Day 17: Music Room

[last_roivas]

Sighing to herself as the nurse herded her into the music room, Alex resisted the urge to rub her temples. Eventually she knew she was going to have to check Skadi's memories to see just what she had been up to, but she had a feeling doing that right now would just make her headache worse. That would teach her not to be specific when she told

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[last_roivas]

It was bad the more she talked to Ichigo, the more she wanted to just bury her face in her hands and groan. She was pretty sure he had just counted to figure out which division Hitsugaya was from, and shouldn't he already know that? "Yes, him. White haired kid with an ice dragon for a Zanpaktou? Though kid is kinda a misnomer..." He looked like one though, which was good enough for her. Otherwise trying to match up years with faces would keep her too busy to think about anything else, considering the odd mix of people they got here at times.

Alex smirked slightly when Ichigo mentioned he had felt stupid. "You shouldn't feel stupid at all. However they manage to pull us out of our worlds, it doesn't seem to be something you can avoid. I mean, all of us just remember waking up here no matter what we were doing before that in our own world." She was pretty sure as keyed up as she was after killing Pious and finding out how used she had been, that if something could have been noticed she would have felt -something- instead of just waking up here the next morning confused.

"No, I haven't seen Kenpachi. Thankfully. And I don't think anyone could have missed him, he tends to be rather unforgettable." In a massive way. Talk about a walking disaster for a place like this. He'd be spending most of his time drugged with an attitude like his, and probably get everyone around him in trouble too. It he didn't get himself killed jumping into fights. He'd probably be harder to convince he was a whole lot easier to kill now then Dante had been.

[soul_defender]

"Alright, good..." Ichigo said, promptly let tout of a soft sigh of utter relief at the negative answer. "I don't need that kind of trouble."

Rearing back in his seat, Ichigo then let a soft, lulling yawn escape his parted mouth as his hands curled comfortingly behind his head. No matter how startled, or even offended, he had seemed before, all he cared about for the moment was trying to relax.

"It'd be nice to have Hitsugaya-san here." he remarked softly, staring up lazily at the ceiling. "But I haven't sensed his reiatsu since I got here. Where did he go?"

[last_roivas]

"No one needs the kind of trouble Kenpachi brings. He's destruction and chaos in a package with an attitude." All of which was just plain something that could spell all kinds of serious trouble here. If he did ever show up, Alex was pretty sure she was going to make an effort to stay far, far away. Of course keeping Malice away if she borrowed their body might be quite a bit harder. Knowing her wilder shard, the kind of insanity Kenpachi possessed would be irresistible.

Watching Ichigo stretch out lazily with an amused expression, she shrugged, though from his position she wasn't sure if he could see it. "I don't know. People vanish from here a lot more often then we actually see them die, and sometimes they get replaced with another version of themselves, and sometimes they don't. No one has really even been able to figure out a pattern to any of this yet." The fact that people from other worlds knew about others here from patients tickled a faint memory and she thought at one point she had thought that was important, but it was too tangled with other things to pry out right now, so she would worry about it later.

[soul_defender]

"People are here, but then they're gone, or different people than they were?" Ichigo suddenly shot back an odd reply. Lifting his head from its reclined position against the back of the chair, he tossed out a threadlike glance, with a riled character to his face. "You don't make any sense at all."

Judging by the sudden decline in mood again, Ichigo definitely didn't want to keep discussing the matter. In his own train of thought, there was nothing more to talk about, when it came to the bewildering events of Landels. Instead, there was clearly something on the young man's mind; from time to time, he would look at Alex for a moment, looking positively stymied and stubborn, before looking away again.

"So, you read about me?" he finally managed to say, his eyes cast away from her. "You haven't seen me do anything...private, have you?"

Unfortunately, Ichigo's neck could only turn his head so far away from the conversation; he would have covered his face completely, if only to hide the adorable, stubborn blush across his cheeks.

[last_roivas]

"This place doesn't make any sense, why should the explanation of it be any better? People are here, and sometimes they just disappear. Not that they die, that's happened too, but one day here, the next day vanished. After that, sometimes they reappear, but they aren't the people that left. Not exactly anyway. Sometimes they come from different points in time, but none of them remember being here before." Which meant that the vanished had probably been tested to destruction or somehow disposed of in other ways, since she couldn't see this place allowing duplicates to exist at the same time. Of course, some of them -might- have escaped, but she wasn't sure how likely that was. She doubted any of those she had apparently forgotten fell into that category, because unless the idea was to prevent knowledge of an escape from spreading, which made no sense since others still remembered the missing, then maybe she had seen their deaths and it had been bad. It was the only theory she had anyway.

Blinking a few times at Ichigo's question as she shook off her musing, Alex snickered. "Sleep a few times? Bathe once." Rolling forward onto her knees, she sort of slinked across the couch on hands and knees, amused at the blush and apparent shyness. "And can I say your hiding something tasty looking under that uniform?" Leaning in she licked just under his jaw and ran a hand across his stomach muscles before starting to retreat with a smug little grin. It wasn't exactly playing all nice, but she was at least sincere in her compliment, and honestly he got worse from Yoruichi. He ought to be used to it.

[soul_defender]

Ichigo ought to be, but he simply wasn't. No matter how many times his oft-tutor had teased him with that shameless attitude of her's, the young man's face always went tomato-red. His face always became so terribly flushed that he felt like breaking into a sweat, and even though he would try to casually play things off with his impervious manner, the absolute frustration could not be more apparent.

When Alex had started in on her attempt to explain the universe of Landels once again, Ichigo started to zone out; he couldn't make it any more obvious that he didn't feel like bothering with such a tangled mess than the callous way he acted. The lack of attention was where Alex had caught him off-guard, prowling across the couch towards him like some hungry lioness. Quickly, Ichigo tried to back away, looking panicked with his hands grasping at the couch, but found his back pressed against the edge. The warm touch of her fingertips tracing across his firm, built middle caused him to shiver lightly at the unfamiliar sensation.

"Oi, oi, cut it out!" he protested boldly. "Don't be so familiar, I don't really even know you! HEY!"

It took a moment for his heart to quit racing, once Alex had backed away while wearing that evil little smile, but once it did, Ichigo sat back up and composed himself as quickly as he could. Judging by his tightly locked lips, he wasn't going to admit anything about what had just happened.

"Is everybody from your world like this? ...hentai..." he muttered, his eyes still a little uncertain.

[last_roivas]

Purring quietly while the end of her tail flicked back and forth lazily, she just grinned slyly at him. "Come now, Yoruichi should have show you cats like to play. I don't bite...unless you ask me to." Giving him another obvious once over as she settled back to her spot, still purring, she shrugged. "There isn't anyone else from my world here, and if there was, it wouldn't matter. The only person that might show up who would know me is my grandfather, though I suspect he would be taken from earlier in time then died, so he wouldn't know me anyway. Not that it matters. I was all human when I first arrived here." Or close enough to it that it didn't matter, because who knows that Mantorok's idea of a breeding program involved.

Looking him over a bit more seriously, she sighed internally. All teasing aside, she hoped he learned to keep his head around naked women. Showers alone would make hum twitchy, let alone how often people seemed to lose clothing around here for one reason or another. For that matter, best she find those showers soon, because knowing her luck, she was going to get blood spattered again either tonight or the next. Not that she would mind too much if that meant she had gotten to go hunting. Better watch herself for new beasties though. Whatever that one was last night, it was a shade or three more dangerous then the usual fare around here.

[soul_defender]

"Don't bring her into this! That woman..." Ichigo quickly replied, clentching a trembling fist as his lips tightened together in visible frustration. The young man was still blushing, and Alex's continued catty playfulness wasn't helping the shade of his face. Still, Ichigo could only be pushed so far before he would eventually adapt, and stopping letting such petty details affect him.

Her next few words seemed to strike Ichigo then. His expressions changed, melting somewhat; the fact that no one would know her seemed awfully lonely. She didn't even hope that anyone from her life before Landels would arrive. Ichigo had spent some time since last night hoping to see a familiar face again. A face that might inspire a little confidence from him, something to spur him on to greater heights when needed. The kind of strength he could only find when he knew there was someone to put his life on the line for.

"Oh. I'm sorry." he replied, his tone suddenly very calm and genuine. Turning away from Alex, Ichigo stared down at the floor, his lips curling back regretfully. He could be strong for his own sake, when he needed to be, but it suddenly occured to him that maybe there were a few souls here that might need a little protecting.

[last_roivas]

Shaking her head in amusement at his reaction, Alex just settled back into the cushions again and tucked her tail around her ankles. She wouldn't be having half as much fun teasing him if he didn't react so well, and it was a fun game at least for now. Besides maybe if she did it often enough he would get used to it, which could only help him. The fact it would amuse her to see him turn all shades of red until them was merely secondary of course, or at least, that's what she would say.

Watching the play of emotions across his face was fascinating, and she blinked a few times in curiosity, before stilling when he apologized. "Why are you sorry? I hope none of them ever do show up here, because this place is a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. They fought their battles, and I would let even the echos of them that remain in my mind leave if I could. I would rather be alone here and know they don't have to live through the same battles I have. They earned their rest, and I wouldn't want that taken from any of them. I'm used to be alone." Bad enough they had to fight in life, and some even past that point, but this wasn't their fight anymore, and she wouldn't be selfish enough to want them here so she wasn't as lonely. After all, she was used to being alone, not that it mattered. She had her people here as well, and all she wanted at this point was to get them out, that was enough for her.

[soul_defender]

Ichigo sighed. Such a typical reply. It felt as if he had met a million of people just like this; they always wanted to be alone. They never wanted help. True, it did sound like she had some unselfish reasons for her stance, but the young shinigami simply shook his head, the wild locks of his orange hair waving about as he did.

"I'm not saying you should drag them into this, baka." he spat back, raising a questioning brow at how dramatic she sounded. "Cut the 'I want to be alone' crap already! It's better to have someone you care about!"

Even if they aren't here, I can still wish we were together. I don't want them here, but I can remember them, and have something to fight for!

Crossly, Ichigo folded his arms over his chest, then slumped back into the couch with a stubborn little pout on his face. "I'm bored with this music place...is it time for arts and crafts yet?"

[last_roivas]

Alex looked at him for a moment in confusion, before laughing. "I don't want people from my world here, but that doesn't mean I haven't made allies. I've been here for something like 14 days Ichigo. I wouldn't have survived that long on my own I don't think. Even just sharing information can make the difference." She had family of a sort here now as well, but she wasn't going to twist his poor brain trying to explain that one to him. Jenova was enough of a headache for people that had the history to grasp the idea, let alone those that didn't, and she really didn't want to try and explain that whole mess.

"I would get used to being bored during the day, and/or learning to snatch naps during the quieter daylight hours. Usually there isn't much of a chance to sleep at night, and for the most part it's safer to sneak naps while it's light out so long as you remember to watch out of the staff. Was there something you wanted in the arts and crafts room though, or just needing to fidget?" Unless he wanted to make something for night, she couldn't see what he would want in there anyway. Which reminded her she needed to finish the armbands for herself and Quis. She should probably look into making another pouch of some sort that wasn't as big as the bag she already had once she was done with those though.

[soul_defender]

"Get used to being bored...don't you ever get tired of speaking nonsense?"

Ichigo chuckled, a rare moment of levity for the surly shinigami representative. Back on his feet again, the full length of his firm, battle-tested body stretched out above the idle Alex and her reclining couch, he took a moment to look out across the limited expanse of the Music Room for something else to occupy his attention until the next scheduled event came around. His time with this multi-faceted woman had been interesting, to say the least, but Ichigo was never the type to keep locked in a lengthy conversation. Briefly, the berry-head turned and glanced at her one last time, his expressions truly hesitant. If he stayed around her much longer, she would undoubtedly find new ways to make him blush.

He waved lightly, a friendly little 'so long'. "Look...if you need any help, with anything...err...just come find me, alright?"

Amazingly, Ichigo had found a way to apply a very gruff, irritated tone to a very heartfelt offer. He strode away then, his eye on another familiar face.

[last_roivas]

Shaking her head with a wry smile, Alex sighed as Ichigo wandered off. His declared offer to help her if she should need it was sweet, and rather unexpected. She wasn't sure why really, since it did fit his character...as long as he was assuming she was in a position to need his help. It was a rather odd thought really. People didn't offer her help very often, usually it was the other way around.

Resting her chin on her knees thoughtfully as she watched the room, she got lost in her thoughts until she heard the intercom announcement. Recovering from her startle, she sighed and followed the nurse off to the arts and crafts room. What in the world were they doing back there so soon. Still, it was convenient since she did need to finish those armbands.