TRUST: BUILT BRICK BY BRICK|[CHIE]

Beside him sat his horned hollow mask, his fingers brushing against its surface as if to cherish its touch. It soothed him oddly enough, though it would probably appear unnatural to his guest. Not that I really need her to know about any of that, though she might have to be made aware as well. The liability could just as easily fall to her some day. He had wanted to take time out of the day to talk with Kusanagi-Fuku Kidocho, just to see what kind of people he was going to be dealing with for years to come. It was an intriguing lot the Commander had arranged for them, but he wasn't familiar with them yet, and had hoped to get acquainted shortly after the ceremony, which had been about two days ago by this time.

It was the Dai Kidouchou's new quarters, an area Seishiro had sanctioned to be his office space. The floors were planks of wood nailed together, covered in hide carpets everywhere imaginable. A few tables covered in alchemical reagents sat in pristine condition, yet to be used for the first time. Shelves clustered along many of the walls, filled to the limit with books from the old cellars. All of varying sizes, colors and conditions. Some were old and moth-eaten, mildew-crusted or otherwise scarred. Others were more preserved, though every now and again a book was missing a page that had been torn out. I always hated the people who did that. He turned towards his company, hoping to garner their attention briefly. Seishiro had a couch to himself, a coffee table stretching just as wide set a foot away from him. Adjacently positioned was another couch, perpendicular to his own, upon which the fuku kidouchou had been asked to sit.

" I'm glad you decided to come, Kusanagi-fuku. I don't intend to send couriers to you regularly, but I had been hoping to speak with you sometime soon. I was hoping to hear more about you. I'm an open book myself, feel free to ask anything in turn; I won't hold back. " That wasn't true; there were things he would hold back from, things people don't need to know, but not bad things, just... It was highly unlikely she'd ask him anything he couldn't answer freely, so he gave her his most disarming smile and beseeched her to accept his hospitality.

" Feel free to help yourself. I do rather enjoy a good coffee cake myself; beats eating sand and bile and drinking your own piss in the dark, with everything hunting you laughing at you for it. Gods be good, it's great to be back. " Seishiro's faith had been wearing thin back then, which is why he was so paranoid about everyone around him. There is a traitor from Soul Society, and I have no idea who it is, but somewhere out there, they're undoing years of effort. He needed to make sure it wasn't an internal problem. Luckily for him, it seemed easy enough to believe.

Grabbing a cupcake and stuffing a bite down his pie hole, he chased it with a bit of mulled wine. Momentarily sated he relinquished back into the couch and sunk deep into his robes, appearing to be lost inside the fabrics. Only his head so much as remained visible beneath the furs, though his legs still plainly peeked out from beneath him on the floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. Seishiro's left and right feet began to tap to a rhythm before stopping abruptly. These compulsions were a normal tendency in him, although sometimes he wondered if they were normal.

" So what's your story then, Kusanagi? What brought you up into our ranks? What drives you to succeed where others have failed? " He wasn't expecting some fixed answer; anything she said would be enough, but he needed to know what she would say. He wanted to build a trust with her, but he wanted to make sure he wasn't being misguided.