It's my very little wonder

[lawlietschiffer]

It had taken L some time to recover from his thrashing from Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra still wouldn't speak to him, and blanked him entirely when he ran into him. L knew he deserved no more, or no less.

He still got headaches, and he felt dizzy if he worked for too long at a computer. That had slowed him down, that, and having to re-establish his communication network from scratch in and around Rabanastre. Several of his key informants were missing, and most likely dead, and L wasn't sure if the Ryoka had found them, or someone else, and the really frustrating part was that he wouldn't be able to find out.

He'd kept a close eye on the comings and goings and activities in Daguerro, however, even while he recovered. He had good reason to, and now, finally, he would have the opportunity to devote his attentions further afield of the place, because he was finally able to move the 'package' he'd been keeping an eye on.

There was another there, that another party had been sent to collect, but this one was L's alone to deal with, not least because anyone else would probably just kill him.

L had been forced to make the last leg of the trip personally to bring his guest under Khamja's roof. There was space for him, at last. L hadn't been present when Aizen's request to claim Orochimaru's labs had been denied, and he wished he could have been, but L had got his request in before Aizen had even returned from his own trip to Midgar. He could be a flagrant opportunist, when he had to be.

L sloped in through the main doors, ushering his guest in before letting them close. Personal effects weren't an issue, at least. Most of what the other man considered important had already been retrieved, and L had a few details he wanted the man to elaborate on for him as soon as they got the opportunity.

"Your laboratories are this way," L said, indicating the direction they needed to head.

Comments

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra saw Apache about to kick off and, although he enjoyed mindless bloodshed as much as the next near-psycho with slightly berserker tendencies and little regard for their own life, gave her a look that told her to cool it.

He had no real authority over her. She wasn't his Fracción. But, he had been responsible for killing Professor Hojo's ... technically... predecessor and he'd gotten into knee-deep shit even if it was for personal revenge and, as the story went, to save Kadaj from being murdered by the dickhead.

He doubted that this freak would last long, especially if he went around calling dangerous and often unstable individuals 'specimens', but having Apache cero him on his first day would not only be bad form, but it would also confirm what they were ahead of Aizen telling him.

He doubted that Aizen would hand anyone over to him for examination, but getting on his nerves wasn't the best way to test that hunch.

[doesthissmellofchloroform]

Hojo caught that the girl backed down after a pointed look from the other one. She was obedient enough to take such vague instruction from her fellow specimens, then, if easily riled.

Hojo put his awful coffee down again, reaching into a pocket to retrieve a slim silver case, which he opened, took a slender white cigarette from, and then closed before putting the tip of the cigarette between his lips. He struck a match, and lit his cigarette, before shaking the flame out, and tossing the spent match into the sink.

Then he picked up his coffee. "Give my regards to your owner," he said, exhaling neatly and leaving a small cloud to hover at face height in the room, before he made for the door.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel watched Professor Hojo light up and leave with a curled lip. Only once the man was safely out of the door, and then, short of him staying behind there to listen in, safely out of earshot, did he say, "He is going to come in his pants when he finds out about the Ryoka."

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra snorted at Szayel.

He didn't doubt that. Arrancar were interesting because of their experiment value, but Ryoka..? A Hollow/Hyur fusion paled in comparison to a Ryoka for any scientist.

At least Hojo would leave them alone for a few days when he found out about them.

"If he lives long enough," Nnoitra said, turning the page of his newspaper pointedly.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel smirked. "Don't be ridiculous, Nnoitra. A man that unpleasant has no end of people who want him dead, and yet he's still here." He picked up his cup, before adding, "He'll last a month. That's plenty of time to find out about the Ryoka."

He eyed Nnoitra, then, and was just as pointed about it as Nnoitra was about going back to his paper. "You managed to keep it quiet about your mother, didn't you?"

[cierva]

Apache didn't really know the Ryoka well, but she'd heard (and seen, if the Fire Elemental on Ulquiorra's battle replay was anything to go by) that they were very powerful on the field of battle.

If that Hojo guy pissed one of the three in the Palace off enough, one of them would kill him. She silently laid a bet on the white-haired one...

...and then winced at what fell out of Szayel's mouth before she could complete the thought.

Tact was clearly a foreign language to this idiot.

[trepadora]

Luppi did his level best not to cringe at Szayel's question. The moment he asked it, he gripped his little Malboro a little bit tighter and got a squeak of displeasure and the stinging bite of needly little teeth in his finger as a result.

He let go immediately and soothed the little thing by way of apology.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra looked up from his paper and levelled a one-eyed look at Szayel. He knew that the question was going to come up, but he almost expected him to wait a few days before poking him about it.

Alas, this was Szayel.

"I ain't seen her since I was eleven," he pointed out. "She could be dead for all I know."

But he knew she wasn't. If he didn't know before, he knew now. Hojo would probably have mentioned it otherwise and he'd definitely have been informed.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel was oblivious to the reactions of the other two to his lack of tact. Szayel didn't get anywhere by being tactful; it just made it easier for people to ignore him. That, and it was a skill he'd never really picked up.

"Still, your mother and uncle are, or were, renowned in their fields." Nnoitra must have been such a disappointment, he realised, with a nasty smirk. "You could have mentioned it. I'm sure there would have been perks at Draklor for the offspring of a scientist like your mother."

[prayingmantis]

"Kurotsuchi knew about it," he said, shrugging his shoulders and giving Szayel a pitying look.

Kurotsuchi may not have elected to share the information with Szayel, but he had figured out that Nnoitra was the product of Hebira Jiruga and an unknown man from the moment he'd become aware of his surname.

"He was more interested in other things than who my mom is."

Like Nabudis and how someone had come to survive the aftermath.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel flapped a hand as if batting the reply away. "Captain Freakshow doesn't count; he's very single minded."

Still, it was an interesting fact to have learned, and it seemed to have caught Hojo's attention.

Szayel still couldn't get over the fact that Professor Hojo had just made himself coffee in the kitchen. He'd lit up a cigarette while here, too; Nel wasn't going to approve of that when she got back.

"You could have got cushier arrangements," he said, smiling, faintly. Szayel would have certainly milked it for all he could get, in Nnoitra's position.

Then he sighed. "At least now I know who got the laboratories." He turned to look at Nnoitra again, and cast him a flirty glance. "If you feel like offing this one, let Aizen know first so that he can have the request ready to put in as soon as it's done, will you?"

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra gave Szayel a flat look.

He didn't have anything against Hojo, not personally, not like with Orochimaru. Somebody would be bound to kill him, but it probably wasn't going to be him.

Certainly not if Szayel stood to benefit.