Gracie and Hake Meet

Before he's able to reply, he gets dragged and looks a little surprised, not pulling his hand back. "W-what?" When he takes a seat on a barstool, he looks at her with actual emotion, giving her a disapproving expression. "I only drink during times of celebration, this is not a celebration. Also to answer your question from earlier: My strategy has been done for a while, I've just been reading through it over and over again to see if there are any improvements I can make." He says as he looks down his notebook that he laid on the bar counter.

Gracie shook her head a little as he said so, turning to the bartender and asking for 2 beers, before turning back to him and saying "Course it is! We're in the finals of the admiral's competition. Then there's gonna be another celebration when I win, which you're invited to, of course." She said, chuckling to herself as she added "Fair enough. I sent in mine a few hours ago, so I'm free as can be. But, since you brought it here... What have you got?"

Hake remains silent at her first statement, it's such a presumptuous conclusion but he can't help but find some truth under it. After she asks, he blinks and opens up the Notebook. If Gracie takes a quick glance through it, he'd see that his strategy against the HQ isn't quite.... great. Infantrymen charging directly at the base while snipers and rangers stay behind, firing arrows upwards into the base while those with firearms assist the infantrymen.

Gracie didn't quite know what to do here. On the one hand, she was happy that it wasn't great, because she wanted to win. On the other hand... She kinda felt sorry for him. After reading through it, by which point their beers had come, she held her pint up for him to say cheers, before taking a sip, and saying "Okay, this is..... Something. What improvements were you hoping on making?"

"The improvement..." He takes a sip after her, taking a deep huff before he finishes his reply with a calm yet prideful voice: "...is adding myself to the front lines! With my abilities, not a single leaf of grass will remain after me and my clan's assault!" Hake seems to be genuinely invested in this kind of idea, a strategy like this might've worked in the past but in the present.... No. He's missing a ton of fail-safes and countermeasures that SCOA has in case of an invasion.

"I...... Sure...." She said, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she said "Quick question though... Aren't your clan members Majors? So.... Why would they help you siege their own base?" She asked, taking another large gulp of her drink to mask her reaction to what he had written

He blinks and looks taken aback for a few seconds, returning to his normal stoic expression before he replies. "....This is a theoretical assault, even so, my clan would not turn their heads if I request their strength for something so drastic." He takes another sip of his drink, secretly questioning his own strategy internally after Gracie's comment.

Gracie nodded slowly as he said so, shrugging a little in response. If he was so sure of his strategy, maybe she was missing something. She was pretty sure she wasn't though, but nodded all the same "I see. Fair enough." Before her facial expression returned to her regular grin "So, 'Hack'. Tell me, why is it that you have the goal of outranking your family? Why not just have a regular goal, like, succeeding in life?"

He closes his notebook, taking another sip of his drink. "Being labeled as The Chosen One is your answer, if I cannot surpass my family then I not only do I disappoint my clan but also lose my self-respect. I'm aware it all sounds tiresome and nerve-wrecking but..." He looks down for a moment, clenching on his drink firmly. "...it's an undertaking I'm willing to carry out; a responsibility I'm willing to burden." He looks back at her, looking a little more serious than before. "It's my destiny to restore our clan's name back to its former glory, alongside the Connor family as our allies."

Gracie simply raised an eyebrow at him as he spoke, laughing to herself as she said "Perhaps, but, you mentioned that you feel like you'd be able to go toe to toe with Nikhil, assuming that's who you were talking about yesterday. Wouldn't that be more than enough to get your clans respect? Being known as the strongest fighter in the world?"

"Perhaps, though that's a baseless gauge many of the elites in my clan tell me. I'd be more than happy to challenge Nikhil in battle then drink with him after, though considering our professions and schedules I doubt we will ever have that chance, let alone the opportunity to meet."

Gracie laughed a little at his response, shaking her head as she replied "Baseless? He's the world champion. If you beat the world champion, you become the world champion. By being the world champion, you're recognised as the best in the world. Seems pretty straightforward to me." She said, finishing off the rest of her pint, before saying "You done? If so, there's a nice restaurant around the corner, and I need to get some food stat."

He downs the rest of his drink, letting out a satisfied 'aah' afterwards. "I suppose, I'm over-complicating it in my mind. I'd be honored to meet him in person, though he'll most likely be retired by then." He says with a slight smile, growing a little more comfortable with Gracie.

Gracie grinned at him as he finished the rest of the drink, paying for the both of them before taking his hand, and dragging him out of the bar, as she said "Well, can't fault your determination." She said with a laugh, bringing him out of the bar, and heading across the road to the restaurant "I hope you're hungry"

Hake lets out an exhale of air as if he laughed a little. He doesn't show any resistance this time, allowing her to lead him out. "Yes, absolutely. I've been too focused on today's assignment to eat."

Gracie smirked faintly as he said so, shaking his head slightly as she said "You've been working on this all day? Come on then knucklehead, you need food more than I do!" She said, dragging him into the restaurant, and getting a table "You ever been here before?"

He doesn't seem to like the nickname 'Knucklehead,' but before he could respond he gets dragged away again, yelling out: "Hey!" He sighs and just lets it happen, sitting across from her at the table. Hake shakes his head, replying with: "I rarely go out to eat, I cook my own meals most of the time."

Gracie laughed a little as he said so, raising an eyebrow at him as they sat across from each other "Is that so? Cute, strong, and you cook too? Quite the catch, aren't you?" She teased, handing him a menu before opening her own "I've not been here either, I've just heard from a few friends that it's supposed to be good."

Hake's lips twitch in embarrassment and he blushes, he blushes a very deep red actually. He opens up the menu and purposely lifts it up in front of his face to hide it, reading what they have here. "Let's see what they have then..."

Gracie held back a laugh as she noted his reaction, reaching up and pulling the menu down so that he could no longer cover his face, grinning at him as she said "Aww, don't be shy. I'm just teasing~" She said, laughing as she shook her head "You get flustered pretty easily, don't ya?"

He has the same blush from earlier, Hake opens his mouth as if he's about to speak but he isn't sure what to say. Despite that he's still able to keep eye contact surprisingly, after a few seconds he replies with: "Apologies... I drank on an empty stomach, I'm not how I am normally right now." Hake using an excuse to hide his flustered behavior, having a hard time dealing with himself as this reaction is new to him.

Gracie grinned at him as he said so, shaking her head as she said "After one beer? C'mon, let's not make excuses." She said, laughing to herself as she continued "I'm probably gonna get one of the burgers. Any idea what you want?"

He ignores the first statement and nods, his blush fading away. "Similar to you, I will also get a burger."

He doesn't notice, looking out at someone in the restaurant with a curious gaze, as if he spots someone he knows.