Ic asks // always accepting
❝ I thought y'were marked off-duty, did cap'n Hirako send ya this way? ❞ He tilted his head at her, words posed as a mostly innocent query, but underneath it Gin spoke with a piercing tone -- hidden eyes saw well into the haunted mindscape of his fellow Shinigami standing before him. Whether or not she was sent by Hirako wasn't the issue here, his unspoken criticism was of the fact that he was ill company for someone of her trauma -- if she was so viciously guilt-ridden over her dance with death and potential breach of her loyalties to the Gotei 13 during the Quincy war, then surely choosing the company of the token ex-traitor Ichimaru Gin was in poor taste.
But he supposed he could humor her approach if she merely wanted to vent her feelings at someone who would not gasp or sneer at the more troubling and darker words spewed. He'd not turn her away -- unless her visiting him seemed to turn toward condemning... which was not unheard of. Even as a reinstated captain, Gin's reputation had a tendency of tainting others' whenever they were spotted engaging with him at length. Whispers and stares persisted, two years were considered a blink for Shinigami, and his betrayal was fresh on their minds.
Gin remained seated at his desk, he didn't seek to tower over her, but he did briefly dip his head toward one of the two chairs facing the desk as a silent invitation for her to sit if she wished. The pen in his remaining left hand was quietly stowed aside from the paperwork before him, his handwriting slightly less illegible this afternoon. Small progress. He opted for propping his chin up against the back of that hand, elbow leaning upon the desk.
❝ What can I do for ya? ❞
♤ Did every captain know that she had been marked as off-duty until further notice? Did they all know why? Had it been spoken of amongst other captains, or had it been that the report she’d given her captain was something that the others knew of. How much did they know? Kaisa swallowed, feeling as though she was caught red-handed doing something that she’d be in trouble for. A light pink blush dusted her pale cheeks, and she averted her green gaze from him. She hadn’t really spoken much of what happened, afraid of others knowing just how broken she’d become as a prisoner. Physically, she was mostly okay, but mentally, there were just so many things she was still just attempting to begin healing from. Kaisa hadn’t planned where she had been heading, but she found herself in Gin’s office, looking lost.
“Hirako-taicho still has me on mandatory leave…” the young soul responded, her voice quiet and ashamed that she’d fallen hard enough to be in this state.
All she knew was that maybe she could admit to Ichimaru what she was afraid to say to anyone else. He hadn’t been in her position, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t balk at some of the thoughts that had consumed her during those long, pain filled days and nights she had endured.
Kaisa tucked her short, ragged blonde locks behind her ear before they fell forward again. She was trying to keep herself steady. Her bottom lip quivered for a moment before she gingerly sat in the seat that had been offered. She put her hands in her lap and wrung them together. She was uneasy. It would be obvious to anyone who was even the slightest bit perceptive. Kaisa knew that Ichimaru was more perceptive than most, just like her own captain.
“I-” she started and stopped, staring at her hands, staring at the scars that littered the little bit of her arms that weren’t currently covered by her sleeves, “I… I don’t deserve the patience Hirako-taicho is showing me… I almost betrayed him just to keep my life.”
Kaisa finally managed to say. Her voice was so quiet and full of shame. She hadn’t fought in the war because she had been held prisoner. To make matters worse, she almost agreed to betray the entire Gotei 13 just so Quilge didn’t kill her. It was shameful that she found herself at that point.
“I don’t deserve to continue to hold my seat in the Gobantai… how do you cope with it?”