Welcome to Gaia! ::

The early morning sun had just started to crest over the horizon, bathing the entire land in a soft orange and pink hue. The day was chill and the dew that had formed during the night had turned to a fine layer of frost on the lush grass below. With a soft breeze the earth seemed to jump to life; the pomegranates seemed to shake of the nights slumber, while the leaves of the trees yawn and stretch their tips out as far into the air as they would go. It was truly a sight to behold. In the distance one could hear the soft tunes of birds singing in praise and scurrying little rodents on the ground below. All was at peace within the tiny orchard. In fact the only out of place sound to be heard was that of a fruit being popped open as someone plopped the juicy maroon seeds into their mouth. Yes; when the living pictured heaven, nirvana, or any other perfect after life, this was most certainly what they imagined. A forgotten little grove not far from the Sereitei's walls sat a little piece of perfection.

What had possessed Lerato to show up here so early in the morning was beyond him but he was more than glad that the little nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach had led him here. He was sure that he could think here or, if he wished, close his mind off to all the worries and drama that seemed to be associated with his position. While he sat here, popping a few more wonderful morrsels into his mouth, he could relax and let the peace that filled the air also fill his being. He didn't have to worry about masking his reiatsu to keep it from frightening subordinates; hell, he didn't even have to worry about running into his captain so he could run another errand. No. While he was in the sanctuary provided by these trees he was fairly positive that should anyone happen across him, they too would be looking for a slice of heaven.

He was unsure what disturbed his tranquil setting first; was it the crunch of frost beneath feet, or perhaps the far more alluring swoosh of clothing on skin? There was something off about the perfume of the air as well, a scent that dragged him deep within the confines of his own mind. Where had he come in contact with that scent before... a somewhat sweet spicy that kept drawing his memory back to one event; a party. The get together had went as planned for the most part with a fair amount of others deciding to come yet none of those who attended fit the profile of the fast approaching figure. It wasn't until their form was silhouetted against the morning sun that things started to fall into place. 'What is she doing here?' He should have been worried. After all, Aine was to be confined to the Sereitei and while they were less than a few miles away she was sure to catch hell for it if anyone had found her out here. That was the consequences of being a former defect, after all.

In a single flip the woman launched herself into the air and onto a branch. A soft plop told him that she plucked a fruit from its rightful place before being split open by her dagger. The Vice Captain barely had time to swallow the mouthful of seeds before she swung backwards to hang upside down before him, their eyes locking for a mere moment before he leaned ever so slightly to the right so he could break her gaze. "Don't worry about it. I have no intention of telling the Red Man about you because if I did I would have to explain to him how I came about finding you, understand? So you keep your mouth shut and I'll do the same. If we can both do that then life will be a hell of a lot easier on the two of us. Not to mention I never wanted to keep you locked up in the first place. I'm aware I come off as strict, but you've never given me reason to worry about you, Aine." He shifted slightly to the right to further the distance between the two of them. He could feel her gem-like eyes boring holes into his soul. Noticing that his edging away could have been mistaken he cleared his throat and turned to her once again, "No offense, but being in such close proximity to you worries me. After all, I ended up with your thong on my head last time, and we hadn't even been drinking."

Grabbing his pomegranate he continued his snacking, pondering on what exactly the birds were singing about on that particular day. "You might want to flip yourself right side up..." his voice was gentle yet still impossibly cold. How much had he changed since last the two of them had met. "After all, you don't want to give yourself a head rush..." The words flowing from his lips mimicked the flow of water through an icy creek while his glacier blue eyes worked to light up his olive tinted skin. In a single swift movement Lerato had switched the hand that held his fruit of liquid rubies and had offered it to upside down defect.

[Blarg, sorry this took so long to get to you, friend drama.]

The man snorted a small laugh while he shook his head from side to side. "Yeah, the Captain wakes you up, so I get the privilege of sporting around a thong as if it were some type of new hat... that makes a lot of sense." Rolling his eyes he returned to looking out over the grove of fruit trees. He didn't have to look at her to know that her gaze had fallen on him. In fact he could almost feel her sizing him up. What was she expecting of him? It wasn't like he had followed her here or anything. It wasn't until he stole a glance at her that he noticed her eyes flickering between his scars that things started to fall into place. "You can go ahead and ask. Everyone else does. I made the mistake of challenging him. I got cocky, made some stupid mistakes, and I paid for it in blood. Now I have a constant reminder to think before I act." His voice floated between them for a minute, detached from the memories themselves, as he explained the purple scaring that now defined his torso.

Her words danced around his ears briefly as she assured him that her lips were sealed when it came to the two of them having slipped from the Sereitei for the day. Oddly enough it wasn't until a second or two after she had said the word threat that his mind caught up to what she was saying and he was able to respond, "Make sure you let me know before hand so I can clear out the squad, would ya? I know it may come off as weird but I actually care for the kids in the squad and I don't want to see them all turned to ash on the off chance they come across him after you set him afloat." There was something about her that cut through the ice that Lerato had so recently thrown upon himself and it disturbed him. How could she be getting through his defenses? What was it about her that both set him on edge and kept him eager to hear her next word? Was it power, the fact she was a known criminal, or just the bluntness with which she spoke about matters that would make others flush with embarrassment. Watching as she spoke underneath a polite hand made the right side of his lips lift up in a half grin. "You don't need to worry about manners around me, Aine. I'm sure you're aware of how rudely some of the others eat. I'm sad to say but not everyone learns respect or manners while they go through the academy."

The lieutenant didn't answer for a few minutes, having to war with himself internally about shying away from the contact between them. On one side was the fact that his personal space had just suffered a major violation by someone he hadn't spoken with more than once or twice before while on the other was the need to be polite that had been beaten into his skull both in the world of the living, and during his life in the Rukongai. "How I what?" He asked none too smartly before shaking the fog from his mind. "Oh, uh, well I didn't really find it actually. I had been out of a stroll in the early morning and got a feeling in the pit of my stomach. Knowing better than to ignore it, I let my feet take me where ever I was meant to be... After about a half hour I found myself here with the desire to walk gone." With a shrug he concluded, "I guess in a way it actually found me." Of course the thought of a pomegranate orchard pulling someone to it sounded ludicrous but it was the honest truth. Realizing he had chosen not to move he went ahead and plucked a few of the seeds from their home, chewing and swallowing before he turned the question back on her, "And what about you?"

Though the gently blowing breeze alerted Lerato that time had remained a constant, the feeling he was encountering had him wondering if he had slipped into some sort of time warp. Aine's words floated around him, wafting to and fro on the current of her breath. The sweetness of the pomegranate coupled with her naturally alluring perfume plunged his mind into a sea of fog. 'How in the hell is she able to hold this dominion over me?' He mentally berated himself for allowing anyone, especially this convict, to sway him. A low grunt was all to escape his lips as she pushed his chin upward and inspected his scarring. Her touch sent a shiver run down his body, setting his long-since-healed wounds aflame with a gentle warmth. "A stupid mistake..." His words broke the silence like the crack of a whip and before he knew just what it was that he was doing the Vice Captain had taken a firm hold of the woman's wrists and traded places with her. Before there was time for Lerato's head to clear he had placed his lips over hers, a gentle pressure making his lips meet hers for the slightest breath of time. The ends of his lips turned up into a shadow of a smile as a though played in his mind, 'A fruit flavored kiss... gotta be a first for me.'

The tension and heat that had bound him so closely to this woman eased as the kiss broke, a weight lifted from his shoulders as visibly as if a boulder had been removed, and he was able to think again. "I don't mean to call you out, but it seems as though you're doing your best to keep something hidden away... You say you found this place while in the Academy, yet you skirt around the subject of why you're out here now." Despite the fog that had clouded his thoughts, and the cover of the rustling leaves about, Lerato had caught the low sigh that Aine had let slip. Now the only question was what the hell had she been sighing about? Was she reliving her days in the Rukongai, or perhaps the details of her incarceration. It was only then that the blaring question hit him. What were the details of her incarceration? Even though he was a Vice Captain he had never been filled in on the subject. Now it was his turn to upturn her face and with a gentle yet firm tone he dared ask the question that seemed to have been left unanswered, "Just what exactly were you imprisoned for, Aine?" What in the world could this tiny vixen have done to warrant the treatment she had? 'As long as you are under my watch, you shall remain free, tiny Jigokuchou..' His gaze, which had so recently been that of ice, melted into a warm cerulean blue.

“You’re right to worry about them. Hell, I only invoked a fragment of the Devil’s rage and look at what happened to me. The others… well, all I can say is they’d make a nice filler for the concrete around the Sereitei.” His laughter was kind as he pulled her closer to him. The lieutenant had been waiting for the subject of conversation to shift back to his markings but it was the first time that he had ever felt burdened by said flaws. His normal sense of pride temporarily hidden by his desire to show this woman, this Defect, his once perfect body. “If you’re wondering why the blasted things still seem so fresh your guess would be as good as mine. As far as I can tell the cells refuse to mend… a branding that identifies me as one of Fefnir’s students, and a reminder from my Queen to pay attention from now on…” He whispered as he brought one of her hands up to rest against the purple marring. “You really should relax. I’m not going to snap at you or anything if you ask.”

Dropping the hand that wasn’t placed over his chest he pondered if what he was about to do would be going to far but while he was here in a place of sweet living gems he took the risk. With a slow movement Lerato brought his hand up to the Defect’s soft face, cupping her cheek. “It looks like there’s something on your mind, so spill it Aine.” He chuckled as his thumb stroked the top of her cheekbone. ‘How can someone so fragile looking invoke the fury of shinigami like The Captain… Sure she hides behind a mask of sarcasm, but who wouldn’t under the same circumstances… Hell, if I was in her place I would have likely killed someone by now.’ His thoughts trailed off as his gaze locked on hers…

For a minute Lerato stood there unsure of just how he should react to the news laid before him. No, the disturbing part wasn’t that he was in the presence of a member of the King’s private guard. What had him rethinking the entirety of his life as a shinigami was the fact that any captain, let alone his own, would try to subjugate anyone because of the knowledge they held. Could Fefnir, the man he idolized above all other shinigami, truly lock up someone as sweet as the girl before him for political gain? Seconds turned to minutes and Lerato found himself with his back to Aine as if he could clear his mind by ridding it of her form. ‘How could he?’ The lieutenant tried to look at the situation through every possible filter from protecting the other officers of the court guard, to trying to prevent someone from trying to use the Defect’s strength for their own twisted pleasures; yet try as he might the nagging feeling that had crept to the back of his mind refused to leave. Every fiber in his being wanted to pull him from that Garden of Eden and force him to storm the Captain’s quarters but even as he began to plan how he would engage the Red Man he knew he couldn’t. “Looks like I’m stuck with another question I can’t yet answer…” he murmured, letting out a lungful of air he hadn’t quite realized he had withheld. A rollercoaster of emotion tore his mind from Aine to Fefnir, and back over and over again. “I won’t blow your cover.”

It wasn’t until a chill breeze caressed his bare torso that he was brought back to reality and noticed that he had left the company of the Defect’s side, out of reach of her cream colored arms. Turning to face her he couldn’t help but c**k his head to one side as his all too arrogant smirk lifted his lips. “Now who said I thought I wasn’t perfect? A few discolorations here and there could never mar this image of a god.” Shaking his head he couldn’t help but chuckle as he closed the small gap that had appeared between them. It was remarkable how well she could read him. It was almost as if his inner dialogue had become visible somewhere on his person. “But here I am trying to explain to you just how little a blemish can matter… What is the old saying then? He doth protest too much?” Without any precursor the man threw out his arms, exhaled a long breath, and bent backwards letting his back pop in rapid succession as the vertebrae naturally realigned themselves. How much tension had built up within him since starting his position as the Vice Captain of the first division? And for what? As he brought himself to attention once more he rolled his shoulders and neck to stretch out the stiff muscles that held him together. “I feel like a damn tin man sometimes…” He commented dryly as he plopped down against the tree beside the woman.

“All I’d ever ask of you, or anyone else, is the full truth, Aine.” What a sight the two must have made; him, a six foot tall olive skinned man sitting at a few grams short of two hundred and thirty pounds, and her, a five foot tall girl of cream complexion with the body of a gymnast. The mental picture almost made him laugh so to keep from looking like a maniac Lerato concentrated on the next most prevalent piece of information that had so recently been placed before him. “I guess I should consider myself lucky, yeah? After all, isn’t information of Royal Guard members supposed to be kept hidden from the public for our own good or some bullshit like that? For me to have lasted this long knowing your classification I must either be one lucky son of a b***h because you don’t wanna hurt me, or you need me for something and as much as I would like to consider myself of that level of importance I’m kind of doubting it.” If the rumors were true, and Division Zero really chose their members as it was believed, then he was sitting next to arguably one of the strongest shinigami in the entirety of the Soul Society. The idea alone had his stomach turning, yet whether it was due to nerves based in attraction, or a sudden fear for his life he was unsure.

In the ensuing silence Lerato decided to mirror his companions actions and search for his ruby hued fruit. With only a few moments devoted to his search he let out an annoyed sigh. A few feet from him a pair of chattering squirrels picked at his downed pomegranate, “How in the hell am I supposed to get that back.” He grunted to himself. Refusing to get up again so soon he pointed one finger up to the canopy above, picked out a branch with only a lone fruit hanging from it and under his breath whispered, “Sho,” With a light bounce the branch jumped twice and with a plop the fruit fell into his waiting hand. Without much thought he relaxed into bark of the tree at his back and began to hum a tune had had heard while on a mission to the World of the Living. “….Heaven not a place that you go when you die, it’s that moment in life when you actually feel alive. So live for the moment and take this advice, live by every word, ‘Love is just a hoax, so forget anything you have heard, and live for the moment…’” Humming the bits of song he couldn’t remember Lerato did his best to fill the air with the soft tune as he worked on breaking in to the vault of delicious red seeds.

The Vice Captain turned watchful eyes on Aine as the guitar struck it’s final cords and the melody created from her music and his voice slowly drifted into the void. “You are truly a wonder, you know that?” His voice returned to its previous tone as he let the emotions of the song lift from his shoulders. “Few around here would recognize a tune from the world of the living, let alone one from America.” Lerato almost felt the need to inquire how she came upon knowing the chords for the song, but decided it would be a question for a different time and instead decided to ask a more troubling one, “So, excuse me if I sound like a fool, but just how in the hell can you play a guitar without actually… you know… playing a guitar?” Had the lieutenant actually taken the time to think about it, he probably could have connected the sudden flux of reishi about him with the gentle strumming of the stringed instrument but with so many other thoughts floating about his head he was lucky to even form the question without having to be lead about by the nose.

Not one to be rude, and still unnerved by the petite woman’s power, Lerato grasped the dagger with a firm hold. After murmuring a “Thanks.” he worked on splitting the living gem in two. It was only after he let his mind wander back to Aine that he noticed anything peculiar about the blade she had given him. With a start the man dropped the weapon, thankful that the hissing metal had fallen harmlessly to the ground beside him. “What in the hell?” Though he had intended to keep the harshness from his voice, he couldn’t help but hear the underlying edge that had crept into his words. He realized shortly after, while gazing upon the odd dagger, that his hand had started to tingle as if it had fallen asleep. “What are you playing at?” He asked, betrayal clear in his eyes. It would have been one thing if she had just told him outright that she intended to hurt him. At least that he could understand. But to sit there and hand him a weapon so nonchalantly knowing it could affect him in such a bizarre fashion seemed almost heartless; a notion that stood in stark contrast to the image she seemed to be -however unwillingly- showing him.

Jumping up the Vice Captain walked until he was sure that she couldn’t get the jump on him without at least some small form of resistance. ‘How can she sit there and smile so easily…’ A battle hardened mask slipped down over his face as he stood looking at her, an icy glare coating his otherwise warm and passionate eye. How easy it was to forget that just because he was of the same spiritual race that they would automatically be comrades. ‘I guess this is what Fefnir and the Queen keep barking at me about… if either of them were here I’d be dead for my stupidity.’ Quickly following the advice of his absent zanpukatou spirit he lowered his spiritual pressure until it was little more than a flicker of a dying candle, just enough to let others know who he was, yet still low enough that his emotions would be undetectable to any but the most skilled of analysts. “It’s not the prickle that I’m afraid of, Aine. I can easily deal with that. It’s the poison lurking just beneath your quills that frightens me. Poison that I’m afraid is all to willing to marry with my blood and keep my heart from beating.” And yet the most frightening piece of the knowledge came from his own inability to pull his watchful eyes from her and he knew that, for what ever reason, there was something about the small gymnast-like woman before him that he knew he would fight for.

[Was going to be longer but I lost my train of thought.]

Humph. “I will reconcile myself to no one, least of all someone who just a few seconds prior was more than willing to show me open hostility.” He ground the words against his teeth, wary of what to say yet still unable to stop the flow of his thoughts from becoming audible. Lerato watched as the shadows clung to her in a manner that was much to intimate to be considered that of a superior and subordinate. A shiver ran through him as he realized how close he may have come to death as Aine admitted less to controlling her zanpukatou than allowing it to follow her. “And what of that, Aine?” He jerked his chin in the direction of the darkest shadows, “You say that you would never turn it against me, but what of them? Surely you can’t believe it wouldn’t overstep it’s boundaries one day.” The entire while he didn’t let his gaze break from the creature with the face of porcelain. “I have no doubt that you would reprimand it after the fact but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t kill someone if it so chose and then what would you do? Not even you can bring back the dead from the reapers grasp.” As he spoke he realized just how apt the name applied to the woman’s spirit.

Keeping the space between them caused the Vice Captain a small amount of physical pain deep in the pit of his chest. “I never thought you were a joke, and I would be a fool not to be cautious around you. I would be a fool not to be cautious around anyone. Even the weakest of opponents can succeed in slipping a knife into your back…” Lerato had to fight the temptation to inch forward. The prospect of being close to her, to comfort her, was a lure more tempting than a glass of water in the heart of the desert and yet the alarms that sounded at the back of his mind wouldn’t let him take a single step closer to a zanpukatou spirit that could manifest in this realm so easily. A gentle stirring of his reiatsu was the only notice of his desire. “Tell me, Aine, what would you do if you were in my position? Would you have me risk my life?” Though many would think it was a rhetorical question the look in his eyes told different. Giving in to his conscious the lieutenant released control of his reiatsu, the static charge of it pulling the damp grass towards him at the roots. Within the surge of reiatsu came a whirlwind of emotions from longing to hope, but most prevalent was hurt. The hurt that had crept over him a few minutes prior when the spirit, her spirit, had openly attacked him.

Seconds passed in utter silence as the scarred man shifted his gaze between the two figures before him and, with a sigh, began to inch closer. With each subsequent step his reiatsu flared a little more until he within a foot or so from the King’s Guard member. ‘If it comes to that, then so be it…’ The prospect of surviving a confrontation with a zanpukatou spirit other than one’s own was slim to say the least. “I’ll make this clear now. If it attacks me I’ll fight back, even if it means I’ll draw my final breath.” As if to drive his point home he let his reiatsu spike suddenly, visible threads of blue energy dancing across his skin as his glacier blue eyes locked on the alabaster face of An-ei. “I might not be on his level, but I’ll be damned if I sit back as some wraith tears me apart. But as for you, Little Jigokucho… I’m not afraid of you.” Reaching out he brushed a stray lock of ebony colored hair away from her milk and honey skin. Grabbing her chin between his thumb and forefinger he raised her face until their eyes met. “You’ll never have to live a life of isolation now. All you’d have to do is call for me and I’d answer. I can’t promise punctuality though… I do still have the demands of the position after all, but you'll always have a friend in me.” He laughed, a light hearted sound that was meant to break the tension between them.

A booming laughter shook the leaves above them, “A single entity? Is that what you really think I perceive you as? And just how stupid do you think I am?” For some reason the thought sent him into a series of hysterical laughter, lines of both insanity and joy deepened the features of his face. “Aine, I know all to well that you are no singular entity. None of us are. I accept you for that and everything else you are and if you thought otherwise you should seriously learn to clear your ears out.” With a single step he pushed forward and was again within her personal space. “What I said was I won’t hesitate to retaliate should he think of striking out against me. If he wants a fight, I will fight him, though that would be the case whether I accepted you or not…” With a swift movement his hand came up to grip her wrist and placed it a few inches above the start of his second scar. The swirling black mist rising from her boots made it difficult to breath; hell, it made it hard to do anything. Even without the Guard exerting the full force of her spiritual pressure the lieutenant was rooted in place, both by the power, and the emotions that were intertwined so thickly around it. “Prove it? Fine, let me…”

Lacing his own fingers around hers the Vice Captain once again forced her to meet his stare. “If you can’t promise me he won’t overstep any lines, then at least understand I can’t sit back if he feels the need to assert himself in our world. As long as I have that from you than I’m willing to take everything else as it comes. I am no child to cower before the sands of time, nor what they bring with them. If you let me, I’ll stand by your side. You won’t need to endure any longer. Isn’t that what you want?” The inquiry was soft, gentle even. “Ruin you…” The thought had crossed his mind, though the briefness of it made it seem as though it was but a far distant nightmare, “Aine, I could no sooner ruin you than an ant could bring down a lion.” He laughed, shaking his head all the while. “You are a member of the King’s Guard, a division cloaked in secrets. Who could I tell that would not instantly throw themselves at your feet in reverence, or seek out the furthest place from you in fear of your might. No, my knowing your position could no sooner ruin you than me knowing your eyes are of emerald ice or jade hued passion.”

From the corner of his eye Lerato caught a glimpse of alabaster fingers wrapping around the woman’s elbow and despite knowing it would never hurt her he had the desire to pull her away from what he could only imagine as deaths incarnate. However, his presence seemed to take away some of her strain and thus eased his own breathing. “What made you so cold?” No matter how many times he looked upon her, or for how long, she remained a mystery to him. The Vice Captain leaned forward, placed his lips upon her cheek, and whispered, “Well, Little Jigokucho, do you have your answer yet?” Platinum blonde whiskers brushed against her supple skin as he spoke; warm, pomegranate scented breath standing in glaring contrast to the earth scented chill of the morning around them. “You said it was up to me to discern honesty. Now I ask you to pull honesty and truth from my words and actions. Do you believe me?” He asked while pulling back to look into the gems of her eyes. “Do you -trust- me?” He emphasized the word, annunciating it slowly as he peered into the depths of her eyes.

Leaning forward the lieutenant repeated his earlier actions and let his lips meet hers in a gentle caress. The energy dancing across his skin skittered and jumped as he pulled away. “I say again, Aine, regardless of your position you will always have a friend in me. Take that to heart because it means I’ll fight for you, and I guess by extension him,” he raised his chin in the direction of the ghostly form of An-ei, “until I’m bled dry.”

[Weak ending is weak.]