Tora smiles coyly at him as he marvels at the hidden elevator. Once the door slides shut and it speeds up to the top floor she explains, "My family owns this building; an investment from when my father lived in the seireitei and needed extra security for when he was not on duty." She ponders if she should explain who her family really is, much less who her father is. For now, she decides that she will when it is more natural for the conversation. The elevator opens up to the transparent entryway of a penthouse. Just outside a lush garden can be seen, filled with greenery, plants, and a handful of tasteful and clearly expensive decorations. She taps a panel and slides it open. Inside are several shelves with various footwear. Slipping out of her tabi, she moves over to allow Tanji to follow suit. She may be open to modern things, but certain traditions are clearly of value to her. "If your shoes need cleaning, I'll key in the order for this to be done." While she waits for his reply, she hangs her key on a peg on the wall.
XXXXX As the elevator makes it's way up, Tora informs Tanji of her father's ownership of the whole building and the reason behind said ownership. Reaching the top shortly thereafter, the elevator then opens to a luxurious penthouse apartment that almost leaves Tanji stunned by how impressive it all is. After putting away her footwear, Tora tells Tanji that if his shoes need cleaning she would key in an order for it to be done. "These old things? I'm pretty sure they would fall apart if you tried to wash them." Tanji responds as he holds up the pair of shoes he was wearing, that defiantly look like they could fall apart at any moment, before setting them down on one of the shelves. Then, as Tanji is about to continue speaking, his stomach lets out an audible growl. Responding to the growl once it finishes, Tanji lets out a laugh before joking "Guess that means I'm ready for some dinner."
OOC Notes: Word Count: 160 * 2.5 = 400 TM's Word Bank: 12,865 ⮞ 13,265
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
Tora giggles a bit about his comment concerning his shoes. Tilting her head slightly and smirking when his stomach growls, she replies to his remark with, "I see that! Let's do something about it, then." She heads into the kitchen and stares into the fridge for a moment. "Uh, I could call Hikari to go pick up take out and drop it off. Nah, that's just somebody to bother us." She gives him a sheepish look. "All that seems to be in here is a small container of Oyaku, a few bottles of sake, and a half eaten Buddha Bowl. Honestly, you couldn't put any of that together as a meal. Hm ... it is mid week, so nobody has really been expecting either one of us. Also explains why there's hardly anybody here ..." She ponders that a second and shrugs. She looks in the pantry and pulls out the rice pot and starts a pot of rice. "Might as well get something started." She pulls out a jar of pickled vegetables and sets it on the counter. "Might as well have something basic until we can get something more substantial." She puts away the dashi flakes that she had sprinkled into the rice pot with the rice and water. Fishing through the cabinets she finds a can of salmon. "I guess this will do then. Mind salmon fish cakes?"
XXXXX Following Tora into the kitchen and watching her open the fridge to reveal the nearly empty interior, Tanji is a little surprised to see that such a nice apartment has such an empty fridge. After both of them shrugged in unison, Tanji and Tora both start searching the kitchen for something they could cook up for a meal. Tanji, not knowing which cabinets and draws where for food and which were for utensils, tools, and appliances, doesn't find anything edible before Tora had managed to start cooking some rice and pickled vegetables, and pull out a can of salmon before asking if he minded salmon fish cakes "Sounds like a good place to start but we will probably need more to eat then that." Tanji responds as he opens another cabinet, revealing more cans of potential ingredients. "What about these? Is there anything you think we could make out of them?" Tanji asks as he pulls out and sets on the counter an armful of cans and a tied up grocery bag that seems to be full of small cans.
OOC Notes: Word Count: 180 * 2.5 = 450 TM's Word Bank: 13,265 ⮞ 13,715
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
Tora turns to look. Cans of vegetables, soup, and coffee are dragged out of the cabinet. "The coffee might be nice for the morning." She sorts the cans out and sets in front of Tanji two cans of soup. "There's miso and tonjiru. Personally I like the pork flavoring of the tonjiru better, but we can just do the miso if you prefer." She picks through the cans and scrunches her brow as she examines it. "Corn chowder ... sounds like one of Ikasu's cans. I'll leave that for him. I haven't been home since last week, so honestly I don't know why the fridge is empty unless the reason Hikari wasn't home was because he left for groceries." She shrugs and opens another cabinet. The egg basket. She stares at it with a dumbfounded expression and then rolls her eyes before pulling them down and putting them on the counter next to the fridge. "Tamago Kake Gohan," she announces, deciding to make egg rice. She grabs the soy sauce and mirin and sets it next to the rice pot then takes the soup that Tanji has picked and cracks the can open and prepares it. "I hope you don't mind anything simple. I don't actually cook often, but I know the basics." She then opens the salmon and starts making fish cakes with the last of the panko crumbs that she dug up from the bottom of the cabinet. 'Hiki better have a good reason for not doing at least this chore ... he knows that Kyosei has zero idea how to shop and Kuroyuri is worse. Hell, so am I.' She smiles to herself as the fish cakes fry in the pan. "Shouldn't be too long. Feel free to make yourself comfortable, unless you want to add to our dinner."
XXXXX After he helps her sort through the cans, Tora asks Tanji to decide between two cans of soup. "I don't think I've had either before so we can go with the one you prefer." he says after giving the cans a quick once over and seeing that the miso was long past it's expiration date. Then after he put away the can of corn chowder Tora said to leave for Ikasu Tanji pauses for a second and thinks "Wait Ikasu? What are the odds that is the same Ikasu I met at the academy? I don't think his last name was Hinote... or did I not get it?" Tanji finishes that train of thought just in time to hear Tora downplaying her cooking abilities and responds by saying "Well I've never even had the opportunity to cook before so I'm sure anything you make would probably be better then anything I tried to make." and hoping that it would give her a little more self confidence about her cooking. Tora then says the fish cakes shouldn't take too long and that he should feel free to make himself comfortable unless he wanted to add to their dinner. "You look like you got this handled so I'll just take a quick look around to get a feel of the place while you finish that up." Tanji says before exiting the kitchen.
OOC Notes: Word Count: 230 * 2.5 = 575 TM's Word Bank: 13,715 ⮞ 14,290
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
Tora calls over her shoulder, "Sure, go ahead. I'll see what I can do to make this presentable." She pulls the pot of soup off of the stove and pulls out plates and bowls then sets the table. 'I wonder if I should bother trying to prepare a desert. There's not a lot to work with, but I think I can pull together something basic involving sugar and rice. Nah, I already put the dashi in the rice pot.' She continues to ponder as she transfers the food to serving dishes and places it on the table, leaving the rice for last so that it stays hot for the egg rice. Plating a pair of small bowls with pickled vegetables she silently prays that this first date goes well. Physical attraction is one thing, compatibility is another. Next the sake is pulled out of the refrigerator and put on ice and a pair of sake bowls are set on the table. The spice tray is laid in the center and she fusses over the presentability of the dining area one more time. "Tanji-sama, dinner is ready if you're still hungry!"
XXXXX Finding himself in the apartment's garden as he explores the place while waiting for the food to be done, Tanji is incredibly impressed by how fancy it is and spends a while talking it all in. After a few minutes of taking in the beauty of the garden he hears Tora calling out that the food is done and makes his way back to the kitchen. "Oh that's looking pretty good and smells even better." Tanji says as he enters the kitchen and gets a good look at the nicely laid out spread of food Tora has set up on the kitchen table. After he and Tora take a seat and get their first few bites of food into their mouths, Tanji's face lights up and his mouth forms a big smile which shows he is defiantly liking the food.
OOC Notes: Word Count: 140 * 3.5 = 490 TM's Word Bank: 14,290 ⮞ 14,780
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
Tora smiles and sets the last bowl at the table as he arrives. "I hope that you like dinner." She takes a seat at the low table and says, "Douzo meshiagare!" as an invitation to eat and enjoy his meal - often said as a reply to 'Itadakimasu' by a host. Once the niceties have been exchanged, she cracks her egg onto her rice and pours on plenty of mirin and soy sauce along with the seasonings of her choice and then mixes it well. "Let's get to know one another better. Since you are my guest, please go first. What would you like me to know about you?" Letting the egg set up in the rice mixture, she pours them each a cup of tea. She is not quite yet ready to start on the sake quite yet.
XXXXX A bit into the meal Tora asks Tanji to tell her a bit about himself. "About me? There isn't much of a story to tell, so I hope the shortness of my whole life story doesn't disappoint you. As far back as I can remember I was was already just some orphan that the academy had taken in to raise, and after the academy I just kinda ended up in the 3rd division. Sense then, all I've ever really done is work there while finding what time I could for a nice nap or maybe a short lived hobby, if I was particularly lucky that day." he answered, wiping a bit of rice off the sides of his mouth. "But yeh that's about all there is to my story, so I guess it's my turn to learn a bit about you. How do you feel about starting with exactly when and why did your crush on me start?" Tanji continued before grabbing his cup of tea and taking a small sip as he watched Tora's face react to his question.
OOC Notes: Word Count: 180 * 3.5 = 630 TM's Word Bank: 14,780 ⮞ 15,410
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
A look of sympathy crosses her face as he relays his sad story. At the same time, it crosses her mind that this would make the Seireitei more of a home to him than most. "It was good of them to take you in like that. It must have been hard for you." She ponders about the rest and nods. The napping does seem to be a consistent hobby of his. Not that she can blame him. After all, active as she is, she has been known to catch a nap whenever duties and obligations have been met or it is absolutely unavoidable. Mostly the latter since she tries to keep constantly moving. She gets jolted out of her thoughts by his question, which wasn't the usual 'and you?' that one might expect. "W-when did I start having a crush on you?" she asks in surprise. Despite the fact that she typically prided herself on thinking through every scenario before it happens, this was one that threw her for a loop. After all, she didn't think a guy would ask that of her. She blushes like crazy and crams a bite of fish cake in her mouth to buy herself some time as she tries to think of what that answer might actually be. Running through every recollection of encounters and sightings of Tanji, she ponders if these were incidental or if she was subconsciously stalking him. This thought process causes her to choke slightly on the salmon fish cake. After clearing her throat with a swallow of tea, she replies, "Ah, well, it wasn't all at once, you see. It was the little things I noticed over the past since we first met. I mean, when I first introduced myself to you in the division upon receiving my commission, I thought you were pretty cute ... no, honestly, you are quite handsome, but the way you hide your looks behind your hat ... it was quite frankly adorable to me. I mean ..." she trails off a moment and takes a sip as she considers the best phrasing of what she wants to say. "Looks are only secondary to me, if not necessarily a high priority," she continues, "After all, I'm a beast person. I could hardly expect anybody to think about me as attractive, no matter what I do to my human form. But, I knew that some people see past that. What I am saying is not that I think that I am ugly or anything, but that appearances are not everything. You know?" A deep slow breath as she tries to slow her words down a bit and attempt to sound less awkward. A memory that she recognizes as vital to her opinion of him. "At first, I was rather put off by your apparent laziness. The entire division talks about your famous naps and ability to pass out in only three seconds or less. Still, I never thought poorly of you. You were just that cute superior that I obey. However ... one day while I was out on a basic patrol, filling in for a gap in the patrol schedule and getting some exercise while I was at it ... from the roof top I was running on, I heard a child crying. Just as soon as I had jumped down into a nearby alleyway and was about to go see what was the matter, I saw you walk up to the child and lift him up. You were so gentle and kind to that small child as you took care of the scrape on their knee and helped him find his mother only a street away ... I knew you were a good man and a kind soul. After that, I started to notice the small acts of kindness and things you do to make people feel better. And don't think I don't notice them. It is little things like that over time that made me fall for you." After a few more bites the egg rice and fish cakes are gone off of her plate and bowl. All that is left is the cup of soup. "What made you fall for me?"
XXXXX After listening to Tora's response to his question and finishing his cup of tea with one last chug, Tanji responds with "Well I'd be lying if I didn't say the fact that every time I saw you I thought you were really cute, regardless of if you were fully human, fully cat, or somewhere in between the two, was a factor, or at least started me off with a good opinion of you. Tho the first time I felt anything more then thinking you were cute would be when I read your love letter. While I was reading it I could tell you were really sad about something while you wrote it and after I was done I felt like I had to swear to myself that I had to make you happy if I could. Of course after that Oda came barging into my office while looking for you and then we set off to find you. Tho at that point I don't think had quite crossed the line of falling for you. The kiss is what I would say put me over the edge, cus during it I could feel how much you liked me and now I can't help myself from feeling the same for you." before grabbing one of the fish cakes he hasn't eaten yet, and continuing his speaking. "Ok, my next question is, how much petting is too much and do you mind if I pet you as often as I can?" is what he is able to get out of his mouth before his hand shoves the fish cake into his open mouth.
OOC Notes: Word Count: 270 * 3.5 = 945 TM's Word Bank: 15,410 ⮞ 16,355
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
She lets out a short laugh upon hearing about Kuroyuri's intrusion of his office. "Sounds like them, particularly Kuroyuri," she chuckles a little. 'That worry wart, but at least her actions didn't put him off. Perhaps it was a good thing that she was looking for me. I should find some way to thank her later. "You know what. The Odas will be coming home sooner or later. Why don't we take this conversation to my room and get to know each other better. I have a comfy couch in there and I can put on some background music if you like." She picks up the sake bowls and sake bottle and stands up. "Don't worry about the dishes. I can deal with them later. Or somebody else will." She smiles at him and starts heading towards the stairs. "Coming?" As she walks up the stairs she answers his question, "I love being petted and often. I will let you know if I am not feeling like it, though."
XXXXX After Tanji's next question, Tora grabs the sake bowls and unopened sake bottle then asks if he wants to come to her room with her before giving her answer. Tanji, feeling slightly guilty for not at least putting the dishes in the sink if they weren't going to bother cleaning them right now, follows Tora upstairs and into her room. "You have a room this nice all to yourself?" he says as he sees how nice her room is compared to any room he has ever had all to himself.
OOC Notes: Word Count: 90 * 2.5 = 225 TM's Word Bank: 16,355 ⮞ 16,580
Combat Actions:
Offensive Action:
none
Defensive Action:
none
Augment Actions:
1) none 2) none 3) none
Passives:
"I guess I shouldn't hold back in this fight": Offensive Fighting Style (currently +10)
Tora shuts the door behind her and settles onto one end of her couch. "Yes, it's my room. Is this unusual?" she asks innocently. As she speaks, she pours him a bowl of sake and then hands it to him before pouring her own. She picks up a small remote on the end table and clicks a button on it. A stereo on the dresser lights up and she scrolls through a playlist and hits play. Softly in the background the music sets a warm and romantic mood. 'I hope that he doesn't think that I am being too aggressive here ... here it goes.' Setting the remote down, she takes another sip of her sake and realizes that it is already nearly gone. "More?" she offers as she grabs the bowl. There is a warm sensation working its way through her. This is a particularly intoxicating batch, she notes. 'Did I grab a Nakamura brew?' She glances at the bottle and the shape and label makes her think of something from one of her clan's brewery and it crosses her mind that this might be something that Ikasu brewed since that is one of his hobbies. "Whew, this batch of Nakamura sake is strong. I guess it has been a while since I had any. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying it ..." Two bowls in and starting a third during their conversation getting to know one another, she tosses back the last of her sake in one big swig and smiles at him. "I'm feeling hot ... it's kind of hot in here." She suddenly loosens her yukata and pounces.
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