[aim log][mailbox invitations][byakuya & hana][closed]
Hana hummed to herself as she made her way down the stairs, skipping over the shifty-looking ones as she headed to the mailbox. Today was her birthday after all, and she was sure that her mother would have sent some sort of letter congratulating her eldest child for making it through another year without dying.
Coming to a stop in front of the mail slots, she dropped off a few letters before picking up the incoming mail for apartment nine, sorting through it and picking out the envelopes addressed to her.
That was how Byakuya found her, dark head bowed over the slips of envelopes and other bits of mail as he stepped through the front door of the building. Recognition lit dark eyes but faintly, but he retained his solemn expression (really, he rarely ever even twitched from his stone-faced facade) as he walked up towards the wall of mailboxes and counted his and Rukia's out, mailbox key in hand as he greeted her. "Good afternoon, Hana."
Polite as ever, he nodded, then turned his attention to his mailbox, digging out envelopes that contained bills and more bills to pay. Utilities, cell phone, lawyerly forms (regarding his late father's estate, no doubt), and other such annoyances. There were a couple more addressed to Rukia from the university. Probably scholarships and other university-related items. He tucked those aside to hand to her when she returned later. It was the larger packet from the distinguished law firm that concerned him. He would go over it later tonight when he had the time (not that he had any, what with schoolwork and projects popping up like new leaves in the spring).
Hana looked up and smiled brightly when Byakuya entered, waving a handful of envelopes at him in greeting, brushing hair out of her face with her other hand. He looked stoic, as usual, calm and composed. "How are you doing today?" she asked, grinning as she tucked the letters that didn't belong to her under her arm.
Using her apartment key, Hana made short work of opening the blue envelope in her hand. The top lefthand corner was marked with bold letters that read "INUZUKA TSUME." Hana had always been amused at her mother's way of always writing in all uppercase letters. It seemed to her that the older woman was yelling even when she was writing.
Brow furrowed over the lawyer's packet (what on earth did it contain that it was that thick?), Byakuya barely registered Hana's question until he noticed her expectant look. "Ah? Ah. I am good, thank you. And you?"
The question was repeated as rote, a required response trained into him like drooling was into Pavlov's dogs. He weighed the package and eyed the return address: Smythe, Patterson & Smytheson inscribed in elegantly fancy lettering. He knew the law firm too. It was his father's after all. So, the family was probably going to take the unfavourable distributions of the late Kuchiki's estate to court after all. He sighed. Well. That was all very well, he ought to go back upstairs and attempt to decipher some legalese while his brains still worked, so, "Well, good day, Hana."
He nodded, ever the gentleman, and turned towards the stairs.
Hana had just opened her mouth to respond to Byakuya's question when she realized that even though he was body-present, he was most certainly mind-absent, as was evidenced by the ever-present look of consternation on his face seeming slightly more... consternated? as he looked at the heavy envelope he held.
When he gave her a parting nod and moved to ascend the stairs, she held her hand up in protest, though not putting it out to restrain him. The letter from her mother was perched in her fingers, a message of birthday wishes printed on the front and written inside, which she would read in a moment. Right now, however, keeping Byakuya from escaping seemed more pressing.
"Hey wait!" she said hastily, hurrying after him. "Um, did you want to go? To the museum, I mean." A brief pause. "I mean, if you don't have time, that's cool, I totally understand." Hana decided to stop talking before she said anything else that sounded stupid or started rambling, choosing instead to wait for his reply.
It was smart of Hana to corral Byakuya while he was there. The chances of her actually pinning him down otherwise were slim to none. He was a slippery, hermit-like thing. As it was, he froze midstep, brow furrowed, brain trying to connect her question with the expected complications of legalese that he would be expected to contend with.
The museum? It took him a long moment before Byakuya remembered exactly what Hana was actually referring to. Ah. Yes. The art museum. Realising that he was facing away from her, he turned around again, a precise one-eighty, heel against worn flooring, his dark eyes meeting hers. What were the exhibits again? He'd forgotten. Renaissance? Art nouveau? No, he'd remember if it was art nouveau. He couldn't quite remember, but it definitely wasn't one of their resident exhibits.
"I... ah... well..." Rukia was always trying to nudge him out the door, and perhaps a trip to the art museum would be a good thing. He'd enjoyed his last visit to the place, after all. "I... yes, I would like to accompany you to the art museum." A hesitation, then, sheepishly, "...ah. What is the exhibit you have tickets for again?"
"Impressionists." Hana replied easily. "And some other stuff, too. The tickets are good for the whole museum, not just the one exhibit... hold on." She shifted all her assorted letters around and dug through her purse, pulling out a slightly rumpled museum flyer and smoothing it out by running it over her thigh. "Yeah, here. 'Impressionism: The Beginning of an Era.' Some of the other exhibits... a display of Mayan sculpture, hand-blown glass pieces by local artists, and a collection of lithographic prints by Alphonse Mucha."
Nodding, Hana offered up the flyer to Byakuya, smiling brightly. "I've never been to an art museum like that one before. Only a few galleries here and there, really, for art appreciation back in college. It should be fun."
Did she just say Mucha? Now that caught Byakuya's attention. He reached out to scan the flyer. Well, it must be on loan to them, then, as they'd never had that collection there before. He would have known, if they had. "I've been there before," he replied absently, now distracted by the art and not the lawyer's documents. "It's a big place. Some galleries are interesting, some aren't so much."
The glossy print and promises emblazoned in stylish grandeur on the somewhat rumpled brochure resembled many similar ones that had once graced his mailbox when the Kuchikis, as the elite amongst high society, were expected to attend such events as galas and opening balls. It brought back memories of a more... opulent time in his life. He handed it back to Hana. "It is like other museums. Just a storage space for objects."
"Cool objects, though. I want to go to the Smithsonian someday. I know it sounds corny, but I'm such a farm girl, I've never been to a lot of places like that!" She grinned sheepishly and accepted the flyer back, tucking it back into her purse with the other jumble of items that had been tossed in there.
"Anyway, those exhibits will be there for a while, so there's no hurry. I can't go this weekend 'cause Kiba and I are going on an Inuzuka birthday hike."
Ah. Right. And again, the yawning gap between their respective origins reared its head. Byakuya had spent his share of time in and around museums and other such places ever since he had been a boy. Wandering their echoing halls was familiar to him, just as (he suspected,) running through the wide open fields was second nature to Hana. "Ah. Well, enjoy your hike," he replied politely.
If he hadn't been quite so distracted, he might have noticed the descriptor: "birthday" before hike. Might have made some kind of comment, or perhaps queried further as to whose birthday she was referring to. However, he was itching to go and read the lawyer's packet. While he despised legalese, he wanted to know the bad news before Rukia got home. "I will see you around then, Hana. Good day." He nodded politely then, and turned (for the second time) to head up the stairs.
"Yeah," she said, "you too." Hana offered a small wave to Byakuya's retreating back. Oh well. He seemed preoccupied.
After a brief moment, Hana realized that she was staring, and quickly gave herself a quick shake before stuffing all the mail into her purse and heading out the door. She still had to buy a few ingredients to finish the icing for her cake, after all.
Coming to a stop in front of the mail slots, she dropped off a few letters before picking up the incoming mail for apartment nine, sorting through it and picking out the envelopes addressed to her.
That was how Byakuya found her, dark head bowed over the slips of envelopes and other bits of mail as he stepped through the front door of the building. Recognition lit dark eyes but faintly, but he retained his solemn expression (really, he rarely ever even twitched from his stone-faced facade) as he walked up towards the wall of mailboxes and counted his and Rukia's out, mailbox key in hand as he greeted her. "Good afternoon, Hana."
Polite as ever, he nodded, then turned his attention to his mailbox, digging out envelopes that contained bills and more bills to pay. Utilities, cell phone, lawyerly forms (regarding his late father's estate, no doubt), and other such annoyances. There were a couple more addressed to Rukia from the university. Probably scholarships and other university-related items. He tucked those aside to hand to her when she returned later. It was the larger packet from the distinguished law firm that concerned him. He would go over it later tonight when he had the time (not that he had any, what with schoolwork and projects popping up like new leaves in the spring).
Hana looked up and smiled brightly when Byakuya entered, waving a handful of envelopes at him in greeting, brushing hair out of her face with her other hand. He looked stoic, as usual, calm and composed. "How are you doing today?" she asked, grinning as she tucked the letters that didn't belong to her under her arm.
Using her apartment key, Hana made short work of opening the blue envelope in her hand. The top lefthand corner was marked with bold letters that read "INUZUKA TSUME." Hana had always been amused at her mother's way of always writing in all uppercase letters. It seemed to her that the older woman was yelling even when she was writing.
Brow furrowed over the lawyer's packet (what on earth did it contain that it was that thick?), Byakuya barely registered Hana's question until he noticed her expectant look. "Ah? Ah. I am good, thank you. And you?"
The question was repeated as rote, a required response trained into him like drooling was into Pavlov's dogs. He weighed the package and eyed the return address: Smythe, Patterson & Smytheson inscribed in elegantly fancy lettering. He knew the law firm too. It was his father's after all. So, the family was probably going to take the unfavourable distributions of the late Kuchiki's estate to court after all. He sighed. Well. That was all very well, he ought to go back upstairs and attempt to decipher some legalese while his brains still worked, so, "Well, good day, Hana."
He nodded, ever the gentleman, and turned towards the stairs.
Hana had just opened her mouth to respond to Byakuya's question when she realized that even though he was body-present, he was most certainly mind-absent, as was evidenced by the ever-present look of consternation on his face seeming slightly more... consternated? as he looked at the heavy envelope he held.
When he gave her a parting nod and moved to ascend the stairs, she held her hand up in protest, though not putting it out to restrain him. The letter from her mother was perched in her fingers, a message of birthday wishes printed on the front and written inside, which she would read in a moment. Right now, however, keeping Byakuya from escaping seemed more pressing.
"Hey wait!" she said hastily, hurrying after him. "Um, did you want to go? To the museum, I mean." A brief pause. "I mean, if you don't have time, that's cool, I totally understand." Hana decided to stop talking before she said anything else that sounded stupid or started rambling, choosing instead to wait for his reply.
It was smart of Hana to corral Byakuya while he was there. The chances of her actually pinning him down otherwise were slim to none. He was a slippery, hermit-like thing. As it was, he froze midstep, brow furrowed, brain trying to connect her question with the expected complications of legalese that he would be expected to contend with.
The museum? It took him a long moment before Byakuya remembered exactly what Hana was actually referring to. Ah. Yes. The art museum. Realising that he was facing away from her, he turned around again, a precise one-eighty, heel against worn flooring, his dark eyes meeting hers. What were the exhibits again? He'd forgotten. Renaissance? Art nouveau? No, he'd remember if it was art nouveau. He couldn't quite remember, but it definitely wasn't one of their resident exhibits.
"I... ah... well..." Rukia was always trying to nudge him out the door, and perhaps a trip to the art museum would be a good thing. He'd enjoyed his last visit to the place, after all. "I... yes, I would like to accompany you to the art museum." A hesitation, then, sheepishly, "...ah. What is the exhibit you have tickets for again?"
"Impressionists." Hana replied easily. "And some other stuff, too. The tickets are good for the whole museum, not just the one exhibit... hold on." She shifted all her assorted letters around and dug through her purse, pulling out a slightly rumpled museum flyer and smoothing it out by running it over her thigh. "Yeah, here. 'Impressionism: The Beginning of an Era.' Some of the other exhibits... a display of Mayan sculpture, hand-blown glass pieces by local artists, and a collection of lithographic prints by Alphonse Mucha."
Nodding, Hana offered up the flyer to Byakuya, smiling brightly. "I've never been to an art museum like that one before. Only a few galleries here and there, really, for art appreciation back in college. It should be fun."
Did she just say Mucha? Now that caught Byakuya's attention. He reached out to scan the flyer. Well, it must be on loan to them, then, as they'd never had that collection there before. He would have known, if they had. "I've been there before," he replied absently, now distracted by the art and not the lawyer's documents. "It's a big place. Some galleries are interesting, some aren't so much."
The glossy print and promises emblazoned in stylish grandeur on the somewhat rumpled brochure resembled many similar ones that had once graced his mailbox when the Kuchikis, as the elite amongst high society, were expected to attend such events as galas and opening balls. It brought back memories of a more... opulent time in his life. He handed it back to Hana. "It is like other museums. Just a storage space for objects."
"Cool objects, though. I want to go to the Smithsonian someday. I know it sounds corny, but I'm such a farm girl, I've never been to a lot of places like that!" She grinned sheepishly and accepted the flyer back, tucking it back into her purse with the other jumble of items that had been tossed in there.
"Anyway, those exhibits will be there for a while, so there's no hurry. I can't go this weekend 'cause Kiba and I are going on an Inuzuka birthday hike."
Ah. Right. And again, the yawning gap between their respective origins reared its head. Byakuya had spent his share of time in and around museums and other such places ever since he had been a boy. Wandering their echoing halls was familiar to him, just as (he suspected,) running through the wide open fields was second nature to Hana. "Ah. Well, enjoy your hike," he replied politely.
If he hadn't been quite so distracted, he might have noticed the descriptor: "birthday" before hike. Might have made some kind of comment, or perhaps queried further as to whose birthday she was referring to. However, he was itching to go and read the lawyer's packet. While he despised legalese, he wanted to know the bad news before Rukia got home. "I will see you around then, Hana. Good day." He nodded politely then, and turned (for the second time) to head up the stairs.
"Yeah," she said, "you too." Hana offered a small wave to Byakuya's retreating back. Oh well. He seemed preoccupied.
After a brief moment, Hana realized that she was staring, and quickly gave herself a quick shake before stuffing all the mail into her purse and heading out the door. She still had to buy a few ingredients to finish the icing for her cake, after all.