tampered | (no subject)

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Downtown/Restaurant

(no subject)

When; December 3rd, Evening
Rating; Pg-13 to R, since you never know if heated words will be exchanged.
Characters; Aizen (

good_and_proper) and Matsumoto(

10thdiv_haineko)
Summary; Since hell has frozen over and the pigs are excellent flyers, Matsumoto and Aizen are having dinner out.
Log;
The man certainly knew taste. He has chosen a fine Italian restaurant in a secluded area of downtown. Small and private, but with a fine decor and high quality service. Busy waiters bussed back and forth amid the tasteful lighting and soft violin music.

Aizen was already sitting at his table in civilian clothes. He checked his watch, tapping his finger on the table cloth.

"She has ten minutes to arrive, then I leave," he said, incessantly rapping his foot against the floor. He so hated waiting for others.

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Walking distances wasn't something Rangiku liked doing, and not having Haineko at her side just made the uneasiness worse. Still, she'd taken a little time to clean up nicely, slipping into some of her nicer clothes. Sure, Aizen wasn't a close friend by any sense of the word, but dinner was dinner. After all, she DID have manners.

The restaurant wasn't hard to find, but it was obvious she was used to finding people by their reiatsu. With a grumble, she pushed the door open and was immediately led to a quiet table.

Graceful as usual, she sank down into the chair and murmured a thank you before she peered over at her 'companion'.

"Sorry. I guess I'm too used to shunpyo'ing everywhere... Hope I haven't kept you waiting long." Her voice is sweet and bright, but the smile wary.

Aizen couldn't pull off his tricks either, but damne if he'd let her know.

"I see you've made it. No trouble, I hope?"

"Not really. Just a little slower than normal." She didn't miss his lack of robes either. Silently, she half wondered if he was powerless as well, but she wouldn't bother asking. If he wasn't, he'd rub it in and it would do nothing more than irritate her.

Not a good thing today.

"You know, I never imagined I'd be sitting across from you in such... peaceable circumstances."

"Despite our differences in...well, everything, I am not adverse to peaceable interaction for today. It gets lonely underground sometimes."

He gestured to a nearby waiter for the menus, eagerly taking them and perusing the menu.

"The great traitor gets lonely? That's almost... human of you." The menu was quickly looked over before it was laid down, her decision made. "You'd think that you'd have your arrancar near you. Are they not good company?"

She wasn't really trying to be belligerent. For once, she was honestly curious.

"The arrancar are my SUBORDINATES, not my compatriots. There is no one I can view and converse with as an equal. Ulqiorra is the only one coming close."

He handed her a menu and asked for another candle. It was certainly harder to see in dark light as a human, that was for sure. He hastily had the new candle lit and brough his eyes back to the text.

"I'll have some red wine, please," he said to the waiter.

She murmurs her agreement, ordering some wine for herself, then turns a look on Aizen.

"Really? I'd think the two that went with you would fill that role more than one of your espada."

He continued looking for a meal he liked, thumbing through page after page.

"Gin is...unique. He is not, however, a friend. Even I do not see completely through him. He is too closed to trust completely. Tousen is too self-obsessed and lost in his own thoughts. I could also decimate them both if I wished it so."

His eyes widened as he seemed to find something he liked, taking a closer look at the page.

She bristled at the casual way he spoke about Gin. Yes, he'd betrayed her as well as everyone else in Seireitei, but there was a difference. Still, he was right about him. About them both.

"Gin's always been like that."

She passed her anger over, thinking it was best to ignore it for now.

Human he may be, but Aizen had not lost his ability to read people.

"So I guessed. Does it vex you to hear my refer to them in such a way? They are well aware of my thoughts on the matter. As are the arrancar. They are secure in the knowledge that I consider them my tools or war."

With a quick hand raise, another waiter is summoned.

"Pasta Primavera with garlic bread and side of chicken asiago. I will also take a basket of the bread you have, along with some olive oil."

Seeing the waiter, she ordered herself a thick slice of lasagne and sent him on his way. Draping her elbows on the edge of the table, she leaned closer, her voice soft.

"It does. He wasn't always a warrior. I remember a different Gin than that."

Another waiter soon stopped over to drop off the red wine that was ordered, placing the large bottle on the table. Aizen opened the bottle and inhaled deeply of the scent.

"This will be satisfactory, thank you."

He poured glasses for them both, then set the bottle aside. As the waiters retreated, Aizen turned back to her.

"We all were different people once," he said, almost off-hand, "That is unavoidable. As we grow, we learn more about how the world really works. Some simply deal with it sooner than others."

A slim eyebrow rose as she sipped at her wine.

"And how does the world really work, oh wise one?"

A nagging little voice in her head said not to antagonize him, but she didn't plan on actively doing that.

He ignored her jab and opted to instead take a sip of his wine and simply shoot her a small glare.

"The point is that most don't understand that the world is not a good place. No world is. Concepts like love, justice, peace, and harmony are not only all too idealistic, they are lies of the first order. Natural law states that all things move toward entropy. Decay. Chaos. That is what existence is. The struggle against an end which is inevitable for most. The strong prey on the weak, who in turn prey on those even weaker, and all of them doing so to keep themselves powerful. In this way they stave off their own "entropy." Their death. The strongest is the one furthest from death. One who almost transcends it."

He took a few more sips of wine and put his glass down, affixing his eyes on her.

"And they only person who can do that is the King. One who usurps him is obviously greater and more deserving of existence as the new King."

She stares at him from over her glass, eyes half lidded. "In some ways, what you say is true, but it's natural to struggle against the end. Love and justice are truth, but they're an abstract truth. Anyone can justify them to fit their own ideals. Now, peace is something that hasn't truly been seen in so long, I question it myself, but it can't be considered an outright lie. You're too arrogant, Aizen. That'll be your downfall."

If someone were to glance over at the tabe they were sitting at, they'd see a attractive pair, deep in discussion over wine. Little would they know what was being discussed.

"And you think that your current superiority in numbers and your boundless resolve to defeat that which you view as evil. As much as you say that you see what I am referring to, deep down you still believe that the "bad guy" always loses in the end. You want justice for your friends and safety for your loved ones. This imbues you with a sense of righteousness, which allows you to believe I will be stopped. I am more powerful than any one of you and have nothing to lose, Matsumoto. I've set this up for too long to overlook anything that might stop me."

The waiting staff soon came back, carrying their food to the table. The steaming plates were placed down before them and the waiters departed.

"And furthermore," he prodded the food and took a bite carefully, "I will MAKE a new justice when I remake the world. I will remove disruptive elements which create strife."

This time, it was her turn to glare. "Of course we do. We believe in fighting to protect what we care for. While you were a captain, any one of us would've done that for you." With a soft hum, she leaned back, never looking away from him. "You might be more powerful than any of us, but we WILL find a way to stop you. All the squads will go against you and yours and you will fall. We'll be stronger because we DO have something to lose."

The food arrived just as Rangiku's voice was starting to grow louder. She stopped and nodded her gratitude. She followed his example, taking a few bites, smiling at the flavor.

Evil or not, the man had good taste.

"You can't remove everything that causes problems and it's not your place to determine what 'new justice' the world needs."

"Please keep your tone low, Rangiku. It's unbeckoning...that is, it's unbecoming."

Aizen had been drinking wine for most of the dinner so far, and it seemed that it was beginning to take it's toll. His head wavered for a moment and he refocused himself.

"In just a few more steps, it won't matter what any of you do. You won't be ablet to change anything at that point. And you say you can defeat my creations, but you've only seen the lower rungs of that ladder."

The slight missed word snagged her attention and made a slight smile curl her lips. Now she knew for a fact that he was as affected by the curse as she was. After all, how could he be already having such issues if he still had his powers.

"Sorry. You know how I get, all passionate and such about the things I believe in. Your pets won't last against the full might of the shinigami. You won't if we, and I mean all of us, stand against you."

He took a few more bites of his food, one of the errant fork-stabs going into his nearby wine glass. He putthe now wine-soaked bit of food into his mouth.

"You're not asleep, Matsumoto. Stop dreaming empty fantasies."

This time, she laughs softly and moved to refill her glass. Now that she'd though about it, she couldn't remember how much she'd had, but the bottle was emptying quickly between the two of them.

Never in all her time since coming to the city did she ever think she'd be having a polite dinner with the person seated across from her.

"Oh, it's no dream. For one thing, I don't sleep lately, and for another, my fantasies are much more fun."

Aizen snickered. Not snorted disdainfully, not sighed in a tired manner, actually snickered.

"I'll bet, given the way you dress."

A totally sober Ran would've puffed up, indignant, but a slightly inebriated Ran just laughed and shrugged. "I dress like I dress for many reasons. My first captain told me to use all of the 'weapons' available in my arsenal. I've never done otherwise."

"Hm. They are rather impressive. Distracting really. Fair enough."

He soon finished his meal and looked around for a waiter.

"Would ya' like s'm desert after ths?"

"Thank you! I do try and keep my figure... "

The bottle was now empty, which left a frown on her face, but the moment desert was mentioned, her expression perked up. "Yeah! Gotta have desert after italian food! It's... a law or something." At least, that's what she thought.

"... want somethin' sweeeet and rich."

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