Bird of Prey [Klein, Safira]

Well this had all gone quite well so far, with Ichigo Kurosaki and her new found companion of a returning seed, this venture to Africa had not been a wasted endeavour though it had crippled her in problematic ways. A solution would need to be created for the condundrum of how to reclaim her zanpakuto and former status.

Even should Ouroboros be defeated, she could not allow its mass to disappear. The destruction of it by a quincy or the purification of it by a zanpakuto would be too damning to try and recover its form in the entirety. Somehow she had to be able to prevent the reishi that gave it the titanic power from dispersing - or somehow reclaim it in its original form by freeing it from Asher's clutches.

Neither seemed promising which is why she had abandoned Reida to contemplate the issue herself in a clinical manner. The woman was helpful in her own ways but Safira was not optimistic that she could delve into the finer details of spiritual metaphysics with her.

Ergo she sat underneath the shade provided by a tree to look into the dirt as if it had become the canvas for the thoughts in her mind to be projected on.

All things considered, Africa had been fine. Not great. Not terrible. Just 'fine.' He'd gotten some alright information, but none of it was terribly exciting. Probably more useful was the fact that he'd had an opportunity to stretch his wings, in the most literal sense, and had gotten Amaranta in line.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by a familiar spiritual presence coming into his pesquisa. "Familiar," however, was the incredibly important word choice there. It wasn't a complete match to that snake, but it was close. A little too close for his liking, and so he came to a halt, his diminutive features rather more serious than usual.

"Hey. What's up?"

If this was one of Safira's, she'd probably be pretty shifty. If it wasn't, well, she might look pretty good with a few improvements.

"Klein?"

She looked up with a irritated expression, it wasn't because she was displeased to see him though. In all honesty she was the most irritated by the fact that he had been relatively absent, it made sense that a craven like him would do his role and then disappear when the risk got a bit too high.

"Where have you been?"

Safira pressed quickly for details on his wearabouts and ongoings, hopefully he'd been doing something productive in his absence. Though being reminded of the little schemer's nature did make her start questioning whether or not she could try and employ him to assist in her current predicament.

That would be difficult though. He was self-serving and she didn't have the same power to twist him around her finger like she once did, nor did it serve him well to help her regain it. How irritating, she enjoyed the strong ego he had but the ones that surrounded her were never the most reliable.

...Pft. That look told him far more than anything she could have actually said to him. Klein's expression lightened just a touch at the sight before him, and he leaned down just a bit to bring his eyes at least marginally closer to level with hers.

"I was busy keeping one of my girls in line, and I got caught up in a couple other fights. I think the better question is what happened to you, short stuff."

His expression shifted further into a bit of a smarmy grin, obviously finding her current form rather amusing compared to normal. Was she just suppressing herself that much? Nah, there was no way that'd be the case, not with how vain she usually was. Had to be something more to it than that, right?

She didn't know what she thought was more worthy of her pity. The fact that Klein had been wasting his time with such trivial matters or the fact that he still struggled to keep his harem in line with being obedient little pets. It was something she might've lectured him on but she had more important things on her mind than wasting air to chide him.

"A minor set-back. Nothing you should concern yourself with. Do you have any insights to share, or is that all you've been doing?"

Safira prodded for information on the situation that she might be able to utilise. Had Asher been active since she fought him? How many hollows did he command? There were so many questions which could help her formulate a plan if she could get the details.

"You sure about that? It's a little worrying if the boss lady's not at her best."

Klein's voice seemed laced with venom, no small amount of condescension creeping into his tone as he continued to loom over her for now. It didn't really bother him that she might have just been baiting him. He'd played enough games that he was getting a little tired of it.

"Of course I've got insights. What, did you think that's literally all I was doing? The big guy hasn't reared his head in a while. Hollow activity's spiking more down there, so he's probably planning something relatively soon. Haven't seen any more of the big ones, apart from the angel guy. He seems to show up every so often."

Despite his distaste for her, Klein was undoubtedly still good at what he did. He wasn't nearly so stupid as to make their work more difficult just because he liked giving Safira a hard time.

"Good."

That meant that her missing piece hadn't reared its ugly head just yet. She shifted from her position to stand up and momentarily compare her height with Klein's, he was still a bit smaller than her but it had been reduced to less than a foot by a quick estimate.

Her reiatsu did not have the same weight that it used to either, the force that could compress him against the ground was elsewhere right now so she'd have to get used to seeing eye level with him for the moment, even if she had enjoyed the way her current appearance allowed her to more easy to approach Reida.

She did understand why Klein enjoyed his small stature a bit more now.

"I'm not at my best?"

Safira challenged (bluffed) at him with a scowl. It was partly to sidestep his statement which she sensed was trying to determine what her current situation was however Safira also challenged his naive view of her. If her power was all she needed then she should've crushed him and moved on by now.

Klein thought about it for a moment or two. Weighed his options carefully. Did he like risks? No, not really. But that was fine. He stood up straight, and as he did so, his form shifted in one fluid motion, a change almost subtle despite its significance, simply from now naturally he did it. Now, he had no small amount of height on Safira, and his leer had become all the more obvious.

"I don't think you are. I think if you were, you wouldn't have put up with me talking to you like this. Maybe you're just testing me, but it's not like I'm being very subtle. Whatever you'd want to get out of me is already out."

All at once, his hand reached out, and moved to pat her on the head in a manner that could only ever be called condescending. If she wanted to stop him, she was free to. But it would require strength that he wasn't so sure she had right now.

"You must've gotten messed up pretty bad, huh?"

Safira's eyes followed him when the little boy had changed into a fully grown man, her scowl became a look of bemusement as if she was uninterested. Was this a surprise? No, not really. She didn't particularly trust Klein in the first place, it's not like the individuals that surrounded her were the most upstanding people themselves.

It was becoming a little predictable really which is why her expression didn't change that much from him patting her on the head or mocking her.

"This is the third time I've been challenged since I took this form. Can you stop wasting my time with asinine questions, Klein?"

There was no means for her to resist but she approached the situation with the same confidence that she always had. Klein might've become far stronger in this form than what she had known but he wasn't exactly Ichigo Kurosaki and he hadn't put a gun to her head just yet.

"There's a hollow I want you to capture or kill."

He might be condescending towards her but if he was expecting her to be intimidated by his preening then it would not be so. She would just continue to speak to him like she always had, did he honestly think he had any power to influence her with his display?

"Asinine? Me? That's pretty rude of you."

He brought his hand down a bit, brushing a lock of Safira's hair behind her ear with a grin. Klein found this rather entertaining, seeing her maintain such overbearing self-confidence even when she probably dind't have any fair reason to. Then again, that was part of what he found charming about her. Maybe the only part, actually, especially given some of her more recent behavior.

"Well, go on. But you really ought to think about how you'll pay me back for what's probably going to be a real headache to deal with. Especially since you've been messing with my girls already. You know I don't like that."

His hand tightened just a touch, his touch gradually shifting closer to a grip on Safira's hair. He still wasn't really doing anything just yet, but he was also not hugely inclined not to do something. Besides, he was a little mad about the Kita situation.