Fiery Lioness meets Cool Lion? [Amaranta | Tento]

"Of course I asked for it. With a woman like me, it's either go hard or go home. Half-assing anything won't even get you on my radar. It's a total turn off on all fronts."

Slicking a hand through her hair, Amaranta wiped all that excess blood away to reveal the wounds in her face. No, they were no longer present anymore. Her regeneration was already working reflexively to fix the wounds she suffered, though the gash remained the more discernable wound. Of course, even that was beginning to heal itself. She simply slowed the process to marvel at the temporary battle scar Tento made with that Raikoho stunt of his.

Stepping forward, grinning from ear to ear, Amaranta kneeled to ruffle his hair. Well, he seemed dazed. She couldn't exactly say she was surprised by that. He seemed to put his all into that strike, and the whiplash from the attack probably rattled him significantly. She gazed at the crater in the ground, extending one last parting glance before she reached forward, hoisting the Shinigami onto her shoulders. A deal was a deal. She was one who rarely went back on her word, and he was certainly in line to be rewarded. Plus, she was in the mood for a meal and drink.

"So, where we goin'? I'm hungry. You need to recover, too, right? Let's go somewhere and chill until your Shinigami buddies come and pick ya' up. Or I can leaver you here. Your choice."

"Yeah, that'd probably do it," she retorted with an obnoxious laugh. She really didn't enjoy half-assed effort. It wasn't fun if her opponents or enemies weren't giving it their all.

Since Tento hadn't really figured out where to go in terms of their little "date" he earned, Amaranta decided to make the choice herself. They were in texas. The leonine woman was no expert on venues, but wasn't this place always known for their barbeque? As long as she got to enjoy some human food and drink, it didn't really matter to her where they ended up. Thus, with him still held on her back, she simply walked in the direction of the best place she could find on her phone, waltzing through the door of the establishment with the man slung over her shoulder.

"I'm ordering everything you have on the menu. Burgers. Ribs. Sausage. And other barbeque-related assortments. We're on a date, so be nice to us or else."

Countless eyes locked onto the two of them immediately, but the leonine woman paid it no particular heed as she found a seat by the window and set him down.

"Alrighty, here we are, Tento. Your prize. Date night with the Burning Lioness.'

"You'd think so, but honestly? it isn't easy as you think. Plus, I like you. Men with grit are pretty cool. You're bold, but level-headed too. You saw me brawling with a hollow, and didn't immediately assume I was an arrancar approaching with ill-intent."

Amaranta browsed through her phone, quietly observing anything that might have caught her attention. She was genuinely impressed by the degree of willpower Tento displayed during their battle. As she said, most soul reapers tended to default into viewing her as an enemy, even if she held no particular intent to harm them. What else did she expect, though? It wasn't as if she was going to expect every Shinigami to be as laid-back as the one sitting across from her. Besides, if they want a fight, she'll gladly give them a fight. Those little foot soldiers could use some training. Within twenty minutes, several plates of the barbeque they ordered would arrive. Setting her phone down, Amaranta would grab a steaming burger, biting into it ravenously as she pointed her finger toward him like a gun.

"What division are ya in, Ten? I'm curious. Most of the soul reapers I've encountered either run away and call for back up, or start attacking me."

"Nah, not really. It looked like you could go on working on a sweat for hours on end", Tento said hearing the start of Amaranta's words. It was really a never ending thing. Each touch he landed on her flesh. Every abrasion. Each inch of a wound. Healed. Regenerated as fast as Tento managed to land a light wound on her body. It looked so easy, and caused Tento to think. What was the scientific aspect that gave them this ability? He couldn't recall from his lectures at Shino if healing took energy or something. Only attacks that came from everything he had right now did SOMETHING to her that got a measure of respect, the healing time from before increasing a bit. But still, such a drain on him showed he needed more progress. His energy reserves as well as the power of his attacks. And certainly something besides kido…

“Oh? You dont say?”, Tento said. A dual response to the blue eyed, black and gold haired beauty beside him. A simple light hearted response as he eyed her. So it wasn't as easy as he thought? That was the serious thought that came to his mind. The other non serious thought, well. Hehe. First impression good, getting called gritty and cool was nice. “Well. The only ill intent that read from you from the jump was to that hollow you were brawling with”, Tento mentioned as he continued on with the flow of the conversation. “Granted, I do wish I did get a bit of it. That, hot, aura of yours, was fun to deal with”, he added, giving a bit of respect and acknowledgement to the heavy challenge she gave him.

After speaking Tento did a quick shift of his eyes. Causally taking in an observation of the tone of the room and the body language of everyone in the establishment. Well, at least the ones in his line of sight. Amaranta, a few customers, a few workers. As Amaranta browsed through her phone, so did Tento. Sideways keeping his eyes on the screen as he tapped on the soft screen quickly typing up a report. It seemed the scene was calming down and nothing had been done yet. Just isolation. He wanted to have notes written up juuuust in case anyone contacted him or ran into him at some point after this. He made it look like he was just browsing though of course. Had to keep things looking casual after all. “But then again, you on top laughing was good enough. It would be a lot messier if you decided to let your hair down”. That wasn’t to say it would be a bad thing though. He did enjoy getting a close look at her like he was getting right now.

As strong as she was and although she essentially played their whole encounter as a game. It was….a fun antagonizing experience? A bit charming and alluring even. Or perhaps it was just this feline Arrancar besides him? She had power and speed, a hearty personality that, thankfully. Did not irk him. But man did she do things earlier that could have if he was not trying to buy time and feel like they were just throwing back and forth teasing banter. A very welcoming thing. By nature they were enemies. But what to do with the opposite was a wide thing. Tento had already done a few instances of dealing with non violent hollows. At least none violent to humans…mostly. Absolutely. LOOK. They did not devour their souls. Anyway, as long as no physical harm was done and no souls devoured. Well, Tento had no issue or use in interacting with them; besides testing himself in combat against them that is.

Tap tap tap. Well that should do it. Needed information broken down in a detailed report. From the look of things everything was still calm. Guess not too many people were willing and ready to check the area out. But really. No one made a call or report of an Arrancar walking off with a Shinigami yet? Either no one was around following Tento’s order to get away. Or things were just…oddly lucky.

Flow and chit chat. It was a surprise that so much time passed. In twenty minutes it was hard to entirely say what they talked about, hard to keep a solid focus with a beauty showing so much skin happily in front of you. That was not to say that Tento wasn’t listening and showing genuine interest in their conversations. It was just, well, some parts were easier to remember than others. Either way, beautiful savory plates of barbeque would begin to arrive. Not all, but a good enough amount for them to get started eating. Shutting the screen of his phone down and placing it back up, Tento would grab a massive number of ribs ripping a piece off before chomping on it. Savoring the taste before looking up with a blink as Amaranta pointed a finger at him. His division eh? He chewed and swallowed as he thought about it. He did not introduce himself properly did he? He only gave his name.

“No one has done a mix yet or something new. My my, a lucky day for you”, Tento said in a soft tease as he popped another piece. “Being cute with names eh? I am the 4th division. Combat”. Tento then pointed the rib at her. “Since we’re playing 21 questions I’ll go too. You said you was a former espada. Tell me more about that”. It would be nice to get an idea what number she was…but also a bit of look in the most recent Hueco Mundo structure changes. "I mean..unless cat got your tongue".

"Look at you being cute. Nah, I don't mind speaking about my old days, but still...Combat division, huh? Interesting..."

Amaranta tilted her head, her lips curving in a grin as she reflected on her days as an Espada. Come to think of it, did she even remember what her number was? She had only ever affiliated with the Espada as a means to an end, viewing anything else as completely secondary. Aizen and his band of goons were little more than roadblocks on her path of transcending beyond every degree of strength imaginable. Once he was defeated, she simply moved onto the next. Nothing complicated, really, though she wondered about what become of the others. One particular source of interest was Harribel. She was strong, but she didn't really carry herself like the average Arrancar. Chewing into another burger, Amaranta decided to answer his question.

"There isn't much to tell ya. It's actually a pretty bare bone story. I started out as a Fraccion' at first. Part of me could have remained unaffiliated all together, but I viewed the Espada at the time as the cream of the crop, the strongest collection of Arrancar you could think of. I wanted to get stronger, I wanted to be surrounded by stronger people, and I took the opportunity. I worked under my superior until I felt I was strong enough to take them out, and then boom, I took their number and wore it like a badge of pride. I forget the exact number since it doesn't mean shit now, but I enjoyed myself. I got to fight some pretty strong men and women. How about you? You ever fought any opponents so far that gets your blood boiling beside little ole' me~?"

Tento gave out a slight chuckle when he heard Amaranta call out in a mirror response of HIM being cute. A short one filled with a layered calm mischievous. Perhaps she was trying to be charming and coy? Most likely as she seemed to just add it on. Well, it was good for him. "oh really? You expected something else? The meditation division??".

He wondered what made it oh so interesting? Had she never heard of the type of divisions before? No no.... She asked him the question after all, thus she had a background of knowledge before. Even then, a hollow to the level of Amanarata had to have a number of years under her belt. She had to have exposure before.

Tento leaned back in his chair, resting arms on the table as he looked at this feline's sweet honey grin. The curiosity holder of Tento's mind for the day ever present as she chewed on her burger and think while smiling. He had a decent understanding of the history of the Espada. Kinda. He knew of the first grouping being made by the strings of Sōsuke Aizen's hands. To his memory there was also a second resurgence that had fallen all the same and disbanded. Which was Amaranta's story? Was she a part of the final stage of the 1st Espada? An older version before being refined? Or the newer generation?

"Ah, you need more meat on them bones", Tento said. "With how much of a show giver you are, I was expecting more". Faccion huh? A way of reference, Amaranta was a subordinate just like how he is right now. Either way it was a tool for her. A place to grow. Around strong people, competiting for might and the right to hold ranks. A need to improve. Biding her time before challenging her Espada master and taking that number for herself. A simple number at the end of day. SHE FORGOT THE NUMBER. And from what he could tell from her fine fine body language; well, she was not lying. The power then and power now was all that matted it seemed. The number she had nothing but a burnt paper in her memory bank. Ahhhhh, he let out a sigh. Such a disappoint drag, well...he still managed to 'fight' with an Arrancar of such might anyway. That was something to be excited and proud of.

All before of putting that cheesy grin and rolling with that bit of information. "Hmmmm", Tento sounded off giving Amaranta a slow and deliberate look up and down. Gazing at her eyes before moving to her hair/ears, arms, torso then back up to her face. "Opponents? No. No one as hot as you", Tento said matter of factually with a happy grin before ripping off some pieces of meat but not eating yet. "But match ups? Yep. A few shortie", he said having fun about her saying little ole' me.

"Long as it wasn't the pantsy division," Amaranta retorted to his witty banter about the meditative division. She wasn't particularly well versed in anything Gotei related, but the combat division certainly stood out as something that amused her. It meant that Tento hopefully descended from a company of equally bold men and women. Plus, it had combat in the name. She would've been amused by default based on that alone, truth be told. Amaranta chuckled at his response to her own question, leaning back against her chair. "You've got pretty good tastes if I can get your blood boiling. I'm one hell of an opponent. Once you get stronger, I don't mind showing you an even better display of my skill." Chewing at her burger, she tilted her head, decided to continue along this particular train of conversation. "So, who have you faced? Got any names or is it confidential?"