[RP log] [Ishida and Orihime] Sewing matters
[ooc: takes place around 9pm on Feb 10th]
[mods, can someone add Ishida to the list of tags? thanks!]
At 9pm sharp Orihime pulled on her sunflower-patterned slippers and headed out the door of apartment #5, carrying a paper bag which contained the dress she had made for Yachiru. Orihime was secretly glad she did not have to pass by #3 on her way up, and treaded quietly as if by a graveyard while passing #10. Just in case.
Resolving to not think of that - no, this was for sweet little Yachiru, no depressing thoughts! - Orihime practically skipped cheerfully the rest of the way up to Ishida's 4th floor apartment, knocking on his door. While she waited for him to answer, she swayed slightly from foot to foot, letting her knee-length skirt sway with the movement.
By 9pm, Ishida had eaten and put away the leftovers (there were always leftovers, he made sure of it), and now had some water heating for tea. The smell of his dinner still lingered; there was nothing to be done of it. Wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and a pair of loose-fit khaki pants over flip-flops, he walked over when he heard knocking. "Hi," he said upon opening the door. "Come on in." He stepped back, holding the door open for her.
The apartment was cluttered but orderly. Since he was currently the only resident of the apartment, he had taken over one of the other bedrooms as a sewing room, but school projects he worked on in the main room since if anyone ever came over and he was sewing something for himself, he could close the door so they wouldn't see. Lots of plastic stackable drawers from Walmart and a sewing desk with a machine (situated so he could watch the door when he used it). A cheap, used, wood-frame futon served as the sofa, and the coffee table was a bunch of long drawers stacked low and covered with a tastefully (though unfinished) embroidered cloth. Baskets of notions were everywhere, and an unlit lamp near each outlet. To save on electricity Ishida used low-watt lighting except when he was sewing, so the entire place was rather dim as only two of the lamps, one on either side of the room, were lit. He gave an apologetic shrug at the not-great lighting.
Orihime smiled cheerfully at Ishida, by all appearances as flawlessly bright and sunny as ever. Her sunflower tee-shirt seemed to agree with that. She stepped inside, not having been in Ishida's place for a while, she first looked for any changes since she was last there. "Thanks again for helping me out like this! I figured you were the person to ask, if anyone!"
"Ah, it's my pleasure," he said, smiling quietly. He closed the door behind her and gestured to the futon if she wanted to sit. "Would you like some tea before we start, or...?"
"Oh tea would be GREAT if you already have some I don't wanna impose and all!" Orihime laughed, scampering over to the futon to drop down on it before letting her paper bag sit on the floor by her feet. She always liked Ishida's place, the light bulbs were dim and made it feel so cozy.
"I had some water heating so it's no problem at all," Ishida assured her. The kettle began to demand attention, so he politely excused himself to take care of it. Getting two mugs from the cupboard he set them down on the counter, dropped a teabag of Earl Gray into each mug, then poured the water into the mugs. Her mug would be ready first, as he liked his strong so he let his steep longer than normal. He went back to the main room, explaining it would be a few minutes before the tea was ready. "So what did you want me to look at?" he asked as he sat down on the futon.
The girl clapped her hands together, letting out a quiet 'Oh!' as she remembered what her original reason for coming here was. "Yachiru, she lives with Mr. Zaraki, I wanted to make her a dress because she doesn't have that many clothes that fit her and all." she explained. Orihime bent over to pull the paper bag up into her lap, fetching the dress she had made from it.
Like many of her creations, it was difficult to describe in words. Pink, definitely. There was a lot of pink. Other than that, it looked almost like a princess dress that got hit by a punk rock truck, and was sized for a girl no older than 14. Possibly.
Somehow it still all came together well, though, and was reminiscent of the Japanese 'street fashion'. Orihime had done most of it from scratch, but ended up finding two other dresses at the thrift store that she also cannibalized for parts.
Well, he certainly had to give her points for creativity. Personally, the bits of punk rock set his teeth on edge but it was actually very well done. "It's...certainly intriguing. Where did you get the idea for this?" he asked.
"Oh, I saw a book in a store that had stuff in this style! It looked like something she would enjoy because she likes pink and is all cute but at the same time 'bad ass'." Orihime explained, smoothing out the dress with her hand while she did last minute checks. "I wanted to make sure my stitch work is okay, my right arm isn't very easy to work with, so I'm scared I got messy!" Orihime laughed easily again. Upon closer inspection, she did seem to have a butterfly bandage on her arm closing up a (healing, but still) nasty cut.
Ishida held out his hands and waited for her to hand him the dress so he could inspect the stitching. He spotted the bandage on her arm as she gave him the dress, and frowned slightly. "Miss Inoue, what happened to your arm?" He was concerned; having grown up around his father he knew a few things about wounds and injuries.
"Oh, this?" Orihime was surprised Ishida hadn't heard about it, then remembered he was in and out of town recently. Or maybe just out. One of the two. "I got into a scuffle. Accosted by ninja. But I won." she explained, satisfied with the dress enough to hand it over to Ishida.
He stared at her, blue eyes wide behind the rectangular glasses. "A--A what?"
"A ninja! But I was like, 'Santen Kesshun!!' and I blasted him with my special move and escaped in the meantime." Orihime said. "...Rukia said it was an attempted mugging, but I think ninja attack sounds better. BUT DON'T WORRY because I'm okay, alright?" she leaned over to look closely at Ishida, hoping he wouldn't freak out and panic like everyone else had.
"When did it happen?" Ishida bristled mentally at the thought of Orihime getting mugged. Nevermind his own reasons for despising that particular breed of hooligan, the fact she had been attacked was making his dinner churn some in his stomach. He had been lax in his nighttime archery, and sitting so close in front of him was a good reason for him to get back into shape.
Orihime waved her hand, so casual in speaking about the subject and untroubled by it. "It was like a week or two ago," she recalled. "...About! I can't really remember! Anyway it isn't important, I'm just fine, see?"
For which he was very grateful. "One more question, then I'll drop it?" He hated to distress her or make her unhappy.
Heaving a great sigh but understanding how Ishida must feel (it was terrible when friends got hurt, even a little by accident), Orihime nodded. "Okay."
The sigh irked; he had the distinct feeling she really did think of it as nothing but considering a mugger had killed his grandfather Ishida felt it was a bit more than 'nothing'. He nodded at the bandage. "Who took care of the wound?" he wanted to know. Not cut, wound. How it looked when she first received it...he could easily imagine.
Relieved that was Ishida's question instead of something like asking for a description, Orihime smiled again. "Miss Shizune from downstairs, she used to be a doctor, you know! Her and Miss Tsunade, they've been checking up on me too!"
"Ah. That's good," Ishida replied, genuinely relieved. He hadn't asked for a description because he was fairly certain he could glean that information from someone else. Or if not, well, there were plenty of targets to feel the penetrating sting of his arrows.
Orihime nodded excitedly, unaware of Ishida's reasons behind his lack of questions on the mugger himself. "Yeah! They're both really nice and really skilled! It must be great to be able to heal people like that though I wanted to be a nurse not a doctor, or maybe just a white magician so I had healing magic."
Nodding, Ishida moved his attention to the dress. Turning it inside out he inspected the seam as much as one could in the dim light of his apartment. It looked good so far. He set the dress on his lap before retrieving a brighter bulb from one of the coffee table's drawers and replaced the dimmer bulb, then switched the lamp on. Harsh light poured onto his lap, but it helped in letting him see the stitching more clearly. "It's even," he said approvingly, seeing with his fingers as much as he saw with his eyes. "You made your basting stitch a bit too tight along this seam." He traced where stitch was. "It's almost a seam itself, and you lessened the amount of fabric by a half-inch, so that should come out. And, ah, see here? where the sleeves connect to the top? You've got it sort of higgledy-digglety and thus the sleeve isn't bunching right. You'll have to redo both of them as well. Otherwise, it looks fine."
Listening patiently to Ishida's critique, she leaned close to get a better view of what he was pointing out and smiled brilliantly again when he was done. "I did better than I thought! Thanks Ishida, I'll fix those tonight!" Orihime caught a glance at the clock. "...oooor maybe tomorrow, I have work in the morning and shouldn't stay up that late."
"I could do it for you tonight, if you wanted," he offered, trying so hard not to blush at how close she was to him. After all, they were friends, and he was just helping her out with a project.
"Really? That would help me out a lot, then I could make sure it was done right this time and all! Thank you Ishida!" overcome with grateful affection, Orihime threw her arms around Ishida suddenly and caught him in a hug.
At least something was going right this season.
Ishida was caught quite off-guard when she hugged him and without warning found the bottom half of his face firmly pressed into her shoulder as her arms were wound around his neck. And it was really hard not to think about what part of her anatomy was smooshed against him. His face burned from a combination of blood and hormones which he somehow held in check as he made sure to give her only a friendly hug back.
He was really, really glad she couldn't see his face. He'd never live it down.
It was a blessing that the current position did not allow for Orihime to do a 'bounce-hug'. That might have killed Ishida, and Orihime would have been quiet upset about that. "Really, thanks! You helped me out so much I wanna do something in return!" Really, Ishida did help her out more than she thought he'd know. She only idly thought of Ichigo this whole time, instead of actively.
"It's no problem, really," he replied after moving his head so his chin was on her shoulder. Otherwise, his words would've been lost. He waited for her to let go and flushed harder when she didn't. He loosened his hug and hoped she would get the idea... He was starting to get a little light-headed.
Thankfully she seemed to, and after another moment Orihime let Ishida go, leaning back on the couch with her legs curled up under her. "Really! I'll think of something!" she insisted, smoothing out her skirt.
Ishida removed his glasses so he could wipe the lenses with a small handkerchief he kept on his person at all times. "All right, but only if you want to," he said with a gentle smile. Without his glasses on she looked like a bright, orange-topped blur. Satisfied with wiping the lenses he made a quick inspection before sliding his glasses back on and tucking the handkerchief back in his pocket.
Orihime always wondered if his glasses really got smudged that often. Glasses seemed awfully easy to get smudged, they'd be very difficult to have. She was thankful she maintained perfect 20/20 vision her whole life so far. Now, the trouble would be thinking of what she could do for Ishida in return. She was already going to give him Valentine's Day candy, maybe she could bake something, like muffins? Oh, the choices.
"I DO want to!" she insisted, tapping a finger against her chin while she thought. "Is there anything in particular you want that I can do, or will I have to guess and make it a surprise?"
"Ah..." Ishida thought fast, but his brain couldn't think of anything. "I wouldn't mind a surprise," he said.
"Great! I love surprises! Giving them and getting them, don't you think surprises are a lot of fun? Happy ones anyway, bad surprises aren't very much fun." Orihime said, babbling along happily.
Ishida nodded. "I agree. Excuse me, I'll go get our tea." He set the dress down on the coffee table before going to the kitchen. After removing the bags he added sweetener and some cream, stirring everything before bringing the steaming mugs out. "Here," he said, handing one (handle out) to Orihime. He sat only after she'd taken the mug from him.
"Thanks!" Orihime chirped, taking the tea and sipping it happily. Truth be told, the only time she drank tea was when Ishida provided it. She had a strict 'as little caffeine as possible' policy. That, and Ishida always managed to make the tea taste better than anyone else she met had.
"So how are you doing?" she asked, holding the cup with both hands while she looked curiously at Ishida. "Are your classes going well? You're in some of the same ones as Ichigo, right?" 'It must be nice to have classes with friends.' she thought.
"I'm doing well. I'm in the middle of a few projects--one of them's hanging there," he replied, nodding in the direction of the dressmaker's mannequin. "And, yes, I've got some classes with Kurosaki."
Letting out an interested 'ooh' Orihime slipped her feet back in her slippers and stood from the couch, going over to see what was hanging on the mannequin. She was careful to not get too close - heaven forbid her hand slip and she spill tea on it! - but wanted to see was Ishida was making. "It must be really nice to have classes with friends like that." She commented, voicing her earlier thought.
The project was a gown that could be worn for both formal and semi-formal events without looking misplaced. Ishida flushed slightly when Orohime went to inspect it; he had had her in mind when he designed it. Nothing that could be considered lewd or anything but rather to compliment. It was sleeveless and backless, the front tapering up to the collar around the neck. Streamlined and figure-hugging to the hips it began to billow gently from the thighs, where he was playing with how to incorporate layers to make a pattern without making the gown too bulky in front.
"Hm? Friends?"
"Yeah! You and Ichigo!" Orihime explained, being under the impression that they were clearly the best of friends. "Oh wow, Ishida, this dress is REALLY pretty! You'll show it to me when you're done with it, right?" she asked, bouncing from one subject to the next. The dress did look beautiful already, she could only imagine how stunning it would be when it was done.
Me and....Kurosaki? /Friends?/ Ishida covered his shocked disbelief by taking a long drink of his tea. "Of course," he said in answer to her question. "You'll be the first to see it before I hand it in."
"I can't wait! What's the project theme anyway? Just party dresses or anything you want?" satisfied she had seen as much of the dress as could be seen, Orihime returned to sit on the couch. Orihime had envied girls who had dresses like those, both because they were able to afford them (only a little, if Orihime really wanted one she could make her own) and because they had parties and places to go to where such dresses would be appropriate.
"Satins and sheers, actually. I'm still trying to decide where to put the sheers, though I was thinking of a shoulder-cape," he replied. He sipped his tea thoughtfully. "What would you recommend?"
"A shoulder cape would be pretty!" Orihime agreed. "Or maybe one of those scarf things that go around your back and arms, like, like..." at a loss for how exactly to describe it, she rooted around in the pockets of her skirt for a moment before she found a pen, pulling up the brown paper bag to sketch a quick idea. "Like that, you know!"
He peered at the sketch. "That's not a bad idea. Thank you, Miss Inoue," he smiled.
"Glad to help!" of course, a scarf would also be useful if you knew scarf-based martial arts, like that one girl in the Street Fighter games. Use it like a weapon, deadly and beautiful. That would be cool.
Orihime stole another glance at the clock. So much time had passed already! "Ahh, It's getting late, I should get ready bed. Opening the shop tomorrow as usual." Not wanting the rest of the tea to go to waste, she managed to down what was left in the cup with one chug.
Ishida nodded, taking her now-empty mug and setting on the coffee table. "What time will you be getting home tomorrow?" He worked until five, and it would take him an hour to get back to the building.
Orihime considered. She'd be getting off at 2, so given time to walk, that would make it... "Two fifteen, or two thirty."
"Ah, okay. I'll be back around six-ish, so I could bring the dress down to you around then, how's that?"
"Sounds great! And if I'm not home for some reason then Tatsuki or Mr. Umino will be and you can drop it off with them." Orihime stood again, smoothing out her dress and crossing the floor over to Ishida's door with a bounce in her step. She hoped Yachiru would like the dress, it seemed like her style. "Goodnight Ishida!" she called, opening the door but pausing there for a moment to look back at him.
"Oh! And I told you, you can just call me 'Orihime'."
He adjusted his glasses, using his hand to hide his flush as he walked over to the door. "S-Sorry." And when she looked at him expectantly, he scratched his nose as he reddened further. "Goodnight, Orihime." (It was a miracle he didn't squeak.)
Orihime smiled, and because she truly meant it, it was all the more brilliant. "Goodnight, Ishida." she sang in return, turning and vanishing out the door, skipping the rest of the way back to her apartment.
"Goodnight," he repeated to himself. Feeling a bit giddy, he closed the door and returned to the futon. A seam ripper seemed to appear in his hand, and he began the task of fixing the seams of Orihime's pink dress.
[mods, can someone add Ishida to the list of tags? thanks!]
At 9pm sharp Orihime pulled on her sunflower-patterned slippers and headed out the door of apartment #5, carrying a paper bag which contained the dress she had made for Yachiru. Orihime was secretly glad she did not have to pass by #3 on her way up, and treaded quietly as if by a graveyard while passing #10. Just in case.
Resolving to not think of that - no, this was for sweet little Yachiru, no depressing thoughts! - Orihime practically skipped cheerfully the rest of the way up to Ishida's 4th floor apartment, knocking on his door. While she waited for him to answer, she swayed slightly from foot to foot, letting her knee-length skirt sway with the movement.
By 9pm, Ishida had eaten and put away the leftovers (there were always leftovers, he made sure of it), and now had some water heating for tea. The smell of his dinner still lingered; there was nothing to be done of it. Wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and a pair of loose-fit khaki pants over flip-flops, he walked over when he heard knocking. "Hi," he said upon opening the door. "Come on in." He stepped back, holding the door open for her.
The apartment was cluttered but orderly. Since he was currently the only resident of the apartment, he had taken over one of the other bedrooms as a sewing room, but school projects he worked on in the main room since if anyone ever came over and he was sewing something for himself, he could close the door so they wouldn't see. Lots of plastic stackable drawers from Walmart and a sewing desk with a machine (situated so he could watch the door when he used it). A cheap, used, wood-frame futon served as the sofa, and the coffee table was a bunch of long drawers stacked low and covered with a tastefully (though unfinished) embroidered cloth. Baskets of notions were everywhere, and an unlit lamp near each outlet. To save on electricity Ishida used low-watt lighting except when he was sewing, so the entire place was rather dim as only two of the lamps, one on either side of the room, were lit. He gave an apologetic shrug at the not-great lighting.
Orihime smiled cheerfully at Ishida, by all appearances as flawlessly bright and sunny as ever. Her sunflower tee-shirt seemed to agree with that. She stepped inside, not having been in Ishida's place for a while, she first looked for any changes since she was last there. "Thanks again for helping me out like this! I figured you were the person to ask, if anyone!"
"Ah, it's my pleasure," he said, smiling quietly. He closed the door behind her and gestured to the futon if she wanted to sit. "Would you like some tea before we start, or...?"
"Oh tea would be GREAT if you already have some I don't wanna impose and all!" Orihime laughed, scampering over to the futon to drop down on it before letting her paper bag sit on the floor by her feet. She always liked Ishida's place, the light bulbs were dim and made it feel so cozy.
"I had some water heating so it's no problem at all," Ishida assured her. The kettle began to demand attention, so he politely excused himself to take care of it. Getting two mugs from the cupboard he set them down on the counter, dropped a teabag of Earl Gray into each mug, then poured the water into the mugs. Her mug would be ready first, as he liked his strong so he let his steep longer than normal. He went back to the main room, explaining it would be a few minutes before the tea was ready. "So what did you want me to look at?" he asked as he sat down on the futon.
The girl clapped her hands together, letting out a quiet 'Oh!' as she remembered what her original reason for coming here was. "Yachiru, she lives with Mr. Zaraki, I wanted to make her a dress because she doesn't have that many clothes that fit her and all." she explained. Orihime bent over to pull the paper bag up into her lap, fetching the dress she had made from it.
Like many of her creations, it was difficult to describe in words. Pink, definitely. There was a lot of pink. Other than that, it looked almost like a princess dress that got hit by a punk rock truck, and was sized for a girl no older than 14. Possibly.
Somehow it still all came together well, though, and was reminiscent of the Japanese 'street fashion'. Orihime had done most of it from scratch, but ended up finding two other dresses at the thrift store that she also cannibalized for parts.
Well, he certainly had to give her points for creativity. Personally, the bits of punk rock set his teeth on edge but it was actually very well done. "It's...certainly intriguing. Where did you get the idea for this?" he asked.
"Oh, I saw a book in a store that had stuff in this style! It looked like something she would enjoy because she likes pink and is all cute but at the same time 'bad ass'." Orihime explained, smoothing out the dress with her hand while she did last minute checks. "I wanted to make sure my stitch work is okay, my right arm isn't very easy to work with, so I'm scared I got messy!" Orihime laughed easily again. Upon closer inspection, she did seem to have a butterfly bandage on her arm closing up a (healing, but still) nasty cut.
Ishida held out his hands and waited for her to hand him the dress so he could inspect the stitching. He spotted the bandage on her arm as she gave him the dress, and frowned slightly. "Miss Inoue, what happened to your arm?" He was concerned; having grown up around his father he knew a few things about wounds and injuries.
"Oh, this?" Orihime was surprised Ishida hadn't heard about it, then remembered he was in and out of town recently. Or maybe just out. One of the two. "I got into a scuffle. Accosted by ninja. But I won." she explained, satisfied with the dress enough to hand it over to Ishida.
He stared at her, blue eyes wide behind the rectangular glasses. "A--A what?"
"A ninja! But I was like, 'Santen Kesshun!!' and I blasted him with my special move and escaped in the meantime." Orihime said. "...Rukia said it was an attempted mugging, but I think ninja attack sounds better. BUT DON'T WORRY because I'm okay, alright?" she leaned over to look closely at Ishida, hoping he wouldn't freak out and panic like everyone else had.
"When did it happen?" Ishida bristled mentally at the thought of Orihime getting mugged. Nevermind his own reasons for despising that particular breed of hooligan, the fact she had been attacked was making his dinner churn some in his stomach. He had been lax in his nighttime archery, and sitting so close in front of him was a good reason for him to get back into shape.
Orihime waved her hand, so casual in speaking about the subject and untroubled by it. "It was like a week or two ago," she recalled. "...About! I can't really remember! Anyway it isn't important, I'm just fine, see?"
For which he was very grateful. "One more question, then I'll drop it?" He hated to distress her or make her unhappy.
Heaving a great sigh but understanding how Ishida must feel (it was terrible when friends got hurt, even a little by accident), Orihime nodded. "Okay."
The sigh irked; he had the distinct feeling she really did think of it as nothing but considering a mugger had killed his grandfather Ishida felt it was a bit more than 'nothing'. He nodded at the bandage. "Who took care of the wound?" he wanted to know. Not cut, wound. How it looked when she first received it...he could easily imagine.
Relieved that was Ishida's question instead of something like asking for a description, Orihime smiled again. "Miss Shizune from downstairs, she used to be a doctor, you know! Her and Miss Tsunade, they've been checking up on me too!"
"Ah. That's good," Ishida replied, genuinely relieved. He hadn't asked for a description because he was fairly certain he could glean that information from someone else. Or if not, well, there were plenty of targets to feel the penetrating sting of his arrows.
Orihime nodded excitedly, unaware of Ishida's reasons behind his lack of questions on the mugger himself. "Yeah! They're both really nice and really skilled! It must be great to be able to heal people like that though I wanted to be a nurse not a doctor, or maybe just a white magician so I had healing magic."
Nodding, Ishida moved his attention to the dress. Turning it inside out he inspected the seam as much as one could in the dim light of his apartment. It looked good so far. He set the dress on his lap before retrieving a brighter bulb from one of the coffee table's drawers and replaced the dimmer bulb, then switched the lamp on. Harsh light poured onto his lap, but it helped in letting him see the stitching more clearly. "It's even," he said approvingly, seeing with his fingers as much as he saw with his eyes. "You made your basting stitch a bit too tight along this seam." He traced where stitch was. "It's almost a seam itself, and you lessened the amount of fabric by a half-inch, so that should come out. And, ah, see here? where the sleeves connect to the top? You've got it sort of higgledy-digglety and thus the sleeve isn't bunching right. You'll have to redo both of them as well. Otherwise, it looks fine."
Listening patiently to Ishida's critique, she leaned close to get a better view of what he was pointing out and smiled brilliantly again when he was done. "I did better than I thought! Thanks Ishida, I'll fix those tonight!" Orihime caught a glance at the clock. "...oooor maybe tomorrow, I have work in the morning and shouldn't stay up that late."
"I could do it for you tonight, if you wanted," he offered, trying so hard not to blush at how close she was to him. After all, they were friends, and he was just helping her out with a project.
"Really? That would help me out a lot, then I could make sure it was done right this time and all! Thank you Ishida!" overcome with grateful affection, Orihime threw her arms around Ishida suddenly and caught him in a hug.
At least something was going right this season.
Ishida was caught quite off-guard when she hugged him and without warning found the bottom half of his face firmly pressed into her shoulder as her arms were wound around his neck. And it was really hard not to think about what part of her anatomy was smooshed against him. His face burned from a combination of blood and hormones which he somehow held in check as he made sure to give her only a friendly hug back.
He was really, really glad she couldn't see his face. He'd never live it down.
It was a blessing that the current position did not allow for Orihime to do a 'bounce-hug'. That might have killed Ishida, and Orihime would have been quiet upset about that. "Really, thanks! You helped me out so much I wanna do something in return!" Really, Ishida did help her out more than she thought he'd know. She only idly thought of Ichigo this whole time, instead of actively.
"It's no problem, really," he replied after moving his head so his chin was on her shoulder. Otherwise, his words would've been lost. He waited for her to let go and flushed harder when she didn't. He loosened his hug and hoped she would get the idea... He was starting to get a little light-headed.
Thankfully she seemed to, and after another moment Orihime let Ishida go, leaning back on the couch with her legs curled up under her. "Really! I'll think of something!" she insisted, smoothing out her skirt.
Ishida removed his glasses so he could wipe the lenses with a small handkerchief he kept on his person at all times. "All right, but only if you want to," he said with a gentle smile. Without his glasses on she looked like a bright, orange-topped blur. Satisfied with wiping the lenses he made a quick inspection before sliding his glasses back on and tucking the handkerchief back in his pocket.
Orihime always wondered if his glasses really got smudged that often. Glasses seemed awfully easy to get smudged, they'd be very difficult to have. She was thankful she maintained perfect 20/20 vision her whole life so far. Now, the trouble would be thinking of what she could do for Ishida in return. She was already going to give him Valentine's Day candy, maybe she could bake something, like muffins? Oh, the choices.
"I DO want to!" she insisted, tapping a finger against her chin while she thought. "Is there anything in particular you want that I can do, or will I have to guess and make it a surprise?"
"Ah..." Ishida thought fast, but his brain couldn't think of anything. "I wouldn't mind a surprise," he said.
"Great! I love surprises! Giving them and getting them, don't you think surprises are a lot of fun? Happy ones anyway, bad surprises aren't very much fun." Orihime said, babbling along happily.
Ishida nodded. "I agree. Excuse me, I'll go get our tea." He set the dress down on the coffee table before going to the kitchen. After removing the bags he added sweetener and some cream, stirring everything before bringing the steaming mugs out. "Here," he said, handing one (handle out) to Orihime. He sat only after she'd taken the mug from him.
"Thanks!" Orihime chirped, taking the tea and sipping it happily. Truth be told, the only time she drank tea was when Ishida provided it. She had a strict 'as little caffeine as possible' policy. That, and Ishida always managed to make the tea taste better than anyone else she met had.
"So how are you doing?" she asked, holding the cup with both hands while she looked curiously at Ishida. "Are your classes going well? You're in some of the same ones as Ichigo, right?" 'It must be nice to have classes with friends.' she thought.
"I'm doing well. I'm in the middle of a few projects--one of them's hanging there," he replied, nodding in the direction of the dressmaker's mannequin. "And, yes, I've got some classes with Kurosaki."
Letting out an interested 'ooh' Orihime slipped her feet back in her slippers and stood from the couch, going over to see what was hanging on the mannequin. She was careful to not get too close - heaven forbid her hand slip and she spill tea on it! - but wanted to see was Ishida was making. "It must be really nice to have classes with friends like that." She commented, voicing her earlier thought.
The project was a gown that could be worn for both formal and semi-formal events without looking misplaced. Ishida flushed slightly when Orohime went to inspect it; he had had her in mind when he designed it. Nothing that could be considered lewd or anything but rather to compliment. It was sleeveless and backless, the front tapering up to the collar around the neck. Streamlined and figure-hugging to the hips it began to billow gently from the thighs, where he was playing with how to incorporate layers to make a pattern without making the gown too bulky in front.
"Hm? Friends?"
"Yeah! You and Ichigo!" Orihime explained, being under the impression that they were clearly the best of friends. "Oh wow, Ishida, this dress is REALLY pretty! You'll show it to me when you're done with it, right?" she asked, bouncing from one subject to the next. The dress did look beautiful already, she could only imagine how stunning it would be when it was done.
Me and....Kurosaki? /Friends?/ Ishida covered his shocked disbelief by taking a long drink of his tea. "Of course," he said in answer to her question. "You'll be the first to see it before I hand it in."
"I can't wait! What's the project theme anyway? Just party dresses or anything you want?" satisfied she had seen as much of the dress as could be seen, Orihime returned to sit on the couch. Orihime had envied girls who had dresses like those, both because they were able to afford them (only a little, if Orihime really wanted one she could make her own) and because they had parties and places to go to where such dresses would be appropriate.
"Satins and sheers, actually. I'm still trying to decide where to put the sheers, though I was thinking of a shoulder-cape," he replied. He sipped his tea thoughtfully. "What would you recommend?"
"A shoulder cape would be pretty!" Orihime agreed. "Or maybe one of those scarf things that go around your back and arms, like, like..." at a loss for how exactly to describe it, she rooted around in the pockets of her skirt for a moment before she found a pen, pulling up the brown paper bag to sketch a quick idea. "Like that, you know!"
He peered at the sketch. "That's not a bad idea. Thank you, Miss Inoue," he smiled.
"Glad to help!" of course, a scarf would also be useful if you knew scarf-based martial arts, like that one girl in the Street Fighter games. Use it like a weapon, deadly and beautiful. That would be cool.
Orihime stole another glance at the clock. So much time had passed already! "Ahh, It's getting late, I should get ready bed. Opening the shop tomorrow as usual." Not wanting the rest of the tea to go to waste, she managed to down what was left in the cup with one chug.
Ishida nodded, taking her now-empty mug and setting on the coffee table. "What time will you be getting home tomorrow?" He worked until five, and it would take him an hour to get back to the building.
Orihime considered. She'd be getting off at 2, so given time to walk, that would make it... "Two fifteen, or two thirty."
"Ah, okay. I'll be back around six-ish, so I could bring the dress down to you around then, how's that?"
"Sounds great! And if I'm not home for some reason then Tatsuki or Mr. Umino will be and you can drop it off with them." Orihime stood again, smoothing out her dress and crossing the floor over to Ishida's door with a bounce in her step. She hoped Yachiru would like the dress, it seemed like her style. "Goodnight Ishida!" she called, opening the door but pausing there for a moment to look back at him.
"Oh! And I told you, you can just call me 'Orihime'."
He adjusted his glasses, using his hand to hide his flush as he walked over to the door. "S-Sorry." And when she looked at him expectantly, he scratched his nose as he reddened further. "Goodnight, Orihime." (It was a miracle he didn't squeak.)
Orihime smiled, and because she truly meant it, it was all the more brilliant. "Goodnight, Ishida." she sang in return, turning and vanishing out the door, skipping the rest of the way back to her apartment.
"Goodnight," he repeated to himself. Feeling a bit giddy, he closed the door and returned to the futon. A seam ripper seemed to appear in his hand, and he began the task of fixing the seams of Orihime's pink dress.