“-Of course, recent developments have been absolutely exceptional, as usual. I have to commend you on your…rather unique style-“

Cherry sits, hunched over his desk in his own little corner of Kensa HQ, phone pressed to his ear. His eyes close for a moment as the voice of one of his many superiors continues to trickle through, barely listening at this point. He goes home soon, and had a lot of work ahead of him.

A new season begins, a new Kensa line starts, and the race is on to compete with other designers for a spot in the final rollout of clothing and accessories. He’s claimed a few spots before, but it’s never been enough.

“-A bit of roughness that we don’t see very often here. Anyways, I’ll let you go. I’m expecting something groundbreaking from you.” And the phone goes dead with a click. He lets the silence linger for a few moments before shakily sighing, hand reaching out to graze against the papers set atop his desk. Sketches and concepts, things for later.

Gathering his belongings, he’s practically running on autopilot, mind blank. Every day was almost the same in most aspects, he entered and left in the exact same way, picked up his bag in the same way, put on his…gloves in the same way? This was a relatively new development, he’d think about it later.

For now, he uselessly tidies up his already clean area, clutches his things, and opens the door, eyes lidded with a scowl on his face.

Just about to knock on the door, Senta stood rather stupidly in the short hallway. His hand, now hanging in the air dumbly, quickly moved to adjust the bag on his shoulder, small charms clacking together with the movement.

"Hey Cherry, perfect timing! I was wondering if you're willing to go get a drink with me and Hapa tonight if you're free? I know you hateeeeeeee socializing but it was Hapa's idea to invite you."

Stopping suddenly and visibly jumping a little at the looming silhouette in his doorway, it doesn’t take long for him to notice that it’s Senta, his deepened scowl softening just the slightest. He raises a brow behind his shades, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe.

“A drink? I don’t see why your boyfriend would want me to tag along, I wasn’t very charming when we last met.” He recalls the strange firm handshake that he was forced to perform, huffing out of his nose. On one hand, this would probably be a terrible experience that he’d want to escape almost immediately. Strangers, loudness, social interaction, all things he disliked.

BUT, on the other hand, he would probably be getting free alcohol. Letting his pale eyes trail up to stare at Senta’s face, he hums to himself. There’s no way he wouldn’t race to pay for him to show good faith, or something. Usually, the options would be easily outweighed by his contempt for interaction, but…

He was very tired. He’d have a lot of things on his plate very soon, maybe he deserved a little break before then. Stepping out fully into the hall, he shuts the door behind him and locks it, starting to speak with his back to the taller model.

“Alright, fine. I’ll play along.”

"Oh hush, he just has terrible social skills." Senta took out his phone to text Hapa that Cherry was coming. "And don't worry, Hapa doesn't like loud bars either so we're going to a quiet one near his ramen shop." He continued walking just slightly behind Cherry as he finished his text and pocketed his phone, easily catching up with Cherry. "Feel free to tag along with me on the train or I can send you the address."

Hands in his pockets, the white tentacled inkling spins around to walk backwards and look at the taller man, smirking a little at the comment. “So kind hearted…wanting to hang out with me…” He presses a hand to his chest, snorting to himself, and scoffs loudly at the last comment.

“Take the TRAIN?! Maybe, if I was pretending to be poor or something. I’m not leaving my car here, goofy. I’ll meet you there.” He explains, turning back around on his heel.

“I’ll need to freshen up a bit anyways, but don’t worry, I'm never late. Ever.” His voice trails into a rather serious tone, but it swoops back up as he uses a thumb to hit the elevator button, standing with his chest puffed out despite being a foot shorter.

“You kind of strike me as a lightweight. You’d better not go overboard and throw up everywhere or something.” Cherry tilts his head to peer back at Senta, grimacing.