#bday!2023

--- It is a curious first sentence, that is for certain, but fondness swells in his heart, and a warmth is imbued in his smile as his captain continues his explanation. It is a consideration that Byakuya is not wont to show anyone else, and Renji is well-aware of that. At first, the few days leading up to his birthday, he had been afraid that something was amiss. Byakuya would not spend time with him { too wrapped up in paperwork }, and it seemed to Renji as though he was inventing more and more work to avoid him, making hours overtime that seemed.. Well, disproportionate even to their busiest times of year. And yet.. Now it all made sense. How could Byakuya have cleared both their schedules without first doing the work of two men in their positions. He would not have been able to stand it if the work piled up simply because they took time off, Renji knew that well enough.

There is an indescribable warmth that spreads from his chest, through his torso and down his limbs, reaching every extremity, including the fingers around which Byakuya's hand now wraps. Byakuya is giving him the gift of quality time.. Just the two of them. It is truly the best gift. It doesn't matter that it is not on the actual day. In fact, it is better; Renji will have time to allow his friends their congratulations, and to be dragged away for drinks, while he and Byakuya will have a whole day to themselves, the day after..

He doesn't recall ever feeling so rich, and loved, in life. He doesn't need expensive material gifts toward that end. He squeezes Byakuya's hand and smiles at him. He looks tired, Renji can only imagine the amount of hours it took to make this a reality. He could tally them all up, as he now realised he had watched Byakuya do it. He steps forth and presses his lips to the Kuchiki's. "I would love to," he assures him as he pulls away. "Thank you, that is the best gift you've given me yet," though, he does adore the bandanna's and yukata Byakuya had gifted him a year prior, once he had gotten over their cost, and wears either one of those at least once a week.

--- "Heh. Nice." He's perhaps a bit more impressed with the silver-haired shinigami now than he was before. After all, a sharp piece of metal is nice, and sure, you can do some pretty cool shit if you're skilled with one, but if you can't rip a hollow apart with your own hands and teeth, can you really call yourself strong? Not among arrancar, that's for sure. It also shows a certain. Commitment from the shinigami's side to get Renji a gift he would truly appreciate. That is definitely a notion that is filed away for later.

--- "Shiny," he comments, sniffing the package and immediately identifying the contents as food. The fact that is handmade { and thus painstakingly crafted } is lost on the arrancar, however. He nearly tears the pretty, soft cloth the box is wrapped in in his eagerness to get to the innards. Though he takes care not to dispose of the patterned fabric. He's always had a liking for that kind of thing; reminds him of his own marks. A familiarity of sorts. Plus, he simply enjoys standing out. So he ties it, for now, to his obi; the colours stark against the white of his (Aizen-mandated) hakama.

"Smelly," is his next comment. There's an almost nauseating sweetness wafting off the little treats housed in the box. He curls his nose. He's not sure he likes it. He isn't very accustomed to this kind of food. Frankly, any food is hard to come by in Hueco Mundo. Which is also in part the reason that he still thanks his master for the gift, right before he shoves two of the treats into his maw at once. His teeth stick together as he chews, smacking his lips and scrunching his nose once again. But.. It's not awful, far as food sources go, it's much better than some of the things he's scavenged before.

"Guess what?" In mulling on it, he'd come to a firm conclusion about what would make a fitting birthday present for Renji. Since he'd thought of it early enough, he'd been able to secure Rose's help in planning ahead. Namely, in blocking out his schedule for today's very important boyfriend duties. "I'm all yours today."

--- As per usual, he does not take kindly to being awoken before He's well and truly ready. And, therefore, he forgets even what day it is, nearly hitting Shuuhei in the face as he whips his pillow around and buries his well-kissed face beneath it with a groan. It isn't until his boyfriend's wonderful voice reaches his ears from beneath that downy darkness and the words are properly processed that he peeks out from under the pillow. Once he's reappeared, awake and now very much appreciative of Shuuhei's affection { positive languishing in it }, he offers him a lazy smile.

--- A birthday to a hollow is a strange thing. It is not the day on which they were actually born. Or rather, not the day on which the natural birth of the human that would one day become them occurred. Rather, it is the day of their rebirth; when they gain a consciousness again and become more than a beast. For Renji, it was when he had thrown off the skin of his baboon-like adjuchas-form, and had learned to permanently walk like other bipeds. Kind of like human evolution, which he thought was pretty damn funny { especially since he considered himself much better than a human }.

Perhaps the nature of the day makes it that he hasn't really ever 'celebrated'. That, and the fact that calendars seem terribly useless when there is an eternal night, and it is at times difficult to tell when a new day has begun. Still, he remembers almost instinctively what season he had been 'born' in. What surprises him more is that others also seem to know.

Interestingly enough, Ichimaru is the one to first present him with a gift. Renji's always liked that custom; getting free stuff simply for existing. He's grinning ear to ear when presented with the prize. "Did'ya kill it yerself?" He asks. And then, parroting what he's heard others say before on such an occasion "Ya shouldn't have~"

He crouches down by the corpse and starts ripping through skin and sinew with sharp nails, until the ichor stains his hands. He stuffs his face with the chunks of flesh he rips off, huddled over his gift.