to rubberstamp every element of her life, but...
... Akane looks a little helplessly to Rikka at the barrage of questions, and is relieved to have them cut off. "Oh... I hope that's been a good environment," she says. If Knight has found 'his people,' as it were... that's something to be happy about.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Knight congratulates them - and Rikka's known them long enough that the sight of the slight, nearly imperceptible smile puts a smile on her own face. Getting even that much external reaction is a good thing.
Second congratulations them, too, and Rikka meets Akane's helpless look with a small smile before looking back toward her.
"We have some ideas in mind, but we haven't made anything concrete yet." Rikka explains. The barrage keeps coming - but Knight cuts her off.
"Training? I see..." Rikka remarks, impressed. "I hope it's been fruitful."
She doesn't know what Hyper World training would entail... but it might be better for them than anything they could do here.
Second requests cracker packs and Akane moves to retrieve some, while Rikka looks toward Second as she mentions they have business.
"You do?" Rikka replies. ...She can't help but be curious about that, but this is supposed to be a friendly visit. They can save business for work hours.
"Yes, always." Rikka agrees with Akane with a nod - and laughs a bit sheepishly as Akane enthuses about her being Chief. "Yes, that's right - I've been appointed as Chief of 3G Red."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Second attacks her crackers with a barely-restrained fervor - Knight tentatively takes one and bites into it.
"Training's gone very well. I've refined my technique, transformation speed, and I'm currently working on modifying my output size as Gridknight."
"Don't worry about it, we'll talk the boring stuff later. I've been saying it a lot, but congratulations on the promotion!" Second gives Rikka a warm smile.
"3G is a capable force. They'll do well with you at the head." Knight gives Rikka a look of respect - they've both found their places, it seems. Second finishes her crackers and reaches down below her.
"Oh, before I forget - we brought these for you!" Second places her gift bag on the table, and Knight does the same.
"They're supposed to be congratulations on the house, but it seems we'll have to get you some others for the wedding, eehe."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane admits, "I'm kind of looking at August, if we can swing it... that might be a little bit of a squeeze unless we really take planning seriously soon, though." ... it's an important month in her history -- and Rikka's, and Knight's.
The sheepish laugh is just too cute. All laughs are just too cute. Akane's delighted.
(And speaking of too cute: ... small Gridknight... far too cute by far...)
Akane's starting to get more comfortable, at least. Yes, things are a little stilted, but... why wouldn't they be? There's a lot that's gone on, between... just about everyone here, really. Maybe it's okay for things to be a little uneasy -- they're still happening, after all.
"Oh -- thanks," Akane says, herself sounding a little stilted, at the mention of the gift bags. Smiling at Second, she adds, "If you guys need any help with anything now that you're back, uh -- let us know?"
That dredges something out of the corner of her mind, as she slowly makes her way toward one of the gift bags, gesturing for Rikka to take a look at the other one. "... What was the beef between you and the red one?" Akane looks at Knight with a thoughtful expression on her face. "It's not one of ours or anything, I'm just curious."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"We'll have to give it some serious thought. I'd like to, if we can manage it, but we'll have to see what everyone else is doing, too." Rikka comments with a nod, as Akane admits that she's looking at August.
Knight explains that training has gone well, and some of what's gone into it. Rikka nods thoughtfully and consideringly.
"I see... That's pretty important - good work on your progress." She replies. "That'd increase your control significantly."
Knight gives her a look of respect, and Rikka smiles.
"Thank you. I'm doing my best - and I have a lot of good people working under me, too." She replies. Indeed, it seems they both have. They might be taking different paths, but they're both equally important.
But for right now... Second and Knight produce gift bags? Rikka looks toward Akane, and she accepts the gift bag that Akane doesn't take.
"Oh, thank you! We appreciate it." She replies with a smile. "May we look?"
And if so, she does just that - though when Akane asks Knight about 'the red one', Rikka looks up curiously.
She was wondering about that, too...
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"Go ahead and open them!" As the two do so, Knight explains his "beef".
"I thought it was another kaiju. With that form..." He seems a bit embarrassed about it.
The gifts are as equally strange as their givers:
From Knight, a large cardboard box that, when opened, is actually a very nice, handcrafted wood sword holder for traditional katanas.
From Second, an unmarked bottle of presumably spirits. The liquid inside seems to be a color that's not quite natural - the entire thing feels just a bit out of place.
"It's from the Hyper World," the green-haired woman explains with a sheepish smile.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Rikka gets a quick hand-squeeze at the affirmation of aiming for August. It's there and gone, but she is delighted to hear they're still on the same page on that one, given planning has occasionally been... difficult.
Akane thinks a little more on controlling one's size, after briefly letting herself get distracted by thoughts of the Winkysoft Dimension. "I could see where it'd help a lot to have options between 70 and 2," Akane muses. Most mobile suits are 20, after all -- give or take 5.
"3G's... been really good for both of us, I think. It's a lot easier for me to trust people," she admits, a little shyly. She wishes, maybe, she'd learned that skill -- and a few others -- before going to Tsutsujidai. ... then again, so many things would be different at that point that maybe it's best to just be glad she learned it eventually.
"Oh, yeah, that'd do it. Especially when that other one was already on the field," Akane concedes. "It's fine. You should probably try getting in contact with that group, though, uh... I wouldn't really know how, ehehe... maybe the Second can help?"
She gets back to looking at the gift bag, at last. Akane has the large cardboard box -- and her eyes light up enthusiastically at the sword-holder. "Oh -- this is great!" Akane enthuses, as she glances to the area over Balam's cat tree.
Trees.
Forest. It's like a whole wall. There's like eight interlinked cat trees. "I have just the thing for this," she says, setting it on top of one of the cat trees. They can mount it later.
Then she jogs across the room, reaching behind their (... quite large) TV.
Then she jogs back, DX Totsukaiser in hand. Carefully making sure the Kaiju Magatama are seated neatly in the hilt, she places it on the stand. ... It actually fits fairly well, owing to Tarabaman Tai's relatively understated device designs as a season.
"Thank you," she says. "We'll get it up on the wall later."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
At Second's insistence, Rikka starts to open the bag. She looks up, though, as Akane comments on 3G. ...There's a small smile as she admits that it's easier for her trust people.
"...Yeah." Rikka comments with a soft smile. "It's been good for me, too. I didn't have a lot of direction for where I wanted to go with my life before I joined 3G. I had an idea... but the way the world was moving meant that I had to reconsider a lot."
She nods, too, as Knight explains that they thought it was a kaiju, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.
"...Yeah, I can see how you'd think that." She replies. She doesn't know them, either - her only interactions with them have been on the battlefield.
And so, Akane opens up the first bag!
"Oh wow." Rikka remarks, impressed, then looks toward Knight. "That looks really well-made... Where'd you get it? Or, did you make it?"
The sword holder is certainly impressive - fit for a suitably impressive sword. And while Akane goes to retrieve one, Rikka opens the other bag.
Inside is a bottle of... alcohol? Which, as Second explains, comes from the Hyper World.
"I didn't know they even had alcohol in the Hyper World..." Rikka remarks, surprised. She gives the bottle a good look over for any identifying features - but the only thing she does identify is that the color looks Strange, almost like she's looking at it on a layer beyond the physical...
...What'll this even do to a person??
"We'll definitely have to try it later." Under... very carefully controlled circumstances. "Thank you, both of you." Rikka replies with a grateful smile.
...And then Akane returns with her chosen blade. Rikka watches as it is set carefully on the stand... and then, cracks a smile.
"...I had a feeling you might choose that one. It looks great." She comments.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight just nods with a knowing look as Rikka and Akane explain their career decisions. They're warming up a little. Just a bit, but enough.
As Akane mentions getting in contact with the pilots of "the red guy", Knight sucks air through their teeth violently.
"Negotiations were . . . strained. They're not a threat, per say, but they don't particularly want to work with us." Second's smile is a bit pained. "Us" might not be the right word.
"Oh, the alcohol's great. Good stuff!" Knight also nods. The image of a drunk Knight flashes through the heads of the group and is quickly shoved away.
"That's a fine sword," Knight remarks. "It - the holder - it's from a wood shop in the city. Good craftsmanship."
The visit is going well. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane's eyes widen slightly as she sees the alcohol. She looks at the color...
... pauses...
... steps slightly to the side...
... looks at the color again.
Huh.
Okay.
Well, their first night drinking wasn't bad; maybe it's good for them to try something new and different.
"I mean -- it makes sense," Akane reflects, on the bottle's existence. "Like -- think about how close some of the other phenomenological strata are when you just go there." Akane pauses and blinks, then says, "I need to talk to Research less."
She takes a deep breath, then moves over to the couch. "Do you guys wanna watch something?" she asks, feeling like an awkward host for not being super great at maintaining small talk forever. ... Also, wow, Second is destroying those crackers. "I think we might save the alcohol for later, but..."
Akane moves toward Rikka while adding to Knight, "I can tell. The joinery is really impressive... I could tell just from touching it how solid it is."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka looks toward Akane as she says it makes sense. She considers that thoughtfully - and cracks a smirk, as Akane backs up and thinks about what she said.
She nods, though, as Knight explains that negotiations were strained.
"I see... that's a shame." She considers.
Akane suggests watching something, and Rikka nods.
"We have a lot of options." She adds, then looks back to the bottle.
"We'll definitely enjoy it, then." She comments with a smile. ...And considers that thought only briefly.
"I see... I could tell they know their stuff." She comments, as she moves to settle onto the couch as well.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"Watching something that sounds fine," Knight manages to get a more casual sentence out.
"I don't know, Knight, I think you get enough kaiju fights on a weekly basis to not need them on tv," Second remarks, tongue in cheek.
The duo moves over to the seating area, and Knight takes a seat in one of the armchairs while Second lightly plops down on the couch. This was unplanned, but, well, it's good for Knight to take a break every now and then. This is one of the few places in which they might be approaching comfortable doing so.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
As Akane scoots toward Rikka and leans into her on the couch, she turns the TV on; at Second's comment that Knight doesn't need to see more kaiju fights, Akane scrunches up her face a bit. "I watch things other than Tarabaman," she says, cheeks puffing out a bit. "Sometimes. Rikka's... done a lot for my usual tastes, ehe..."
And then -- she has an idea.
"How about this?" Having already gotten Utsumi and half of the SSSP, Akane now begins her greatest challenge yet:
dragging Knight and Nidaime into the Truthseeker Serena swamp.