2024-04-05: Who Is Exhausted?
- Log: Who Is Exhausted?
- Cast: Rikka Takarada, Knight
- Where: Takarada/Shinjo Apartment, Nouvelle Tokyo
- Date: 2024-04-05
- Summary: Rikka's working too hard. Knight notices; Knight puts her on notice.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It's no big secret to friends and family of Rikka Takarada that she's been pretty busy lately. Between three classes and her work with 3G, it hasn't left her with a whole lot of free time...
...And, with the changes the latter have been going through of late, she's been even busier. She's piled a lot on her shoulders.
And so - the TakaradaShinjo apartment is quiet today, save for the sound of scribbling. It's a small, cozy building not too far from the unversity they both go to. There's not a whole lot of room but they've made every bit count, with tiny, personal touches here and there from both of them to really make it feel like home.
The living area is dominated primarily by a couch, the TV, and a table - and the latter is currently covered in books and papers from where Rikka is hard at work running herself headfirst into a metaphorical wall. She's been at this for a little while now...
...enough so that even she can admit she could probably use a break right now and so, with a groan, she shuts her eyes tight and sits back, exhaling.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Darkness falls upon the TakaradaShinjo Household. Did she leave the window open? It's the surest way a monster will intrude.
(Save, perhaps, for giving out keys.)
A terrible portent which stalks closer, and closer, and closer,
until darkness falls upon Rikka,
and a young man leans over her, shadowing her, and giving her a deeply unimpressed look all upside-down.
"Rikka Takarada. You began working at six in the morning. You skipped breakfast." A simple deduction from the contents of the fridge. All he had to do was observe what it was like yesterday, and check it again now. He might have missed a slice of bread going missing, but that just underlines his point. "Stop."
He points at the couch, where he's put a tray with a special dog, some hot cocoa, and, naturally, Rikka's favourite snack.
And he just kind of keeps pointing until Rikka gets up and walks over there.
It's a very accusatory gesture.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka opens her eyes - and Knight is right there.
"Kn-Knight!?" She gasps, and scrambles back in surprise - which really only accomplishes causing her chair to tilt back dangerously, but she still has enough presence of mind, at least, to tilt it back in the other direction before tumbling .
He's simple and direct. She opens her mouth to protest - she had toast, after all! - but seeing that serious, unimpressed look on his face... it dies on her lips.
She knows that just makes it sound worse. It wasn't even a full, proper, Junk Shop Aya-style toast combo.
She looks away for a moment, unable to fully handle that look... but relents, eventually, when she follows that point over to the couch, and to the table.
A special dog, hot cocoa, and a bag of assorted, fruit-flavored soft candy. She goes a bit pink, looking just a little embarrassed... but she gets up, moving over to the couch and settling in.
"You did all this for me...? Thank you..." She asks quietly, looking up at Knight. "I'm sorry... did I worry you?"
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Would Knight really let Rikka, one of his very best friends and potential future sister-in-law, fall right on her ass out of shock?
I mean. Probably, yeah.
He isn't terribly shaken by her surprise, though. He watches her open her mouth, and he watches her close it, and he just keeps pointing. Point. Point. It's quite rude.
Luckily, Rikka figures it out eventually. He goes to lean on the back of the couch instead, because -- and this is true -- it's really hard to sit down when you have a sword strapped to your butt.
He could store the sword inside himself, like he used to do with his circular saw. That's technically part of his physiology. But then he wouldn't be making a statement, even if that statement makes sitting down a trial.
"Yes." He says, at length. "You've been working hard for months. Akane Shinjo recovered, and more than any of us, you cared for her. GGG gave you new responsibilities, and you stayed up later to meet them. You're attending three classes. Approximately fifteen hours of time in class, by averages, plus study. And you still visit Junk Shop Aya. It's far from here."
Beat. "... I don't think I've listed everything." He could, if he followed her more closely. But that would be weird, apparently. Akane assures him that's weird. "But I think I've made my point. Rikka Takarada, you're just like a human being. You can't fight forever. You'll exhaust yourself."
He taps his forehead. "If you had one, it would flash."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka stares down at the food, and eventually... reaches for the special dog, carefully undoing the wrapper before taking a bite.
...It's good. Part of that might be the aforementioned 'not having eaten real food since yesterday', but the taste is a little nostalgic, at this point. It brings back a lot of memories.
And Knight admits that she worried him. She listens, staring down at her mug of hot chocolate. When he lists it all out like that... Well, there's no real room to argue, is there?
Because he's right. She has been working herself to the bone. She looks up, as he addresses her by name - and taps his forehead. It takes a second for that to register -
But she remembers that light that he and Gridman share. The sign that one's reached the end of their ability to fight.
Rikka exhales. That, if anything, puts a fine point on it.
"...You're right. I'm already pretty exhausted." Rikka admits, with a small, dry laugh. If she has a color timer of her own... it's in the way she's allowed her hair, which she usually pays such close, careful attention to, to go a little unkempt, due to not expecting to meet anyone face-to-face today. She picks up the mug of hot cocoa and takes a sip, letting the warmth fill her body for a moment.
"I just... felt like I had to. For so long I just kind of... let myself drift through life." She says. "Now that I'm the only one who can make choices for myself... I didn't want to fall back onto old habits."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight just kind of oozes onto the back of the couch, elbows slung over the backrest, so that he can reach basically-conversational-eyeline with Rikka despite standing behind her. It's quite feline; he must have learned it from Buer.
(Cats can be senpais, too.)
And, Rikka's hair...
It wasn't like that, before.
He thinks, for long moments, and then he says: "I respect it." But he looks out at the TV, crammed into their -- let's call it cozy -- apartment, as if he could watch a program which wasn't playing. He sees his reflection, dimly, instead. "But constant work is distracting, too. When I was fixing Tsutsujidai," and the word he says means 'fixing in place', not 'fixing what's broken', which kind of goes lost in translation but may well be understood by Rikka anyway, "I was always moving. Always fighting. But I wasn't thinking. I was busy."
He pauses, again.
"Choosing to act is one choice. Choosing not to act is another. Knowing when to choose action and when to choose inaction is part of wisdom... the Second told me that. If you decide with both eyes open, you'll choose to rest, too. That isn't lazy. It's part of life."
And another pause. "I'll still respect you." He can't speak for GGG, or for her university classmates, or even for his sister; but he can tell her that with complete certainty.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka glances toward Knight as he oozes onto the couch. ...It definitely feels feline. She turns back to the meal he gave her, finishing off the special dog as he takes the time to think. And when he does speak again she looks toward him.
He respects it... That much is good. But he continues, looking around their apartment. Constant work is distracting... It's true. She'd be lying if she said her studying today had been as effective as she hoped, even for how long she'd been at it - maybe even because of how long she'd been at it.
And she does, indeed, understand him - she remembers the events he's talking about. Bringing up such a tumultuous time... it really puts everything into perspective, doesn't it? She nods quietly, thinking back to that time before listening to his advice.
It's difficult to take into consideration. It's easier to think she should just keep going, that she won't get anything done otherwise. But...
He's right. She knows he's right. She sighs, and starts to speak again during that pause - but stops herself.
That leaves her silent for a few good seconds.
"...Thanks. That means a lot to me." She replies, offering him a smile. And then... she exhales.
"...You're right. About everything. That's... something I'll need to keep in mind. Going forward, especially. We can't - shouldn't - fight forever..." She says. "...Besides. It isn't fair to Akane, or mama, or my friends to leave so little time for them..."
She manages a small grin at her own expense.
"...You especially, to make you worry about me and have to set me straight." She reaches for the bag of fruit-flavored soft candy next, opening it up and taking a few. She pops them into her mouth and takes a moment to just save the sweet, fruit flavors as they mix... and then, pours a few into her hand, offering them to Knight.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
The corners of Knight's lips quirk up about twenty degrees for as many seconds, which is about as much of a smile as he tends to wear. He's a very dour bloke, so it still counts.
And when Rikka offers him candy, he leans on one elbow so his other hand can reaaach over to pluck them up. He pops them into his mouth, and chews. He contemplates the meaning of flavours which aren't fruit, but which humans have decided represent fruit, sweet and gellish and sticking to his teeth just enough to make him shove them off with his tongue. That's another minute gone to silence, easy.
But that's fine. Knight is a silent moments kind of guy. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong; he's just not a motor-mouth.
"It isn't fair to you, either," he points out, finally. "Since you value making choices for yourself, you should make sure you're not making unfair demands."
Another half-minute passes.
"You should do that for yourself," he says, "and for the people relying on you. Since you took responsibility for them, they'll be looking at you. If Akane Shinjo wasn't constantly pushed to sculpt more kaiju, back then, I wouldn't have to keep up. Even when she didn't demand it... though she did. Think about what you might ask of people if this is normal for you, too." He doesn't say it with any particular judgement; it's just an evaluation of events. Time is a river, and history repeats.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It's fine. Rikka doesn't mind that, either - these silent moments filled with nothing but the sharing of candy. There's meaning in those, too, worth more than their weight in words.
...And then, the silence is finally broken. It isn't fair to her, either... That's definitely true. He continues, after a moment - and there's a sharp intake of breath as he makes his point.
He sure doesn't pull his punches, but... it's fine. That's what she needs, right now. She knows it's not meant to hurt.
"...You're right. If this is the kind of example I'm setting for everyone... they'll feel obligated to follow suit." She murmurs with a nod. "...I don't want to do that to them."
She looks his way again.
"...I'll start being more fair to myself. And to everyone else, too. I can't promise I'll change everything right away, but... I'll work my way there." She says - and she nods, decisively.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight can be harsh, but he's not trying to be cruel. Important distinction.
(The Second, on the other hand, is infrequently harsh and often cruel. Opposites attract.)
"And I don't want you to do that to you," he adds, softly.
He nods, firmly, just the once, mirroring Rikka's own decisiveness.
"Good. Now you know, you can fix it. You have time to fix it." It's a reassurance, in his fashion, that she doesn't have to be better right away. That would just be one more unreasonable ask on her shoulders, and her shoulders must already be hurting from carrying all that weight.
And then he reaches around, and pulls out a bag of CalorieMate bars from behind the couch, dumping them unceremoniously on the cushion beside her.
"First step," he advises, because he's not so callous as to expect her to fix it without any help, "remember breakfast. If you don't have time, take one of these. They're food." WHY DOES HE HAVE TO REASSURE HER THEY'RE FOOD?!
(It's fine. He got her the tastiest flavours.)
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka smiles, just slightly, as he says that he doesn't want her to do that to herself either. And that reassurance... it helps. The idea that she isn't expected to change immediately goes a long way toward making it feel possible.
Little by little.
...And then, she finds herself surprised as a bag of CalorieMate bars is dumped onto the cushion.
"Wha-" She starts, looking his way as confusion crosses her face. Clarification comes immediately. She offers the bars a dubious look - but she nods. She'll accept this at face value, even if the insistence that they're food makes them seem more suspicious.
"...Okay. Got it." She replies with an understanding nod. Breakfast... It's true that it's important. And it's also true that she's been neglecting it far too much.