"Look, look! I made sure to fix it up so that it would look like a cat!" He's holding out a tray with a bowl of soup: decorated gently, tomatoes and crackers, strips of nori. Yes, it's definitely a cat - and a happy one at that, smiling up at Atsushi from its grip in Mikado's hands. "I've done this before with borscht, though that one was made to look like a rabbit. Everything tastes better when it's cute, after all."
𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, he thinks. the snow sticks to his eyelashes, the cold makes his knees creak, and the tip of his ears are always sore by the time he gets back to the office. ATSUSHI HATES WINTER THE SAME WAY HE HATES THE ORPHANAGE. the bitter chill leaves him stuck, chained to the wall inside himself, teeth clattering and body aching for warmth, something to eat, someone to talk to. [ he doesn’t hate every part of winter. yosano says it’s important to try and pick out the good between the bad, and atsushi is trying, he really is. ] he thinks he likes to watch the children having snowball fights. he thinks he wants to try making a snow angel, wants to see if his cat ears can be seen in the imprint of his back. he thinks he wants to drink hot chocolate that burns his tongue because he was too impatient to let it cool before gulping it down.
the walk back to the agency goes faster when you get lost in your own head. his work boots scrape against the floor mat once, twice, three times for good measure --- because he knows kunikida will throw a fit if he tracks snow in --- before pushing his shoulder into the heavy wooden door. HE ALMOST FORGOT THEY HAD COMPANY THIS WEEK. a joint office team up on a case that become entangled with a case at a separate agency. [ atsushi will deny it, but when mikado trots out of the kitchen with his chattery exclamation, the tiger nearly jumps out of his own skin. ]
❝ when it’s ... cute? ❞ dual toned eyes visibly widen when atsushi peeks over the edge of the bowl: it’s a cat! at least, it is if you look hard enough. though atsushi’s nose wrinkles at the sudden onslaught of new smells after walking with his nose buried in a scarf, his stomach churns and growls at the prospect of a warm meal. ❝ woah! will you show me how to do that? i want to do that, too. ❞
unprompted asks, always accepting.