A Spot of Tea for the Crazy (Alice)

It was a particularly murky day as the sun was hidden behind vast expanses of clouds. The entire location had been swamped with rather sour conditions. One moment it would be completely dry, the next a slight drizzle and once again returning to a dryness that would make anyone crave just a small glass of water. This particular village was located in the more rural side of Japan. This village was one of the main suppliers of rice for the surrounding cities and it was here that a rather strange storm had taken hold of the location. The streets were bare, the only ones willing to walk through the rain were those who had the most important reasons. Though, you did have the occasional strange individual who just wandered for no reason.

Flannán hadn't been entirely sure on why he had decided to take a small break in this location. His slim figure slowly walking down the streets of this village, completely invisible to those who did brave the unreliable weather. The only thing keeping him dry from the consistent drizzling of rain was the parasol which sat open upon his shoulder. His black cloak flowed in the frequent breezes that rolled through, his black eyes only looking ahead as he walked. His free hand rose to his face, his black nail polished fingers pushing his hair from his face as he continued his endless trudge along the slightly wet dirt. That hand soon enough returned to his side, resting inside of a pocket as he grunted softly at the strangeness of the situation.

"I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it decided to downpour soon..." Flannán said, his feet shifting as he propelled himself atop a rooftop of a single floor home. His empty hand reached out into the drizzle of rain in front of him. Each droplet brought a soft stinging sensation to his skin due to the chilled temperature of the water. "Why did I come here anyway? This is just another small village that will some day cease to exist..." Flannán muttered, his eyes looking to the various window lit homes before sighing once more hand bringing his now damp hand to his face. "Maybe, just maybe, I will find a prime tester for some of my new concoctions."

Alice trudged through the mud of the dirt roads headed into a small quiet town. Her soaked hair stuck partly to her face, that wore a particularly indifferent and depressed expression. Rural Japan was known for it's odd Hollows. The hidden lives with tradition entranced into the minds of the people, they became quite interesting in death. Not to mention with the small population Shinigami often seemed to forget about them and sometimes a full year could pass without a visit to clean out the ruined spirits. The Bamboo roofs made a charming sound in response to the down pour. The cracks of lightening sparked throughout the dark and clouded sky.

Squish, slop, plop, squish. The knee high boots Alice wore sunk in and out of the deteriorating ground below. With but an inch of spiritual pressure she could levitate and not be in contact with the shifting earth, but at the time she saw no need for such things. She wasn't particularly in a rush.


She wasn't depressed, merely indifferent. But when you are empty inside, the face seemed solemn all the time, when she is not in her fits of madness, that is. In a way, the solemn look was a pleasant sign. It meant she wasn't hunting and the mental cracks had a temporary seal. This could easily be changed, but for the time the human air and chill of being soaked by the rain had her very aware.

Finally the few rows of one story homes came to meet the Captain. A day filled with rushing into the forests and ending to suffering of souls wasn't too tiring, but it was draining enough that a down pour with it had called a close to a day of work. A figure was standing upon a roof with an umbrella of sorts. He matched the brief description she was given by Raiden of his new Vice Captain on one of their meetings.

Alice raised a hand to shield her eyes from the falling drops as she stared at the suspected Lieutenant and waited for him to notice and approach. She didn't like having to be the one to open conversation with new allies.

Flannán allowed the silence of the day to fill the air. The soft patter of water against the ground along with the, nearly, song like sound of water softly beating against bamboo filled the air with life. Yet, that life seemed to be choked violently by the chill from the rain and the slow beginnings of fog. His hand returned to his pocket, idly rubbing his thumb against both his index and middle finger as he allowed nature to swallow him. Time seemed to slow, things that didn't particularly matter seemed to fade away from his subconscious. All he could think of, at this point, was how beautiful nature turned as it slowly began to reach an incline into a more violent storm. He guesstimated that it wouldn't be much longer before the rain really began to fall and he sighed to himself as he allowed his tuition to return. It was then that he had the feeling that some one was looking at him, his eyes turned as he looked to the girl standing down on the street in the rain. She looked familiar, his mind running through the various individuals that he had met or heard of in passing.

It took very little time for him to pin her as Captain Alice of Squad Six.

His movements were, in all sense of the word, graceful as he danced off of the building top. He skipped his way along the roof, his legs propelling him forward before he promptly changed his trajectory.

He soared through the air much like a bird, his parasol closing as he promptly landed in front of Alice with very little splatter of mud. In fact it was seemingly non-existent.

He stood up fully, his feminine features soaking in the appearance of one of his superiors, his empty black eyes merely staring at her. Then he promptly bowed to her, his parasol crossing in front of his body as his upper half leaned forward. "Hello Captain Alice... What are you doing in such a desolate and saddening place?" He asked, his voice was soft but still held a tone of authority which mixed with a tone of confusion. It wasn't entirely often that he would run into a Captain out in the field and it was just curiouser and curiouser that she would promptly end up in the same location as himself. Yet, he refused to rise from the bow until he was promptly greeted by Alice.

It took mere seconds for Alice to be noticed by the other Shinigami. It would seem he was a bit of a performer as he seemed to dance his way down and about to the Captain. He slowly soared down to her at the end, barely disrupting the soup of earth. He ended with a bow, and addressed Alice... By her first name, but did not her title as Captain. Never the less, she was less than amused.

Alice dropped her hand to her hip, and took the other hip in hand as well. An empty gaze was replaced by a narrow eyes soul. "I do not recall giving you permission to address me by my first name, lieutenant. It's Captain Liddell to you." She replied in almost a growl. Her English accent was still present and even said "leftenant" as it would have been stated in the time period of her death.

She turned and moved to the side, past him and towards the very small and vacant looking Inn. Her arms were folded behind her, and her chin held high. She reached to door, and entered the dusty old entry way, but held the door open behind her by one hand, and called over her shoulder, voice still a bit stern. "Once a year I come to this place to clean out the forests of Hollow. Come. It is time for some warm tea."

A pool of muddy water trickled around her feet in the dark entrance of the Inn. It was empty, without an owner as far as Alice could tell. That made for easy stay and one could do as they pleased.

He rose at the end of her rather nasty reply to his greetings, his eyes shone a rather lacking of apathy as they seemed to just emptily eye her as she turned from him. He seemed completely frozen in his spot as she moved, his head only turning once she had put enough distance from them to be outside of general touching length. He couldn't help but let out a rather soft sigh as he shook his head, his free hand fixing his hair in his face while he other hand flicked his parasol open above his head once more. His hand once again swung down into his pocket as he looked up towards the sky.

'Temper... Temper... It doesn't take much to make some one leave. Fairly lucky for her that I've experienced worse.' Flannán though, his eyes closing as he made a rather subtle motion while the sound of a door opening rang out. He released a soft grunt of pain followed by a sigh as Alice once again spoke out.

He turned in his spot, his feet parting the rather disgusting mixture of dirt and water as he found himself leaning further onto his right leg. He began to walk, his walk only having a minor limp to it as he dragged his left foot in a subtle manner through the mud behind him. His hand reached out once he reached the building, holding against the door as he entered himself, his hand flicking the parasol closed as he pressed it down into the floor and closed the door behind himself. He sighed softly as he looked to Alice and made a very nonchalant motion for his hand towards the center area. "Find a place to rest your feet, Captain Liddell. I shall go see what kind of teas they have in the kitchen and prepare some." He said, his slim figure moving past her as he slowly limped his way down the hallway while using the parasol as a cane. "If you have a preference... Just call it out while I get everything prepared..."

Alice's eyes followed Flannan as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. He seemed ready to change her perspective of him. The Inn was shelter, from rain, but that seemed to be all. The roof leaked. Wind blew through the broken windows with ease. All the wood seemed cracked to some degree and dirt or dust was on every surface.

Alice sighed from the lack of relief the location had for them two. Being wet and now in such cold, she was not the happiest of people. Her hand lifted and slicked mack the hair on her face. "Do be careful." She called out to the one in the kitchen. This place has long been deserted. There will probably be rats."

After her honest note of warning she moved casually into the living room. Old logs sat beside a fireplace, and she began to stack them. Some warmth would do them both good. The storm would likely last through the night. Rather than simply leaving she planned to get to know the vice captain. Some day he would probably join her ranks. She may as well become some what familiar with him.

A flame started to dance in the pit, and Alice stripped to her keisen uniform, that was always worn under her dresses and boots. She pulled two chair near the flame and rested her feet on the rim of the pit to warm them. Her dress hung close by to dry.