Can I help you?

"I'm.." She thought for a moment before keeping quiet. She wasn't really happy with much. Not that she didn't have perfectly good reasons for being a pill sometimes. Life sucked. Her sister was a brat and she has pretty poor life management skills. Even she could recognize that.

"Hollows, ghosts. Same difference. One eventually becomes the other." she said with another swig. "Or they become shinigami and start acting like nosy pricks." She supposed they were probably doing their job, but they really needed to back the fuck off of her for just trying to get by...

"Mm..." If they weren't dealt with...souls could turn into hollows, she knew that, they...didn't always become shinigami though, from what she'd read in the books from Mia. "Some...shinigami I guess can be that way...I've only met a couple...they were nice, but I guess...everyone's different..."

Shinigami were people and...she supposed there were some that were bad, some nice, and some that took their jobs to serious extents. "I guess...they're curious about spiritually aware humans, but...unless that human wants to give them information, or help them with their curiosity...It...would be best to leave that person alone..."

She could tell by Nadia's words at least that...perhaps she'd encountered a few shinigami and...hadn't really had pleasant experiences with them.

If...a human was willing to quell a shinigami that was curious about them's curiosity then...that was fine, but if they didn't want to be bothered then...then they shouldn't be.

She gave a small grunt in response. She wasn't going to get herself into an argument by shitting all over shinigami when Muika clearly didn't think too ill of them. Whatever. "Well... I guess not everything I've ever done was on the up and up... Still..." She just.. .wanted them to fuck off and especially to leave her sister alone.


"Besides, there's nothing to be curious about. Plenty of people have powers, I'm not special enough to come bother all the time." Not that they'd bothered her all the time, but more than halfway through ehr second Sake, she was starting to feel it.

"Mm...If you want them to leave you alone...they should leave you alone." Muika gave a small nod, "There's lots of people with awareness...in this town..."

Her words were becoming a bit slurred, though really they already had been...but she wasn't talking enough for her to notice herself.

If someone wanted to be left alone, they should be left alone.

Nadia glanced at Muika as if she'd said something odd, narrowing her eyes a bit as she quietly continued to drink. She put her bottle down and wiped at her mouth before her face... didn't quite show a smile, but eased up, softening somewhat.

"Ahhh ha. You're already drunk." She said with an amused tone of voice. She wasn't laughing at Muika... Well she was, but not maliciously. It figured she was a lightweight. Nadia wasn't exactly massive but she'd built up her tolerance. Muika was small and she probably didn't drink much.

"Mm..."

Muika hadn't had a drink ever since her and Iyuki had agreed awhile back ago that they should cut back so they wouldn't make anymore mistakes...considering everything it was fine to do so now, but...it'd still been awhile and even then that'd been the first time she'd really ever drunken that much.

This sake was strong, so for a lightweight like her...well it seemed like becoming drunk was unavoidable, even if she'd just been sipping.

Nadia turned her attention back to her own drink and finished it off, putting the bottle down. She glanced at Muika before burping and blowing upwards. It was clear that whatever inebriation Nadia was at, she didn't consider it much at all. She continued sitting there quietly until the bartender seemed to get the hint and brought her another bottle. Ah, he was learning.

She cracked this one open the same as the others. "You're being too quiet." She said simply. She wasn't going to do the talking, so unless Muika wanted to sit there in utter silence...

"I don't...I don't normally...talk much..." It wasn't that it was on purpose, she just...a lot of the time had trouble doing so. She was quiet by nature. Right now...she didn't know what to really say...previously, she'd been feeling a bit embarrassed to her already drunken state.

Already...

Nadia glanced over, nodding a little. That sounded reasonable. She could appreciate quietness. Usually she preferred it from people. But Muika had followed her here, she should at least talk... Well. Maybe that was a little unfair of her. She could get some sort of subject for Muika to talk about.

"Uh... Well.. Tell me about your... whatever, relationship." She didn't like making assumptions, but people usually liked talking about that sort of thing.

"That...um..." Muika looked down at the sake bottle she had, putting her eye's focus on it as she tried to come up with words. "He's really nice, and patient...he can do...all sorts of stuff I can't, like cooking...cleaning..."

She was learning...at least with cleaning, but...the most she was good for was fighting...she didn't even like fighting...

Nadia looked over at her, a little... confused, really. That... Well... She supposed if that worked for Muika, it worked, but... "He sounds sort of like your girlfriend." She said with another sip. Or at least what she figured was supposed to be girlfriend stuff. She didn't have leagues of experience in real relationships. But to be fair, with her background, you could hardly expect her to know about that kind of stuff...

"He spiritually aware too?"

"W-Well...a lot of people do..refer to him as a housewife, or my...wife...but he doesn't really mind...it actually makes him happy to hear those comments." Muika replied, explaining a bit on that regard.

He really did look happy when he was referred to like that...

"Mm." Muika gave a small nod at the second question; it wasn't...that big of a secret between the spiritually aware. "There's...a lot of spiritually aware people in this city...I've only met a few though."

Nadia's eyes didn't widen persay but her gaze did intensify somewhat. People called him... her wife? And he enjoyed that.. He had this image. Just this sudden swell of imagery. Muika walking in in a suit and this boyfriend of hers in a 1950s housewife outfit with an apron and everything. She scurries around to get a weary Muika a glass of scotch who doesn't want to talk about work.

"Heheheh." Nadia released a low chuckle, grinning for only a second before drinking more. "That's pretty great." She added, her face settling on a neutral expression.

"Yeah... That's why I moved here. I got tired of being an oddity wherever I went.." She said, before frowning, realizing she'd brought up something she didn't really mean to and took a long swig of her drink.

Muika gave a small nod; "It...It makes him happy, and I don't mind it so...it's fine when people refer to us like that..."

She took more sips of her drink as Nadia took a long drink from her own; she...wasn't even finished with her first one...and she was already...

At least she able to fight off the sleepy...for the most part, whenever she was drunk, she tended to become sleepy or at least seem like it.

"Mm, I've lived here...almost three years now...almost..." She replied, "It's a nice city..."

She nodded. "Whatever makes you happy." Her tone didn't sound particularly sincere, but she really DID mean it. Besides, it was HARDLY the weirdest romantic situation. In other parts of the world, that sort of gender reversal was downright common.

Nadia was definitively tipsy now and had half a mind to ask a series of inappropriate questions to make sure the couple was doing things properly, but she still had half a mind that told her that was rude.

"Seems like it. Better'n where I came from anyway." She muttered only half aware of what she'd said at the moment.

Muika nodded, they were happy and that was what mattered...

Her attention returned to Nadia as she heard the woman mutter something, it was...

Better than...where she came from?

"Mm?" Muika wasn't sure if she should question it or not, Nadia had muttered it, and her expression told her she hadn't really noticed...she'd done so...

Would it be okay to question it, or would that be prying?

Nadia finished her Sake, briefly wondering if that was her third or her fourth. She might want to stop now.. or she could get hammered... both were okay options. She'd pause for the moment though. Besides, Muika seemed curious about something. What was it? Oh.... OH.... She hadn't even realized she'd.... well...

"We... Came from somewhere... unpleasant before this... Actually a lot of somewheres unpleasant before this.." Her somewhat relaxed expression had hardened, her eyes stonily furrowed at the wall in front of her. "I've had to do... some unpleasant things to take care of the two of us."

"Mm..." Unpleasant places, unpleasant things...it didn't take a genius to figure out what Nadia meant given the nature of their discussion...even for Muika right now in her drunken state...

This world could really...be horrible...

"At least...you're here now...and you can...can be happy now; this city's nice...so it's a good place to live..." There was trouble every now and then, but overall...this was a nice place; she hadn't had anything horrible happen to here ever since coming here...

Things had become...as peaceful as they could get...

Nadia raised a hand and gestured for another drink. When she got it, she popped it open without looking away from the spot on the wall she'd fixated on. Of course, one look at her eyes would tell anyone there wasn't anything on the wall she was looking at. She raised the bottle and drank out of it before shaking her head, seeming to snap out of whatever memory she'd gotten into.

"We'll see." She said about the city. It... seemed nice... but places had seemed nice before.. "Truth be told... this is.. probably the sake talking, but I don't know if I could be happy anywhere." She admitted, chalking that up to the first thing of the day alcohol had made her regret saying.

"...I...thought the same thing not...that long ago..." Muika replied; she hadn't thought she'd...ever be happy, that she'd go through with her plans and then...that would be it. That would be the end.

She didn't...think like that anymore, and wasn't ever going to again...

She was happy now, definitely happy, but...she could understand how Nadia felt somewhat...

The alcohol was definitely helping her speak, otherwise she probably would have clammed up and only thought her responses rather than actually say them.

She turned to give a sidelong glance at the girl. Hrm. More to her than meets the eye... Maybe Muika had no idea what she was talking about... or maybe Nadia's misjudged her. Still, Muika's happiness didn't guarantee her own. She wasn't the type to sit there and start a sympathy party though.

She gave a noncommittal "Unh." And a little nod. "What made it better?" She dared to ask.

"It...didn't immediately get better, but...it...it's gonna sound ridiculous but...it started getting better after I'd met Iyuki; I...was wary of him at first, I didn't trust him at all, and I was probably mean to him...he didn't mind though, and was patient...

I wasn't...planning on living a life like I am now...but he changed my mind, took me away from bad thoughts, and took my mind off of the bad things from before..."

It...sounded like some soppy love story, but...that...that's what it was wasn't it? It obviously hadn't started out as anything more than a deal to protect him, but... he'd helped her more than she believed he knew...

Nadia gave her a further look that... Well... Confused was the best descriptor, but she didn't emote much so it was hard to tell. "That sounds like a romantic comedy I wouldn't want to go see." She said with a shrug. "But hey, if your life is like a movie, that's honestly good for you." She said with a... not quite dismissive tone, looking away from Muika for a moment.

It wasn't like she faulted the girl for being happy. She didn't need to rain on everyone else's parade just because she'd crapped up her own.

"M-Mm..." It...wasn't really helpful for Nadia's...situation she knew, just...meeting someone could help, it didn't even have to be a romantic relationship, but... that didn't always work out for everyone either...

She was...at least trying to help give the woman advice, since...she could understand her place somewhat...

Muika looked down at the sake bottle she still had after her next sip; a romantic comedy...huh?

She glanced over. Now what had gotten her so quiet? Hrm. Maybe it was something she'd said? Well it was true, that's what it sounded like.... She peeked at the girl again and finished her bottle off, tipping it over with a chuckle. The girl looked... rather pensive. Her look... gave Nadia a moment to pause...

and then she sighed. "Let me guess" she said with an embarrassed resignation, already anticipating that she'd made an ass of herself. "Your life has NOT been like a rom com..."