(Untitled)

[1stguardian]

Who: Orihime (futurehime) and Ichigo (1stguardian)
What: Showing Orihime around the Thor
When: After this conversation
Where: Starting with the dolphins and moving on
Warnings: None that I can think of

Comments

[futurehime]

It was an understatement to say that she had be relieved to find Ichigo on the Thor. The last thing she remembered before finding herself filling out paperwork was Aizen telling her she had only been a distraction. She thought that the war had been lost and that was why she ended up here. Then she saw Ichigo and she wasn't so sure. As long as Ichigo was here then there was still hope. She had always had faith in him.

She sat near the edge of the pool, watching the waves form slowly, thinking about home and what all of this meant. She was so deep in thought she almost didn't hear the footsteps approaching. She turned her head and smiled, he really was here.

[1stguardian]

And there she was. Even with her head turned, he would recognize her anywhere. Resisting the urge to scratch at the back of his head and fidget, Ichigo shoved his hands in his pockets as nonchalantly as possible as he headed over. What to say when he reached her? I'm sorry for leaving you in Hueco Mundo? I'm sorry for letting the world get destroyed? He didn't know. He had already apologized, but once didn't seem like it was enough.

Ultimately, he chose neither option. When she turned to him and smiled, Ichigo gave her a small grin in return. It wasn't anything spectacular, that grin, just a quirking upward of his lips, but it was genuine. The alternative was to smile like a fool, and he couldn't let himself do that.

"Hey," he greeted her easily, as if they were simply seeing each other after a long weekend. As if he hadn't spent weeks guiltily tearing himself up over her absence. "Long time no see. I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?"

latest reply evr D: SRY

[futurehime]

"OH..." his voice snapped her out of her thoughts quickly, "no, of course not Kurosaki-kun."

Now wasn't the time to be thinking like that anyway, she was about to see everything on the Thor, a spaceship! She had always wondered what it would be like, being an astronaut. She should focus on that, on this new adventure and try not to think about what was left behind.

She stood up, excited about seeing everything. "Where are the dolphins, Kurosaki-kun?"

No worries! My notifs aren't working anyway! <3

[1stguardian]

What he didn't admit was that he had a tendency to get lost on the ship. Even now, with its plethora of aliens, it was still disorienting. And maybe that was a good thing. He wasn't sure he wanted to get used to living on a spaceship. It would take some of the wonder out of it.

"Yeah, they're..." He'd never actually been down here, having no real reason to go for a swim, but he'd seen a video on the guide. "Okay, over here."

Gesturing for her to follow him, he started off around the pool. "What do you think of the place so far, Inoue?"

<3

[futurehime]

"Ah, its so big..." She looked around as if to illustrate the point. She was so preoccupied looking around that she tripped over her feet and fell forward.

"OOOOfff"

[1stguardian]

Noticing her stumble out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo turned and reached out to steady her. "Careful," he cautioned with a faint twitch of his lips. "I don't know about you, but I've got all day. Hell, I've got all week. There's no rush."

He meant it. They could explore the ship as long as she wanted, and if she got tired of that, there was always the planet below. Ichigo hadn't seen it yet, but he'd heard people talking about it and, copious amounts of paperwork aside, he wouldn't mind paying it a visit. Especially now that some of his friends had arrived.

"You okay?"

[futurehime]

She had closed her eyes as soon as she had tripped, bracing for the ground but she never hit it. When she opened them back up she found Ichigo bracing her from falling. She blushed slightly before answering,"I'm okay." She let out a small chuckle. "I just never thought I would be on a spaceship, it's really exciting!"

[1stguardian]

Noticing the blush, Ichigo gave her a light, comforting pat on the shoulder. "Yeah, can't say I did either. I'm still getting used to it. Maybe you'll have an easier time of it than me."

He rolled his eyes then, lifting his hand from her shoulder to scratch awkwardly at the back of his neck. "I'm still having trouble with the fish."

[futurehime]

Fish? Was he talking about the dolphins? That didn't make any sense, she was about to ask what he meant when she remembered that little fish they had given her with the towel and the communicator. She had been through so much she had forgotten what it was for by the time she was allowed out to find her room.

She fumbled around her new belonging until she found the little creature, "Ah, you mean this Kurosaki-kun? I never found out what it was for..."

[1stguardian]

Wrinkling his nose, Ichigo eyed the fish. It had been nearly three weeks, and he still wasn't comfortable with it. Oh, he'd stuck it in his ear and had left it alone once it was in there, but he still knew it was there and thought about it more than he probably should have. "That's the one."

He tapped a finger against his ear. "It goes in your ear. Apparently it can translate every language you hear into something you can understand." He shrugged. "I don't know how, but it works."

[futurehime]

"In your ear?!" She hadn't been expecting that. She thought maybe it was pet or just a random item like the towel. Putting a fish in your ear didn't sound like something you should do. Of course, she also hadn't planned on ending up on a spaceship either.

"You have it in your ear, Kurosaki-kun?" It wasn't sound logic at all, but if he had done it then she could believe that it was ok.

[1stguardian]

"My thoughts exactly," he muttered under his breath at her startled exclamation. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one who had a problem with it. Everyone else seemed perfectly happy to shove marine life into their ears, like it was the normal thing to do.

In answer to her question, he nodded. "Yeah. It took some convincing, but... I did it. Just, I don't know, prepare yourself for it when you do. It feels weird."

[futurehime]

Well, if he could do it she could too! Without a second thought as to whether or not now was the time to insert the little fish Orihime picked it up, tilted her head to the side and dropped it on top of her ear. It wriggled around and flopped, as if it was trying to find water before slithering down her ear. She gave an uncomfortable wince at first, before letting out a little giggle.

"It tickles."

[1stguardian]

He watched her insert the fish into her ear with a certain amount of horrified fascination. It was almost worse to watch someone else do it than it had been to do it himself. And it really made him wonder who had thought to do it in the first place. And why. Chances were, alcohol had been involved.

"Gross, huh?" Ichigo grimaced, then shook his head. "If I could speak another language, I'd help you try it out. But..." All he knew were a few phrases of basic English and he doubted that he was good enough at those to be understandable, fish or not fish.

[futurehime]

"It's ok, I'm sure I'll find someone to talk with soon." She had already met some new faces over the network, it wouldn't be long before she got to test the fish out, she was sure of it.

"Ah, are we getting close?" She didn't want to be bothersome, but she was very excited to see the dolphins.

[1stguardian]

"Yeah." No one could ever accuse Ichigo of being a good tour guide. "Right over here."

Leading Orihime around the pool, he took them toward the deepest section. He approached the water's edge slowly, remembering the unfortunate guy who'd fallen in not too long ago. It seemed like the dolphins had had a field day with him.

"They're in there. Just... Be careful not to fall in. I saw it happen to a guy once over the guide."