Top of the List [Santa/Tier]

Tier.

The presence had been noticed by sheer chance. Ajora had been spending her time surveying things in the world of the living when she had felt it: The sensation of an arrancar that was not one to find themselves in the world of the living.

She did not .....tell Santa immediately. The woman had decided to gauge the situation. One isolated visit to earth was not something to get her hopes up over. But then it happened again. And with ....consistency. It seemed that Tier was spending an extended ammount of time on earth, and THAT was something worthy of informing her other half.

And it was for that very reason that Santa emerged from a garganta out into the vast expanse of grasslands. It was hard to tell if this had always been here, or if it was some overgrown highway or road crumbled into hills and covered up over the years. But all the same, the sensation was unmistakable. The Ex Tercera.

But she had not forgotten Tier's promise.
Nor the naked blade that had once threatened her.
And so, it was not the real Santa, but an extension of the garden that looked out to the horizon.... frowning a little as she ....focused on the spiritual pressure. And then released her own. A rippling wave of energy coursing outward across the area. Brief. But potent, to try and draw the woman's attention. If nothing else, then her .....altered...spiritual pressure would be grounds for investigation. And no doubt, once Tier saw her new form.... well they would have plenty to talk about.

Ah....there she was.

Seeing Tier emerge did stir something even within a fascimile such as herself. But the real Santa's attention was squarely on this scene. Separate, but connected. Even this extension of Santa's body and soul still held that influence from what had made her feel whole not that long ago. Her horns were almost entirely gone, mere stubs now. And that gaping hollow hole that had once occupied her forehead just beneath her bangs was gone.

"I ....was going to ask you the same thing. Why are YOU here?" she asked, her voice full of .....confliction and worry. For ...not just Tier, but also herself. It was anxiety inducing to be this close to the woman. But she strode forward all the same. There was something entirely different in this way.

Confidence. Not the arrogant sort of swagger that Mazda had. Not the calm, lazy effortlessness that Lilynette had. It was something....determined. Even behind that unease, there was a focus behind Santa's eyes as she stopped a short distance away from the Shark, searching her. She was confused.
Tier had made it seem as if Arrancar and other races couldn't possibly exist in the same place.
So what was she doing here?

"I belong here. I always have. EVERY thing I did, I wanted to work toward being able to live here. And you HATED me for that! YOU pushed me AWAY! So WHY are you here?"

There was brief annoyance at Tier for her little comment. And there was also a bit of respect for a burn like that. And that was just the sort of split decision that shut her up long enough for Tier to start delivering..... an apology. Something she ....didn't expect in the slightest. Much less....the confession that came with it. Santa's eyes widened and she listened as Tier explained why she had done what she'd done. And she .....wasn't sure what to say. She had ......considered trying to talk Tier down again. But truth be told she was just afraid Tier would cut down whatever part of her garden she tried to do it with. But this was ......exactly what she was looking for. The Santa before Tier.....gently lowered her head, and stepped to the side.

As she did, the air peeled away behind her. A slow crawling yawn of dark maw as a descorrer peeled the sky apart to reveal a garganta. And from that hissing void, Santa stepped out. The ....REAL Santa. Who stopped just a short distance away. As just for one second.... some small part of her expected Tier to attack. But even that part of her was.... small, ignorable. The rest of her stepped in and looked down into Tier's eyes, seeing those pale blues not reflecting the .....dead.....endless abyss that was once the woman's feelings and thoughts. They had been eyes that she might see on a beheaded fish. And she'd hated that look in Tier's eyes. But in this moment she saw something else in Tier's eyes.

"You're stupid....." She managed to murmur.... closing her eyes and covering her face with her hand. [color=goldenrod]"I like the earth..... but that's not why I want to make it a better place. I've been in the world of the living for as long as I can remember....whenever I could swing it. Whenever I could ....sneak in without causing trouble. That never changed....and it certainly wasn't enough to make me start....wanting to fix it all. Looking down at Tier with soft, complicated eyes, so very different from her usual, old, idiotic smile. That look of innocence and naivety.

Reaching up, she gently cradled Tier's face and chin, even if the mask was in the way. She leaned in, looking Tier directly in the eyes. Until....gently she rested her forehead against the other woman's. Their mouths still apart. Santa's hands behaving themselves. There wasn't a ...lustful component to this. She looked into Tier's eyes with nothing but .....earnest caring. "I wanted to change the world because of you. I can......go ....see a movie whenever I want. Take the games that I wanna play. Learn the things I want to learn from the shadows. But you....." She closed her eyes.

"I couldn't bear to see you .....wandering the desert in pain. And then....when I brought you down here. Even through your mask....I saw you smile. And I knew I wanted to see it again. " She could have gone for something. But she didn't. Instead....she wrapped her arms around the Shark, and pulled her into a tight embrace. Because more than anything.

She'd missed her.

Santa ...couldn't help but .....smile. Even before Tier had said that she had wanted to. But hearing how much she'd.....changed. How much she'd managed to explore. That's what she'd been trying to show her. When they went to the festival, she'd wanted Tier to see just how....wonderful the place could be. Why Santa wanted to make things better. To make it so that they could experience it. And when Tier talked about how much she wanted Santa to smile, she could only feel that warmth grow all the more.

And feeling Tier gently holding her close. It was something entirely different. It reminded her of the way Tier had leaned on her so long ago seemingly. And she felt.....warmth in the gentleness of the gesture. Santa herself gently firming her own hold, and gently running her hand up and down Tier's spine in gentle comforting caress, letting her other hand gently rest on the woman's lower back. Briefly.....she was silent, simply enjoying the proximity. How long she'd wanted to hold Tier like this. To just be ...close to her again. But her fear had stayed her before. Funnily enough....all it had taken was....well. An odd encounter.

"I have...." She reached up and gentlly ran her fingers up the back of Tier's neck, briefly running her fingers through the woman's hair, almost petting Tier as she did. "I wound up in the city of lights..... when ....we last spoke. I was upset. So I went looking for my friends. I came to the city....because I knew someone who could find them. But ....all he could tell me....was that they were gone. That they were no longer in any of the realms. I..... didn't know what to do. I felt broken.....and without you.....I didn't have anyone to go to. I was afraid...." she noted softly....and then gently held the woman so much more tightly, kissing Tier's forehead. "I missed you."

She had sensed this before. Hesitation. Uncertainty. And the sense that for some reason, she had overstepped something. That a certain.....membrane had been breached or invaded without her knowing. She had never quite understood what it was. She was emotionally intelligent enough to recognize when it had happened, but she had never had enough context to understand what was going on. And in this moment, she had ......stepped into things she remembered. Not even necessarily Mazda. But others that had, in their own ways, attempted to endear themselves to her. Advances that had been met with different results. Curiosity. Mirth. Violence.

In some small way.
Tier didn't trust her. Or perhaps herself. And some small part of her recognized something.

It is only natural to turn your back on the sun, for fear of its radiance.

Mazda had never said any such thing. Not to her. But she could feel it. Understand it. And sense that it was something he MIGHT say. And when Tier pulled back, and looked up at her with that question on her lips, she had a moment.

Ah.

Santa smiled, folding her hands in front of herself..... but allowed that warm blistering smile to shine through. She knew what was going on. She understood and knew .....approximately. What a reasonable person would say. A .....general sense of just what stage of relationship they were at. What they WANTED.

And she ignored it.
Because she didn't care.
She smiled. And she shrugged.
"I dunno. You make me feel a lot of things. You make me want to do some things that I don't usually want to do. I......... don't ....really know what to say. The way you're looking at me makes me worried. I don't know if I did something wrong......or....no..I don't know ...what specifically... I did wrong. I can see i in your eyes. I keep hurting you without meaning to. But....you...CAN tell me to stop...you know? I wanna do stuff. But I don't....NEED that stuff. What I need is for you to be around. I....don't ......wanna have to miss you again. I don't know what we are but . ....can ...we can just be whatever you want us to be. So long as we can be something." She noted softly. There were probably ways to say it better. Ways to be ....specific. But that meant tapping into something that wasn't really her.

She took several steps back.....and then smiled hopefully at Tier.
Waiting for her to reply, and tell her what she wanted.