Every rose has its thorns

A New Hope Gymnastics - Office

	 The large oak door opens to a quiet sanctuary where the business of running the gymnastics school can be done. The office is large, allowing for both a spot for a desk and a sitting area. The floor is carpeted with a thick plush charcoal grey carpet. The walls have been painted a soothing shade of medium-light green with a dusty touch to it so that it's not to garish and bright. Soft music is inevitably playing in the background, soothing piano music, usually. The wall behind the large oak desk is covered in a floor to ceiling bookshelf which holds all manner of books, including subjects like business and gymnastics, music and art. Some of the shelves have trinkets arrayed, pleasing little figures.
	 The desk itself is a large oak affair with a laptop set to one side. A large grey leather chair is in place behind it and in front of the desk itself are two black leather-covered arm chairs. They face the desk.
	 The sitting area is on the other side of the room and consists of a beautiful blue damask couch and matching plush chairs. Dark oak end tables flank the couch and also side each chair with a matching coffee table between the arrangement. The lighting throughout the office is good.



	(This room needs an Umbra desc. @mail building staff if you want to provide one.)


	(This room needs a Wraith desc. @mail building staff if you want to provide one.)

Contents:
Shiori

	*** Nightzone ***

Obvious Exits:
  Main Lobby <ML>

Shiori is sitting in a chair, a book open in her hands when you're shown to her office tonight. She looks up at the knock and when the door opens and she sees you, she closes the book and rises as she sets it aside, "Good evening." She offers with a smile.

	Danny smiles and makes his way inside, shutting the door behind him. "Good evening to you as well." Those otherworldly silver colored eyes of his go towards the book. "What're you reading? Is this a bad time?"

Shiori waves a hand vaguely, "Just a bit of fiction. It's a nice escape from politics and... well stuff." The title reads "A Shadow of What Was Lost". How are you tonight?"

	Danny ahs and nods, then makes his way over and indicates another chair. "May I?" A smile, "I'm well, just ghosting my way around the city, and thought I'd stop by and say hello." He leans down and presses a kiss to your cheek. "Its good to see you getting some escape, if politics have been pesky."

Shiori motions "Feel free." She tips her cheek for the kiss, and then she sits down too. "Just the normal. I don't particularly like the political arena, but sometimes we have to take care of things we don't like for a while. How have you been?"

	Danny offers up a shrug, "I don't have much cause to get involved in politics, so I suppose I'm doing well. My people are much less ... sub-ordinated ... than yours. It is at once both a strength, and a weakness. But one that I am accustomed to navigating." He settles down into a seat next to Shiori.

Shiori crosses her legs, body angled a little toward Danny. "It wasn't my intention to jump back into the political arena when I returned home. I really intended to stay quiet, relax a little, recouperate from my time away, and contribute as I could without being in the spotlight. But when your friends as you to represent because they believe you are the best choice to do so, well. It's hard to say no."

	Danny nods, then extends a hand towards Shiori, inviting her over to ... sit on his lap? "Sit with me a bit?" A pause. "I've gathered that these politics of your people, they can be quite dangerous." A statement, not so much as an inquiry, though it could be interpreted either way. "All the more flattering then, that you were asked, I suppose?"

Shiori says quietly about the politics, "It depends on how you navigate the landscape." She draws a slow breath with the offered hand, then says, "It is very important that I am seen as holding to the expectations within my world, Danny. I think we should remain friends." She pauses a moment, and then smiles sadly, "Friends are good though. And I'm still happy to advise where I can in your efforts to bring new forms of art to the city."

	Danny arches an eyebrow, considering for a moment. Then he withdraws his hand and offers a small nod. "As I said, your world is incredibly more sub-ordinated than mine." If he has any more thought about her pronouncement, he'll keep them to himself. Sometimes? It's helpful to be an impassive master of yin. "Friends are, generally speaking, more of a good thing than a bad one," he agrees. At her offer of continued assistance in the collaboration of bringing a new artform to the city, he nods. "I am grateful for your offer. Thank you, I know it is no small thing."

Shiori is quiet for a moment, studying Danny's face. "I'm sorry. You are in intriguing man. And if I had maintained my quiet existence, things might have been different. But, I wasn't able to do that."

	Danny arches an eyebrow, then puts a hand up, "You don't owe any explanation, nor do I require one, Shiori. I was your friend before, I was your friend then, I shall be your friend now and after." A ghost of a smile at her compliment of him. "I appreciate your sentiment, but it's unnecessary - I am who and what I am. Part of that is an understanding and acceptance of the way things have been, the way things are, and the way things could be. As an appointed guardian of destiny, I am intimately aware that Fate's inscrutable passing means that apparent defeat can sometimes be the gateway to victory. Things are as they /are/."

Shiori raises her eyebrows a little bit at that. But then she smiles and nods her head, "They are as they are." She exhales a slow breath though it's not necessary for her. She then draws another and asks, "How are your plans coming?"

	A shrug rolls across the breadth of Danny's shoulders. "On this side of things? Slowly. But I've used my resources to expand the assistance available to me." A half smile at a little private pun or play-on-words. "Literally, I mean. I've hired on an assistant to better move and tend to the cultural affairs in my portfolio. I barely have time to tend to the spiritual elements at my temple, much less the underworld elements that make everything else possible."

Shiori loosely clasps her hands in her lap, "So you have an assistant now working on the opera you want to bring to the city? I hope this assistant is finding the work enjoyable."

	"Among other such projects, yes. The benevolent association I am responsible for was suffering from lack of attention - hopefully, my assistant, she will be able to help remedy that unfortunate situation." A shrug at the question. "That's an interesting question, and one I should probably find the answer to. She seemed competent, and the tea leaves, while fickle at times, are usually generally accurate."

Shiori tips her head a little bit to one side, and offers a genuine smile, "I'm glad you have someone to help you with your benevolent endeavors. They can take up a lot of time, if given the chance."

	"They certainly can, yes," Danny agrees as he rises from his seat. "Speaking of which, I should probably be at least minimally helpful in such things as I am at least nominally responsible." He leans down to press a kiss to Shiori's cheek if she'll permit. "Thank you for taking some time out of your busy night. I appreciate it, and you."

Shiori tips her face to accept the kiss to her cheek, and then rises. "Be safe, my friend. I will talk with you again soon." She watches Danny go, and then drops into the chair again, tipping her head back to look up at the ceiling with a sigh.