A Daytime Wander (Lerna, Armina)

Lerna couldn't help but feel that welling feeling of Deja vu at the mention of the beating, a soft little snort escaping her as she tilted her head. "It wasn't that much of a beating. I'm pretty sure you could have beat me if you put your mind to it." She stated simply enough, watching as the woman ordered herself a hard drink. And some portion of her brain registered that some might appreciate that. There was certainly a lot of culture around that kind of thing annoyingly enough. Shinigami always seemed intent ot bond through the stuff. It was something that drew many of them together. But then again, that had even been the case on earth. How insidious that it had been used against her in the past. That Shinigami really HAD been a bastard.

The question about Kido however, hit her a bit out of left field. For someone who had no respect for kido, she certainly seemed to have a fascination with the stuff. "Uh, yes? I've also got a bit of skill in Kaido as well. Kinda necessary given we often get deployed solo or in pairs." She noted simply, any untoward implication about binding someone with Kido didn't register with the blonde as she took another sip of her soda.

Lerna tilted her head slightly as she glanced at Armina again. Huh, she was talking a lot about how pretty she was. Was that really it? She pondered it for a moment. She supposed she forgot how physically focused shinigami could be. Those few friends of hers familiar with her situation so very often went onto great lengths about what they valued in a partner. Being funny, entertaining, charming. But at the end of the day, for some, it was so much simpler and she glanced down at herself for a moment, before offering a lopsided smile to the other officer. "So I've heard." She noted calmly, taking a sip of her soda as she listened to Armina's confession.

Not surprising given the matchup. She doubted that the woman often ran into individuals around her own level. Other high ranked officers sure, but most of those around her would be well weaker than her by quite a bit. "Not really. I'm usually gonna kill or disembowel most things I'm gonna snag with a Kido spell." She pointed out and tilted her head slightly at the other officer. "So what about you, Miss Armi. What is it you spend your time doing for fun? Got any family? ?" She ventured. After all, even some rukongai denizens found and formed little families. An important part of many of their lives, perhaps it would shed a bit of light on Armina's uh...personality? Whatever it was you tried to figure out about a person on these little outtings. Was it a date? Probably not quite. But still, the woman was......well...transparent. It was pretty clear she wanted to get her hands on the 7th Squad member. But she was curious what else was on their mind.

WAS there anything else on their mind?

Oh, that was a bit more backstory than she'd expected. But all the same, she tilted her head as she eyed the woman and took a moment to absorb the explanation. There were really such practices in the rukongai? A bit interesting, what would the point of such things even be? Certainly there was something to be said about accruing strong individuals, but as what...assassins? Hired muscle? Didn't the Gotei have a history of corruption? Surely back when the Nobility was around, they could simply get Shinigami to fill that role at times? Well, she supposed some instincts really didn't change.

"No need to apologize. I live down on earth, and theres quite a few places that have devolved to that kind of practice. We even had a few guys who did that kinda shit in my old gang. But well, they started causing trouble with it and ultimately they were dealt with internally." she noted, which was, perhaps not the reaction Armina explained, more or less establishing that Lerna had, at one point, been in an organization that did the very thing that Armina had been subjected to.

Truth be told? It had happened at least to several gangs she'd been a part of. Over the years Gangs sometimes flashed in and out, and they'd pick up that stupid notion. Sometimes successfully, but really it usually caused problems unless the gang was VERY large. As it turned out, training a bunch of freakishly strong kids that you then traumatized into likely hating you didn't really work out that great at times. Even less likely if the police in the area were competent. Which well....she imagined is what happened to Armina's abductors, the Gotei did seem on the ball about a few things, especially what witht he reforms Commander Abalia worked toward during her tenure.

"Well, since you seem keen on sharing, how'd you wind up in the Gotei then?"

Hm.
N ot quite the reaction she expected. Or really the ....well... no maybe she should have expected this. The woman seemed to revel in the life she'd garnered after. Was that really it? It was bizarre that the woman had broken out of such a life, and then just kept on going? She even went so far as to join the Combat Division. And now here she was. And one couldn't help but wonder how much of a difference that childhood had made.

Did the ones who kindapped her even change anything? Had they simply broken her and made her into this? Or had she been this all along and they had simply fostered her in a way that allowed her to become what she now was? The hollow in her felt it was likely a mix of the two. But even so, it was ..... strange. The Fourth really was it's now beast. even now, seeing Armina practically eye-fucking her in the midst of their conversation, she could tell that it was fueled by their fight over anything else. And she found her gaze wandering off to the side as she became distracted with her own thoughts.

That said...as Armina mentioned that this had happened previously, she couldn't help but make something of an ..unsavory face. "Is this something you do all the time?" She asked with a bit of concern, frowning slightly as she looked to the memnber of the division. Certainly she knew that some of them adored battle. But this was going a little far.

"I certainly hope you don't mind following them. I understand that the Fourth can at times deem itself outside of normal constraints. Especially with the policies around captainship. But I most certainly hope you understand that you still are under the jurisdiction of Soul Society law." She noted firmly, perhaps a bit harshly.

"I was more surprised about the kissing thing. Frankly, but fair enough." She sighed and closed her eyes, wondering if perhaps she should have reprimanded the woman for her bold move. Especially with how flirtatious she was getting. Humans. She took a sip of her soda and then set it down, raising both hands infront of her and tenting her fingers. "I'd be especially careful of that sort of thing around...certain individuals. You might wind up getting beat up even harder." A pause.

Well...she'd probably like that. Still. A sigh escaped her as she reached up and gently rubbed at her eyelids, taking a moment to ponder her situation. There was something to be said about the ...TYPE of weirdo that came up in soul society. Sure, people on earth wer strange, but the sort of ....settledness was a bit unnerving. Sure, people were violent, but in soul society, Squads such as the Fourth Division created such an odd environment. They were almost laughably aggressive, but it was all part of the culture, it was their identity. And as a result, Armina spoke about this sort of thing passively. On earth that was the case, but usually with gangs or bad areas, usually not members of the military. Well, not in such a brazen and open way.

"Alright so you've made it pretty clear you spend a lot of your time punching faces. But ...what about outside of that? Any ...hobbies? Clubs? Whittling or anything like that?"