There's a small amused look on Mutal's face at her words. He wasn't quite sure he believed in anything like fate or destiny or whatnot. He was never a teen that liked being controlled in any way.

His eyes studied her for a moment though, wondering if his natural relaxation around her was due to the fact she was an echidna. He had been raised by a couple after all, and was a sibling to a few others. Technically he was part of one even if he didn't look like it.

They appear to be teens, yet their bones protest like ancient wood, and for spectacularly shit reasons. Sure, Toushirou is pushing his nineties and there's something to be said about the combat they've serviced, but this is different. Everything hurts less when one is trying to survive. Desk jobs are complacency. Sluggish blood is just as deadly.

"We aren't in wartime or anything. We should be grateful for our neck aches," Karin says, very seriously meeting his eyes because she definitely cares for more than like a half dozen people between all the realms and mass casualties are bad and, like, super tragic. Or something Kannon might say.

"Oh, hey Tatsuki. Lunch? Sure, sounds good to me." It was a pretty nice day, just cool enough to need a light jacket, rather than a heavy one. It wasn't supposed to rain, so he'd decided to go on a short walk. Bumping into Tatsuki was nice though. It'd been a while since they last hung out. Catching up over lunch sounded like a nice idea to him.

It wouldn't matter where they went to eat. They'd likely enjoy it regardless. He'd never been terribly picky, the only thing he never ate were Orihime's alchemical concoctions back when they were all still in high school. The only one who had eaten anything she'd made was Uryu and nobody had figured out how. They simply chalked it up to him having an iron pit as a stomach.

"Any sort of lunch in mind? Something casual? Or maybe greasy fast food. There's also sushi and ramen places." Karakura had a lot of different restaurants around, it was nice to have variety. There was even a pizza place nearby that they could simply sit down in and eat whatever they wanted.

"Ah, so isn't it the group's babysitter and mother hen. . . Just what are you doing without your chicks, I wonder? Or are you really that naive to think you can take me down on your own?"

He paused upon hearing Tensa's voice saying such a seemingly out of character thing for the ever quiet spirit. Orange brows shot up almost into his hairline and brown eyes are wide, confusion and slight wonder mixed within them. After a few moments, the reaper seemingly calmed down, or came back to himself. Either could have been what happened.

"Are we talking real skulls, skull mugs, or a secret third option?" Now, he expected such chaos from the Hollow aspect of his zanpakuto, not from the much calmer one. Then again, he had hurt both of them when he was younger, hadn't he? The idea was almost absurd, but he knew Tensa well enough to know that the spirit didn't say things he hadn't done. Which was why he'd asked his previous question.

The ginger couldn't help it, he let out a chuckle, lips twitching into a lazy smile for a minute or two. "Man, I never know what to expect from either of you two. You both keep me on my toes and I'm honestly glad about that." Sure, fighting and sparring helped keep him sharp, but his spirits helped to keep him on his toes. They made his life interesting.

* idiots to lovers romantic starters | @multis-sermonibus - Accepting!

"I'm definitely weird, and still gay."

His hand reaches out and makes a grabbie-motion. "Pass me the screwdriver, you need this done and ready to go for the runway, right? You can pay me in delicious sweeties like usual. Might throw in a special remote you can use, if I'm feeling nice."

It was teasing, obviously. Volkner would fix and try to make whatever request she asked for come to life... within his ability, of course.