A matter of respect (DTH and Jeshicka)

"Yes ma'am... Thank you ma'am.... Okay.... goodbye." When Allen had gotten a job at a respectable technology company, he certainly didn't expect it to be as a tech support agent. As he hung up on this customer, he sighed and stared at his keyboard for a moment before making notes on the call on the computer. He hated this job, but he had the promise of a more promising position dangled in front of him. He pushed his long brown hair from his face, sweeping it away from his grey-green eyes. He was thankful that since he only dealt with people over the phone, he was still allowed to wear his hair long. If he had had to cut it for the job, it would just be another insult to his pride. He tapped out the notes of the call. He was appalled at how many people called in and asked if they could upgrade the video card in their laptops. He considered for a moment writing "another idiot who doesn't realize what integrated video means," but decided it might not exactly be the best idea. Thankfully, this was the last call he needed to attend to before he went on break.

He pulled off his head set, glad to be rid of it before pushing away from the desk. Standing from the chair, he stretched his whole six foot frame and groaned. His legs were tight from sitting at the desk for hours and his back was a little sore. He wore a simple black shirt with straight black slacks. Fairly comfortable for a work outfit. The break room was only a handful of steps away. Right now there were several people on break, so when he got to the break room there was only one empty seat. The table already held two nekomimi and a kitsune, all of who were already talking to each other. They were obviously friends, so even though the seat was empty, Allen decided against taking it. Instead he just opened the fridge in the break room, reaching for his bag.

Luckily he was a pretty good cook, so he didn't just have a sandwich every day, or waste money going out to lunch all the time. He pulled out a small tupperware filled with stir fry chicken, another with some fried rice, and a pair of chopsticks. He popped them in the microwave for a few moments and stole a glance at the female neko. He had always loved the allure of neko women, but had never had the opportunity to date one. Sad in a way, but that's just how it was. Beep beep beep His food was done, thankfully. He was worried he might be staring a bit at the woman. He stood in the corner near the microwave, using the chopsticks to pick at his stir fry and shovel friend rice into his mouth. He probably looked odd standing there, but he didn't really care much. He wasn't exactly normal to begin with.

Kore had finished her last call before break. This was her first job in a call center, only in her second week out of training. Already, she couldn't believe the stupidity of people. Putting her headset next to her keyboard, she moves off to the break room. She had already made a couple of friends in the office and they already had a seat waiting for her.

Pulling her lunch out of the fridge, she takes a seat. Her lunch was simple. A half of a fresh cut sandwich and a small bottle of tea. Sitting across from Jill and Landon, she smiles. Their conversation is about the same every day. The basic 'How are yous?' ' Can you believe some of these people!?' and 'How was your week? Have any plans for next weekend?'.

Kore looked up as someone else walked in, keeping her eye on the clad in black guy with long hair. She doesn't see many men with long hair anymore. In comparison, she was small, only about 5 foot, a little under actually. She had Shoulder length, burgundy hair with bright green eyes. Her ears stuck out with black fur and her tail swished behind her out the back of the chair. She was wearing black slacks with a purple shirt.

Allen wanted to try to join their conversation, but they were just exchanging pleasantries really. There was no point in trying to interject with something like "Oh I've got awesome plans for the weekend." That would just make him seem desperate for attention. So he just ate in silence, his eyes on his food. Well, most of the time. He occasionally glanced up at the neko girl, hoping that she wouldn't notice that he was looking at her. Last thing he wanted was to seem like that one creepy guy in the office that stared at women.

Both of the others left, and the only one that was left was the woman that had caught his attention. Allen was tired of standing, so he walked to the table she was at and pointed at a chair. "Hey, do you mind if I sit here?" He didn't smile and try to act all sweet to her. Most girls weren't really receptive to that when he tried, so he kind of just... stopped.

Kore watched her friends wander off to have a smoke before returning to work. Kore thought it was a bad habit and had no inclination to even stand with them while they partook in it. Just as she turned her attention back to her lunch, she heard the guy in the corner step up to the table. He stood pointing at a chair and asked if he could sit.

With a small shrug and smile, she said "sure, not like I own the table or anything. Sit where you like." She continued to eat her lunch. She may be a neko, but she ate like a bird.

Allen sat at the table, setting his lunch down. "So uhm.. how long you been working here? haven't really seen you around all that much." He asked, a small bit of food tucked in his cheek so it wouldn't tumble around in his mouth while he talked. He was always conscientious while he ate, because he thought seeing food in other people's mouths as they ate was disgusting. If he thought it was disgusting to see someone else's food in their maw, why would he allow anyone to see food in his?

Allen swallowed that bit and looked at her again, for a moment wondering what might be going on in her mind. He shrugged off the thought though. He didn't want to care what she was thinking about right now. They didn't even know each other, so why would he put any stock into what she thought whatsoever? So instead he just sat there plucking little bits of his lunch from the tupperware into his mouth.