2023-01-23: Staff Support
- Log: 2023-01-23- Staff Support
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Yuka Ohta
- Where: GGG Orbit Base
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-01-23
- Summary: Akane has a chance encounter with Yuka Ohta, already looking for her on Orbit Base. They talk about the last few steps -- and the next few steps.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
It's been a couple of days since the incident; Akane is starting to level off, bit by bit by bit. She's also gotten some limited privileges to move around Orbit Base instead of just sitting in her room at literally all times; right now, she's fresh out of the kitchen, after taking the opportunity to discreetly assess what options they have for cooking. She's gotten herself something a bit more substantial than tomato juice, at least -- even if this time it is just a bottled nutrient shake.
She's in the hallway, leaning against one wall and taking a long drink. (God, she's so hungry all the time! Are humans always this hungry?! She kind of forgot...)
Her other hand fiddles with her phone, which -- as it happens -- she finally now has... after a quick check to make sure it isn't monitored. (As far as 3G staff can tell, it isn't!)
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
Those couple of days have been... necessary, as it happens. Yuka has been busy, though she's made sure to let 3G know she'll be dropping by in the near future. Not because she was putting off this visit, but because of something she needed for it. During the time she spent in Tsutsujidai, she'd given an hour or two each day to hunting down something important. The results weren't ideal, but... They were something she could fix.
Now she's made her way up to Orbit Base, and with the help of the staff, her new child is currently safely playing in an equipment storage room with some spare electronics. They'll all get recharged later anyway, 3G is big on keeping everything properly maintained after all. She'd like to introduce Akane, but... She's worried a physical kaiju might be a bit much for her right now. Even a tiny one that can perch on your shoulder. So, she's walking down the hall with just a bag in one hand.
Actually knowing how to initiate conversation? She has no idea. But she's just going to do the best she can. She's never been much for social contact after all.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane's not much better at initiating real, face-to-face conversation without a force on it; when she realizes Yuka is approaching, it takes her a few seconds to figure out what she even wants to say. She swallows, looking over to Yuka, takes a breath, and says -- a little awkwardly:
"Hi."
That's all she manages for a few seconds, and indeed she scoots a step down the hallway in the opposite direction and makes herself a little bit smaller against the wall -- then pauses. "no, that sucks," she mumbles to herself, before forcing herself to take a step back toward Yuka instead.
"I'm glad to see you," she says, tentatively -- and the waver in her voice makes the nerves obvious. It was one thing when people were just coming to her in her bedroom, but actually Running Into Someone...
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
For what it's worth, Yuka waves at her, and the smile on her face shows not an ounce of malice or anger. Not even disappointment. Just the friendly mannerisms she's used to really. But maybe that's not much of a surprise. "I would have come to see you sooner, but I've had a lot to work on."
Come to think of it. She's seen Yuka holding a bag like that before once. Just once. But there's not terribly much time to linger on it. "Still, here I am now, and I'm really glad to see you too! Er... well uh, how are you feeling?" They really are both so alike in certain ways.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Taking a breath, Akane says, "I'm okay. It's been really good here." Now that she's talking, she's stabilizing -- but it's still kind of difficult for her to reacclimate herself to being... a person who just exists, who interacts with other people as a person and not as a god. An unexpected encounter -- even if Yuka seemed to be here in part to visit her -- is a slightly harder ask!
"It's good to see you. ... you were out there providing staff support, I'm guessing," she offers, thinking. "I appreciate it. It's still a lot to wrap my head around...!" She loops back in the end, asking, "What were you working on? And, uh, what's in the bag?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
Hearing that everything is going well here, it seems to relax her. As hard as that might be to imagine, giving how easygoing and yet excitable she seems to be normally. "Oh that's great! I'll uhm. I'll call next time I'm going to drop by? So I don't surprise you this way." She shuffles her feet a little nervously.
She'd planned to ease into this next part, but Akane's already asked about it, so. May as well jump on in. "Some support, yeah. Though, that's not the main thing..." She holds the bag open, and reaches in. "I... well, I'm not sure if this is completely appropriate or not. But I thought it might be nice?" And pulls out... oh. It looks like a very familiar plush doll. One that, on one hand, looks like it's seen better days. But on the other... has very obviously been recently repaired. Painstakingly stitched and patched, to be as close to new as possible, minus a few cute little patches made to look like a bandage. "B-but uhm. If you'd rather not have this one uhm... I made a brand new one too. I wanted to bring a gift of some sort, when I came to visit." Sevenger and 'Sevenger Repair', if you like. No need to explicitly say where she got the patched up one. ...It's a little obvious, isn't it?
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"That's a good idea, yeah. ... I can play hard to get sometimes, though, so it's fine if you surprise me a bit too." Akane can't quite dodge that one, as much as she'd like to.
Akane looks at the twin Sevenger plushes -- and immediately gravitates toward the bandaged Sevenger rather than the brand new one. "Oh, wow. This is -- wow," she stammers out, on the verge of tears almost instantly. "... Do you want to come back to my room in medical?" Akane asks, tentatively. "Sayla brought up some of my stuff... I think you'd get a kick out of my cat plushie."
She moves forward, gently cradling Sevenger Repair in her arms. "The eyes are really cute. Whoever made the real robot of this kinda has more kaiju liker sensibilities than robot person vibes? It's..." She takes one hand off to wobble it a bit, saying, "The head shape, right? Like, it's just a little goofy like a big animal is goofy, and the eyes are cute..."
Taking a moment to collect herself, she decides there's really no time like the present for this one. "Sorry -- about... uh, all of October and November, actually. That was screwed up no matter how you slice it."
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
"I get it, I've made myself pretty hard to find more than once. Especially when I was the same age you are." Akane knows a bit about that, of course. And when she takes the bandaged Sevenger immediately, Yuka moves to put the new one back in the bag, at least for now. She'll probably leave this one here too, just in case. They were both gifts after all. "I'd like that. Probably more comfortable for you, too."
And along the way, Akane says something to make her laugh, just a little bit behind a hand. "Well, you're not wrong. I do know who designed it. They designed both of the main STORAGE robots, even if the second didn't come out as planned." Oh, that's probably going to floor her when Yuka explains it. Good thing they'll both be sitting down.
But... for a moment the mood turns a little dark. Yuka's smile dips, but... comes back fairly fast. "Looking on it for myself, it feels more like a learning experience. It was messed up, and nothing changes that part, but... I'm still glad I had the opportunity to see that point of view. So I could understand it better."
Trying to use even a bad situation as a chance to make things better? In that light, it really does make the places they were different shine all the brighter, doesn't it? "I think you've probably beat yourself up more than enough over it though. And I'm more than ready to forgive you for that... entire mess."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane's sense of direction isn't super bad; Akane starts down the relatively short path to her room, keeping up with the heavy topics. "I wanna hear all about the STORAGE mecha... once we get back in my room," she says. Better to leave something nice for after they untangle the mess.
"Ehehe... I guess my kaiju kind of did get you to understand me, just... maybe not the way I was hoping." She rubs at the back of her head, fake smile turning into real, obvious grimace before too long. "The interim steps kinda sucked though. Even I could tell you weren't really happy, it was just... easy to lie to myself about it."
She wonders how much she should say -- and then decides to just go for it. "I hated that I always felt like... when you were around you were showing me a future I couldn't have. It's not like... I definitely wanna be you specifically, but..."
At last they arrive at Akane's room.
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
With that request, she'll hold off on explaining more. Or hitting her with the surprise. And they can focus on the rest. "I was in a pretty bad place, yeah. Even moreso after what that Celebro guy said, but... that last part definitely isn't on you. It was a... lot. I think that's the best way I can describe it."
Then, she's the one who gets hit with something that's a heavy surprise. "I mean... look, it's not like you were completely wrong. At first I didn't understand. I might have been projecting some things, making assumptions. But that's just how it starts, right? Nobody knows their friends inside and out after a couple conversations. So, I'm going to tell you the secret. And I think you know at least the first half of this. Right now? Your future is wide open once you're ready for it. Whether you want to become a researcher, an engineer, a pilot, or something completely different like a traveling musician. And whatever that is, I'm gonna help. Because..."
They arrive. And Yuka is waiting until both of them are seated, before she finishes. "I'm the one who designed those two robots. And I'm going to support you moving forward."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
As they head into Akane's room, Akane takes a moment to process what she's being told -- that Yuka did project a little on Akane, too. It hurts, a bit -- to know she wasn't... entirely off base; it would be easier if she were simply a bad person and had pointlessly lashed out at Yuka.
Hearing that her future is wide open -- ... well. Akane's been a little more touchy, and she does feel the urge to hug, a bit -- but Yuka isn't as close, so the anxiety wins out for now. She does tear up a bit, and one of her hands clenches. "... thanks," she says, as she gets settled in.
Then Yuka drops the other half. Akane goes from tearing up a bit to choked up; what comes out first is, "I kinda knew -- you definitely seem like you -- like goofy kindsa stuff," but she can't quite pretend like she's cool. Making a horrible, gross sniffling noise, she forces out, "... Thank you," still sounding quite weak.
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
It hurts to admit too... but the honesty is important. If she hid that, it would hurt worse later. And like this, they're on a little more equal footing. And if nothing else, it's at least obvious there wasn't any malice. "I'm sorry for that too."
Seeing how she gets a bit more tense, the urge to at least pat a shoulder is there. But as always, she holds back. Even if she is more touchy, Akane's comfort is priority one, there. So Yuka won't be initiating any hugs or anything like it, without come kind of express permission. "Even if it was rocky, I still want to be a friend you can count on."
Thankfully the tension is gone soon after. So even if she's struggling a little on words, she can take her time. She glances around, eyes landing on something important and reaching out. That is to say, when Akane starts sniffing, she grabs the nearby tissues in the room, to slide over for her. It's a familiar enough need. When one has a fit of crying and... "The second one wasn't completely my design... They didn't appreciate the first draft, and made... changes, to be a little more..." She's not really sure exactly what words to explain it with, so she'll move on with her thought, still keeping an eye on Akane, in case anything seems to get worse. She'll make sure to bring a health drink next time, something easy on the throat and stomach. "You're right on that, I adore it. That way of being a little silly, and so expressive. I guess that's part of why he wound up our mascot, even if I didn't plan for it."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane forces herself to stabilize, accepting the tissues. "I -- it's cute," she affirms, getting herself onto practicals. "The head really vibes like 50s-60s Taraba stuff, but it's still functional... I think it's great." After some more stabilizing breaths, she says, "I'm still kinda trying to figure out where I'm going, but... I don't mind taking the time while I'm here to figure it out?"
Several seconds pass in relative quiet. Akane takes a little time to breathe and reorient herself. "Oh, uh --" She gestures a little to a plushie sitting on her bedside table -- a cat with four eyes. Then, after a little moment's thought, she puts Sevenger Repair next to it. "Ahaha, I don't actually remember this little guy's name... I know he had one when I was really little, but I forgot and my parents didn't remember, either. But I do like him. Like I said, Sayla... brought some of my stuff up."
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
"Sometime when you feel more up to it, we can watch some Taraba if you want. There was probably something that inspired me in there, whether I noticed or not. And trying to find it might be an interesting little game to make of it." And of course she needs time to figure herself out. Considering what she just escaped from, it's not exactly unusual after all. "I think that's a great idea. Just, take it slow for a bit. Don't push to move too quickly."
And then, suddenly, there's a cat. Her full attention is drawn to it, and she can't help but make a tiny squeal over how adorable it is. "I haven't had much opportunity to speak with Miss Sayla, but I'm glad she's done so much to help you." Well, they have had that one meeting. But the circumstances recently were... Oh, there is NO way she could ever tell Akane about what happened there. It's SO embarrassing.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah. There's actually a Nalgus sofubi and a bunch of near field scan cards in here somewhere too... not all of them are, uh. Official legal products." Akane laughs a little before adding, "I've been kinda thinking of buying an Alien Aumerei, too... I like flipping between that one and Hothton for my VERTEX icon." There's a pause as she considers watching some Tarabaman... hm. "... I could go for something kinda... I usually like these really moody entries where all that stuff gets really tested but I'm kinda in the mood for something cheesy and fun."
She settles into bed again, saying, "I think you two would get along kinda weirdly. She's... a pretty complicated person, and you might end up bumping into a few walls at first. Then again, that might not be so bad if neither of you freaks out."
Closing her eyes as she collects herself, she says, "... thanks. It was really good to see you, ah -- Yuka? Is Yuka okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
Akane lets her in on a little secret, and after a second of giggling into her hand, Yuka smiles and makes a little 'shh' gesture with her finger, sort of as a joke. "I won't tell anyone if you don't." Definitely meant to be just a funny little bit about the legal status of those items, while they're in a place that might, questionably be considered part of a governmental facility. ...If you really stretch for it. "Then we'll definitely try something with a lot more cheese factor built in. It can be just us, or anyone you'd like to invite. I'll even bring plenty of snacks."
She pauses for a moment, mulling over how they might get along. "I'm happy to give it a shot. We did meet once, recently. Just... it was in a larger group setting. No points for guessing how I handle those, so talking to her one on one should be easier." As long as neither of them freaks out...? She's really not sure why that would happen. But it's certainly possible.
"Yuka's perfectly fine, always has been. And... I promise I'll visit more often, from now on. Hopefully the staff here won't mind too much."