Party on the beach.

[sarah_branigan]

It's a beautiful, sunny day on the beach. The ocean is a shimmering blue, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The sand is warm without scorching, and the water is a perfect temperature. In fact, it might be the most wonderful day, weatherwise, that the beach has ever seen (It probably helps that Sarah is close friends with the person who actually

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[handle_gently]

Hanatarou had thought about bringing daikon or bok choy, but some kind of ready-to-serve side dish seemed better... there was something uncouth (it seemed to him) about bringing something that one did not personally know how to prepare, since there was the implicit idea that one's host would be burdened with preparing it (and knowing how to). (Not that he'd mind if he brought something that wasn't served, but the host might feel that he would, which would be another burden.) He'd also considered something like a cookbook with recipes for Asian vegetables, but he didn't know where to find an English-language version... and besides, it wasn't a very party-relevant kind of thing to bring. And he wasn't going to have a lot of time to wander around a Tokyo department store to find something else that did seem suitable... And even though bringing extra food to a party seemed somewhat normal and polite in his head, mightn't there be some hosts who would see it as a statement that their guest did not think them capable of producing an

[handle_gently]

"Oh," Hantarou says, "I'm sorry." (...Oops. That was about sixteen times less gracious than would have been appropriate.)

[sarah_branigan]

She laughs. If she thinks his reply is ungracious at all, she doesn't show it. "Don't be. I don't work for him anymore. He's not giving you a hard time or anything, is he? Mr. Iemura, I mean."

[handle_gently]

"Oh, ah, well... not really." (Recently, anyway. Especially since the cobra power swap. And the accidental paralysis.) "I'm very grateful for your concern!"

[sarah_branigan]

"Good. You're amazing at what you do, any boss should be grateful to have you working under them." Serious nod! No amount of protesting from Hana will change her mind. "What else is new at Soul Society?" She frowns for a moment. "You know, I call it that, but I don't know if I'm referring to the organization you work for, or where you live."

[handle_gently]

"Aheh," Hanatarou answers, since he thinks it's likely that no amount of protest will change her mind. "Let's see. What's new... It's mainly more of the same as far as most of us are concerned. The advance guard have their hands full with Arrancar incursions, but removing their combat limits should be a lot quicker next time, at least. They're stationed in the living world now, though. ... So I guess that's not really relevant to your question." He frowns.

"Oh! Soul Society is actually the name of that entire world. My organization is the Thirteen Court Guard Companies; all of us live in the Court of Pure Souls in the central part of Soul Society." His expression says he knows that made sense! That made sense, right?

[sarah_branigan]

"Have you been to the living world, lately?" she asks. "I mean... on your world." She wonders what it's like for him -- is it like visiting the Nexus, or one of his friend's worlds? Or does it feel different?

She listens to his explanation, then slowly nods. It makes sense in the sense that a city in Soul Society would be called 'Court of the Pure Souls' as opposed to 'Newark' or something along those lines. "I see. How big is Soul Society? Or is that irrelevant?"

[handle_gently]

"I have!" he answers. "I accompanied Mr. Tsubokura of Twelfth Company there quite recently so he could take some measurements. That's when we learned to bake cakes." (Filler episode logic!!!)

"Let's see... how big," he ponders, once again displaying clearly with his body language that he is pondering. "I don't know it in kilometers, and I'm not sure how definite the outer limits are. If you were to travel on foot from one side of it to the other, it might take... seventy days or so? Maybe more."

[sarah_branigan]

((dead from icon. OMG.))

"Oh, I see. Did you have fun? You know, my offer still stands to teach you how to make the frosting."

She looks thoughtful. "And that has room for all the souls of your world? Or are some of them elsewhere?"

[handle_gently]

(( >wit might be an enormous, gaping plot hole my captain or someone might know whether there are other places like Soul Society in other continents, or something."

[sarah_branigan]

"I taught my friend Melinda to make brownies. Daniel, too. If they can learn, anyone can." She grins, although there's something a little sad in her expression, like she's just remembered a sad story she overheard.

Stupid plot holes. "It'd be interesting to see. I'm trying to learn more about the metaphysical, after speaking with Djehuty."

[handle_gently]

"Eheh. Why do you say that?"

"Djehuty?" he frowns, possibly mispronouncing it.

[sarah_branigan]

"Hmm? Oh, I just mean that it isn't hard to learn."

"Djehuty," she repeats, a little slower this time. Her pronounciation is very good, probably because she's heard others speak his name so often (and his son, Djehutymes, is even more of a mouthful). "He's a god that visits the Nexus. Egyptian, ibis-headed, god of law and the moon? He's very nice, not like-- well. He doesn't meddle in other people's affairs."

[handle_gently]

"Djehuty," Hanatarou repeats (again), carefully. "You know, I think we may have spoken. The fact that I can't remember for certain probably says a lot..."

[jmlevitt]

"BUN!" Bun squeals in recognition, and gives Belle a fuzzy hug of her own. "Bun! Buneary!" She says, hopping excitedly from one foot to the other.

[sarah_branigan]

Belle smiles broadly (her mouth going from the shape of a circle to that of a banana). She takes one of Bun's paws with a leafy hand. "Bell. Bellsprout!" she exclaims, pointing out Sarah's garden. It's small, but rather dense with flowers and leafy plants. Belle helped pull out the weeds and make it look nice for her mistress!