The Twink Hunter Begins (Santa/Calypso)

ENTER THE DREAMER

It wasn't too much long after, probably about an hour, before Caly would touch down into the small mountain valley that abandoned cabin rested in. Ever so often she had skirted by the cabin since meeting that strange Arrancar to see if there was any signs of her return, and there was nothing. Not even a bit of rotten wood disturbed as she swung by ever so often. She sighed softly, head dipped - she was hoping she had made an actual friend, but what was the point if you never saw her? And it wasn't like blipping over to her would exactly be welcome.. Or even impossible if the being didn't want to see her.

A chance was taken, coming up to the cabin, only to see a window was broken and the space was clearly occupied. She felt a small bout of excitement - Did Santa really come back? She approached the door, but her excitement was disregarded as she noticed.. Wuff, even if she come she clearly wasn't feeling too happy. Alright.. Tone down the joy, she probably.. Came for something, maybe not even for her..

A little disappointment streaked her senses as she would open the door, a little confused as to why the woman broke the window.. Then again, door was feeling a little sticking.

Walking into the old home, she'd see the Arrancar sitting down in the kitchen.

"Ohh, hi Santa! Are you feeling okay? Everything alright?"

She tried to give her a reassuring smile, wishing to hear out what ailed her.

ENTER THE DREAMER

The Danava was surprised by her sudden shift in mood, almost appearing hesitant as she bounded over and gave her a hug, but immediately calmed down as her body registered it as a gesture of affection rather than anything else, smiling back as she seemed almost relieved.

Her face only seemed to continue to glow with happiness as Santa went on her greeting tangent, rubbing her other arm as Santa gave her a gentle nudge in the ribs, the Danava raising an eyebrow questionably at such an action.. She guessed that was something friends did, yeah? She'd definitely seen it done on TV, but she never personally encountered anyone who did that kind of gesture.

"I mean I don't exactly live here anymore, so that's probably part of why.."

Crap, did she forget to let her know where she was staying? Well that was absolutely her bad, but then again 'the outskirts of a wrecked city until I get everything figured out' wasn't exactly what she'd imagine having an address, and her family was safe in some temporary living until that was figured out.

"Eh.. I'm fine, but to answer your question, no, no cute ladies have been riding my back.. A friend you say?"

She'd tilt her head, wondering who this person could even be, and almost wanting to meet them too. That was how friend groups formed, right? You meet somebody and that somebody introduced you to more people, and you just get together with whoever clicks with you! Even if she was taken, she was pretty sure 'date' was some archaic Santa-ism for 'hang out' or something, so she'd shrug and humor it,

"I mean sure, I don't mind meeting them. What's their name? Where are they from?"

ENTER THE DREAMER

Caly was rather interested in who this special friend of Santa's could be, though she didn't have much confidence in how much Santa actually knew this person. The hesitance before her answer spoke volumes, and her hurried tone only made her smile; she probably forgot, but that was alright, she'd just smile back, giving her a wink as well, "Can't wait to meet her on this.. Blind date!"

Honestly the Danava wasn't terribly familiar with how blind dates worked, but she guessed the idea was that at least one of the daters didn't know the other, which was weird considering relationships... Oh nevermind, nevermind - meeting new people is never a bad thing. Plus she wouldn't want Santa to feel bad or anything, that'd be awful of her over something so innocent. However, her smile would fade right along with Santa's as she spoke of being kicked out of somewhere.. For their race?

Ohhh no.

She sensed the transitioning of sensation in Santa, from joy to hurt, from hurt to anger and irritation, and those only deepening as she would go onto her rant until they just... Deflated into a sense of helplessness. Caly's expression twisted with some pain as she watched this, feeling every knotted twist in her heart that her friend felt, until her emotions were a soft, painful murmur. It hurt Calypso to feel, and see her friend like this, griping over what ifs, realizing her powerlessness...

It made her feel sick to her core, as she felt these very things herself. It only compelled her to come over to her quickly, and to touch her hands on the Arrancar's shoulders to get her attention,

"Hey. Hey. Don't you be sinking on me, okay?"

She gave her a gentle shake, before continuing, "I get it, you're all used to hiding and surviving, running away when trouble approaches, but now that you're connecting with people.. You want to protect them, but you can't do that if you're fleeing at the first sign of danger. I've.. Felt that."

There was a solemn expression on the Danava's face as she'd sigh, and nod, "..It took a lot of the world kicking me in the face to make it. But yknow what, you don't live if you give up. Sure, you may be surviving, saving your skin as you run away, but you aren't living. You can't really truly live if you're just prey all the time."

She'd give her a bit more of a vigorous shake, "I saw you getting worked up. Don't let that feeling flee, get mad. Get upset. Complacency doesn't get you anywhere - if you feel a feeling, just FEEL IT! Let it drive you! Let it motivate you to do better! Just..."

She'd back up a little, mustering up all the raw feeling she could in the moment, her hands tightening into fists as her eyes closed shut, before she'd let out an incredible roar, the immediate area flooding with her energies as her presence momentarily expanded with her emotions, her form rippling with scales, a tail, and multiple eyes opening and glittering across her body, before ceasing, letting out a soft sigh, and stretching,

"Like that, yknow? But like, with everything. Sure, i'm not saying you should punch everyone's lights out the second they make you pissed or anything, but you can't just be a doormat."

ENTER THE DREAMER

Calypso visibly flinched when Santa punched a tree, inhaling sharply as she saw the small speckling of blood on the bark, sensing the Arrancar's emotions flourishing as she took and then rode with these feelings. Okay, good, at least she was letting herself be upset instead of sulking, but maybe it was time for her to quickly intervene before she accidentally seeds a bad mentality or something. Especially with those.. Deeper, far more choking sensations she picked up from her.

"Okay, woah woah alright.." She made her way over briskly, before wrapping her arms around her in a gentle hug, "Yeah, that's good, to get stronger, but not like that - the uh.. The breaking yourself thing. Don't do that."

She was able to push aside the slowly bubbling and growing sensations of negativity Santa felt - she was all too familiar that the woman's race pretty much was all about negative sensation, so it was just a matter of keeping herself cool and directing such sensation into a more productive place,

"Okay see, it's admirable that you want to get stronger, but you can't be shattering your body and spirit in the process, because... Every time you break, coming back together gets.. Harder, each time. It's like every splintering and scattering.. Loses some pieces, but gains new ones. Like the Ship of Theseus."

With a gentle gesture, she'd look off across the lake, "The idea behind the ship is that.. If you were to replace all of the parts of the ship, would it be the same ship? So it comes around to, if you break too many times, how much of your.. Original self, your original ideas.. How much of that is left after it all?"

She'd tip her head down, almost having a lost expression, like she wondered this thing herself, "..Because.. If your lose your self, then, what do you become? It could be better, it could be worse.. I just feel.. Maybe, keeping as much of that self intact as possible.. Maybe that'd be for the better? Or maybe completely losing it and it turning into something better..."

She shook her head, coming back into the moment, "Sorry, sorry.. Okay, look. You shouldn't get into any.. Bad habits, trying to get stronger, yeah? You have the right attitude, but you gotta channel it in a healthy way. Healthy for you, healthy for all around you - wouldn't do much good if you lost your mind on the way to being strong enough to protect others, yeah?"

Her smile would return, "..Would you be okay with me helping you out?"

ENTER THE DREAMER

"I meant you shouldn't try intentionally hurting yourself... I mean, unless that is just how your powers work.. I.. Sorry."

She'd rub her shoulder, backing away from her a little as her lip was turned into a frown. She really needed to take care to actually consider these things better. Yeah, sure, being hurt is probably what helps her fight, or something; just because she saw an element of herself in it doesn't mean it's harmful necessarily, right? Santa's an Arrancar. An Arrancar, and she is a Danava - the places they derive their power from were bound to be different, even if she didn't feel the best about it, that was the reality.

Calypso was pulled from her thoughts as Santa went on to comment about the ship analogy she brought up, the amount of thought put into her answer merely made her blink in surprise with the amount of insightfulness the Arrancar presented, but even with her reassurance there were still seedings of worry in her being - worry she was walking a good path, and some fear of what was to come. Transformation and evolution was plenty natural with Hollows and Arrancar, emerging from being a mindless being into practically a new person, though Calypso personally wondered if the pieces she left behind were meant to be lost..

"AA-ahh.." Once again, though with much more jumpiness this time, the Danava was pulled from her thoughts; her body had flexed with brilliant dark scales for a second or two as the sudden contact spooked her, her voice raised in a yell before it was quickly silenced, biting her lip as she went along and gave Santa a similar hold to quickly run her own emotions to a less uncomfortable place,

"Alright. Yeah. Lets do that. So.. How do you wanna start?"