Shopping with Grace(Hime/Hanako)

"No...no, we can't….yes...yes, I did hear they're a man short."

Hanako stood in her office, looking out of the window and speaking via her implants to one of the lower seats. Absentmindedly she ran her fingers through her hair. Gods, she could use a hot bath about now.

"Yeah...there's no use in repeating yourself. It just won't work...no, listen, once again: If I pull Shinigami from the main forces to strengthen the rear guard then they will be one or more men short. ...you know that the Vanguard is out of the question. Laskt had some casualties on the last mission and they are still in recovery, he can't spare anyone. Listen, I know...I know. But we're short on all ends. I am looking for new recruits, but with the academy graduations this year still four months away there's little anyone can do. What?...if you can manage that, sure. But if I hear that you start to woo people away from other division I'll strip you of rank, clear? ...good."

A mental command closed the comm-line and Hanako sighed. What a brickhead. As if Shinigami grew on trees. Well, some of them did, but still, she couldn't snap her fingers and new recruits would magically appear. If someone of another division wished to transfer on their own accord, fine. Wooing people away that were needed and didn't really want to transfer...definitely not okay. Hanako just hoped nothing would happen in the next few months, until their shortage of personnel could be remedied.

She was just about to take a sip of tea when there was a knock on her door. What now?

“Come…” she said, somewhat distracted. When she saw who entered the room her expression brightened visibly.

“Hime!”

It was an exclamation of surprise. She hadn’t seen her since...oh, since that one party, when Hanako grossly misinterpreted Hime’s intentions.

“What brings you here?”

With a gesture she offered one of the chairs in front of her desk and began to pour a fresh mug of tea for her guest. There were some things that had become a constant around Hanako: There was practically always a fresh pot of tea there, since she had developed a deep love for the hot beverage. Some members of the Division even claimed they could tell if the Lieutenant was in on that day, without opening her door, simply by the smell of fresh tea on the corridor.
Also Hanako didn’t bother with small cups. Pretty soon she became annoyed with how little liquid a normal cup could hold and swapped them all for nice, big mugs.
Today it was a black tea, a strong and refreshing citrus fragrance identifying it as an Earl Grey of some sort. Even a devoted jasmine tea lover like Hanako had to alternate every now and then.

“We haven’t seen each other for quite a while.”

Hanako felt a sting of guilt that she hadn’t even called or texted Hime. Sure, it had taken a lot of time to grow into her job and only recently she felt the workload either lighten or her coping with it better. Still, a few lines of text shouldn’t have been too much. Once again she felt like just slipping out of the door, taking the afternoon off and visiting the bathhouse, prying her thoughts away from work. On the other hand, Hime was maybe an unexpected, but a very welcomed guest and Hanako was curious about what had brought her here.