Objective One – The Observation

Sipping on one of Mai's famous cups of tea, a certain pink haired female leaned back in her seat, giving herself a full view of the rest of SPR. Her visit, as unannounced and random as her visits normally were, actually had a reason behind it. Lin and Noll had probably already had an inking of what it was, but she could tell Mai was pleasantly surprised and curious. Her being there was simple, really. She had come to check up on her lousy student and see how he was fairing. The boy wasn't one to call up and let everyone know on his own after all, and any time someone asked about his wellbeing they received the usual smartassed and curt responses. Martin and Luella were just barely an exception to the rule, but that didn't mean he told them much either. Imagine how frustrating that could be. Truly he was lucky she liked him... otherwise she'd have a few choice words for him.

Though, she supposed she didn't really know why she expected to learn anything more from coming to visit personally. She was unsurprisingly being given the cold shoulder by Noll. She would have thought that he would have learned by now that pretending she wasn't there wouldn't make her disappear. That boy... honestly. Lin on the other hand had at least greeted her and made an attempt at small conversation every now and then on his way back and forth from the filing cabinet. Not to say that he was necessarily warm and inviting about it, but truly when was that man ever? The fact that he had made any effort at all to talk to her spoke volumes. While everyone saw the Chinese man as a silently judging stick in the mud, she chose to see him as a bit of a shy anti-social. She was aware that the notion of Lin being shy was a bit of a stretch, but the mental image made her laugh.

With a content sigh as the tea did it's magic, Madoka's attention turned to the brunette shuffling through papers on her desk. The task itself looked tedious, but the teen seemed to be relatively content if her light hearted humming was any indication. The older woman could not say that she'd be in the same mood if she had to do the same task. Paperwork happened to be the bane of her existence. Unless, of course, she was doing something fun like research. Digging up dirt on people and places was her specialty after all. Filling out forms and filing, however, was not.

She took notice as the teen girl jumped at the request of tea that came from behind the closed door of Noll's office. As rude and demanding as the order was, Mai still complied instantly, which she expected had took months for Noll to properly condition. Taking another sip from her own beverage, she watched curiously as Mai scrambled to the kitchen, kind of like an obedient wife. Of course she knew that the teen was a little too rebellious to fit the mold, but the thought made the woman chuckle. When she thought about it, those two would make a good couple wouldn't they? Mai would surely be able to keep the silly boy in check from what she had both heard and saw about the two's encounters with each other.

Crossing her legs she followed Mai with her eyes as she walked briskly from the kitchenette to her boss' office. Just as the brunette stepped in, Lin came out of his own hideaway. He paused briefly in his step when he saw Madoka sitting on the couch, trying to make herself comfortable. "You're still here…?" the stoic man questioned, continuing his destination to the filing cabinet. She knew he didn't mean anything by the question. Since he'd had the pleasure of working with her over the years, Lin knew Madoka wasn't the kind of person to sit around silently for too long. She liked to keep busy. He had probably expected her to have left back to her hotel room by now.

Smirking behind her teacup she couldn't help but chuckle, "I told you. I'm observing. Those two are curious as to how this branch is being run… and of course about a certain someone."

Lin knew of course who 'those two' were—Noll's parents. The boy wasn't too keen on keeping in contact with them on a regular basis, outside of updates on work happenings, which of course made them worry about him. Luella especially. Seeing as Madoka was here, Lin's constant updates weren't enough to ease their nerves. The man tended to focus on the boy's physical wellbeing and while Noll's health was always a concern, Luella craved to know how her son was fairing socially. Not that Noll had ever had much of a social life.—A fact that merely elevated his mother's worry.

"I see…" was the only thing that left Lin's mouth as he pulled out the file he had been looking for, causing a moment of silence to fall between them.

As if to break it, the door of Noll's office was violently slammed shut, leaving a fuming Mai in its wake. Obviously miffed, the brunette spun on her heel, grabbed the knob of the door and opened it again only to slam it a second time. This motion repeated until a hand caught the offending object.

"Mai…" the owner of the hand practically hissed, wrenching the door open and away from the girl's grip.

With it taken from her, Mai's anger was replaced with a bit of fear as her boss' cold steel gaze peered at her. At first she tried to hold her ground with a defiant look, but his intimidating stare almost immediately got to her. Chickening out, she made a break for the kitchenette, an angry boss in tow.

Lin and Madoka stared at the opening of the kitchenette not knowing whether to be shocked or ignore the mini dispute. Well, Madoka did anyway. Lin was already half used to such antics by now. Both, however, where probably wondering what had caused it. It wasn't a complete mystery though. Noll had obviously said something he shouldn't have to the poor girl.

Eventually, the two came back into view and the raven haired boy headed back for his office, unaware of the brunette secretly sticking her tongue out at him from behind. The young duo only stopped in their actions at the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the room, where Madoka was chuckling at Mai's childish reaction and Lin was trying his best not to look the slightest amused.

Naru looked quizzically at his 'former' mentor, obviously having been too focused on his assistant to even notice the woman's presence at first. "This isn't a lounge. I'm sure you can go mingle at the café across the street," he said with a glare, the obvious translation to his statement clearly suggested for her to leave.

The woman arched an eyebrow and grinned. She supposed it was probably time to tell him why she was there. "Sorry… no can do. I'll be accompanying you for a while, cases and all."

This resulted in a deep frown from the boy. This news was definitely unpleasing from the look on his face, but there wasn't much that he could do about it, as they both knew. The orders came from over his head. "How long?" He pressed, jaw clenched.

Madoka shrugged, casually sipping on her tea. "A few months. Until I'm satisfied. Just think of me as your new temp."

Mood turning even more sour, the young man went so far as to grunt ever so lightly. "If you want to be here that badly, I'm sure Mai could use some assistance…" Noll commented glancing at the ever growing pile of paper threatening to slide off the girl's desk.

Despite the internal groan her brain let out at the thought of shuffling papers, Madoka decided to play along for the sake of the boy's sanity. Even she was aware at how much she could drive him up a wall, something that was both a blessing and a curse. Setting her cup down, she stood up and saluted playfully, "Yes, sir."

Not nearly satisfied, the boy retreated back to his office solemnly. Probably to sulk or brood, or whatever it was young men did these days when things weren't going their way.

Pleased with herself, Madoka's eyes glance over to Lin—Correction: to the empty space where Lin had once been standing. Instantly confused, she exchanged a look with Mai who obviously hadn't noticed him slip out either.

"Ninja?" The young woman offered as a solution, causing the two to laugh at the ridiculous idea and the interesting mental image that came with it.

Mai and Madoka's day went along with relative ease. Paper pushing wasn't so bad when there was someone there to distract from it's mundane routine. As they were filing the massive mound of work most of their conversation focused around the two reclusive males tucked away in their dens. A topic that went on even after the filing had finished, and the comments had ranged from their weird habits to their independent quirks. By then it had to be at least twelve in the afternoon, not that they were paying the clock much mind.

Their giggles came to a halt when a voice rang for what felt like the hundredth time, "Mai, tea."

Sighing the brunette slowly got up, the day's constant up and down finally taking a toll on what was once bubbly energy. Not ready to let the girl's inner fire burn out just yet, Madoka snickered and patted the girl's head, "Come on. I'll help; we can make Lin some too."

Mai gave her a grin and a nod as the two of them stepped into the kitchenette. They decided to divvy up the work; Mai had Naru's while Madoka had Lin's.

After a few minutes of chatting, the kettle whistled and the two got to work. Surprisingly enough to Mai, Madoka knew exactly how Lin liked his tea. Of course, she was aware that the two had worked together pretty closely in the past as mentors to Naru and Gene, but even so, to see the woman put the drink together effortlessly without any hesitation or uncertainty meant that she had remembered it despite the length of time the two had now spent apart. It was impressive. Of course, Mai had still remembered how Naru liked his tea, not that he wanted anything fancy... but even so she had been nervous giving him his first cup back. She thought for sure she had gotten something wrong. If she did though, he hadn't said anything.

While Mai was pondering Madoka's confidence, said woman openly watched Mai's impressive finger work. It was like the girl had a gift for making the beverage. Her hands flowed naturally, instantly knowing where everything was and how to get the most use out of it. Watching her was like watching a master chief making their signature dish. To say she was mesmerized was an understatement. No wonder Naru was so addicted.

"Alright. Let's get our boys some tea," Madoka grinned playfully, balancing Lin's tea in one hand as she placed her free hand on her hip.

Mai giggled and motioned for the older woman to lead the way, "Righty-o."

Strolling out of the kitchenette, the two split up and headed over to their respective doors.

Not really bothering to knock, Madoka slid quietly into Lin's office, a small grin on her face. His desk faced the door—a habit she supposed he'd kept since that one morning years ago when she'd actually managed to scare him back in England—and the room itself was a bit dimmer than the rest of SPR. It wasn't as dark as her pupil's room, though… and it felt a bit warmer too.

Unsurprisingly, her arrival was greeted by a slightly raised eyebrow and a quick glance. "I bring tea," she explained stepping around the desk and setting the cup down just within the man's reach.

"Thank you," Lin said softly, taking a small sip as he resumed his typing.

"Mn-hm." Madoka nodded and leaned against the wooden desk as she glanced out the window. The slight tilt of her head indicating to him that she had something on her mind.

"Is there anything you need?" he asked not looking up from his computer screen. Something told him he probably shouldn't have asked, but she had a way of getting him to do the opposite of what his common sense told him to do.

"Ah—well… I suppose…" she trailed off, tapping her fingernails together in thought. Truth be told there was a thought that had circled her mind for the better part of the day. Or rather an idea, really... and she believed he would probably be the best bet in helping her out. The question was…. Would he do it? "You see. I've got a proposition… Well a plan, really. Care to listen?"

Hmmmm. Hehehe, I'll end it there. Think you can guess what that plan may be? I had this idea a while ago and couldn't help but type it up. I know what direction I want this to go in, however as for how it will get there? I'm not sure. But do not fear! Everything will be sorted out in this jumbled up so-called-brain of mine.

If there are any spelling errors I'll fix the soon. I'm a bit tired so I'm sort of out of it at the moment…

Last Edited 05.07.2015

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