A stray amongst the sands [Koz]

"I was going to ask if you ever enjoyed an ice cold Sprite before, but I talked before I could think. Here, try it." The man said, twisting the cap off to release the hissing, carbonated gasses. The bottle was set before Cagliostro with a smile. Theocelese then popped the bottlecap off of his own drink, and in three large gulps, drained the glass of its contents. He exhaled in a pleased manner before setting the glass down, and pulling up a swiveling bar stool to sit across from the girl. "As for the Communicator, it...well, I just took a picture. Er..I'll have Seran explain it, as he was the one who crafted it for us...and no, it did not trap the cats. It just took the image and saved it. Again, this is Seran's area of expertise, so when that time comes you will have to let me know how it went." There may have been a story he wasn't telling Cagliostro from the sounds of things, but for the time being, the man's lips were sealed on that subject. He turned on the stool slightly, reaching under the counter with one arm. The familiar clinking of glass against glass was heard, and from underneath a bottle containing liquid the color of honey and a small drinking glass was produced.

"Back to the topic you mentioned earlier...You have told me of a few skills you know. I'd like to observe your alchemy sometime, if that is alright with you. Maybe I can learn something and be more than a violent wreck." Theocelese poured the pungent liquid into the small glass, bringing it up to his lips and downing half of the filled contents. He'd grown accustomed to the burning sting in both his throat and nostrils from this...'home brew'. "Like all Arrancar, you have a Zanpakutou which conceals the strongest of your powers. If you feel so inclined to tell me what you are capable of, I would return the favor and more. If there is a subject on combat you wish to have a lesson on, ask me any time."

Theocelese dared not attempt to explain what the soda pop was, or how it was made. That was left alone, though he wasn't surprised at how Cagliostro recoiled at the drink. From the stool he rose and walked to the sink just a few paces away, grabbing a mug and filling it with tap water. Said mug was set down, just as the carbonated beverage was. Rather than let the abandoned drink go to waste, Theocelese picked the bottle up and used it as a chaser from the honeyed hooch. "Seran is an old friend of mine, a creative genius, if you will. He may also wish to see your alchemical prowess." Was all he spoke of the man. Theocelese slumped forward slightly, resting his weight on a single forearm. He watched with great curiosity as the girl became one with her Zanpakutou, He could only guess as to what the monoliths were used for, and as his mind raced as to the capabilities this other Arrancar had yet to fully unveil. Immediately, Theocelese sat up straight and his idle focus no longer remained on the stiff drink.

"You look like a shaman from the old days. Do your powers stem from Alchemy? Or can you simple do such a thing normally?"

At first, Theocelese looked more intrigued than anything from the description given. He thought for the girl, who claimed to be skilled in the alchemical arts, having the extra appendages would help her in such an endeavor. The rift she created could potentially do the same, as it could be where all the components...or whatever Alchemists needed, lie in wait to be used to make something. A brow raised, and his curiousity heightened greatly at the thought of a place so rough. Maybe it would be a new place to test his skills and powers, always under constant punishment and pain. Unlike here, while Hueco Mundo was a hostile environment, it was like finding the majestic and extremely rare four-leaf clover when it came to finding someone that would actually be a threat.

"Is that so?" The man asked, downing the rest of the liquid in his glass, exhaling loudly in a pleased manner. Said glass was pushed to the side, and his hand now instead rose the bottle up, taking several long swigs. "Have you any conception of the punishment I have endured? Bruised and beaten, lacerations which would kill a human man, cuts, burns, having my skin flayed off the meat on my bones. My hide has grown so thick, my endurance so powerful, you've done nothing here but convinced me to go inside...." Theocelese stood up, his left arm raised towards the ceiling and hand positioned as if gripping something. It only took a moment, but the shield he carried the day before appeared on his arm in an instant.

"If you allow it, I'm going in. If this was just some conjuring outside of your released Zanpakutou, you would not win this argument. But it is not, and I know such a place may be personal to you. One minute is all I'm asking."

"Laws can be broken." The expression and demeanor of the Arrancar soured in an instant. His brows narrowed, and he wore a scowl upon his face. "And I have broken many laws in the past, defied the will of literal gods, defiled their monuments. There is no price I have not already paid for doing such a thing. There is no price I cannot pay." The growled words should have been followed by heavy-footfalls, quickly taken to the rift opened before them. That was expected, but not what happened. Theocelese's pace was slow, but such a thing was calm in appearance, as was the language his body spoke. Whatever distasteful look remained on his face, it was not directed at Cagliostro, but at something else. Something she did not know.

The Arrancar's unshielded arm was thrust into the vortex to the shoulder, and for just over a minute, his facial expression did not change. At first, it was a small gasp, like one would make when pricking his or her finger. It was not just one prick he felt, but millions against his arm, and soon, this prickling sensation turned into heavy, painful stabs. With gritted teeth, Theocelese kept his arm inside the place Cagliostro deemed to be unable for him to exist in. From the brief description, he felt that the moment his flesh went in, it would be no more. This did not come to pass, and while the pain grew ever surmounting, Theocelese couldn't help but to let out a different, and more elongated exhale. Everything that plagued his mind at this moment was gone. All that took hold of him now was...Sheer. Utter. Ecstasy. He knew what this would lead up to, an opening of his eyes with the intent of murder and brutality, and endless rage that could last for days on end. When his eyes closed, and all of it fell from his thoughts like rain trickling down an umbrella, there would be countless mounds of corpses with far too many bodies to count. It was for Cagliostro's sake did Theocelese remove his arm from the opened rift. He did not do it with haste, and the longing gaze set against the bar's floor stayed in his eyes until the arm was removed.

Theocelese hadn't had the faintest clue how long his arm was kept in there, time had no meaning in those moments. Though when he looked at it, all the Arrancar could do is smile and laugh. The skin was cracked and broken, the tender muscles exposed in some places and bone visible in others. Almost immediately, the damage was undone at a snail's pace. This was done on purpose, letting the pain fade slowly as a reminder of what level of impossibility he breached. From the angle the other Arrancar was at, all Cagliostro saw was a single, golden eye shift in her direction.

"Another law...broken."

"There are gods, and I've defied them just as I've defied your reality." Theocelese spoke in a less harsh tone this time around. He understood the actions Cagliostro took, why she tore at her clothes and didn't fight her when she used the scraps of cloth to bind his arm. It was as if this act was something he was used to, and knew far too well than to fight it. From this point on, however, Theocelese maintained eye contact with Cagliostro. "Thank you, Cagliostro. What damage is done will regenerate as I see fit." After having experiencing such...bliss...the exposed meat of his arm being touched by the cloth hadn't quite yet made his brain deliver the message he should have been in pain. Theocelese felt the discomfort, and if it did bother him, it looked to be at minimal levels.

"As much as I appreciate this act of kindness, I think you may wish to go to your room and re-dress yourself." It was at this moment that Theocelese turned to sit at the bar, planting himself on one of the many lined up high chairs. The bottle he drank from earlier was picked up again, and like before, it was several long moments before his lips, and that of the bottle's parted ways. Almost all of the liquid inside was consumed now, and this being the more potent of his stash, Theocelese could feel the warmth in his gut and a dizziness forming in his skull.

The girl left the bar to go do what was needed. The whole while she remained there, he hadn't bothered looking at her. Whether it was out of common courtesy not to gawk, or maybe Theocelese was still too wrapped up in the recent happening with this portal Cagliostro created. In the time she was gone, the party he called for arrived. Theocelese gave them the quick run down of what was needed of them, and cracked open a new bottle of a different sort. Honey Jack, one of his favorites. Shots were passed around to the assembled Arrancar, and all that they required was for Cagliostro to make her appearance, to give them the detailed information that was needed so the search for her friend, or bodyguard, or whatever he was to her, could begin. Not too soon after the first round was handed out did the girl return, fully dressed and with her staff on her back.

"You've no reason to apologize, nor any reason to look the way you do now." The man said, a filled shot glass in hand. Theocelese slammed the shot, his head craning back for a moment. "Now then, please tell the posse what Debauney may look like, anything that would narrow down the search will be needed."

Several more shots of the alcohol were taken as Cagliostro began her recollection of the missing guardsman, only stopping to nod at her question regarding the pen. By the time the girl had finished the sketch and handed it off to one of the search party, Theocelese killed over half of the bottle. He swirled around in his stool to face the group, who were looking upon the drawing to memorize the details given to them. "Two teams, North and West. Back in three days, rest two, re-assemble for South and East." The Arrancar holding the picture nodded, and the group were quick to ready themselves for their departure. Theocelese drank from the bottle and set it down, replacing one vice with another. The cherry of his smoke lit brightly as the first drag was taken.

"Used'ta be lots of people. Us, Rogue Gotei, Vizzies. Dunno where they went. Missing. Dead?" He gave a shrug that was far too cold for his displayed caring nature. Theocelese shifted on the seat again, taking another deep drag from his smoke and filling his small glass again. He slid the drink across the counter towards Cagliostro. Another drag from his cigarette and another grasp on the bottle lifted it to his lips. He drank until the bottle was empty, set it down, and repeated the pull from the cancerous stick.

There was silence in the bar that settled as thick as swamp fog. Theocelese hadn't said anything, hadn't even reacted to Cagliostro's distasteful act of wasting a perfectly good shot of whiskey. His eyes remained focused on the bar counter, one hand's worth of fingers wrapped around the empty bottle, wishing it was full again. The other hand remained poised upwards, the cigarette burning between his index and middle finger. "Don't you think I miss them?" Theocelese spoke, his words sounding more like a thick snarl rather than an actual sentence. "Don't you think I've searched for them, time and time again? Trusted friends, people I considered sons and daughters, my family in this afterlife. Most of them gone, and I--I can do nothing about their disappearance." His bottle-clutched hand tightened, each digit clamping tighter until the body of the whiskey bottle shattered in his hand. Theocelese remained unharmed, the shards of glass grinding against his Hierro and failing to slice the skin. There was fury in his words, but it was not aimed at the girl. It was aimed at himself. For a man who, in the eyes of a human, could be considered a god, Theocelese was more powerless in this moment. This would be one of the very few times Cagliostro would ever see Theocelese look so...vulnerable.

Without speaking further, the Arrancar stood from his seat and waved for Cagliostro to follow him. All the drinking seemed to have caught up with him now, and what was once a graceful stride became a wavering stagger. Any attempts to raise conversation with Theocelese would go unanswered with words, but instead, semi-hostile grunts that implied he was done talking. He took Cagliostro to where Seran and himself worked their respected trades. The doors to the immensely large laboratory and forge slid open, and once more, Cagliostro was physically motioned to follow. Past the crates, storage boxes and glass containers was where Theocelese's hammer and anvil met to create sword and shield, armor and spear. "There." He pointed to the hanging rows of training swords, heavy and blunt, meant to build strength and speed. "Practice what you will."

The request to be given a blade would have to wait. Just as Theocelese was ready to get to his feet and be one step closer to getting sleep, Cagliostro shared with him the sensation of comfort. Theocelese's form stiffened at first, but he quickly relaxed and accepted this. His fingers closed around Cagliostro's hand, and Theocelese let out a long exhale, his eyes closing half-way. "To say I cared a lot for them is an understatement." He spoke in just above a whisper. He wasn't sure what else to say, and so for the time being, Theocelese sat in silence. What did come out did not have much hope behind it. "I will never find them. This, I have realized, and no matter how much hope I cling to, it is all for naught." Theocelese's thumb ran across the back of Cagliostro's hand, and his eyes closed completely now.

"All there is to do now, Cagliostro, is to rebuild and look to the future. If you wish to be a part of that future, I would gladly have you." Theocelese's hand loosened from Cagliostro's and broke away. He turned around in his seat and stood up, only to put his arms around the other Arrancar in a tight embrace. "Thank you."