2025-05-01 - Come Watch The Sunset

It’s a bit after opening time and well past the morning rush, getting on into the lull that comes near lunch time. Fresh off of a round of the island, Ash accidentally on purpose makes sure his foot patrol leads him to the front gate and then customer relations, where it seems like most of the issues of the day are the routine kind and not ones that need his attention.

Nobody is currently throwing a tantrum or in a panic or having an angry complaint, basically.

In his black uniform he looks all professional and businesslike, but he’s spent some of the morning asking around about that one girl names Iseul. It might have gotten back to her by now. Maybe.

Now he’s pushing open the door to her little office, or whatever one calls it, and peeks inside to see if she’s here. “Excuse me, Im looking for someone.”

The space actually looks a little more like a daycare room of sorts, since that's essentially what it's purposed for. No desks, though there are a couple of low tables over on one side of the room that are currently strewn with paper, loose crayons, safety scissors, 'art' projects in varying stages of completion. Drawings tend to get forgotten and left behind in a hurry when Mommy and Daddy show up to retrieve the artist in question.

There are bookshelves on one wall offering stories that would suit readers ranging all the way up to the tweens, bins filled with all manner of toys, essentially anything one could imagine would keep an indeterminate number of anklebiters entertained for a while. Or at least, distracted from the fact that they're lost and don't know where their parents are.

Right now, though, the place is pretty peaceful. Silent, even. It's one of those rare times when there aren't any lost kids, and Iseul has chosen to take advantage of that blissful state of affairs by sprawling on what looks to be an enormous circular swing bed that's suspended from the ceiling beam in the corner. As if the frame of an old six-foot trampoline frame was repurposed, a hammock/dreamcatcher-esque pattern was woven where the mat used to be, the frame itself was padded for comfort and safety, and the whole thing was strung up and hung up. There are pillows and plushies, so obviously it's used for nap times.

She's not napping, though. She might've been starting in that direction, but as the door opens, her head pops right up. And her eyes go wide when she sees who's peeking right back at her. Did she seriously just 'meep'? Like a kid who got caught doing something they oughtn't, Iseul sits up and starts scooting toward the edge of the swing.

Oh god she meeped. Do people meep?

Ash grins broadly, somehow thrilled and smitten to see her like this all at once, like he’s caught her being secretly adorable. Then he steps inside and closes the door behind himself to announce quietly, “…I was looking for Supergirl but I’m not sure I’d recognize her out of costume. Have you seen her around?”

Halting her movement at the edge of the swing, legs dangling over the edge with sock-clad feet dangling just an inch or so above the ridiculously floofy shag rug that spreads over the floor in that corner, Iseul gazes across at him in silence for a tick, opens her mouth briefly, then closes it again to press lips together and stifle a grin. There's a soft clearing of her throat, then, "Supergirl flew off to Paris or somewhere, to take her lunch break. I think she might've mentioned you to me, though -- are you the Hello Kitty guy? I'd be happy to take a message for her if so."

“Aw man that’s gonna be me now, huh? I wear one Hello Kitty shirt and I’m branded for life.” Ash steps across the room and toward her, turning the volume knob on his radio way down so it’s essentially a whisper as various other security officers check in or report on their positions. Most of it is routine chatter and nothing that requires attention anyway. His eyes are fixed on Iseul though and for the first time he lets himself really take her in. Last night it was limited to glances and less obvious watching.

Clearing his throat, he steps in and extends a hand to shake. “So uh…I’m Ash. Yeong-Su. You can call me either one. Or Hello Kitty Guy I guess.”

Since she's technically on duty at the moment, she's wearing a lightweight sweater suitable for spring, in royal violet. Nothing fancy, mind, since people who work with kids tend to get things splashed, smeared or otherwise applied to them, but it's the island's colors, so it's the uniform. Her dark hair's pulled up in a simple ponytail, probably making her look a bit more girlish. Slender legs are shown off by denim shorts, because comfort is a good thing.

"That's a lot of names," Iseul comments, arching a brow very slightly over glimmering brown eyes as amusement creeps in. "What would you like me to call you?"

Call me anything you want so long as you look at me like that, he doesn’t say.

Instead, “Nobody here calls me Yeong-Su so that’d be nice. I think I’d rather lose Hello Kitty.” He parks his feet a polite distance from her so as not to crowd and starts to say something else but loses it. Gone. Like a ghost.

Oh no. A second ticks by. Five more. Soon it’ll become awkward. He has to fill the silence with something!

“You like kids?” Oh that sounded weird. Ugh. His eyes crinkle a little in suppressed embarrassment.

"Hope so, or I'm in the wrong line of work," Iseul replies with enough warmth in her smile to easily offset the mirthful shine to her eyes. She's inwardly laughing, but not at him, per se.

She finally rises from the odd but admittedly amazing suspended hammock bed, but as her knees straighten, the backs of her legs connect with the edge of the frame firmly enough to set it swinging slightly. It arcs back away from her, then swoops forward again and, as she's a bit too busy losing herself in those eyes of his, she's not really expecting the solid bump that it delivers.

Now, she doesn't faceplant, thank whoever's up there watching over her. That, she might never recover from. But the distance between Iseul and Ash is quite suddenly reduced to almost nil as she stumbles forward with a startled little sound.

Reflexes to the rescue! Catch the girl! Thankfully not in that comically awful way of some anime where Something Inappropriate is grabbed, but to his deep relief Ash snatches her deftly by both shoulders to steady her on her feet and keep her from stumbling any further. His grip is perhaps unexpectedly strong, being from a wiry strength that lets him walk on his hands when desired among other things.

“You okay?” he asks, looking concerned as he holds her for a couple of seconds and then completely forgets to let go.

Let go? What’s that? Somebody look up the instructions.

Whether the blush that flares to life on her cheeks is brought on by embarrassment at her moment of utter derptitude, or the fact that not only is she very close to him now, but actually in physical contact... well, that's anybody's guess. Maybe probably a combination of both. Either way, she seems to have forgotten how to step backwards every bit as inexplicably as he's forgotten how to release his hold on her.

Lifting her gaze to his again, Iseul takes in a shaky breath as if to steady herself, then tries on her best sheepishly apologetic smile. "I'm good. Thank you, Yeong-Su." Guess that answers the question of what she'll be calling him. Hello Kitty is now a thing of the past.

Suddenly he seems to realize he’s practically molesting her shoulders and then let’s go. And crosses his arms to keep them from misbehaving or touching things they’re not supposed to.

“So. Iseul. You wanna meet up for dinner sometime? I mean if you’re not busy after work. I don’t know when your shift ends but mine’s over at two o’clock.” Surprisingly the actual asking out to dinner wasn’t that difficult at all. And of course he knew her name because that’s how he found her.

And she knew he knew it, 'cause word had reached her that 'some guy' had been asking around about her. Ahem. Or maybe she just forgot to offer it, because pretty eyes.

"I'm not busy. I'm hardly ever busy," Iseul answers, maybe just a little too quickly to not seem a touch eager. Or at least enthusiastic. Thus, the blush lingers even though he's not touching her anymore. Quick, cover! "That is, I've only been here a few months, and most of my time is spent with tiny humans, so... I don't have a big social circle, yet." It's not because she's socially defective, or anything. Honest.

All of this, of course, boiling down to: "I'd love to have dinner. With you." In case that last part needed clarification. Probably didn't.

“Okay great. It’s a date!” See, that part he had ready to go! Say the D word so she knows you’re On A Date and by extension maybe Dating, though the -ing part gets added if she agrees to a second one. There are rules and all.

With some measure of relief, Ash relaxes a little from a tension he didn’t even notice. “I should probably get back on my patrol. I just came over here to uh…catch you and keep you from falling, and to ask you out.”

Iseul almost, almost looks briefly disappointed that he's taking his leave. The stirrings of an expression to that effect are quickly tamped down on, though, because it's already been established that they are both still on the clock. So she nods, though she indulges in a few moments spent allowing her gaze to drift over his features, drinking them in.

Maybe that'll tide her over till the next time she sees him.

"Keep saving me like you did today and I may have to give you my cape," she teases, filling the silence before it becomes too awkward. "I... oh! We said 'sometime,' but didn't specify, did we? When's dinner?"

“When does your shift end? I’m thinking like an hour after that, so you’re not rushing around?” He’s already backing toward the door, since it’s hard to not look at her really.

"Evening shift takes over at two." So, just like him. Iseul's eyes are bright at the confirmation that he meant today, and before she even realizes it, she's taken a step toward him as though subconsciously, she's wishing she could just follow him out that door right now. She does catch herself and halt, though not quickly enough that it wouldn't be entirely unnoticeable. "So I'll see you at three? Or do you want to wait until a little closer to dinner time?" Which would mean less time together, but she isn't about to point that out.

“Uhm, I guess dinner is more like six or something? Hey, we can get our food and go watch the sunset together on some benches by the shore. I know a good place!” Yes! That feels right. Also romantic and kind of a great setup for the mood. Ash is suddenly really proud of that idea.

Sensing the right time to duck out, he points at Iseul and says, “Dining hall at 5:30, and we’ll go outside. Cool?”

Rather than prevent him any further from making his exit, Iseul simply nods, her smile dazzlingly bright. And then, before she can succumb to the urge to say anything else, she turns away from him and starts pretending to tidy some things. Things that probably didn't need tidying anyway, but... hell, her face hurts from smiling so much, and that shy little part of her feels the need to hide it, in case he's still looking.

As soon as the door closes it shoots open again and Ash holds up his phone. “Wait! I need your number! Hurry hurry get your phone out. They’re calling me on the radio.”

Dang it, now she's gotta get her smiling reined in somehow. At least fishing her phone out of her pocket and turning toward him again affords her a couple of seconds in which to do so, and she hurries to the door even as she's opening the device and pulling up her contact card. Thank god she's tech-savvy enough to know how to use Quick Share; a quick tap to select the only other Android device in range, and he should be getting the sharing request in moments. Unless that's an iPhone in his hand, in which case, fuck. "Got it?"

He stands there impatiently messing with the phone. It’s an Android of course. Samsung Galaxy something recent. Then after a moment he beams and sends her a hello text and then vanishes again.