Scene #2817: Riva Pesters Psyber

Owner	Pose
Guest Psyber	True to his word to Riva, Psyber is in his office sitting at a desk. Next to him are a series of sealed business envelopes with various names and addresses on them, mostly to people within the office. He's furiously scribbling at one with a fountain pen, putting the last touches on some forms to sign and looking very stern about the entire situation as he does so. The work is pretty absorbing, but at least the office door is open. The office itself is pretty standard. A desk, a computer, a couch in one corner and a chair across the desk from him. He also has a few swords mounted on the walls of the office. Einherjar, Erinyes the hammer, Sovereign. The tokens from his various missions.
Riva Banari	There is a knock on Psyber's door. She doesn't wait for Psyber to answer before she walks in through the open door, closing it behind her with the flick of a shoe. In each hand, she's got a saucer of coffee with the trimmings. Psyber's is black, while Riva's is heavily creamed and sugared. "You look like you could use some coffee, Boss." She places Psyber's on the desk while she sits down across from him uninvited. Her gaze flicks to the stack of envelopes and then over to Psyber himself. "You really believe you might not make it back, huh?" She takes a sip of her own coffee, and then sets it down. "I admit, I don't think I could even imagine something like that happening."
Guest Psyber	Psyber picks up the coffee and looks up from his work, giving Riva a pretty appraising look. Not suspicious, but as if he's trying to gauge which response to give. To bide himself some time, he takes a slow sip of the black coffee, not adding anything to it, "Thanks for the coffee." "I'm heading to the Home Plane of an Outer God. Imagine something that could create Hastur, and that's where I'm going to pick my next fight. Hastur's dad," Psyber explains, sighing a bit and then shutting his pen, "There's a real chance it might be my last mission. If I prevent the destruction of a Universe, I would deem it an acceptable exchange for my life."
Riva Banari	Riva leans back in the chair, watching Psyber. It's like they're both trying to figure each other out. To an outsider, it might look casual, but the two have spent a lot of time trying to figure out which cues are real and which ones are just up for... whatever reasons they might have. "You sounded like you needed it." Riva replies. "Things are getting really heavy." There is a pauses as she looks down at the desk again, thinking. "You really think it is, Psyber? What about the next time a universe is in danger? This is the second time in my memory. You probably have seen others."
Guest Psyber	Psyber thinks this question over, "Those times, I will risk my life as well. Just as I risked my life in Annu. Or in Sburb. Or in Mizuki's world. Or Madoka's. Or Elliana's." He lists a few of the major keystone points of his career, sipping the coffee. "I am not someone who labors under the belief my life is priceless," He sets the cup down, "Weighed against the perpetuation of an entire Universe, my life would be a minimal exchange. And someone would handle the next crisis in my place. My life is valuable and my contributions as an individual make the sacrifice that would necessitate my loss of life very high. But, as Nathan has explained, I view my life as a chip on a table. A weight to balance. There are costs greater than my individual loss."
Riva Banari	Riva nods as she listens to Psyber's listing. She sighs, then. "Yeah... That makes sense." She seems a little... saddened at that, but she shakes her head, her ponytail whipping back and forth a bit as she slides her coffee onto Psyber's desk and folds her arms. "You've got a lot on our shoulders." Riva says then, glancing again to the stack of envelopes. "You don't like to delegate much, I've noticed. If you don't make it back, do you think those people are going to be prepared to pick up what you've been dealing with all this time?"
Guest Psyber	"I think they will. By design, I created this group to be mostly independant. If I die, the office will persist and continue onward. By this point, if I left it would persist without me," He notes as he pats the stack of envelopes, "I'd have Nathan and Elliana run it in tandem. I think they can cover my vacuum," He awkwardly coughs, "Delegating. I do it where I can, I think. Give people the jobs I think can be reasonably handled."
Riva Banari	Riva shakes her head, hiking her hands up to her upper arms, still crossed as she taps a finger on one of those upper arms... And when he brings up Nathan and Elliana, Riva's expression turns from disbelieving to shocked. "Nathan and /Elliana/? Are you serious, Psyber? Despite that thing that happened over in Terra Majora, Nathan's still rubbed straight raw by Elliana. He's still bleeding, psychologically, and recent events are /not/ making them better, what with the giant one-eyed robots and stuff." The chair creaks for a moment as she leans back forward and tilts her head, watching Psyber. "But besides that... Look, Psyber. I'm worried about you. If it takes you having a serious chance of dying in order to get you to work out ways to deal with your workload, you have some bigger problems. I think I can count the number of times you've delegated /anything/ on one hand sincw showing up. Given what you just said, what does that mean?"
Guest Psyber	"They'd make it work," Psyber says flatly, "That much I know about the two of them. And it's a fallback plan on the chance I die." Psyber shrugs a bit and stares at Riva as if she's speaking a foreign language, "Riva, what, precisely, do you expect me to do? Nathan doesn't want to be fixed, so I can't fix him." He gives her a flat and somewhat hollow look, "I have tried everything up to and including total transparency with him and it made situations worse. Therefore, I have no options to further deal with him." He gathers the stack of papers he was working on and puts them into a folder, "You're worried about me?" He asks to her. It's not in a mocking tone, so much as if it's an idea he finds farfetched, "I delegate where I can. I allowed Reiji to handle the Gensokyo incident. I allow Elites to handle problems within their purviews. I only step in personally when the crisis demands my immediate attention for an optimal resolution of an issue I find personally cornerstone to my life." "I am unclear what you want me to say to you, Riva. This is who I am. This is what the Union and the people in my life have made me."
Riva Banari	"Doesn't want to be fixed..." Riva blinks at that, thinking for a moment. "You're right. You've done everything you can possibly do to get through to him. You've tried. I've heard about some of your attempts, seen others. I sure as hell can't judge you or blame you for everything you've tried to do in order to clear the air." She sighs, blowing upwards to push an out of place bang back out of one eye, before reaching out to take another drink of her own coffee. "I'm just worried that putting the man who's gone from just being victimized, to using his victimization as a psychological shield and a weapon... next to the person he has used as the biggest example of it is going to cuase some problems." She shrugs, then. "But you're probably right, they're both some of the most competent people I know, so maybe you just don't have a lot of choices in that respect." There is another pause as Psyber questions her, and she blinks. "Well, yes, of course I'm worried about you, Psyber. Just because you're almost unkillable doesn't mean I haven't seen situations get to you. I..." She pauses again, rubbing her chin as she tries to sort out her thoughts. "This isn't really a time where I can reasonably expect anything from you, Psyber. I just... I want you to live, okay? I want you to be happy and healthy. After you get through this Outer God thing, then maybe we can work on the rest. I just wanted you to know that, well..." She gestures. "Before it was too late to say anything."
Guest Psyber	Psyber folds his hands and rests his chin on them, "He's my best friend and I cannot figure out how to make his life stop seeming to exacerbate his every flaw in the most destructive ways possible," He comments blandly, watching her with that piercing red gaze of his and mulling it over, "He seems to have partially equalized, though just two weeks ago he screamed at me over Elliana again," An obliquely true statement. That second thing she says, though. Psyber sits and watches her, tilting his head, as if confused. For a long moment, he ponders Riva and then says, "I don't intend to die, and ideally I'll be surviving. But it doesn't change the fact that, ultimately, my death has a higher than normal chance of occuring from this mission." He, mysteriously, makes no comment about being happy or healthy, "I appreciate your concern and sentiment, though. And I'll try to make it back."
Riva Banari	"Sounds like a pretty tenuous equalization." Riva replies, though she shakes her head. "We'll see what happens there." She says mysteriously. Oh God, what's she going to do now? "In the meantime..." Riva stands, smiling. "I've said my piece for now, Psyber. You all better make it back. I /will/ go after you if you don't." She grins at that, and takes her coffee cup and saucer. "I'll let you get back to your work. I'll see you later, all right?"
Guest Psyber	Psyber nods his head to her and keeps the cup of coffee in front of himself. He picks it up again and sips it before saying, "Hopefully I will survive. I would dislike to disappoint the many people requesting a grilling session this week," He remarks to Riva with a gentle smile. "I will see you later, Riva."