A not-so triumphant return

[grimmjerk]

Who: grimmjerk, 1stguardian, and OPEN to any inhabitant of Nueva Last Noches!
When: Early evening, directly following his post and continuing later into the night.
Where: The baseball diamond, then en route to the castle, then the castle itself.
Summary: Grimmjow finally returns from the dead - and from a trip back home. An unfortunate side-effect is a collection of

Comments

an hour or two later...

[holeheart]

[Shiro doesn't bother to knock. Just opens the door to Grimmjow's room and goes right on in like he owns the place. He's wearing the Arrancar-styled uniform that he received when he came here; a long white trenchcoat with a high, opened collar to show his Chain of Fate hole and a pair of hakama with a blue obi. He has a little while before he has to go to work, and he's got a mad curiosity]

Yo. Grimmjow.

[grimmjerk]

[ You'd think after seeing Ichigo like that, Grimmjow wouldn't have been surprised to find out the Hollow'd followed right along after him. Seemed like one or the other would never be far behind, but even so.

It's still weird as hell. Not right somehow, like something had gotten fucked up while he had been away.

Maybe it had. ]

Hey. [ Someone doesn't have anywhere else to go but the bed; least he's propped up, instead of flat on his back. ] Who the hell put you in white?

You blend in too fuckin' much.

[holeheart]

[Trust him, he doesn't want to be. Nueva Las Noches, right here under Aizen's thumb? No thanks. But he's not going to leave Ichigo alone here in the lion's den, so along he came. And he got a neat outfit out of it, at least.

He snickers a little, folding his arms]

Dunno. Guess it was Aizen's idea. Hehehe. I did say I would come here and blend in like a chameleon, didn't I? [his smile fades a bit] I wanted to tell you that Ichigo and I aren't gonna be stayin' here much longer.

[grimmjerk]

'Course it was his idea.

So why don't you just hurry up and get out? [ They had to know. They had to know it wasn't just benign. Aizen's intentions were impossible to guess and always had been, but you didn't set foot in Las Noches - this one, or the original - without even a hint of just how deep the shit was that you were jumping into.

That, and Ichigo had to know he didn't belong. ]

[holeheart]

Trust me, I want to. I didn't even want to come to this godforsaken place fer anythin' more than a quick visit. [his expression matches his mood and his words; sour, bitter, perhaps a bit worried on the part of his idiot other] But you learn somethin' pretty quick about Ichigo. Once he gets his mind set on somethin', there's not much you can do to change it. Arguin' with him, even with the best of logic, just makes him dig in his heels. And as much as I'd love ta scram, I'm not leaving him in this place by himself. I ain't got a clue what Aizen's plannin', but I don't intend ta let him do it easily.

[grimmjerk]

[ Grimmjow never has had the chance to actually watch the Hollow, at least not with Ichigo around as a distraction. His features are all shaped the same even if they're not the right color; the rest...

Kinda human, instead of Hollow.

It's fucked up to look at. Not that he even really gives a damn if Shiro notices all the hard, examining looks. ] ...what is it with you and him?

Why the hell do you care so much?

[holeheart]

[Very human. Disgustingly so. The Hollow-boy-thing is only just now becoming accepting of his own strange appearance and even then, he normally tempers it with claws and a tail. Talk about existential breakdowns.

He does notice, of course. He's very perceptive. He returns the looks with the same intensity, with eyes that are most certainly not human. More akin to the cold eyes of a reptile than any sort of feeling creature]

What do you mean, "what is it"? I care because I have to. Separate bodies, but still part of the same existence. Tch... why should I even bother tryin' to explain this to you.

[grimmjerk]

You'll explain it because you're fucking here and I don't have anything better to do.

[ He was going to explain it because there was too much shit that Grimmjow didn't understand. Life in the city was one aspect of it; rules on top of rules in a place that he couldn't leave and punishments for things that fit into his realm of thinking but not theirs.

But the rest...heh. It was all personal. ] So quit bitching and get started.

[holeheart]

You do know I got work in like... [ he takes out his NV, which more or less looks like a trendy phone, complete with a phone charm. He pulls a face] ... Not nearly soon enough. [he groans and stuffs the thing back away] Fiiiiine.

Do you know how a Shinigami and their Zanpakutou work? It's not like an Arrancar's zanpakutou. Yer Pantera is more like my sword. [he holds his hand out, summoning his blade, wrapped in black cloth, from the ether] It's 100% your own power. It has no soul of it's own. It's just power locked away in the form of a sword. Shinigami zanpakutous ain't like that. They share a soul with their shinigami, and yet have their own personalities and existences. But a zanpakutou can't exist without it's shinigami. When the Soul Reaper dies, so does their sword.

[he pauses. He isn't sure why he's spilling his guts to Grimmjow. It's not any of his business, and it's not like he could possibly understand any of it... but it does feel good to tell someone.] S'far as I can tell, that's what I am. A zanpakutou, but Hollow.

[grimmjerk]

[ There was a thought or two spared for wondering how the Hollow could work while looking like that, and then another for wondering why he'd even bother in the first place. For money? For company? No Hollow ever needed crap like that. But he could harass him over that later.

There was a shred of skepticism on his face when Shiro told him, though it didn't last; why would he lie? He didn't have a reason to. ] So if Kurosaki croaks, so do you.

That's a shitty way to live.

[ It was no way to live at all. Just fuckin' stuck, forever? Like a cage you were born in, one with no doors. ]

[holeheart]

[It had been interesting, getting a job, but the people here at the Port were more used to strange people than other people might be. If not for his eyes and mouth, Shiro could pass for an albino. And it's for the money. Money for creature comforts]

[The hollow gives a bitter frown, sitting on the very edge of Grimmjow's bed and laying the sword across his lap] Mn. That's the way it's always been. The way it probably will be forever. [he lets out a huff. It's all he knows. All he ever will know. At the very least, it's better than oblivion] I'm sure Hat-n-Clogs or Aizen could use kidou to separate us, sever our bond completely. But I don't wanna take that risk. It could work, or I could die right there. Or I could become just a mindless monster, and I kinda like my sense of self right where it is. Tch... [he lowers his head and runs his hand through his hair] Oh well. That's why I gotta stick with him.

[grimmjerk]

[ There's a second of tension when Shiro sits down - maybe a couple of seconds. After all, they are both Hollows, in their way. He wasn't comfortable with Ichigo close before, and he's certainly not comfortable now with this version of him so near. It will always be hard to shake the instinctive awareness that vulnerability and weakness meant death, permanently this time.

A weak Hollow would always be prey to the others.

The tension passes quickly, visible only in a swift tightening of his fists and the corners of his eyes. ] So that's why you're always clinging to him.

To make sure he stays in one piece.

[ Or is it because he says he wants you? No way Grimmjow could forget that little speech the human had spit up out of nowhere, as though he'd had it rehearsed in his head long before then. ]

[holeheart]

[Shiro obviously doesn't feel the same way. Sure, he has the natural Hollow instinct to avoid predators, to avoid creatures stronger than him. But he'd never been released into the deserts of Hueco Mundo to fend for himself, and besides, Grimmjow was injured. What was he going to do? Bleed on him?]

Mmm. [he lets out a sigh] Cause he sure doesn't give a shit about his own safety. [.... and it might be a little of that, too. It's nice to be wanted, isn't it?]

[grimmjerk]

[ It would still be possible to gnaw him to death. Just give him enough time.

He doesn't even bother trying to stop his gruff laugh. ] Yeah. Yeah, I'll believe that.

He's an idiot. [ But Grimmjow wouldn't know anything about wanting, at least in any way other than subconsciously. ]

[holeheart]

[Shiro is pretty good at running away, Grimmjow. Your gnawing is ineffective!

He gives a harsh bark of a laugh] Such a dumbass. Without me, he'd have been dead three or four times by now. [he stands up from the bed and stretches a bit. You should own up to stuff, Grimmjow. Like ~*feelings*~. You'll feel better in the end.

Or maybe not.] ... There sure is a lot of cat shit in here!!

[grimmjerk]

[ Then he is going to throw things until one of them miraculously breaks your stupid face.

And while there's a few things he can agree with Shiro on - Ichigo being one of them - all the rest he can take and shove up his ass. Sideways. Grimmjow puts on a nice, deep scowl for him. Sometimes, just sometimes, him and his other half are uncannily alike. ]

It was some bastard's idea of a joke. I'm going to get rid of it.