The last thing your ego needs is feeding. [ ichiro mutters, but he sounds fond when he says it: yeah, he doesn't really mind feeding his ego that much when it's the truth.

there's a little bit of a rush of joy that comes with saying all that stuff, though, so he grins into the receiver on his end, curling around his phone a little closer. it means a lot just to hear samatoki say something like that, so let him go off on cloud 9. ] This was probably the best job perk ever. Day's always a little better when you're around. [ a pause: ] You're still gonna help me pierce my ear, right?

[ he's sounding more like a puppy by the second. ]