A Stroll to Remember

She continued to make little mumbly noises every so often, with the occasional completely irrational line thrown in there "sockricket." was one particularly loud mumble. She was just starting to look like she might drool again when the bus slowed to a halt. She jerked forward and immediately snapped awake, her hands reflexively clutching the nearest thing. In this case, it was Kaimu's shirt.

"Huh? Ah.. Wha.." She looked around, reaching up to wipe at her mouth before suddenly clutching her chest. She looked like she might panic for a moment before she tugged a strand of hair in front of her eyes. "Oh holy shit.." She groaned and leaned against Kaimu again, for a moment before looking out. "O-Oh! We're here!" She said wearily. She stood up and yawned, stretching herself out before snapping back with a little bounce in her step. "Sorry. Vehicles always make me sleepy. Did you enjoy the view?" She asked, in reference to the window view he'd had the whole bus ride.

This time he couldn't suppress is smirk as she awoke, though it was still hidden behind his hand. When she situated herself, gaining her bearings back after waking up, he moved his hand; his smirk now replaced by a smile.

"No need to apologize about that, Elly-tan." He replied, just as Elly announced that they were here. He glanced out the window and his eyes widened slightly, though at her question he turned back to her with a smirk. "Oh, it was quite lovely~"

He chuckled, "Your sleeping face is quite cute."

If she hadn't just woken up, if she were a little more composed and maybe if she didn't still have some memories of him from her dream that even before he'd said anything were threatening to make her blush. If not for all of those things, she might have given him a sarcastic little quip and waltzed off the bus. Instead, her face turned red and her fists clenched a little. She closed her eyes and grimaced, although EVER SO SUBTLE context clues would tell Kaimu that she was anything but angry. "Y..You didn't even l-look out the window? You just w-watched me sleep?" She trembled a little, looking like she might break with a tap. "Y..You dork..."

"Not the whole time." Kaimu answered, now grinning a little as Elly turned red. "I was looking out the window for awhile until I heard a cute voice begin mumbling~."

Perhaps he was being a bit cruel with his teasing, though he could tell she wasn't really angry. She was more so embarrassed, a little teasing wouldn't do too much damage. He'd stop soon though, he didn't want to completely embarrass her after all; just see her get a bit flustered some more.

She just started to relax. Okay... maybe he hadn't noticed the drool or... or... "M...M...Mumbling?" She bit her knuckle suddenly. Shiiit. What did she saaay. No no no no. She couldn't even focus on how he'd called her voice cute. "A..And... what did this voice mumble?" She asked, looking like her knees might tremble. Embarrassment was much like cold. You can take any amount of cold if you're prepared for it. But the cold always cuts to the bone when you first wake up.

Kaimu stood from his seat as she spoke, moving towards her and smiling down at her once more.

"Oh, nothing really." He teased, glancing up as if he were thinking and trying to remember what'd she'd said. "I might have heard my name pass your lips though."

She knew better then to relax when he said nothing really. She KNEW better. But she believed him anyway and tried to, just a little. She might have been caught completely off guard if not for the past few times he'd teased her. So she still had her hands a little clenched and was still trembling when he finally finished that sentence. She gave an immediate "EEP!" And launched forward, burying her face in his chest. "Y-you.... D-dork..." She grabbed his shirt with one hand while the other desperately seeked for a soft spot to give little pinches to. "Wh-what did I say... Tell meee..." Her voice was a little muffled against his shirt but audible. She latched on rather good to a spot on his side.

He'd had to choke back another small laugh, but as she latched onto him his arm went around her; keeping hold on the embarrassed espada. "Well....It wasn't quite clear, something about something being pretty? You never specified though..." He said, finishing with a slight pout.

"Mm, Elly-tan~? We should probably get off the bus since this is our stop. Would you care to walk or would you rather I carry you?"

She felt like her heart physically dropped and had fallen out her hollow hole. Which was less possible than usual (not that it was remotely possible to start with) as she was in a gigai. Still, she froze up when he mentioned that. Oh god.. Oh god, she had said that whole thing aloud? Her face turned brighter red. She buried her face further into his shirt. She managed to smirk though a little bit. Whatever he'd heard, he seemed affectionate regardless. That was good, right? "D-don't make offers you're not going to keep, shinigami." She said, fully intending to be sarcastic. Her shaking voice made that harder than usual, however and it just sort of came out nervous.

"Hehhh~?" He rose a brow at the flustered espada, his grip around her back moving up to her shoulders as he leaned his head down slightly; close to ear. "When did I say I didn't intend to keep it, hm? I wasn't bluffing you know."

Saying that, he leaned over more; his other arm finding it's way behind her knees as he tilted her back to lift her up. When she was in his arms he gave a small smirk before he started walking towards the door of the bus, exiting it with a small hop from the last step onto the asphalt sidewalk.

She couldn't help but bite her lip when he grabbed her shoulders, although when he leaned down to whisper to her, she just sort of ... froze... mouth a little open, making an almost gasp before she was suddenly scooped up with an "eep!" Cradled in Kaimu's arms, she just... blushed more, trying to sink and hide from the other passengers. She caught a little smirk from some which made it all the worse... She gloomily realized her best option was... She slipped her arms around Kaimu and buried her face into him again. "Jerk... You're a terrible jerk.... A..Big..stupid...pretty... strong... jerk.." She realized that had become less effective as time passed and realized briefly that she would never survive as a tsun...

"A..Are you going to put me down?" It didn't sound like a suggestion. More like she couldn't bring herself to do much but ask questions at the moment.

This time he couldn't hold the chuckle back either at her ineffective insults that ended up having a few compliments mixed within them. "Well, this jerk wouldn't want you to be too embarrassed. If I carried you more people might stare, which seemed to embarrass you back on the bus."

She got quiet. Very quiet. She pursed her lips, staring straight at the ground, holding his shirt with one hand, her other pressed to her absolutely pounding chest. She closed her eyes and nuzzled herself against him in a futile attempt to keep him from seeing her face. "Idontcare." She muttered quietly, almost as if it were a confession. She squeezed him a little tighter.

"Mmm? What was that, El-ly-tan~?" He asked, purposely drawing out her name, "I don't think I caught that. I certainly don't mind the stares, though you'll have to direct me on where to go when we go inside."

He gave a small, obviously fake sigh. "I'm afraid this poor rogue doesn't quite know where to go on his own..." He said, shaking his head.

She squeaked, nervously. Damn you, Kaimu... She curled up some more. If he could see how red her face was and she couldn't do anything about that... she'd just have to deal with it... but nobody else was going to see the effect this stupid shinigami was having on an arrancar. It would just be embarrassing. "I said... I don't care.. who stares." She said a little louder and clearer. Why did he have to make her say it... "Poor Rogue... f-feh.." She managed to get out with an uneasy smile. "Um.. you just.." She winced, realizing he was really going to carry her through the mall... and what's more she couldn't bring herself to tell him not to. "You just.." She sighed, defeated. "You just go through the main entrance and turn right... Go up the moving stair thingy and you'll... see it on the right..." She sighed and let her head rest against his chest. Her face was a little less red.

With directions, he gave another bright smile before turning towards the entrance; giving a look of surprised awe as the doors automatically opened for him when he neared them. "Ahhh, the doors open automatically? You don't have to slide them open or anything!"

He was quite intrigued by the 'moving stair thingy' Elly had mentioned. So the human world not only had those bus', cars, and automatic doors but also moving stairs? Humans really put forth effort to make sure they wouldn't need to walk very far to get places.

She glanced around at the various people, getting their weird looks, their little whispers to each other, their poorly hid giggles. She continued to blush, but there was also a small smile. A bit of a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. She curled up a little more, her face heading back to blush town as they came up the escalator. She looked over at the foodcourt and tried to say something "Ah... I.." He wouldn't be able to carry her through the line. "H..Hey Kaimu?" She gestured with her head over to a little alcove. It probably led to an emergency exit stairs or something of the like. Either way, it was just out of view of most people walking by. "C...Can you head over there for a second?"

When they reached the escalators he couldn't help but stare at them for a moment, his attention being pulled from them by Elly. He glanced down at her before looking over to where she was gesturing. "Sure." He replied simply, giving a small nod before heading over there; out of sight from others.

"This spot right?"

She gave a nod.  "Mhm?"  She was answering him but it sounded like a question still.  He might realize what she was about to do.  He might have known when he brought her over.  If not, the little blush she gave might have given him some indication.  Either way, she reached up, wrapping her arms to the back of his neck, one sliding down to his shoulder for better support, and so as not to hurt his neck.  She pulled herself up and pressed her lips to his.  Her kiss was easily as fierce as the one on the rooftop from earlier.  This one was... different, however.  It wasn't sexually driven like the first.  She kicked her legs a little in place for the duration of the kiss, before pulling away.

She immediately turned into a blushy mess again and laid her head against him, but she was smiling this time. "S-sorry... I just... wanted to do that... before we got food."

He hadn't realized why she'd wanted him to bring her here. Perhaps the looks had been a bit too embarrassing and she needed a second to get over it and cool down? Though as he neared the area he noticed her blush slightly more, which made him curious.

His curiosity wasn't untouched for long before she reached up, moving her arms around him as she kissed him. He was slightly surprised at first, only for a few seconds. She wasn't kissing him like how she had been on the roof or back in the Rukon, but he responded to it regardless; enjoying the feel of it.

Kaimu felt her kicking a little during the kiss, only stopping when she pulled away and blushed again.

"It's fine, I don't mind. If you want to kiss me than you can kiss me." He replied, his smile and tone soft. "It was nice."

He gave a light chuckle, "and, I suppose it was a good idea to do so before we ate."

She looked up, blushing, but her smile turning from a nervous one to something more warm. She eventually reached up and placed a finger to his lips. "Shush. Don't tell me I can do that or we'll be here forever." She also immediately realized how cheesy that was and squirmed a bit. "Um... You can let me down now. I-If you want to..." It might be hard for them to go through a food line like this after all..

At her request, he set her down; carefully placing her back on her feet as he chuckled at her earlier response. If they weren't about to go eat, he'd have probably kept carrying her; but he supposed just like back home and with how the human world had been centuries ago, you'd need to order what you wanted to eat...and carrying someone might make that a little difficult.

"Ready?" He asked, smiling.

She crossed her arms, more out of nervous habit than anything, even though her first instinct was to hold her hand. Nerves won out and she did a small sideways lean against him. "Ready!" She said, face still showing a few traces of red, but much more normal now. She cheerily walked out of their little hiding spot and into the food court.

"So! I know this might all sound alien to you, but we have chicken over there, sub sandwiches, pizza, a burrito place, an ice cream store, a burger place..." She spun back. "Any of that stand out to you?"

"Ahh, well..." He started, "I know what chicken is, and a sandwich but I've never heard of subs...It all sounds nice though. I'll eat where ever your preference is. If we choose one place I think I can figure it out from there!"

Most of it had sounded rather alien to him, she'd been right but he was willing to try anything! It smelled really nice here, a mix of all sorts of delicious smelling food. He couldn't pinpoint which sounded and smelled the absolute best.

She nodded and walked over towards the pizza place, looking over and smiling before gesturing for him to smile. "Well then, you're in for one of the finest delicacies in the human world." she said, hoping he knew she was kidding about that. While what he was about to eat was insanely delicious, it was not, in fact, fine dining.

She got up and was asked what she wanted. "We'll... take... a large cheese pizza. " She said, holding on for a moment before adding. "With stuffed crust cheese! And two drinks!" The man nodded and punched a few buttons. Elly pulled out the cash she'd apparently gotten at some point when neither of them was paying attention ( <_< >_>) and paid the man. She turned to Kaimu and poked his chest. "you're gonna love iit~!"

A few minutes later, their pizza was up. Elly picked it up and hurriedly brought it to an empty table before picking up her drink and walking over to a soda machine. She filled hers up with ice and coke, gesturing for him to do the same.