Unfamiliarly Familiar [Liltotto/Eliane]

Was business as usual, keeping an eye on the streets and chatting with the occasional passerby. Sometimes she couldn't help but feel like these peaceful days were on some timer waiting to tick out, that old habit of looking for danger still a little too active for her tastes, she still felt anxiety zaps tighten her chest from the occasional Shinigami crossing her senses despite her efforts. Teeth effortlessly pierced her occasional meal as her eyes scanned her surroundings, her very presence passive and inoffensive, were it not for her uniform she'd just come across as the typical nobody citizen going about their day.

That boring gaze of hers caught a familiar, well that wasn't quite right - she didn't know that lady, she just occasionally saw her in the city as of recently. From her dressings, she looked like some businessperson's daugher or whatever, or just someone doing well and having a vacation, but the frequency of her presence paired with her rather... Distinct, body marks, finally compelled the blonde to investigate; all she had was a normal exchange in mind, maybe a curiosity or two - it wasn't like the pale-haired woman was doing anything to catch her ire.

"Hey ma'am? Your outfit's real pretty, where'd ya get it?" A calm observation and compliment was given to at least have things on the right foot, wouldn't want to unnerve her with her uniform, "Been thinking about getting new clothes recently, yknow? I always dress too plainly. Oh, also, good afternoon."

Probably should've opened with that. Oh well.

The City of Lights was unpleasant for someone in Eliane's current state. Of course, it being unpleasant meant that it was the best possible place for her to be. Countless people that she knew she could likely needle at, and enough people keeping an eye on her that she'd get put right into jail even if she tried. She liked that, though. She didn't want to be happy right now, her happiness had hardly come from anything that would bode well right now.

Being approached was unusual, though. Even on her best behavior, Eliane knew that she tended to give off an aura that put most into a state of discomfort. Few were capable of being so perennially calm, after all, and she turned to her new visitor as if she'd been expecting it, as naturally as anything else.

"Hm? I'm sorry, I have my clothes made for me personally. I would refer you to my seamstress, but I'm afraid I'm currently in search of a new one after the incident in Vastime."

Eliane didn't say that with the total detachment of someone who simply didn't care about what had happened, but she also didn't seem to give it any of the gravitas that a normal person would give it. Everything she said, everything she did, Eliane simply carried herself with serene grace. If she wanted to be normal, though, that was certainly a bad thing.

What a strange presence, and scent on top of that. To someone of her perception, this lady definitely was an oddity even among the unusual cases she'd seen pass through the city prior. It did take her interest, even subconsciously - Liltotto couldn't help but try to inquire, wasn't like she felt threatened by that air of discomfort she carried. With all she was concerned with presenting, it was just a normal conversation in getting to know somebody else in the city as per usual.

Brows raised slightly with surprise with the mention of her clothing being custom; damn that's on the pricey end for her, but not weird - people of all sorts of classes walked these streets together. It did explain why her clothing looked so well-fitting, it was quite literally made for her... But that thought was quickly dropped with the calm mentioning of the tragedy of Vastime.

"..Oh, yikes." Even her neutral tone had a feel of being taken aback, but even she didn't seem incredibly shaken by the reminder of it, "My condolences. The Stadt surely would be a good place to start looking, so you're in the right place; assuming that's what ya might be here for?"

She'd tilt her head a bit with a slight shrug, "Don't mind my uniform either, i'm just chatting. No trouble's about after all."

Eliane knew this wasn't one of the people who'd been assigned to keep tabs on her; if it had been, she probably would have reported it to Alastair to let him know that he needed to pick better people for the job. This was a remarkably peculiar way to pry, wasn't it? Neither subtle nor forward, a sort of measured nonchalance that gave an impression of only caring to receive an answer, without really caring what the answer was. She might have sighed at how disappointed she was to turn down such an opportunity, but that outlook would hardly benefit her in this new life.

"I hadn't been minding it." Hadn't been, not a wholly subtle way of noting that drawing attention to it hardly achieved that aim. "As for why I'm here, I'm an employee with South Pacific Logistics. Perhaps you've heard of it? We're in importing. Ah, and exporting, of course. I'm an importer-exporter."

Despite her intention not to have fun with this, it was admittedly difficult to completely deny that urge. Besides, she wasn't telling any lies, and she knew perfectly well that even entirely normal people found no small amusement in messing with people.

Guess it was kind of dumb to point it out at all, it wasn't like she seemed nervous or anything, if anything she came across... Pretty disturbingly sterile. Everyone had their scents and their peculiarities within that, but the longer she paid attention to this lady, the stranger she seemed - at least physically. She had a natural inclination to put people at ease with her presence, but she was putting together her company was probably about as strange as she.

"South Pacific.." She took a moment to think, not immediately recognizing the name... "Oh yeah, think i've seen that name around."

Though she cast her gaze up and down Eliane's form briefly, as if searching for some sort of insignia or color theme, "Are you off duty or something? You don't seem to be in uniform. Also, what's going on with your stitches? Are you in some homebrew Gigai or something?"

It would be impossible to neglect the fact the woman looked like she was a sewn together doll for too much longer.

"Duty? I'm currently on lunch, I suppose. We office workers don't have a formal uniform."

The direct prying about the scars that covered her body, however, only seemed to put Eliane's smile even more at ease than it had already been. Her gaze, however, seemed far more piercing, eyes less akin to a kind businesswoman and far more similar to the woman that had created her. Like a snake sizing up a chick.

"Gigai? No, I'm no ghost. This is simply my body after a few unfortunate incidents."

She really shouldn't have been indulging in this kind of vague commentary, but at the same time, Eliane wasn't exactly inclined to simply spill out all the intricacies of her personal life. Was that a matter of privacy? Maybe, maybe not. She didn't exactly think she was capable of such a human feeling, but Arlette seemed to disagree.

My, what piercing eyes you have.. A lazy sarcastic thought rolled through her mind with noticing she was being looked at with quite a gaze, not one a typical passerby would give her, if anything everything about this interaction felt off in a way, and her thoughts wouldn't hold proper confirmation until she further heard her out.

"Gotcha..." She made her incredulous thoughts known through her manner of speech, her neutral expression unchanging but her nature conveying more of a curious air. It didn't feel like she was having a proper conversation with a person, even the less thoughtful people she'd come across had more substance to their discussion than what she understood so far. Something about this felt superficial in a way she didn't normally come across, especially with matters such as her tailor and even the state of her body.

"For someone who stands around watching people during lunch period, you don't seem too interested in them," She wasn't annoyed or upset by her nonchalance, rather she was just wondering what her deal was, "I had some impression you might've been put off by me with how short you're being, but now i'm getting the feeling you might just be screwing with me. So, what's up with that?"

This was fun. Arguably too fun, given Eliane's current desire to temper her malicious inclinations. Still, what was one supposed to do when presented a situation such as this? She'd have to speak with someone else about this, confirm she wasn't simply falling back into bad habits.

"With all due respect, you're the one who opened this conversation on a quite strange foot. Your prying might have been a bit more subtle if you wanted me to welcome the questions. I would imagine you aren't with the Todgestalten."

Eliane took a sip of her coffee, gaze returning to the streets even as she continued speaking. Keeping up her ruse was well and good, but she shouldn't get too attached to that. It'd get her in trouble if she did it often.

"It's rather entitled of you to treat it as 'short' that I wouldn't explain no small injury to myself, don't you think? I'd imagine anyone asked about something presumably traumatic has earned some right to be brief in their answer. I haven't lied to you once in this conversation, but it's a little peculiar to assume I'd simply explain all these personal matters to someone I've never met. You didn't even give me your name."

It was all listed off as if she were grading a performance rather than actually annoyed by any of it. After all, Eliane had done plenty of this in her own time, and she'd found it amusing enough to deal with.

"Put off by you? Hardly, miss. You're a rather less imposing presence than Administrator Eisfluch."

Composure kept, she'd hear the pale woman out with hardly a twitch or sneer, thoughts going by behind slow blinking eyes as she silently took what criticisms were offered to her of how she behaved. There was no anger, no irritation, not even so much as a mournful look of shame as she gathered her thoughts to speak, beginning simply with, "I'm sorry. You're right, that was inappropriate of me to come off that way. Liltotto Lamperd's my name, and no i'm not Todgestalten personnel, but that's clearly pretty obvious to you."

With a brief sigh through her nose, she'd continue, "I didn't really quite mean your scars - that's none of my business if you aren't interested in sharing, but apologies if I came across as wanting you to dig into something traumatic. I normally try to get to know everybody that comes by frequently, but i'm not exactly perfect at talking to everyone."

Looking to the passing crowd for a moment, she'd exhale gently, "I didn't mean to overstep, so i'll pull back - what's your name?"