[aim log][hana & byakuya][you need to lighten up]
To say that it had been a bad day for Hana would be an understatement. A late start in the morning had left her feeling sluggish, and she had been the one who had to tell a cat owner that their pet was going to die, and less than an hour later was the one who had to put a dog to sleep. Of all the tasks associated with veterinary medicine, that was what she hated the most.
So when she got home that evening, it hadn't taken her five minutes before she was out the door again, running with her dogs. They passed through the park and circled the trails a few times, running until their breathing was ragged and sweat fell in salty drops from her face. It was never easy for her, having to see other pet owners saying goodbye to their beloved companions, and knowing she'd be in their shoes someday.
A bad day would perhaps be an understatement. It seemed to Byakuya that he had just finished a bad week in the middle of a string of bad months in general. Certainly, there had been bright spots amongst the dragging grey of the passing days, but they had been few and far between. He was not adapting well to their current circumstances. It was a fact he was well aware of, something he didn't know how to fix. Rukia was literally thriving in their current environment. He could see the way she had blossomed, so different from the oddball she had been previously.
Unfortunately, circumstances had been quite different for him. There had been no friends to fall back on, no social network like Rukia had. He made friends rarely and sparely, and the few he once had had gotten on with their own lives without a thought of him. Byakuya had accepted that, taking the marginalisation with a kind of resigned acceptance that even made himself wonder if he had been expecting their negligent betrayal.
The fallout from the recent debacle with Ichigo had made him close up even tighter, barely interacting with people in any meaningful manner, bar Rukia. It had been easy enough for him to leave early in the morning before most were up, hole up in the lab working on his mathematics, going to class, teaching the one class he was assigned, and then heading home and holing up in his room for hours and drowning himself in the logical world of equations and inequalities. He'd go out and cook dinner, of course, but after that, it was back into the welcome confines of his room and the equations neatly scribed on the chalkboards against his walls.
It was a lonely existence, but Byakuya couldn't seem to help himself. Sometimes, when Rukia was out (probably at Ichigo's) and the apartment was empty, he would slip out of his room, wander around for a bit, just puttering about in a misguided effort to make the space feel less like a black hole. His one reprieve was his nightly walks, a small breath of fresh air (albeit cold) in complete and utter silence. Alone. In the dark. Hermits were more sociable than he was, and perhaps he would die a wrinkled old man on a mountain buried in math equations. For now, it was just him and the night sky, and that was fine enough for him.
The dogs walked a short distance ahead of Hana, their leashes held loosely in one hand. She was tired and cold, walking slowly, kicking a stone with her toe as she went. The stars were out and Hana knew she'd been out too long. She shivered slightly as she walked, but felt too tired to put more effort into walking faster, even if it meant getting to the (overwhelming) heat of 311.
She spotted a familiar figure up ahead, walking almost as slow as she was, and though normally she would have jogged up to greet her neighbors, today she almost felt like leaving him to his own devices. Then again, he was going in the same direction as she was, and Hana figured that he could use the company. In any case, he would be too polite to tell her to go away.
It took a moment for her to catch up with him, speeding up slightly to match his pace. "Hey," she greeted him casually.
He hadn't noticed the girl, or he would have walked in the opposite direction, walking away seemed appropriate at the moment. Byakuya did not feel like interacting with other humans, but she had greeted him, and so he must reply. It came unbidden, bred into him over too many years of socialisation. "Good evening." It was polite, cool, a subtle hint that perhaps he might like to be left alone and she ought to move on and away from him.
The night air was cold, chilling. He welcomed it. It seemed the perfect backdrop for his burnt out self. His breath condensed into mist when he exhaled, pale wisps of whitish grey whorling against the blackness of the environment around them. His hands were tucked safely into the warm confines of his pockets, his eyes focused on the ground and not at his erstwhile companion. It was true that he was too polite to tell her to go away, but he didn't have to talk to her. Politeness prevented him from actually trying to get away from her, but perhaps ignoring her would work just as well.
At the moment, though, Hana was too preoccupied to notice the slight edge in Byakuya's voice, giving the dogs a tug when they made the decision to trot over and greet Byakuya. She wanted to say something else, but shivered slightly instead, keeping her eyes on the path ahead of her. She honestly couldn't think of anything to say, and figured that he wasn't the talkative type anyway.
Byakuya didn't mind the dogs so much, and he did slide his chilled fingers through the thick fur of the one dog that had actually made it to him before Hana pulled it away. For some reason, it was difficult to stay cold and stiff when a creature greeted him so warmly. He felt a vague sense of regret at the loss of the dog, but tucked his hand back in his pocket in silence and continued walking.
He had left a few hours earlier than usual, the confines of the apartment had seemed even more claustrophobic lately, and that had chased him out into the night. It was becoming a habit for him, taking a long, exhausting walk before heading home to bed. A cool breeze blew, and he ducked his head and pulled even tighter into himself, as if he could ignore the cold in the same way that he was not paying attention to the girl walking by his side.
Hana sighed and eased up on the dog's leashes again, allowing them to flock around Byakuya since he didn't seem to mind. This evening he didn't really appear any different than any other time she'd seen him, but he seemed more reserved, if that was even possible. She didn't know what his problem was, nor did she plan on asking, and she knew he wouldn't tell since he hardly spoke at all.
The dogs snuffled and wagged their tails, suddenly energetic again, and Hana wondered how they could be so happy all the time. "You like dogs, yeah? You can walk one if you'd like." Hana separated Shouri's leash from those of the other two dogs and offered it to the silent man.
He took the proffered leash automatically, unable to stop himself. By the time he thought to demur, he had the leash in his hand and a dog happily gamboling around him, insisting on his full attention. Non-plussed, Byakuya wrapped the leash around his hand until it was short enough that the dog wouldn't run circles around him, but long enough that the creature wasn't too restricted.
This long a silence really was rude, and a chiding internal voice finally forced him to speak. "I do like dogs." He accepted the open-hearted licks and the frantic tail wagging with some aplomb. "She's quite active." Dark eyes darted over to the other two. "They're all quite active."
"They are. They're energetic and they love pretty much everyone." She smiled slightly and rubbed the Kougi's head. "It's tough to keep up with them sometimes. They always want to go out for runs or to play in the park."
She felt more comfortable now. Talking about dogs was something she could do easily, and it was a safe and common ground that a lot of people shared. "I remember you said once you never had any dogs before. Do you think you'll ever get one?"
"Not at this time." It was a simple answer for a question he had often asked himself. Somehow, he could not ever see himself the owner of a dog. It seemed slightly out of character and bizarre. So he put it off, the decision whether to get a pet or not. Besides, they simply could not afford one at this time. Never having had a dog before, Byakuya had figured that it was simply no big loss that he had never had one. Plans to include a canine companion in his current life were not only not ongoing, but virtually nonexistent.
Hana nodded, tilting her head to the side a little. "They're good friends. They love unconditionally. These guys help me feel better whenever I'm down." She grinned and made a small growling noise at the dogs, who responded by howling back at her, each in a slightly different pitch. Hana laughed, feeling lighter inside.
"My family actually breeds dogs. If you ever want one in the future, just give me a call."
Should that unlikely circumstance come to pass, Byakuya would keep that in mind. However, he simply could not see himself procuring one, thus, a nod of acknowledgement. The current situation was a minor distraction from the thoughts currently whirling through his mind, and he wanted to return to his quiet contemplations. Still, the dog within his grasp, her companions and owner were doing quite well in disallowing him to continue his ruminations.
"How's your sister?" asked Hana, running her fingers through her hair.
Now there was a topic that Byakuya didn't want to discuss. Rukia was fine, he supposed, she seemed to enjoy what she was doing. Drama had always been her passion. "She is doing all right." The reply was short and clipped. It was truthful, but also evasive, as he was often prone to be when discussing subjects close to his heart.
"That's good." Okay, so, he doesn't like talking about his sister. "She's an acting student, right? Didn't she get cast for a few plays recently? Let me know when they open and I'll make sure that my schedule is open."
"I shall let her know." There was little inflection to his words. Then, his attention was caught by the loping, insistence of the dog for his attentions, which he gave willingly, rubbing at her head as they walked. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about his sister, exactly. It was more that he hated feeling dragooned into things, but somehow, he felt as if he had been forced into enduring company, which he didn't like one bit.
And now there was more awkward silence. Hana hated to feel that she was imposing on his personal time or something like that. He was just out for a walk, but then again, she wouldn't have wanted someone interrupting her run earlier in the evening. "I hope I'm not bothering you."
The question only served to make Byakuya feel guilty. The main reason he was out in the first place was that he wanted some alone time, but he'd been taught to keep the outside façade. White lies were acceptable. Yet, insistence that she wasn't bothering him required that he actually make polite conversation, which he was most definitely not up for. Dilemma. In the end, he settled for a half truth. "I... ah... no, you aren't."
That is, if half-truths could be considered lies.
Hana frowned, ducking her head, scratching the back of her neck. Even though he claimed she wasn't disturbing him, his demeanor and reluctance to answer the question spoke louder than the actual reply. She didn't want to impose herself on Byakuya; she felt like she'd done that enough already in the short time she'd known him.
"You know, that's okay. I probably should be going, I'm sure you want some time alone."
"..." The reply was abrupt, and served to make Byakuya feel even more uncomfortable. There were no rules for a situation like this, at least, not one that he was aware of. Truthfully, he was quite uncertain exactly how he had gotten into his current situation, which did not help matters much. Was he supposed to reassure her that no, indeed, she wasn't imposing? Was he supposed to graciously accept her offer of leaving? He fell silent, ruminating his options, and coming up with no answers.
Hana reached out a hand tentatively to take her dog back, pulling it back when she realized how much it was wrapped around his arm. Boy, was this ever awkward. Byakuya was silent, which was not unusual. Shouri wagged her tail, which thumped against Byakuya's leg.
He'd noticed the way she reached out for the leash, and then belated realised just how much he'd wrapped it around his arm, and quickly unwound it, handing it back to her with a little reluctance. He really had enjoyed the little time he'd spent with Shouri, though it was merely walking her. He didn't quite know what else to say under the circumstances, so he fell back into his usual mode: complete and utter silence.
Hana took the leash back, bunching it with the other two in her hand. It was nice to see you is what she normally would have said, but she skipped that part in favor of a "Take care of yourself." She popped a joing in her back and sped up a little in the direction of the apartment, before stopping again and turning to look over her shoulder.
"Hey, Byakuya," she said, not in an unfriendly tone, "lighten up." And then she was gone, jogging off into the night.
So when she got home that evening, it hadn't taken her five minutes before she was out the door again, running with her dogs. They passed through the park and circled the trails a few times, running until their breathing was ragged and sweat fell in salty drops from her face. It was never easy for her, having to see other pet owners saying goodbye to their beloved companions, and knowing she'd be in their shoes someday.
A bad day would perhaps be an understatement. It seemed to Byakuya that he had just finished a bad week in the middle of a string of bad months in general. Certainly, there had been bright spots amongst the dragging grey of the passing days, but they had been few and far between. He was not adapting well to their current circumstances. It was a fact he was well aware of, something he didn't know how to fix. Rukia was literally thriving in their current environment. He could see the way she had blossomed, so different from the oddball she had been previously.
Unfortunately, circumstances had been quite different for him. There had been no friends to fall back on, no social network like Rukia had. He made friends rarely and sparely, and the few he once had had gotten on with their own lives without a thought of him. Byakuya had accepted that, taking the marginalisation with a kind of resigned acceptance that even made himself wonder if he had been expecting their negligent betrayal.
The fallout from the recent debacle with Ichigo had made him close up even tighter, barely interacting with people in any meaningful manner, bar Rukia. It had been easy enough for him to leave early in the morning before most were up, hole up in the lab working on his mathematics, going to class, teaching the one class he was assigned, and then heading home and holing up in his room for hours and drowning himself in the logical world of equations and inequalities. He'd go out and cook dinner, of course, but after that, it was back into the welcome confines of his room and the equations neatly scribed on the chalkboards against his walls.
It was a lonely existence, but Byakuya couldn't seem to help himself. Sometimes, when Rukia was out (probably at Ichigo's) and the apartment was empty, he would slip out of his room, wander around for a bit, just puttering about in a misguided effort to make the space feel less like a black hole. His one reprieve was his nightly walks, a small breath of fresh air (albeit cold) in complete and utter silence. Alone. In the dark. Hermits were more sociable than he was, and perhaps he would die a wrinkled old man on a mountain buried in math equations. For now, it was just him and the night sky, and that was fine enough for him.
The dogs walked a short distance ahead of Hana, their leashes held loosely in one hand. She was tired and cold, walking slowly, kicking a stone with her toe as she went. The stars were out and Hana knew she'd been out too long. She shivered slightly as she walked, but felt too tired to put more effort into walking faster, even if it meant getting to the (overwhelming) heat of 311.
She spotted a familiar figure up ahead, walking almost as slow as she was, and though normally she would have jogged up to greet her neighbors, today she almost felt like leaving him to his own devices. Then again, he was going in the same direction as she was, and Hana figured that he could use the company. In any case, he would be too polite to tell her to go away.
It took a moment for her to catch up with him, speeding up slightly to match his pace. "Hey," she greeted him casually.
He hadn't noticed the girl, or he would have walked in the opposite direction, walking away seemed appropriate at the moment. Byakuya did not feel like interacting with other humans, but she had greeted him, and so he must reply. It came unbidden, bred into him over too many years of socialisation. "Good evening." It was polite, cool, a subtle hint that perhaps he might like to be left alone and she ought to move on and away from him.
The night air was cold, chilling. He welcomed it. It seemed the perfect backdrop for his burnt out self. His breath condensed into mist when he exhaled, pale wisps of whitish grey whorling against the blackness of the environment around them. His hands were tucked safely into the warm confines of his pockets, his eyes focused on the ground and not at his erstwhile companion. It was true that he was too polite to tell her to go away, but he didn't have to talk to her. Politeness prevented him from actually trying to get away from her, but perhaps ignoring her would work just as well.
At the moment, though, Hana was too preoccupied to notice the slight edge in Byakuya's voice, giving the dogs a tug when they made the decision to trot over and greet Byakuya. She wanted to say something else, but shivered slightly instead, keeping her eyes on the path ahead of her. She honestly couldn't think of anything to say, and figured that he wasn't the talkative type anyway.
Byakuya didn't mind the dogs so much, and he did slide his chilled fingers through the thick fur of the one dog that had actually made it to him before Hana pulled it away. For some reason, it was difficult to stay cold and stiff when a creature greeted him so warmly. He felt a vague sense of regret at the loss of the dog, but tucked his hand back in his pocket in silence and continued walking.
He had left a few hours earlier than usual, the confines of the apartment had seemed even more claustrophobic lately, and that had chased him out into the night. It was becoming a habit for him, taking a long, exhausting walk before heading home to bed. A cool breeze blew, and he ducked his head and pulled even tighter into himself, as if he could ignore the cold in the same way that he was not paying attention to the girl walking by his side.
Hana sighed and eased up on the dog's leashes again, allowing them to flock around Byakuya since he didn't seem to mind. This evening he didn't really appear any different than any other time she'd seen him, but he seemed more reserved, if that was even possible. She didn't know what his problem was, nor did she plan on asking, and she knew he wouldn't tell since he hardly spoke at all.
The dogs snuffled and wagged their tails, suddenly energetic again, and Hana wondered how they could be so happy all the time. "You like dogs, yeah? You can walk one if you'd like." Hana separated Shouri's leash from those of the other two dogs and offered it to the silent man.
He took the proffered leash automatically, unable to stop himself. By the time he thought to demur, he had the leash in his hand and a dog happily gamboling around him, insisting on his full attention. Non-plussed, Byakuya wrapped the leash around his hand until it was short enough that the dog wouldn't run circles around him, but long enough that the creature wasn't too restricted.
This long a silence really was rude, and a chiding internal voice finally forced him to speak. "I do like dogs." He accepted the open-hearted licks and the frantic tail wagging with some aplomb. "She's quite active." Dark eyes darted over to the other two. "They're all quite active."
"They are. They're energetic and they love pretty much everyone." She smiled slightly and rubbed the Kougi's head. "It's tough to keep up with them sometimes. They always want to go out for runs or to play in the park."
She felt more comfortable now. Talking about dogs was something she could do easily, and it was a safe and common ground that a lot of people shared. "I remember you said once you never had any dogs before. Do you think you'll ever get one?"
"Not at this time." It was a simple answer for a question he had often asked himself. Somehow, he could not ever see himself the owner of a dog. It seemed slightly out of character and bizarre. So he put it off, the decision whether to get a pet or not. Besides, they simply could not afford one at this time. Never having had a dog before, Byakuya had figured that it was simply no big loss that he had never had one. Plans to include a canine companion in his current life were not only not ongoing, but virtually nonexistent.
Hana nodded, tilting her head to the side a little. "They're good friends. They love unconditionally. These guys help me feel better whenever I'm down." She grinned and made a small growling noise at the dogs, who responded by howling back at her, each in a slightly different pitch. Hana laughed, feeling lighter inside.
"My family actually breeds dogs. If you ever want one in the future, just give me a call."
Should that unlikely circumstance come to pass, Byakuya would keep that in mind. However, he simply could not see himself procuring one, thus, a nod of acknowledgement. The current situation was a minor distraction from the thoughts currently whirling through his mind, and he wanted to return to his quiet contemplations. Still, the dog within his grasp, her companions and owner were doing quite well in disallowing him to continue his ruminations.
"How's your sister?" asked Hana, running her fingers through her hair.
Now there was a topic that Byakuya didn't want to discuss. Rukia was fine, he supposed, she seemed to enjoy what she was doing. Drama had always been her passion. "She is doing all right." The reply was short and clipped. It was truthful, but also evasive, as he was often prone to be when discussing subjects close to his heart.
"That's good." Okay, so, he doesn't like talking about his sister. "She's an acting student, right? Didn't she get cast for a few plays recently? Let me know when they open and I'll make sure that my schedule is open."
"I shall let her know." There was little inflection to his words. Then, his attention was caught by the loping, insistence of the dog for his attentions, which he gave willingly, rubbing at her head as they walked. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about his sister, exactly. It was more that he hated feeling dragooned into things, but somehow, he felt as if he had been forced into enduring company, which he didn't like one bit.
And now there was more awkward silence. Hana hated to feel that she was imposing on his personal time or something like that. He was just out for a walk, but then again, she wouldn't have wanted someone interrupting her run earlier in the evening. "I hope I'm not bothering you."
The question only served to make Byakuya feel guilty. The main reason he was out in the first place was that he wanted some alone time, but he'd been taught to keep the outside façade. White lies were acceptable. Yet, insistence that she wasn't bothering him required that he actually make polite conversation, which he was most definitely not up for. Dilemma. In the end, he settled for a half truth. "I... ah... no, you aren't."
That is, if half-truths could be considered lies.
Hana frowned, ducking her head, scratching the back of her neck. Even though he claimed she wasn't disturbing him, his demeanor and reluctance to answer the question spoke louder than the actual reply. She didn't want to impose herself on Byakuya; she felt like she'd done that enough already in the short time she'd known him.
"You know, that's okay. I probably should be going, I'm sure you want some time alone."
"..." The reply was abrupt, and served to make Byakuya feel even more uncomfortable. There were no rules for a situation like this, at least, not one that he was aware of. Truthfully, he was quite uncertain exactly how he had gotten into his current situation, which did not help matters much. Was he supposed to reassure her that no, indeed, she wasn't imposing? Was he supposed to graciously accept her offer of leaving? He fell silent, ruminating his options, and coming up with no answers.
Hana reached out a hand tentatively to take her dog back, pulling it back when she realized how much it was wrapped around his arm. Boy, was this ever awkward. Byakuya was silent, which was not unusual. Shouri wagged her tail, which thumped against Byakuya's leg.
He'd noticed the way she reached out for the leash, and then belated realised just how much he'd wrapped it around his arm, and quickly unwound it, handing it back to her with a little reluctance. He really had enjoyed the little time he'd spent with Shouri, though it was merely walking her. He didn't quite know what else to say under the circumstances, so he fell back into his usual mode: complete and utter silence.
Hana took the leash back, bunching it with the other two in her hand. It was nice to see you is what she normally would have said, but she skipped that part in favor of a "Take care of yourself." She popped a joing in her back and sped up a little in the direction of the apartment, before stopping again and turning to look over her shoulder.
"Hey, Byakuya," she said, not in an unfriendly tone, "lighten up." And then she was gone, jogging off into the night.