Mommy's got a scarecrow, gotta let the corn grow

[joinmyreunion]

When the others had said they were going back, Kadaj had said he'd join them.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to go home. He knew that when he did things would have changed, things would need to have changed. Orochimaru was gone, and Kadaj wasn't going to be viewed as just the impulsive idiot riding Kuja's coattails any more. His relationship with Gin was going to have changed as well. Kadaj had always trusted Gin in that he'd trusted Gin to be Gin; whose actions and motives were utterly beyond Kadaj's comprehension, but in the very least he got the impression that Gin wouldn't hurt him for the fun of doing so, which was more than Kadaj could say for any of the rest of Khamja. Where Gin was concerned, Kadaj tried not to be a hindrance, even if he didn't know how to be a help.

Now Gin knew secrets about Kadaj that no one else did. No one barring Nnoitra, and now Grimmjow, Tayuya, and Yylfordt. It would have put Kadaj on Gin's radar, he knew, he just had to hope now that whatever game Gin played didn't have need of a playing piece with Kadaj's moveset.

Then there was Kuja. Since he couldn't occupy the safe spot hiding behind Kuja's skirts any more, Kadaj might be surplus to Kuja's requirements. He could play him; play at being the loyal little ex-minion, but Kadaj knew he probably wouldn't be able to keep that up for too long. Better, then, to play at ingenue ally, in need of guidance, who may be inclined to owe Kuja some favours. It hurt to think it, but Kadaj trusted Kuja marginally less than he trusted Gin when it came to his own safety if he wasn't immediately useful to him.

And then, then there was Aizen. Kadaj doubted very much that his defeat of Orochimaru had put him on Aizen's radar, but he doubted Aizen disregarded the whole affair, either. It might, at worst, or at best, have put Kadaj down as an upstart to keep an eye on. Kadaj wasn't wholly sure how to ingratiate himself with that one yet, or whether doing so was even wise.

So returning to the Palace was frought with nerves and second guessing himself. Kadaj took the time to chase down one last Hollow before he headed back; a mean thing that a Gotei Lieutenant might break a sweat over, but which Kadaj could take down almost leisurely, now. Then and only then did he head back, driving the bike through the caverns and parking her with the airships.

Yylfordt could keep the Ragnarok. Kadaj was quite fond of his bike, now.

He approached the Palace doors with a sigh, steeling himself before he let himself in. The Palace felt very, very different to what he was used to. The usual suspects were all here, of course, their reiatsu interwoven with the general feel of the place, but there were dischords in the usual symphony. Reiatsu signatures missing, faded, no longer detectable, and intruders that were too new to have found their place in the piece, yet.

One of them felt familiar, though Kadaj couldn't really pinpoint why.

He was full of sand and dust from the desert, so the first thing he did was head off to have a shower and change. On his way, he left something outside Kuja's door, and once he'd showered, he headed straight to the kitchen, where the others tended to lurk.

Comments

[thechillyacademic]

"In this instance," Even said, arching an eyebrow at Szayel, "the risks and downsides rather outweigh the positives."

On the upside, Szayel had a point. It may allow them, possibly, to learn how to be more efficient with their Chakra, but on the downside... it would show their weaknesses not only to them, but to Hojo and, by extension, Khamja. It would allow Hojo and again, by extension, Khamja, see the limits of their Chakra and it would also, as Hojo pointed out, be something he may not survive.

He didn't care enough about the plight of the poor natives to put his life on the line for such research, not after all he'd endured up until this point. They could study an Elemental or Entite, even a Flan for all he cared, if they were so interested in unusual Chakra manipulation.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel sighed, dramatically. "All science worth doing comes with risks," he said, and shook his head. "I'd been given the impression that you were all more devoted to discovery than this," he added, before concluding, "what a disappointment."

Of course he knew why Even might not be so keen on the idea of letting himself be studied by the likes of Hojo. No one in Khamja wanted to give information about their weaknesses away if they could help it. Still, it was a terrible waste of good data.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj listened to Szayel nag the ryoka with half an ear. He'd missed some things, he knew; there was a new ryoka for them to worry about, and the berserker wasn't hanging around this guy any more, which meant that as far as Kadaj was concerned, getting information off this guy about himself wasn't much use to them unless they wanted to off him.

He felt a distant moment of solidarity with the new guy when it came to wanting to keep the full extent of your own abilities under wraps, thanks.

He made his toast and picked a spot at the table nearer Nnoitra than anyone else to sit and eat. Nnoitra was probably the closest thing to an ally Kadaj had in this room, Nel aside, and it hadn't been Nel that had helped him get rid of Orochimaru.

[thechillyacademic]

"I don't know where you got that impression," Even said, somewhat irritably, before turning his attention back to his newspaper.

Even was quite finished with self experimentation, thank you. Ending up a Nobody through his own experiments had closed off that avenue for him and he didn't intend to take the boards down and go there again any time soon.

"But you're free to ask any of the other three to see if they want to participate in potentially lethal research for the sake of the natives," he said, looking up again, a bit more cheerfully. "I suggest asking Lumi first."

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra half watched Kadaj as he listened to the scientists bicker. Szayel was being an insufferable asshole as usual, but the Ryoka seemed to be holding him off well enough without either rising to his comments too much, or outright smacking him, something that he considered quite a feat of self control in comparison to how others usually treated him.

He wasn't sure he'd have been so collected about it.

He glanced at Kadaj properly as he sat down, but turned his attention to the Ryoka when he spoke to Szayel again. He couldn't resist a snort at that suggestion of creative suicide.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj snorted too, a smirk on his face as he picked up a slice of his toast. "Just make sure we get to watch," he added, looking at Szayel.

Lumi, by Kadaj's reckoning, probably wouldn't actually hurt him for the suggestion. He'd probably ignore Szayel like he was some errant dirt on the bottom of one of Lumi's shoes. He'd hurt Szayel when Marluxia told him to, or if Szayel insisted on pressing the point.

It'd still be entertaining to watch, however.

[declaregamuza]

Nel, unlike the others, gave a soft groan. "Don't even think about it, Szayel," she said. "And you stop encouraging him," she scolded Even, playfully. The smile that crept across her face after speaking gave away her amusement.

The kettle clicked and she made her cup of tea before she walked around Szayel and leaned over him to pinch the magazine he'd been reading from in front of him. She used the imminent threat of giving Szayel a face full of her boobs to keep him from trying to stop her, and smiled happily. "Since you're not reading this," she told him, brightly.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

"I don't take orders from you, Neliel," Szayel said, sharply, and with a sneer.

"And it hardly has to be lethal," he began, to Even, "just a measurement of your limits. An opponent can help to push them, of course--"

He got no further because Nel leaned over him and he was forced to lean back and to the side to avoid her bosom, a look of thorough disgust on his face that remained even when she stood back up, having stolen his reading material.

"Don't do that again."

[prayingmantis]

"Well," Nnoitra said, a smirk on his face. "She obviously found your weakness."

Construct a monster entirely out of boobs and Szayel would dissolve into a jibbering wreck in no time.

"Knock off trying to encourage people to give themselves up for experimentation, you creep." He said, rolling his eye. "We already know you're a scientist, you don't have to keep goin' on about it."

Nnoitra thought, probably not inaccurately, that Szayel was as big an attention whore as he liked people to think he was the other kind.

[thechillyacademic]

Even snorted a little, looking surprisingly comfortable, even in the present company. Neliel had a way of both lightening a situation and making it so that fights didn't break out, even when Szayel was there.

It was something of a talent, really.

He turned his attention back to his newspaper and turned the page. He wasn't particularly interested in celebrity gossip.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel threw Nnoitra a poisonous look. It morphed to become merely snotty when he mentioned Szayel being a scientist.

"I don't encourage such things to flaunt my scientific prowess," he said, haughtily. "I'm proof enough of that myself, but as a scientist, of course I'm curious about the ryoka in our midst." He shrugged, and eyed Nel with more than a hint of irritation, both for thrusting her bosom in his face, and for stealing his magazine, which had left him with nothing to pointedly begin to read to indicate his point had been made.

[declaregamuza]

Nel, with a bright smile, claimed a seat near Even with her pilfered magazine and cup of tea, and settled in to browse the article titles on the second page.

She considered telling Szayel that the only thing that rivaled his ego was Aizen's, but she decided against it given present company. That, and she wasn't actually entirely sure that Aizen's was bigger.

"You can stop giving me that look, Szayel," she said, without looking at him. She didn't need to look at him to feel him glaring daggers at her through the magazine. "You were too busy pestering Even to read it."

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra laughed. It was a harsh sound, and scathing.

"So what if you're curious about the Ryoka?" He laughed. "He is a Ryoka, so the chances are he's more curious about where we come from than what he is. He knows what he is."

He rolled his eye. Nnoitra didn't have a great deal of time for crazy scientists. He'd dealt with far too many of them in his lifetime already.

"He's a scientist too," he went on, "so for all you know he's already done experiments away from the native nutcases."

[thechillyacademic]

"He's not wrong," Even said. "I don't look at my situation and consider myself something worthy of experimentation. Spira, to me, is much more interesting. Casting fresh eyes on the limitations of the natives and their interaction with their world is considerably more fascinating."

Between him and Ienzo, they had already managed to regain their weapon generation ability using entirely Spiran methods. There was no real reason why a Spiran native wouldn't be able to do the same thing if they learned the technique, but aside from a few vague references to an extremely old and currently defunct Class, nobody had ever done anything similar.

He wasn't going to use that as an example to Szayel, however.

"It's all a matter of perspective," he said.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel quirked an eyebrow at Even, choosing, for now, to ignore Nnoitra. "To you, perhaps," he said, "but as you said, it's all a matter of perspective."

From the perspective of Szayel, and the rest of the scientists of Spira, Even was the rare and unique sample for study.

"Though if you wanted to study natives, I'm sure we could obtain a few," he added, with a slightly dangerous smile. "Or have you, as Nnoitra suggests, already done so?"

[thechillyacademic]

"I'd certainly be in the right place were that the case, wouldn't I?" Even said, turning his attention back to his newspaper and failing to answer the question.

[doesthissmellofchloroform]

Hojo rose from the labs like a bad smell.

The reiatsu signature that had been faint had returned to the Palace. It wasn't full force yet, but it was definitely that same signature, and some of the similarities to another were unmistakable.

It was worth investigating, and Hojo's curiosity had overtaken his dislike of leaving the labs for more than necessary journeys. He had a coffee machine, which meant the only things he needed to venture out for were food, cigarettes, and subjects. And he was working on the food situation.

He walked down the corridors with his hands clasped behind his back and a thoughtful expression. He'd require a sample to confirm the identity, really, even though he was sure of it anyway. Better to be thorough.

He could tell his desired subject was in the kitchen, and he wasn't alone, and Hojo entered without a word. Hebira's child, an Arrancar he hadn't met but whose reiatsu was always lingering in the kitchen, the selkie Arrancar he'd met, the blond ryoka...

Silver hair, no mistaking that, and a youthful arrogance to the reiatsu signature that meant it both hid and advertised itself. More slender than the first subject had been by this approximate age, but he'd also lacked the further experimentation and training. Hojo's experiments with this one had been disturbed.

Hojo adjusted his glasses and approached the boy. "Yes," he said to himself, "unmistakable."

[thechillyacademic]

Even cringed inwardly when Professor Hojo walked in.

He glanced up at him, briefly enough that it was clear that he wasn't trying to catch his eye but also not so quickly that it looked as though he was deliberately trying not to.

Luckily, he ignored him, and headed for ... Kadaj? Now, that was interesting.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra rolled his eye as he felt Hojo approaching and made very sure to busy himself on his near-completed crossword to avoid any potentially annoying conversations. He didn't like the man. In truth, he had an aversion to most scientists, but Hojo was especially unpleasant since he was a reminder of his mother.

He looked up when he spoke, apparently to himself, and narrowed his eye as he approached Kadaj. What did that creep want with him? It was always possible he was just a creepy scientist magnet, but Nnoitra doubted it.

[declaregamuza]

Nel felt the approach coming, and she was already eyeing the doorway when Hojo came through it. She hadn't seen him before and he was somehow exactly what she expected, in his white coat and tied back hair that didn't look like he'd washed it today, and yet not what she'd expected at all. He looked younger than she'd pictured, for one, although he wasn't young. He also had terrible posture.

And he stank of cigarette smoke. Nel could smell it from where she sat, and she curled a lip.

She sat up a little straighter when he went up to Kadaj. Kadaj, she knew, could be volatile if pushed. He'd been okay with Even, but Even hadn't walked up to him and looked at him like he was under a microscope. She was on guard for this going badly.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj had finished his toast but failed to move his plate yet when the other scientist walked in. At first, Kadaj did nothing, but then this creepy old man stood right over him and peered at him like he was a zoo specimen.

He leaned back, resisting the urge to stand up and start shouting, for now. This must be Hojo, then. Nnoitra had been right, and Kadaj had exactly ten seconds of experience with the man.

"Do you have a problem?" He asked, in a tone that suggested the follow up question would be whether he wanted one.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel had lingered more to make a point of the fact that he was lingering, and he watched Hojo approach Kadaj, and proceed to study him.

Szayel laced his fingers together with a smirk and rested his chin on them, watching the interaction. He was, admittedly, curious as to what was unmistakable about Kadaj. The eyes, perhaps, or the reiatsu which lurked in the Palace in his absence and was likely present even down in the labs?

[doesthissmellofchloroform]

There was no doubt about it. Those eyes were the giveaway; there were only so many ways to acquire that hint of mako glow to the eyes, and Hojo had personally dealt with the majority that bore them.

"Different attitudes, but that's to be expected," he said, again to himself. "No, boy," he said, finally addressing Kadaj, "there is no problem. I will require a sample from you, however." He put his hand up to his chin as he began to mutter, "I shall have to compare. You're similar enough, but the extent of the deviation needs investigating. A cheek swab should be sufficient."

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra, were he a nicer person, might have cringed at what could potentially befall Professor Hojo at his utterance of those words. He wasn't though, so he just looked up, slightly interested, half wondering if Kadaj was going smack him or not.

Kadaj, even Nnoitra knew, had an few complexes and, because of this, he got the feeling that being called 'boy' and having demands made of him were likely to trigger a few of those, so he sat back and waited for the fireworks.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj got to his feet, for all the difference that made. He wasn't much taller than Hojo stood up, but it at least meant the man wasn't leering creepily over him.

"I don't think so," he said, restraining his rising irritation badly, but managing so far to keep his temper. "I'm not one of your experiments, and I'm not going to be one, so you can back off."

Kadaj was done being poked and prodded in whatever ways a self declared scientist devised. No one was going to control him like Orochimaru had ever again.