New Faces in an empty squad (social Ludwig, closed)

[Wycliff]

The moments before the sun rose each day was a special time, a small window before the dark would be overtaken by the light and the day would start anew once more. This day would start with Wycliff sitting on top of the squad four barracks with his sunglasses on his face keeping the first beams of light from hitting his eyes. This was the last day that Wycliff would be in squad four, he had gotten the notice last night that he was being forced to move to squad 13. It didn't really come as a surprise given that the main reason he was even in squad four was Rose. After she had vanished he had been forced to take up some of the leadership of squad four being one of the seated officers. Now that it had been this long since anyone had seen her and pressure from higher ups and the rest of the squad he was forced to leave. Wycliff wasn't upset, he figured this would happen sooner or later, he had just wished that he knew what happened to Rose.

Even tho Wycliff had waken up early to see the sunrise he didn't bother moving from atop the roof for several hours simply enjoying the sounds and sights from atop the building. Eventually as mid day rolled around he knew he had to go. It was time, without saying anything to anyone in his old squad he left to go introduce himself to the people in squad 13. It wouldn't be the first time he had moved squads and he doubt that it would be the last time, this would make four squads that he had been forced to move in and out of. While it didn't bother him he would like to stay in a squad for longer than a few years or so. Still with a smile and a mouth full of pop rocks he walked into the barracks of squad 13 ready to be greeted by so many new faces.

However that was dashed the moment he opened the doors and saw that the squad was empty. As he walked around it was odd, he had heard that recently there had been a few people who had left squad 13 however he didn't think it was this bad. As he got to the offices he was shocked to see that the place was empty say for the captain's office which he could hear noise coming from. Simply walking in Wycliff stuffed his face full of pop rocks before saying hello to the captain. “Sup bro, names Wycliff, heard I got transferred to ya squad.” Wycliff really didn't care about mannerisms for superiors, he was far too laid back to care about those things.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Paperwork. That was pretty much all Ludwig could remember seeing let alone completing for almost a day prior to Wycliff's arrival. Boring and seemingly unending as his excursion to the human world had actually made a decent stack of paperwork wait on his return. In part because his last handful of seated officers had scurried off for various reasons and his enlisted side were busy managing the Senkaimon amongst other things. Which if Ludwig was honest, didn't bother him too much. His squad had shrunken some but he was going to hopefully get more in the time to come and if they could manage, albeit dysfunctionally, then with more people perhaps his squad would get itself into a proper work schedule amongst other ease of life additions. Speaking of dysfunction Ludwig was currently sleeping on his desk, despite the midday rays coming in from the window behind him. At some point in the early morning hours or maybe the evening Ludwig had decided a stack of papers was a perfectly comfortable pillow and thus it's fate had been decided.

This was the sight presented to Wycliff. A captain sleeping on a stack of paperwork from what could arguably be exhaustion as half the desk were stacks of paper a foot high. Ludwig hadn't even roused from his sleep upon hearing the door to the building open and close, Wycliff's greeting was what brought him from a surprisingly comfortable dream. A rarity for Ludwig considering most dreams anymore had been him going over his past. It took Ludwig a few minutes for his brain to restart, eyes to decide functioning was an idea, and finally that he was supposed to have a new member come to his Squad today. After said few minutes the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place that this person in front of him was probably his newest member...and that his first introduction was him asleep at his desk. Ludwig sighed to himself as he finished rubbing the sleep out of his eyes at his first impression ruined. So much for the idea of a good introduction..I suppose he would have found out soon enough however. The entire squad knows of my sleeping habits...or lack there of.

Now finally awake Ludwig readjusted his glasses and smiled getting up and extending his hand to his new Squad member. "Forgive me for having been asleep, it was a long night with an ungodly amount of paperwork. My names Ludwig Eisenhart Verrlicht. I take it your the new member to join my squad? It's a good to meet you, though I hope the lack of reception doesn't upset you too much, most members are busy handling the normal tasks since we've shrunk. Tell me again, what's your name? I didn't catch it the first time for obvious reasons." If Ludwig was honest he hadn't really heard the initial greeting only that there was sound in his normally silent workspace. Nevertheless he gave a bright smile and a firm grip in his handshake, if nothing else he was going to try and make the rest of this meeting go well. He wanted to keep good relations with all his subordinates, especially the new ones since he knew it was going to be "interesting" to work with when there's a lack of people in general. Though this one seemed capable so maybe there was hope yet.

[Wycliff]

It seemed that there was one thing that all captains he had met had in common, they liked to sleep on their desk with all the paperwork infront of them. Wycliff wasn't really upset at the fact that his captain had been asleep, he just didn't see it as an issue. While waiting for a response from his new captain Wycliff sat down in the chair across the way from Ludwig. While he waited for his captain to come out of the daze Wycliff partook in eating more bags of pop rocks opening them and wolfing them down as fast as he could. Enjoying the feeling of them poping in his mouth, eventually by the time Ludwig had finally introduced himself Wycliff had eaten about twenty or so bags of poprocks leaving the empty bags in a little pile on the desk behind a stack of papers.



After hearing the response and introduction that Ludwig had Wycliff simply smiled and waved his hand not really caring that the captain though that he had offended him. He wasn't one to be offended by what had happened really it wasn't really a big deal. “Ya, it's ok bro, the names Wycliff Mason. Ya didn't really offend me, taking a nap during the day is the best tho.” Wycliff let out a soft yawn and looked around the office for a bit more before pulling out another bag of pop rocks and eating it. There was no way around it Wycliff loved himself some pop rocks, even though it did often lead to him leaving a mess around the place if he kept pumping them back like he was. 

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

A few minutes into meeting my new squad member and I've figured out two things already. A. Wycliff is about as laid back as a sloth was immobile. Actually make that three, because now his nickname is going to be sloth if he keeps this up. B. He's about as big a candy junkie as I am, although seemingly for pop rocks? What are those even? Ludwig's curiosity at his new member's preference in candy was apparent once he was fully awake. But instead of asking for some or even reaching out Ludwig only went to his desk chuckling before doing two things. First pulling his chair away from the desk so when he would speak to Wycliff he could see the person and not paper work and second was pulling out from his stash of candy some sour gummies. As far as Ludwig was concerned neither had any right to make fun of grown men eating abhorrent amounts of candy so it was a pretty safe space. Though looking down at the mess Wycliff made thus far he would keep a tab in his mind to ask Wycliff to clean up his candy next time. First time he could handle it.

Once he was comfortable in his seat and had eaten at least a couple handfuls of his own candy he spoke to Wycliff, "I'm glad to see we have another with good taste in food. Hehe though I can't say I know what those are aside from what's on the label. Mind telling me where you get them so I can try some myself? Before that though tell me about yourself, I can't very well let my newest member be anonymous to me while under my care. Likewise if you have any questions feel free to ask me, and if you have any later my doors always open. Whether or not I'm here is up for debate but when I am I will make time to for you without question. That said lets start at the beginning, what brought ya here Wycliff, just looking you over shows your definitely not from the academy haha!" At this point Ludwig would be leaning into his chair a bit taking a few candies every now and again. Silently thankful the floor didn't have papers on it considering there would be a mess where he and Wycliff were sitting.

[Wycliff]

It was good that at least this was one of the captains that didn't mind his sweet tooth and even had one of their own. He was still upset at the loss of Rose and not knowing what happened to her, more than anything simply not knowing was the worst part about it. He could deal with if she had passed on, at least that brought closure with it, just not knowing and hoping that she would return was the painful part. Yet that was something else to deal with, right now he had a new captain and one that had plenty of questions all of them he should answer really. The first was an easy thing to answer well more of a request. Digging through his pockets he pulled out another bag of pop rocks that was filled and tossed towards Ludwig. “Go ahead and have some I got plenty.”



It wasn't as if he was going to run out of any pop rocks any time soon. “Well about me huh, ya been around for a while, jumping round squad to squad, ya know. Never really found one that actually melded with me. Got dragged into squad four due to Rose, but now that she's up and gone they kicked me out for reasons. What about ya tho? Can't say I remember ya face, ya new to captancy? Don't recall ya in the last time I saw all the captains.”
 

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig listened intently as his newest member spoke, only to be somewhat disappointed in the vague and short answer. He supposed given he had moved from multiple squads there wasn't a reason to go beyond the barebones of the history and he certainly did give the barebones at that. Note to self remember to look into his paperwork later so I can learn more of what happened in the other squads. It may not be accurate but it will at least paint the setting for anything that happened to spark so many transfers. With a short nod and a small jump while attempting to hold onto his own candy and catch the small bag thrown his way. Looking at his reaction probably would have been funny as Ludwig not only almost fell on his ass but almost lost his own candy which would have ruined anyone's day. Especially considering it was a decently sized bag of them.

Ludwig chuckled some though as he held up the candy and put it into his pocket for safe keeping, and so he wouldn't forget to try it later. "Hehe almost ate shit there eh? Over a small bag of candy even haha! If nothing else I'm at least a somewhat entertaining captain as this is not out of the normal for me, sleeping in random places or almost eating shit over something silly. That aside however I have to ask, who is Rose? I don't remember hearing about that captain of late nor when I was rising up through Squad 13's ranks, then again though we held a lot of problems on our end so...that would explain a lot. As for me I'm a relatively new captain. Squad 13 for as long as I can remember didn't have a captain and was more run by the vice captain and other higher seated officers. I can't say why we didn't have anyone step up but no matter the reason we somehow made it through. And for me in particular the only real reason I am in this spot to begin with is because I practically did the same things as a captain would have done while I was a vice captain. With this in mind, my ability to use bankai, and a passing examination grade they pretty much threw me into the position once I got all the check marks. I hope that answers your question, though I'm hoping to fix that lack of knowledge for others as I'm trying to reach out to other squads and their captains. Well...when I'm not flooded with work that is but as you can imagine...that's not often haha.

All that aside I haven't had a moment to read over any transfer paperwork so I'll just ask a few more questions to make sure I know you at least a little bit. So first question, given you seem to hold a considerable amount of ability already what stage of release can you go to? Also what battle experience have you had? And what responsibilities have you held in other squads, including what was your rank in your previous? Lastly given Squad 13's jobs can be boiled down to two separate objectives where would you say your strengths generally lie in? Doing duties around the Soul Society or do they lie more in dealing with Human World matters?" Ludwig by this point had out down the candies and was looking more like at least in his mind what a captain should have looked like. Posture straightened, eyes focused and looking over Wycliff. In a way they almost seemed to be looking directly at Wycliff's core in an attempt to learn as much as possible for him. Which given his line of questions wasn't too far off. His squad was stretched too thin though numbers were getting better. He needed to have his members be placed where they'd best succeed not in area's they would struggle or cause more tension. Once he had more knowledge on Wycliff he could place him where he would be best suited and hopefully help with the overall changes to Ludwig was hoping to implement. But for now he just continued his thoughts silently while listening to anything Wycliff would say.

[Wycliff]

Wycliff let out a soft chuckle when he saw that his captain almost fell out of his chair from him simply tossing a bag of pop rocks. It was a bit funny given that Wycliff essentially tossed the bag so that it would land on the desk so Ludwig didn't actually need to even move to catch the bag. Then more questions and talking came, the first one made him a bit somber as much as he didn't want to think more about Rose he knew that he would eventually have to talk about her. He let out a soft sigh as he heard her name spoken once again.

The second series of questions was more about him and what his skills were and what his rank was in the old squad. In a somber tone Wycliff started to speak. “Rose, Rose was the old captain of squad four, I use to be her friend and her companion, but she just up and vanished. She was around for a while, tho not must saw or met her. She kept to herself, but now I don't know where she ran off too. I hope she's doing ok, last I knew she was dealing with some things..... just wish I could of helped her..... not much else I can tell you about her.”

After a while he spoke up once more this time in a bit of a cheerier tone. “ As for me, well I can use shikai, tho I don't often use it, don't like it nor what it does. Given that, I tend to use my kido more often than not, as far as fighting goes, I can hold my own. I usually trained most of the squad four folks in sword play and kido. As far as responsibilities for my old squad, I use to be the one who was sent off to the human world for guard duty and hollow extermination. Tho I think that had to do more with my power not being healing based and more combat based. If I had to say tho, I'd think my strengths are in the human world.”

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig only nodded towards Wycliff as he spoke of Rose. Just the vocabulary used to describe her and the events surrounding her said enough. This was much more than just a touchy subject and while he wanted to know more this was more than enough. Besides there was always the library or other areas of record holding. No doubt that'd tell him anything and everything he'd need to know about her as it wasn't normal a captain just up and left their position. Turning his focus onto what Wycliff was currently talking about with regards to his career Ludwig continued to just nod until he was done. Once so he picked up his bag of sour candies again and ate a few as he silently thought to himself. So he's clearly skilled in combat, if nothing else he has experience on the field which a lot of our newer people do not have. However he doesn't utilize his shikai often so I can imagine in the field if he's put up against those who could be of equal strength or higher its probably only going to be used if his odds of escape are nil. This would mean he could pose a threat as far as being injured or at worst killed if he wasn't willing to release early enough. Then again he's trained others, so he has to have a good degree of skill or at least an understanding of when to weigh out those options. Honestly...I think his potential lies in both. However its a very specific potential that needs to be cultivated for either end. I think I've an idea then.

With a nod towards Wycliff and himself Ludwig got out of his seat and made his way over to his desk. How ironic the transfer paperwork was in the center in a small neat stack amidst the rest of this seemingly cluttered mess. While he started filling it out he spoke to Wycliff, loud enough to be heard and a mixture of amusement in his voice. "So with what you've described to me about yourself and just what I can gather on my own I'm going to put you on split duties. You'll have some duties organizing and leading other Shinigami of a lower rank in the human world since you have the experience on top of combat prowess necessary. However your other duties will be to assist me with training the squad and helping me understand any problems in the squad that I wouldn't hear about normally. Those in the human world or who remain in the Soul Society. With this in mind your duties with the Senkaimon gate will basically be summed into "It exists and we open or close it." I imagine that and the lack of paperwork will be more than up your alley eh? Ludwig would smile up at Wycliff as he finished writing over everything needed including the rank he was given. Squad 13 was basically open as far as positions were concerned so there wouldn't be any one upset with giving Wycliff a relatively high rank. Once he looked it over he handed it to Wycliff.

"Here's the paperwork that I'm certain you'll need to give the people who work in Squad 6 so that your transfer is all official. If you need anything else with this or something else entirely later on feel free to come to me. My door's always open and I'll do what I can to help be it work related or otherwise. Also since I'm certain there will be other things you do while in the human world if you bring me some candy or soda, especially soda since it's hard to come by here, I won't ask questions so long as your work is completed. I made sure to take breaks when I was sent out there so the most I can ask is you keep any trouble to a minimum." Ludwig at this point just smiled wide almost a bit mischievously. Whether Wycliff took him up on this didn't really matter. What mattered was that he did his job and took care of the others in his squad. Any little troubles or problems that would come up could be swept under the rug since it happened in every squad. Anything large and he was certain somehow he'd hear about it and intervene as necessary. For now he just hoped that Wycliff would enjoy his time in his squad while he was here, hopefully not needing to transfer for awhile yet.

[Wycliff]

Wycliff kept quiet as he listened to what his new captain had to say about where he would be going and what his duties were going to be. It wasn't like he didn't have anything to say, it's just that whatever he did say really wouldn't matter because at the end of the day it was the captain's call on where the people under him went and did. However upon hearing his actual duties Wycliff was rather happy with where and what he was assigned to do. It wasn't that big of a change from his old jobs, maybe a bit more paperwork he couldn't just hand down to others to do for him, but that wasn't that big of a deal. After all he could still use his rank to force others to do most of it for him.

With the conversation all said and done Wycliff simply excused himself from the office and started heading towards the squad six barracks. For now it seemed as if he had a bit of a laid back captain, someone who seemed nice, but only time would tell the true intentions of the captain. Still the fact that he was a candy freak like he was was a nice touch for him and a way to get out of trouble by having candy to toss at his boss to help ease over things. As he walked towards the building he read a bit of the paperwork seeing that Ludwig had promoted him to third seat, which was a nice surprise.

[Kitai Yoru]

12 paragraphs for Wycliff, 10% bonus
11 paragraphs for Ludwig, 10% bonus