Right about an hour before typical lunch break for UMBRA employees, an email comes to Takashi! It's White-chan! She's requesting a quick meeting. And has...a present!?
At exactly one hour, Hannah's there in henshin, with a very, very large box slung over her shoulders. It is, in fact, gift wrapped with suspiciously Boris-pattern wrapping paper and an obnoxiously large bow that could probably tie up a man if one got creative. She's all smiles outwardly, that usual facade of confidence to her, but there's something in her eyes.
It seems recent events have been beating her down. There's conflict there that she can't quite get rid of. Once she's buzzed into the building? She knocks. She's a proper southern lady, after all.
"Riiiiiv-kun~!" She singsongs.
"White Claus arrives from your magitek chimey~!"
Hannah Sharpe is one of the few people who Takashi would meet in his offices outside of henshin - one of the very limited number of people to know him as Takashi Agera and Riventon. So he doesn't henshin when she knocks, and he walks to the door and opens it. "A present? Should I be worried?" he asks, but it's in a joking voice, moreso than concerned. But maybe a hint of concern remains.
The gift wrapped box draws a further confused look from him, but he just smiles. "Is this a present present, or is it the kinda present that means I should henshin up cause I have to punch something present?" Takashi asks, leaning sideways against the door for a moment before he realizes he's being rude.
"Either way, come in, sit down, and tell me what sorta goodies White Claus has brought."
Heft! She checks to make sure the nearest table is actually empty before depositing the man-sized box. THUD! The table creaks under the weight.
"It won't need punching! ...As long as you don't disrupt the containment barrier. I'd open the box very carefully." Grin. Of /course/ it's something dangerous.
She /does/ sit down, though, claiming a spinny chair. Spiiiiiiin. Stop!
One pair of scissors offered over, and Hannah chuckles. "Come on go ahead! Open it and find out!" Nope, not ruining the surprise!
Once opened, the cardboard box conceals a tiny mini-barrier in Hannah's usual emerald green. Inside? A massive sword, missing a piece near the tip. And absolutely drowning in dark magic!
"/This/ is the little punk that took my body for a ride. You're the most trustworthy guy I know to deal with this thing. Heck, I'll bet you could put it to use. Just don't let it summon any chains and dig into you. Trust me."
A hand wave. "Consider it a thank you for everything you've done for me, Ta-kun. My only request is that when you study it, you make it as slow and painful as possible." Her voice /drips/ venom and grudge.
"Just because it doesn't need punching doesn't mean punching isn't optional." Takashi say as he unseals it. And grins a bit at the spinny chair Hannah.
"It's good to see you back to you." he says as he regards the blade. "I... actually feel bad I wasn't able to be more help. But with everything we recently lost here at UMBRA, and the business with the book, and some rather distracting personal... distractions..." he says, putting a hand on the little minibarrier. "I've been occupied."
He grins as Hannah makes her request. "Well, I'm not sure if it's possible to make it feel pain, but I won't go out of my way to be nice to it, that's for damn sure." He looks down at it through the barrier. "I can see how you ended up in trouble, though. It's got an enticing, vicious look to it, doesn't it." he says, regarding it with a degree of respect.
"So... how is Hannah?" he asks. "Not WPS Miss White, but Hannah. How're you handling... everything?" he asks. There's a thousand things he could mean by that, and he doesn't elucidate on which of those he means specifically.
"See, this is how you know someone's alright! Punching is the solution to 87 percent of life's problems. The rest usually involve magic."
She may or may not be biased.
There's a massive grin. "'Occupied'. Yeah. I'll bet! A little birdie told me that /someone/ has found a smart blue-haired cutie~." Teases Hannah. Leeeeeean.
"Spill the beans! Tell me /everythng/!"
But still, she's glaring at that sword again! "That's one way to describe it. 'JerkBlade' is another." From the looks of things, it's a miracle that Hannah didn't just destroy the sword after all was said and done. Thankfully she likes Ta-kun.
A wave of the hand. "Giving Gull advice was more than enough. I'm not a damsel in distress, you know? I don't wear frills that well. How's things rebuilding? You getting back up to speed?"
But her good mood falters. She slumps. There's silence, and she opens up to her dark-inclined friend. "Awful. I shot a kid and stole her dreams. More than once. How do you do it, Takashi? Stay calm after doing something like that." She asks, her question genuine.
A frustrated sigh. "I shouldn't be this weak. Maybe spending too much time around Gull is making me softhearted."
Then, a smirk. "She quit virtue you know? I'm going to punch those jerks in the faces for putting her through all that." Grrrr. Guilt is fading into outright anger.
Takashi laughs. Yep, Hannah's back to Hannah, despite that little feeling of something still being a bit off. It's still there, too, but everyone has secrets to hide. "Mmm, I'll have to see your data on that. Sometimes energy blasts are required."
And then there's the Hannah-Grin, and the 'occupied' comment, and Takashi has the good sense to flush a bit - but he just smirks back. "Maybe. We're seeing how it works out. So far, better than my last relationship. But she's... a little bit skittish?" he says, questioning his own word choice as he says it. "Let's just say it's a good thing I didn't follow your date advice exactly to the letter... I think she'd still be catching a plane back to wherever she ran to handle her embarassment." he says, laughing a bit.
"I dunno, you could probably pull it off. I've seen Super Mode Frilly Bright Dress Hannah, after all, remember?" he says, about frills. "We're... making progress. Was able to forcibly requisition some equipment. Staffing is low... but I'm making progress there, too. So... we survived the cuts, but we're still getting to where we used to be. The good news is I still have expertise they NEED."
And then that secret sneaks its way out. "I dunno... how do you rationalize the death of the cow for a steak?" he asks, casually. Almost -too- casually. "I mean, it's the nature of power. You have to consolidate it. You have to do some... un-nice things. Especially if you're going to do great things down the road. I mean... empires are founded in war, bloodshed, forged in fire. Neither Japan nor China was united by coddling the weak."
"It's probably natural for you to feel a little softhearted." he says, nodding, and perhaps a reminder he's never been without his Dark Energy. "I'm sure Ami would disapprove if she knew what I was doing - oh, that's probably important. I keep those worlds seperate, please don't mix them." he says, casually admitting he's not telling Ami a rather large part of his life.
"Tch. She's better off with us. Winning side, and all that. I'm sure you'd be pretty bummed if you had to get involved in a fight with her on your way to achiving your goals." he says, before getting very, very, very quiet. "Yeah... that'd... suck."
"That sounds like a challenge~!" More and more, Hannah's sounding better. This was definitely a good idea.
She can hear that blush too. "That's a good attitude. Looks like you two have your heads on straight. Don't do anything crazy, but...well, enjoy it. She's a good kid, I think."
Then she rolls her eyes. "Too bad she's such a pansy! Seriously, wouldn't last a day in the states! Oh well, I'm sure you'll force a spine in there somewhere! Make me /proud/!"
Hannah is not immune to compliments. She spins in the chair dramatically, arms out! Then it wobbles, and she crashes! But sticks it into a roll, gets up, and leans against a table. You saw nothing, Ta-kun. Whistle.
"Maybe I'll find a decent tailor then!"
Wince. "Good luck. I can't openly give support...politics...but if any opportunities come up or things happen to 'fall off the back of the truck', well..." Wink.
Eyes close, and she thinks on his advice. "Just like an emperor of old, huh?" She lapses into quiet contemplation, very rare for her.
"I suppose it's just something I need to get used to." Clearly it's still weight on her mind, but at least she seems to be thinking rather than eating at herself.
"Yeah. I mean, we still fight, but I don't want it to become personal. Business is one thing, but..."
"Your identity is safe with me. Scout's honor!" It's questionable if she was ever in any kind of scouts!
"But yeah. Keep her out of our business. A nice kid like that would just get eaten alive."
Takashi nods. He feels like Hannah is doing better, too. "Look, a lot of people are going to try to hold you back because they don't understand. They'll make up all sorts of reasons and excuses why you shouldn't do this, or that. And if you listen... you'll end up weak like them. Don't let them try to politics you into giving up strength of any kind."
Then the conversation's back to Ami, and he changes tone entirely - it's a rather vivid shift - from Evil Motivational Speaker to normal highschool boy. "Yeah... I think she's coming around. You can only be around me for so long before you succumb to my natural charms." he says, the grin on his face showing he's just being overzealous rather than serious. "But more important than that - she's brilliant. I realized I could never really have a relationship with someone who is... normal, I guess you'd say."
"Look. Each time you do it, it'll get easier, right? Soon it'll be routine. Don't even worry about it. Just don't let it get you down." he adds. "To some degree, all business is personal. Just try to keep it seperate as best you can. I don't think you can achieve everything you want without losing a few things - some of those might be friends." he adds.
"Keep what's important to you first. I'm sure if you think about the future you want to create, it'll be easier to crack a few eggs to get there."
"Yeah, I appreciate it. I'm glad I can trust the few who know both sides of my identity."