Drifting Along Warm Seas [Catherine, Alvah]

It'd been a few days at this point since she shoved off from land, mostly locked up in the cabin working on projects as the boat's automated system decided the course for the most part, her prized work able to veer away from dangerous spots with little issue and plenty of speed; they'd get to land in just another few days.

Right, they. Sometimes she almost forgot she had a passenger, mostly because she told him to sleep on the deck's chair, and threatened to kill him in he barged in. She'd only come out once or twice during this journey, mostly because she was too engrossed with commission work and processing the innards into capsules. But it'd been about 112 hours, she should take a longer break.

It had become night by time the boat would cease, the redhead appearing from the metal door lugging a large metal and glass container filled with dark red liquid, likely passing her company in the process as she went toward the side of the boat with this quite heavy looking device.

"Oh, you haven't thrown yourself off board yet," She'd speak plainly, "Going out to sea tends to be pretty mindnumbing for most people."

The strange portion of railing she interacted with appeared to.. Fold down, as if to be a makeshift ladder over the dark murk beneath.

Her hospitality is an oddity. She comes off as disinterested, yet bends at his curiosity on more than one occasion. It hardly mattered that Alvah has went a couple of days without seeing her. Catherine seemed busy, and she had given him everything he had wanted. He barely even noticed her as she finally made herself known for more than a few seconds.

Though, she always finds a way to appear before him with something that garners his curiosity. Well, he should probably temper himself. Before him, on a small table, is an assortment of books, each detailing a different form of transportation: sea vehicles, land vehicles, and air vehicles. He had asked about the bike she had carried him on before bothering her about the boat they now use. Maybe out of annoyance, she had given him his answer and more, but he has been engrossed since.

"What may have been cumbersome has proven rather pleasant thanks to you, Miss Catherine. Thank you."

He seemed unnaturally cordial with her, but it should not come as too much of a surprise. Nice begets nice after all. Besides, he's in a formal mood as he place his journal to the side. A journal? Yet another thing that Catherine produced for him as he wished to jot particularly interested information down. However, he wrote in undiscernible lettering to keep his thoughts sacred.

"Now, what finds you out so late?" He'd then ask, finally bringing attention to the container she held and its red content.

Already making her way down the ladder, she had the canister nearby as she moved to open a hatch and slightly unscrew it's cap, latching her legs onto one of the rungs to lift her upper body high enough to pull the heavy thing along with her, allowing herself to drop backwards, her long red locks a mere few inches from splashing in the salty dark.

"You say 'thank you' too much," She'd call out as she finished unscrewing the cap and quickly attached the machination to the intake, red liquid draining away inside having followed the sound of a sharp release of air, the heavy item held until it was completely empty in seconds.

"Boat needed fuel and a break. Usually crossing this much water takes weeks, but I don't got that time." Casually pulling both herself and the canister back up, she'd be back on deck to properly face him, leaning against the railing. It'd only been a few days since she gave him that extra journal and pen she had lying around; frankly she was more surprised he could read and write than having taken so much interest in the books she had lying around. At first, she thought he was just gonna look at the pictures.

Ugh.. She'd be drinking by now, but there was no way she was getting drunk with this guy on board. Guess she could bother eating after only having fluids and nutrition packs the past few days.

"I'm gonna cook something. If you wanna see something interesting to preoccupy ten minutes, I suggest looking in the water."

With a confident stride, she'd head right back to that metal door, "Come in the cabin and I stab your eyes," The door would promptly seal behind her.

She wasn't lying when she said there was something interesting in the water, close inspection would show mysterious bell-shaped organisms that appeared to lightly glow to make their shape more obvious.

Jellyfish, a whole swarm was beneath the boat.

He tilted his head. Well, she's always finding something to be annoyed by, but he's used to it now. There's no reason to think twice about anything as he watched her refuel her unique boat. If he were to guess, she probably uses Hollow to power her boat. She probably uses his unevolved brethren for a lot of things, but he could care less. They kill each other, kill others, and are killed. That is but a simple fact for the ones who do not transcend their ceaseless hunger.

"I'd not dare risk your wrath," He'd at least add in before she vanished.

He's sure she wishes for her sensitive information to remain a secret from him. What other reason does she have to limit him to her deck only? Well, either way, she spoke of something interesting occurring soon, so he turned his gaze to the sea. Learning that it is something as vast and endless as Hueco Mundo had interested him at first, but without any means of diving into said waters, he could only let his interest fade to the back of his mind. However, as he watched the waters light up, his yellow eyes glowed.

Immediately, he went to sketching.

Noises abound could be faintly heard from the cabin if one pressed a curious ear against the door, cooking was always a hassle that she hated doing, but it was necessary. She couldn't survive off of water and nutrition paste forever, plus even she had some level of etiquette with guests. After some time of frying and toiling away at some dish, she'd reemerge with two rather unflattering looking plates, overboiled rice acting as the foundation for a hill of cooked fish guts and two whole roasted fish that looked just a little too blackened at parts. She was still sore and was absolutely not in the mood to cook anything crazy.

"Dinner, I guess." She'd speak nonchalantly as she'd place a plate for him where he rested, sitting down on the opposite chair and beginning to greedily eat away at what was absolutely a subpar meal, glancing his way,

"You don't look like you're writing."

"You are correct. I am not writing. I am drawing."

He laid it out plainly as he continued scribbling the memories he did not wish to forget. He's already wasted 2 pages in his attempt to capture the jellyfish correctly on paper. With each attempt, he felt himself nearing a desired result. However, he'd be foolish to ignore what's in front of him.

"Interested?" He asked, sniffing the air. The sea smelled, but the waft of burnt meat found its way to his nose, bringing his gaze down to the plate she had brought. Well, hospital again? Though, he couldn't help but stare at it for a few seconds. She might try to get something out during that time, but he'd randomly interrupt her because he simply found it incredulous she went that far.

"Arrancar do not need to eat."

Drawing? The jellyfish? She didn't think he'd actually care enough to even take a look, it was something inconsequential to him - she sooner expected him to glance at it and move on, it was pointless. Though honestly, he took interest in a lot of things she'd think something like him would find pointless.. Whatever.

"Uhh-huh.." She'd say through a crisp bite of fish tail, shoveling the glue-like rice down her throat. She really screwed up with this batch, probably added too much water or something. She was never super thoughtful of cooking, she just wanted to get calories down her throat, not like it was an attempt at making something good.

"They are jellyfish, alright.." Spoken with mock disinterest, she'd look at his expression with a wondering of what got him so surprised, about to part her lips to say something only to get interrupted by his little fact drop. Her brow furrowed.

"I made dinner for two people. Two people are eating dinner. So eat," Even she hated wasting food, and she swore she's met Arrancar far too eager to eat, "If this is your way of shitting on my cooking, you could at least be up front about it. I don't cook for it to taste good."

"I may be an Arrancar, and you may think little of a Hollow's diet, but I do question the edibility of your dish."

The smell is enough to warn him against simply eating it. He may not need to eat, but eating does still come with the risk of upsetting his stomach and taste buds. He has not tried many of Earth's cuisine, but he does know, from other smells, that this is simply unacceptable. Though, what was he to expect from a woman who barely cares for herself as she should?

"Without needing to eat, the taste is all that's left for me to savor. It's like saying I should be appeased with ugly creatures simply because I've never seen them before."

However, despite his complaint, he put down his notebook and picked up her dish, prepping himself before he took a bite. Low and behold, he did not like the taste, and he made sure she knew it by scrunching his nose and chewing with obvious disdain.

"However, thank you for the sentiment. I at least know you treat me as well as you treat yourself which, I must say, you oughta do better. The simplistic joys of life should not be thrown wayward for efficiency."

"It's edible. Protein and Carbs. Woohoo," Spoken with the level of enthusiasm one would expect from someone having been working for several days straight, only kept conscious by a careful measure of drugs in her system. A similarly energied bite was taken from her almost cleaned plate.

Well, he sure made a compelling argument for caring about the taste. Not that she was too eager to say sorry or anything, wordlessly picking at the remains of her plate as she got increasingly annoyed with his making stupid faces at the taste. Picky bastard, she would've killed to have anything a quarter this filling a time ago.

"The 'simple joys of life' don't bring in money or improve my skills. Who gives a fuck how I treat myself?" Her eyes were hard on her plate, stabbing into the remaining tail with a tense fork repeatedly, "Being efficient is what keeps you alive and moving and not in some bastard's stomach. Life, responsibility, work, all of those will just beat your joy into a meaningless mush that mocks you for ever thinking you could have it forever."

"There are things like cookbooks, yeah? I'll shall find some and cook our meals whenever we are together."

He seemed ignorant to her cries about efficiency and not needing any joy. This is why she's always cranky and has so many mental issues. Without any breaks, her mind's crumbling, splitting at the seams. He should probably leave it be since this woman may be someone he never meets again, but he is a man of wonder. Simply staying quiet and letting things be just isn't his style.

"Catherine!" He started, his voice raised just to make sure her sleep deprived mind focuses on him. "I am alive. I live my life with carefree splendor, doing what I want when I want. You may live it the same, but there is an obvious difference between us. I am happy. You are not. You may pretend and say you are, but your eyes sag, your body lacks spunk, and your mind's a ball of yarn."

Ooh~ He loves knowing what a ball of yarn is.

"Honestly, a moment or two to appreciate the fact that you do live wouldn't hurt. In fact, you'll only become less efficient and die in your sleep deprived hunt for perfection."

He went back to eating her shitty food, obviously feeling himself after his spiel.