As was strongly suggested to him, Togusa swings by Grell's office with a bribe delivery of onigiri around lunch time. (He borrowed the recipe from Koutarou, shhh.) At least this month is starting out quieter than last month was, so he hopes that he won't be interfering with her work.
Togusa knocks politely on the frame of her door and has the food and a slightly sheepish smile ready for her. "Good afternoon."
Although she is joking, Togusa's expression remains sheepish. "I- got a little caught up in things. Which I know is no excuse. But can we have one month where no one in the department is suspended or out of town working for Retrospec, please?"
Togusa offers over the container of rice balls. "You are right, though, it's more proper to give congratulations in person. I'm happy for you and Ardyn." The nervousness can melt into a much more genuinely happy smile.
Some of the nervousness finally breaks when Togusa bursts out into surprised laughter at Grell's bluntness. He shakes his head and sits down. "Chicken and ginger, I like it with the sesame seeds."
"I know I've been busy, and you've got some perspective on the reasons why. But how have you been?" Togusa looks at Grell seriously. "I've seen you're still offering help to people getting- altered by Retrospec." So it's never easy to see how much extra work is getting put on Grell's plate thanks to that.
"Of course I am. People are still getting changed, and besides, it's a change of pace from the usual. Plus, finding someone new with the application who actually has a clinic was nothing short of a miracle. He's agreed to share the space, provided I keep it tidy after my work and allow him to charge patients that go through him if he so wishes. I get a location to meet people and can rest easy knowing that it's not all my responsibility. Almost perfect."
Togusa's eyebrows raise in interest, as he grabs one of the rice balls for himself. "Getting to use a private clinic space? You're right, that does sound like a good break. I wasn't aware that we had another doctor on the app."
He takes a huge bite into the rice ball. Hmm, a passable copy of Koutarou's recipe. He nods in approval. "He's going to be looking at people, too, like what Lucian was doing before?"
She nods at the question. "He's new to our ranks. Kei." Before she took a bite, she leveled Togusa with a look. "I trust you'll be nice to him."
It was the closest she was going to get to admitting that his work wasn't strictly legal, but she figured Togusa would find out in time, and she could probably point out all the good it did.
"Of course, I'll still be the emergency contact, since I'm used to that."
Oh, that absolutely guarantees that Togusa's doing a background check on this guy, but he sighs and holds up a hand defensively, a joking smile creeping onto his lips. "When have you ever known me to not be nice?"
He'll be nice. But he'd rather know what it is he's being nice about.
"It's nice of you, to keep doing that. I didn't see too many calls go up on the network, even in February. Retrospec seemed to keep us pretty safe, for once."
"That, or people are shy about reaching out. I want to make sure it's not the latter that's going on, as much as I appreciated not being worked over by their complaints. Things get too quiet, and I start getting suspicious."
It's not Kei's background she's worried about - it's his personality. Not everyone's as forgiving of oddness as she is.
"Beyond our usual doom and gloom. You barely talk to me anymore - anything taking up your time I should know of before I start getting jealous?"
"I would say that work being busy is no excuse, but even the new incidents feed back to being Retrospec's fault. I've been continuing to directly investigate them where I can, but then there's other things."
He perks up and points at Grell, "Did you know we have a real-life masked vigilante running around the city? A bunch of people have seen them by now. Climbing on rooftops, punching out muggers, the whole deal!"
He sits back in his chair and sighs. "First thing I did was check with The Kids," he gives a significant look. Dante, and Prompto, and by extension Noctis. "They might be foolish enough to do it, but they can't bring themselves to lie about it."
"None of them have been suspiciously injured, so it can't possibly be them - they know I won't ask, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't notice. A mystery hero. I like that, actually - there's something thrilling about that, in the midst of our disarray and despair. Someone looking out to do good, and follow an old sort of code!"
She sighs happily, biting into the rice ball. Not bad, definitely.
"As long as they know what they're doing, I approve with all my heart."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
4/3 Office visit!
bribedelivery of onigiri around lunch time. (He borrowed the recipe from Koutarou, shhh.) At least this month is starting out quieter than last month was, so he hopes that he won't be interfering with her work.Togusa knocks politely on the frame of her door and has the food and a slightly sheepish smile ready for her. "Good afternoon."
no subject
"Hitori. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me. Your new habit, to be so cruel to women?"
The look on her face says she's utterly joking.
no subject
Togusa offers over the container of rice balls. "You are right, though, it's more proper to give congratulations in person. I'm happy for you and Ardyn." The nervousness can melt into a much more genuinely happy smile.
no subject
But she laughs and takes the container to set between them, gesturing that he should sit in the other chair.
"What should I expect to find in these? Or should I surprise myself?"
no subject
"I know I've been busy, and you've got some perspective on the reasons why. But how have you been?" Togusa looks at Grell seriously. "I've seen you're still offering help to people getting- altered by Retrospec." So it's never easy to see how much extra work is getting put on Grell's plate thanks to that.
no subject
"Of course I am. People are still getting changed, and besides, it's a change of pace from the usual. Plus, finding someone new with the application who actually has a clinic was nothing short of a miracle. He's agreed to share the space, provided I keep it tidy after my work and allow him to charge patients that go through him if he so wishes. I get a location to meet people and can rest easy knowing that it's not all my responsibility. Almost perfect."
no subject
He takes a huge bite into the rice ball. Hmm, a passable copy of Koutarou's recipe. He nods in approval. "He's going to be looking at people, too, like what Lucian was doing before?"
no subject
It was the closest she was going to get to admitting that his work wasn't strictly legal, but she figured Togusa would find out in time, and she could probably point out all the good it did.
"Of course, I'll still be the emergency contact, since I'm used to that."
no subject
He'll be nice. But he'd rather know what it is he's being nice about.
"It's nice of you, to keep doing that. I didn't see too many calls go up on the network, even in February. Retrospec seemed to keep us pretty safe, for once."
no subject
It's not Kei's background she's worried about - it's his personality. Not everyone's as forgiving of oddness as she is.
"Beyond our usual doom and gloom. You barely talk to me anymore - anything taking up your time I should know of before I start getting jealous?"
no subject
He perks up and points at Grell, "Did you know we have a real-life masked vigilante running around the city? A bunch of people have seen them by now. Climbing on rooftops, punching out muggers, the whole deal!"
He sits back in his chair and sighs. "First thing I did was check with The Kids," he gives a significant look. Dante, and Prompto, and by extension Noctis. "They might be foolish enough to do it, but they can't bring themselves to lie about it."
no subject
She sighs happily, biting into the rice ball. Not bad, definitely.
"As long as they know what they're doing, I approve with all my heart."