[Log] Evening Stroll [Complete]

[survival_freak]

Characters: Kuna Mashiro, Muguruma Kensei
Location: Work to a walkin in the park next to Kensei's place
Date: October 8th
Rating: PG
Summary: Kensei invites Mashiro to a walk in the park after work.


Kensei leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms before tucking his hands behind his head. It was almost to the end of the day and for once he was eager to get out of the office. Whenever the weather cooled off, he liked to take advantage of it and take long walks and jogs and a variety of other exercises and outdoor activities. Pursing his lips slightly, he considered an idea for a brief moment and stood up, leaning his crossed arms over the cubicle wall that separated his area from Mashiro's. "What are you doing after work?"

For once, Mashiro had been working diligently. Her fingers were tapping away at the keys at an almost unimaginable space as her eyes stared at the screen. When her fingers finally came to a stop she looked up at Kensei with a blink of her big eyes before suddenly slacking in her seat. "Nothing, why?" she asked curiously, shaking a flyaway strand from her forehead.

"How about a walk in the park?" he offered. They had yet to go on an official date since Kensei had agreed to give their relationship a try. He wasn't really the type to do anything fancy, so he thought a simple evening walk in the cool night air would be nice. "I live right by one that has a great path through woods and stuff."

Mashiro didn't want to sound eager, and the moment her mouth opened she knew she did. "Sounds great!" she replied cheerily as she sat back and crossed one leg over the other. "It's nice out! This'll be fun." She smiled up at him sweetly, the fact that she was glad he had asked obvious.

Kensei gave her a small smile and nodded. "Alright. You need to go home and change first?" He didn't think his assistant would want to take a long walk in her heels, especially when she'd complained about them being uncomfortable before. "If so you can just meet me at my place and we'll walk from there. It isn't far. Sound good?"

Since having learned that there would be days that were long or days in which she didn't want to wear her heels any longer, Mashiro had a pair of sneakers in her car. This, however, she didn't tell Kensei and only nodded. She'd change in to a pair of jeans and a nice shirt, something more comfortable for walking around in. "What time?" she asked.

Kensei's eyes went skyward as he considered. "Hm. Depends. You wanna eat before comin' over or what?" It was up to her. Though he had no idea where to take her if she did want to go out to eat. Perhaps she'd settle for the grease cart that frequented the park. Or maybe not.

"I think I can manage that," she replied. Mashiro already had something defrosting in the fridge anyway, so this was a good chance to use it. "How's seven?" Might as well make a suggestion, she figured. Whether they got out or not might change the time to earlier, but if they got off at five she'd want at least an hour to do all of her other things aside from eating.

"Seven sounds good to me," Kensei replied with a nod. "You know where I live?" He couldn't recall if he actually took her by his home. He knew they had come close to it, but whether he actually pointed it out or not had slipped from his mind.

Well, they hadn't. But it wasn't like she didn't have an internet to look up directions if she needed them. "I'll get there okay," said Mashiro with a smile as she looked up at him, though her fingers suddenly started to continue typing on the keys without a glance.

Kensei shrugged and nodded, not doubting that she could. "Alright. Seven. Make sure you bring a jacket, it'll get cold pretty damned fast tonight." With that, he sat back down to finish off the last of his work before leaving for the day. It wouldn't take him too much longer.

Mashiro was only a few quick paragraphs away from finishing her report. When she was done, she took off from the office as usual with a goodbye to practically everyone she saw on the way out. Back home, she showered while a bit of meat cooked, then ate when all was done. It was a delicious meal, if she did say so herself. After that she cleaned quickly, listening to the TV as she wiped down the kitchen counters. By the time she was done it was time to go, so she tied on her trendy sneakers and left.

Kensei had left not too long after his assistant, though he cheated and picked up a sandwich on the way home. After he ate and showered, the silver haired man relaxed on his couch, flipping though a magazine as he waited for Mashiro to show up. He was dressed in a pair of loose jogging pants and an old hockey jersey, which was about as far from what he wore from work as he could get.

When Mashiro arrived, she looked up at the building before climbing out of her car, fixed and well, before locking it behind her. She felt oddly nervous though had no real reason to be. Taking a breath, she calmed herself and then made for the door, ringing the bell when she got there. She'd probably be shocked upon seeing Kensei in anything other than his work clothes or what he wore at the gym. Not that jogging pants were very different from a pair of shorts or sweats. At least her attire was different from both work and gym.

Kensei glanced over his shoulder at the door from where he sat on the couch. Tossing the magazine on the coffeetable, he crossed the room, bare feet thumping softly on his hardwood floors. He opened the door and held it open for Mashiro. "Hey, come on in," he greeted, stepping aside to allow her through the doorway."Shoes off if you wanna come in past the entryway."

"Strict rules," she teased upon entering with a smile and a nod of thanks. Carefully she stepped out of her sneakers and pushed them neatly off to the side before taking a few more steps in to the home. Mashiro let her eyes wander curiously, taking in the various things he had around or hanging on the walls. So this was where he lived, eh? It was cleaner than she imagined.

Closing the door once she was inside, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he took a few steps forward, pausing as Mashiro took off her shoes. He allowed her to look around, then murmured with a smirk, "Lemme guess. You thought my place would look like most bachelor pads?" Most people that saw his place had thought it would be fairly messy, though once they saw it, they realized the military-like cleanliness made sense.

Turning and looking up at Kensei, feeling unimaginably small without her shoes that made her taller, she looked at him blankly. "Not really," she said. "I've never seen one, for starters, but I just thought it wouldn't be so. . .straight." Grinning in a cheeky manner, she waited for him to lead her in to the house. She wasn't just going to waltz around, that was rude. Even though she really wanted to.

Kensei rolled his eyes, but was still smirking. Gesturing for her to follow him, he lead her to the living room. It had the standard couch and easy chair, the walls lined with several shadow boxes displaying some of his knife collection. Stopping, he turned to her and asked, "You want a tour or do you just wanna go on our walk?"

A tour came with this place? Mashiro looked up at him very amused, but her eyes were drawn away when she saw one of the boxes upon the wall. "Why do you have knives hanging on the walls?" she asked. It made her feel a little unsafe knowing he could grab any old knife from his collection and stab her. Not that he would. . .right? She eyed him before shrugging. "Either is fine. Depends on how long you want me in your house."

"Because I collect them," he answered matter-of-factly. "Don't you collect anything? I know you have about a million pairs of them...'fashion sunglasses' you sorta wear." Shrugging at her final statement, Kensei replied, "I don't mind ya in my house. If I did, I wouldn't've invited you in. It's up to you."

With a motion for him to lead the way around, Mashiro merely continued the topic of collecting. "Yes, but I don't hang them in frames on the wall," she stated. Subconsciously her fingers touched the white-rimmed pair sitting on top of her head where her straight hair was hanging down in a rather cute bob. "I have a rack in my closet. You have dangerous objects on the wall!"

"They're behind glass," Kensei replied, reaching out and actually tapping one to demonstrate. With her gesture to continue, the silver haired man lead her around his house. He had a small office where he sometimes continued his work at home, his bedroom (and you really could bounce a quarter off of his tightly made bed); all having the shadowboxes on the walls. It was the only consistant decoration throughout his house. "If you like the knives, wait till you see downstairs," he smirked, flipping on a lightswitch and leading her down into his basement. He had converted it into, essentially, a dojo; a variety of practice weapons on racks on the walls and the floors covered in padding. Off in the corner were weights and a Bowflex, the only gym equipment he owned.

Glass. Ha. Like glass in the long run was going to stop him or whatever felt like it from breaking in and using them. However, she pushed the thought away because it was far too morbid for her. Mashiro merely gave him a look before following along as she often did, trotting down the stairs until she gasped. "Kensei," she said cautiously as she looked at the floor and then around at the walls, the equipment and racks. "Why is this here?" she asked. Really, he went to the gym yet could do the same things at home? Silly.

"'Cause sometimes I don't feel like goin' to a gym. Or I feel like practicin' when it's closed," Kensei replied, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "Seriously, do you like bein' gawked at while you practice?" He wondered what the heck would actually impress this woman. She didn't seem thrilled about anything in his home. Well, aside from himself, but he didn't count.

So he was trying to impress her now? Mashiro would have been impressed by his trying to impress her, not that his little dojo wasn't cool. It was unique, to say the least, and she didn't hate it. Maybe one day she'd use it, not that she was trying to make plans. "I'm not 'gawked at.'" She told him. "I hardly do anything worth being watched."

"And that's why those gym rats started bothering you, hm? For doin' nothing?" Kensei gestured for her to go back upstairs, following her up and turning off the light once they reached the top. He led the way back towards the door, then paused, pointing. "And that's the kitchen. The end." He glanced back at her before starting to walk again.

"They never bothered me before," replied the green haired girl as she walked up the steps. When she reached the top she glanced back to Kensei, shaking her head. "I love kitchens," Mashiro teased. "You cook in them. Did you know?" she grinned and tagged along behind him once more, hoping they were headed toward the door to go outside. It had been nice out when she drove on over.

"I'm a pretty damned good cook, I'll have you know," Kensei stated dryly, glancing back over his shoulder to give her a half-hearted glare. Once getting to the door, he sat on the nearby bench to pull on the pair of socks he had stored in his running shoes. "How is it outside, still nice?"

"Sure you are," said the girl as she stepped in to her shoes. "You'll have to prove it sometime." Grinning, she then nodded. "Yeah, it's great out. A little cool, but I'll survive." Banding over to tie off the laces, Mashiro stood up straight when she was finished and ran her fingers through her hair at the back. "Ready."

"Fine, I will." Kensei finished lacing up his shoes and stood, grabbing his keys from where they hung next to his door. "Let's go." Once the door was locked, his hands went back to their usual place in his pockets as he began to walk in the direction of the park.

Like Kensei, Mashiro let her petite hands stuff themselves in to her own warm jacket's pockets. "I look forward to it," she said with a smile. It would be adventurous to see if he really could cook, she thought. Maybe in turn she'd make him something someday soon. That'd be nice, as long as he liked it. She'd practically die if he hated her cooking.

Kensei glanced down at her, giving her a small smile in return before looking once more ahead. "I'll have to think about what to make then." His eyes went skyward, the last of the sun's light beginning to fade on the horizon. He enjoyed autumn nights like this. "You're right. It is a great night."

"What was that?" asked his companion as she pointed up at his face. "Did you just smile and mean it?" A bream spread across her face as she pointed her slender finger up at Kensei's jaw, brown eyes dancing. "I think you did!" Aw, he'd never live it down now. Mashiro didn't see him smile enough, this had to be cataloged.

"Of course I smile," Kensei grumbled, rolling his eyes once again. "You make me sound like I have no other emotions whatsoever." Though he had to admit, it was nice to see her so excited about a small smile from him. So he didn't smile as often. If he did, she wouldn't be excited now, would she?

No, she wouldn't. Mashiro bit her lower lip with a smirk as she walked beside him across the street and in to the park. "I don't think you have any other emotions," she joked. "I think you have cranky and that's it." Her hands flew up then as if to protect herself from a smack or an "I'm innocent" manner while laughing.

Kensei shot her a glare, but otherwise didn't do or say anything else. They reached the beginning of the park trail, the buildings giving way to trees and lots of grass, the path paved for both joggers and bicyclists to enjoy. "So what do you do for fun?" he asked randomly, trying to strike up a conversation.

Hehe. Giggling to herself, Mashiro fell quiet for a little bit before looking up to Kensei at his question. "Fun?" she echoed before sighed and crossing her arms under her breasts. "I watch TV and play games on the computer," she stated. "or I go shopping." Oh yeah, they had a lot in common.

A lot in common indeed. Well.. They kickboxed, right? That was something. "Ah," was his only reply. Kensei, while an avid computer user, used it to look for his next camping trip, to buy equipment, or do his work. He had even removed solitare from his desktop. The most 'fun' on his computer was his MP3 collection. However, in an effort to keep the conversation going, he asked, "What games?"

It was hard not to laugh, so Mashiro merely looked ahead and gave off her usual blank expression while thinking it over. "Just whatever's installed," she said. "Or I go and blog. To be honest," she looked up athim. "It's kind of boring, which is why I do yoga all afternoon or bring work home."

"Ah, the way you sounded was that you're an avid gamer'r somethin'," Kensei chuckled. His eyes went back to the sky, the dim lamplight just low enough to be able to see some of the stars in the sky. He didn't know what else to say, so he didn't try to, remaining quiet as they slowly followed the path.

Believe it or not, Mashiro was fine with being quiet for the time. She felt content as they walked along the cement, her arms having moved back to hang behind her with her hands in her pockets.She didn't have to talk all of the time, contrary to a lot of belief. Just hanging around and relaxing was good too. Looking at the sky, her brown eyes eventually found the side of Kensei's face and looked at him before away. "Why did you decide to kiss me like that?" she asked.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I dunno... Guess I thought a kiss would let you see if you really liked me or it was just all in your head." Kensei's lips drew into a thin line for a moment before adding, "An' I guess I wanted to see what it felt like, too."

A snort of air in amusement came from her nose as she shook her head lightly. "It's not in my head," she muttered. Mashiro had never thought it was in her head, really. Emotions didn't work like that. She pondered his answer, however. She really wondered what he thought, but she wasn't sure she should ask. This was awkward enough as it was.

"So I've noticed," he murmured in reply, falling silent afterwards. Awkward wasn't the half of it. Sure, Kensei didn't want to be single the rest of his life, but he never thought he'd be dating his assistant. Chewing on his lower lip a bit, he just continued to walk, unsure if she wanted him to say anything else on the matter.

He could always say more, she wouldn't stop him. Walking with a little bounce in her step, Mashiro smiled when she saw some sort of ice cream stand. "Kensei!" she cried when she saw it. "Can I have a popsicle?" She pointed at the stand that had to be closing soonishly. "I'm going to get one. Do you want one too?"

Kensei blinked when she exclaimed his name, looking from her towards the cart. She wanted a popsicle on a cool night like this? Even so, he gave a shrug and nodded. "Sure, let's get over there, it looks like they're packin' up." With that, he began to jog towards the stand, assuming Mashiro would be on his heels, if not passing him.

Oh, he was passed. She didn't have to run for her slender legs practically glided her body over the ground like she was flying. At the stand she stopped them and the guy there smiled before handing over a blueberry flavored popsicle. with a thank you, Mashiro took it and smiled up at Kensei while opening the wrapper. She was pleased, her day was now complete.

Chuckling to himself as she passed him, Kensei caught up with her not too much longer afterwards, just in time to choose a grape popsicle. Thanking the vendor, he opened the rare sugary treat and stuck it in his mouth. Not bad at all. It had been awhile since he'd had anything like a popsicle. Giving Mashiro another small smile, he lead the way back to the path to eat their treats as they walked, his free hand going back into his pocket.

"I didn't think you'd actually have one," she said. Mashiro remembered he wasn't a sweets kind of guy. Smiling, she licked at her delicious treat but keeping it on her tongue or the poutiest part of her lips. "Does that mean I should put some in the freezer at work?" She grinned still, licking away between words and pauses as she waited for him to reply.

Chuckling, he shook his head. "Nah. One a year is good enough for me," Kensei replied with a smirk. Licking idly at his popsicle, he enjoyed the taste while it lasted. Since the night was so cool, the treats weren't melting very fast, so at least their fingers wouldn't be completely sticky with melted sugarwater later.

"One?" she frowned a bit before biting off a piece of the Popsicle where it was getting thin. A moment later she let out a loud cry in pain, one hand flying up to her temple. "Mmmmmmmmmm!" she automatically leaned her head against Kensei's shoulder, she would have done it whether or not he was Kensei, whether or not they were dating. "It-hurts!"

Kensei glanced down at her as she cried out, an eyebrow raising and his popsicle still partially in his mouth. "Well, don't take such a big bite, you dope," he mused, smirking a bit and unable to help a small laugh.

"Shutup," she said as she lifted her head. Her glasses fell down over her eyes, dragging a bit of her hair with it and ruining whatever style she had. "Ahhhh, that hurt," Mashiro whined. Always happened, always. She had no stamina toward cold things. "I dare you to take a bigger one, jerk."

"Now why would I do something stupid like that?" Kensei replied with another chuckle, stopping in his tracks. He reached out and carefully pushed her glasses back onto her head, where she usually kept them before continuing, "I might be able to take a fair amount of pain, but not that kind."

Smirking up at Kensei, she licked the now flat end of her popsicle. "You're crazy," she said while looking him in the face. "'I might be able to take a fair amount of pain,' ugh. Please. You're only Superman in dreams, Kensei." Sticking out her colored tongue, Mashiro took a step away down the walk before he could whack her one.

Kensei didn't smack her. No, he wouldn't do that until he could figure out a safe way to block her kick. "Hey, I kickbox. I have to be able to take some pain, y'know." Rolling his eyes a bit, he followed the green haired woman along the path.

"Still not Superman," she said over her shoulder before stopping some feet away and squinting. "Maybe if you had the cape?" Mashiro scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "No. You'd just look ridiculous." She laughed, waiting for Kensei to catch on up.

"Did I ever say I was?" he chuckled. "Never was into that superhero stuff." His popsicle already half gone, Kensei sped his pace only slightly to catch up with Mashiro before resuming the relaxed walk.

Walking, Mashiro merely ate away. She enjoyed the stroll in quiet until she threw her popsicle stick away in a trash can in passing. "What's your family like?" asked the brilliant haired assistant looking up to her boss. She was curious, really.

Kensei, his bare popsicle stick hanging out of his mouth as he chewed leisurly on it, blinked at the sudden question, glancing at her before returning his gaze to the path. "Small. All my grandparents are dead. My dad's the only one I got, but we hardly have time to talk with each other anymore," he replies quietly.

Nodding, she felt his pain. Really, she felt it hard. Her heart ached for him more than it ever ached for herself and, out of instinct and compassion, her arms wrapped around his left one comfortingly in some half-hug. "It's okay," said Mashiro as cheerily as usual. "My parents died, I lived with an aunt for a while, but I've lived alone for about five or six years now. I don't talk to my aunt either."

Kensei glanced down at her as she wrapped her arms around his, but made no move to dislodge her. He nodded a little. "I know about your parents," he replied quietly. "I researched you when you applied and the news article came up." His voice trailed off, not quite sure what else, if anything, needed to be said.

She didn't feel betrayed by his reading her paper. Mashiro knew it was in the news, knew that anyone could read it. "Way to ruin my sympathy," she said with a small smile after a little while. "And here I thought I was doing something nice."

The corners of Kensei's mouth twitched slightly in a bit of a smile, reaching out to pat her lightly on the small of her back. After a moment of consideration, he left it there. "Sorry. You know how I am," he chuckled lightly.

"Unfortunately," she teased while walking beside him. Mashiro was so happy right now, despite the previous conversation. Really, she just liked spending time with Kensei right now--him actually holding her was a bonus. "Next time you should just thank me, or say something like 'aw.'"

Looking down at her, he can't help a smirk as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do I really look like the type of guy who'd go 'awww'?" Grinning, he looked back ahead. "And you just said that you knew me."

Sniggering, Mashiro looked off to her left. "You just did, thought you should know," she said. Smart mouth. "And I know you, enough. But if you don't think so you'll just have to tell me something."

He rolled his eyes, but the smirk remained on his face. "Tell you something? Like what?" Kensei asked, wondering what the heck she would want to know about him.

Tilting her head back to look up at him, she flashed her white teeth at Kensei. "Anything you want to say," stated Mashiro. "I don't care what."

"I don't have anything to say," Kensei replied with a chuckle, shaking his head. "You gotta ask if you wanna know. I'll answer if I get to ask a question in return."

"You can ask whatever you want," she stated. "We'll make it a game." Mashiro looked ahead while thinking over what she'd ask. Do you like to watch movies?"

"Yes'n no," he replied after a moment of thought. "I go to the movies every now and then, but I rarely watch 'em at home. Maybe if I put the money into a good entertainment system one day." Kensei pursed his lips slightly as he thought. "What made you get into yoga?"

Movies were fun, he needed to see more of them. "I did yoga one day in gym class," she said. "And I really liked it, so I kept doing it." with a little shrug, she hummed to herself. "If you could have any other job at the company, where would you go?" she was curious. She herself couldn't answer the question for she had no idea what she'd do. Really, Mashiro would probably quit if they asked her to move somewhere else. Go back out there and find a teaching job with kids or something of the like. Kensei or not, she wasn't all that great at office jobs.

"Hm." He considered the questions for a long time. Mashiro may have started to wonder if he was going to answer at all before he finally replied with a shrug, "I don't think I want any other job. Mine suits me and the others don't seem as exciting." Kensei was quiet as he mulled over a question to ask, before settling on: "What's your favorite season?"

"I like spring," she said with a smile. Mashiro then looked down at the walk and ahead of them. "I can't think of anything I need to know right now," she stated. "So you're off the hook until I come up with one." Pushing some hair out of her face, she finally let go of his arm. It was much warmer attached to him than not, but she was sure he was tired of it anyway. He didn't like that kind of thing. "You can still ask me stuff if you want, I don't care. I like answering most questions."

Kensei turned to her with a grin. "Alright. What's your natural hair color?" he asked. He hated to admit it, but he'd always wondered. He couldn't help it. Her hair obviously wasn't naturally green.

Looking back up at him, she gasped. "What?" Mashiro let her mouth hang open. "Why do you want to know that? That's stupid," she stated. Really, what did he need to know what her original hair color was anyway? No one needed to know! Mashiro couldn't even identify herself by her hair if it wasn't green.

"Because I wanna! You gotta answer it!" Kensei shot back with a grin, poking somewhat playfully at her side. "C'mon, spillit. If it's so stupid, then it shouldn't be a problem to tell me."

Mashiro frowned and pushed his hand away. "I don't have to tell you!" she cried. "It's just my hair!" Her hand reached up and swatted at his silver hair. "I still don't believe yours is some kind of. . .affliction!"

Kensei looked taken aback. "Affliction?? What the hell are you talking about?? Why the hell is askin' about your hair color such a sensitive subject?"

"Because! I've had this color hair for years! I don't even remember my original color!" Actually, she did. And if he got his hands on her drivers license he'd see her with long, blond hair before it was cut and colored. "Your hair isn't normal either. So there."

"Yeah right,"Kensei replied with a roll of his eyes. "And it is normal. I greyed early. What's wrong with that? You didn't seem to have complaints before."

"I only complain when you want to know that I'm bl-" she shot a rather playful glare up at Kensei as her hands covered her mouth. Slowly her eyes widened and she looked away, sighing when her hands fell down to her sides. "It's not funny, don't laugh."

Kensei raised an eyebrow, a smirk spreading on his face. "I shoulda known," he teased. He tried to picture his assistant with blonde hair and found it surprisingly easy. "Why would I laugh? Bet it looks good on you."

Unsure whether to look at him or not, Mashiro crossed her arms while shrugging her shoulders and tilting her head this way or that. "It's icky," she said. She would have been happy had she not been blinded by her hate for her hair. A lot of people made fun of her for having blond hair because she was so much the stereotype. She didn't want Kensei poking fun at her too.

"Icky?" Kensei repeated with a laugh. Smirking, he said, "Then I woulda been icky." He had grown up with dirty blonde hair up until it started to gray in college. "And you've called me many things, but never 'icky'."

Looking over her shoulder, Mashiro's brown eyes looked him up and down suspiciously. "I wouldn't call you 'icky' because your hair was blond," she said. "I'd call my own hair icky because it was, and people called me a lot of things that I can't call you." Her arms crossed while she slowly, almost begrudgingly, returned to walking beside him. She felt a little insecure about it.

Kensei raised an eyebrow, looking at her. "Call you things? Because your hair was blonde?" He blinked. "Like what?" Sure, he'd heard many a blonde joke and crack, but never any that particularly made him angry or want to dye his hair a different color. Not that he had a choice in change later in life.

She shrugged. "They weren't really hurtful," she stated. "I just didn't like being called names because I was a stereotype." Mashiro gave him a rather serious look, showing that she indeed could have a thought that wasn't something silly. "And after a while it just became a habit. I don't really care anymore, I guess." She guessed.

"Oh... Alright then," Kensei murmured, shrugging a bit. "Though... Why green?" He had to ask. Really. Going from blonde to green was a bit of a stretch for someone who didn't want to be called names.

There was a moment of silence for a moment as Mashiro mulled over whether or not to tell Kensei the truth. There wasn't really any reason to hide it. "Green was my dad's favorite color."

The silver haired man was quiet for a moment. Finally, he nodded once and replied truthfully, "That's a good reason." And it was. Sure, it was a different way to show it, but it was definitely not surprising coming from her.

Mashiro, the cutest radical out there. She smiled up at Kensei lightly before latching on to his arm again. "I wish it was summer again," she said. "It's too cold from here until May!"

Once again not seeming to mind her clinging to his arm, Kensei chuckled and shook his head. "I love this time of year. Summer gets a bit too hot for me. I sweat enough as it is, let alone havin' the weather make it worse."

"Ew," the younger companion scrunched up her nose. "That's unnecessary." She giggled and shook her head. "I guess I can survive. There's some really nice jackets out there."

Kensei laughed and nodded. "There are," he agreed. "Besides, I'm more likely to cuddle when the weather is cool." He glanced down and smirked at her. He said it jokingly, but something about his tone suggested there was some truth to it.

She blushed while looking ahead of themselves. "You shouldn't say those things," she replied. Mashiro was glad he said them, but how was she supposed to react to that? She'd make him cuddle with her anyway--that aside, she really wanted to tell him that was cute. Finally she laughed, her mind running away from her. "Nya, for a guy who's so tough, that was kinda fluffy. Hm, I don't know what to think anymore."

"See, you don't know me as well as ya think,"Kensei teased, smirking. Putting the popsicle stick back into his mouth, he chewed at it once again, a grin on his face as he continued to walk with her along the path.

The walk had been nice. Mashiro was in the middle of thinking about work when she realized they had ended up back where they began. Gasping, she looked up at Kensei and then back at a watch they passed a moment ago. "I should go home," she said. "I have to get up for work tomorrow." She grinned while standing at the edge of the sidewalk while waiting for a lone care to scoot on by.

Kensei chuckled. "Yeah, me too. Imagine that." He looked down at her, as if wondering what else to say. Finally, he settled with, "Thanks for comin' over. I hope you liked the walk. Nothin' special, but I think it was nice."

Nodding as they crossed the street, she smiled. "I did, thanks!" Pushing some of her hair out of her face, Mashiro stopped when they reached her car just outside of the building. "I had fun, thanks for the popsicle, too." She had a good memory of this with her now, a warm feeling in her heart. "Oh, by the way, it's good to see you smile. You do it more now."

Her comment about his smiling brought another one to his lips, preceeded by a soft laugh. "Do I? Didn't notice." Standing in front of her, Kensei once again seemed to consider something, then leaned down and pressed his lips lightly to hers. It wasn't a lingering kiss like their first, but it wasn't a light peck, either. Pulling away, he cleared his throat before saying, "Drive safe. Seeya tomorrow."