god, he called for rain

[shooteverything]

[ the shatterdome is too loud, smells of seawater and sweat, and half the time k-science won't even let him stay in the lab, one of the few quiet places in the entire base. but it's home, in some ways, because heine has lived here for more than half of his life.

and that reason is also the reason why he's doing the introductions for the new pilot arriving today. she's not new new, but new to this shatterdome. heine has read her file.

now he's in his fatigues, arms crossed as he waits on the tarmac for her to arrive. there's a lot to go through before her jaeger even arrives. ]

Comments

[shooteverything]

Are you sure?

[ he's seen her dresses.

but they get there soon enough, and heine stands there momentarily at a loss. the cyrillic characters are even more alien to him than the characters of hong kong. at least those he was used to and could partially understand. ]

Uh. That one? [ it's a small clothes store, sandwiched between a barbershop (closed) and another store (also closed). it looks decent enough, but heine picked it at random. ]

[antisheep]

What's with that look?

[Look, she's told him more than once these were gifts. You can't just return gifts, especially if they're functional. If a bit frilly.

She'll give him one more slight frown before heading towards the store, holding the door open behind her as she peered in.

Curious, she let her hands run over the fabric of a few jackets, head tilted to the side.]

They seem sturdy.

[shooteverything]

Yeah. Warm enough?

[ he's still unsure about how cold weather works, in russia, anyway. ]

[antisheep]

Yes.

[She turned to look at him curiously.]

They're practical but do you like them?

[It seemed important, after all that side eyeing he'd given her earlier.]

[shooteverything]

Uh.

[ he flips one along the rack. ]

I guess. They're fine.

[antisheep]

[That's good enough for Naoto, who will leave Rammsteiner to pick a few jackets, heading deeper into the store.]

You should get at least three. Gloves and hats too.

[shooteverything]

Gloves?

[ it's a foreign concept to heine, but... he goes to get them anyway. he finds a beanie, too, and bundles them up with the jacket to carry to check out. ]

[antisheep]

You'll need them.

[She went to stand by him at the counter, looking over his purchases with consideration.]

Maybe scarves and warm underthings would be good too.

[Most of this had been provided to her by the base, and it was hard to think of what all he might need.]

[shooteverything]

Under...things.

[ heine gives fuyumine a sideways look. ]

Like. Underwear?

[antisheep]

[She'll met that gaze levelly.]

Yes. It gets very cold here, so there's long underwear you can wear under your regular clothes and jackets to keep warm.

[A small pause.]

Do you need help picking some out?

[shooteverything]

No!

[ slightly too emphatic, but heine really does not want to think about long underwear in the first place, much less fuyumine seeing anything he might wear that close to his skin. ]

It's okay. I'll just go check out.

[antisheep]

[The outburst only made Naoto smile, a small quirk of her lips, and she did her best to stifle the small laugh that was threatening to be known. Instead she turned away, tucking her away from her face.]

I'll be over there if you need me.

[She still looked amused as she turned to give him space.]

[shooteverything]

[ heine nods jerkily, unsure of how to respond to that amusement, and focuses on the clothes on the racks in front of him. he takes the time to find another shirt, and to avoid going back to face her.

it's unavoidable, though. he collects the things he wants to purchase and goes to where she's standing, awkwardly silent until she speaks first. ]