A thirst for knowledge (Arawn)

Rain fell down onto the nearby buildings in the area, it quickly trickled down from the gutters to be spilt onto the ground. Auryuu had been casually been walking around Soul Society, he had visited a few of the squad barracks, but wanted to get around to all of them. Step after step the rain further fell from his hair, Auryuu looked around to find shelter. Auryuu was in twelveth squad territory, they of all were the seemingly most ambitious in soul society, with a heavy need of knowledge, he had seen the need for it unhealthy most of the time.

A clean building stood before him after his endless venture. The door was nice and clean, and held the insignia on the twelfth squad as a decoration, no one was around so he just decided to knock on the door. He waited a couple seconds, no answer. He waited rubbing the water off of his head, still no answer. A couple moments flew by, thoughts also did such as, Should I just go in and introduce myself, should I yell or call, what should I do?. Auryuu put his palm on the door, the rain falling off the gutter behind him, splashing on the back of his heels, he had hated the feeling of having wet socks or wet shoes, always left him feeling dirty or nasty.

Auryuu leaned his hand against the door applying more force, the area outside dead of life. The door creaked open loudly, almost annoying to his ears. Darkness lurked inside, the light from inside reaching in a little bit, barely. The sun had not been out for awhile and clouds have begun to encircle the sky around him, and cloud the suns sight of seireitei. The inside looked dark, his eyes just wouldn't adjust so he couldn't see anything. Finally the door began to reveal light ahead, and human shape, they were probably doing research, Auryuu began to turn around, he would come and introduce himself later.

"What are you doing here?" A female voice asked. Standing not far behind him was a woman wearing the customary white lab coat most in the 12th Division wore while attending to their duties in the Research Institute. She was rather skinny and lab attire made it ever more apparent. Her skin was pale, but not as much as the aforementioned jacket. It was rather large on her petite form. The woman had to be at least five feet tall or less. The white coat nearly touched the floor where she stood. She had somewhat fair features, a small button nose, thin ruby lips short black hair fell to her ears. The only thing that would be considered odd about here would be her eyes. To say the least that was the first thing anyone would notice. Instead of human pupils she had multifaceted eyes similar to a fly. She stared at Auryuu with an raised eyebrow, as if he was the strange one. But such a look could be understood. This was a place of work for the 12th division they didn't need other shinigami around to get in the way. She stood looking at him with her hands on her hips quite defiantly. A very small frown on her face.
"I asked you a question; what are you doing here?" she repeated now tapping her foot annoyed at the delay. It would seem she was not one for patience as her annoyance seemed to grow exponentially by the second. The tiny face twisted into a scowl as she sighed and rolled her insect eyes. "If you have an order or request, you need to send a letter like everyone else. Otherwise this area is off limits!"

Auryuu stood silent for a second, turning his body 90 degrees. Auryuu stared at the seemingly irritating woman. Auryuus lips cracked open him quickly thinking of some thing to say, "I'm just looking around I was just appointed to the gotei 13 a few days ago", the voice came out seemingly non-chalant, and echoed throughout the inside of the barrack. Auryuu was a little offended by the womans tone with him, he had never done anything to make her so on end or so frustrated, but whatever he didn't care too much anyways.

Auryuu looked to the sky, the rain still fell heavily outside, completely splashing against the hard sekiseki stone the building was made of. He was completely soaked and a little cold, his hair began to dry a little bit by the cool breezes that rolled past outside, which felt awful in his ears. Auryuu turned his body back to his original position and began walking down the tile stairs, he had to get home and find a source of heat or something.

"Later!", he said to the women as he took his foot off the last step.

OOC: Next time I won't help you when you write yourself into a corner Spire ~.~

"Simone, who are you talking to?" Came a voice from behind the woman. She spun in place to address the speaker.
"No one, just some riff-raff." She said sweetly. "I sent him on his way."
"In this weather?" Came the reply "Just let them in. They were probably just looking for some place to get out of the rain." The voice drew closer to the bug eyed woman. The door opened wider and a man stepped up beside her. The man wore a white lab coat similar to the woman. His long red hair falling over his shoulders. His eyes locked on Auryuu and he froze. Arawn's eyebrow stared at the man for a moment then sighed.
"Oh it's you."He said a moment later and began turning away. The woman grabbed him before he could leave.
"So you know him?" she asked now curious of Arawn's reaction upon seeing the man."I didn't know he was a friend of yours. Come in, come in!" She leaped forth and grabbed the other man by the arm and dragged him inside from the rain. For her size she was quite strong, it took her little effort to move the man as she choose. Arawn's mouth hung open, and then he sighed again
"I didn't say he was my friend." he began slowly. Simone had a nasty habit of jumping to conclusions. "I know him nothing more." he said flatly.
The woman named Simone shrugged at his answer and shook the rain from her hair.
"Well I can toss him back out then if you wish." she said happily. Arawn rolled his eyes and frowned.
"I would love nothing better, but we already let him in. To put him back out there would be quite rude." he said stroking his chin. "I guess we can let him stay until the rain lets up." Arawn turned and started to walk away from the door.
"Where are you going?" Simone asked quickly eying their guest and then looking at Arawn.
"I have work to do, you brought him in, you watch him." He called over his shoulder.

Auryuu but into the conversation to stop the man from walking away,"Wait we still have to talk about the other day, could you please hear me out!? Auryuu took a step back and put his hands in his pockets. "I mean if you could set aside the time, it looks like you may be kind of busy".

Auryuu took another step forward realizing he was being pretty casual in his approach. He quickly pulled his hands from his pockets and waited for the mans reply. He was curious of what the man would have to say.

OOC: Sorry about the corner writing.

The man stopped walking, but didn't bother to turn around. He had thought about the incident, but really rather not dwell on it. Arawn gave a grunt.
"You're right; I'm very busy." he stated trying his best to conceal his contempt for the brat that had going on a rampage in Rukongai. "I hope the ran stops soon so you can be on your way. If not we can lend you an umbrella." The bug eyed lady gave a shrug as Arawn continued down the hallway without another word. Once he was out of sight she turned to Auryuu.
"So what exactly happened between you two?" She asked "He doesn't seem to like you in the slightest." As far as she knew it was seemed as if Arawn didn't like anyone. He either respected or tolerated their company, but to say he liked anyone would be stretch. Simone knew if she didn't make an effort of working with Arawn he would probably be alone in his lab 90% of the time. She looked back at the hallway that Arawn had vanished down. It didn't seem like he was going to pop up around the corner and keep the other man from talking. He really had left them alone. Perhaps the young man had some personal ties with Arawn, or something interesting. "Well let's get you somewhere to dry off." she said holding up her hand and beckoned him to a hallway to the left. There were some spare clothes he could wear near one of the unused labs.

Auryuu stood there as Arawn gave him the cold shoulder. The man walked away in a sour mood, as Auryuu just stood there, slightly baffled. Atleast he would let him stay until the rain passed. The woman seemed a little sympathetic, but soon after pointed out the obvious as she claimed about Arawn's obvious disliking of him.

Auryuu had changed, something Arawn didn't know yet. Auryuu looked to the bug eyed woman as he gave a short reply to her latest question, which he also assumed would be followed by more to make idle conversation. "We had differences in Rukongai the other day", his voice came out a medium tone, careful not to disturb the members that were working dillgently on their terminals around the place.

Auryuu rubbed his shoulder with his left hand as he browsed the place. Being him was awkward, because he wasn't exactly as smart as the rest of his squad. He hated books, and hated learning things. He had never been a scholar from day one he had been on Soul society. He couldn't remember his human life, although he had brief and violent flashbacks from time to time. Auryuu in truth was probably suffering from a case of amnesia.

Differences the man said. For some reason Simone doubted the two had a heated debate. A physical conflict seemed just as unlikely. Why would Arawn engage anyone in a fight. He wasn't prone to violence. It was true he could fight, he didn't go about showing off. The man didn't flaunt his strength or abuse his power to intimidate others or bend them to his will. So what had brought the two men together? Suddenly here cheeks flushed and she eyed Auryuu with a small grin across her face. A forbidden love!? A sudden mental image of Arawn yelling knocked that idea out of her head like a homerun ball out of a stadium. Her delusions aside there was no way Arawn had that kind of relationship with this other man. Although a small part of her brain really did believe it possible, but only to justify why the many advances were met with rejection by Arawn. She allowed herself that bit of vanity as she navigated the corridor to the empty room. Twisting the knob she ushered Auryuu into the dark room and flicked the switch on the wall. The darkness was quickly dispelled as the lights on the ceiling hummed to life. There was a line of black screens of monitors powered down on several desks. The other tables were empty or covered with various boxes with a thick layer of dust. Ignoring these Simone moved to the far wall which was lined small lockers. She gave one more look at the wet man taking the measure of him. A second later she pulled one of the small square portals open and pulled out what looked like medical scrubs.
"This should fit you." Simone said as she laid the clothing on one of the empty tables. "Give a knock when you're done changing." she said as she left him alone closing the door behind her.

Auryuu stood there blankly as he watched Arawn, turn a corner after leaving the unoccupied hallway. He looked to the short bug-eyed girl. She had a strange grin on her face, and Auryuu got the impression her mind drifted to something perverted. Soon she finally moved, and the situation became less awkward. Auryuu followed her, as she moved through the corrider, and turned the knob opening the door.

The door opened, as it revealed a dark room. Auryuu stepped in as she hit the switch. The light lit up the room instantly as it took his eyes by suprise. Many monitors and technological stuff lay inside the room. Auryuu searched the room, as if suspicious of cameras or something, as she led him over to the lines of lockers on the far wall. She put the scrubs on the table. Auryuu grabbed medical scrubs, as he examined them carefully.

Soon enough she left the room leaving Auryuu to himself. He was getting a strange draft from being wet, so he soon changed. As he slid the scrubs on he looked to the computer terminals. None were on, the boxes on the other side were bathed in dust.

Auryuu ignored the other qualities in the room, and knocked on the door. Three knocks went by until she turned the knob. Auryuu was about to speak, but decided to just say nothing as the door opened.

As Simone opened the door footsteps came fluttering down the hallway. The heavy thuds of shoes scraping the floor were soon accompanied by heavy breathing and wheezing. In moments the source of the sounds came into view. There as a quite rotund man the popped around the corner. Barely standing at a solid 5 feet, he looked even shorter due to his hunched back He wore the same white coat the identified him as a member of the 12th squad. The most noticeable thing as soon as one saw him, aside from the hunchback, was that his right arm was an octopus tentacle. The long tendril hung outside the sleeve of his coat. It continuously coiled around itself and the man, occasionally it would caress the man's face. Sprouting from his back was was a third limb. This new limb was larger and more muscular than his normal arm. The muscles bulged and flexed as it gently rested against his shoulder.
The man skidded to a halt before Simone and Auryuu taking a moment to catch his breath.
"Finally found you." he said between lungfuls. "We're missing that report from yesterday and two B-7X74's expired." Simone gave a sigh at the man's words. It would seem she didn't have time to watch over this man after all.

Auryuu gave a confused look at Simone. He also shot one towards the man when he proceeded down the hall. He was suprised this hulking figure belonged to the twelfth squad and not the eleventh squad who seemed like they would take him in with ease. He scanned the man before seeing the octopus tendril hanging from his sleeve this only further suprised him as he had never seen anything like it before. Many more observations could be made with this man at closer examinations. He had a deep voice when he spoke, and the limb from his back was also quite grotesque. Nontheless Auryuu understood he probably didn't wish to be like this and hid his empathy replacing it with kindness. "Hello, it's nice to meet you I'm Auryuu", he extended his hand to the strange man.

Simone had let a sigh slip from her mouth. It took a few seconds to identify what would happen to Auryuu and he soon came to the conclusion he was going to be by himself. He didn't mind, because he actually was kinda curious about the type of technology and people this strange squad possessed. He had heard rumors of their captain, replacing his body with this machinery. It was so intriguing.

Bryce smiled at Auryuu, as he introduced himself. The short man eyed the out stretched hand and nodded rather than grab it. He even didn't bother to introduce himself instead he kept his attention on Simone. Although the man had shown little interest in the guest his tentacle was more than eager to greet him. The octopus like tendril quickly moved to wrap around the hand Auryuu had offered and began to squeeze. Bryce quickly noticed this and the arm on his back slapped the tentacle down. Like a puppy the arm curled away from Auryuu instantly and impatiently slithered against the floor. Simone stood there with her eyes closed after hearing Bryce's message. It would seem she too had no time to babysit the guest. At the same time she couldn't let him wander the barracks unsupervised. There was the chance of him getting into something and breaking delicate equipment. But Simone was way more worried the young boy might get himself killed. The research labs was no place for a wet behind the ears shinigami. Already the sound of the rain had diminished. She should just send him on his way. With luck he wouldn't get too sick on his way back to his own barracks. At the same time she felt guilty for sending him out after taking the time to bring him inside and letting him get dry.
"The reports..." Bryce said desperately trying to get some response from the woman. Finally she opened her eyes and threw up her hands in exasperation. The hunchback seemed startled by this motion and took a step backwards. His tentacle wrapped around his leg almost tripping the short man. It would seem there was no way around it. She couldn't leave Auryuu around by himself and she couldn't stay and watch him. So he really would have to go. Duty outweighed her small conscience.
"Wait right here." she said. Bryce began to follow here, but she held up her hand "Both of you." she added and then darted down the hallway.Quite quickly she vanished from view as she took as right turn. Bryce looked at Auryuu as they both waited in silence. It was a short wait as the sounds of Simone's footsteps could be heard before she came dashing into view. She skidded to a stop before the two men an object in her hand. She held it out to young man; it was as simple black umbrella. It was the size of a katana with a plastic handle. Taking a moment to catch her breath Simone thrust it at the Auryuu without giving him a chance to object.
"Sorry, but it looks like I can't give you the grand tour." She grabbed him by the arm and led him back the way they had came to the entrance of the building. "Send us a line and we'll send your clothes to you." Bryce followed shortly behind as the woman gave Auryuu the bum's rush. "Be sure to return the umbrella when you have a chance." she said as she release his arm and opened the door. The rain had lessened since before, but it still looked quite murky outside.