Man has to suffer

[icy_heavens]

Who: Hitsugaya Toushirou (icy_heavens), and Kuchiki Byakuya (soul_scatter)
When: Backdated to January 22nd
Summary: They're stuck in the house today. No good can come from this.
Warnings: Excessive crankiness, pettiness, and possible bodily harm due to immaturity.


Being stuck in the house due to snow; it was so incredibly ironic, he couldn't possibly find it funny. Not that he ever found much to be funny anyway. But the most prudent thing was to let nature take its course like this. Or it had seemed the prudent thing at the time. He was starting to reconsider.

He lounged on the couch, cycling through a few books stored on his NV in an effort to find something to read and distract his mind. It was a blessedly silent thing to do. Unlike what Kuchiki was doing -- not that was Kuchiki was doing was particularly noisy, but in the relative quiet of the house? It was getting bothersome.

Hitsugaya didn't bother looking up from his NV. "Is that really necessary?"

Comments

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya barely looked up. What he was doing was polishing his scabbard. Having cared for Senbonzakura earlier, he'd turned his attention to the scabbard wanting to make sure it was as clean as it was supposed to be - a chore he'd been neglecting recently.

His cloth occasionally made the softest of squeaking sounds, but other than that, the house was almost eerily silent.

"Yes." What else was there to say, really?

[icy_heavens]

He was going to have to find more books to put onto this thing. Nothing already there was grabbing his interest today.

Why look up? It was unnecessary. This wasn't a captain's meeting; they weren't required to look at one another when they spoke. Certainly, that would have been basic politeness, but who cared about basic politeness when they were stuck?

Potentially a lot of people, really. But people who weren't sociable to begin with probably didn't default to it. Like these two.

"That squeaking is annoying."

[soul_scatter]

The soft cloth squeaked briefly as he ran it over a stubborn spot. "Indeed?" He continued on his close inspection of the brilliantly white sheath.

He wasn't going to stop, just because Hitsugaya wanted him to. Why wasn't he out playing in the snow anyway?

[icy_heavens]

He gritted his teeth briefly. Damn that noise. Damn being stuck in the stupid house with a damned housemate that was clearly being deliberate. "You're doing it on purpose now."

Play in the snow? Play? He would not do such a frivolous thing. Besides, the snow was nearly seven feet high outside. He couldn't even get out the door.

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya ran the cloth down the sheath one final time before setting the newly cleaned scabbard to the side. He carefully used the cloth to clean his hands. "I require the sheath to be clean, Hitsugaya-taichou." He can't help it if it squeaks.

He picked up his papers and began scratching out corrections on them.

"I would have expected you to more enjoy being outside." Meaning, why don't you go outside if you're so irritated?

[icy_heavens]

If the snow weren't nearly three feet above his head, perhaps he would have. As it was, he was getting tempted to shove Kuchiki through the front door and into the wall of snow if he thought it was such a great idea.

But that would have been immature of him.

"The quantity is inconvenient." He didn't exactly mind the blizzard or the snow in and of itself, but there were limits to what was convenient. And again, he did not play.

Pen-scratching. He could actually deal with pen-scratching. But he was already annoyed, and if Kuchiki were going to continue being purposeful, then he wasn't going to sit idly by.

"Though perhaps I can make it a bit more comfortable in here."

It was a gradual change, really, but the air temperature around them dropped a few degrees. He wasn't going to drop it low enough that things started freezing and damages would be incurred, but it was approaching the temperature that he kept up in his own room.

He still didn't bother looking up.

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya continued on his paperwork. There were papers to grade and other things to get done that went along with being a professor. Most of the children weren't complete morons...

Saying that, he came across a paper stating that the Japanese were deviants for allowing men of such station to have carnal relations. He was pretty sure his eyes were going to roll out of his head.

He slid a glance at his fellow taichou and merely got up and made himself a mug of tea. "Comfortability is, of course, subjective." Byakuya waited on the water to heat. "Perhaps you should open a window." He settled back to his work.

[icy_heavens]

He was dangerously close to messing with the boiling water. But he wasn't quite at the point where he was petty enough to tamper with tea. Odd, that. He was more willing to entertain the idea of shoving Kuchiki out into a blizzard than he was to get in the way of tea preparation.

Open a window. Yeah, wonderful idea. Except the snow was up past them and would come pouring into the house if he did that.

"So you would be comfortable with snow spilling into the house. I wouldn't have expected so, given your intolerance for it."

[soul_scatter]

There would be a fight if Hitsugaya tampered with the tea preparations. Some things were sacred and tea was one of those things. Byakuya set his tea to steep and barely ticked up an eyebrow.

"I have never stated intolerance for snow." Not liking something isn't intolerance, obviously.

[icy_heavens]

It would take more of a push to get him to go that far. As it was, he left the tea alone. For now.

And just because Kuchiki had never stated an intolerance for snow, that didn't preclude him from having it. A lot of people did. They just didn't know how to appreciate the stuff.

"I suppose not, considering you just suggested I let it pour into the house and cause yet more water damage to the place. You do realize there has to be nearly seven feet of snow out there?"

He might have sounded a little peevish, but honestly. It was just logical. Was Kuchiki even thinking? Had being stuck inside for such a brief time addled his mind so much? The snow was past the damned windows. Couldn't he see that?

Hitsugaya lifted an eyebrow and inclined his head toward the tea. "What flavour?"

If it was something decent, he might have some.

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya was more amused with himself than he let on. Why? Because he could only read student reports for so long before he wanted to find Kenpachi and finish the fight that Yammy interrupted, without a weapon. Because that would be absolutely less painful.

"Perhaps more." He didn't mind. The house was warm, and he had no trouble Keeping himself busy after all. That's what Hitsugaya was here for. "There are upstairs windows." Obviously.

He picked up his tea. "Orange jasmine." He ticked up an eyebrow. He didn't mind making tea for others. He found it soothing.

[icy_heavens]

Orange jasmine? Eh. Not one of his favourites. "Nevermind, then."

The house was only warm because Hitsugaya was allowing it. He could change that at any time, should he so desire. He had half a mind to, in fact, but he wasn't that petty. He was a mature adult and a captain. And therefore better than that.

His eyebrow went up again at that comment. "Don't tell me where to go in my own house."

Kuchiki had no right to tell him what to do. Even if the man wasn't saying it straight out, that was exactly what he was doing. Hitsugaya would have been an idiot not to see it.

He frowned in Kuchiki's direction. Kuchiki was noticeably avoiding the rest of those papers he'd been grading. So he was looking to him for amusement now? Like hell Hitsugaya would let him get away with that. He was no one's entertainment, least of all Kuchiki's.

"Am I amusing you, Kuchiki?" There was considerable bite in his tone. This would not stand.

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya sat down at the table again, looking at the papers in front of him. The steaming mug of tea was still in his hand. At the order not to tell him where to go, Byakuya merely turned and ticked up an eyebrow at Hitsugaya. He hadn't been telling him where to go; merely pointing out that there were windows to open upstairs.

He sipped his tea. When asked about being amused, he again turned from his papers. "Amusing?" Like it was a foreign concept. Like it was completely out of Byakuya's realm of comprehension.

[icy_heavens]

The order was implied. Orders could be given that way.

Just how stupid did Kuchiki think he was? The tone of that question put lie to it completely. The damned man was laughing at him behind that bland face. Hitsugaya could tell. And he wasn't going to put up with it.

"I should hope not, as there's nothing amusing about me."

A small, concentrated exertion of reiatsu, and that steaming cup of tea in Kuchiki's hand was steaming no longer. The liquid inside was now a solid block of ice.

Find him amusing, would you, Kuchiki? That would stop with the tea being frozen. Tea was practically sacred to the man. Playtime was over.

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya watched the liquid freeze in the cup, got up and made himself another mug of tea. "Your reiatsu is leaking. Training can help that."

Calm, cool, collected. He was still the Kuchiki. He'd like to point out, Hitsugaya was acting rather childish, but he was keeping that comment to himself.

*explodes back onto DW*

[icy_heavens]

His eyes narrowed a little more. "Nothing's leaking."

If Kuchiki were trying to rile him up further with that . . . Well, Hitsugaya wasn't going to let him. He could be mature about that. So mature that he still decided to freeze the new cup. And all of the water in the kettle, should Kuchiki try to shrug this off again.

No this was not petty of him. Certainly not. He was just demonstrating his fine control over his powers. Nothing but the tea and the water in the kettle was frozen. That took skill.

OMG YOU'RE BACK! *TACKLES*

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya put the tea kettle back on the stove and turned to look Hitsugaya with his eyebrow ticked. "Indeed?" He had to ask. "Then perhaps we should call the landlord and report an unusual draft."

He knows it's you, you brat. "Perhaps the windows are leaking, then. It would explain why it's so cold."

An eyebrow tick. "Unless Hyrouinmaru is taking the atmosphere into his hands." Meaning: Are you sure you've got control of that dragon of yours... boy?

I'm going to wait a while to officially call the hiatus over, but for now? YAAAAAAAY!

[icy_heavens]

Oh, he got that message, and it made his brow twitch in annoyance. An insult to his control, along with an insult to his age? That actually got him to sit up and put his NV aside.

"My control is perfect. I just said that nothing was leaking."

Meaning: he's fully admitting to doing this on purpose. He wasn't letting Hyourinmaru shoulder blame for this. When he didn't have control, Hyourinmaru would freeze an entire house up -- it was what had been slowly killing Granny.

Damn Kuchiki for dredging that memory up.

Probably wise. But you've been missed bb.

[soul_scatter]

"Is it?" He asked. Byakuya knew it was a taunt and he was probably making comments beneath him, but Hitsugaya had started it by messing with the tea. Complain about his grading, his cleaning his sheath, anything, but do. not. touch. the. tea.

He turned back to the stove. "Then I assume you have a reason for ruining my tea. If you object so strongly, saying so is preferred."

Stop being a petty child, boy. (Because fifty years is such a huge age difference, of course.)

[icy_heavens]

Like hell he was the one that started this. Kuchiki had been being an ass; this was retaliation. In itself not the most mature thing, perhaps, but it was better than instigating.

"Since when was my control your issue with me, Kuchiki? And I think it's perfectly clear why I did that."

Not petty, damn it. It was more than that now.

[soul_scatter]

Byakuya didn't glance back. "I do not recall having any issues with you, Hitsugaya." Alright, so he thought the boy too familiar with his fukutaichou, but there was something to be said for it - and he'd never said it aloud to Hitsugaya.

Then he did turn around. "You had a reason other than ruining tea? Indeed?"

He could be just as not petty as anyone.

[icy_heavens]

He folded his arms. "Tch. Not that you've said to my face. I know the grounds on which you made your objection."

Hitsugaya hadn't expected unanimous approval of his promotion; he wasn't that naive. But the nature of Kuchiki's criticism had stung. Not emotionally mature enough to handle all the responsibilities being a captain entailed? Like hell.

Surely there was no way Kuchiki could reasonably still think that. Under his command, the Tenth had been running more smoothly than it had in some time -- Matsumoto's lack of work ethic notwithstanding. If the Tenth were going to be run into the ground, it would have happened a lot quicker than the twenty-odd years he'd been heading up the division.

"You were being an ass."

[soul_scatter]

That made him turn around. "I was not the only one who objected." He pointed out. "I made my objection known, was overruled and have accepted it." Meaning, he accepted his duty, just like he always did. His superior (Yamamoto) overruled him. He's fine with that.

And he still thought he was right. However, he would not undermine another taichou's authority by saying so. And he would never say so to Hitsugaya. He kept his own damned counsel.