so we get to see more of how silly Erin is because I don't know if I'm getting her personality consistent. she's basically free, emotional, stubborn but observant while suffering from a poor attention span. yeah, more or less. I just don't want her to seem too many-faced by accident. anyway... MOVING ON.
Eventually, the night hours descended on Las Noches and found Erin still following Ulquiorra into his wing of the fortress, which to her looked like any other area except for the giant nuumber 4 painted next to the archway that marked the entrance. Everything beyond that point took on a barren, isolated feeling, as if no one ever wandered these halls except for Cuatro himself; at least most of the compound felt lived in. Especially compared to this.
Ulquiorra had remained quiet ever since the Grimmjow incident except to explain occasionally where they were, but she was fine with that. Being silent and being alone were different things, as she much preferred the silence with company than not, and she was too tired to bother with questions. She'd been feeling light headed and fighting had made her a little hungry already, which was odd because she never needed to eat so often before. Can Hollows get sick? she wondered vaguely as they came to a door that slide into the wall rather than opened out and Ulquiorra glanced up to her with his clear, emerald eyes.
"This is your room while you are my fraccion."
"Oh?" she uttered, coming back from the headtrip she'd been taking.
"Mine is up the hall." Then he started to leave.
Erin peered into the room and saw it was completely empty, the windows along the back wall facing out into the desert and shining with moonlight that gave the white room an eerie glow. Once again, it reeked of isolation, and made the she-Hollow fidget. Abruptly, she called, "Ulquiorra?" and sensed him stop just down the hall, though he didn't do her the courtesy of turning. "I think maybe I should tell you I don't do well alone."
"Impossible," was all he said, though he showed no sign of ignoring her plight and leaving just yet.
"Yeah, yeah, I know the story already," she snapped, trotting up behind him. "Hollows are solitary creatures and whatnot and I was alone for a long time, blah. It was also driving me crazy. I don't know why, but I hate being alone, even though that's all I remember. There's a lot about myself I don't understand but I don't question it."
"Are you expecting me to do something about that?"
"N-no," she uttered, wondering why he seemed more... well... reserved now. More resistant. "I just... can I stay with you? I don't sleep well and lonliness might be the reason why."
Ulquiorra was confused, and he really disliked being so. First, Erin shows signs of a true emotional range on par with that of the living, able to express joy and enjoyment, compassion and other traits thought to be lost upon losing their "heart"-whatever that was-which he'd questioned from the get-go; then she protects him from Grimmjow's wrath, however unnecessary that may be; furthermore, the entire time this had been going on, he'd been indulging her more often than he did for anyone else, answering her, standing up for her. Things very un-Ulquiorra-like and in a way, it was worrying him why he let it happen. No, that wasn't right. He didn't "let" it happen, it just did, without any question on his part.
For a while he'd rationalized it was for the sake of understanding her because she was so odd, but that was seeming more and more ridiculous, especially when he had been merely a second away from allowing her to follow him without even thinking about it. This behavior was unusual and he didn't really like it, but shutting down and treating her like everyone else was difficult-actually difficult-and it only unsettled him more because he couldn't treat her like any other soul. She was too different, and being a very intelligent ad visually-oriented person, Ulquiorra relied on his ability to see a great deal, and when there is little change from one day to the next and from one person to another, things tended to get boring in a heartbeat. Perhaps that's why they say ignorance is bliss; if one isn't intelligent enough to know better, everything becomes endlessly entertaining. Not so for him, however.
His new excuse was that Erin's uniqueness was rubbing off on him and he wanted to continue to appreciate that little change in his routine while it lasted. Yes, that had to be why. And so, he re-rationalized that for this reason, he would let Erin stay with him for a bit in order to understand her apparent dislike of being alone, which was very strange just by itself. Hollows were not pack creatures, most couldn't think past their own butthole let alone cooperate, and so isolation was never an issue. Especially for him. Ulquiorra Schiffer was the self-proclaimed king of solitary confinement.
"Ulquiorra?"
Erin's clear voice rocked him out of his thoughts and his shoulders twitched, his chin lifting. "Alright. I've considered it." Then he started walking again, though slightly quicker than was actually necessary.
"Wait, so that's a yes?"
He didn't answer, not sure how to.
Talons click-clicking once again, Erin stayed directly behind her Espada partner as he led her down the seemingly endless hallway for what seemed like a small eternity before they came to another door that was as green as Cuatro's eyes, vague shapes carved into it with a large 4 only adding to the obviousness of to whom the room behind belonged. This doorway was small though, so Erin would have to squeeze in with her wings tucked into her sides to clear it. Ulquiorra opened the door quietly and stepped inside, leaving her to figure out how to get in on her own, and when around the king-sized bed that dominated the assortment of furniture, its headboard made of white wood and pushed against the lefthand wall, making it the first thing seen upon entering. Practical, as he seemed to only use this space for sleeping, since the only other item of iterest was a large wardrobe situated on the opposite wall between two enromous windows that afforded a better view than her room had.
Bluish-green and white seemed to be his color pallette of choice, as his bedspread were turquoise and white, and the single, circular rug in the center of the room was emerald, apple and black, standing out in an otherwise monochrome cell of a living space. All this Erin noticed right away as she slithered in, folding into a sharp arch and shaking loose to get her body back to its normal, sturdy form before taking a few steps in and looking around, her tail flicking the door shut behind her. At least here the isolated feeling was less extreme and it made her feel better immediately, her great, dark eyes finding Ulquiorra with his back to her and sliding his teal katana from his waistband and setting it curve-up on a pair of hooks just beside his bed, right at hand if he needed it in an emergency. Then, without warning, he removed his jacket and tossed it into a shute hidden against the wall and toed his waraji off, leaving him in only his hakama and waistband, Erin's gaze riveted on him without her meaning to. She was a female after all, and he a male. Biologically it made sense she would stare when she liekd what she saw-if biology applied to Hollows at all, that is.
He was lean, that much she knew, but not thin, no-Ulquiorra was all ropey muscle and smooth lines, his skin as white as the walls of Las Noches and his hair seeming even blacker in the solitary moonlight against such a backdrop; when he turned, his eyes seemed to glow like beacons, their large, luminous, sorrowful appearance sending a jolt of awareness through her. This was the first time she noticed he seemed to have a look about him other than "dead", his hair seeming rather soft; this is also the first time she could recall ever having found herself so interested in another, having such obviously human thoughts that he would undoubtedly point out and mock if he could read minds.
Wait...
You can't read my mind can you?
He didn't seem to.
No? Okay, good.
"Adjucha," he said, seeing her jump as if she hadn't been paying attention just now, her line of sight moving ever-so-slightly to his chest where the giant number 4 had been tattooed, indicating his rank as all Espada did.
"Why is there a four on your chest?" she asked before he could voice the question he'd been pondering all day. "Other than the obvious reason, that is."
"All Espada, those Arrancar bearing the numbers 1 through 10, wear a mark on their bodies somewhere indicating their rank. Should you ever become an Espada, you too will choose where to bear your sigil."
"Oh... ouch."
He grunted, trying not to admit he'd just indulged her again at expense of his own immediate questions, which he needed to stop doing. "Adjucha," he started again, seeing her jolt once more while her gaze had been upon him, prompting him to change his question more the moment, "why are you staring?"
"I'm not staring."
"You're staring. Why?"
She craned her neck to look up at the ceiling, childishly trying to make a point. "If I were staring-which I wasn't-it would be because you have a..." Erin wondered how to explain without seeming like a pervert. "A very appealing body, and would merely wish to appreciate that, as I am a female."
Very faintly, Ulquiorra's brows knit. "Gender does not make a difference between Hollows. Biology is a moot point. Hollows do not mate, do not seek company and do not differentiate between sex."
"Well, I do-er, well, not the mating part, but the other two I do," the she-Hollow shot back, eyeing the window ledge above her for a second before leaping and finding enough room up there for her to lay down comfortably, her tail trailing down the wall as she curled herself into a half-moon and continued to watch him watch her curiously, appraising his form and lean grace. "If it weren't for the gaping hole in my chest to say otherwise, I'd think I wasn't even a Hollow to begin with considering the way you go on about it."
"Indeed," he agreed, finding himself tracing the sleek line of her back as she lay up on his window, casting a menacing and deformed shadow across his bed. "There is nothing else you are, however."
"Indeed," she mocked, sighing and following him as he went and sat on his bed. "Look, if I had any idea why I apparently think and act so 'un-Hollow-like' I would tell you, but up until meeting you I had no idea I was so different."
"Then it is something that should be looked into," he said, ignoring her jab before adding as an afterthought, "properly."
Erin raised her head. "I caught that. What do you mean 'properly'?"
Ulquiorra approved of her attention to details; it made her less aggrivating to deal with to know she was intelligent. "I mean, it would be best for us both to keep your oddities between us. There is someone among the Espada who would delight in taking you apart to figure out how you function should he ever find out."
Groaning, "Great," Erin slammed her head into the wall beside her, cursing her luck. "Should I have a list of names of who I should watch out for?"
"All the Espada below my rank may be a threat to you."
"Oh, WONDERFUL. That would've been nice to know before I signed on."
Ulquiorra leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, lacing his long, ivory fingers together and laying his chin on them, still watching Erin watch him. "You are my fraccion. No one will hurt you without going through me. I take my duties very seriously."
Erin's head went down to lay on her crossed wrists slowly, her irritation evaporating quickly at this as she muttered, "I see that," before taking a deep breath and voicing loudly, "Thank you, Ulquiorra."
His back straightened. "What for?"
"For watching out for me. No ever has before. So thank you."
Sincere thanks was not something he was accustomed to-yes, Aizen thanked him for his hard work, but it never carried the weight of hers, never felt so real-and it effectively short-circuted his ability to think in a linear way, his mind choosing to completely circumnavigate the step that processed others' words and jumped right ahead to the question that had been on his lips before she cut him off before. "Why did you protect me earlier today?"
"Huh?"
Clearly his bare body was as distracting for her as hers in sunlight was for him. "No. It's of no consequence," he amended, his mind getting back into proper working order at last.
"What did you say?"
"I said it is nothing. Sleep. Tomorrow we enter the dome and I will drill you over basic techniques in order to have a control variable for comparison after your Arrancarification."
"No more exploring?" she asked, a little disappointed.
"There will time later for that. Sleep."
Sighing again, she curled up and watched him dim the light in his room and stretch out on his bed, head turned away, his skin once again luminescent in the darkness and moonlight. Finally, Erin had company while she slept. Finally, she had someone to wake up to. And that made her happy. "Goodnight, Ulquiorra."
He didn't answer.