" I'm telling you this town is cursed. Rats running crazy, cults snatching women and children, you'd think with all these rune knights here that we'd feel safe but honestly, it just feels like it's gotten worse since they had been here. " In a not-so-crowded bar somewhere in Orchidia Hitomi was cradling a beer in one hand while deciding if she should slap the mouth of the person that those words she heard belonged to. The person wasn't wrong and Hitomi wouldn't tell them they were, but she also wasn't going to let the work of her partners and herself just be swept under the rug as if they weren't out here doing their jobs. Taking in a deep breath she took a swig from the glass bottle wondering if she should just take a break from duty or quit altogether. She wasn't even fond of the Rune Knight's cause she just liked the perks and was trying to make up for the sins of her past for the sake of her newfound family, a family that had recently vanished. Just another thing she had to think about.

Heavy footsteps prefaced the arrival of the burly monk of the Rune Knights. The now Second-in-Command as it were had heard that his direct superior was somewhere around here, lamenting the loss of one of their great friends and the only current Kingsguard, Shichiro. It made Seika wonder if there was going to be a paradigm shift in the organization now that there was effectively a gaping power vacuum in the once staunch and stalwart group. It also left him with a bit of unease at the predicament his superior had been left in. Being that she was currently the highest ranking Knight, it would make her the defacto unofficial leader of the Knights, whether she wanted the responsibility or not. It also meant that Seika had to do everything in his power to keep the now highly irritable woman satiated less she do something rather absurd. Case in point, drinking herself into a stupor in some backwater dive bar down in the Shade.

"You know, drinking doesn't fix everything right?" He asked her cheekily, his lips quirking upwards in mirth even as his unseeing eyes attempted to stare a borehole through where he knew she was sitting.

Before she could finish off her bottle of surprisingly strong brew for a beer. Hitomi heard another enter the establishment. Looking up from the bottle and turning towards the individual, Hitomi found herself smiling at the familiar face. Seika had been her subordinate since he joined but the man that stood before her now was powerful in his own right and stood on equal footing and rank as her. She was proud of the man, a man that she watched grow within the organization and one of two people who had earned her trust and friendship. Nodding her head in agreement.

" Oh I know, but it certainly helps sometimes..Or at least it feels like it does, and honestly, that's all I want. " giving a short chuckle she polished off her beer and turned her full attention towards Seika. She didn't know how he found her or if he was even looking for her, it couldn't have been too many reasons he was in the slums. " So did command send you down here to clean up some mess or are you just taking a stroll in the neighboorhood? "

He scoffed at her response as he took a seat at the bar next to her. Waving at the barkeep, he'd order a flask of beer as well, the frothy liquid sloshing unsettlingly before him as the barkeep followed along with the order. Turning back to face Hitomi, he merely stared her down before smiling softly, "Yeah it's just a social visit. Hadn't seen you in awhile so I figured I'd stop through and chat with you. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to find you considering you're one of two people in the city that have some sort of authority that isn't civilian." Accepting the drink from the barkeep, he'd give the man a small gesture of cheer before turning back to Hitomi and taking a sip, "Also your guard snitched on you about your whereabouts so you know..."

"Oh, how hard it is to find good and quiet guards. " Laughing a bit before ordering herself two shots of something strong and another beer she had to admit to herself that she was keeping a low profile as of late. With the recent departure of Shichiro, her work plate got a lot more full and she had a lot less time to herself. Taking the two shots back once the barkeep placed them down she couldn't even feel the burn of the booze at this point.

" Yea...Anyway sorry about being unavailable for a while. Once Shichiro left the Knights I had a lot more responsibility shouldered onto me. It's a tiring job and if I'm being honest I'm one foot out the door....Possibly following in his footsteps. " The lack of emotion in her voice was telling, she was tired of fighting for an organization like the rune knights. Picking up her beer and taking a sip she looked over at Seika and wondered when he would be done his little trial, a question she'd ask for sure before the day was out no doubt.

Laughing alongside her at her misfortune of having talkative if competent guards, he would sit back in his chair and take in the ambience as he waited for her to collect her drinks and continue. The silence that permeated between them was filled with the cheerful sounds of the bargoers around them and it filled Seika with a bit of mirth at the fact that there were so many people in the city that could find such warmth and happiness all around them, even when there was literal darkness right outside the gates. Polishing off his mug, his ear twisted as he turned to face her again as she once again spoke up about her issues on Shichiro leaving and the accompanied load of work that had befallen her. It was something he similarly had been tasked with since the Kingsguard had left. There were few if any Captain-Commanders, which just left the job to Captain's like themselves to pick up the slack until one of them had shown enough power and initiative to actually step up to the plate. He himself knew that he was getting looked at to eventually be the next pillar for the Kingsguard, but he was worried that in the process he was going to lose another friend.

"You know those words kind of sound like you're leaving...", His tone was accusatory as he waved the barkeep down for another round. Without a drink to preoccupy himself, he turned to face her directly, the entire mass of his body cast a light shadow over hers due to the difference in size that they had. He was tempted to pull off his bandana and gaze upon her form for the first time in months, but put it past himself as he hadn't felt the need to actually open his eyes ever since he had mastered thermal sight. Keeping his eyes covered became more of a comfort than a symbolic penance now as he no longer had such a gaping weakness in his form. Of course this also meant that he sometimes missed the clear visible nuances and differences that one would have while talking, which meant he missed the melancholy and the disinterest, even if such things were clearly audible in her voice.

"It's been hard hasn't it?" He finally asked after seemingly staring at her for but a few seconds, enough time for the drinks to kick in and the barkeep to return with a full mug and yet, Seika still continued to 'stare' at Hitomi to try and piece together the puzzle.

Looking straight ahead towards the bottles behind the bar, Hitomi didn't want to comment on the first statement. He had every right to make it because it sounded exactly as he heard it except she wasn't kind of leaving she would actually be leaving. Her time here in the Rune Knights was over, she wasn't dedicating anymore of her time to its cause. Knocking back the rest of her beer she could feel the rest of the liquor taking hold but not enough for her to show it. Sighing a bit before leaning back in her chair, Hitomi didn't know what Seika was referring to when he asked her if it was hard. Taking on all this extra work wasn't hard, Shichiro leaving without a word or a clue to where he wasn't hard, nothing was hard currently.

" What's been hard? "

Blinking at Hitomi's response, he actually was... confused. Enough so that he paused and brought his mug up his face for a deep long draught of his drink, his covered eyes staring intently into the woman's face. It was actually unnerving to try and understand Hitomi, he knew the woman was likely tired of the constant work life, and being in Orchidia with it's rather... eccentric rat menace had definitely taken its toll on the woman's patience. These were all things Seika could understand since they were reasonable issues one could have with the job. But really maybe he was just looking a little too deep into it. Maybe it was just that she was tired of the job itself and she was ready for something new. All things come to an end after all, what was a job but a means of procuring monetary compensation.

Smiling at this revelation, Seika would just tilt his mug slightly in her direction before going back to drinking, "Nothing."

Shrugging as Hitomi accepted the answer, she looked over at Seika with blank eyes. " When will your trial be over? " This was of course in reference to the blindfold Seika kept over his eyes for his religious reasons. She wanted to shift the conversation and attention from her for now because the topic would get a little touch and go if she went on about Rune Knight's business. Even as she tried to shift the attention she couldn't help but wonder once more why Seika joined the rune knights. She was sure she probably asked at some point but if she were being honest he could do better and still get paid elsewhere, heck he could probably make his own guild. A tug on Hitomi's lips pulled it into a small smile because maybe it wouldn't be so bad having Seika as someone she could follow. That would be something.

Turning back forward, the large man hunched forward as he continued to drink quietly, leaving his thoughts and considerations to himself for the moment before he was finally addressed again. A bushy black eyebrow was arched in her direction as he turned his head once more before actually gracing her with a small smile. He would follow up the small gesture by reaching up and grasping the cloth softly with his fingers, lifting it up to reveal his closed left eye before opening it slowly to grace her with the sight of one of his honey golden irises for the first time in months.

"I've been done with it for weeks. You'd have known this if you weren't so 'busy'." His retort was full of warmth and mirth, poking fun at the fact the woman had been swamped with needless paperwork and meetings in the aftermath of the cultist situation. Thankfully for him he had still been a Lieutenant at the time so he only had to give verbal reports, but oh boy he knew that upper brass had driven the woman slightly insane with their constant babbling. Maybe he should do something about that if he ever promotes eh?

Oh! He was handsome. Well, she knew that but that peek at one of his golden hues pulled her into a place that was damped with lust and curiosity. She felt a pulse through her body and perhaps she could blame it on the booze she was downing but it didn't help that her bed was pretty cold and has been for a long time. She wanted to shake those thoughts but it was too late, the seed took root and now she had to try to keep an ever so familiar deviant nature under control. With these feelings she the memory of Asmodeus started to seep into her mind and body, she missed the demon, and from what she learned awhile back most of the demon princes were bandished permanently from the realm if they weren't inhabiting a human host, and she knew for a fact her demon wasn't. " So if you were done why are you keeping the cloth on. You shouldn't deprive the world of beauties like that. " She was partially kidding and mostly flirting at this point as she chuckled.

A deep chuckle passed through his lips at the sight of the small blush that crossed her face at his gesture. While he wasn't too familiar with the female form, he knew that he had some attractive qualities that some would find appealing. His rather unique eyes were one of them. Of course it didn't help that he himself was a rather unique specimen in Fiore as well. Not too many tall, well built, dark skinned men walking about you know?

Taking another swig of his drink, he'd set it down before regaling her with his presence some more, "I've gotten used to it honestly. It doesn't bother me any, and I can still... see just fine with it on. But if you want I can leave it off when I'm with you." His head tilted in her direction with his offer.

He can see with that on? Now she was really curious but only for a second as she realized in a world full of magic most things were possible. Even as that were true she still wondered how it was possible. Maybe the cloth itself was magic or maybe he had gained some magic himself over time through his trial and in the end, he was gifted with sight that didn't require him to actually see with his eyes. Hitomi would have lingered on in her mind about how he could see, but his next line about showing her his eyes when they were together caught her off guard. Was this man...Flirting? No. Probably not, not a " man of the cloth ". Didn't most religions have something against that sort of thing? She wanted to ask but was that really appropriate. " I'd actually like that, but how about we get out of here and make our way back to my place. I would be telling a lie if I said this alcohol wasn't starting to affect me. " It was true she didn't want to be caught drunk in this place she would rather be in comfort and able to do as she pleased without being looked at like a crazy person.

Returning the casual demure yet intoxicated smile with his own confident one, he would polish off his drink with relative ease before pushing back from the bar and standing up to his full height. Stepping aside to allow Hitomi the space to comfortably and securely get up from her chair, he would wait patiently as she moved. "I wouldn't mind heading back to your apartment. I really only came here for you so it would make sense to follow you where you go from here."

Dropping money on the counter for the both of their drinks, he would hold out his arm to aid her along before leading them both out of the establishment. Their night would go on for much longer than he had initially expected. It also was a blessing that he had somewhat moved in to her apartment as he no longer needed to leave out for a change of clothes.

[Exit]

She really couldn't get over the growth that this man had gained over the time she had known him. Watching him stand up was a spectacle that she fully enjoyed. Rising from her chair she noticed him paying for their drinks something she would have to fix at some point in the form of repayment. She understood the goodwill behind the gesture but she was never comfortable with anyone paying for anything for her regardless of any reason they gave. Hitomi wouldn't bring it up as to not sour the mood but she made a note of it as she wrapped her arm around his and allowed herself to be led out towards a night she already had planned. Her all too usual smile began to crawl back onto her face as she thought about the fun they would have if she found out the flesh was weaker than the mind.

- exit -