Unintended Consequences [ Tento | Armina ]

A laughter echoed through the open air of the 4th division’s barracks. A sound that seemed to brighten the laden dim walls. It was a moment of the past that seemed to grow in its frequency over the last year with the arrival of a flirtatious man. Such actions happened in the division before of course, but it seemed one was quite a habit do-er in the downtime of work being finished. After the long and monotonous draw of paperwork was completed, and the effort of hard work gave the reward of sweat. Another prize was attempted. The orchestrator was one of the new guys, Tento. A rising star over the last few years whose charm was a flip of the coin depending on the receiver. And his goofiness was an amusement to his friends of the division that quickly made him a favorite among the more relaxed crowd, and his warrior spirit acknowledged by the ruthless killers that gave the division the name; the Death Squad.

Tento, as much of a goof he portrayed himself. Was a thoughtful and calculative man. As alluring he found many of the women of the 4th were and the Gotei as a whole. He was a gentleman, not just a flirt. He knew a good deal of the who who in his division. Well, more specifically. Who was with who. He did not and would not go after a woman attached to someone else. He made sure he was careful of that. And so, as Yashima’s laughter tickled his ear as he leaned down slightly into her eyes as he spotted a light blush forming on her cheeks as she smiled up at him.

For Yashima, as soon as Tento talked to her after working together, she knew what he was up to. It was quite easy to guess by his reputation and his streak with the looks he liked. She was planning to just tell him, but with every charming remark and witty banter that they soon found themselves in, she found herself more enthralled. And her annoyance fading. His words were like a gentle dance, leading her through a melody of laughter and smiles. She liked the way he flirted, the ease with which he weaved compliments into their conversation, making her feel seen and appreciated. Much like her beloved. It was a subtle flirtation, but it was enough to make her heart flutter with the possibility of a budding romance. Oh wait no no no, what was she doing…

Tento, unaware of the unspoken line drawn that he had crossed. Continued on in their talk none of the wise. Yashima was a strong warrior and he had enjoyed sparring with her today, she was quick with and sharp. Funny as well with an ease of skill in playful banter that he had not expected. As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. Tento and Yashima found themselves alone, wrapping up the end of their conversion. Their words drifting from work to personal interest, and Tento, ever the flirt, complimented her on her sense of style in uniform and infectious laugh.

The atmosphere of the barracks wasn’t going to be remaining light and playful for long, as another member of the 4th was looking for Yashima as well, one who was making a beeline straight for her spiritual pressure. Armina wasn’t in the best of moods anyway, having already nearly throttled one of her squadmates for slacking during the Captain’s morning drills. She needed a form of relief and knew that the most effective way of finding it would be by having a close encounter with one of her own girls. The blue haired woman kept very close tabs on her small circle and felt rather protective over them.

As far as the squad members that she came across were concerned, they all seemed to be intelligent enough to get out of her way, knowing precisely what happened if they tried to block their 4th Seats path. Armina had very little for them anyway and wouldn’t have had any real issue with barking out a stern rebuke for the slightest comment sent her way. They knew better and a few of the weaker ones almost seemed to freeze up a little due to the icy rage that was filling her spiritual pressure, increasing in intensity by the moment.

Soon enough, she rounded a corner to come across her favourite girl almost wrapped up in the arms of a Shinigami that she’d met previously. The expression on her face turned from annoyance to wrathful in the space of about three seconds, her hands clenched into fists. “What are you doing with my girl, Tento?” There would be no doubt as to her feelings regarding the situation.

In the back of his mind Tento felt the icy approach of Armina's spiritual pressure. As unfamiliar he was to her on a personal level, there was no mistake in his supervisor's energy after getting to meet her face to face. Strangely he felt her coming closer like a fly to a flame. But he was far more focused about something else.

A beautiful face in front of his eyes with a set of eyes he could just sink into. He had never known she had such a bright shine in them. He could enjoy this all day! Well, that was true until he could feel an icy tick that ran up the back of his spine as he felt an icy cold spiritual pressure. An intensity that was almost viking like, sort of like Arkin. It was far different in the intentions of the aura though. For in the dimly lit corners of barracks, her voice emerged like that of a winter’s breeze. Crisped. Detached. Cold and hauntingly beautiful. It was not a warm enveloping tone one would seek out in gentle whispers headed to bed. Rather a chilling timbre that seemed to echo of a silently enraged drill sergeant. Up close in her bone chilling gaze from an unseen distant frost covered world where she sat afar.

It was a short sentence, But each syllable that she spoke was a deliberate utterance that held words within them. Carrying the weight of a waiting fury. Her articulation was impeccable, each word a delicate icicle formed in the cavern of her throat, clear and sharp. And a very, very bad realization flashed across his eyes as he comprehend her words.

Oh….shit.

Blinking while still looking at Yashima, Tento looked up with as much of a calm expression as he could. Even if he was a confident man there was certain things he would always try to avoid. Getting on with someone else’s lady. And getting into unnecessary issues. But with that faced twitch of annoyance to wrath in a short amount of time he was really not sure there was going to be a way to avoid any hint of that. “Um ah…finding, out she is one of your girls. Right..about now”, Tento said looking at Armina before glancing at Yashima. Really really wishing she had spoke up sooner…

If that was supposed to be an attempt at humour then it had absolutely no effect on the 4th Seat. Neither her expression nor aura changed one iota and if looks could kill, he might just be a block of ice at that every moment. They’d met before, after Armina’s encounter with the Captain and while they’d ended up finding some solid ground, that wasn’t enough to excuse this. When it came to her small group of female members, there was no excuse. Possession was probably not a strong enough term to explain her feelings about them. They kept her sane in the restrictive world that was the Soul Society.

Her gaze would briefly switch to Yashima, who didn’t show any fear at all, knowing that her beloved’s wrath wasn’t directed at her. She did, however, blush slightly at seeing Armina quite so angry because of her. It was always a rather spine tingling experience and not a tingle of fright either, more like one of pleasure. Yashima liked the blue haired woman when she was angry and that was rather apparent. Armina would utter a few words to her, a touch of something more tender briefly entering her tone although it wasn’t all that easy to catch. “Find the others and bring them to my quarters. It’s about time that we got caught up.”

Cheeks darkening, the squad member would nod, before offering Tento an apologetic look and walking away, leaving the two seated members alone.

Icy blue eyes returned to Tento at that point, the tenderness quickly vanishing from Armina’s tone. “Yashima and the three women who she hangs around with aren’t to be flirted with and if there’s an issue regarding that then I take it upon myself to handle the situation. They’re my women and I won’t hear another word about it.”

Well, it was not sure if Tento’s honesty would cut through the icy wall in front of Armina. As unsmooth it may have come out, it was undoubtedly sincere. But be as it may, it was clear by the sensations he was getting from her that his 4th seat had no change in her mood by his declaration. The intensity of her icy spiritual pressure and the cold look of her energy was set in stone. Heck, if anything it was a good bet that she was more upset, for the look of her face was now full on hostility. The only restraint she had at the moment coming from her was the presence of Yashima. With the shift of her tone and fierce gaze, it was clear that the woman did something for her much more than just the pleasure of flesh. A look he was fully familiar with, he had seen it in pictures many many times in the pictures of his beloved back when he was alive. Yashima was a place of sanctuary for her. And it sounded like she was going to get plenty of bonding time with Yashima and the others. Now if he could just back step and maybe…

With Yashima’s apologetic look Tento gave her a nod and as much of a calm look as he could muster. It was not to say he was not irritated, if she had talked earlier at any point of their conversation about her attachment to Armina he would have stopped dead in his tracks and went farrrr away. But alas he was here now in this situation.

Tento would let out a sigh, closing his eyes as it was clear he was letting out a bit of tense energy that this all was. “Yes, I understand that. I have no intention for going after any woman I know you, or anyone else are partners with”. Tento said with a stronger calm voice. Opening his eyes to meet Armina’s gaze. As hard as it may to believe that was true, and the next ones would be even more so. “I did not know she was one of yours. I did not even get to learn her name before today. But since we are on this topic, what the other three girls names? I rather not get in this situation again”, Tento said rubbing the back of his head with yet another soft sigh. There was a fair number of women that Tento had seen Yashima be around. Some more than others but personally he could not say for sure who the three he would suspect.

There wasn’t much in her expression that would say that she believed what he was saying. The 4th Seat was genuinely pissed off and to all those who knew her, that was never a pleasant time to be around her, even more so if you were the cause of her anger. Armina’s little group were hounded rather often by the pigs of the 4th Division and more than once had the blue haired woman lose her temper in regards to that. It was as if certain people just wanted to piss her off, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t going to end well for them.

“Menka, a playful brunette who is always smiling. Jaheira, a more subdued and reserved redhead girl who looks rather glum at times. Lastly, Felicia, a blonde who likes to make inappropriate jokes all the time.” She replied, sounding as though just having to reveal said information was getting on her nerves. “Those three and Yashima can usually be found together and while they can be prone to sometimes causing mischief when together, they’re and always will be, loyal to me. I brought them into the Gotei in the first place.”

Was the relationship between the five healthy? Well, no one had ever complained and as far as Armina knew, her companions were happy in their lives. In truth, the 4th Seat probably cared more about them than anyone, as there were few among the Gotei who she could say that she liked.

At this point Tento has not much hope for anything beyond making sure this perhaps about to happen brawl was going to happen within the barrack halls. Captain Kan-. Captain Nagoshi, would kill him if he did. It was bad enough the amount he lost in a paycheck when he had to pay for repairs of one of the training fields when he sparred with Shura. There was not much he could do but keep a neutral expression on his face, and maintain a calming tone for his voice. It would not be wise to come off as disrespectful or mocking in towards his superior in Armina’s current state. Belief or not, he was planning a careful situation on a personal level right now. Although he could not really get in trouble professionally, he did not like the thought of any growing rapport between them to be destroyed over an unintended situation.

As his 4th seat took the time to give him a debrief of her ladies, he took a careful mental note of their names. The descriptions weren't all that helpful though but… it was something. Menka, Jaheira, Felicia. He could not say he really knew any of those names, Tento thought that there was one redhead who looked down in the dumps a lot, however. Guess it was time to learn about names again, keep a note of who those three were as well as Yashima. The irritation from Armina having to reveal such a thing was not missed though. Not civil, not he was not really expecting her to given her reputation and the situation she walked into. Just keep it cool, smile and wave. Smile and wave.

“Alright then”, Tento said with a nod of his head. “Menka, Jaheira, Felicia, and Yashima. I will make sure to keep my flirting away from them now that I know”. However he was quite concerned and curious about her terms of ‘mischief’. That word held a various amount of meaning for the members of the 4th division, and a whole lot of different levels of trouble too. Depending on what type of trouble it was it was a weary prospect to the 10th seat. Were they fully on the women's attraction or was their mischief of a two fold lane. If so he hardly felt like being a part of it if it would drag this woman to his door. Oh, he did wish Yashima told him when he first started chatting her up…

Be as it may. No blood was attempted so…okay, for now. It was interesting though to hear that Armina brought them into the gotei though. That held a deep bond for at least a century now. As long as it had been, Tento was a new face and a new soul. Add in how often he was stationed in battle positions and there was one truth. As much as he worked to know and befriend the people of his division there were still many people for him to get to know. Understand. Arimna’s reputation was practically surface level to him. A lover of the feminine form, a veteran of the combat division. And an icy hard nature that was born from a love of battle and perhaps more. He had no true idea of her upbring or history. A ‘savage’ that loved adrenaline and causing harm. So… a bit of nut.

He would have liked to asked about what that type of mischief was. Or perhaps how they all met and bonded. But he knew fully well the last thing he should do and what she would want right now. WasTento asking about any personal details that involved any of them. There were two what if questions at the tip of his lips, but he swallowed those. “Ah, that sounds like a fun tale. But not one good for now I bet”. Tento said trying to politely shift.

He didn’t say an awful lot but frankly, that was probably wise. Armina was still seething and every word he said was being judged and criticised internally by the 4th Seat. Tales of his exploits had reached her ears and from what she knew, he was a playboy to put it mildly. His encounter with Yashima was all that the blue haired woman had needed to see in order to confirm such things and Armina would most definitely be keeping her eye on him from now on. If she heard just one attempt at humour or rumour regarding him and her girls then she’d be hard pressed not to react far more violently than she had today.

“Make sure that you do.” She replied curtly to his attempt at placating her. “Should this happen again then I’ll not be so reasonable.” Armina and reasonable were not normally two words that combined together well but for the time being, the 4th Seat refrained from anything further although it wouldn’t take much for her to change her mind.

His comment regarding how she’d brought them into the Gotei was both annoying and humorous at the same time, with the blue haired woman choosing her response carefully. When she did speak, there might just have been the slightest hint of dry humour. “I put them through the same test that the woman who brought me did. They passed, just about.”

A wise man listens more than he speaks. And if anything, his zanptauko was giving Tento the feeling that they wanted him to be a wise man right now before this icy warrior. As much as his words were an attempt to cool the stroking flames of Armina’s chimney so to speak. Just one placement of wood could get her going again into a roaring fire. Her reputation as an enjoyer of combat was high among the 4th, even more to an obsession with violence. And that was speaking from the standards of their own division. The only thing that was even more so heard about, was her short temper and protectiveness of the woman she had claimed as her lovers. He doubted she wanted any excuse to throw him into the training yard right now, and even more so to watch him in any proximity of her little group. “Will do then”, Tento said as he began.

“Not as reasonable? Well, I do enjoy the thought of a spar with you. But a prefer it under a more ‘friendly’ pretense”, Tento said, thinking of his words. That hint of a threat in one view made him give a wonder. A dislike and prehrence to avoid that headache. Finding this all a bit more tense and distasteful than he wished. Perhaps he should have been a bit more aware of who was so close to Armina in their down time. Or maybe, he should be a bit upset at Yashima for returning his attention. Be as it may, it seemed she was attempting at least to cool down the tense between them currently. It was appreciated, for what it was worth. “From what I heard though, the tests you went through long ago were more so a death march than test. Your friends, lovers. Must be people you can trust to cover your back more than anything”.

Recalling what he said the last time they met regarding a spar, Armina briefly mused if now would be the most appropriate moment for it. Friendly was hardly her mood but in all honesty, she never fought with friendliness in mind. What good was that in a combat situation? Combat was combat, regardless of the circumstances. “If you wish to cross blades then I’m more than willing to accommodate you. I don’t do casual spars though. Either we go all out or not at all.” It was as much her view on life as well as her views on fighting.

There was no lie in his words regarding how things were when she was recruited and Armina would eventually respond. “True. Trust wasn’t something that was simply handed out back then and that’s a belief that I still firmly in. My recruiter was a brutal fighter but beautiful as hell too. We fought and then we made love right there on the battlefield. As you can probably guess, my recruitment of my girls wasn’t all that different. I want dedication from those I call friends.” There was a desire for control in her tone, something she’d wished for her entire life. To dominate and command.