A night time relaxtion[Nao |Ignatius]

”It’s not his control that’s the risk, it’s what he could do with it. The threat Hollow pose is easier to manage when they aren’t being coordinated. They are chaotic and show up sporadically,” she explained to Ignatius, slightly adopting the tone of one of her old Academy instructors, ”If they were to organize with planned attacks, it would not bode well for humans, normal or specially tuned to the spiritual.”

She bit her lip slightly, unsure just how personal she ought to get with explaining her motivations. Sure, there was the practical issue, but Nao had her own reasons beyond the official Seireitei boiler plate for wanting to preserve the lives of humans, especially those with their own heightened abilities. Their willingness to buy in to finding Anatoly sealed her conviction, though, and she soon found herself smiling back at Rubedo.

”Any assistance you can provide would be welcome, and you’ve already shown such wonderful hospitality that I feel you can be trusted with this. In return, I’d be happy to come back and see you when I am on Earth for a patrol again, and, hopefully when you’re old with lots of grand kids, I’ll gladly accept a call to make sure you receive a peaceful crossing over. You know,” she said, wetting her lips and shifting her legs slightly at the discomfort for sharing something so personal, ”They think I might have been like you when I was alive. A lot of Shinigami get recruited from our noble families, but sometimes they find a talented person out in Soul Society. Nobody really knows what makes us powerful, but the existence of humans with abilities like yours helps explain it all easily.”

It felt odd for Nao to talk about herself in such a positive light, but she had heard similar stories as a way to explain powerful souls several times and it was foolish to act like there weren’t other examples. ”You know, if your gifts are hereditary, I might even be your ancestor,” she added with a little laugh, ”I’d have no idea, of course. I didn’t even know my original name when I came to Soul Society, so it’s not like we could check. I just picked mine because I liked the way it sounded.”

”So yes,” she said, finally answering Rubedo’s question, ” I wouldn’t want to kill him unless he was posing an active threat. If he’s running around town with a pack of Hollow or Shinigami under his command, that would no doubt change things, but I think you’d agree that a madman doing something like that would count as proof that he’d need to face justice immediately before he can kill or enslave any innocent souls.”

Ignatius nodded as she spoke as that sounded bad even for a group such as the quincy. He and Rubeo would have to track this Anatoly down at some point and deal with him, in some way; they couldn’t allow such a human to run free with a dangerous capacity to influence spirits like that. Yet he had already gotten into the habit of arguing tactics and other such things with Rubedo that he couldn’t help but reply to what Nao said about hollows being organized dangerous. “True enough, though there’s a greater danger from hollows. I’ve seen them getting more and more intelligent and, should one arise with enough intellect and power, it could unite the hollows under a banner, so to speak. I think that would probably be even more dangerous than this human. Though this is simply hypothesis, at the moment.”

Her smile to Rubedo, however, made Ingatius question a few things, and he began to wonder if they she wasn’t trying to play them, just as they were her. Yet her way of speaking of something so macabre as death reminded him that the Shinigami saw things very differently than those that were living. To them, dying was simply a second life, as if they were just moving. Ignatius, however, didn’t agree and frowned just a bit, yet still found a way, within her sentence, to pick on Rubedo.

“You mean when HE’S old and has grandkids,” he replied jabbing a thumb in Rubedo’s direction, with a bit of a wry smile. “I, thankfully, am without a bride and am never planning, nor looking, to joining such a union.” He looked over at Ruby. “Unlike my friend here. I’m sure your children will be cute though, Rubedo.” He knew that his friend didn’t like the thought, despite that being what was eventually expected of him. Then he turned back to Nao. “I won’t lie, though; I detest the idea of aristocrats having so much power. I hope that my words do not offend, Nao, but I do not see any honor or glory in being the salvation of those that cannot see you.”

Ignatius suppressed his surprise and immense humor at Nao’s suggestion that she could be their ancestor, though this quickly disappeared when she spoke about the fact that not even she knew her original name. This was, ultimately, what disgusted Ignatius so much about the Soul Society. Their entire “cleansing” of the soul erased what had been truly unique about the soul: Their identity. Sure, as she was saying, they could choose a new name and identity, but the fact was that each time they died, they truly died. There was no great beyond where one kept themselves and who they were. Over time they lost their name. Such a thing was the only reason that he despised her idiotic balance of souls.

“No,” Ignatius said, coldly. “He should be killed. He plays with lives, even if they aren’t the original one. That or sealed away completely, forever, to rot and die alone, where none will ever find him.”

Rubedo also nodded in agreement that someone with this power in manipulated spirits is dangerous. But he still wanted to know this human’s motives, even though those with great power could be backstabbed in their loss of control, hopefully, they could reason with this fellow. The young man had chills thinking about someone controlling Hollows of all things for his gain.

He looked to his friend who seemed to frown at the idea of the Shinigami offering a peaceful offer into the afterlife. To someone like himself he’d rather erase his soul then become a spirit for any one side; though he best not bring his thoughts up in words lest he worries the both of them or his wife. Rubedo did not comment and kept silent of a peace offering, though he did make a surprised face and rolled his eyes at Iggy’s jab.

“You know girls swoon over you, you just pretend not to notice how handsome you are or get the hint a girl is flirting,” Rubedo said with a wry grin back. “What do you think, Miss Nao, does my friend here look like a type you would date? I mean if you were still alive. I mean, he is a really good cook and not afraid to be a house-man. He needs a good woman in his life.” he chuckled and stopped teasing his friend more before he’d annoy Ignatius and face his wrath. On the idea of Nao being their great ancestor he couldn’t help but blink a few times, surely he would have a record of any passing members of his family. He wasn’t sure what to say to that.

Rubedo picked up his plate, the food half-finished, and placed it on the table end by the grill. He could feel the coldness dripping from Ignatius as he suggested the man should just be killed. Ruby let out a sigh and headed towards the tent, before heading in he said. “Fine, fine we’ll talk more about that in the morning. Good night.” with that he slipped inside and closed the entrance and headed to bed.

//exit

Nao’s serious nods to Ignatius over his assessment of her concerns with Anatoly were broken completely at the little dig he made to Rubedo. She had to take her hand to her lips to hold in a laugh lest she accidentally embarrass the young man. Her smiling eyes betrayed her as she looked to Ignatius’ as he brought up the nobility of Seireitei, and she was forced to pull her hand away to wave him down, showcasing a smirk she had not been able to fully put away.

It took a few breaths to calm back down and force her professional demeanor back to the surface as he said that Anatoly should be killed, and she might have been okay if it weren’t for Rubedo chiming in and making her blush a deep red with scandalous implications. ”I, well, you see, we can, it’s not as if,” she stammered at him as the blushing only served to intensify.

”I had a friend who I wanted to, well no, he wouldn’t. I couldn’t, but he’s so sweet. You’re very pretty, both of you, but he. Well, we haven’t seen each other in decades, but that’d be like months for you. Perfectly normal. I’m sure he’s just-“ she started, her eyes darting between the two men anxiously as Rubedo thankfully interrupted her freakout and got up to call it a night.

”Thank you for your hospitality,” she meekly called after him as he went off to their tent, looking down at the fire and trying to calm down. With the sound of the flap closing, she looked back to Igantius apologetically, her nerves mostly suppressed.

”I’m sorry. You are a very kind young man and I’m sure you will find a lovely mortal woman, Mr. Iggy,” she said, using Rubedo’s nickname for the man, ”Soul Society isn’t that bad, though. I became a Shinigami during the second of your World Wars, so I got to witness some of the worst acts of cruelty humans are capable of first hand. You’ve improved since then, but so have we. In the end, we’re more or less the same as you, only we’ve been able to put aside petty things like skin color and nationality aside. Our only war is with the Hollow, and we fight them to protect you and preserve the Balance. It’s not perfect, but the nobles I have been allowed to know are kind, generous people.”

Oh, if looks could kill then Rubedo wouldn’t have even been able to go to soul society, his soul being destroyed from the mere gaze that Ignatius was giving him. He always hated it when Ruby did shit like that, putting someone on the spot over how agreeable of a man that Ignatius was. It irritated Iggy to no end. Especially since Rubedo was, effectively, trying to get a reaction out of someone. And, unfortunately, it seemed to work somewhat on poor Nao. Yet, ever the calm one, Ignatius merely continued to eat, as Rubedo said that he was going to bed. Despite all of her rambling, he merely watched, as though nothing had happened.

When she turned back to him, he was merely happily having some mashed potatoes. Her insinuation that he would find someone, kind as the words were, were actually more irritating than anything else. To make matter worse, her continuing on to say that the Soul Society wasn’t that bad was, almost laughable, to the point of comedy.

“Ms. Nao, you need to understand that I take no offense to your words. Rubedo enjoys getting a rise out of people that we meet, women especially, in whatever ways that he can. In this case, commenting on my, self-imposed, lack of a romantic partner. I’m, shall we say, married to my work. I’m constantly doing something in relation to my job, whether it be improving my own skills, making sure that any and all paperwork is handled.” With his fork, he picked up a bit more of the mashed potatoes, and put them into his mouth. “Not that I don’t mind the well-wishes, but I’m afraid I’m more than most people can handle, man or woman.” He smiled at her. “I’m sure you’re right, but the nobles here are more self-effacing, their thoughts on how your actions can further their end goals. I’m sure you’ve nobles like that in your Soul Society as well, yes? And let’s be realistic, can you really call the fight with hollows a “war”? There are no commanders, no great generals… You all have border skirmishes, but no true wars. Not even we mortals have wars with them. Struggles to survive, that’s it. Yet your perspective is a good one to have. Looking at things from other angles is always good.” He sighed a bit and looked up at the stars, before looking back at her. “I do hope that you have a good night, Nao, and that you are free of anymore encounters with dangerous humans. I’ll be here a little while yet, got some cleaning up to do.”

//TECHNICALLY THREAD EXIT

”Of course,” Nao said with a small bow of appreciation, ”I hope the remainder of your night goes well also.” She had remained quiet as he offered his clarification, grateful to be able to put any lingering questions about Tetsuya to the side as she finished off her plate.

His comments showed ignorance of the ways of her people and Soul Society as a whole, but she didn’t have the heart to get into a more spirited disagreement with her gracious hosts. Perhaps, when next they spoke, she would be able to explain things more clearly without the worry of offending them, but this was neither the time nor the place for that, something Ignatius had seem fit to remind her of.

Anatoly was still out there, and she would have to report back. Second Squad might be interested in the two young men, but if she reported that right away, they would be sure to be harassed and possibly have their memories erased. With the last savory bite of her food, she decided with certainty that she would not report them upon her immediate arrival. They had been courteous, pleasant to talk to, and might well prove to be the sorts of men necessary to find and stop Anatoly from hurting anyone else. Second would find out, but reports took time to process, more than enough time for them to put some distance between this campground and their next stop.

”Thank you, Mr. Iggy. Please extend my appreciation to Mr. Rubedo as well,” she said, straightening out her uniform and placing her silverware and plate underneath Rubedo’s for easy clean-up. ”The meal was excellent. I’ll be sure to have that device made ready for you as soon as possible. Stay safe, both of you.”

With a final gracious bow, Nao left the Quincy campsite, humming Nirvana songs as she made her way back to Soul Society to write up one hell of a report.

\\THREAD END