Who the hell is THAT?

It was a bright sunny day in (*mumbles town name*), people milled about peacefully below. Shopping, hanging out with friends, eating, taking photos. It was a pretty good thing that the vast majority of them could not see spiritual things. And that, for the most parts, those who could did not pay much attention to the rooftops above them. At this moment, an amphibious looking hollow was tumbling into one of said rooftops. It tumbled across the roof, skidding to a halt on the edge.

Its attacker, having just sent it flying hopped casually over to the rooftop, walking forward from the ledge slowly. He was wearing a fluffy white cloak that seemed to be rabbit themed. The man of course, also had rabbit ears. He raised one hand, an eerie blue light pooling in it. The light intensified and in its shadow, the white cloak seemed to appear black. Surely it was a trick of the eye. The amphibious hollow righted itself and backed up, muscles tensing.

Careful.

"I got it." Thane answered the voice in his head, his tone one of acknowledgement, as opposed to dismissal.

The hollow sprung at him, mouth agape, only to find its mouth closing around an arm. One that it seemed to be having trouble separating from its shoulder. It seemed confused about this before it realized the hand inside it had gripped some inner organ. Then it panicked.

Thane smirked, before a darker expression overtook his face. He slammed the arm into the ground, forcing the frog to press itself down to avoid something being seriously damaged internally. "What did I TELL you.." Thane said through strained voice. "About trying to eat HUMANS.." His arm twisted at the shoulder, eliciting cries of pain from the thing. If it could speak normally, it certainly couldn't now.

Don't kill him, Thane. A just example motivates better than a brutal one..

Thane supposed it was sound advice... though he was still tempted to tear this frog's guts out... Maybe if they could just start putting down anyone who went rogue... but the old rabbit would never go for that... and for the moment enough of the hollows in their zone seemed okay enough folks that they'd respond well to... the whole 'just' thing..

"Fine... Incarceration then." The frog panicked, suddenly struggling. "Oh? You know what's coming, eh, Froggy? Bunny Bottle, BITCH." Blue light shined from inside the creature and suddenly it crumpled into Thane's palm, quickly encapsulated in a glass bottle growing around it. The bottle finally made a 'pop' noise when a cork appeared, with little glass bunny ears attached.

Thane sighed and twirled the vial in his hand before pocketing it. "Well... That was..." He looked at his hand, covered in some kind of slime. "Gross....." Eugh.. He flicked it on the ground, excess splatting off. He walked over to the edge of the rooftop, glancing down. Hrm.. Still... It was nice this hadn't become a REAL problem...

"Hn...?"

Luca blinked, having looked up from the thin travel guide in his hand he'd been reading while sitting on a bench. He had been reading it to pass time while Selena shopped for things... Manga was one of them...

That was...until he felt something.

That presence... It wasn't a weak one by far, it had strength to it; Luca wasn't sure if that was good or not...

Folding the guide back up, he pocketed it into his coat before turning towards the source's direction.

Anyhow, it was strong to the point he couldn't ignore it. Selena was strong, but he wanted to be sure she didn't have a need to protect herself while on a casual visit in the first place.

It would still be a bit before she was done, so he had time to investigate...


He'd waited until entering a nearby alleyway before using any of his abilities, his sonido making it easy to get to where he needed to be quite quickly.

A rooftop...

When he reached the rooftop, he was greeted by the back of...a male, he could tell, he was glancing down at the city...

"If you would be so kind... Please, state your business..." His voice was its typically composed state.

He himself didn't seem to give off any threatening air, it was best not to...if he wanted to keep this civil.

Thane was still staring down at the city when he squinted. His human ears didn't hear shit, but that's why it paid to have a second pair sometimes. The fluffier ones on top of his head twitched uncomfortably at the light swishing noise. He didn't think anything of it. Lagomorph certainly did however.

Thane. Someone.. or someTHING is coming... be careful.. I can't get a good read on their power level.

Thane glanced back, not turning his head as the figure landed behind him. The figure... asked him to state his business? Ugh. Why would someone be polite about such an aggressive question? He slowly turned his head, glancing back at the dark featured pale man.

"Who the hell's asking?" Really. Why didn't this guy state HIS business?

I don't think he's human... Lagomorph muttered ominously.

"Ya think?" Thane muttered almost subvocally, just loud enough for Lagomorph to hear.

"An Espada..." Luca answered the man's question; he had his reasons for wanting to know...obviously he couldn't give a straight reasoning though until he could deem the man a threat or not...

He would give his ranking though at least, he was one among the espada of Hueco Mundo, despite that...he wasn't a threat. It would...likely be hard to believe, considering their reputation, but the man had asked...and that was at least one thing he'd answer.

"An Espada.. What is that some kind of fucking sword?" He grumbled mostly to himself, turning around slowly. He reached up and pulled the bunny hood back, not wanting any more than his own big floppy ass ears showing for the moment. He wasn't crazy about those either, but you had to take what you could get.

Not... He's not speaking spanish! Well, in a sense... It's a TITLE... They're the... well they're the closest thing the Arrancar race has to a ruling government. They're the ten strongest Arrancar anyway.

"So.. An.. Espada.." He repeated aloud, as if recognizing the term. Still wasn't entirely sure what an arrancar was, but he had a loose idea. People hollows or something.

Think of them like the Arrancar's captains... or our Dios.. and yes, they're about as strong... so BE CAREFUL.

"Mm.. Name's Thane." He said, crossing his arms. "And you just stopped in to say hello, yeah?" The rabbit seemed wary, but Thane couldn't imagine one of these Espada just popped on up to NOT cause some trouble.

Well...the term did mean that...

This man was strong, from what Luca could tell, so he had believed he might know what the Espada were... After a moment though, he seemed to get the idea. How, Luca had no idea...but he seemed to understand, which was the important part.

"Luca." He gave a nod, introducing himself; "I only desire to know whether or not you are a threat... I am not looking for a fight. I simply want to know that there will not be any damage done to the surrounding humans and area..."

Protecting Selena was his main concern, but he did not wish the other humans to come to harm either...

Thane narrowed his eyes. Whether there would be damage done to the surrounding humans or area? Thane looked at his arm, still covered in whatever that frog ate last. Was this guy fucking serious? He'd just saved someone from being Kermit's lunch, now he was coming in to play guard dog? What a bunch of shit?

Thane, don't be too hostile. He doesn't seem to be our enemy. In fact, if he's trying to guard these humans, then if anything he's an ally of-

"Of course I'm a god damned threat." Thane said, tipping his head a little, mouth hanging slightly agape in mock disbelief. "But as for what happens to the humans or this area, that's hardly up to me.."

You don't even listen when I talk sometimes, do you...

Thane knew this guy wasn't looking for a fight. But shit, after a hard day's work, he expected something akin to a 'thank you', not a 'what are you doing here, scurrilous stranger.'

"You don't quite pass for human yourself. How am I supposed to know you're not "the threat" here?"

That was...not the answer he wanted to hear...

Luca's eyes narrowed slightly; the man's earlier actions had not been seen by him, so he had no idea of what had been going on before. There was no way to discern whether or not he was here to harm...

"I am simply here on shopping errands, after that I plan to return home." He answered; "but I do not want to see anyone unnecessarily harmed... I sensed your spiritual pressure earlier, and came to investigate... That is all."

He was still in his gigai, if he were looking for a fight or anything of the like he would have left it long ago...

Thane gave him a... quite dubious look. He was... What? "You're here on WHAT." Every inch of his expression displayed exaggerated doubt. He marched across the rooftop over to Luca, not paying much heed to the narrowed eyes. "You're here on a SHOPPING trip?" He repeated.

"Forgive me for asking." He paused, already hearing Lagomorph lecturing him, before taking a step back. "Really, I apologize for prying into another man's business... But precisely since when the HELL did hollows go shopping?" He had fully intended to be taunting the man when he started this chain of sentences.

However, well before he had walked across the roof it had turned into a rather genuine inquiry. Seriously. No, really he really was curious now. Hollows went shopping?

Luca blinked; yes... He was on a shopping trip in a sense, he was escorting Selena and also looking at things himself...

"While I am a hollow... We Espada have our own chambers... My rooms are not bare, and it's good to keep stocked and up to date with things. I have books to look at, and I need to keep my supplies for my job well stocked... As well as see about supplies, and such for my instruments... String instruments need taking care of, after all..."

He and Selena had also had the discussion of fixing up some of his unused rooms.

"Human inventions are quite interesting in this time period... so its not that rare to see some of us looking around..."

Thane opened his mouth, already saying something smart assed before he'd even though of it. Once the thought train didn't roll into mouth station though, he shut it again. "H..Hah?" He made a small confused noise. That sounded just... almost outlandishly mundane.. He tried to picture the guy in front of him walking through the grocery store. It was... sort of absurd.

"Well, yeah... Humans are great... clearly..." He said, mumbling a little, taking a few steps back, before turning to walk back to his side of the roof. "Shit though, you can be invisible and intangible. Couldn't you just take whatever you needed?" He wondered, looking out over the opposite roof ledge.

"I do not believe in the practice of stealing... It's quite possible for me to do so, but I would prefer not to..." He had his morals, perhaps it was his previous humanity that kept the mindset of just stealing things away from him...

Whatever it was that stuck in his mind that labeled that as bad though... He could not entirely explain. He simply did not like doing that...which should be enough of an explanation.

Thane nodded. "WELL! Being I was a thief even before, uh...." before what smartass? You are just absolutely not supposed to go around advertising that you're human, or that the cloak is the real hollow.

"But I guess I don't do that... as much, anymore..." He would happily loot to his heart's content if Lagomorph LET him... "What can I say. I've become such a nice guy... so tell me. If you're so watchful of this place, how come you didn't notice the hollow I just aced? "

Before... Well, it was obvious he wasn't human, so Luca assumed that's what Thane had meant before he'd let his words trail off. Some humans had pressure signals of similar strengths, but they didn't normally possess the attachments of animals...such as rabbit ears...

"I sensed a strong presence, and that was what I zoned in on..." He had been more focused on the stronger presence, not that of a weaker hollow.

The stronger presence was the cause for concern...

Thane 'hmph'd. He turned back around and walked back over to Luca. "Well I suppose I should be honored that I was considered a strong presence. That should be expected though. I'm not an arrancar like you." Thane didn't understand any racial beefs between arrancar and hollows.

He did like being a sassy shit for no reason. "I'm a member of the Dios." He said, pulling his sigil up a bit to show it, attached to the hood's zipper.

"Dios..." Luca tilted his head slightly, he still had...things to learn when it came to the world; he felt this would be something to research... He had not been an espada for an extremely long time, but perhaps he'd lost focus on research...

He had mostly been preoccupied with his duties as the Septimo... His medicines, and concoctions for healing...

"I see... I will need to further...research in time then, it seems..." Luca added, as if contemplating; "I have not yet encountered someone such as you, so this is a new experience..."

Thane smirked. "You can say that again." Yeah, he didn't know Espada but at least this guy didn't know the Dios. He supposed he should enlighten him.

Don't make us seem like a bunch of assholes. Lagomorph said in his imperious tone of voice.

"Well. Near as I can tell, the Dios are hollows from another dimension where they can live without scarfing humans and shit."

Nooo... I taught you this! The dramatic version!

He wasn't doing the dramatic version. "Long story short, leader gave us a job. Police earth, knock over any 2 bit despot who seems like he could rack up a high enough death toll and stomp all over the day of any renegade hollows... like this guy here." He said the last bit with a grin, pulling the vial out and twirling it in the air, its contents glowing and pulsing.

Hollows that...policed Earth? Luca had never heard of such, but he supposed it...was not entirely out of reason. This was his first time encountering such a species, he would likely need to discuss or at least ask the Corona about this later...

She would likely know of this, and as an Espada it was good for him to know more about such things...

"I see..." His eyes went to the bottle, noticing it glow and pulsate within the glass. A hollow, then...

He saw. Okay, good for him.. Thane scoffed a little, before following Luca's line of sight to the bottle. Thane glanced at it, tossing it up and catching it, then looking back to Luca. "Here." He tossed him the bottle. "I can... alter the state of stuff I guess."

You're using magic.

It was absolutely not magic. That was dumb. "One thing I can do is turn solid stuff into energy or store energy in stasis in these bottles I can make. So... Kick hollow's ass, turn its unconscious corpse into energy, store energy in bottle... Hollow stasis." He shrugged. "It's neat."

Luca caught the bottle as it was thrown to him, silently relieved his reaction time had not been halted due to the unexpected throw; so what was in here...was really a hollow?

He examined the bottle as Thane explained what he'd done.

He'd turned it into energy, and stored it within this bottle. Hollow stasis as he referred to it...

"I see... It is certainly an interesting method of dealing with rogue ones..." The typical method was to just destroy them...

Thane didn't smile but he was rather pleased with Luca's impressed reaction. Lagomorph was also pleased, though not without a mental eyeroll. Thane wasn't sure how he felt about his sterling reputation as a badass though. "Well..." He crossed his arms, clearing his throat.

"I mean, I would have PREFERRED to rip its guts out... I don't like giving second warnings to hollows about eating humans... But I guess storing him on the shelf is just as much of a punishment. More really... Sends a good message." He nods. Actually, the more he talked about this, the more it seemed cold as fucking ice.

"It would be best to not release it then if this is a second offense..." Luca nodded, holding out the bottle to return it to Thane now that he'd looked over it.

When it came to hollows like that...there was likely no good that could ever be done with them, they couldn't be allowed in the human world or else they'd wreak havoc and cause more problems than they were worth...

Wait, Thane Lagomorph echoed in Thane's mind as Thane took the bottle back. Thane's face crumpled into a pout, most likely to the confusion of Luca. He hated when Lagomorph had ideaaas.

Give him the bottle. Thane opened his mouth almost responding out loud on accident. He was protecting this area. We may be planning to guard the planet, but we have to respect that we're newcomers. God, he always prattled ooonnnn. Give him the bottle. It's a token of good will between us and them. That we don't have to step on each other's toes. It also will surely serve as an example to the others.

Thane looked down at the bottle again and twisted his mouth in consideration.

"Here. This is your place to guard too... Take this." He handed the bottle back. "It's a... sign of good faith or whatever. Handing over a prisoner and all that."

Luca hadn't expected the offering, but accepted it nonetheless; he accepted the bottle back, taking it as Thane offered.

"Alright..."

A sign of good faith... Handing over a prisoner...

Luca gave a small nod, accepting the man's words as he carefully pocked the bottle in his coat where it would be be safe. "I'll accept then. Thank you..."

It was...the correct thing to say, no?

Thane nodded. "Uhh... Cool." Yeah. That was... good, right? He took a few steps back. Well, at least he could go back without having to tell the boss he'd goofed or anything. Not that he'd exactly bridged the gap between Arrancar and Hollow, but he at least hadn't made things any WORSE.

"So... I take it you've... gotta get back to shopping before the malls close or something?" He was half mocking half curious... What even was he shopping for? There wasn't a lot of practical stores in the area... The biggest thing around was that manga store across the block...