Nickname relishes in the early siesta. It’s a time for em to take a moment, to return to eir office, file reports, and unpack the last…several months of active play.

E wont deny the enjoyment of having the hands on ability to work with the team, but between stiff muscles and broken blood feathers and every form of hellish stress known to man, the break gives em just the moment e needs.

E has a lot of papers in hand now, prone to just shoving notebooks and loose sheets in backpacks and suitcases is not exactly the most professional action but when you’re flying between Mexico City and dozens of other places across the world, you do what you can to get by.

Nickname elbows eir office door open, the warm light and cool architecture of the Bucket being a welcoming site.

“Hi Nicky.”

E hears her before e sees her.

Scarlet Caster is one of Nickname’s more ominous teammates, not in a malicious way, but truly knowing her was something e would never grasp. Yet here she was, clad in that familiar red leather and large brim hat, she was sitting on eir desk, careful to not disturb the mountains of documents sitting on the oak number.

“It’s nice to see you, Miss Caster.” Nickname sets the papers in eir hands down on the nearby lounge chair.

“It’s nice to see you too Nicky.” Despite the fact that eir interactions with Scarlet are sparse, she donned the name on em fairly fast. It had surprised a few people on the team at least.

Usually, e would bristle at the…Nickname, e avoided it when e could, but in a moment just like this, around the same time e joined the team, Scarlet met em in eir office, far more foreboding then, the red leather replaced with something dark.

She asked em questions, countless questions, it felt like an interrogation at first, from everything to eir intentions on the team, to eir research, to how e felt about blaseball as a whole.

The last question sticks out the most, though.

“Do you ever intend to hurt Cell Barajas?”

Nickname remembers almost being hurt by the question.

“Of course not,” the person back then would say. “I took a dedicated oath, Miss Caster, not just to this team, not just to my profession, but to myself. Harming anyone would not just be a professional failure, but a personal one. I would have never stepped on to the field if I believed I could cause harm, whether it was intentional or not.”

That response back then seemed to help, Scarlet’s shoulders had loosened, she had let out a breath.

“Good…good…it will be good to have someone like you around for—for Cell, and everyone else.” Nickname actually beamed at the warm regards from the woman then.

“Oh, one more thing,” with her hat tipped forward, e couldn’t see her face, but the smile in her voice was obvious.

“Can I call you Nicky?”

“So how’s it going?” Scarlet asks. The question shakes em out of eir thoughts. This is how most of her office visits go now, a check in, a conversation, then she vanishes like the means. E didn’t really mind it.

“It’s going as fine as it can go! My research is going well especially now that a lot of injuries are out of the way but you know I can’t talk about that with patient confidentiality and—“

Under her hat Scarlet is smiling.

“Nicky—Yamashita,” the use of eir last names makes Nickname pause. “How’s the game going?”

Oh.

Nickname chuckles, “It’s as good as it can be, I think. Uh, you lead the lineup and all, but I’m certainly not a good batter.”

“Join the club buddy, since day one the wings have been bad at offense.” The sarcasm is rich in Scarlet’s voice, it makes em laugh.

“I’m so thankful for our pitchers,” Nickname pauses for a moment, “Cell keeps offering to train with me, I might take up the offer.”

Scarlet nods, “That would be good practice, you know we-she’s made for that kinda stuff.” Her stumble goes unnoticed, but the pause after does not.

“Speaking of Cell,” Scarlet’s shoulders tighten a bit, the only bit of readability she offers. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“Please understand,” Nickname begins, “I cannot break doctor patient confidentiality-“

“I know that Nicky,” Scarlet cuts em off. “It’s not anything like that.”

“Oh,” E blinks in surprise. “Then go ahead.”

Scarlet sighs for a moment, she tips her hat lower, “Cell, when you work with her, when you work with all of them, do you view them all the same?”

The question is a surprise.

The answer is easy.

“Why would I?” Scarlet is clearly surprised by the response, but Nickname continues.

“Every time a Cell joins us on the field, that’s a new life, there’s an entire species of people, of course I’d expect everyone to be different. If I assumed everyone when they were born would be the exact same all the time, it would be ridiculous.”

And Nickname continues, “I mean, beyond physical differences, every single Cell gets to develop on their own, they don’t even have to be A Cell, that’s a major part of my work here, watching the development is wonderful Scarlet, watching each and everyone become their own person is beautiful.”

By the time e finishes, e can tell Scarlet is satisfied with eir answer. She stands up from the desk and nods at em.

“That’s…yeah is is really beautiful Nickname, I’m glad you feel that way.”

E smiles back at her, “You know, I appreciate you coming to visit Scarlet, you can always join me in my resea-“ a knock at the door cuts them off. “One second.”

There is no one at the door.

When Nickname shuts it and turns around, Scarlet is gone.
The papers e left on the bench are now stacked neatly on the desk.

Resting on top the pile, Nickname takes in the beautiful brown, white and orange pattern of a large harpy feather.

E sighs, thinking of eir previous visitor, and smiles.