The world according to Nuu

As Nuu walked the halls of Las Noches, a plethora of thoughts filled her head. Some good, some bad, but mostly.. she was filled with hope and a sense of belonging for once in her new life. I still wonder to myself.. is this really true? Is this reality? Or will I wake up tomorrow into hell once again..? Nuu thought to herself as she headed back to the Corona's tower, where that man.. that arrancar awaited her.

Her head was filled with a sense of worry for a few moments as bad thoughts invaded her head. What if he's not there when she gets back? What if it was all a trick to get her to let her guard down..? No! That's not true! He saved me.. he brought me here and gave me a place to stay! She thought to herself, a blush and a smile appearing on her face. That's why I..!

Hastening her step, Nuu was all but running back to meet him; Luca, the one who delivered her from darkness and death. However.. Nuu had a problem. She couldn't just show affection for someone. Why? Well.. think. If you had been chased around for most of your life to be devoured, how would you feel when someone rescues you? Cautious? Most likely. A few minutes of searching and she finally remembered where Luca wanted her to meet him. "Master!" She exclaimed happily, then covered her mouth. Oops, didn't mean to sound that happy to see him!

Nuu had gone off to explore, having recently been brought here and all, that was the best thing to do...explore, grow accustomed to new surroundings, and get comfortable. He'd been out in the desert again, just to walk and maybe gather things that might help his own research, and he'd ended up finding Nuu.

While he waited on her to return, he had gone to work on cleaning his instruments, having taken a break from his medical work considering solutions and such needed to sit for awhile before being tampered with again.

He'd managed to make medicine as he'd said, and after some testing he'd finally gotten the product he was hoping to obtain; now, he just needed to make more, fill some bottles, and he'd be set for awhile.

Being pulled from his thoughts, he looked up as Nuu returned entering the room with a happy exclamation before covering her mouth. "Welcome back, Nuu." He replied in his usual composed tone, but he did offer her a hint of a smile, as he wasn't emotionless, after all.

Blushing at even the smallest hint of a smile. Nuu hmph'd and placed her hands on her hips. "I-It's not like I wanted to say hi to you master! I just thought it'd be nice, that's all!" She quickly spoke, walking into the room. "So? What are you doing, master?"

She walked over to him, peering over his shoulder at his equipment. Sure enough, she had no idea what he was working on. Nuu had an idea though as he did tell her that he works on medicines, which is probably one of the reasons why he saved her. She's a natural healer and most of her powers revolve around such. "Making medicine?" She asked curiously.

"Ah, I'm cleaning my instruments while the solutions sit." Luca answered, glancing over to where all of his equipment was as Nuu asked. "Yes, I needed to make more so there would be a supply."

Having a supply was definitely preferable to him having to cut himself for his blood every other day. With this medicine, he could save himself the hassle of bothersome cuts when someone needed treatment.

"Aahh, master's a busy man then?" Nuu asked softly, then perked up. "I-I guess I can be of service to you also! I can heal things with my zanpakutou in my released state! And.. and my ceros can heal also!"

Nuu was hoping that'd impress him, but it was also likely that he already knew about her abilities. Either way, she wanted to help him any way she could and if that meant keeping him from bleeding himself dry helping others.. well that's what she'd do!

"You'll be of great help, with your abilities." Luca nodded, "I'm relieved to have you here."

With Nuu's abilities, things would be a lot easier; they could both treat injured when they were needed, and wouldn't have to worry much about exhaustion, or in his case, bleeding out too much.

"So.. so.. tell me about yourself, master?" Nuu asks as she pulls away from him and pulls up a chair to sit by Luca. "It's alright to know more about one's master, right?"

Nuu was actually curious about him, wondering if the nice guy act was just a cover for a more sadistic persona or maybe he was actually wimpy? Stuff like that was what she wanted to know about her master so she'd act accordingly. "Also.. also.. what do you expect from me or what do you want me to do for you, master?" She added after a few moments of thought.

"Myself?" Luca blinked, looking at Nuu before returning down to the instrument he had been cleaning. "I was wandering the deserts for a few centuries before coming here. I was promised a life without boredom, and I haven't been let down on that.

I'd been in the desert for so long though, I can't recall memories of of a past life, so at most this is all I can truthfully tell you."

Fighting, fighting, eating, and fighting. That's all there had really been out there, and he'd acted accordingly to survive.

"I expect your assistance in our area of expertise, healing, mostly." He continued, "I can make medicine using my blood, but I have my limits, so it's not a job I can really do alone."

Nuu nodded as she listened, noting that he was kinda like her in that aspect of just living from day to day out in that damned desert. For her, she mostly ran and hid, preying on any hollows weaker than her.. which that number dwindled day by day. The only difference was that she remembered her past life and only wished she didn't. It was still fresh in her mind of how she died and how she desperately wanted to live.

"A life without boredom..?" Nuu asked softly as she turned the idea over and over in her head. "So being a healer in Las Noches isn't boring?"

Nuu kinda liked that idea as it did give her some purpose as well. When Luca told her about what he expects from her, she nodded quietly to this. "Alright, Master! I will do as you need me to."

Luca shook his head, "It's not boring here, other than my main duty here, I can also take part in other interests of mine, whereas I couldn't when wandering the desert. So it's been...rather nice."

He didn't hold a heavy variety of interests, but he had enough to keep himself content. He had his instruments, books to read, and his job as a doctor to keep him going. Under certain rules, he also could visit The World of the Living, which was nice in its own way as well.

At Nuu's nod and her words, he gave a small nod. "Mm. Thank you, Nuu."

Nuu squirmed in her seat a bit, blushing as he thanked her. "Y-You don't need to thank me, master..!" She suddenly exclaimed, then lowered her head as her voice dropped to a whisper. "...Just knowing you approve is enough for me.."

Nuu wanted to tell him how she was feeling about him, but decided it was too soon and she'd just look like a weirdo in front of him doing so. She'd have to be vigilant though! No one can have her precious master! NO ONE. "So.. so.. what are your other interests, master?" Nuu asked, finally finding her voice once again.

Nuu had spoken quietly, he noted, at the end of her words...he chose not to question it though, as she'd likely quieted due to purposely wanting to keep whatever she'd said to herself.

His interests...

"I suppose...I enjoy watching the moon, then there's also reading." Luca replied, "Of course playing my instruments. Overall, I don't have...that many."

Watching the moon, reading, and playing instruments.. She'd have to commit all three to memory. Though one thing she noticed was that he wasn't very talkative and straight to the point. Which wasn't bad, per say.. but maybe it's just her that he's being short with? That was a depressing thought, that her master was uninterested in talking to her.

"Am I.. boring you master..?" Nuu finally mustered up the courage to ask. She had to know now or risk later heartache. "If so.. I'll leave you be."

"Boring me...?" Luca gave a small shake of his head, "No, you're not."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, a bit curious as to why she would think that. Maybe...

"If it's me, this is how I usually am, I apologize if that caused a misunderstanding." He added, thinking that maybe that was the problem? It wouldn't be the first time, so...

Nuu's face brightened at the realization that she was right. He was really just simply a quiet one! This made her happy that she wasn't being a bother to him or anything as that's the last thing she wanted. "I'm sorry for asking such a weird question, Master." She says softly, lowering her head. "It's just that.. I keep expecting to wake up and find that all of this wasn't real after all.. that I'm still in the desert, running for my life.."

"It must sound kinda silly, huh..?" Nuu says, sniffling a little as she wiped her eyes quickly.

So that had been it, again though, he shook his head at her words.

"It wasn't a weird question, I'm relieved we were able to clear that up though." He replied, thinking a bit on Nuu's following words. "Mn...It's not something you'll grow accustomed to immediately, it's a big change to make, from being in the deserts to coming here...It's not silly. It took me a couple of days at least..."

He'd also thrown himself into his work and instruments as well, that and he adapted somewhat easily, so it didn't take him very long to grow accustomed to being here. It was still quite the change though.

Nuu felt relieved at her master's words, smiling a little as she listened. "Well I'm sure I'll adapt, given time that is." She answers back with a nod. Now knowing how her master is, she realized she'll have to adapt to keeping the conversation going, as it were. Even still, she was content to silently sit next to him while he worked also.

"Master, if you want to get back to work, I'll be quiet.. but can I watch you at the least?" Nuu asked, then shook her head. No no, you gotta be more forthcoming! She told herself. "I-I mean, if you want, I can help you."

"Mhm, I'm sure you will." Luca replied, moving to put away the instrument he'd been cleaning, as he needed to check on the solutions soon.

At Nuu's words, he glanced at her as he moved over towards the tables nearby, where all of the equipment was set up and such for all of the medicines, and where they were made.

"If you'd like to talk, I don't mind; you can watch if you'd like as well, if I need your assistance I'll let you know." He replied, glancing over at the solutions that'd been sitting. "As of now, I'm simply making a stock so there will be a supplies, it'll be a quicker treatment that way in case someone requires it."

"Okay, then maybe I'll talk a bit." Nuu replied as she watched him work. It was so hard not to gush all over him and suddenly yell, 'Take me you fool!', but she managed to keep her calm.. somehow. "Master, did you have trouble surviving out in the desert also? Or were you strong enough to hold your own?"

She was curious of this little fact, wondering if he was the same as her or if he was simply stronger than she was. Well he HAD to be stronger than her since he's the Septimo.. but still it made her wonder if he struggled for a while or just had it easy.

"Out in the deserts, ah, I encountered a lot of fights...eventually I just went off and secluded myself. Fights became boring, I have ways of fighting offensively...but I'm mostly built for defense and support." Luca answered as he examined his work at the table. "I was mostly on my own."

"Oh.. I see.." Nuu replies, taking in this new knowledge. So he kinda was like her, only he could defend himself to some degree. This made her a bit happy to know she had someone that understood her pain to some extent. "So master knows how bad it can be out there at times, huh?"

Though since becoming an arrancar, she had SOME means of defending herself, but why did she end up with such a large zanpakutou? She had no clue. But it did feel good having a means to defend herself with, making her smile a little. She could also do ceros too.. so that was a plus also. But her master, he could do so much more! Just thinking back on how he rescued her made her a little giddy and squirmy.

"Mm." Luca gave a nod; he knew, the fighting for survival, to eat, and such, or just the fighting for entertainment that occasionally happened. It was rough, very rough, at times; he'd moved from it though, diverted from the other hollows for solitude.

"It was rough out there."

Nuu smiled again, feeling a bit better than before as she squirmed in her seat. These feelings were new to her and she didn't quite know what to do with them. Her heart was going doki doki and her womanly parts were feeling tingly. Part of her knew what she wanted to do, but the other more sensible part didn't allow her to act on these emotions for fear of rejection. She didn't know if her heart could take a rejection from him at this time.

So for now, Nuu placated herself by simply watching Luca work, blushing as she strives to stay still and inconspicuous about her current state. Luca really is a wonderful man in her eyes, unselfish and sweet while being quiet and withdrawn a bit. It really made her want to go over to him and just hug him tightly.. but that'd be bad, right?

The solutions...

Luca examined them a few minutes longer, looking over them carefully as they sat in front of him; they were complete. With a small breath, he stood to go gather clean glass bottles for the medicines to be contained in, it only took a little to heal, so it could be separated into smaller bottles.

Once he had the bottles gathered, he got to work on completing the stock he'd have for awhile.

"As soon as these bottles are filled I'll be done." He stated, letting Nuu know what he was doing.

"O-Okay Master!" Nuu stammered out as she heard him speak. "What will you do after finishing up here?"

She was curious as to what he'll do next as she didn't want to leave his company anytime soon. Maybe he'll want me to stay by his side forever! Kyaaa! I can't think those thoughts! Nuu thought as she quickly shook her head to dispel those silly notions from her brain. But unfortunately, the longer she sat there, the longer her brain had time to think of something else.