It's Too Early for Christmas Music [Rukia, Rose]

"Ha, isn't that the truth? I think this sort of quiet little life is better for a lot of us. Even if not everyone would want to admit that."

Rukia's mood lightened just a touch at the idea of doing this more, and she took a long sip of her drink as she thought it over. It was true that she and Rose had never exactly been close, but it wasn't as if either of them were pretending otherwise. At the same time, though, the bond of what they'd been through back then was hard to ignore, and it was more comforting than she'd ever care to say openly to think of this being a recurring thing.

"Hopefully it won't be quite as hard to find you again next time. I had to come up with a pretty good excuse for why I'm out here in a quiet little corner of Spain, you know. It isn't exactly as lively here as it used to be in Karakura."

Rose laughed lightly at that passing comment about living a quiet life. He could hardly call even this life an all too quiet one, out here as he was performing almost every day he got the chance. They were better smiling and laughing anyway rather than lamenting, it gave them some colour that was a prettier shade than grey.

"Well, I do try to keep myself moving. People tend to get a bit uppity if I stick around solving their problems for too long like I'm not doing them a favour. But Karakura..? I suppose I could go back. I imagine most of my old haunts have closed down or moved, but there's a lot of memories there."

To most people, heading back to their home town of several centuries after returning from a trip across the galaxy was probably an obvious choice. But Rose was not most people, and he had already spoken of his fears of going back to find out what had become of his old comrades. Before Rukia, it had been easier to just think of it as the past. But it was the present and he wasn't going to move past it till he confronted it.

"Karakura's...well, it's different. I try not to go back much myself. It's funny, it doesn't remind me of how it used to be at all, except for in all the ways I wish it didn't."

Of course, Rukia didn't think much on that, and she continued to drink with little regard for the fact that she didn't have much in the way of alcohol tolerance. After all, this wasn't as strong as some of the things that had had her completely ruined. It was just enough to keep her mind from staying on the things she didn't want to think about.

"I don't think I'd ask anyone to go back there, honestly. But that's just me."

"Well, they did turn it into some sprawling metropolis after it was all but reduced to rubble at the end of the third war. Unless they knocked all that down again after the fourth one."

Rose was hardly a heavyweight drinker himself, decades off-world living on carefully managed rations with little room for luxuries such as alcohol having destroyed whatever tolerance he might once have had. Yet he too did not want to linger on ill memories and so he kept pace as best he could. Already he was beginning to feel a tingle in his fingertips, but that was hardly a reason to stop by itself.

"Not Karakura then. Where is even good anymore? The City of Lights? I don't know if the Vandenreich would exactly be appreciative of my efforts. They're quite a colourful bunch from what I hear."

It didn't take much convincing to have him second-guessing himself, a gentle push in the other direction and Rose was already convinced to stay away. But he did wonder if Rukia had any other answers to his question. The world had gone to hell and back while he had been gone, and now he was an alien trying to readjust to a life he had once been on top of.