Hot and Cold [Alastor, Hana]

Yep, another patrol done. Just another days of work to Alastor since he had settled into his routine. He had just gotten off a few weeks of patrol in Europe, got Himiko's report from the Holy Roman Empire, and now he had to do the work of delivering all the details to Elyss. Damn, he didn't really wanna deal with that right now when he had just gotten back from doing it with the basics. Camping, washing by stream, and hunting for food to keep him going with those long patrols really took it out of a man.

Even if that gorilla of a captain was one of his closest friends, he looked for someone to see if he could off-load the boring part of the job to. There was one. A small looking lady that seemed like she was standing around, he liked doing the same thing between jobs. Hoping that he could at the very least get this girl to write his report as he told her the details, he'd try his hand at it.

Maybe she'd do it for a candy bar or something. That's what kids liked these days, right?

"Yo, little lady, what's your name?"

Hana wasn't just standing around; she was lost in one of her daydreaming trances. It had been a while since boredom had overtaken her enough to drift off like this. The proximity of his voice snapped her out of the mental image she had conjured over the last few minutes. Blinking a few times as she returned to reality, Hana glanced at Alastor, not recognizing him and taken aback by his demeanor.

"Good afternoon," Hana said with the grace and formality of a noblewoman, and also the offended snippiness. With that speech, he reminded her of the ruffians out in the Rukongai. "My name is Hana. Is there something I can assist you with?"

"Yeah, I was wonderin' if you'd be willing to write stuff for me. Not the best with writing at the best of times and I have a report to do from my patrol. You look well put together and like you'd be pretty good at it."

He slid in a compliment to smooth over the fact he was asking this little girl to write a report, but he had to learn the language when he came up here and the whole writing system was so much work for him to get. Alastor was the kind of guy that wrote very simple as a result of it, because it wasn't English. Anyway, the whole graceful and refined thing she had going on made him confident she could do that much at least.

"Would even throw in a couple of dango or mochi to sweeten the deal if you want."

If she looked older he might've said he'd be willing to buy her a drink in exchange but he never could tell sometimes with the eastern looks making chicks look younger on top of all the weird spiritual aging that the shinigami had going on. Sweets was a lot safer with her juvenile stature.

Hana had been in the world of the living enough to not be surprised by this man's nationality. However, upon remembering she was in the Soul Society and noticing his accent, she assumed he might struggle with writing in the common language. She was prepared to offer her help, and then he sweetened the deal. (ha)

“I would love to help you write your report,” Hana said, her smile brightening after he offered a treat. “Would you like to find somewhere to sit?”

It's that easy. A great victory this was and so he reached into the rucksack to pull out a field journal that was worn through from many outings to the living world as a substitute. Among it was Himiko's report which he didn't need to write at the very least but he still had his own things to comment on but he liked how this girl thought. Why work on their feet when they can sit down and get comfy so he agreed with a quick nod and turned to gesture her to follow with a lazy flick of his arm.

He had a spot that was good for this on the seventh division barracks. Nice little tree to sit under where there was some shade, there was an artist that he'd have to shoo away from the second division every now and again because she'd sit there painting all day and ignoring her duties. Weird little girl, always looking most energetic in her painting when Elyss was about.

All that didn't matter though since he didn't have to deal with the creative gremlin and he could take a seat to stretch out and pull out some loose paper and a pen. Hardly the most formal of documentation but if Elyss could read it then it was good enough for him.

"Here you go, Hana."

Had to catch himself from giving her a nickname like squirt. That would be a damn shame if the promise of sweets wasn't enough to keep her keen to help him out after a nickname like that. After she'd done the work she could get one.

Hana followed him to a charming little tree and sat down in the shade across from him. She slipped her bag off her shoulder as he offered her paper and a pen. She declined with a gentle wave of her hand and took out her preferred writing tools: a light pink, laminated folder containing official report forms, and a fancy pen with fine ink. Hana began simply by writing the date, her handwriting resembling the work of a professional calligrapher… Clearly, this would not look like he wrote it.

"So, may I have your name, please?" Hana asked with a smile, her tone emphasizing his lack of introduction and conveying a subtle rebuke, as if to say, "You never introduced yourself. Shame on you." The woman embodied the elegance and propriety of a noblewoman, yet thankfully lacked the usual off-putting arrogance.

Oh, yeah. That would be a good thing, wouldn't it? The casual attitude he had made him sometimes forget that the locals here liked proper introductions and stuff. Well, would look good if his report has a name on it.

"Alastor de Maris."

He was so considerate he even sounded it out Arusutoru had a nice ring, didn't it? Not really. He hated how it sounded from people that couldn't get a language other than their own through their head.

"Now, hmm. Where to start..."

The substitute started to think and read over some notes. Didn't want to miss any details.

Hana kept up her cheerful smile as she wrote down his name. She filled out the rest of the report, asking him things like his position, any identifying numbers that were required, and the location of the event. Once that was filled, and he was ready to go, she waited quietly, though her mind wandered to a book she wished to complete.

"Well, was anyone with you on this mission? What did you encounter?" Hana gave a soft suggestion, letting a drop of impatience leak through. She had no interest in being here all day. She had things to get done, like finding herself a boyfriend.

Damn, straight to it. Couldn't a guy catch a little break without a chick needing to rush him on something. What could this little lady have that was so important anyway? She was kind of just standing around when he saw her and he had even offered to buy her sweets for her trouble. Sheesh.

"Yeah yeah, you don't need to prompt me. It was a solo mission, I don't often do the tag-team stuff."

He started with a wave of his hand at the little missy.

"Standard patrol of Europe, pretty stable place all things considered since the Holy Roman Empire is based there. Bit of interest around Italy, Emperor seems to want to stabilise the region since it was propped up a lot by the chick that died a bit ago. What was her name? Claudia Duvalier? Yeah, anyway."

Maybe the Frenchman had a knack for remembering such a French name, or it was just luck, or more likely. He was looking at his scrawls in the field journal that his red eyes were focused on through his discussion.

"Ten more hollow attacks though than last encountered. Seems like hollow presence on Earth are on the rise, especially after that Africa situation."

Hana raised an eyebrow at him and his rude gesture. He started on about the mission, prompting a roll of her eyes before she began summarizing his blabber with something more coherent. She filled in the rest and gave the report a concerned look. Initially, Hana was curious about the up-tick on hollow activity, but she was also wondering if this was enough for his report.

“Did you encounter any interesting hollow? Any powerful enough to escape or one with a unique skill?” Hana asked, intentionally framing the question as if it came from her own interest and not to help solidify his report.