Seeing The Sights [Catherine, Sumana]

'Straight for the stars', huh? She saw it as an eventuality, a consequence of their overbearing presence for the majority of history. Nobody could be on top forever, after all.

She followed reasonably close until they met their destination, keeping a mental note of their pathing just in case she was in need of making an escape or otherwise; she wasn't quite planning anything risky, but she wasn't crystal on this one's intent or interest, not to mention just having proposed something that'd surely make anyone fully aware of their place on reality's totem pole excited.

Having taken her own seat, she'd acknowledge the request for a drink with a slight nod, looking a pinch impressed with the reveal of the compartment of alcohol, "Impressive storage. Pragmatic for space at that," She'd comment, eyes scanning the pretty impressive selection - even recognized several brands, "Surprise me, long as it's a strong one. I like getting an idea of what others favor in terms of drink."

Now it was time to follow up on that little claim she proposed. Ah, what story was she to weave about it today..? Though a lot of her methodology was in it's infancy, she knew it had to be possible; the real thing that shifted or switched about was the intent of it all.

"I'd say 'oust' is a little strong. I mean, think about it," She'd rest her hand on her chin as she spoke, toiling the details in her mind, "Attempts at force will only leave behind the lot most determined to take you down. Not to mention how much effort that'd take, no no, what I have in mind isn't to push them out, at least not with power.."

A slight smirk grew on her face, "What I plan to do, is take their little 'balancer' title, and give others the means to manage the cycle, manage themselves, beyond the Gotei. It's crushing, isn't it? To have those lugheads up top, unopposed, when they do the bare minimum. They don't care, you feel me? All it is to them is maintaining a spreadsheet, and nothing more; keep x amount of souls in this world even with the other world, on and on, no consideration for the peons. And whenever these 'unwashed masses' managed to get power to maintain themselves, poof! Gone, those little lives didn't matter, riiight? I hate that, frankly - to be ruled by "gods" that can never be held accountable, never pinned down, and i'm certain anybody who knows 'their place' here also is."

She gave Safira a knowing look, as if she should know plenty well that sensation, that resentment, "If the means to corral mindless hollows, to cleanse those souls, to shuffle Pluses along to the next world, was a little more.. Even? It'd take that leverage over us all right out of their hands, they couldn't say 'But you need us! The cycle!' Damn their shitty, hypocritical iron fist..."

"In my experience, it pays to know when to be flashy. Lucky for you, I recently spent some time in the company of an exotic bartender from Japan."

Not that Doku had exactly taught her anything new, but Safira enjoyed reliving that little memory. She had lived far too long not to know how to throw together a good cocktail, as she began to pick out bottles whilst setting two glasses on the table. Given Catherine's familiarity, perhaps she would recognise a concoction of vodka and schnapps tossed together with some orange and cranberry juice. She moved with enough speed to show her familiarity, a passion for the craft that few possessed.

"The Shinigami can be quite a nuisance, can't they? Everything always ends up being black or white with them when it's usually shades of grey. I think that most of them would try to purge me in an instant, given the opportunity, but I am far from a thoughtless beast." One glass was pushed towards Catherine, a swirling mix of red and orange that certainly had its fair share of kick even at a passing taste. "But you think you can create something that can level the scales? Or rather, you wouldn't be here if this was simply an idea. Oooh, I quite like the sound of all that. It makes me feel like you've come to the right place."

Japan, huh? This reminded her; right, she wanted to take that smiley moron along for a hunt sometime soon to see what he could do... A thought to dwell on later. The owner of this establishment surely proved to be just a bit more stylish and confident in her own ability to mix than he did, watching with restrained interest. Interesting choices for a cocktail she thought, but it didn't seem like an unappealing mix in the slightest.

"And i'm sure they'd love it if humanity was reduced to bearing mass ignorance of the spiritual again." It wasn't an emotionally charged sentiment, but rather a logistic one she had mulled over time and time again - for the longest time there wasn't any interest in including humanity on this knowledge. At large, they'd been blind for far, far longer than they'd been enlightened; though she found that it's own sort of detestable, it was a symptom of a greater disease.

"Of course. The Shinigami's Zanpakuto aren't an inherent part of them - they're nothing more than weapons one has crafted. Dunno who, dunno where, dunno how - but if it's a tool, it can be replicated; even if it were some bodily function or fact of their souls, it'd just be a matter of increase complexity - this fact just makes the planning easier. But I can't exactly stop there, now can I? Doing something as foolish as wiping the world of Hollows would just break everything, we're all pieces at play in this greater machination after all; We need hollows and humans."

She'd take up her drink, examining the swirl of bright colors with a cautious eye, looking between her drink and her company's. Bringing it close to her mouth to be given a brief sniff, and then a small sip with caution not to swallow so quickly; there didn't appear to be any sort of poison... A brief gulp after a small savoring of the citric flavors and the burn of alcohol made her sigh.

"Since the Gotei's a useless lot unwilling to share... I'd need to devise an entire system to keep track of the cycle, track spiritual hotspots, maybe some autonomous defenses for the mindless hollows..." She'd gesture her thoughts, counted on fingers as she'd savor another sip, "And, of course a weapon or tool that can be distributed to trained individuals in order to purify or send along souls as needed. All doable; I just need the time and the resources to kick it into gear."

A fear of poison was certainly diligent of Catherine, but Safira did not give her the satisfaction of knowing before she took that plunge. It was another measure of character and one that she eventually passed. Though strong enough to certainly be considered poisonous by one that lacked a habit for intoxication, there was nothing else untoward about the drinks that she had made. Taking a sip of her own, Safira let that sweet taste linger upon her lips for a few moments before the sharp cut of alcohol pulled at her throat.

"I like everything that you are saying." Tossing green hair over her shoulder demurely, those serpentine eyes narrowed as they stared Catherine down. She was smiling, yet a clear intensity lingered behind it, waiting for a crack to show. "The Shinigami are bad for business but, more than that, they are bad for the cycle. They've become quite an unhealthy burden, deciding arbitrarily how to apply the balance in a manner that best suits themselves."

"Now, I can get you most of these things that you want. Resources, tracking systems, Hollows, even Zanpakuto if push came to shove. But I couldn't be doing that out of the goodness of my non-existent heart, so I suppose it's high time we agreed on how best to advance this little project. It was the right thing to do, coming here, but I need a little collateral beyond some smooth talking. You want this thing to really take off, get a real network outside of middle-of-nowhere Norway? Come work for me, personally. You can keep total oversight of the project, run it how you want, and I'll handle all that boring stuff like organisation and funding."

She was fidgeting with a lock of her own bright orange locks, her foot rhythmically tappping on the ground as she leaned for another sip; good flavor, no danger to it. Just how she liked it, sighing as the warm sensation of alcohol hitting her system kicked up. She seemed hardly flattered by the compliment to her words, far more focused on discerning Safira's intent and movements - she was giving her that all too familiar look, one that those louses of other corporate interests gave when they intruded on meetings with their hogwash; was she expecting her to feel intimidated?

Although she agreed with the woman's words internally, her glass swirled as those special little words came crawling her way, the promises of things she'd need for this endeavor to take off in a timely manner... But of course those sweetened words would have a cost, that was business 101. Her expression shifted into an unreadable sway of thought when the words 'Come work for me' left her query's mouth. Her offerings were nice, but her chest tightened at the mere thought of being beneath yet another wolf.

Still... Her expression remained unchanged. WIth what looked to be a brief confirmation, she'd look the arrancar's way with a knowing expression, her voice cool and controlled - just like she had rehearsed with Niko on matters like this, "Your present offer is very enticing Ms. Aldrovandi, thoughtful even - to want to offload work unto yourself in this exchange," Compliment, express interest, "Though this company has been in my family for generations. I am not very keen on giving the reigns to another on the premise of ease, you feel me? We've got stubborn and hard work in our blood; I have no need for handouts."

Adjusting her sitting position a bit as she spoke, eyes appearing to read the air for a moment, "I'd prefer a more mutual arrangement, a partnership. We could arrange for profit-sharing or exclusivity on certain things in exchange for longer term resources. For the short term upstart costs... I'm of the sort that pays into these things timely and well; if a debt is in need of paying, it will be done within an agreed upon period. But let's save that kind of talk for once i've properly been given ownership, over legal contracts, mm?"

Her brows raised, giving Safira the same look of intensity - she wasn't going to back off or let this one taint her dream with her own interests.

Though there would certainly have been some amount of amusement from an immediate acceptance of her terms, most people who came to her with ideas like this wanted to hold onto them with everything they held dear. Often times it was like asking a mother to give up her children, yet Safira did not mind asking anyway, just in case they were that desperate. A belated sigh of understanding escaped her lips, purposeful in showing her disappointment, but this negotiation was far from over at first shock.

"If you only want my money then I'm going to need far more than a few spoken ideas to consider investing. You've talked a good talk about what you could do with a finished product, but how long will it be before we are at that stage? Months, years?"

She traced a finger along the rim of her glass, drawing a circle as she mused. It wasn't just about making her another offer, Safira wanted to see how much value Catherine put on her support.

"I would need a sizable stake of my own too, a simple promise of repayment is not exactly committal enough. A partnership is a mutual thing, after all, you'll have to give if you want this extra capital."

Needed more up front, huh? Sheesh, the business-dealing types really were vampires about the whole thing after all... Lacked the tail or red face Niko would joke about though. Well she couldn't be too unfair, she was asking for quite a bit on the word 'go', so she understood the want for some stake in it in case things fell through...

"Well with my current position, what I can offer you is a good sized share of the company, and even a bit of a life wager," She'd bottom out the rest of her drink, hardly appearing even a wink of intoxicated by such a strong punch - no, no, she had to be with it in the moment for this, she knew Arrancar such as this one feasted on the thrill of suffering,

"There's a possibility between now and the time of acquisition, I could die. If that happens, you'd get considerable control of the company with that stake to do, whatever you want really. Company has connections to plenty others who supply precious raw materials for our works, among other things in terms of the spiritual... You'd be missing out pretty terribly on what I have in store, but it'd still get you a reliable addition for that pile of gold you have. Just don't let any of the guys go in that unlikely scenario - you'd be eliminating vital workmen that make the whole thing possible."

It wasn't like there'd be anyone left willing or deserving to inherit it if she died, after all. Better the guys back home have actual work to do than be rendered jobless in that... Impossible, scenario. Nobody else would hire such a crooked lot...

Now that was something that Safira liked, a wager of something meaningful, though she did not immediately announce it with an overly emotive response as many of Catherine’s previous answers had prompted. She was not silent either though, as she appeared to weigh up what was being offered on an invisible scale. There was a value to all things, especially people, and if this was important enough for Catherine to stake her life then it merited further investigation.

“My my, so that is where your heart is. Very well, I think those terms will be a fitting accord upon which we can build our future dealings.” There would come a time for written contracts and the like, but it was not now. “Till death do us part, then.”

Safira chuckled at that dark comment, a dirty little laugh that enjoyed the prospect of what was to come quite terribly. Finishing off the last of her own drink, savouring that momentary buzz before it too began to fade, she thrust out a hand towards the other woman for a shake. This was how most back alley dealing were concluded, after all.

“But you did not come all this way just to talk business, did you? I would simply hate to see you head back to Norway and back to work without sampling a little of piece of this heaven. We’ve opened these so it would be rude to leave them unfinished, wouldn’t it?”

It took only a moment for the woman’s focus to shift, like changing gears, as she reached again for one of the bottled spirits. She very much wouldn’t mind breaking down those barriers a little and getting a peak at the Catherine that was hiding beneath. Figuring out her vices would help with that, and this was a den of sin so there was no shortage of whatever medium she wished to explore.

It wasn't like her having a slice of the pie was too problematic in the long run - investors were drying up in interest with how sluggish the business had become in the last five or so years; old man was slipping and failing hard with appealing to a newer generation in the way of weapons or defenses. Any and all of her ideas were frozen out or would have been too hard to accomplish with their meandering setup, she - or rather, "he" was the only thing those poor old vultures had to look forward to in future benefits.

Wasn't exactly a good look for an 'Arms and Innovation' name to be producing just furniture or art piece commissions with nigh worthless weapons sales in the current spiritual climate. Average weaponry wasn't all that useful when a Hollow wanted to bust your house apart for your kiddies' innocence, or that gang that's after you were a whole lot of spiritually empowered lugheads. Those slow-cooked hollows from the chasm only served to turn the heat up on that market, and they were sorely behind more promising ventures despite having the means to start pushing ahead...

That pale hand outstretched, a low sigh as she'd shrug her shoulders and return it with appropriate firmness, her calloused hand letting go all the same as earlier. Deal was struck - wasn't like she'd be around to care about what happens to the company if she died to that bastard. If she woke up with a chain jutting out of her, she'd rip it out with no hesitation. If she woke up over yonder, she'd kill herself with equal tolerance for the mere thought of being those things' cattle to do whatever they wished to. She hadn't a clue what it was like 'up there', but she doubted it was pretty, plus it was run by Shinigami, so that earnestly told her everything she needed to know.

Then, miss serpent floated the idea of her staying a little more, her eyes glazing the opened bottles... Yeah, she knew what was going on. At the same time, she sure did like good alcohol, and the likelihood of that old wolf calling her to bark at her for work was low for once; she'd just be mindful of what she spilled when shitfaced.

"Alrighty, but if I start rambling don't blame me for your death by boredom," Might as well get comfortable.

They could have just called it there if Catherine had wanted, walked away with level heads and let the business speak for itself. It was not what Safira wanted, but she would have hardly been able to force the issue if there hadn't been some base inclination from Catherine. So she could not help herself but smile wryly as the other woman conceded her willingness to stay in her company for a while longer.

"So you're a rambler, mmm? What topics should I be avoiding then? Don't want to push those buttons."

Pouring them both another drink, Safira wasted no time in cutting down on all the formalities. They had finished playing at business so now they could play for real. She sipped at the cocktail lazily, savouring the taste as she settled a little deeper into her chair.

"I hope it's not something as mundane as if I ask what you've been doing all this time whilst waiting for that company to come into your possession?"