#deathnied

 “ Good. Skepticism makes for a healthy people. “

Still. She knows the stolen glances from her guards with his more frequent trips to her throne must exhaust him, how the questions burning in their eyes must prod him like a searing knife. There was nothing even she could say that would quell the curiosity; at best, they would assign to him the label ‘paramour,’ a man who surely worked his way between the Grand General’s thighs.( He hadn’t, but as he stands before her with that glistening eye, Riven finds herself wishing he would. ) 

     his question comes to khada jhin in the manner that has him raising an eyebrow , how curious that of all people who could’ve been addressed in the public scene . the stranger chooses him out of the rest , of course , it does not change the fact that he would play along to this civilized act . he meets amethysts with crimsons and a calm , collected smile to his cordial one . the setting makes it a bit difficult to properly address whatever issue the male had at hand as the bustling crowd of the marketplace was nothing short but a cacophonous mess . 

     so with a gloved hand , he motions towards the sidelines that are much more clearer and somewhat distant from the rest . and once they’re pried from the mass , khada jhin takes one more look over the man before him , he notes very obvious features that overall gives away that he is not truly a native , nor does he hold features to which he could deduct possibilities of where he could be from . either way , he takes a moment before he speaks . his guard remaining up .

a light smile toyed at the octava espada’s lips. 

of course, he knew the power of the mind. it wasn’t to be trifled with, a particularly sharp man could completely disarm even the strongest brute.szayelaporro understood this little fact perfectly. 

  ‘ tell me, is it that you’re afraid of what you’re capable of? ’

humans were equals part pathetic and fascinating. the mind was filled with untapped potential, that went on ignored, sadly enough. and szayel was more than happy to make use of that potential, if others did not. 

(2/2) when he does, it is in the form of a pallid entity, far more intimidating than the lesser ones. assuming this one capable of more than mindless violence, he cannot help the question. “is there more to this place than… this?” he gestures towards their surroundings and how infinitely morose this dimension seems to be.

In the great stretches of flat, featureless desert, it is easyto spot even the slightest of disturbances from many, many miles away –especially when one’s eyesight is as acute as Ulquiorra’s. And when it’s adesert as monochrome as this, the smallest flash of color was more than enoughto immediately draw his attention.

He arrives at the scene in a flash; careful to maintain at leastsome distance so as not to reveal himself justyet, but still close enough to observe. A stranger – a human? – fresh out of a brief combat between lesser hollows toofool to consider caution before lunging at them, and looking not too worse forwear in spite of that. Clearly this was no ordinary human, but the exact natureof their inhumanness eludes him.Supernatural, yes, but in a way thatUlquiorra has never seen before. It is a distinct feeling to be sure, but he isunable to conjure up a name for it – nothing that he already knows ofsupernatural humans is he able to relate to them.

Needless to say, his curiosity is piqued.

“ well, see, “ he leans forward to snatch the tea kettle back delicately, pouring more into his fine porcelain glass. “ in britain we typically accept graciously whatever our host gives us. but i can’t blame you if we’re more civilized here in the witching wood. “ he leans back once again and cracks a devious smirk, knowing full well the power he held in this house. in the palace of snakes he was untouchable, immortal, at least against the vast majority, and a century hadn’t dulled his love for flaunting it.