This Ain't A Fight Night [Liltotto/Elyss]

She saw the woman's scrunched expression, something she couldn't entirely read - was she annoyed with her? Disgusted? Was she disappointed that the little Quincy that called her out for a challenge wasn't up to snuff? It just made Liltotto's tired expression more apparent for a moment, before she realized the redhead hadn't let go of her hand, in fact her fingers were held fast by a much stronger grip.

"Wha?" Liltotto would suddenly breathe in response, a brush of shock and confusion painting her features, only to begin being pulled away, her feet nearly giving out under her as she'd try to pull her hand away, but realize such a thing was futile.

"Look dude, I know you guys live a long time and all, but i'm a grown woman for human standards. I can manage myself, seriously." As if she herself hadn't been alive for centuries, but that wasn't something she was up to talk about with someone who was actively giving her goosebumps, trying to keep her tone composed as she spoke to Elyss, "This is really, really.. Not necessary..!"

Any struggling from her immediately stopped with Elyss' open question, amber eyes placed on the red head with mild confusion and wondering, quieting down to hear her out. Confusion changed to something she couldn't quite describe, perhaps sympathy, perhaps uncertainty, but there definitely was an air of better understanding of where she was coming from. It was definitely an impulsive and uncomfortable expression of not wanting to look back on this day with regret, to want to wrestle some control and make some difference, but Liltotto understood well enough to calm down.

Her posture would ease, standing clearly next to Elyss with no intention of letting go of her hand right away. Despite her instincts telling her to jump out of her skin and run, she'd push those old impulses aside in a real attempt to be personable,

"Yeah, I know where you're talking about. They are pretty good, just don't order any protein ones, they have weird aftertaste." She'd point in the direction of the place, nodding her head to motion she intended to lead them, beginning to walk once the message was across.

As much as Elyss' droopy demeanor was noticed, Liltotto focused on getting the two to the smoothie place in a timely but steady fashion. She didn't know much about her to be making any sort of assumptions or what have you, she certainly made that mistake and had gotten bitten for it twice. Taking her time and hearing out another's woes when they want to disclose it made more sense, but she truly didn't expect to be on speaking terms with a Shinigami, much less a Captain. But... She had a decent idea of what was going on in that end of reality, and if what she was saying was true, which she had a gut feeling there was honesty in her words, the redhead might as well have been making the best of an otherwise poor situation living in the Rukongai. As much as the Shinigami discomforted her, it felt wrong of her to turn the girl down.

Footsteps momentarily stopped with her question, her lips tightening and feeling a sense of cringe, looking back at Elyss' sullen face. Her eyes slightly darted, searching her mind for a proper answer; she would have responded far more curtly if it were another circumstance, but she had reason to force herself to have a better outlook instead of defaulting to whatever negative shit fell out of her brain.

"..As it stands, probably not," She'd admit, "It.. Takes willingness on both sides to make that happen. And I don't think that's there right now. It... Could be, I don't know. You're a captain, yeah? You're in a better place than me to make a push for that change, if you want it. I'm just a crummy soldier."

She'd gently laugh with her self demeaning, but would nudge Elyss to keep following her, "If you want a world where the Gotei and the Vandenreich aren't at odds, push for it, I guess?"

From her reaction, it gave the impression that perhaps bringing her status up probably wasn't doing much for her mood, "..Sorry," an apologetic murmur followed Elyss' comment. God she sucked at this, she could hardly keep herself motivated and comfortable at times... Her strongest suit was getting her hands dirty with accomplishing some goal, not emotional resolutions with a side of 'there there's. Last time or two she tried to do that was enough to tell her she definitely sucked at giving advice that wasn't toward actively working to something tangible, but she still felt that dumb itch to at least try.

Did she feel pity? No, that wasn't it.. Upset for her? Upset about her situation, at least from the sounds of it? Liltotto herself was experiencing a slew of uncertainty in life that she wasn't sure what would be at the end of it, and even she couldn't figure out what to do about it. Was she even in a place to give this woman any comfort or condolences, did she deserve to be in that place?

She was listening to Elyss go on about the duties of the Vandenreich and the Gotei, her head tipped down but her steps did not cease, a whole slew of thoughts running through her mind of the topic along with genuine surprise that a rather brutish-seeming person had such deep concern for others that weren't even allied to her, much less a low priority of her job as a whole. But what really shocked her into stopping was perhaps leaving the Gotei if such a scenario came to pass, silent as they weren't too far off from their destination that was in view, "You're joking," her disbelief couldn't help but express itself.

Turning to look at the redhead with wide eyes, even her ever present deadpan expression betrayed her shock, "Oh my god, you're not joking. I thought there was serious consequences for doing that? Or am I remembering something outdated..." She'd close her eyes and shake her head, "Not the point. I just... You're... You're in probably one of the best positions anybody could ever get to, living or dead. It's not even like leaving will make much of a difference for the result anyway."

There was a mix of genuine confusion and conflict as she'd speak to Elyss, averting her shocked gaze to look to the ground, "The Quincy are just ants to the Gotei - pointless, tiny, and easy to ignore unless they're doing something inconvenient. Even if you give up your position, someone else who's a lot more hungry for a rousing bout of ant crushing will probably just take it."

A bitter look was in her eyes as unpleasant memories filled her head, the scent of death she experienced many a time clear in her mind, "What good would that do then, huh? All leaving would do is spare yourself from having to look at it, it's not saving anyone or anything except your conscience."

A tiny grimace fell on her features with Elyss' thinking aloud of her words; guess she did think in terms of 'beat em up' for a solution after all. At least her usage of that as a solution was on the productive and well meaning side, but in her eyes the girl just staying where she was had been the simplest deterrent to anyone worse taking the reigns. She visibly looked a bit taken aback by the redhead's expression, unusual to any she'd pulled all evening, wondering for a moment if she was going to get her ears torn apart with a yelling fest or something, only to relax as she seemed to mellow out. God, she was hard to read, but at the same time she barely knew her, or even had much intention to earlier.

Pink tint formed on her face with Elyss' praise, her eyes looking away as if bashful or embarrassed by the compliment - it definitely was an unusual thing for her to hear from a Shinigami, but it wasn't like she spoke to many of them, and Elyss definitely was making herself out to be an unexpected exception to the typical attitude she saw amongst them. Was it because she seemed to hold closer to her human life? Though her thoughts were interrupted with the girl unexpectedly raising her hand into the sky and laughing, which was definitely more than enough to get her attention and her confusion.

As much as she didn't get where this sudden burst of energy came from, she had some kind of appreciation for it. Mindlessly going about her duties didn't bring her any happiness, not before and definitely not now, and even with what and who she was she still felt a lacking in her own abilities. Even with how she felt, she still had people looking up to her, something she was neither familiar with nor knew how to handle, but...

"Ahh! Hey hey too fast!" She was startled from her thoughts with her feet almost falling from under her, increasing her pace rather easily to keep up, "Uh... Thanks. Though. For the encouragement?"

I think I needed that... She admitted to herself.