So, you got plans for Christmas...? (Ace/Lani)

One would have thought that, in the approximate year that Ace Toromaki had been attending the Institute, where the chameleon witch saw him nearly every day --- give that it was kinda her job --- she would have, at some point, found a way to be even slightly less awkward. Well, whomever that one person thinking that would have been wrong in such an assumption, terribly wrong, in fact. If anything, the time had served to make her ever more nervous and almost unapproachable, her obliviousness to Ace's attempts at thwarting her flirting making their interactions almost painful to watch. Still, she persists, naive as could be otherwise merely her usual self.

From her booth marking both the exit and entrance to the underground city's limits, she tapped away at the apparently enchanted technology before her, filing paperwork for the holiday/winter season. A soft hum escaped her, something that she was unaware of as it was a side effect of her gentle concentration at the task at hand. Should anyway come up to her, now, she might not quite notice.

Despite his hatred for mornings, Ace had managed to dress himself up nicely in his non-combat attire, and smooth out his wispy hair into a ponytail. The white and purple theme of his outfit was complimented well by the dreary environment that Salem offered. As much as he hated Witches, the Weapon took fondly to their less-than-lively taste in decor... when it wasn't trying to kill him. Truthfully, he would miss it for the time he'd be gone, this Christmas. The students had been given permission to leave the grounds for the entire holiday season, and Ace--deny it as he may--missed what little family he'd had left, so he intended on taking full advantage of the opportunity.

Of course, this meant he'd have face the moment he dreaded on any given day he and his Witch had to leave the Institute, and that was his inevitable meetings with the Witch Angela, who ran the desk at the entrance to the place. Her odd behavior, unpredictability, and, of course, the fact that she was Witch, all made the very idea of speaking to her uncomfortable for him. Ace's prejudice towards her kind made him a harsh person towards just about anyone in the city, but it was less scrutiny, and more disdain when it came to Angela. He saw her as the cat which follows you home once you acknowledge its mewling, and hoped that by ignoring her, she'd leave him alone. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Once standing before the oblivious girl, his words cracked through the wall of whistles being used to block out the background as though it were fragile glass. "Ace Toromaki."

ooc: Oh, how I missed your poetic writings. Also, which Witch is he partnered with, atm, anyway? xD

ic:

His words startled her into reality and existence, forcing a pinkish glow that spread across her face and to that of her hat. It's swirling eyes closed in an attempt at shielding itself at the embarrassment of the world. Sputtering and trying to still the shaking his presence incited in her hands and overall mannerisms, she looked up and rapidly struggled to push away the red-toned rainbow her face was trying to retain. "M-Mister.... Mister Toromaki, sir!" She said, swallowing as the hat's tongue rolled out like a poorly time waterfall, curling back up into the mouth face and producing a secondary gulping sound that rightfully shouldn't have existed. Shaking her head, she pulled back on a mask of fragile professionalism and took the paperwork he brought her, as he always did. Looking through it, she began typing away once more, immediately inputting his statistics for the grading period and his information regarding where he'd be for the duration of the break. It was beaurocratic and almost seemed like the process was military-inspired, but no one was ever denied a trip.

"Ah... you're staying in Death City?" She said, trying to make conversation no matter how abrasive the man was.

"I am." He muttered, gazing awkwardly into Angela's eyes. If there was one way she was able to get Ace's attention, it was with her eyes. Those odd, ringed orbs floating on her face were able to captivate him in the most unusual fashion, holding his focus, despite the distance in his voice. Of course, the fact that he was paying attention to her, but ignoring her at the same time, likely made their interactions all the more cruel to the poor Witch. "I'm also resigning from my current partnership. Reason.... poor soul compatibility."

"Again~?" The witch all but cooed, making a quick note of the update on his file before she forgot to. "Did this one end in maiming?" She spoke the words as nonchalantly as one might discuss the weather or the passing of time. Apparently, this was something that had grown typical to the woman, if only in the case of the weapon before her. In the end, though, no one could be terribly surprised by it; his DWMA records had carried over into the Institute's system, meaning that she had seen, time and again, every partnership that Ace --- or his past meister --- had declared. It was a sad collection, really, and often seemed to have some pretty disastrous results. For some reason, it seemed almost to encourage Angela further.

Ace gave a sort of grunt, unfitting of his appearance, but not his personality, and rolled his eyes as best he could without losing that gaze he seemed to enjoy so much. "My chains were too conductive of her wavelength. It resulted in what could be described as a thunderstorm made of her soul. Needless to say, she'll need some time to recover." The student adjusted his vest and bit the inside of his lip, still staring at Angela. "It seems no one's capable of partnering with me. Perhaps I should consider becoming a kind of Weapon for hire. You'd know, is that the kind of thing that would be popular around here, Angela?"

She fought back the blush creeping on her face as though it were a dragon and she a knight. It was a tough battle, and she wasn't too successful with it. Ace didn't exactly properly speak to her often, and certainly was not one to actually refer to her by name. Tough love, her masochistic heart might have called it, but he was more of the... creatively, if verbally, abusive type. "It's been known to happen, I suppose." Without a word, trying to avert her gaze but failing miserably in lieu of his amber eyes sucking her in, threatening to drown him in the depths of her unrequited affections, she began searching through the main directory. "Typically, the witches are the ones going solo --- there's far more of us than there are weapons that can handle the mutational changes that comes with your weapon status."

"I guess I've made up my mind then. Too bad there aren't more Meisters down here. You know, a whole semester down her hasn't made me any more fond of you Witches." Ace scowled now, reminding himself how many lies were pent up inside this city, and they all stemmed from Eibon and his army of pet Witches. "But I guess Witches are stronger, aren't they? At least, they're more useful anyways..." His unflinching stare burrowed deep into Angela, replacing the complacency from before which was brought about by Ace's grogginess from an early morning.

The inhalation she tried to mask as normal breathing was nonetheless sharp, feeling daggers burrowing under her skin at both his gaze and his words, "Magic can have it's... uses." She agreed, weakly, simultaneously recognizing his disdain and opposingly not believing it. After all, Axe or not, he had still chosen, for lack of better phrasing, to join the Institute. Most of the meister population beneath the City proper was magic-oriented, be they witch or sorcerer. The way he was about it, however, made her feel personally guilty and responsible for their existence.

"I'll keep this brief, Angela." Ace said, stoic as always. "You've been... tolerable since I've come here. I've had an ample amount of free time recently, and originally I intended on making a gift for my cousin, but then remembered an allergy of hers regarding one of the ingredients, and it would go to waste otherwise." He said, trying to justify the small box he was extending towards Angela in his hand. It was unusual to see him give anything to anyone in the form of a gift, but even more so to see him explain it in such a fashion. Perhaps he'd truly found a Witch that he didn't despise, acknowledged it, but refused to come to terms with it.

Her heart beat in her ears enough that she thought they might start ringing, her brain working in overtime to try and comprehend what he'd said in relation to what was physically happening. "You're... giving me a gift...?" She asked, truly incredulous even as she took the box he offered her, curious and thrilled all at once.

"It's not like that." He frowned, eyes closed, hands in pocket. Ace's expression met with the odd surface of the floor, and he continued to speak in his dismissive tone. "Think of it like a hand-me-down; I just had no one else to give it to." Obviously, this wasn't some sort of Tsundere display of emotion, but the situation obviously wasn't devoid of all feeling. After all, he had chosen Angela to give the item to, and not one of the other hundreds of Witches running about.

Inside the box, Angela would find several small, pink colored rice cakes, each filled with red bean past, and wrapped in a leaf. "I know you like sweets, so I figured you'd enjoy them."

She wouldn't realize that he literally was not meaning the gift under romantic pretext, but she wasn't exactly about to call him out in such a manner, either. Instead, she merely smiled, and him.lifting his head back up would be met with those dual-layered, swirling eyes beaming at him, a genuine smile on her face so clearly unlike the forced one she hid behind in her day-to-day affairs in this little booth. "Thank you." She said sincerely, at a loss for words at what else to possibly say.

Ace could hardly compose himself when he locked eyes with Angela again. Her eyes made him sick to his stomach now--their beaming gaze so much sharper now than normal--almost to the point of vomiting. A darker part of him wished to betray his better judgement, and let him be lost in them for a whole night, not a few moments. Poor Angela could get so deep into Ace with those things, if only she knew. "Right, well... I guess I'll be back after Christmas." He gave the Witch a slight nod before stepping away, holding her stare just a bit longer than normal, unable to easily look away.

Her expression fell when he was gone away, but her smile carried until their gazes broke from each other. Smiling softly, she looked down at the gift with a sweet grin, happy to have received it, whatever the reasoning behind it had been. If nothing else, she felt that they'd grown closer, now, and she had something that felt like proof that she wasn't utterly despised. That was most than most women, let alone witches, could say of Ace Toromaki.

Ace's journey back to the surface world would turn out to be uneventful, as the initial crowd of students had already left. Even once he was back inside the DWMA itself, he'd find it relatively abandoned, as those students had also mostly left, albeit not all of them. After all, much like the Institute's ranks, not everyone had anywhere to really go home to. It seemed that, at least until he was back in the city itself, Ace would have to look for trouble himself in order to get into it. At least, as he would find, until he made it back home. Unbeknownst to him, Zealot had already made it back into town, and soon enough, Ace would become afflicted by the bond he and Rin had established between their souls, so long ago, now, beckoning him to her like a lover to bed.