Mind Games (Catherine, Sabriel)

Now that her world tour of sorts was up and running again, Sabriel would find herself in the busy streets of London, sitting at a table outside a restaurant, her nose in a book, while the humans were walking to and fro past the Arrancar. Her table was covered with bags, containing a lovely supply of books that had captured her eye during the trip. The Arrancar’s desire for knowledge could never be satiated for long and having come across more than a few bookstores during her time in the country, Sabriel could not help but indulge. The question of whether she had actually paid for them though was another matter. The shopkeepers had been so generous, after all, practically giving their wares to her.

Her attention would be suddenly diverted as a rather lovely looking blonde woman walked by, talking on a phone and by the sounds of it, in the middle of a rather unpleasant exchange. Sabriel’s eyes would naturally be drawn to the figure of the female and coming to a decision rather swiftly, she would open her mouth and start to softly sing, releasing a purple coloured soundwave that would move from her position and wrap itself around the head of the woman before her, disappearing within. The ability was so subtle that only those with incredibly keen senses would have been able to pick up on what she had done but it was by no means undetectable to those in the know, so to speak.

The effect of the skill was rather fast and as Sabriel took hold of the woman’s mind, she would suggest mentally that the blonde end her phone call and sit next to her. Considering the will of the lovely female, it was a rather simple endeavour, with the blonde soon following Sabriel’s suggestion and perching beside the Arrancar.

All too easy.

"Ahh, so those rumors weren't garbage."

She had gotten an eyeful of what occurred down the street as she was going about the London streets. Her sources had caught wind of another Arrancar with a peculiar ability going about; worked out to her, she had some jobs to do in the UK anyway - investigating this was hardly a waste of time to her. But she didn't expect to get as lucky as to see it in play on the streets - a peculiar song that wraps others under her influence.

Having made her way over, a hand was on her hip as she had spoken her line, looking her up and down. Eugh, looked like one of those types... Not that it'd put her off from learning about her, "So... You just yank women off the street or something? Quite the nasty power you got there."

Lavender eyes turning from the blonde woman sitting beside her to the ginger haired one speaking, Sabriel would spend a few moments looking her over. Not the most attractive on the eyes but the dark haired Arrancar had to admit that the attitude she was showing by her body language was appealing in its own way. Yes, she was curious enough about the interloper to engage with her a little but for the moment anyway, did not release control of the woman beside her. It would fade by itself anyway soon enough. For the time being, the blonde would simply rest her head on Sabriel’s shoulder, her previous arrogant behaviour from before her capture replaced by complete subservience.

“Not just women either. It depends on the day.” Sabriel answered, an amused tone to her voice, having no real problem with revealing information about herself. “Desire is my business and satiating my own and that of others is what I take great pleasure from.”

Raising an eyebrow, she would ask the newcomer, chuckling. “Are you looking to fulfil your own or just curious?”

Taking an opposing regardless of permission, stormy hazel eyes looking to the Arrancar, and to her little dream-gazing tag-along. Not a damn thought in those eyes, that definitely was the looks of manipulation. How potent it potentially was, she'd have to see for herself - not that she was super inclined on this Arrancar even getting close to hooking her, the sour look on her face with that offer telling plenty of what she thought about it.

"Desire, huh? I'd say i'm curious." Her eyes were narrowed, still stealing a glance to the woman cuddling up to her like a sopping puppy, "Mind letting your buddy go? I'm sure you could bag a better-looking one."

“I suppose you are right.” The Arrancar replied, her gaze briefly leaving the interloper to focus on her companion. “This will take just a moment.”

With the most subtle of touches on the blonde woman’s mind with her own, Sabriel would break her dominating effect that she had cast upon her. The effect was rather humorous, at least to the dark haired woman, for the dazed individual would all of a sudden snap back to reality, almost jumping a foot in the air when she realised just what exactly she was doing. In a flash, she would be on her feet and dashing off, her cheeks an incredibly deep red.

Her gaze returning to the red headed woman opposite her, she would continue, noting her rather stormy expression. “I am going to make an assumption that your desire is not to experience that particular power for yourself. Naturally, it can be fought off by the strong willed but for those who are not, it is rather difficult to combat.”

Taking notes, she was often writing a storm - physical attributes and anything she learned about her abilities as she went along, which was scarce at first as always. Her gaze was fixed on the young lady who went from looking as if she were to be effortlessly spirited away, to running away with a red-hot blush of embarrassment. Hmm, control seemed to release cleanly, at least for shorter durations of influence; she found that with Hollows that had this sort of ability left some form of damage on their thrall if it were broken, even if it was purely psychological - she assumed it'd be the same with Arrancar, but this was the first one she'd ever met with this form of ability.

What she didn't expect, was for her to be freely giving away that little tidbit; strong willed could oppose it? That went without saying, but for her to be earnest about that wasn't in the books.

"Alright, how about this. Give it a go on me, but release it immediately after if it works. You don't want to know what happens if you don't; and trust me it's not the kind of desire you'd want to see."

Knowing how it felt was an inevitable part of her data collecting, and she seemed amicable enough about presenting herself.

Watching the woman with interest, Sabriel would ponder to herself momentarily about what exactly the redhead would do with the information provided. She appeared to simply be a researcher but it was only natural for the Arrancar to suspect that there was more to it. That being said, there was nothing that she had revealed so far that she believed would bite her in the future, even if the woman before her did turn out to be an enemy in the future.

The request made to her did cause an eyebrow to rise though and Sabriel folded her arms across her shapely chest as she considered the proposition. “You desire for me to place you under my spell? That is certainly not one that I hear often but I will agree to do so under one condition. I wish to know what you plan on doing with this information. Are you simply a Hollow researcher or is there another reason for you to be so interested in what I can do?”

Frankly, the rather vain and self centred Arrancar was enjoying the attention but for the time being, she kept that little chestnut to herself.

And there it was. A smile crept on her features as she finally found that snag in the conversation.

"If you're thinking i'm taking down this information as a means to hurt you later, you're dead wrong. Arrancars, i'm quite the fan to keep it short; you guys are quite on the scarce side on this side of the reality coin, and you're interesting in that you somehow managed to claw yourselves back to humanity. I wanted to learn more about that, so I investigate any Arrancar I find. Besides, I don't hurt people, i'd never do that."

Appearing plenty confident in her answer, she'd give a daring expression, "So if all's good, give that a go. Try not to make a scene, though. I'd really hate if you got hurt."

“You do not hurt people and yet you threaten me? Fascinating.” Sabriel pondered aloud another amused smile crossing her features. She was not completely convinced by the explanation given and there was a part of her that remained suspicious, however, the Arrancar decided in the end to agree to the woman’s proposal although she could not help but add first. “I am uncertain as to how wise it is to say such things when you may just find yourself behaving like a puppet on my string in a few moments.” Her tone was mischievous in nature, a chuckle soon following after.

Giving the woman a few moments to prepare herself, Sabriel would then acquiesce to her request, channelling her spiritual energy into her throat, before taking a breath and starting to sing. Visually, it would look no different from what happened to her previous target and soon enough, a familiar purple coloured sound wave would emerge, heading towards the woman. Assuming there was no attempt at a defence, it would then briefly phase into the redhead, attempting to take hold of her mind. Yet, the spell would not feel all that invasive and instead would try to gently tug at the woman’s psyche, subtly trying to weaken her mental defences.

Sabriel would sing for about thirty seconds or so, a gentle and melodious tune, before coming to a halt. It was only then that she performed the second part of the spell, done by simply uttering a command at the woman. As tempted as she was to exploit the situation, she refrained for the sake of keeping things cordial.

“Sit next to me.” She eventually commanded, tapping the chair next to her.

"Not a threat, just a warning." Tired memories went by of the war, a disturbing amount of the demons she was pit against performing tricks like that. It never quite ended well for them, no matter how pleasantly they tried to control her. Those moments were fragments, but full of visceral feeling, the type of sensation that'd grind one's gut to paste with how incredible it felt. Thus was why she didn't look at all concerned, bothered, or worried by the Arrancar's mischief, sitting up straight and looking at her directly as she began singing...

...It felt like an offered hand, a break of light in an endless valley of darkness, as if her very soul was dragged down by the mires. The temptation to grasp that hand of light was strong, blinding even, if she had less sense it would be a hand she took. Thoughts returned from the darkness, casting doubt upon that hand and it's promises, anxiety tugging her stomach back into sense... She turned the hand away.

Though she looked dazed for a moment, a swift blink and reconnection to reality had her sitting in the chair, understanding she was sitting in the chair.

"..Nope." A calm rejection to the command, she'd get to writing, "You're definitely no joke though. Hope you don't have legions of slaves or whatever."