Bleach Hereafter RPG

The screen of the spirit phone on his desk lit up, the name and a small prompt of the message available for Lazarus to see as he plucked it and his jacket off the desk. Opening the message he raised a brow, leaning down to put in the coordinates into his computer, a moment later the location would come into view on a map. Checking the time and the distance from here to there, he nodded slightly to himself, closing out of all the tabs he had open and shutting the pc down as he left his desk for the day. It wouldn't take him much time to get there, mostly because he had found out about the ability to travel between realms and the like with his cross, something he tested recently by going to various places across Japan.



In the blink of an eye he would vanish from the darkness of the city alleyways, emerging from the shade of the tree's as they offered a shelter from the sun, though it was likely cresting downward by this point in the day. Helpful in more ways than one, he'd have to get in touch with Gaia one of these days to give her the good news about his travel issues. His eyes would fall upon the walkway, following it up to see the hot springs entrance not too far up the path. He'd follow it with a relaxed demeanor, looking about the place once he was in. It didn't appear to be manned much, likely a self service or community upkept spring for those in the know. Lazarus would pin point the reiatsu signature and follow it until he was standing just behind the Shinigami, clearing his throat loudly to try and wake him up.



"Ahehem.."

Hot springs were a beloved for Yaksha; doubly so if they were hot springs located in a place otherwise occupied by great amounts of snow and ice, providing a perfect opportunity to let the cold and warm intermingle, and let his own being walk the edge of experiences.  It reminded him greatly of the time he'd spent on the Nile, the baking sun and stifling warmth juxtaposed constantly with the feeling of the spray of cold water.  Now, reversed, it felt even better than he'd remembered.  He had heard of this place by proxy, and he'd heard no shortage of stories of people who could traverse entire continents in a matter of minutes.  A task he normally considered only himself and other spirit beings able to perform.  So he'd kept a close watch for disturbances, and finally stumbled upon one.

He'd obtained a rather large cloak for these purposes, to cover himself up, but it hardly ended up being necessary.  He quickly realized with the amount of mist coming off the water, everyone here was little more than a silhouette to everyone else, and the act of sensing spirit energy was something you'd rarely see people engaging in while soaking in hot springs.  It meant he could be bold, get close, much closer than he normally would, and really enjoy the experience.  So he walked into the premises, hanging the coat on a doorframe with his tail as he passed, and then beginning to shift and slide subtly as he walked.  Rather than a beast of 7 feet tall, he looked like a person of anywhere from 6 to 6 and a half feet, with the sort of gait that you expected from people wearing stilts.

What -really- helped, though, was his voice.  Rich, pleasant, calming, giving off the kind of clipped intellect and learned tones of someone who probably never got out of his study, for any reason.  Few would ever say it fit with something that ate souls for a living, and fewer still would consider it appropriate for someone older than most modern civilizations.  He stood just nearby as he heard someone clearing their throat for attention, then finally stepped forth.

"I'm sorry to disturb, but I'm actually glad this man came here before me.  It saves me the trouble of being the impolite one.  I assume this is your hot springs?  And I hope it's open to the public.  Obviously, if you intend to charge I can do my best effort to pay, but I'm not sure that I have enough currency on me.  It's these conversation rates, you know.  I know it's not exactly appropriate, but I find people almost never get that offended being paid in dollars, as long as the price is appropriate."

Unlike his Shinigami friend Lazarus wasn't so easily spooked, while the newcomer did get the jump on them, his expression and demeanor stayed much the same, simply turning to raise a brow and get a better look at the individual. Giving a sweeping glance up and down once to assess any threats, the Quincy shrugged in return, opting to kick off his shoes and start rolling up his pants legs.




"No sense letting good alcohol and hot springs go to waste, though I'll just dip my feet for the time being, been in need for a good soak."


He pulled his socks off and tucked them into his dress shoes, setting them under a small bench near one of the doors, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top button of his dress shirt. Rummaging about in the ever present mist for a few moments, Lazarus would return with three beers in hand, sitting down on one of the larger rocks that made up the circumference of the steaming pool of water. Using a small bit of reishi he fashioned a bottle opener in his free hand, popping the caps off each bottle before handing one to Koshou. He took a swig from his own while holding the last bottle up to the yet to be named person that had come in after him, giving it a little shake to show it was being offered to the newcomer.



"You're here so might as well join us, I've no issue with more company, but I would first ask for a quick introduction. I'm Lazarus by the way."



A sigh of contentment left him as he let his feet fall into the water about shin deep, his pants legs rolled up to just before the knee. Much like the rest of his body aside from his face and hands, his legs held a smattering of scars across the sun kissed skin, some larger than others, though most of them looked like they were older, a touch faded from age.

Yaksha couldn't help but feel some degree of sick pride, or amused confidence.  He always did, at times like this.  His talent for language and words was something he prided himself on, had prided himself on for a very long time, and now it was being put to its finest use.  This man would have struck him down like a fly in any other scenario, and the hollow would've been forced to flee before he ever even got close enough to learn their name.  But today, the battle was on his terms, and he could show just how easily he could spin a web of words to entangle his targets.  This man covered it well, he had an accent and demeanor that fit in well.  He covered for his mess-ups well, and he never let himself give that much away.

But Soul King's balls?  Yaksha could only think of one race that would think to use an expletive like that, and in other circumstances he would've poked and prodded and teased relentlessly about the exact nature of these alleged genitals.  But today, he could afford to give away nothing, and planned to take as much as he possibly could.  Let the other hollows squabble and battle and fight for more power, to do absolutely fucking nothing important with.  Yaksha would happily take the power of simply -knowing- any day, knowing that one thing that could make hopeless into easy, or could befriend a lion.

"My bones tell me that it's going to get very cold, indeed.  I can feel it in my knees, and my shoulders, and all down my back.  I'm sure you two are the superstitious sort, probably don't believe in old wives' tales like people with bad legs who can tell when rain is coming.  I won't bore either of you any more with my crackpot theories, but...trust me, it'll be cold tonight."

He said nothing else, simply let the bait dangle in the air like a delicate morsel as he sank into the water, waiting for the inevitable; there was a shinigami and what he could only assume was a substitute shinigami or quincy here, and both of them were certain to have strong feelings on what everyone else would call skepticism and science.  After all, who would listen to them when they mentioned ghosts or matter that couldn't interact with the world around them?  People loved being able to talk, loved feeling heard, and Yaksha had to do little more than find the right words.  It was like picking a lock, or any other act of delicate testing; probe, find the right fit, and see the pressures relax.

Where one man present had reaitsu that brought to mind a power plant or some similar object, something that simply couldn't contain itself no matter how much it wanted, the hollow's own reaitsu was something fully unique as well.  He gave off a sense of smallness, of something that simply wasn't worth notice or attention at first; but it was the smallness of an iceberg, or a dormant volcano, or a spring wound very very tightly.  Anyone who looked at a glance would be very correct in their assumption that this man before them was nothing special, merely another face in the crowd.  But those who looked at him with more discerning eyes would quickly see the shape beneath, the silhouette of some hideous Leviathan, deep beneath, ill-defined but raising horrible questions of what he might become, in time.

Of course, the only eyes that were discerning at this exact moment were his own.

"What is it they call it now?  Self-care, I think?  Indulge when you can, friend.  And take my word for it, don't wait until you're old to do all the things you want to do.  Or better yet, just don't get old.  Worst decision of my life, I can tell you.  Everything hurts, everything happens way too quickly, and everyone keeps telling you that the things you think are true simply aren't anymore.  Go play with Peter Pan for as long as you can, and never let someone tell you that you need to grow up."

"I'm clearly the odd man out here.  One of you travels, one of you came here expecting to see the other, so that means you're clearly business associates.  Would you care to let a nosy old man in on your lives?  It'll be the highlight of my year, I'm sure."

If there was any indication as to who might be aware of any falsehoods in a story or façade put up as a front to be someone else, it would be the set of amber colored eyes staring into the mists about where the 'odd man out' had sunk into the water. Though the mists were thick, his reiatsu would do it's job in giving the sensation of a predator watching its prey from some unseen location, however he chose not to interject any ill will, after all he was mostly here at the invitation of Koshou. It was apparent that the Shinigami in question wasn't the best at coming up with lies on the spot, so Lazarus would help smooth things over with a handful of false details that would easily link the two of them without tying them down to any particular location.


"Koshou and I often find ourselves crossing paths due to business opportunities, I work for a real-estate company that buys old or abandoned buildings and gets them up to code for new potential buyers. His travels keep him from working along side us full time but we do often employ him for renovation work when he has the time and resources to do so. Don't let his demeanor fool you, while he likes to play at being a youthful young man such as myself, he's been doing contractor work for us well before I joined the team. How long have you been at it now, twenty five years?"


An easy out and confirmation for Koshou to take advantage of without sounding suspicious, the Quincy taking another sip form the beer before setting it down on the cool stone beside him. If it was a game of lies they were to tell then Lazarus would follow suit, having the insight to pick apart what could and could not be false based on his own experiences using the same type of word play. His history of wordsmithing his way out of situations afforded him a comfort in seeing the less obvious baits, though the only difference between himself and an unsuspecting victim was that he knew how the game was played.


"But we're here to get away from work for a while so let's keep that talk to a minimum, I don't recall getting your name though, I'm sure a man of your age and experience as some interesting stories to share to a couple of youngsters like ourselves."