#he's trying very hard to behave slkdjf

[the-pallid-king]

He can tell right away, that you’re likely not going to be on board. There isn’t a lot of time to explain. Shinigami are running toward and away, and there’s a lot of confusion. He starts moving again.“I’m not running through here like a criminal or an anarchist.” He might shunpo to avoid an issue, but that’s different. “I want to talk to Shunsui.”

He snatches a Shinigami up by the collar when they come running around the corner, blinking as he realizes they aren’t all that much shorter than he is and it’s a bit tricky. Still. She seems mostly bewildered. Probably because he looks like almost any other Shinigami, since he’s known by name, not face. “You work here, right? Which way to the Head Captain’s office? Or the lieutenant, Nanao. Where’s she?”

He isn’t being quiet, and the few Shinigami that were brave enough or quick enough to follow, seem to hesitate, some with swords drawn. But this is Seireitei. He remembers Rukia telling him they banned Bankai and it’s use in certain sections of the city, because Captains were using it to punish subordinates. Mayuri in particular had destroyed a huge portion of his division, and even Toshiro had been reprimanded. So it’s not surprising that in Seireitei where even the officers might wreck the place, someone coming to find the Head Captain, even coming in through a wall, might be sanctioned.

The woman sputters, seeming caught somewhere between annoyance and duty, and maybe the concern that he could possibly outrank her. “He’s not here… The Head Captain and First lieutenant are closeted with— Shouldn’t you know this?”

He scowls, narrowing his eyes, ignoring her question. “Who’s in charge then? That old guy? What’s his name— the other Lieutenant? Is he here?”

She hesitates. “Yes… sir?”

“Well, go get him then!” He drops her and stops holding on to his spiritual pressure, letting it flair, because it’s an asset right now. One he rarely uses intentionally, but mostly because he spends a lot of time in the human world where it can injure and suffocate weaker humans.

But it seems for all appearances to work, because she wobbles to attention and takes off at full speed.

He glances around them and then at you, giving a very slight shrug, because he is absolutely, totally bullshitting his way through this. And if it doesn’t work, they’ll probably have to go back to running whether he wanted to or not. But maybe his act was a good enough answer for what he’s thinking.

"You want to talk..?" You're right; he's not onboard. He's bewildered to say the least, possibly offended and outraged if he thinks about it for long. You're going to forgive them; he's almost certain of it. You want to talk it out, come up with another agreement they can break, more terms for them to violate, and you're going to leave here hoping it fixed everything. His disapproval starts to show on his features, starts to peel lip back to bare teeth, but then you're snatching up that shinigami and the expression closes off before it fully forms. He blinks the betrayal from his features and forces them to settle into vaguely annoyed but directionless firm lines. Whether he likes this or not, to openly oppose you in this moment, when they're in the midst of shinigami and you're clearly trying to make something happen, could look like a crack in their cohesion. It could be enough to get them killed or captured.

So he plays along, or at the very least, he keeps his mouth shut while you're questioning that woman, and keeps an eye on those around them, trying to pretend it's completely normal for a hollow to waltz into the first devision. He growls lowly when a man with a drawn sword gets a little too close for comfort, but doesn't raise his weapon.

The release of your spiritual pressure surprises him, but a barely there twitch to his expression is his only tell that he even notices is. He doesn't dare follow suit, keeping his close and quiet. It seems a ridiculous charade. He knows there are shinigami that look strange, not quite like humans, but even without a mask, more than a cursory glance is all it takes to see he's not shinigami. You've really put him in an uncomfortable situation and he has no answers for what that situation even is.