Envious Tides [Veralia/Catherine]

"Care to share with the class what all are in your notes?"

Veralia's voice carried a light, teasing tone, but her interest was genuine and piqued. In the blink of an eye, she used her Sonido to bridge the distance between them, appearing to the right side of Catherine. There was no threatening aura emanating from her, just pure curiosity as her eyes fixated on the notebook that the ginger was diligently scribbling into.

"You've got me intrigued."

There was nothing but honesty that came from Veralia's mouth as she began leaning slightly closer to get a better view of the pages. Her gaze was sharp, as she attempted to decipher the hurried handwriting and the diagrams that peppered the margins.

"There must be more to these scribbles than mere curiosity."

The scratching of her pen froze immediately with that request, a glassy expression meeting Veralia right as her feet would touch down next to her... Only to cease when she realized it wasn't a threat. Her heart pounded in her throat, before she'd give a resigned sigh and present the notebook page to her, "Don't try to turn the page, it's private."

On the viewable page it was a shocking amount of notes, not an amount a normal person would have taken in such a short period. Questions, inquiries, past experiences, analyses of the Arrancar before her, even a rough drawing of her form with notes pointing out notable physical features rest on one of the pages. An unimaginable amount of analytical information was written down, it would be hard to call it frivolous wonderings or any manner of weightless study - she had a serious dedication to picking this woman apart and putting those findings into these ever-compressing notes. Both visible pages were more blackened with ink than clean.

"Satisfied?"

Veralia tapped her chin, intrigued by the in-depth analysis Catherine was putting down on the paper. As her eyes darted toward the red-head, she nodded along, seemly pleased with what she had found.

"One can say that~"

Plopping right down next to Catherine, Veralia couldn't help but chuckle, observing the tenseness of the woman before her.

"Just what all have you broken down about me, hm? Those notes are complex."

Her eyes, now intensely focused, scanned the pages for clues, not just to understand what was written but to gauge Catherine's reactions to her probing.

"And forgive me, but I can't believe we've spent all this time, and I don't even know your name...."

Ah well, it was a slurry of thoughts and observations - it wasn't going to hurt to unveil them.

"Well, given you aren't too thrilled to share much about your hollow qualities, I fixated on other details. Between the look of your mask fragments, how you refer to Hueco Mundo, and your present attitude - i'd say you're only a few hundred years old, less than four-hundred probably. You're either a younger Arrancar that didn't get too attached to the dog-eat-dog world mentality, or you're on the older end who got sick of it and wanted something new. You appear to have abilities related to heat, but it's largely inconclusive given lack of data. Peculiarly, you present with mental traits more commonly found in artificially-created Arrancar, who also tend to be on the younger end; your mentality and wish to not lapse into your worst impulses isn't common in Arrancar who were more entrenched in Hueco Mundo's ideas..."

Her finger gently traced along her notes, talking and talking about all these minute details, thoughts, theories, and more. Until she perked up with that comment,

"It's Catherine. Catherine Reed," Only to return to calmly going over information in a rambling manner unless stopped.

"Observant."

This woman had a fair read on Veralia when all was said and done. It was wise to keep herself guarded against someone so...discerning. Veralia's eyes never left the sight of Catherine, still lost in thought as to what to make of this situation.

After a few moments of silence, her head nodded in response to Catherine sharing her name. It was common courtesy to give your name to someone who shared yours, right?

"Veralia Espina~ Pleasure to meet ya Catherine."

Veralia chuckled, her lips curling into a playful smile as she leaned back slightly, maintaining a relaxed yet guarded posture. Her eyes, however, remained sharp and focused, scrutinizing Catherine's every move.

"You seem like the scientific and analytical type; have you experimented on Hollow and Arrancar before? Perhaps even made improvements to them?"

Her words hung in the air, a blend of casual curiosity and subtle challenge. Veralia's playful tone couldn't mask the intensity of her gaze, as she waited for Catherine's response, ready to react to whatever came next.

With a reactive hand, the suspiciously blank top-rightmost section of the page was finally filled in, a legible font versus the spiralling of details and questions that blackened the greater body of the page, 'Veralia Espina' would be tacked down with careful yet quick writing, "Pleasure," Was the only thing she'd respond in kind with, her still digits offered as a hand to shake, to be dropped if not taken.

..Though her pen stopped scratching the page again with that question being produced, her head rising with a confused expression on her face, her eyes looking the arrancar over as if in thought about it, before falling on the page again,

"Experimented, no. Dissected and repurposed hollow parts? Yes. Experimented on or made improvements to actual, living breathing members of you lot? Mmm..." Her pen's tip stalled in the same spot it stopped, "...Work in progress."

Not hesitating to shake her hand, Veralia's eyes lingered on Catherine as she wasn't sure what to make of her comment about her experimentation being a "work in progress". Curious, Veralia prodded further.

"What do you mean work in progress?"

Veralia's right eyebrow arched upward, waiting to hear more about this. The words struck a chord with Veralia, reminding her of her own relentless pursuit of power and control, driven by envy. She knew what it meant to constantly evolve, never satisfied, always craving more. Her gaze remained fixed on Catherine, her thoughts swirling with the possibilities of what this "work" might offer her.

"Have to do more research on that to give you an answer," Her pen nib continued to write notes, until a satisfactory scribble marked the end of her thought, "Not to mention I don't oft share my notes."

Digging in her pocket, she'd then produce a business card, ceasing for a moment before scribbling out the original name on it and writing her own just beneath it. That bullshit was changing once she killed that old sexist shithead...

"Here. Contact information. Don't know if ya got a phone or what, but let's try to keep in some touch, kay?"

THE FIRE OF ENVY NEVER DIES

THE FLAME THAT BURNS THE BRIGHTEST

Swiftly, Veralia reached into her shirt and pulled out an emerald and black phone with flames on it. As soon as she had the business card in her other hand, she wasted no time dialing Catherine's number and sending a little "Hello :)" text to her.

"You've got it, Cathy."

Veralia teased Catherine with a playful snicker, her tone light and far from malicious. A slight grin spread across her face as she glanced up at the warm summer sun overhead.

"Guess we'll call it here, eh? I won't eat up too much of your time if you ain't got nothing else for me to answer."

Even if the arrancar was infuriatingly clammed up about her capabilities, it was at least the start of a relationship. The redhead would calmly come up from where she had been seated, dusting sand off her clothes with a slight huff; she hated the stuff, got it's coarse texture everywhere... Even if she was on the most insulating blanket conceivable, she wouldn't be shocked if fifteen grains ended up on her anyway.

The phone on her lit up silently, obscured information making it unclear who texted her, but given the timing it was obvious to be this dark haired 'friend' she just made. With a calm smile in return, she'd wave a hand, "Guess so. I'll leave you to your lounging. Talk another time, hmm?"

She'd make a simple telephone gesture with her fingers, some attempt at awkward playfulness, before her arm would drop and she'd begin her stride away, typing in a string of emojis to indicate her verification. That was how friends spoke to each other over text, loads of shortenings and gaudy images...