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Grace Howard. The Research and Development specialist of Belobog Heavy Industries. She’s a marvel when it comes to technical matters, especially the in-Hollow Smart Machinery that she develops for Belobog. But her inventions key into the eccentricities she has… especially considering she sees them all as her “children”, despite them having industrial grade machinery and construction tools that could level a building in seconds. She tends to focus more on the machines around her than the humans, which has earned her the nickname of the “Iron Witch” from someone that knew her (and had a bit of a rivalry with her). She’s also the adoptive sister to the current president, Koleda Belobog. She’s a smart, somewhat quick-witted and rather… well-developed woman. And she was a woman that Wise was utterly smitten with.
It all started when he was commissioned to help Belobog find their aforementioned Smart Machinery that had become disconnected and lost in the very Hollows they were meant to traverse. Through these ventures, he got to know Grace better, though most of the time it was when he was in Eous’ body. Of course, this meant she showed an interest in ‘him’, even if it was just an interest in Eous because he was a Bangboo. The sensory sync allowed him to feel what Eous felt though, which led to some rather… interesting sensations whenever Grace felt the urge to inspect or just outright hug Eous. He felt bad for Eous at times, since the guy tended to be a little weirded out by Grace’s fascination with him whenever Wise wasn’t controlling him. He’d often try to run away if Grace got too close, so it was a mercy for Grace that Wise didn’t, particularly because he didn’t want to. If this was how he got to be hugged by Grace, he didn’t mind. Though, of course, he would always end up wishing he could experience the real thing instead.
This indirect form of physical affection wasn’t the only reason he fell for Grace, though. Despite how others felt about it, Grace’s eccentricity was rather… charming to Wise. It’s always interesting to listen to someone talk about something they’re passionate about, and Grace was no exception. While Grace didn’t talk a lot about herself, he still got to learn a lot about her through her elaborate explanations and discussions. It was for this reason that he would often message Grace whenever he had free time and see if they could go out on “dates” together. He’d never admit that’s what they were, but his sis Belle knew. She always knew. Though, whenever Grace and Wise went out together, it never really looked or sounded like a date. They never really did any typical date activities, like going to a restaurant or taking a walk along the riverside. More often than not, Wise simply followed Grace along as she wandered about the city, taking a keen interest in any machinery nearby or completing some errand she needed to do outside of the construction site. In fact, one time, when he met her at Belobog’s construction site, he got roped into helping her with her work–by doing some manual labor. By the end of it, his arms were sore, but at least he got paid for it. It was good to know Belobog didn’t rely on free labor.
Still, despite all this, Wise didn’t feel like things were progressing much further with Grace at the rate they were at. Sure, he invited her out every now and then whenever the both of them weren’t busy and he made use of her combat abilities as an Agent in the field, but he never got the feeling that Grace showed any more interest in him outside of friendship–and his Bangboo, of course. Regardless, at a certain point his business started keeping him busier than usual, on both the side of the legal video rental storefront and his undercover Proxy business. As such, he had less time to spend with Grace and so his hangouts with her became less frequent out of necessity, much to his disappointment. Him and Belle didn’t even have many dealings with Belobog itself at this rate either–they were too busy discovering new allies in Victoria Housekeeping, Hollow Special Operations Unit 6, and even New Eridu Public Security, despite the illegality of being a Proxy. So things went until Wise, with the help of HSO6 finally caught up to Bringer, a senior officer that would be their next step in uncovering more about the truth behind The Fall of the Old Capital.
When they finally cornered him at Port Elpis and delved into its nearby Hollow with all of Phaethon’s compatriots, it made sense that Belobog Heavy Industries would be there to help as well. Of course, Wise’s mind wasn’t exactly on that at the moment, it was more on chasing Bringer, so his surprise upon seeing Koleda, Ben, Anton and Grace was rather endearing. This was both because it was receiving help from old allies, as well as, well, seeing Grace again. He wasn’t able to stay long, given he had to guide the HSO6 squad through the Hollow, but it was at least nice to see Grace, even if just for a moment. In fact, she even gave him (Eous) a cheery smile and a wink, though what that meant was lost to Wise, as dwelling on it would only serve to distract him.
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Now, once Bringer had been officially dealt with (after a few complications), Wise had a lot of time to think, though his thoughts were somewhat hampered by the fact that everyone had decided to group up and hold an informal celebration of sorts. They were all there in the same place at the same time after all, so why not? The ones in the group that were the most distracting to Wise’s thoughts were obviously the Sons of Calydon–an Outer Ring biker gang that, surprisingly, consisted mostly of women (at least, the members that Wise knew). In fact, a lot of the groups that Wise and Belle found themselves allying with featured either a majority or entirely women in significant positions. It was strange… but Wise wasn’t really complaining. He did feel for his sis Belle a bit in that regard, but he also knew she had Lycaon, so she probably didn’t mind too much.
With that being said, the Sons (or rather “Daughters”) of Calydon were being their rambunctious selves, the main culprits being Caesar and Burnice again (mostly Burnice). Once Wise and Belle had returned from their secretive questioning of the final remnants of Bringer, the two immediately descended upon the pair.
“Hey, Proxies!” Caesar was quick to wrap an arm around both of the two’s shoulders, disregarding any sort of personal space. “What took you so long to join us?”
“We, uh…” Wise looked over at Belle cautiously. The reason why they had gone and questioned the remnant of Bringer was a close secret that they kept to themselves, so they couldn’t exactly be honest…
Fortunately, and incidentally, Burnice saved him in time, latching onto Wise’s free arm and startling him. “Aw, c’mon Caesar! Let’s not worry about that right now. What we really need to worry about… is how much Nitro-Fuel we need for everyone here!”
If Wise could have facepalmed, he would’ve, but he didn’t really have a free hand (or arm). Of course Burnice was thinking about serving up some Nitro-Fuel. She always was. At least this eccentricity got rid of the hold Caesar had on him and then Burnice's as the two hurried off, Caesar likely going to help Burnice distribute the Nitro-Fuel while Burnice brewed it.
With a sigh of relief, Wise relaxed and rolled his shoulders, finally free. He was able to actually take a good look around at everybody that had gathered, and they sure were crowding the port at this point. There was everyone from the Cunning Hares to HSO6. Everyone who had been involved in getting to this point, everyone who had helped Phaethon along the way and helped solve the mystery… they were all here. Wise smiled. It was a truly happy and triumphant celebration…
And his smile only widened further as he spotted Grace. He was rather quick to ditch his sis (sorry, not sorry, Belle) as he lightly jogged on over to her. “Hi, Grace. Again.” He gave her a small wave, but the way she was looking at him kept him from saying anything more. She seemed lost in thought, which wasn’t uncommon, but it seemed her object of interest this time was him, a person, which was uncommon. She also seemed to be staring both at him and through him at the same time… It was certainly a weird feeling, but Wise decided to just tough it out and wait for her to speak up first.
“Hm…” A soft hum of intrigue broke the awkward silence. “Those two are quite close to you, aren’t they?”
It took a split second for the connection to hit. “Ah, you mean Caesar and Burnice? Yeah, they’re pretty energetic and get close like that a lot… It can be tiring sometimes, but it’s fine. I just kind of have to adjust whenever I’m dealing with them–which is standard for everyone we’ve had to work with.”
Grace’s eyebrows raised at this. “Ah, so you must have had to do a similar adjustment when helping us out at Belobog then.”
Wise responded with a nod, which gave Grace a reason to smirk. “Which probably means I get some extra special treatment, no?”
Her smirk and tease only made Wise fluster and grow timid all of a sudden. His blush, while not profuse, was still rather evident on his face. It was also clear that Grace found this quite amusing as she let out a soft laugh. “Speaking of which… where’s my favorite Bangboo at?”
Wise snapped back to a more composed state at that. “Oh, Eous? We set him to rest and charge up inside the company car, so he’s out for the night after operating in the Hollow for so long.”
“Awwwww, I don’t get to see my most favorite buddy of all time?” Grace pouted semi-seriously, then returned to a friendly smile. “Oh well, I’m pretty sure he’d probably run away from one of my hugs again…”
The two of them laughed together at that, knowing all too well how Eous was a little shy at times. But then, Grace put a finger to her chin in thought. “Although… I’ve noticed he never shies away from me when we’re operating inside a Hollow… I wonder why that is?”
‘Ah…’ Looks like Wise was going to have to explain it to her. After clearing his throat (and his mind), he spoke up: “Actually, he doesn’t run away from you because it’s not really him… It’s me. Whenever we’re guiding you through a Hollow I’m actually synced with Eous himself, so I can control his movements and everything.”
The subject was clearly interesting to Grace as her eyes were practically sparkling and she was leaning over to look closer at Wise. “Wow, that’s quite the impressive tech! Is there anything else special about this… connection you have?”
“Well… Part of the sync is a sensory sync, meaning I can feel most everything Eous feels. It helps with coordination at times… and it also allows me feel what he’s feeling whenever you hug him.”
Now it was Grace’s turn to blush. She quickly retreated back to her standing straight position and looked down, hiding her eyes. “I, uh… Wow… I had no idea…”
Wise couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, which caused Grace to look back up at him. “Don’t worry; I don’t mind it all. It’s actually really nice… and I will admit that I sometimes look forward to it.”
Thankfully, Grace relaxed and wiped some imaginary sweat off her brow. “Phew… I’m glad you’re not bothered by that, Proxy.”
“Please, call me Wise when we’re not working.” He offered a soft smile.
Grace smiled back in return. “Right… Thanks, Wise.” The smile soon transitioned into one of her usual smirks, however. “By the way, if you looked forward to those sorts of ‘hugs’ so much, you could always ask for one straight from the source.”
This caught Wise by surprise. “Really? Then… May I?”
Grace grinned and held her arms out wide for him. “Of course. C’mere, you-” The invitation was quick to turn into a demand as Grace pulled him into the hug and Wise gladly reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her in turn.
The hug was soft, warm, comfortable–all the typical positive traits that hugs feature. For Wise it was also heavenly, not least because he could feel her body (mostly her bust) pressing up against him. He shooed away those impure thoughts though, and focused solely on the moment. Not a word was said between them in the meantime, both content to simply remain in their close embrace of one another. As Wise settled into her, his clothes rustling against her quietly as he rested his head on her shoulder, he thought about the future. What the next step in their relationship might be, if this even was a next step in their relationship… Whatever it was, Wise was certain of one thing. Through whatever ordeals come his way in the pursuit of the truth, Grace would always be with him, just like all his other friends and allies would. And it was knowing that, and realizing that, that made him happy.