Etcetera

(MissSTORMCALLER, WDKALY, Part 13.)

O.M.G. I love all of this. How gloriously awkward. Like, imagine, you go over to your boss's house to see your fiancée for breakfast, and it is dead silent during the meal. They don't even make sounds while eating. What in The Stepford Wives is this even?

Run, Renji, run!!!!

Although maybe I am being unfair to the Kuchiki: How noisily is Renji being? Is he being normal, and they are just odd, or has he pulled up to the table and is scarfing down his meal like a ravenous pooch?

Renji, probably.

Most generously to all characters, maybe Renji is anxious to be around his boss and his boss's sister, whom he is planning on marrying. Like, the setup in and of itself is just so wonderously awkward.

I love it. More. Yesss. Yesss.

The second thing that strikes me as such a detail is that Byakuya and Rukia generally eat separately. In my head, I always assumed they probably had silent, uncomfortable meals together. Rukia's explanation, however, makes sense for why they don't usually eat together; it also gives a sense of scale and directionality to Seireitei vis-à-vis Kuchiki Manor.

Next up, is the exchange between Renji and Byakuya regarding sleeping arrangements, with Renji assuming Byakuya sleeps overnight at the Sixth, which he quickly corrects. I love this, too. Like, one, Renji doesn't know that Byakuya goes home at night? I feel like this is a thing you would know about your boss, given how much time you spend with them in close proximity. However, when your boss is Byakuya, perhaps you actively extract yourself from all subjects personal. Thing two, here, is Byakuya's correction.

This weird ass man. I love it because why would he bother with a correction? Is it a character tic, e.g., he cannot let a falsity stand where it regards him? Or, is there something cultural, i.e., "I am not broke enough to need to stay at the squad to save time"? Or is it a personal thing, i.e., "I would rather die here and now than let you think I spend one extra moment at this job like a loser"!

Byakuya, probably.

Moving along to more delightful and awkward moments in this gift of a scene:

Okay, starting with Renji calling Rukia "gluttonous"--or at least I think it is Renji calling Rukia "gluttonous" and not the waitstaff, which would be breathtakingly crazy in a very different way--I re-read that line so many times. I was assuming (until that line) that Renji finds this meal very nerve-racking, given his reaction to the silence mentioned above and deference to Byakuya, but maybe he really is pulling up to House Kuchiki and slurping down the meal because what the fuck, my good dude?

At this point, my brain flies to the fact that food and the descriptions of food in this passage are probably working on a few levels. The most obvious to me is class/culture: Byakuya and Rukia display exceptional manners and take their meal in silence, which seems alien to Renji. The second most obvious point here, to me at least, is that the abundance of food paired with "gluttonous" is probably a reflection of Renji's relationship to food as someone with no generational wealth and who hails from one of the most abject slums of Rukongai. Because, yes, Rukia's comment about wanting to eat at Kuchiki Manor every day does seem gluttonous from that perspective. (Even as Renji is on bowl 4 of the rice....)

What Renji seemingly misses, however, is what prompted her to say this very odd thing--something that Byakuya seems to pick up with a hacking acknowledgment: Rukia's comment isn't really about food at all.

This is the point where I hop on my high horse about how meals in fiction are rarely ever about the meals themselves. Instead, mealtimes in fiction serve so many great functions: bringing folks together, forcing interaction between characters, getting people into casual or overly formal situations where they might behave differently, what food is being served and what that means to the characters, etc. You also don't really have to explain much, since everybody eats, including the audience, who can fill in the gaps in the scenes with their own understanding of the banalities of mealtime.

Hopping off that horse now, Rukia's comment seems to highlight how Rukia isn't really talking about her love for the head chef's direction at Kuchiki Manor. She's blushing and mumbling. The blushing is mentioned several times, which makes this comment confessional. Because food for Rukia is also a loaded subject, given her own Inuzuri heritage.

This confession, also, isn't really aimed at Renji, even though he blurts out his opinion as if it were. The confession is aimed at Byakuya, who quickly moves to tell her that, "It's fine if you want to come back here to eat anytime."

This is all just so friggin' sweet!!!! Byakuya, good job! He picked up Rukia's anxiety about change, about leaving her home, the home she shares with him, and the comforts he gives her, even if they aren't physically in the same spot to share these comforts. And I can't help but believe he understands this confession, at least in part, because he has similar feelings about his little sister growing up and leaving.

Renji's response to Byakuya being, "Awesome! Thank you very much, captain!!" Is... just... so... Renji....

The Kuchiki staff, probably.

Byakuya's comeback being, "I wasn't talking to you!" is 10/10. Captain Rich Bitch does not play about meal invites, especially if you are chowing down like a wild animal, Renji. I like this ribbing, though, because it seems very in character coming from the man who intentionally ran Renji into a wall for the comedy.

Which also serves as the visual analogy for how this breakfast is going for Renji.

What a sweet moment between Byakuya and Rukia.

And Renji is... there ... knocking into decades of emotional constipation between two of the most emotionally constipated characters in the game.

I love it.