It used to be so easy...

[soundfivebitch]

They'd got back late the night before.

It had been a long sojourn out into the world, but not a bad one. They'd been gone for over a month, and hadn't got into too much trouble, considering. Okay, so they'd met the Ryoka berserker and his fiends again, and failed to take them out, again, and Grimmjow had been scarred for his troubles, but that was pretty good going, for them. Technically, they were supposed to be out for Grimmjow's rehabilitation anyway. Grimmjow was only supposed to be getting back to fitness from the injuries he'd received when they'd met the Ryoka with Nel in tow, but he'd acquired another injury to work off. Not that anyone had explained that to Aizen, yet. That was going to be a fun job for Grimmjow and Yylfordt, later.

They'd also caught up with Kadaj, and ironed things out with him, and he'd met up with them a few times since. His hair had got too long, since he'd neglected to get it cut, but it wasn't as long as his bankai made his hair, now, and he'd matured a lot. It was a little bit frightening, really. Kadaj had been gone ever since the Midgar thing, and he'd grown up in that timespan, which at once felt like it had been forever, and like it had been barely weeks ago.

When they'd figured they probably couldn't, or shouldn't, put off going back any longer, they'd told Kadaj over the phone. They couldn't make him come back, but their employers could definitely demand their own returns. Plus they'd left Apache behind, because taking her was pushing it, and Tayuya missed her, even if Yylfordt pretended he didn't.

It had been too late for reunions when they had got back. Tayuya, Grimmjow, and Yylfordt had simply waltzed in, grabbed something to eat, and gone to bed.

It hadn't been early when Tayuya had woken up. She wasn't a morning person anyway, but she'd got up, showered, ended up sleeping for another hour, and then got dressed and made her way to the kitchen.

Now she was paying attention, the Palace felt different. There were new people here, again. They'd known someone was coming to take over the laboratories because Szayel had been told he couldn't have them. Tayuya was interested in who it was, only because they'd taken over her old home.

She hadn't reported to Kuja yet, either. She wasn't in a hurry. He'd know she was back, and the only information she had to give him consisted of 'Met Kadaj, he's okay, needs a haircut when you see him again though'. The important shit, naturally. She'd let Kadaj tell him about his bankai in his own time, and on his own terms. Kuja might want to know about the fights, but Kuja was less invested in the performance of the Ryoka versus Arrancar than Orochimaru had been, so he probably wouldn't want details of power levels and specific movesets employed.

She entered the kitchen looking freshly laundered and grumpy, because she needed caffeine to live, and something to eat. The room wasn't empty, and Tayuya waved at Apache as she schlepped her way to the kettle for caffeine.

Apache must have been so fucking bored, Tayuya thought. She knew she was when the Arrancar all fucked off on missions and she got left behind. At least she had Nel, though.

Comments

[cierva]

Apache grinned as Tayuya took her cup. She hadn't been sure she would.

"Apparently," she said, half turning in her chair as Tayuya got up, "he's some ex-Shinra scientist. Used to be some famous hotshot, sort of like their Kurotsuchi, or something. Nnoitra said he was supposed to be dead."

She sat there in silence for a moment, and considered something Hojo had said as Tayuya put her cup, now full, down in front of her.

"He said that he'd 'been away for too long'," she told her, turning back around. "I don't think it's the first time he's been here. He knows his way around, too. Did from the off. Either way, he's a monumental prick." Her lip curled. "Calls us 'specimens'."

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya frowned as she scoured her memory. She certainly didn't remember meeting anyone who was that much of a raging fucktard, or at least, not in quite that way, but had Orochimaru mentioned something? She couldn't really remember; she'd been younger, and tended to tune out the scientific bullshit. She just did as she was told; she didn't have to understand it, and Orochimaru didn't talk much about scientists unless he'd had a face to face encounter with them lately.

"Must have been before I came," she said, with a frown that became a scowl. "He sounds like a dickhead, though, he's gonna fit right in." Calling people 'specimens' meant he probably wouldn't have long to live. Eventually he'd say that to the wrong person and lose his face.

"Who was the lucky fuck to get recruited?" She asked, with a slight sneer. If they'd sent Nel, Ulquiorra, and the Ryoka, it was someone that was getting the choice of 'join or die', and a group like that was being sent to watch each other.

[cierva]

Apache shrugged again. She was still considered the newbie, and had absolutely zero fucks to give about scouring some old list of Khamja members to see if she was right, if one was even available, so she had no idea who he was. She'd never even heard of him, so she didn't care.

As for Tayuya's question...

"Dunno," she shook her head, wrapping her hands around her hot cup. "Another scientist, I heard, because apparently it's harvest time for them or something. Doesn't tend to show his face much. He's some Ryoka." Because there was obviously a lot of those going spare as well.

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya snorted. Harvest time was fucking right. "How many fucking scientists does this clan fucking need?" She asked, her nose wrinkled.

A Ryoka scientist though.... That would be why the other Ryoka had gone to recruit them. She couldn't think who it might be, though. Hopefully not one they'd already met, that would be awkward.

"Bet Szayel was all over him, too." Ryoka and a scientist meant Szayel probably wanted to prod him every which way. Eugh.

"Well," she said, with a mean grin, "guess we have to get another pool running on who smacks him one first."

[cierva]

"They must be trying to start a collection," Apache remarked, sipping her too-hot coffee.

The Ryoka one wasn't as obnoxious as Professor Hojo, but neither of them showed their faces much, both preferring to hide in their respective laboratories. As far as Apache knew, the Ryoka scientist had gotten himself settled in some far corner of the palace, well away from everybody else, including both Szayel and Hojo, and Hojo had taken over Orochimaru's old digs. Szayel, as ever, occupied the infirmary and adjoining rooms.

"Neither of them seem very fighty," she said, disappointed, and glanced up at the clock. "Did Grimmjow and Yylfordt die on the way, or are they taking the piss with lie-ins?"

[soundfivebitch]

"Nearly," Tayuya answered, grimly. She followed it up with a huff.

"We ran into the berserker and his friends again, the fire elemental one, and the chick?" She asked, checking Apache knew who she meant. "The red headed dickhead smacked Yylfordt with Venomtouch and floored him, I tried to take the fucker down with Bismarck and couldn't, and Grimmjow took on the berserker, again." She scowled, looking at Apache seriously. "That bastard used the fire elemental's fucking chakra to swing an attack at Grimmjow. He's got a fucking huge scar now."

She shook her head. "We split before anyone died, but you know how you come away from a bad fighting thinking of all the shit you could have done that would have meant you'd win?" Like if they'd all summoned, or if they'd had someone else with them, or if she'd hit them with Genjutsu, there were any number of things they could have done, and they hadn't. Tayuya looked particularly grumpy and took a mouthful of coffee, which was still far too hot, but whatever.

"They're both fine now," she added, "but no one's thrilled about explaining to your boss that they got in another fight with those dickheads."

[cierva]

Apache listened, staring at Tayuya as she told her what happened.

As usual, they had managed, somehow, to find their arch enemies when they had an entire world, both normal and floating continents, to choose from. The chances of it were tiny. Two groups of people coincidentally being in the same place at the same time? It was ridiculous, but nevertheless, it seemed to keep happening.

They needed to figure out another stomping ground.

"Damn," Apache said, unsure what to say. "I wanna say yes, but I don't get to get into any fights, since I always get left at home."

She sipped her coffee again, but dropped the joking tone when she spoke again.

"Luckily for them, I think Aizen's in a good mood after managing to recruit that other Ryoka," she told her. "He gets to take the credit since it was his minions, together with Pinky and Perky, who went to get him, so it makes him look good. It might soften the disappointment a bit."

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya managed a small smirk. She knew who Pinky and Perky indicated, but 'perky' wasn't how she'd have described Lumi, if she'd been asked.

"That's lucky," she said, cheerily. "Because he won't be in a good mood after they tell him." Aizen had been losing patience with them scrapping while out and about anyway, and now Arrancar were getting seriously injured in the tussles. He was probably going to frown a lot at the very least.

"Kuja isn't exactly gonna be impressed either," she admitted, "but at least I can soften that one a shitload because we found Kadaj while we were out."

[cierva]

"He planning on coming back any time soon?" She asked, wondering what had happened to Kadaj.

She, unlike the others wasn't very close to him. She got on with Tayuya, because they were the two girls in Skite, and she knew Yylfordt and Grimmjow well because they were all Arrancar. Kadaj was... okay enough, but she still couldn't get past considering him 'a friend of her friends'. She hadn't seen much of him at all.

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya nodded. "Yeah, not sure when 'cause he's on the bike so it's land travel only, but," she shrugged one shoulder. "He's different. He got all mature and shit." She paused, and considered who she was talking about. "Mostly, anyway. He's still a fucking psychopath though."

Which had always put him in good company in Khamja. Kadaj had always been one of the more unpredictable ones, though, riding Kuja's coattails with no real opinions of his own and uncanny knack for pressing people's buttons.

And then it turned out he'd planned attacking Orochimaru, even though they'd planned differently between them. Dickhead.

"You should have seen Yylfordt when Kadaj told him he'd had to have the bike fixed by someone else," she said, with a mean grin. "He got all high and mighty Al Bhed dickhead, 'tell me it was an Al Bhed mechanic' and fucking so on, and then turned into a total gushing fanboy when he got told who it was."

[cierva]

"Him and his brother are as bad as each other," she said, talking about the earlier point in their conversation, when Szayel's fanboying of Hojo had been noted. "They're both dickheads, too."

She sipped at her coffee, now cool enough to drink more easily. It was now no longer scalding, caffeinated lava.