Sick burn, brah [Hannah/Kokuto]

It was her fate, it seemed, to be perpetually distracted on her mission to find Natasha and apologise to the woman. And probably also Freyja. It sent a bad message to put forward one's desires to court them, and then vanish off the face of the earth while you got inundated with work. Natasha was more pressing, to be sure, but that didn't make Freyja lesser in any way.

But, before either of that, Hannah's Sonar picked up an interesting person. Kokuto, the cool Fire Dude who came to her asking for some plastic surgery without the plastic, was hanging around. Why, was the question, but she'd get to that later, for now she would simply go over and wave.

"Kokuto!" She exclaimed, waving her arm gently through the air.

If there was one thing he was thankful for when it came to looking normal again -- it was that he didn't get nearly as many looks as he had before. He was still a demon, so, there was little he could do about that -- but, at least he still looked considerably more...well, normal. He looked like a normal person, rather than someone who walked out of an inferno and somehow managed to survive.

As if on-cue, he heard a voice call out his name, and he turned to where it came from. Well, shit, he hadn't expected to run into the her like this. Shaking his head a little, he waved back, walking over to her. It'd be pretty damn rude for him to just walk away and ignore her, after all.

"Yo! Hannah, right? Didn't expect to meet you out here. How're you doing?"

"Mmm" Hannah would reply, nodding to Kokuto. "I am here visiting friends" she continued, giving him a gentle smile. It was nice to see that he was out and about, and living his life now that he was looking better than normal.

"How has it been since the operation? Are you settling into your new life well? No residual pains or phantom stress?" Hannah would ask, her tone the peak voice of what one might expect out of a Doctor catching up on one of her patients. "And I know it's and improvement over before, but do you like how you look? I didn't think to change that while working, everyone looks the same to me. It's easy to forget people think about their appearance..."

Visiting friends, huh? Did she have some friends or associates in the City of Lights? Well, it wasn't really his place to pry about it. However, as she started quizzing him, he couldn't help but laugh as he held his hands up in front of him.

"Yeesh, easy with the interrogation, Doc. Can only answer so many things at a time. To answer that, nah, no residual pains that I could feel. No phantom stress either, though I dunno what that would even feel like, honestly."

As she asked if he liked how he looked now, he chuckled softly, looking at a hand. While it had been many, many years since he had seen himself before, when he was alive and not burned, this appearance still felt...right for him.

"Yeah. It's been a long while since I saw myself before all of this, but, this feels right. It feels nice. Didn't really need anythin' swapped around, anyhow. Just lookin' like a normal person is enough for me."

"Phantom stress feels stressful. Suddenly, and abruptly, generally after catching a glance of yourself in a mirror and expecting something else than what looks back" Hannah would state, nodding softly. He was settling in well to this life, which was alwyas good. There were those who struggled to adapt to what they had been given the way she had given it.

"Sorry, to bombard you with questions, it's just my nature to want to ensure that I have done the job properly. Though, speaking of; what are you doing here? Just admiring the confectionary, or is it something more?"

Had she only left him with the first sentence, she would have been extraordinarily unhelpful. But, the next part saved it. What she was describing seemed a lot more like an identity crisis than phantom stress, and he had to genuinely look back and think about it. He hadn't really remembered having that kind of reaction when he was looking at himself.

Maybe at first, because he had grown so accustomed to looking like a monster, that seeing a normal person in the mirror was surprising from time to time. But, thankfully, he had grown used to it. So, he shrugged, smiling softly and sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Nope, none of that. Felt a little weird to see an actual person in the mirror a few times, but that's come and gone."

He couldn't really blame her for wanting to make sure that she did her job right -- especially when it came to something like reconstructing his face and repairing what most doctors had called irreparable. Plus, from what he could tell in her cloudy, glazed eyes, she seemed to be blind. So, it made even more sense.

"Well, I got a bit of free time today, so I figured I'd get some fresh air and see some newer sights. Maybe pick up somethin' for my colleagues, friends, or girlfriend."

Mentally adaptable, or maybe he was just coasting on who he meant to be. The burn scars weren't born with, so maybe his brain was quickly rewriting his reactions back to what they were meant to be before the accident. Or he was repressing them and he was going to snap and go mad soon. Hannah was not a magician in that respect, she could not read minds nor foresee the future.

"Ohh, romance. I do so like people indulging in the simple things in life. Not getting worked up about what is around them and carrying life on as it is meant to be" Hannah would give him a nod of approval.

"Well, I shall not keep you. But if you ever want somewhere to practice with your flames so you have a better control over them, give me a call. I am always down to help people stretch and utilize their whole power without worry of collateral"

Well, he certainly wouldn't be one to call romance simple. There had been some complications, but, perhaps now it really was that simple. But, maybe at some point, there would be more complications. A life as long as his, it wasn't entirely unreasonable. He'd still try to just live life as he had for years, prove himself to the Vandenreich and the world, to show that he wasn't a monster -- he was kin to demon in nothing but name.

"Hey, if you wanna take this elsewhere, I wouldn't mind getting some practice in. I've got a good level of control over my flames now, but..."

The grin he had quickly faded as he looked at himself. He had the control -- but he wasn't strong enough. He was barely able to fend off and defend against Ichigo's attacks during the assault on the City of Lights. He and everyone else that he saw try to fight against him barely registered as a threat. To protect Ichi, the city, the Vandenreich, the world at large, he needed to keep getting stronger.

"I'm not strong enough. No way in hell am I gonna turn that down."

"Be careful, Kokuto"

Hannah would head off towards the training grounds as she spoke, hands gently in front of her and a nice, casual gait to her.

"There is always going to be someone bigger, someone better. The Demon Queen was once at these shores, and it took a great deal to fend her off. That sort of thing is not what you and I are ever going to be able to face off against by ourselves. But it is enough to be content that when a threat comes, you can stand with your brothers and sisters and be part of it. That, is where we should all desire to be. If you let yourself be drowned with the desire to protect everyone, all the time, then you will lose everyone you come to care about because you sacrifice their love on the altar of strength. And at the end, you stand at the peak of the world, capable of fending off everything, and having reason to fend off nothing"

He knew that there would always be someone better. Being the best of everything wasn't a concern -- especially with the massive humbling he got at the hands of Ichigo. So, with a sigh, he looked over at her, then himself. He wasn't really one for big, profound speeches, and he sure wasn't expecting one to come out of her. As they headed to the training grounds, Kokuto took a bit to think about the exposition she gave.

He didn't really have too big of a concern with being the strongest -- or, at least, it wasn't something he was super obsessed with. He knew that he was strong, but, he knew that he also could at least be somewhat content with reaching a bottleneck at some point.

"I don't really think I've got that obsession with being the absolute best. I got my ass humbled when Ichigo came in and stomped us without much difficulty. I just...need to be stronger, so I can do better than I did when that happened. All I could do was tank shit and get people out of the way."