It's been a long year. He's been busier than he ever expected - and the next Treasure Hunt would begin soon, another long year stretching ahead of him. Hassel knows better than anyone to try and call someone back to a home they had left of their own accord, so he takes the time to visit Kanto again.
(It's the most time he's been back since he was a teenager, which was saying something.)
He doesn't call ahead more than an hour to tell her that he'd be in town, and he's happy to meet her at home, bundled in his warmest coat - and accompanied by Donna, who sings the newest songs he's been teaching her with the light back in her mechanical eyes.
He's got a bag tucked under his arm of Paldean sweets, things he knows she must miss, and a smile on his face.
"Sorry for technically missing the holidays, but you know how things get at the League. Can I come in? I brought that coffee blend you used to like."
Holidays this year was spent with her loved ones, as was last year. Delibird day and the new year was spent with Proton, and the rocket executive was surely crawling around up in her attic room somewhere when Hassel suddenly calls her out of the blue.
She's quick to turn on the kotatsu when he does, over the moon to finally welcome him to her place properly.
It's come a long way from the old run down shack it used to be. New wooden floors, stronger walls, a proper living and dining space. For how small it was, she certainly made it cozy.
When he finally arrives, she greets him in the landing wearing a dark green yukata with a black coat over top of it, seeming to find the garment more comfortable for lounging around the house. She looks far healthier then the last time they met, happier, not nearly as bogged down by the constant threat looming over them, and she eagerly steps to the side, ushering him and Donna in with her trademark laugh.
"Hey- Holidays are a state of mind as far as I'm concerned. Gods know I've celebrated them late plenty of times." She grins, perking up when he mentions coffee- Shit, she absolutely had to get the pot going then. "It's been so long since I had it last! Thank you, I was just feeling nostalgic over it a couple days ago, if you can believe it." She laughs, shutting the door behind him once he's inside before ascending the steps up onto the floor proper. There's a small commotion outside as she does- Bully roaring and poking his giant metallic head in from the back door, noting Donna and wagging his tail like a giant dog.
It's enough to make her scoff, putting a hand on her hip. "Surprised he's not wrestling with Koraidon right now." She grins, shrugging once. "It's so good to see you again, I missed you. How're you doing outside of the mass amount of work?"
