It used to be so easy...
Dec. 21st, 2015 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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.
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.
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Date: 2015-12-23 10:36 pm (UTC)She walked into the kitchen, dropping the laundry basket to one side, and eyed everyone in the room, lingering longest on Tayuya. It was a look that said 'you know what happens if you do what you're thinking of doing'. It did not, however, seem to be calming Tayuya down.
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Date: 2015-12-23 11:02 pm (UTC)She would never deny being up for a fight, but in the palace, in the kitchen, and with a full-member of Clan Khamja, even if it was the new Ryoka, would not be her choice of how to go about it.
Aizen, for a start, would lose his rag. She was pretty sure he'd had quite enough of his Arrancar pulling that shit by now.
She turned and looked at Nel, giving her a subtle but pointed look that suggested that she was grateful for her interruption.
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Date: 2015-12-23 11:08 pm (UTC)He smiled thinly at the level-headed Arrancar, looking weary at the situation. This sort of thing happening had been a foregone conclusion, they all knew it, but Neliel's arrival on the scene would hopefully be enough to head it off before any real violence broke out. He didn't want to have to defend himself against somebody else's subordinate. He had been warned against entering the dicey territory that course of action stood on.
"Good afternoon," he said, almost pleasantly, though the tightness in his voice due to the argument made him sound stiffer than he had been for most of his stay at the palace.
The temperature in the kitchen remained uncomfortably low, even in spite of Tayuya's flaring anger.
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Date: 2015-12-23 11:18 pm (UTC)Nel was welcome to the role of mediator.
"So uh," he said, one eye still on Tayuya, who still looked like she wanted to knock someone's block off, and he didn't want it to be his, "no one thought to warn us about Grimmjow's best mate's boyfriend moving in?"
And Yylfordt had taken him for an Al Bhed. That annoyed him, now, but the guy could pass for one. He even spoke it pretty well.
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Date: 2015-12-23 11:21 pm (UTC)That part still didn't make sense to her. The little bookish one wasn't a prisoner exactly, in the sense that he was a clan member but everyone knew he'd joined unwillingly, and he got treated like a special prisoner instead of a full member. This guy, though, had the wrong attitude for being here against his will.
Tayuya didn't trust him.
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Date: 2015-12-23 11:30 pm (UTC)"He's here," she said, "because he left them." That was as much concrete information as they'd had; he'd split from the Order, there had been tension, and so Marluxia and the other ryoka had wanted to bring him into the fold before the Order went to retrieve him. "That's as much as you need to know," she added, a touch bluntly. She wasn't up for gossiping about Even's reasons for leaving, and how much he was trusted, in part because she wasn't privy to any more information than Even had told her himself anyway. "He's a full member, he has to be treated as such."
Yylfordt had a point, though. No one had warned them, which was why it had gone down quite like this.
"I suggest someone goes to catch Grimmjow up before he walks in as well and we have an incident," she said, directing this mainly at Yylfordt.
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Date: 2015-12-24 12:32 am (UTC)Well, they hadn't. She was sure that Aizen, or Nel, or somebody else who knew, would have told them if they had known in advance when they were getting home, before they had chance to run into him.
She looked at him, scowling a little, her loyalty to her friends coming though, but even she had do admit that he hadn't been any trouble since he'd moved in. Not that she'd heard, anyway.
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Date: 2015-12-24 12:43 am (UTC)"I have severed ties with the Order," he said, slightly huffily, as he swilled the flask out and turned on the kettle. He had to make a conscious effort to tone down the effects of his reiatsu to stop it frosting the casing. "Feel free to quarrel with," he hesitated, wrinkling his nose, "the Berserker all you like."
He hadn't yet stopped being bitter. He probably never would.
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Date: 2015-12-24 01:05 am (UTC)"Yeah," he said, "that's probably a good idea."
Go and tell Grimmjow. Because Grimmjow would probably react like Tayuya, except with more fists, so forewarning him was a good idea. Unlike Tayuya, Grimmjow would probably hit first and ask questions later, if he bothered to ask questions at all.
His coffee could wait. Having that kind of start to the day had eliminated his need for it anyway.
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Date: 2015-12-24 01:18 am (UTC)"Don't need your permission to do that," she said, haughtily.
Then she remembered the berserker using the fire elemental's chakra to attack Grimmjow, and she snorted. That kind of thing happened in fairy tales. You had to be close to someone for a long, long time to even be exposed to enough of their reiatsu for something like that. That's why it only happened in fairy stories; it showed two people were basically in each others pockets.
And the berserker hadn't used ice, had he?
"Did he fucking dump you, is that why you're here?" She sneered. "You couldn't compete with that red headed asshole he's hanging around with now?"
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Date: 2015-12-24 01:24 am (UTC)"Tayuya," she said, as a warning when Tayuya tried needling Even about his reasons for defecting to Khamja.
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Date: 2015-12-24 11:05 pm (UTC)He knew that the girl was trying to wind him up, as if that was the reason for his defection, but knowing did little to curb the sharp spike of irritation he felt at her words. Frost spread from his hands, crawled across the flask and, sparkling, coated the inside of the sink, the taps and started to creep up across the draining board as far as the moisture would allow.
He managed not to snap anything at her, which was lucky because there was nothing he could have said that wouldn't have looked like a weak denial and justification, but his silence spoke volumes. Likely the wrong ones, but volumes nonetheless.
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Date: 2015-12-24 11:27 pm (UTC)There were a lot of reasons he shouldn't. It'd cause him a lot of trouble if he did, but that would be little comfort to Tayuya if she got seriously hurt or worse.
Clearly this guy was still pissy about getting dumped. It probably was why he'd joined Khamja, but that just made him pathetic. She sneered at him instead of saying anything.
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Date: 2015-12-24 11:39 pm (UTC)"Why don't you two," she said, her voice soft, but her expression pointed as she looked from Apache to Tayuya, "go and find Grimmjow and Yylfordt?" It sounded like a suggestion, but she didn't really intend for it to be. It was really a polite dismissal, getting the Arrancar and the other underling out of the way of a full clan member that was a bit riled with one of them right now.
She didn't know exactly what had passed between Even and Saix, but she did know from Marluxia and Ienzo that the fire elemental, Axel, was considered a traitor, and that they were wary of the berserker associating with him because they were supposed to have fallen out. Marluxia had said that Axel had 'chronic backstabbing disorder', which Marluxia made quite clear had also happened to Saix.
Now, Even was here, and Saix was out there, with someone who had betrayed him once. It was bound to be a sore subject.
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Date: 2015-12-24 11:49 pm (UTC)More than that, the temperature in the room had plummeted. She scowled as her breath rose as steam in front of her eyes.
"Uh, yeah," she said, pushing her chair out and getting up. "Right."
She didn't mind abandoning her coffee. It had been lukewarm a moment ago, but now it was rather colder.
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Date: 2015-12-24 11:54 pm (UTC)"Whatever," she growled, standing up, with a sideways glance at Apache.
She wasn't retreating, she was just going because Nel had told her to, and she liked Nel. Most of the time she liked Nel. Right now, Nel seemed to be taking the ryoka's side, and Tayuya liked that a bit less.
She made for the door with little more than a derisive snort in the ryoka's direction.
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Date: 2015-12-24 11:58 pm (UTC)She approached Even a little cautiously, and asked, gently, "Would you like a cup of tea?"
Nel was Archadian, and some habits died hard. Bad day? Tea. Run into old enemies? Tea. Get needled about the end of your last relationship by some uppity foul mouthed brat? Tea.