Slothfully Lethal (Abalia/Elyss)

“I’m here to see the Captain Commander.”

Why is she being summoned? Is it some sort of congratulatory request or something? Elyss isn’t quite sure, but as she walked through the hallways of the First Division, she let her mind recall her morning. It was the same as always: wake up, get dressed, do a morning patrol. Then, usually, she may get tasked to head to Earth or find herself doing other things during her free time before her afternoon shift. However, she was instead met by an errand boy telling her she’s been requested by Abalia. Well, it’ll be something interesting to see the new Abalia. Nothing’s probably changed that much, but something probably has. It’s all about getting it out.

“Yo, ‘Balia. You called?”

She’d respond as she entered without much of a knock or anything. Her eyes trailed off into the open space that gave a good view of the Gotei. Her first thought: pretty windy here. Then, she’s back to focusing on the only other woman as she stands there, waiting for whatever reason she’s here.

Tried for what? Someone like Abalia would probably catch the instant confusion that washed over Elyss’ face at the mention of the death of Jaedan Crow. First of all, who is that man? Second of all, why does she feel like she should know who that man is? In her bout with her concerned thoughts, a hand moved to her head, a sudden stab of pain racing through her mind. All the questions in her head felt oddly already answered, as if she should have been able to understand Abalia’s words as they came out.

Though, that’s when someone else joined the conversation, reality around her pausing as she was pulled into another plane. Her eyes focused on the lone individual in this new world: Tenmarin. Their exchange was quick and brief, revelations made about the situation at hand that left Elyss breathless before she found herself back before Abalia. The cloudiness behind her eyes had fled, but it was only replaced by an immense amount of guilt.

“Oh… I see… Captaincy, you say? Is that honestly up for debate?”

It’s obvious there’s more in her mind that she would have liked to say, but she didn’t. Whatever happened in that brief second doesn’t actually matter right now. Even if the circumstances around this are a bit shady, that doesn’t change the facts of the matter. Elyss just knows this isn’t the time to have a mental breakdown and lose her shit. She can do that after this is done.

“That’s enough to make a gal blush, ‘Balia.”

She let a small smile show, but it’s nothing but a strained expression that quickly melted into a somberful frown. With a deep sigh, her gaze fell to the floor, her head tilted. Her thoughts are conflicted. On one hand, she did kill the man, and it is her responsibility to resolve this situation. On the other hand, the way he died, the lack of consciousness during their exchange…

“What I want doesn’t really matter when it comes to something like this. It would be disrespectful, literally disgracing the man’s death, spitting on the members of the 4th Division if I simply denied the position because of personal feelings.”

Her eyes moved up, a solemn conviction about her gaze. She doesn’t look particularly pleased to be accepting the title of Captain, but she also hates the idea of leaving something like this half baked. This is simply how the system works, and if she danced around it because she’s friends with the Captain Commander, if she got away with murder because she didn’t like the fine print of what she’s done, then, in her mind, she’s literally trash. It did not help that she could hear the sickly chuckle of Tenmarin deep within the recession of her mind, teasing and vile.

“I… only have one thing I wish to ask. There’s something I must deal with, an important matter that may take me away from here for a bit. I’m not fit to lead people as I am, but, what I need to do, I think it’ll help me.”

“That just makes it murder, Abalia!” Elyss whined as she lost her cool for a second at such a suggestion. She can’t just not want the position like that. Even if this whole situation is bizarre and has her all out of whack, simply turning down Captaincy because she doesn’t want it feels like a worse decision than taking it. How could she ever face anyone knowing she did something like this and ran away from the responsibilities that came with it? They could all say it’s alright, but she knows it’s not.

“It is something that simple. I did the crime. Now, I’ll pay the time, whether that be a hard sentence or to take his place as Captain… I just need some time. I wish I could tell you how much, but I’m unsure. It could take me months to better understand it, or it could take me years.”

Listening to herself, her request became a bit bizarre. She doesn’t know how long it’d take to understand Tenmarin. How could she request for the 4th Division to be Captainless until she’s fit to lead? Though, with that thought, her mind focused on another problem: Hanako. That woman is the Vice Captain, huh? How awful… She murdered her friend’s Captain, someone the big idiot probably looked up to a lot. How is she supposed to face that woman, and then ask her to wait for her to solve her personal issues before becoming her Captain?

“...I guess asking for time off is stupid though…”

Frustrated, she grabbed her head and sighed audibly. Why can’t this shit be easy? Why is she always getting into some dumbshit like this?

“Bwah. Fine. Give it to someone else, Hanako or whatever. I’ll just come back when I’m done and cut her down then.”

That was not a funny joke. Frustration, written all over Elyss’ face, brought her words out sharply. She has more to say, the look in her eyes similar to the last time she spat accusations and nonsense at the other woman, but she tied her tongue. Relieving herself of her mental pains like this isn’t healthy, nor does she think Abalia would appreciate another session with an angry redhead. It took the other coming closer for Elyss to simply kill her rising temper, swallowing the rising bile to not spoil things any further. Though, it’s probably hard to spoil a conversation about killing someone and taking their spot.

“Where you lacked in feeling anything, I feel things way more than I’d like. Your soul was missing while someone invaded mine. It’s hard not to be confrontational when there’s something inside of you that only knows how to start trouble.”

Elyss doesn’t know Mirja, but Ulv made it clear that the redhead is but a bundle or abiding anger that takes any chance to make itself known. With a huff, Elyss did, at least, abide by Abalia’s wants. However, she did not go about it the way the other woman probably would have liked.

“Let’s go. I want to show you something.” Quick, the redhead moved her hand outward to take Abalia by the wrist, her grip surprisingly gentle despite her mood. It took but a second before Elyss held the Captain Commander in her arms, bridal style. Then, the next, she jumps from the opening of Abalia’s office onto a building. Moving from building to building, the Rukongai would soon come into view.

“Let’s not waste time. I’d rather not talk about this on a public walk.”