Hollows, Hollows, Hollows

Fay chuckled, leaning forward, her chin resting on the backs of her hands as she patiently waited for Riye's answer. Her strained expression was more then a little amusing. She smiled slightly, before watching Riye's brain eventually shut down. Hehe. She was trying so hard, too.

"The correct answer was Spider-Man." She said rather imperiously sitting up. "Although I'd forgive you if he wasn't on your list." She teased, sitting back. She glanced up at the returning waitress.

"Whenever you are ready, you can pay your check at the front." She said pleasantly, leaving the paper there.

Fay's hand shot out like a snake, practically already reading it before it would have hit the table. Her eyes widened and she put her head down on the table. "It's so much. I'll never be able to pay you back." Her voice was full of despair. Someone, a violin had started playing as she held the check out for Riye.

"I've read a few Spider-Man comics, I found people that scanned some of the issues and translated them online, they were a good read! I like him too, hehe...there's just so many superheroes it's so hard to pick a single favorite..."

The waitress returned a few moments later, placing their check for the meal down before leaving again; Riye moved to reach it, but before she could Fay's hand shot out and grabbed it. She watched as the woman's face fell and Riye could only shake her head.

"It's fine, really!" She said as she took the bill from Fay as she offered it to her, looking over it. It wasn't that bad, she definitely had the money to afford it. She may splurge on her interests and her collection of various series every now and then but she was good at saving for necessities like food as well. "You don't need to pay me back. Like I said, it's my treat!"

Fay groaned and tried to dig her head into the table further. A muffled "thank you." could be heard from underneath her mass of hair and arms, before she finally sat up. She sighed. "Thank you very much." She said with a polite smile. "I... don't exactly get PAID for... well... superheroing." She grinned, helplessly at the word. "I make money by delivering things for Amazon. It doesn't exactly pay um.... almost anything.... but I make rent and I survive." She said, only slightly exaggerating. What few bills she had ate up about 95% of her meager income.

"Um, are you finished with your food? I'm not going to eat the rest of this curry." She said, eyeing it up. She kind of wanted to eat the rest of the curry. But she didn't want to look like a pig. She'd find a way to get more next time, is all.

She stood up from the seat and began putting on her coat.

"It's no problem."

It was a shame Fay couldn't get paid for that sort of thing, though it was rare for heroes to be paid for their justice-doing, evil-destroying, actions...it was sad, they certainly deserved it.

"Mhmm, I'd say I'm done. If you want, we can take the food with us in boxes to eat later; it's no hassle to." Riye added, "I can also make some things if we get hungry later too, I'm no expert chef but I'm a fairly good cook if I do say so myself."

Riye brought her bag to her lap, retrieving her wallet from it before standing; if Fay wanted boxes she could go and ask for them, it was easy.

She glanced from the food to Riye, considering boxes. But what's this? Riye could cook? Well... She'd hate to bring the curry with her... and then scarf it all when Riye wasn't looking only to be full when she made something... "We'll leave it here, if you don't mind. I'm quite confident your cooking will satisfy." She said with a grin, finishing buttoning up the collar of her poncho and slipping her arms through.

She walked over to the counter and waited for Riye to pay before walking outside into the night air. "Well, other than the hollow attacks, I'd say it's a lovely evening. Wouldn't you agree, miss Niou?" She twirled on one foot to face Riye. "How far from here do you live?"

"Alright, then I'll cook later then!" Riye smiled before they both headed towards the counter where she could pay.

She followed Fay outside, glancing up at the sky as the other woman spoke before she gave a nod.

"Mhmm, other than that it's a nice night." She said with a small laugh, "as where I live, it's about a fifteen minute walk from here...sorry, if that's a bit far..."

She was accustomed to the walk, and when no one was around she could always use that speed technique if she were in a rush...so the walk wasn't a bother to her but it probably would be for others...

Fay tilted her head, lifting a hand to it. "Hmm... Fifteen minutes.." She was considering something. It sounded like she was considering the length of time. What she was actually considering was whether or not her current plan was a good course of action. Yup. To hell with it. "Hmm... It's not far but still.." She looked around to make sure nobody else was out before snatching Riye's wrist. "C'mon." She hurriedly hauled Riye off behind the restaurant, glancing around to make sure they weren't being followed.

Once they were safely away from bystanders, she let Riye's wrist go and jogged forward a few feet. "O-okay now... don't freak out... okay?" She asked before turning slowly to face Riye. She closed her eyes and placed one fist in her hand in front of her. She took a deep breath and then punched her palm as hard as she could. Her face scrunched up in pain before things suddenly changed.

There was a small crackle and her form seemed to shift. To the spiritually unaware it would look like she had simply disappeared. To Riye she would look... remarkably similar actually. Same clothes, same shape. But she would feel absolutely different. Whatever power was lurking below the surface was fully freed now.

There was one visual change however. Two triangular protrusions from her hair, like horns, made of pure white stuck up, ALMOST like kitty ears.

"So.. I know the outfit isn't a dramatic change, but.." She did a little twirl. "What do you think? This is my true form..."

Riye couldn't help but be curious on why Fay had suddenly begun thinking...over the time? They would need to walk it regardless but...

She was caught by surprise as the other woman took her wrist before she was promptly hauled behind the restaurant before they stopped. She looked around just as Fay was, no one was around...was that what she was checking for?

Freak out?

Riye gave a nod, "O-Okay."

She watched silently as Fay turned to face her before...She felt an obvious change in atmosphere, the presence emenating from Fay was stronger now and it didn't take long for Riye to notice the two spots...that almost looked like a cat's ears on Fay's head, but they obviously weren't.

As Fay twirled, Riye mustered her response...though there was an obvious sparkly in her eyes.

"You seem stronger now!" She stated, "Or well, your presence feels stronger...I..I think that's a way to explain it..." She gave a small shake of her head, realizing she was getting off track and trailing off. "What are those spots on your head though, they're cute...or...cool too even! And like I said before it feels like you're even stronger now!"

She wasn't scared in the least, though that was obvious, if anything she was showing admiration for how strong the woman seemed to be.

As Riye began to shower her with glowing praise, she began walking confidently back towards her, only pausing to flinch when Riye referred to her mighty devil horns as 'cute'. She regained some composure to complete her walk back to Riye and stand in front of her. "Yup... I'm a lot stronger now. And you wouldn't know because you're special, but no ordinary humans can see me. This is actually a different body. It just matches the clothes I was wearing when I transformed. Believe it or not, this is actually my real body. The other one is... I don't really know what... It took me decades to figure out that this was my natural form though."

She was more then a little noticeably pleased at the praise Riye heaped on her. There was one point she needed to address though. "However, these?" She pointed to what she was unaware were her mask fragments with a snap. "My mighty devil horns?" She crossed her arms and spoke with just a bit of condescension in her tone. "Are not CUTE."

So this was her real body...She had mentioned being able to leave her body, if Riye remembered correctly, earlier when they'd been eating. It was interesting to actually see done, she'd taken a cool pose and everything to change.

"Th-That's why I said cool too!" She replied as Fay crossed her arms, "They're cool!"

She tried to keep looking as serious and dramatic as possible but eventually leaned forward, her crossed arms loosening a little. "H-hey." She sunk a little to seem less imposing. "It's okay. Thank you... for.. recognizing they're cool." She let her arms drop. "I shouldn't have snapped. My apologies." She went to perform one of her full, deep bows of apologies. She also was entirely unused to being this close to people, which led to her playing the hammer to Riye's nail.

BONK!

She grasped her forehead by reflex, only to instantly let go and grab Riye's shoulders so she wouldn't fall. "OHHH my god. I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Oh man oh man..." Her voice was frantic, hoping she didn't just give her new friend a concussion.

Riye was about to move to say she didn't need to apologize, but unfortunately, before she had the chance, both women were dealt a rather painful fate.

She went to place a hand instinctively over the spot where their heads had bonked. She used her other hand to give a small wave, attempting to signal to Fay that she would be alright. The pain would go away in a moment.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." She replied, looking up at the woman before giving another smile, attempting to reassure her. "See?"

Fay leaned down to peer into her eyes to make sure they looked... focused. She waved her hand in front of her. "Hmm... alright..." She said before removing her hands from Riye and placing one on her head to give it a little soothing rub. "Sorry." She said, distinctly without bowing this time. She took a step back. "Um.. Where was I... Um.." She rubbed her own head finally. Oh. Oh right. Her horns. Her mighty demon horns.

"Uh... Just... don't mess with them, okay?" She said dropping to one knee so Riye could get a closer look at them. "I... feel bad for bonking you on the head, so I suppose you can take a look at them. Careful though. They're really sharp." They were not.

Riye glanced down at the horns as Fay kneel'd for her to see them up close, just as she'd asked she didn't mess with them; she only looked. They didn't...look sharp, but Riye made no comment on it.

"Mhmm, they're cool." She repeated once she was done looking after a couple of moments, giving Fay a bright smile.

Fay glanced up to see her smile and returned one in kind. "Now... I'm assuming you'd like to get to your apartment in a hurry?" She asked, deciding to. Well, like she said, she was assuming. Crouching down helped Riye get a good look at her fearsome horns without scaring her, but it also made what she was doing now easier.

She swiped an arm gently into the back of Riye's legs, bringing her other arm up to catch the falling Riye, as she stood. It would end with her holding Riye aloft while standing there. "Don't worry. I've carried loads of people and you're pretty light." She said with a polite smile before crouching down again. And then she jumped.

She sailed straight up to the top of the nearest roof. She almost daintily touched down on the rooftop and took a few steps. "You okay? We're going to be going very fast if you are." She glanced down, not wanting to panic Riye.

A small sound of surprise escaped Riye as she was suddenly scooped up into Fay's arms, instinctively her hand went to grasp the woman's shoulder. She looked up at Fay just as she began talking, but just before she could get anything out the woman jumped.

She bit back another surprised sound, releasing a breath when they landed on a roof.

"I-I'm fine, just surprised..." She gave a sheepish laugh, her smile hopefully reassuring rather than nervous. "I'm used to fast, I can...do something kinda like moving really fast but I couldn't earlier because the alleyways were too small..."

Fay smiled, holding back a little laugh at Riye's reactions. She turned to face the edge, taking a few steps back so Riye wouldn't be hanging over it. "Yeah.. It can be surprising..." She said, glancing out. "The view is nice though, isn't it?" she said, staring out at all the lights. She glanced down. "Oh?" She considered putting Riye down but it would defeat the purpose of getting there fast if she lollygagged around here.

"Mm. I'd like to see that. You wanna show me now or should I carry you the rest of the way home first?" She was doing Riye a favor, but she felt a little bad about the manner in which she'd sprung this on her so she figured she'd let her decide the next course of action.

"Mhmm, it is nice." Riye replied, her smile becoming more normal now that she'd had a chance to grow used to suddenly being picked up. "Ah, I can't do it for very long, but I can show you whenever...it doesn't matter to me...I was also worried about using it back there because I didn't know the alleyways...I could have crashed hehe..."

She didn't have full control yet, and if she used it in an unfamiliar area she had the possibly of crashing. She still needed more practice on learning how to make sudden stops.

She nodded, listening intently. "Your powers don't seem very offensively powered, but they certainly are interesting. I'd like to see more of them." She said with a grin. She also couldn't help but give a small giggle at the image of her crashing. "Well. I've had a lot of time to get good at my own method of moving quickly, so we'll be on a nonstop trip to your home. Quicker then you can blink. I just um. Need to know the direction and what the place looks like." She said, realizing only just now she'd need directions.

"And then you can show me your cooking, your speeding, just... all the skills." She said cheerily, looking forward to her first night of socialization in forever continuing.

"My powers are mostly...defensive, I'm not a good fighter at all." Riye gave a small shrug after her words. Fighting just...wasn't her, she mostly ran away from hollows or used her powers to defend herself until she had the chance to run. "I think I just need more practice, maybe one day I'll learn how to make more sudden stops."

She looked out ahead of them as Fay asked where she lived, "Ah well, it's one of the taller apartment buildings..umm...See that tall building ahead with the bright, blue lights? That's it...I live on the top floor, last door to the right."

"Well... Don't worry... You don't need to be... You've got a friend who is now, right?" She asked, a little nervously, looking away. She was still unused to this idea and was more then a little swept up in having MADE a friend. Which was okay because it meant she was too swept up to overthink the matter as well. "If you want some fighting practice. Well, I'd be happy to give you some." She said with a smile before peering off into the distance. "Ah. I see it. Hold on tight." She said as a precaution. She wasn't about to drop her but it would make Riye feel easier.

And then she took off, sonidoing across rooftops and leaping from one to the other. it took perhaps less then a minute to reach their destination. Fay came in on the landing near her apartment with a heavy thud, her feet hitting the pavement hard, not that Riye would feel it. She took a step or two before gently letting Riye down. "So... It beat walking, didn't it?" She asked, a little proud of herself again.

"Right." Riye smiled, "though maybe I should learn a little self defense..." She added with another small, sheepish laugh.

At Fay's instructions, she held on; the woman took off soon after, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until they landed in front of her front door.

"Mhmm! It definitely beat walking!" Riye took a moment to steady herself once she'd been set down before pulling out her key.

"Ah, my room...everything else is clean just...sorry for my room, there's probably some manga and plushies lying on the floor..." She had a few plushies from series she enjoyed, most of them being magical girl characters or their animal mascots. The manga, well...she'd been reading them one night and had just not put them back yet...

She moved to unlock the door then, opening the door and holding it open for Fay as she gave another smile. It was an average, two bed-room apartment; she didn't need two bed-rooms but oh well. The main room held a nice television, a soft lounging chair, and a coffee table sitting between the television and sofa. The kitchen area was nearby, a bar-counter separating it from the main lounging area. A short hallway led to the two bedrooms, the bathroom also being down the hall.

"I'm sure it will be fine. The only reason my room is nice is because I don't own enough stuff for it to be cluttered." She said, thinking back to her apartment. The 'studio' apartment, which was basically a living room with a stove and a bed in opposite corners, was not her most glamorous of living quarters but it served her fairly nicely. She wondered if Riye's apartment was bigger then hers.

"Ahhh.." She released a cry of shock. "It's so... It's so biiig.." She let slip, walking in to turn in little circles looking at the place. "How do you afford a place this huge?" She asked in wonder, heading back over to Riye. "Do Cat cafes pay that good of money?" She asked in utter astonishment.

"Um well, I was left money by my mother when she passed away...when I was of age I was able to legally obtain it and I was able to use it to live here. The last family I was with also left me some money..."

She'd had enough to start living off of, and her job now was helping in paying for it along with the money she'd been left.

"Oh, right; the bathroom for whenever you need it is directly down the hall. The door at the end. My room's the door to the left and the door to the right is an empty spare. Feel free to get comfortable too, there's drinks in the fridge and also snacks in there and in the cabinets."

She...wasn't used to having people over so she was unsure if all of this needed saying at once or if it were supposed to be said gradually so...it was a bit embarrassing not knowing proper guest protocol.

She looked down, frowning. "I'm.. Very sorry to hear that." She said in reference to her mother's passing. She hadn't ever known her parents but she imagined it had to be the worst thing ever to have them and then lose them. She stepped over to Riye. "Um.. Sorry. I don't.. really know the etiquette on giving hugs." She said, letting her hands hang at her sides.

She glanced around. "And... And thank you... This kind of hospitality is... I'm.. I'm not used to it... And thank you for showing it to me. I'll try not to be too much of a bother." She said, letting her dangling arms clasp to her sides as she gave a little bow.