AN: These drabbles were originally posted on Tumblr; I know that not everyone has a Tumblr account so I thought I'd post them here as well. I wrote these as responses to writers' prompts, so they are short with little editing beyond normal SPaG, and I don't consider them 'canon' for my Distractions AU series, even though most take place within that context. I will continue writing new drabbles for Tumblr, and they will eventually make their way here; but there will probably be a lag.

Enjoy!

Hei pushed the bright yellow janitor's bucket and mop purposefully down the corridor. There were no windows on this level; no easy exit routes either. Fluorescent bulbs overhead buzzed fitfully as he passed under them, as if his mere presence was disruptive. Probably they were just cheap. The security in the building was good, but it was still government work.

The stolen data files were burning a hole in the pocket of his coveralls. He wanted to make his exit as soon as possible and hand the flash drive off to Huang. The Syndicate usually kept him at a particular part time job until they needed him else, but he could come up with an excuse to cut it short. The mission would be over soon, and every hour he spent in that building made him more and more paranoid.

But he couldn't rush; not now. He was technically allowed to traverse this hallway, and a minor disruption of the security cameras would have masked his entering the evidence locker. If he ran into anyone who questioned his presence, I'm lost would probably work. Any kind of haste would just throw up red flags. He thought about whistling, to play up the stereotype, but he couldn't carry a tune to save his life. There shouldn't be many staff here this late, in any case.

A clanging sound echoed down the corridor; Hei forced himself not to freeze, to look as if he belonged there. A curse in a woman's strong voice followed the bangs, and a mixture of tension and pleasant anticipation washed over him. He was pretty sure that he recognized those invectives.

Sure enough, as he rounded the corner that would take him to the elevators, he spotted Section Chief Kirihara Misaki standing in front of a vending machine, arms folded angrily. She looked the same as she had when she'd followed him to the shrine: tidy blue business suit, practical shoes, her long brown hair pulled back into a simple pony tail. The look suited her far better than the casual outfit she'd worn to the mall, somehow.

There was no way he could sneak by her; she was between him and the elevator. Best not to surprise her then. He let the mop bucket clatter as he pushed it across the tile floor and the police chief looked up sharply; her expression turned from anger to confusion at the sight of him.

"Li?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't sound unpleased to see him, Hei thought. Though he wasn't sure why that seemed to matter to him so much.

He tapped the plastic badge hanging from the breast pocket of his coveralls. "Janitorial staff. I started on Monday."

She shook her head, the overhead lights glancing off the lenses of her glasses. "I run into you in the weirdest places." Then her eyes narrowed slightly, and her forehead furrowed in thought.

"Working late?" Hei asked; less to be conversational, and more to disrupt whatever dangerous train of thought was beginning to form behind those warm brown eyes.

Those eyes widened slightly, then she smiled. "Yeah. I have some reports to finish up. I didn't have time to grab dinner, so I came down here for a snack. But this stupid thing" - she punched the sturdy window of the vending machine, scowling abruptly - "ate the only change I have."

Hei made of show of digging in his pockets. His hand closed briefly around the flash drive, then dropped it again. "I'd give you some if I had any, but I left everything in my locker." He shrugged, grinning apologetically. "We're not allowed to have personal items while working."

Misaki smiled again, and Hei found himself unable to take his eyes off her face. "Don't worry about it." She sighed. "It's not like pocky is that filling anyway; I was just really craving it."

Hei peered through the plastic front of the machine. A little red box of chocolate pocky was wedged at the very end of the little spiraling gizmo, poised to fall, but obstinately stuck. "Did you try shaking it?"

"You're not supposed to shake these things," Misaki told him sternly. "They could fall and crush someone. I did try hitting it a few times, but it didn't work. Obviously."

He shouldn't be standing there chatting. He should excuse himself, take the elevator up, and hand off the flash drive. Each minute spent in the headquarters of Section Four was one minute too long.

Instead, he let go of the mop and said, "Let me try."

Stepping up the vending machine, Hei gripped one side and pulled a couple inches away from the wall. He did the same thing on the other side. Then he hooked a foot under the base for extra leverage and pushed the machine up and back, letting it fall with a loud thud. One more push, and the box of pocky dropped to the bin at the bottom. He stooped and pulled it out, then offered it to Misaki.

She took it with a smile, her hand accidentally brushing his as she did. For some reason, he had to suppress a warm shiver at the touch. "That was a neat trick."

He shrugged, and rubbed the back of his head. "These things never work properly, and I get frustrated when I can't have my food."

Misaki laughed, her eyes shining. "I know the feeling. Here."

Hei stared blankly at the open box that she was holding out.

Her eyebrows rose. "Do you not like pocky?"

"Uh, no, I do." He took one of the slender sticks cautiously. Little acts of human kindness like this always caught him off guard; it was especially unexpected coming from someone like Chief Kirihara. Then he remembered how she'd been sure to get him, a helpless waiter, out of the line of fire at that hotel party when it was her life that had been in the most danger. Maybe not so unexpected, then.

"Well, I need to get back to work," she said, popping a piece into her own mouth. "Thanks for your help. Maybe I'll see you around again?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe."

She smiled again, then turned away from him and the vending machine to open the door to the stairwell at the far end of the corridor. Maybe working here for a few more nights wouldn't be so bad after all, Hei mused. He examined the stick of pocky, then bit off the chocolate-covered portion. Tomorrow night, he'd bring some change with him.