The Fox and the Geese [Himiko, Erchanhardt]

"Of course, take your time."

Standing to bring the fish aside for lunch, Erchanhardt moved over toward the small camp kitchen he'd assembled, readying the fish for cooking before setting them over the fire and taking a seat. Well, he thought he may as well relax for a moment, so naturally he removed the wet shirt he'd worn for fishing. He could change into something more appropriate later, but for now it was comfortable to simply stretch a bit. He'd gotten a bit too accustomed to that dogi, hadn't he?

His mind did, of course, turn to the woman he'd come out here with. Perhaps he was the one misunderstanding the situation? Well, he had already misunderstood it before, so that did seem rather likely. But in what manner could he have been? There was, of course, the possibility he had simply been giving off some degree of romantic signal, but...

Well, that just seemed as though Erchanhardt were overthinking it, didn't it? How overconfident of him, assuming that of a woman. There was of course some other explanation, naturally. Besides, what would he even think to do if this were some sort of romantic matter? He'd not so much as considered that in centuries.

It took her a little bit to get herself sorted, changing into a set of dry clothes after toweling herself down in priviate. What a bummer, maybe she was just cursed. It was definitely because of the ears and tail wasn't it? It was only the people with the short term interest of getting with her once for the sake of her extra bits that seemed interested in her and all the nice guys seemed to just not even notice.

This was all so hard.

When she came back out and started approaching she stopped dead in her tracks. What did he do? Why was he shirtless? Quickly she turned around and ducked back into her tent to try and think this through and ruffle through her back to try and look like she was doing something. It wasn't anything.

Gotta think, gotta think. Hard to think, very distracting. Crud, crud, crud. She grabbed her bottle of water as her excuse and tried to look totally nature and not let her ears or tail give anything away as she edged back towards him.

Not fair, not fair. Not cool. This was cruel.

"A-aalll done haha..ha."

Watching as the fish slowly browned and cooked over the fire, Erchanhardt himself continued thinking about the situation. It was rather rare that he met anyone he related with in these regards, wasn't it? Yet it was very much not in the same regard as Yugiri, though not for any lack of enjoyment of the time on his end. He likely would have continued down this train of thought, but was of course interrupted by Himiko's reappearance. Well, that was just as well, he supposed.

"My apologies if this is too forward, Miss Shikimura, but have I spoken out of line in some regard? I feel as though I have caused you offense in some way."

It wasn't so much that anything in particular she had said or done indicated to him as much, but rather, it was more in what she had not said or done. She'd been a rather exceptionally energetic sort, and while he could always chalk the difference up to her efforts in fishing, he highly doubted something so relatively brief and so recent would tire her to that degree.

"Huh..."

She looked a little dumb when he asked her the question, wow. It was totally way too forward, what was she meant to do in this situation anyway? Tell him she thought it was a romantic thing, tell him she wanted it to be a romantic thing? If she did though he might think she was stupid for that dumb thing. But ummm.

"Hahah, well..."

Despite the fact she was more dressed than she was previously, it felt like she might've been naked at the moment with how vulnerable she felt and the way she nervously put her fingertips together did not help.

"No, you didn't offend me. I guess I was just caught off guard, haha. Yep. That's it."

To emphasise it she gave her biggest beaming smile, she was real good at smiling. It made people happy when they saw smiles, made 'em not worry and even made you feel better. She could really use some of that feeling better right now, in the rut she'd put herself in. Stupid fox.. human... girl.. Whatever. Stupid Himiko.

"Ah... My sincerest apologies, then. I am afraid it has been a great many years since I have gone on any sort of outing such as this, so I suppose my social aptitude is more than a touch lacking."

Seeking out his belongings once more, Erchanhardt indeed put on his familiar dogi, already feeling a tad more secure, and of course assuming he had at least in some way assuaged the situation, regardless of the truth in that. That said, however, he did still have some manner of reservations about the situation. Not toward her, of course, but rather toward himself.

"If at any point I act in such a manner again, do feel free to simply tell me as much. I would consider it a tremendous failing on my own part if I were to displease you on this outing. It is, after all, meant to be a pleasant trip, and your company has certainly made it so."

He thought, briefly, to offer her a reassuring pat on the head as he had Ada, and as he very rarely did to Yugiri. However, the action felt as though it would be...incorrect, for lack of a better descriptor. Perhaps it was simply a matter of condescension. Instead, he simply thought to return her smile, though his was certainly not as tremendously positive and charming as her own. Still, it was genuine, the sort of earnest expression that one could not possibly have falsified, and very much so one that few ever saw of him.

"Ahahaha, it's fine. Totally."

Though once he did turn away her ears slumped and she sighed to herself. Just her luck, at least she didn't look like an idiot. No way, she should hit herself for being so stupid and shy. She never gets shy, just say it as it comes. That's not what she did.

"No, you could never displease me haha. I'm having so much fun. It's been forever since I did this with a guy..."

What'd she say? Fix it.

"Cause you know, the guys and gals of the old squad are just so busy however do we find time to do stuff together anymore ahahaha."

At least he smiled though, that was nice.

Erchanhardt supposed, in theory, that he still could have likely been overthinking this entire situation. However, speaking practically, that seemed rather unlikely. He was quite well-composed, and despite his general lack of modern social awareness, he was not lacking in interpersonal skills by any particular metric. He could, ultimately, have taken everything she said at face value, but he was not the sort to do so. His mind very much acknowledged what it was that Himiko had said so explicitly, the acknowledgement of this being done "with a guy."

She did follow it, of course, with the mentions of her squad and the like, but it had seemed rather clearly to be a matter of covering that statement. It would have been a rather strange way to say it, wouldn't it have? Ah, but where did Erchanhardt go from there? There was only one particular manner in which he could actually have taken the thought process, even if he did not particularly enjoy the thought that it was the case.

He had, in all likelihood, not misunderstood her intentions with regard to the meaning of a date at all.

"Then I suppose, in that sense, we are not quite far off. I have certainly not been on what one might call a date in quite a long while now, since I was a much younger man. The closest I have come would simply be traveling with friends, which is hardly the same situation."

Erchanhardt was many things, but a romantic most decidedly was not one of them. He was, in fact, rather intellectually aware of the nature of attraction and of interpersonal interest. The whole of the Burgstaller aims, and his own romantic history, made any other outlook quite impossible. However, that did ultimately lead him to only further consider the truth of the situation from a fairly objective standpoint.

"I do rather sincerely hope I do not catch you further off guard. Another date would be very pleasant."

He felt for all the world like a child again, in this moment. Erchanhardt was a man of principle, of strong moral fiber, one who had thrown away much that tied him to the world. However, those principles also demanded that he not lie to himself. Denial of the self was antithetical to everything he sought, and so, ultimately, this basic childish impulse would have to simply be accepted as it was.

So be it.

The shinigami wondered, did her recovery work? He wasn't dumb, not even she'd fall for something like that if someone tried to pull it over her eyes. Now she just felt bad, he'd probably get weird and be really uncomfortable now with her. How did one simply ignore that hanging in the air? Maybe she was just cursed, maybe she should've just pursued a girl that seemed interested in her when the opportunity was there. Was she just going to wilt now because no guys wanted to try her? It was all so frustrating!

Then she actually listened to the words being said, it might as well have been a hammer coming down on the small nail she was to destroy her expectations. Well, that was what she was prepared for. Rather than get hit with rejection though her ears which had until now been folded over in nervousness actually perked back up. She was expecting rejection, maybe more like not wanting to hang out with her anymore because it'd be weird after she made it clear where she sat.

No, now there was actual glimmering hope. That small little ember in the firepit that might still start the fire she wanted and when he confirmed another date was on the table there was no hesitation or attempt to restrain herself.

She jumped onto him, well it was kind of a bit much to show her jubilation and joy. Himiko would probably think so later when she was laying down and trying to get to sleep. There was so little hope of that though now.

"Oh my gosh, really!?"

Himiko did quickly get her excitement under wraps and let go, a sheepish few steps back to add that distance again while she rocked her hips back and forth with a dumb grin. Keep it cool you know, she didn't want to scare him off.

"Hehe. I'm real sorry bout that. I guess I did get a bit excited, huh?"

If there had been any inclinations in Erchanhardt's mind to deny the objective truth of the situation, or to explain it as some other state, they were certainly swept away in roughly the same moment that she lept excitedly onto him. It likely did not help that, if only on the sheer gentlemanly instinct to keep a woman safe, he had caught her. Somehow, an action he would not have put any thought toward prior now felt as if it were something he would need to pray on at night.

"Yes, really. You need not apologize, I know quite well that I am... Well, shall we say a bit out of touch?"

He offered a small reassuring smile to her, though it was distinctly different from before. It was, in part, on account of the fact that he had simply accepted the truth of the situation now, but perhaps just as relevant was the lightness of the situation. For lack of any better way to word it, Erchanhardt was rather happy in the moment. How...surreal.

"I do believe that our lunch is ready. I do hope you will not mind terribly if we take a bit longer than planned to enjoy it? I imagine conversation over lunch would be quite lovely."

Ah. Lovely. That was not a word that he had anticipated using again in his life, at least not with regard to spending time with a woman. This would take some time to acclimate to.

"Ehehehe."

She tried to not giggle like a school girl but that sure fell apart quickly when she ended up in his arms and he closed them around her to keep her from falling. He really was such a gentleman! It was hard not to fantasise about the possible future, you know? The one where she's being bridal carried in this big strong arms. That's a little hasty though since Himiko's fantasies and how things will go are two different things entirely and also move at two very different paces.

"That's alright. If you need any help, I'll teach you. K?"

The offer of a conversation over lunch made her nod eagerly, how else were you supposed to spend a date beyond getting to know one another? Well, she knew lots of ways but getting to know each other was definitely the highlight she thought. That's why she happily made her way over to sit by the fire and adjust her tail to not get squished before it went back and forth in anticipation for what came next.

Now where to begin though? That required some thought and her hand on her chin said as much. There was so many possible things to ask that she ought to think about it carefully rather than throw everything and bombard him.