[Log] Go Kart Rides (Complete)
Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuna Mashiro
Location: Mail Room
Date: Monday, July 21
Rating: PG
Summary: Mashiro brings Ichigo chocolate snacks
Having a relatively good morning, all things considered, Mashiro took an early lunch break to find and make her way down to the mail room. A song came to mind, but she couldn't really recall the words to the song. Nonetheless, she hummed in a cheery fashion while waking with a bouncing step in to the elevator. In hand she carried a double stacked caddy which held 36 "death by chocolate" cupcakes. The lime haired, young lady was proud of these cupcakes and found they tasted absolutely perfect. Or as perfect as cupcakes from scratch made at home could be.
She had spent a long time in that little kitchen of her apartment, slaving away. Alright, not slaving. Mashiro enjoyed baking in her spare time when she wasn't working out or doing aerobics. Cooking she failed at, miserably, though she tried her hardest. But baking was just something that came to her. Not to mention her newest cupcakes were her crowning achievement. Chocolate cupcake batter with chocolate chips stuffed in side, topped with a mess and an over abundant amount of frosting with chocolate jimmies on top. There was nothing in this treat that wasn't chocolate, and Ichigo had practically dug his sweet-tooth grave.
Not that Mashiro knew this. She only gave what had been requested. So when the elevator opened and she stepped out, heading down to the mail room, she put on a smile. Hopefully he'd love these, and she'd be able to find him. The young woman felt terrible for not paying attention to him when he brought up the mail, though she recalled him having bright hair like her own. Red maybe? Or orange. . .ah well there couldn't be THAT many people down here with brilliant colored hair. Peeking in, hoping not to be run over by anyone working, Mashiro lightly bit her lower lip and stepped in. When she finally found Ichigo she walked over with a much poise as a girl so excited could.
"Berry-tan?"
Ichigo was not really working in the mail room, just sorting through a few packages and deciding the urgency of delivery by looking at it. If it wasn't that urgent, he'd hold off on delivering them but if he could help it, he liked holding on to them, keep those people behind their desks on edge. But it was a female voice that distracted Ichigo from his task.
B-Berry-tan? Did she mean him?
"You're...Kuna Mashiro. Are you lost?" He blinked at her then his eyes looked her over.
Oh yeah, Ichigo recalled that he mentioned his secret love of chocolate to her. Well she was pushing down some offering for the fact that he delivered her mail to him daily and she didn't know his name. But his name wasn't really Berry-tan either, bad enough to be called Strawberry all the time by your coworkers. Berry-tan was really too cutesy, he didn't know if he could handle any more people calling him that.
It really didn't bother him that she didn't know his name because now it seemed that this new cutesy nickname she gave him wasn't a better alternative...
"Is that all for me?" He got to his feet to examine what was heaven compacted into delectable treats.
Mashiro found his new name was much better, quite the improvement actually. She smiled warmly at him, her pink lips revealing white teeth as she walked over to meet him. He was taller than she remembered and she suddenly felt very small, even if Kensei was bigger.
"Yup!" she grinned still as she held out the double-decker container to him. "All 36!" The woman looked amazingly pleased with herself and had to put down the box, opening the lid. As if an invisible breeze soared through the building, the wonderful smell of chocolate reached her nose and she had to urge to eat one. She had already eaten plenty at home, enough to make her want to do an extra hour of cardio, just in case.
"I hope they're okay," she then told him a bit timidly. "I thought they were good, but I don't really share my stuff." With a snap her hands fell behind her back, one wrapping around the other as she looked up at him patiently. Once he said they were okay she'd leave, she supposed. There was nothing left to do down here other than deliver the gift. How sad.
36 chocolate cupcakes? Ichigo wondered how many calories that was. No matter, he was never one to pass up some home made food and he would probably spend the next week eating these desserts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
"They smell great so I'm sure they taste great. Have a seat." He pointed to the rolling chair that usually was occupied by Keigo but of course he was off not working. But then again, Ichigo hardly called what he did all day work. There was the occasional odd job but he didn't care, it was an income.
He reached his hand in and took a cupcake, only just unwrapping the paper container before stuffing it in his mouth.
"Is it okay if I eat one in front of you, I'm starving." He said with a bit of a full mouth, chocolate coating his teeth and other parts of his mouth. He let out a low moan, this certainly hit the spot where his addiction lay hidden but ever constantly present.
With a gun shot Mashiro sat down, watching him with her wide, innocent eyes. He could have them all hours of the day for all she cared, as long as he liked them. So she smiled, but looked a little concerned as he shoved the cake in to his mouth. They weren't mini-cupcakes, they were full sized with large tops. She had a secret for making them so tall, but she'd never tell anyone.
"Seeing as you did? Yeah, it's cool," Mashiro grinned as she turned her head down. Her bright hair curtained her face as her hands covered her mouth, shoulders shaking when she started to laugh uncontrollably. However, she contained herself enough to stand up again and pull a napkin out of her pocket. Always prepared she was.
"Here," she said. "You have some, okay a lot, on your face." Her plush pink lips pouted as she tried not to laugh while looking up at him. It was everywhere, he looked so silly! Though she was very glad he liked it, the mess and the moan answer enough for her.
"Thanks." He said rather thickly, boy these things were rich. He chuckled but before he accepted the napkin, he rather crudely licked around his lips.
"You should eat too, no guy likes eating alone." He leaned back in his chair and despite the sugar overload, he stretched his limbs as though he was sleepy.
"So you're one of the people from Vaizard, Inc. How was it there?" He asked, making conversation. Truth was, he was curious what is was like but had no intention of working with them in the past or if ever, in the future.
Nodding, Mashiro handed over the napkin and picked up one of the cupcakes for herself. She licked off the frosting slowly first, listening to Ichigo ask his question. In response, the petite woman nodded. "Mhm," she mumbled around the whipped cream and butter in her mouth.
"I liked it," she said. Not that she would tell everyone, or anyone really, Mashiro would like to go back. These people here at SSI didn't really seem to accept them in the same way she felt back at VI. "It was small but we were a friends. I don't really know anyone here." Licking away any excess chocolate on her lip, she took a bite out of the cake. "Mmm."
"I can see that as a problem. I guess since I practically live here I know everyone and I know all the gossip that goes around about them. Then again, I stir up more gossip than anyone." Ichigo said, trying not to sound bitter but it wasn't pleasant to be working with people who though you were a serial killer. Or gay. Or a prick. Ichigo sucked the chocolate off his thumb thoughtfully for a moment.
"Is your hair natural, too?" He asked, his eyes trailing up to the electric green that was her hair. He didn't mind bright hair, he was born with bright orange locks that tended to get him more attention than he desired. Mashiro seemed like the person who didn't mind attention and probably enjoyed it.
"If it isn't, it's still pretty cool." He spoke suddenly, realizing how snobbish he might have sounded if it wasn't her real hair color. He didn't want his blunder to ruin what looked like the start of a nice friendship. Wasn't that the underlying tones of the merger? Camaraderie or something equally lame. Ichigo really needed to pay more attention to the memos.
Frowning, Mashiro looked down a little. She still felt terrible about that gay thing, she hadn't meant it. Really, it was Shinji's fault for opening his mouth, though hers for thinking it in the first place. At least he was talking to her now and not shunning her or something. "Must be nice to know everyone," she mused quietly.
"Ah, no. . .it's not," she shook her head while fingering some of the short, lime strands. "I dye it at the roots every few weeks, and color all of it every few months to keep it bright!" At that she grinned, proud of her product usage and schedule. Not that it was good for her hair, but at her age she didn't care if it was good for the hairs or not. "You'd never even know my hair is really a dark blond color!"
"Wow. Well, it does make quite the impression. What I mean is that you stand out in a crowd." He rambled a bit, he wasn't quite sure what to talk about next. The weather? Too strained and forced.
"Do you want to open this?" He reached back and pulled out a package. It wasn't addressed to Mashiro but Ichigo didn't care.
"Don't worry, it's someone who left years ago. This company keeps sending them stuff even though I return it. It's probably something uninteresting but still might be cool." Or anthrax. He didn't voice that, no use letting her know about his morbid sense of humor. She probably knew full well of his sarcasm and antisocial tendencies.
Oh yes, she had heard briefly about them. But looking up she gave the package a confused gaze before taking it from Ichigo and putting it on her lap. "Is it really okay?" she asked, though her long fingernails cut through the tape without waiting for his answer. He had already said it was okay, she supposed. Going about opening the paper, she pulled open the end flap to the box and took out another box.
Head tilting to the side, she looked at the box and turned it over. "Where does it open?" she asked, unable to see an end or anything of the sort. It was just a solid white rectangle. "What the heck?" Mashiro looked up to Ichigo and held it out to him with a confused visage upon her face. "Is it just a. . .box?"
"Let me see." He leaned over and squinted at it.
"Is it solid? Shake it and see if it rattles. It could just be a paper weight." He shrugged, hell if he knew what it was. Maybe that's why that person didn't make a big deal about getting it.
"What does it tastes like?" Ichigo meant the box, in all fairness it could be something other than a box. Like maybe something gone white from lack of sunlight though nothing came to mind as to what really did that.
She shook the box, seeing as it was harmless, but there was no sound. When her eyes flicked up, they looked at Ichigo in disbelief. "You want me to lick it?" she asked with a small smile on her plush lips. "What'll you give me if I do?" Mashiro may originally be blond, and not all that smart most days, but she wasn't going to just lick a foreign object.
The girl might not lick it anyway, even if he wanted to pay her in fuzzy things with brilliant colors. "Why don't you lick it, and I'll give you another cupcake?"
Ichigo blinked at her. She wanted something else?
"I'm giving you the box...aren't I?"
This girl was strange.
"I'll lick it. Just hand it over here." Why were these girls always so difficult? Damn mood swings.
Mood swings? Mashiro wasn't having a mood swing! Mashiro didn't want to lick a foreign object. That was the equal of putting something in your mouth after it had been on the floor all day. But she handed over the box with a small smile on her face. "I can't believe you're going to lick it," she said. "I don't know if I want it back after you do."
Maybe she'd get those paint markers and color on it, seeing as it was white. She could use it herself as a paper weight or give it to Kensei. Not that he'd use it, the big jerk.
"Don't tell me you believe in cooties still. I don't got anything so don't worry your pretty little head about a thing." He shot her a smirk and brought the white box thing to his mouth. He hesitated at first but then pressed his tongue to it. He knew the flavor...
"Wait a minute!" He brought it closer to examine it. There was a crease in the middle of it and Ichigo pushed his thumbs in there to open it up.
"It's not just a white box. What the heck? Taxidermist of the Year?!" He read off the glass piece. Apparently, that person didn't care too much about the award or was too embarrassed to come pick it up for himself.
What a weirdo. No wonder she ignored him. Mashiro leaned back in her chair while he looked at the box, but then it opened. Gasping, like the surprised child she internally was, she watched. "Taxidermist?" she echoed and thought for a moment.
"Oh, ugh. That's a person who stuffs animals right?" A look of horror crossed over her face. Mashiro wasn't exactly an animal rights activist, but she certainly wouldn't purposefully go hunting animals or buying their furs. "Someone worked here who was a taxidermist? No wonder I didn't want to transfer. . ." The last portion was muttered to herself, more like a mouthed thought that had no vocals to it. She didn't want to offend, and really had wanted the transfer. It was just something to say and, well, maybe a part of her didn't like these people at SSI.
They licked Styrofoam.
"I guess being a janitor comes with unusual hobbies..." He kept thinking of Sado who really liked furry, cute things. Maybe that's how the old janitor got into the hobby. Ichigo shuddered.
"Do you want it? It could make for a great conversation maker." He said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
Holding up both hands, Mashiro shook her head. "No, thanks, I'm okay." That was just beyond her, really, and she was completely okay with not keeping his gift. Though. . .a part of her did feel bad about turning it down after he gave it to her. Oh well, maybe he could give her a nicer gift next time!
"Your loss." He shrugged. He suddenly thought about giving it to Ishida. More like super glue it to his desk. Serves that nerd right.
Ichigo just realized another thing.
"Are you on break? Isn't your boss gonna get angry at you for screwing around at work?" He asked with a brow raised. Sure, he didn't mind people loafing around the mail room with him during the day but not at the cost of their job.
Giggling, Mashiro gave a shrug while shaking her head and then tilting it left to right. "What Kensei doesn't know won't hurt him," she sang in that bubbly voice of hers. "I'll just tell him I was on break or something. Besides, I'm all caught up on my work anyway!"
Since Kensei had returned, Mashiro continued to keep up with her work. His leave had left her to do her daily jobs and more, now her daily jobs without the extra seemed easier than they already had been. Kensei might try to throw her out of the window or something equally as violent later, but she wouldn't really mind. She'd just go hide behind her desk or fall asleep in the break room. He'll never know.
Ichigo nodded. He was so used to skiving off work as much as he could but he wasn't nearly as blatant about it was Keigo who usually gave Ichigo his work to do.
"Lucky for you," he set the glass award down, not really caring where he set it and picked at his cupcake, "so how hard is your work, that white haired dude seemed nice." He was referring to Kensei although there were a lot of people here now with white or silver hair, maybe it was something to do with their water.
Perhaps, but in that case Mashiro was safe since she dyed her hair anyway. "Kensei? He's only nice if you know how to work him." Feet bouncing together at the toes on the floor, she considered what it was she really did.
"It's not hard, not really," she stated. "It's lots of reading and writing reports on other companies for Kensei or the board to look over. See what we need to improve here on or whatever. I like it, because I can play games online half of the day. Kensei doesn't know!" She looked as if she had just told Ichigo some grand secret, though she was still very naive about it.
"You and half the company here. I swear that if tech removed solitaire from the computers, productivity would increase 200% at the very least," he got to his feet and dusted off his trousers like he had been sitting there for a long time.
"I ain't got anything to do really for a while. You want to play hooky for awhile?"
Standing with that simple bounce in her step, she glanced over at a clock and then nodded. "Alright," Mashiro agreed. Kensei could survive a few extra minutes without her. "Where to?" She quite liked this boy, he was friendly and entertaining in his own weird way. All of her friends were a tad on the strange side, so Ichigo would fit right in.
Ichigo would argue that he was perfectly normal! But he didn't mind her as company, he was used to having Orihime around anyway, she wasn't much different from her except for the food experimentation.
"Anywhere but here. It's the general idea of hooky, right? I think I can steal a golf cart from security, I know where they keep the keys." Ichigo stuff his hands in his pockets and jerked his head over to where Kenpachi kept the security carts.
"You might get in trouble if we get caught." He had a grin on his face, he really didn't care about authority but he didn't know Mashiro well enough to gauge if she was one of those types that did care.
There were other things about Orihime that set her apart from Mashiro, though the green haired girl couldn't say. She refused to meet Lisa's secretarial companions. Anyway, she smiled a little and glanced over at them. "I don't even know why we have golf carts," she mused. "There's no where to go." Well, landscaping maybe, grounds clean up.
"I think you'd be in trouble too," she then stated. "But I've gotten in trouble before. Kensei yells a lot, but he's not really good at giving out penalties." Only because she somehow managed to get away before he could dish them out.
"They're there so people like us can steal them." Ichigo smirked at her and grabbed the set of keys that had copies to all the interesting parts of SSI and nodded at her while striding over to the exit.
"Alright, Green, where to?" He twirled the keys on his finger.
Mashiro was not sure how she felt about that nickname, but shrugged it off and followed the taller man toward the door. "Anywhere you can think of, Berry-tan!" She smiled broadly at him, beaming, with a light throw of her hands. "Anywhere at all!"
Location: Mail Room
Date: Monday, July 21
Rating: PG
Summary: Mashiro brings Ichigo chocolate snacks
Having a relatively good morning, all things considered, Mashiro took an early lunch break to find and make her way down to the mail room. A song came to mind, but she couldn't really recall the words to the song. Nonetheless, she hummed in a cheery fashion while waking with a bouncing step in to the elevator. In hand she carried a double stacked caddy which held 36 "death by chocolate" cupcakes. The lime haired, young lady was proud of these cupcakes and found they tasted absolutely perfect. Or as perfect as cupcakes from scratch made at home could be.
She had spent a long time in that little kitchen of her apartment, slaving away. Alright, not slaving. Mashiro enjoyed baking in her spare time when she wasn't working out or doing aerobics. Cooking she failed at, miserably, though she tried her hardest. But baking was just something that came to her. Not to mention her newest cupcakes were her crowning achievement. Chocolate cupcake batter with chocolate chips stuffed in side, topped with a mess and an over abundant amount of frosting with chocolate jimmies on top. There was nothing in this treat that wasn't chocolate, and Ichigo had practically dug his sweet-tooth grave.
Not that Mashiro knew this. She only gave what had been requested. So when the elevator opened and she stepped out, heading down to the mail room, she put on a smile. Hopefully he'd love these, and she'd be able to find him. The young woman felt terrible for not paying attention to him when he brought up the mail, though she recalled him having bright hair like her own. Red maybe? Or orange. . .ah well there couldn't be THAT many people down here with brilliant colored hair. Peeking in, hoping not to be run over by anyone working, Mashiro lightly bit her lower lip and stepped in. When she finally found Ichigo she walked over with a much poise as a girl so excited could.
"Berry-tan?"
Ichigo was not really working in the mail room, just sorting through a few packages and deciding the urgency of delivery by looking at it. If it wasn't that urgent, he'd hold off on delivering them but if he could help it, he liked holding on to them, keep those people behind their desks on edge. But it was a female voice that distracted Ichigo from his task.
B-Berry-tan? Did she mean him?
"You're...Kuna Mashiro. Are you lost?" He blinked at her then his eyes looked her over.
Oh yeah, Ichigo recalled that he mentioned his secret love of chocolate to her. Well she was pushing down some offering for the fact that he delivered her mail to him daily and she didn't know his name. But his name wasn't really Berry-tan either, bad enough to be called Strawberry all the time by your coworkers. Berry-tan was really too cutesy, he didn't know if he could handle any more people calling him that.
It really didn't bother him that she didn't know his name because now it seemed that this new cutesy nickname she gave him wasn't a better alternative...
"Is that all for me?" He got to his feet to examine what was heaven compacted into delectable treats.
Mashiro found his new name was much better, quite the improvement actually. She smiled warmly at him, her pink lips revealing white teeth as she walked over to meet him. He was taller than she remembered and she suddenly felt very small, even if Kensei was bigger.
"Yup!" she grinned still as she held out the double-decker container to him. "All 36!" The woman looked amazingly pleased with herself and had to put down the box, opening the lid. As if an invisible breeze soared through the building, the wonderful smell of chocolate reached her nose and she had to urge to eat one. She had already eaten plenty at home, enough to make her want to do an extra hour of cardio, just in case.
"I hope they're okay," she then told him a bit timidly. "I thought they were good, but I don't really share my stuff." With a snap her hands fell behind her back, one wrapping around the other as she looked up at him patiently. Once he said they were okay she'd leave, she supposed. There was nothing left to do down here other than deliver the gift. How sad.
36 chocolate cupcakes? Ichigo wondered how many calories that was. No matter, he was never one to pass up some home made food and he would probably spend the next week eating these desserts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
"They smell great so I'm sure they taste great. Have a seat." He pointed to the rolling chair that usually was occupied by Keigo but of course he was off not working. But then again, Ichigo hardly called what he did all day work. There was the occasional odd job but he didn't care, it was an income.
He reached his hand in and took a cupcake, only just unwrapping the paper container before stuffing it in his mouth.
"Is it okay if I eat one in front of you, I'm starving." He said with a bit of a full mouth, chocolate coating his teeth and other parts of his mouth. He let out a low moan, this certainly hit the spot where his addiction lay hidden but ever constantly present.
With a gun shot Mashiro sat down, watching him with her wide, innocent eyes. He could have them all hours of the day for all she cared, as long as he liked them. So she smiled, but looked a little concerned as he shoved the cake in to his mouth. They weren't mini-cupcakes, they were full sized with large tops. She had a secret for making them so tall, but she'd never tell anyone.
"Seeing as you did? Yeah, it's cool," Mashiro grinned as she turned her head down. Her bright hair curtained her face as her hands covered her mouth, shoulders shaking when she started to laugh uncontrollably. However, she contained herself enough to stand up again and pull a napkin out of her pocket. Always prepared she was.
"Here," she said. "You have some, okay a lot, on your face." Her plush pink lips pouted as she tried not to laugh while looking up at him. It was everywhere, he looked so silly! Though she was very glad he liked it, the mess and the moan answer enough for her.
"Thanks." He said rather thickly, boy these things were rich. He chuckled but before he accepted the napkin, he rather crudely licked around his lips.
"You should eat too, no guy likes eating alone." He leaned back in his chair and despite the sugar overload, he stretched his limbs as though he was sleepy.
"So you're one of the people from Vaizard, Inc. How was it there?" He asked, making conversation. Truth was, he was curious what is was like but had no intention of working with them in the past or if ever, in the future.
Nodding, Mashiro handed over the napkin and picked up one of the cupcakes for herself. She licked off the frosting slowly first, listening to Ichigo ask his question. In response, the petite woman nodded. "Mhm," she mumbled around the whipped cream and butter in her mouth.
"I liked it," she said. Not that she would tell everyone, or anyone really, Mashiro would like to go back. These people here at SSI didn't really seem to accept them in the same way she felt back at VI. "It was small but we were a friends. I don't really know anyone here." Licking away any excess chocolate on her lip, she took a bite out of the cake. "Mmm."
"I can see that as a problem. I guess since I practically live here I know everyone and I know all the gossip that goes around about them. Then again, I stir up more gossip than anyone." Ichigo said, trying not to sound bitter but it wasn't pleasant to be working with people who though you were a serial killer. Or gay. Or a prick. Ichigo sucked the chocolate off his thumb thoughtfully for a moment.
"Is your hair natural, too?" He asked, his eyes trailing up to the electric green that was her hair. He didn't mind bright hair, he was born with bright orange locks that tended to get him more attention than he desired. Mashiro seemed like the person who didn't mind attention and probably enjoyed it.
"If it isn't, it's still pretty cool." He spoke suddenly, realizing how snobbish he might have sounded if it wasn't her real hair color. He didn't want his blunder to ruin what looked like the start of a nice friendship. Wasn't that the underlying tones of the merger? Camaraderie or something equally lame. Ichigo really needed to pay more attention to the memos.
Frowning, Mashiro looked down a little. She still felt terrible about that gay thing, she hadn't meant it. Really, it was Shinji's fault for opening his mouth, though hers for thinking it in the first place. At least he was talking to her now and not shunning her or something. "Must be nice to know everyone," she mused quietly.
"Ah, no. . .it's not," she shook her head while fingering some of the short, lime strands. "I dye it at the roots every few weeks, and color all of it every few months to keep it bright!" At that she grinned, proud of her product usage and schedule. Not that it was good for her hair, but at her age she didn't care if it was good for the hairs or not. "You'd never even know my hair is really a dark blond color!"
"Wow. Well, it does make quite the impression. What I mean is that you stand out in a crowd." He rambled a bit, he wasn't quite sure what to talk about next. The weather? Too strained and forced.
"Do you want to open this?" He reached back and pulled out a package. It wasn't addressed to Mashiro but Ichigo didn't care.
"Don't worry, it's someone who left years ago. This company keeps sending them stuff even though I return it. It's probably something uninteresting but still might be cool." Or anthrax. He didn't voice that, no use letting her know about his morbid sense of humor. She probably knew full well of his sarcasm and antisocial tendencies.
Oh yes, she had heard briefly about them. But looking up she gave the package a confused gaze before taking it from Ichigo and putting it on her lap. "Is it really okay?" she asked, though her long fingernails cut through the tape without waiting for his answer. He had already said it was okay, she supposed. Going about opening the paper, she pulled open the end flap to the box and took out another box.
Head tilting to the side, she looked at the box and turned it over. "Where does it open?" she asked, unable to see an end or anything of the sort. It was just a solid white rectangle. "What the heck?" Mashiro looked up to Ichigo and held it out to him with a confused visage upon her face. "Is it just a. . .box?"
"Let me see." He leaned over and squinted at it.
"Is it solid? Shake it and see if it rattles. It could just be a paper weight." He shrugged, hell if he knew what it was. Maybe that's why that person didn't make a big deal about getting it.
"What does it tastes like?" Ichigo meant the box, in all fairness it could be something other than a box. Like maybe something gone white from lack of sunlight though nothing came to mind as to what really did that.
She shook the box, seeing as it was harmless, but there was no sound. When her eyes flicked up, they looked at Ichigo in disbelief. "You want me to lick it?" she asked with a small smile on her plush lips. "What'll you give me if I do?" Mashiro may originally be blond, and not all that smart most days, but she wasn't going to just lick a foreign object.
The girl might not lick it anyway, even if he wanted to pay her in fuzzy things with brilliant colors. "Why don't you lick it, and I'll give you another cupcake?"
Ichigo blinked at her. She wanted something else?
"I'm giving you the box...aren't I?"
This girl was strange.
"I'll lick it. Just hand it over here." Why were these girls always so difficult? Damn mood swings.
Mood swings? Mashiro wasn't having a mood swing! Mashiro didn't want to lick a foreign object. That was the equal of putting something in your mouth after it had been on the floor all day. But she handed over the box with a small smile on her face. "I can't believe you're going to lick it," she said. "I don't know if I want it back after you do."
Maybe she'd get those paint markers and color on it, seeing as it was white. She could use it herself as a paper weight or give it to Kensei. Not that he'd use it, the big jerk.
"Don't tell me you believe in cooties still. I don't got anything so don't worry your pretty little head about a thing." He shot her a smirk and brought the white box thing to his mouth. He hesitated at first but then pressed his tongue to it. He knew the flavor...
"Wait a minute!" He brought it closer to examine it. There was a crease in the middle of it and Ichigo pushed his thumbs in there to open it up.
"It's not just a white box. What the heck? Taxidermist of the Year?!" He read off the glass piece. Apparently, that person didn't care too much about the award or was too embarrassed to come pick it up for himself.
What a weirdo. No wonder she ignored him. Mashiro leaned back in her chair while he looked at the box, but then it opened. Gasping, like the surprised child she internally was, she watched. "Taxidermist?" she echoed and thought for a moment.
"Oh, ugh. That's a person who stuffs animals right?" A look of horror crossed over her face. Mashiro wasn't exactly an animal rights activist, but she certainly wouldn't purposefully go hunting animals or buying their furs. "Someone worked here who was a taxidermist? No wonder I didn't want to transfer. . ." The last portion was muttered to herself, more like a mouthed thought that had no vocals to it. She didn't want to offend, and really had wanted the transfer. It was just something to say and, well, maybe a part of her didn't like these people at SSI.
They licked Styrofoam.
"I guess being a janitor comes with unusual hobbies..." He kept thinking of Sado who really liked furry, cute things. Maybe that's how the old janitor got into the hobby. Ichigo shuddered.
"Do you want it? It could make for a great conversation maker." He said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
Holding up both hands, Mashiro shook her head. "No, thanks, I'm okay." That was just beyond her, really, and she was completely okay with not keeping his gift. Though. . .a part of her did feel bad about turning it down after he gave it to her. Oh well, maybe he could give her a nicer gift next time!
"Your loss." He shrugged. He suddenly thought about giving it to Ishida. More like super glue it to his desk. Serves that nerd right.
Ichigo just realized another thing.
"Are you on break? Isn't your boss gonna get angry at you for screwing around at work?" He asked with a brow raised. Sure, he didn't mind people loafing around the mail room with him during the day but not at the cost of their job.
Giggling, Mashiro gave a shrug while shaking her head and then tilting it left to right. "What Kensei doesn't know won't hurt him," she sang in that bubbly voice of hers. "I'll just tell him I was on break or something. Besides, I'm all caught up on my work anyway!"
Since Kensei had returned, Mashiro continued to keep up with her work. His leave had left her to do her daily jobs and more, now her daily jobs without the extra seemed easier than they already had been. Kensei might try to throw her out of the window or something equally as violent later, but she wouldn't really mind. She'd just go hide behind her desk or fall asleep in the break room. He'll never know.
Ichigo nodded. He was so used to skiving off work as much as he could but he wasn't nearly as blatant about it was Keigo who usually gave Ichigo his work to do.
"Lucky for you," he set the glass award down, not really caring where he set it and picked at his cupcake, "so how hard is your work, that white haired dude seemed nice." He was referring to Kensei although there were a lot of people here now with white or silver hair, maybe it was something to do with their water.
Perhaps, but in that case Mashiro was safe since she dyed her hair anyway. "Kensei? He's only nice if you know how to work him." Feet bouncing together at the toes on the floor, she considered what it was she really did.
"It's not hard, not really," she stated. "It's lots of reading and writing reports on other companies for Kensei or the board to look over. See what we need to improve here on or whatever. I like it, because I can play games online half of the day. Kensei doesn't know!" She looked as if she had just told Ichigo some grand secret, though she was still very naive about it.
"You and half the company here. I swear that if tech removed solitaire from the computers, productivity would increase 200% at the very least," he got to his feet and dusted off his trousers like he had been sitting there for a long time.
"I ain't got anything to do really for a while. You want to play hooky for awhile?"
Standing with that simple bounce in her step, she glanced over at a clock and then nodded. "Alright," Mashiro agreed. Kensei could survive a few extra minutes without her. "Where to?" She quite liked this boy, he was friendly and entertaining in his own weird way. All of her friends were a tad on the strange side, so Ichigo would fit right in.
Ichigo would argue that he was perfectly normal! But he didn't mind her as company, he was used to having Orihime around anyway, she wasn't much different from her except for the food experimentation.
"Anywhere but here. It's the general idea of hooky, right? I think I can steal a golf cart from security, I know where they keep the keys." Ichigo stuff his hands in his pockets and jerked his head over to where Kenpachi kept the security carts.
"You might get in trouble if we get caught." He had a grin on his face, he really didn't care about authority but he didn't know Mashiro well enough to gauge if she was one of those types that did care.
There were other things about Orihime that set her apart from Mashiro, though the green haired girl couldn't say. She refused to meet Lisa's secretarial companions. Anyway, she smiled a little and glanced over at them. "I don't even know why we have golf carts," she mused. "There's no where to go." Well, landscaping maybe, grounds clean up.
"I think you'd be in trouble too," she then stated. "But I've gotten in trouble before. Kensei yells a lot, but he's not really good at giving out penalties." Only because she somehow managed to get away before he could dish them out.
"They're there so people like us can steal them." Ichigo smirked at her and grabbed the set of keys that had copies to all the interesting parts of SSI and nodded at her while striding over to the exit.
"Alright, Green, where to?" He twirled the keys on his finger.
Mashiro was not sure how she felt about that nickname, but shrugged it off and followed the taller man toward the door. "Anywhere you can think of, Berry-tan!" She smiled broadly at him, beaming, with a light throw of her hands. "Anywhere at all!"