Ichimaru Gin is a fox-faced bastard (fox_face) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-11-18 00:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, gin ichimaru, rangiku matsumoto |
Who: Gin, Rangiku
What: Rangiku had a bad dream about bad things Gin did. Dirty little traitor.
When: Recently, around the tail end of the truthy plot.
Rating: Low to Medium-ish? She smacks him, but tbh he deserved (and expected) it for being a jerk. Then they sort it out. For now. *dun dun dun!*
Status: Complete!
She'd had another dream. This time though she woke up livid. She put her hand down looking for Gin. When she didn't find him she got out of bed. And fell over her sword, which made her squeak in surprise before sitting on her heels.
She carefully picked it up and stared at it. Lips pursed before she got to her feet carrying the blade into the front room where she sat waiting for him to return. She seethed quietly turning the blade over in her hands as she did so.
Gin had slipped out at some point during the evening. Not to go 'accounting' or anything, but to get rid of that damn traitor's outfit he wore in Hueco Mundo, when he was Aizen's supposedly subservient subordinate. Try saying that three times, fast.
He returned without a sound in the back garden, taking out his phone and entering the code for the alarm before he even opened the doors to come in. He was getting better at adapting his sneakiness, that was for sure. Part of being sneaky meant he didn't leave any notes for her, either. He had told her that he wouldn't do that, and so he didn't. Because sometimes, Gin is a jerk. Or a lot of the time. Half the time? There. That covered several bases.
He walked in, wearing all black, staring more at his phone so he could lock the door behind him with one hand, and thumb in the code onto the screen, with the other. When the alarm showed it was activated, he shoved the phone back into the back pocket of his pants, and looked like he was going to head directly toward his room (which is still on loan to her).
Danger Level: Green. All's good. Not even anywhere near a yellow alert. So so far away from red. Perfectly safe. Mmhm.
Danger level green. Heading into yellow. "You warned me but I didn't think it would hurt so much."
She was calm sounding. Danger level orange.
She spoke just loud enough to hear but she hasn't turned to him yet. "Gin. Guess what happened tonight."
Gin skipped the yellow and orange alerts, entirely. He went straight to red the moment that she said that. Even if he seemed like he was ready to move in an instant, he remained perfectly still, looking very much like he was holding his breath.
That wasn't going to help him any, so he tried to use humor as a counterattack.
"Well?" he began, like he was thinking back over the entire evening. "I know I wore the kitten out so she's sleepin' like a fuzzy rock, and then we ate a ton of sushi. Fooled around. Zonked out. I woke up and I actually dinnit go out for accounting, for once? No rust or paint on me at all. I just got restless and no, I ain't leavin' ya no note. I already explained that to you. I might leave a picture or somethin', so don'cha go getting all hurt about it."
He was thinking it wasn't about that. But if all else failed? Play dumb.
Incredibly, astoundingly, stupendously dumb.
"Not any of that. I dreamed again. I dreamed of you. Of you turning traitor. Betraying us. Me. Leaving me behind. Again." Her voice cracked at the end. She didn't even care about no note.
"You warned me. But it still breaks my heart. Why would you do that to me," she pleaded before getting to her feet. A soft clink as she adjusted her grip.
"Then I woke up to look for you. And fell over this. So you can imagine how my nights going." Her face was an open book. Livid. Hurt. Anger. Rage. Confusion.
Gin thought to himself that wasn't a good look on her. He didn't take a step back, but he did make sure he hid his hands by crossing his arms over himself and tucking them inside the black jacket he had on. He tilted his head a little to the side, to make himself look like he was perplexed.
He wasn't at all. He knew exactly what she was talking about and knew exactly what he had done. And great. The universe or Orange County or whatever, really had it in for him if it gave her that dream and then armed her while she was upset.
"Ahhh, not good," he answered, that smiling fox-faced expression of his was on his face in an instant. "Remember when you told me, that because ya see it one way doesn't mean how it is? Well, that part kinda looks bad. And if you're gonna go losing yo' temper, we better take it outside. I don't want the house gettin' messed up, the animals gettin' freaked out, and Jessie gettin' woke up."
He took his phone out, turned the alarm off, and opened the door back up...all while keeping one squinty eye on her.
The OC hated them both. Arm the angry one. It was a greattttt idea. "I remember. I'm still mad. Really. Really mad. I still want to know why. "
She wisely followed him outside. She loves that house and the pets and jessie. Oops. No damaging the house.
She was twitching a little bit.
It wasn't like Gin was unarmed, and once the door was closed and he had taken a few steps away from the house, he folded his arms back over himself. The rule of thumb with him was that if he started to hide his hands? It was generally time to start worrying. With Rangiku, this was only a defense measure, in the event she really did try to use her sword against him. And that was only to parry a strike, as well as get enough time to cast hakufuku on her. He didn’t think he would have to go that far.
If she knew how to use Haineko, he might have a problem. The saving grace was she told him that she just found her sword when she woke up, and therefore, she probably didn't know how to use it yet. At least, that's what he was counting on. He got Shinso back and it took a few tries to get it to work. Dodging ash capable of sandblasting him wasn't exactly a thing he could sidestep with the greatest of ease, even if he was fast on his feet. The particles were too many and too small to avoid all of them.
"I kinda knew I was gonna be in the doghouse," he said, with a sigh in his voice. It might even sound like this was a bit of an inconvenience, since he seemed so calm compared to how twitchy with anger she was. "It's why I swooped in quick once ya showed up on the network. 'Cause I knew a whole lot more than you did, and more than ya do right now."
Both shoulders raised up in a shrug, since he wasn't sure what to say.
"...maybe you'll figure it out, later," he finished, unhelpfully.
"I don't think I've ever hated you but this comes close. You almost left me on the way to the Academy. You did leave me behind when you finished first but I never wavered. I still loved you." It was as if she was trying to put what she knew together. She was getting there slowly.
Her voice raised a bit. "Why would you do that to me. ME." Her lip wavered. She had no clue how to use Haineko. Thank God. She didn't want to really hurt him. If she used Haineko’s abilities, she might.
"Gahhhhhh!" came the frustrated cry as she launched herself at him, blade set on the ground beforehand. She'd not try to use it unless he pushed her. Instead it was fists as she cried and muttered 'why' over and over again.
A frowning Gin let her get a few hits in, even turning his shoulder to her so she had something to aim at besides his face. The emphasis was that he let her because he didn't move for those first few times. The sad fact was that a very upset Rangiku still hit like a sledgehammer, and there was only so long that he was going to let her do that. After failing to catch hold of her fists or wrists, he gave up and simply moved out of range. As in, he moved so fast that he was there one second and gone the next.
His eyes were wide open when he had reappeared, about ten feet away from her. The only sign that he had been in motion was that his hair settling back down, much like he had gone from a full sprinting run to a very abrupt stop.
"Ya said loved in a past tense," he pointed out a little too cheerfully, while not denying any of it. "You must be really close to hatin' me now, huh?"
She never really realized how hard she hit when mad. It was like wow heavy hitter in disguise.
Rangiku whirled after he fast stepped away. It only made her more angry. She was breathing angrily, chest heaving as she looked at him.
"Still love you. Loved you in my dreams despite those facts. Livid. Hurt. Now seething." She turned to move towards him.
He appeared to be standing perfectly still, even though he moved back a few more feet in response. That probably wasn't going to be good enough, since she was really, really angry right now, and he couldn’t back up further without hitting the concrete wall surrounding the garden. He bent at the knees and turned slightly, and was standing up on top of that wall in the blink of an eye.
"I can tell you're angry and hurt. Can't say I blame ya." He shoved his hands into his jacket's pockets and gazed back at her from up on his new perch. "I love ya too. But if you think I'm gonna stand there and take a beatin', you've got another thing comin'. I can keep doin' this all night...but unless ya brushed up on your shunpo, I don't think you're gonna be able to keep up. And we both know how lazy ya get when it comes to studying. You'd rather be drinkin' sake."
She sunk to the ground, fingers curling in the dust and dirt. Her head was hung as she watched the tears hit the dirt. Her shoulders shook as she sat on her knees.
"I don't even know how to do that so no I can't keep up. I... oh Gin..." she sobbed softly, trying to not look at him. She was scared if she did, she'd want to punch him again.
"Yeah. I don't think ya noticed," he replied, "that we're not exactly on the same level and haven't been, the whole time."
If it was anyone else, he probably would have sounded like he was mocking them. Instead, it sounded like he was making a simple statement, relaying a fact. To prove as much, he took a few steps off the wall, walking on air like it was solid ground. He stopped when he was nearly over her, bending forward at the waist to look down at her. Gin sighed because he hated when she cried, and he dropped down to the ground entirely, landing in a crouch right by her side.
After a moment’s pause, he reached out and rested his fingers over the top of one of Rangiku's hands. His touch was light but steady, his skin more pale than her own. That wasn’t unusual, since he was pale in his dreams, too.
"Ya wanna know why," he said, leaning in so she could hear him whisper. "I had something to do. I couldn't take ya with me and if I let ya know, you would've ratted me out and ruined it. That's because you're a good person, Rangiku, and I'm not."
That was vaguely put across as both in the dreams and while awake, too. True to form, he wasn't spelling that out at all. He wanted to tell her, but she probably needed more time to sort through whatever it was she was feeling, and if she wanted to throttle him or not. Especially since he was being so evasive.
Rangiku knew that. She wasn’t stupid. She felt it right now but she wasn’t. Slender fingers arched up to curl against his. She was feeling right lucky he was willing to get close to her, and touch her right now. She practically vibrated with a mass of confusion and anger. She gritted her teeth, she hated knowing she was behind him, yet again. It felt like a pattern in life and one she was hating on right now. HATING ON.
She twitched. She didn’t try to hit him again, which was a bonus, she was angry, still. Her anger this time not really deflected that easily. Although she knew better. She knew being angry and livid was no good thing. Although she did sneak her grip up to his wrist and with a grunt of effort threw him to his back. Then she moved to pin him, her lips landing next to his ear.
“You’re not a bad person, either, Gin,” she said softly. “You gonna hold to what you said, that when I’m done, and caught up and whatever, you’ll tell me the whole story behind this? Isn’t that what you said?” her voice quaked with barely contained fury, although she had dumped him gently. Not slammed him like she could have.
“My heart aches. I have every emotion running through me that I felt. My brain can't grab any single one. Then this shows up...making it all that much more real..."
He could have moved quickly away, but that would have dragged her along for the ride. Instead, he laid on his back, pinned down after she had flipped him, and he listened. Quietly. It even seemed like he wasn't going to answer at all.
There was a long moment in which it seemed like the noises in the neighborhood were louder than the norm, even though it was the middle of the night. Somewhere, a car went by. Someone slammed a door to their house. A dog barked. None of those things were nearby, but they were easily heard, because that is how quiet it was.
He finally stopped smiling a little bit and asked her, "...can ya honestly say that I'm not a bad guy? Tell me, after the dream you had tonight, what're you basing that judgment on. My late night accounting skills involving paper shredder accidents, or coming home with 'rust' in my hair? It's all real. Whether ya wanna believe it, or not." He shook his head at her, like he was in disbelief or that he hated having to get harsh like he was about to, "And yeah, I ditched ya. I wasn't comin' back."
Rangiku just looked at him. Her eyes flashed in anger as he spoke, doubting what she believed in her heart. And that? Riled her right back to the point where she wished she knew how to use that sharp object laying on the ground. Her fingers tightened on his wrist, no way in hell was she going to let go so he could flash step out of range. She’d learned, which only really happened when she was angry.
The silence was oppressive and she was tempted to break it but she wanted him to talk. Not her. When he did break the silence, it wasn’t anything she wanted to hear. But she knew deep down the hard truths were the ones she HAD to hear and HAD to understand.
So when she spoke it was quiet, and precise. “That’s as close to telling me you’re not really pushing paper around and making accounts balance, not in the actual accounting way, isn’t it?” she said softly. “Bad choices? Maybe. Bad person at the heart of it all? I...don’t believe it. It seems like you’re all bad, but I know you.”
She stared at him, blue eyes dark and shadowed under the tendrils of hair falling over their faces. “Do I think you’re being a bit unsavory? Yes. But that doesn’t make you a bad guy. Although doing that to me really makes me hope you have some misguided purpose you’re chasing - because I don’t see you doing it to be an asshole.“ Then the last comment hit her ears.
She said quietly, “Never coming back were you?” her tone dangerous.
"It's a special kind of accounting," he said, eyes opening up enough to peek up at her. He knew he was probably going to get punched and her hand on his wrist was really starting to hurt. He could even hear it make a popping sound, which had him glance over at it, and then up at her. "You always think the best of people, doncha?"
It really was kind of too late to turn back now, considering she knew the big dream secret. It was also a little refreshing not to lie, even if the answer probably wasn't what she wanted to hear. There wasn't even any use in smiling when he next spoke, to soften the blow of his words.
"I never planned on comin' back, when I realized what I was really gonna have to do in those dreams. Not for you or anything else. Sorry, Rangiku. Kinda get so far into things, that turning back? It isn't an option."
“Terribly special, then, isn’t it?” she said softly. She didn’t let his wrist go or even loosen her grip. She was nice, though, and didn’t tighten it anymore. Girl had a grip like a vice, especially when angry. And he was doing nothing to calm this storm. “I would think you’d know that, already,” she said ever so softly. Oooh quiet voice of doom.
Very late to turn back. And without even the smile, she was prone to possible violence. It was a good thing a: she didn’t know how to work her sword, and b: it was a good ten feet away. Had she been holding on it? It’d be buried in his shoulder after that one. Non-vital, because she loved him still, but enough to be a bitch. Instead she slapped him with her other hand, open palmed, hard. Tears dripped from her cheeks onto his even as she did it.
“Do not apologize for something you’re not truly sorry for doing. You might be sorry for breaking me in the process, but you’re not sorry for the act itself. And understand this right here, right now, you broke me into pieces. I hope it was worth it. I can’t wait to find out if it was or not.” Her breath caught for a moment in her throat, eyes wide. “I hope you know that despite it, I still cared for you, worried about you, believed in you. Don’t throw that away here.”
He had been wondering if it was already too late for him here, but then the whole side of his face stung with pain and he winced for a good twenty full seconds, afterward, while listening. One eye peeked open and then the other, followed by a frown. He didn’t need to go through feeling her tears on his face again, not like it had been that last time. Gin grabbed at her wrist to keep her from slapping at him again, although not as hard as that incredibly firm grip she had on him.
"Ya know me pretty well too, if you know what I was apologizing for. Because, yeeeeeeep. If that situation happened again, you bet yo' hot ass that I'd try to do it all over again. Even if the ending might be the same." He still wasn't smiling when he told her, "Hint? You ain't gonna like that. Nope. Not at all."
He rubbed his thumb over her wrist and tilted his head a little, the red mark still visible on his face.
"Lemme go. I'm not trying to throw things away. If I was, then I wouldn't have even asked you out, or had you over, or wanted you to live here...or any of it. The moment I had those dreams, I missed you. I even had a hot girl I liked and...." He made a face at her in case she got jealous. "...and I was still thinkin' of you sometimes, not knowing where you were. Now the hot girl's gone and I haven't talked at her the whole time. Don't go gettin' bent outta shape about that too."
Her hand stung, too, at least. So he wasn’t the only one smarting from a slap she wasn’t sure was meant to be that hard. Oops? She was mighty pissed under all that. Though when he grabbed her wrist, she loosened her grip on his other one, shoulders slumping a bit.
“I know you would,” she said softly. “You best have a good damn reason for it.” Then she frowned softly. “I won’t? Boy make me look forward to that one aren’t ya?” she sighed at him and released his other wrist so she could run her cool fingers gently over his good cheek.
Rangiku practically melted at his words. Way to diffuse the anger. Because Rangiku liked nothing more than being told how important to him she was. It was just what she needed to hear. Well kinda. She was going to seethe over his betrayal quietly until she got to the end of the story but that was okay. Her voice was softer, sweeter and less violence ready sounding.
“Oh, Gin, really? Truly? You missed me from the moment you remembered me?” She still had tears on her cheeks, even though her smile was back, tiny but there. “I can’t get mad at you for that, I wasn’t even around, though I’m glad to know even when you were with her, now and then you thought of me,” her voice was silky soft, actually feeling proud to be that important.
Cool down that temper? Mission accomplished. He almost heaved a sigh of relief, letting go of her wrist entirely and nodding his head. It was like the entire exchange was wearying for him also. It was all mental weariness, since he had so much to think about and now he had Rangiku to think about, too. Something he couldn't have given two craps about, in his dreams.
Well, he did? But he had one hell of a funny (or incredibly stupid) way of showing it.
"Yeah, I thought about you." Gin let out a long exhale, almost like he had been holding his breath in the entire time. What he said next sort of slipped out, "Not when she and I were foolin' around, since that woulda been awkward. But other times? Yep. Sho' did."
Rangiku was exhausted. Working herself into that kind of fury to actually hit him was not something she wanted to do. Or was used to doing. And her body was telling her that she was a dumb broad who needed to be kicked into bed. Rangiku would be glad he was thinking cause thinking meant he might choose a lil better in the long run.
She almost said something sweet then batted him lightly upside the head. Very lightly. “I don’t need to know that, Gin!” she snapped at him before laughing. “Well then, I feel special knowing I was on your mind. Kinda nice knowing that.” She kissed his slapped cheek softly, lovingly.
Gin's judgment isn't the best, so his choices might get him into lots and lots of trouble. But he was thinking about it, which was promising. Somehow or other.
As for him, Gin looked like he was worn thin around the edges. Although he hadn't gone too far to get rid of those robes he didn't want to see again, moving fast, dodging, all of those things required an expenditure of energy. It wasn't limitless, especially when he hadn't chowed down earlier and they were entirely out of poptarts. Argh, time for grocery shopping. Booooooooring.
What wasn't boring, was that Rangiku was being sweet now and her claws had retracted, meaning he had been successful again at soothing her bad temper. He laughed when she batted him against the head, since it wasn't hard enough to hurt at all.
"I was just makin' sure ya knew that it wasn't during. I can't help it? Ya slapped the sense outta me, instead of inta me," he joked, holding both hands up like he was trying to fend her off. At least he was until she kissed his cheek, and then he wrapped both arms around her. "I don't know if you'll realize how special you really are. Maybe later you might, when I explain it and it'll count. And nooooope, in case you're wondering? I don't mean short bus kinda special, either. Lucky you."
Can't hit him! He's being huggy! Bwa ha ha.
Hey if she gets him to think once in awhile instead of making rash decisions, she’ll take it. She will, she will! It’s a start.
He’d know she was still seething under it all but the claws had gone away and there were far less growls and more purrs. Well not purrs but faint starts of them. She wasn’t quite 100% yet but she was getting there. He helped, a lot when he was trying to be honest with her. And you know flattering her helped. Not only was she herself vain, she was besties with a narcissist. You don’t come off that without having some tendencies yourself.
She laughed softly at his words. Slapped the sense out of him As if he had sense to begin with! She sighed softly and snuggled down into his arms, a sign she wasn’t going to throttle him. She let him trap her arms, he probably realized how much he’d told her tonight. How could she be livid with him when he was so open with her? Maybe she needed to go off the handle if she wanted information. yeesh.
She kissed his cheek again. “I love you, even if you’re a pain in my ass and giving me migraines and the tired.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes with his forehead, then spared a glance for her blade, which to be fair was probably cursing her out, who just drops it in the dirt? God. “I hope somewhere in all these memories up to this point I have some memory of learning to use that.” She wrinkled her nose a bit.
It seemed the crisis was averted. It could have been a lot worse than a few bruises and a slapped face. He was silently grateful that it wasn’t.
To be fair, Gin was only as honest as he needed to be. He didn't give out tons of details. He wasn't going to ever be the poster boy for open disclosure or anything. At least he was trying, while still remaining a bit vague. But it was worth something, considering what he was like in dreamland. And flying off the handle? It seemed to work. As long as it was her. Anyone else wouldn't have gotten anywhere, other than maybe some bankai damage to the surrounding area if they managed to hit a nerve. The saving grace there was it was really hard to hit a nerve with him and it would involve someone hurting Rangiku, in order to do that.
At least he wasn't as crazy as Captain Kurotsuchi was. See? There's a sliding scale of bad. Mayuri is probably worse than Gin is. ....yay?
He snerked when she used his forehead like that, to move her hair, and then peeked one eye open.
"I love ya too, but I remember you and the academy. You weren't the best student. It was a breeze for me ‘cause I set goals and stuff, but you spent most've your time droolin' on the desk, hungover and asleep." Before she could complain or whine about it, he added, "I'll help you. I'd like you to know how to use it, sooner rather than later."
He was making up his mind finally, that maybe he needed to talk to Motoko about a few things. And Rangiku really needed to brush up on her skills, really fast. But for the time being? Sleep sounded like a great idea.
"Right now, I'm tired. And hungry. Not exactly in that order," he murmured, even though he was ready to catch some zzz's right there. "We're gonna have to drag our butts back inside."
She smiled at him. "Shoulda seen my grades here," she teased at least able to pick on herself a bit. But she yawned and pulled herself to her feet before pulling him up too.
"Thank you. I'll try to be a better student this time around, promise." And she would try too. She moved to pick up Haineko giving it a thoughtful look before opening the doors.
"Let's get food then curl up in bed yeah?" she asked with a smile. She was tired too.
"Sounds like a plan," was Gin's reply, as he stretched both arms out over his head and yawned too. Those yawns were contagious after all. He waited to drop a bombshell, "We're outta poptarts and it's probably too early in the morning to order pizza."
Dooooom.
“Oh nooooooooo, good thing I went shopping” she teased softly as she stretched lazily. “Poor thing thinks I can’t go food shopping.” She nudged him lightly as she slipped inside to dig them up something to eat. Unlike dreamself she can cook a few things without burning the house down!
Not true! He knew that her dream self could cook rice! After about a year of attempts and having things resembling albino cement canon balls fall out of pots. Young Gin in those dreams had swore he chipped a tooth trying to convince her it was yummy, and then gave up and used them as biodegradable garden ornaments. And once, during the winter, he used them as weights to build a snowman.
He's industrious. He works with what he's got.
Gin had followed her inside and used the kitchen counter to keep himself held upright. Note to self? Chow down more during the day. He was already size Thin. He really shouldn't be skimping, especially if he had to dodge and weave so often.
"Ya saved me the hassle, since it ain't fun," he said about the shopping, because he is a boy and he doesn't like that stuff. It's his idea of hell, because people in grocery stores didn't like it when pranks were pulled and injuries might happen. No one there could take a joke. "You didn't get the frosted poptarts, did ya? Those're nasty."
She eyed him. “God no. What do you think I am? A heathen?”
She rolled her eyes as she started pulling stuff out to cook. Noodles to cook with veggies. She started working on making him food, humming softly as she did so. She ran her nails through her hair as she looked up at him.
“I hope this is okay for you.” She smiled at him, she really did love him, crazy girl. She worked quickly as possible to whip up food since they were both tired, too. She had laid her sword on the counter and kept eying it sideways like she wasn’t sure what it was going to do.
Gin rubbed both hands over his face to try to stay awake, and watched her, including the way she was eyeing her sword. He snorted with amusement and moved over there, reaching one hand in under the side of his jacket, and taking his wakizashi out, laying it down by her katana.
"There, now they can have a chitchat," he joked, even if that probably wasn't possible. They only ones they could really talk to were their owners. He pecked a kiss on the side of her face. "Rangiku, you dinnit need to cook. Lemme help, since you've been through the wringer."
He tried to hip bump her out of the way, so he could take her place.
Also? If Shinso could talk, it would be a wispy woman's voice that would be all "...yaaaaay stabby..." over just about everything. His zanpakuto really did like stabbing and slicing things. It was a very bad influence, sometimes. Got a problem? Stab it dead! Problem solved. It also liked to think up fanfiction in it's downtime, and then annoy the hell out of Gin by relaying the excerpts when he tried to have a conversation with it. That could make attempts to bond with it very time consuming, and trying to get things back on track between both the sword and it’s master was like trying to grab hold of a greased weasel. Pretty much impossible.
She smiled at the pair of blades, laughing softly at them as if she could read their thoughts without being able to. She didn’t think either one was happy with their current levels of use.
“Mm probably best they can’t,” she laughed gently and smiled at the kiss. She shrugged a bit. “I know I didn’t need to cook but you’re tired. And I kinda beat on you.” She smiled ever so faintly. “I kinda put you through the wringer AND you told me a lot more than you were planning on, so it’s okay. Let me spoil you for once,” she said gently.
She kissed his cheek, sweetly. “You can make tea if you feel like being helpful.”
One was happier than the other. It's the smaller stabby one. That's guaranteed. And it's always safest not to judge things not by it's size, but how it's used. Mmmhmm.
"You punched at my shoulder and arms and I think ya got me in the ribs, once. And a slap to the face. That's nothin' anyway. I mean, I came home after I was shot. And that was nothin'," he explained, while making it a point to brush against her as he went to fill the kettle with water. He stretched and arched his back a little bit, rolling his head afterward to loosen up his neck. "...'sides, I'm the one who went all traitor on everyone, so I owe you. Maybe after we both faceplant in our food and go ta sleep."
“You can owe me after we faceplant,” she laughed softly “Sorry about going all punchy at you.” She offered him a sheepish smile, hip nudging him back as he brushed against her. She got out a set of bowls and mugs for their tea, still humming idly as she worked her magic on food. At least she could manage food here. Mostly.
“I think I'm most sorry about that slap!” she giggled softly. “My hand still aches from it!”
She was cute when she giggled, and more so when she was all teehee about slapping the snot right out of him.
"...oooo~kay," he said to waiting until later. He had the water boiling already as he turned and leaned his back against the counter, arms folded over himself and a smirk on his face. There was a faded blotchy pink smear there, but that was going away fast. "Ya gotta mean swing. You shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one who backstabbed all of you in dreamland, so I was expecting you'd wanna strangle me."
She leaned against the counter as the noodles boiled. “Heh I do. Don’t I? Strange, really, I don’t think I do.” She grinned at him. “Still doesn’t mean I like wanting to beat the snot outta you. Even if it made me that mad.” She shrugged gently.
“That is a lovely handprint that’s slowly going away” She grinned wickedly at him, and blew him a kiss.
He was nodding along as she spoke, like she so did, despite not thinking she packed some pow behind her punches. Her kicks too, for that matter. But when she grinned like that and blew a kiss at him, Gin stopped nodded and his eyebrows raised way up.
"Aww, that hurts? You're so proud of it too. Could've knocked my jaw right off," he joked, the smile giving away that he wasn't really offended, not in the least. "You aren't gonna be done bein' mad at me, ya know. But at least now ya do know why everyone else's pissed off at me. Probably before some of 'em do. Thing is, I gotta figure out how tapdance around them wanting to kill me off right away, or if they're gonna act like crazy Kurotsuchi, and just kinda keep an eye on me and deal with me later if I go turncoat again."
He was sure that was what the kabuki clown was doing. He got the death threat and then nothing. He was probably busy creating things in his lab that would get humanity killed better and faster than before. Probably in a toy or candy format. How cute.
Rangiku smiled at him, good naturedly.
“Could not have. Yer tougher than that,” she grinned at him then sighed softly. “Well thanks for that warning, love. But yes. I get it now. Oh boy do I get it,” she sighed softly. “Makes sense now why they’re all panicking over me.” She lifted her head to look at him. “I’ll see how I can make it easier.” She smiled a bit.
"Could too. You're stronger than ya think." He was watching her the whole time, never once looking away. "And...yep, I guess now you know the reason why. They can threaten me up one side and down the other, but I don't have no intentions of goin' traitor against them. Unfortunately, I can see where I'm makin' a few mistakes elsewhere, already. I'll try to fix 'em, even if doin' that might get me in hotter water."
He wasn't smiling as much when he told her, "Sorry, Rangiku? There's your fair warning. Expect trouble to happen, even if I don't want you dragged into it."
If it got to be too much, then he would make himself scarce or lead it away from her, by acting as a lure. At least that sounded like a feasible option, and one that he wasn't about to tell Rangiku about. If he did, she probably would try to knock his jaw off.
“Am not!” she shook her head then smiled faintly. “Okay, fine, I might be able to if I really tried.” Her smile faded softly then she perked her head up to look at him. “But you’re trying and that’s more than you have to do. I appreciate the efforts, even if it ends up me slapping you more.” She offered him a loving smile as she spoke. She knew things weren’t over yet. But she was happy he was trying for her sake. She pushed off the counter and lazily framed his face with her fingers, her touch cool and gentle.
“We’ll get me to the point where I won’t have to worry about any trouble that comes my way. I’ll gladly handle any trouble, as long as we’re together.”
She pulled his face down to hers, and kissed him gently.
That kiss was returned with equal gentleness, and he let it drag on and linger before he moved back enough to sigh against her lips.
"Sounds like a plan," he whispered, even if he knew he was taking one hell of a huge task on himself, with trying to help her train. It was necessary, even if he remembered that Rangiku was the worst student ever, and he had to keep sending her notes for exams when she was still in the Shinigami Academy, so she had some of the answers and could squeak by. "You and that sword of yours didn't get along. Don't expect to be able to use any shikai yet. Hell, that's as far as you got. You never even made it to bankai, since you both got lazy."
He rested his forehead against her forehead, with a smile on his face. Her lazy. It was so cute.
Sometimes a tender moment like that was just what these two needed. It helped recenter them. Strange but true, man.
She rested her head against his and sighed. “Oh goodie. Let me guess, my sword is just as lazy, pig headed and argumentative as I am? Cause that’s my luck.” She shook her head gently. “I’m going to try to be better this time. I’m still a lazy girl but I want to try, it might make me lazier at work but hey, I’m willing to sacrifice productivity there to be better here.”
She closed her eyes then opened them enough to look through her lashes at him.
“I want to make you proud of me.”
Gin had been going shifty-eyed as he listened to her, and even started laughing at her 'sacrificing productivity' mention...because yeeeeeeeeeep, that was Rangiku. He had to press his lips together to stop laughing and made a long 'hmmmmmm' noise to center himself even more, all before he put both arms around her to pull her into a hug. Gin felt that he had to tell her this one thing, before he let go to pour their tea, get some food and drink in them, and so they could go to bed.
"You might be lazy, Rangiku, not to mention stubborn and argumentative," he said in a hushed voice, "but I'm proud of you, anyway. I always have been."
She settled into the hug and smiled softly, for once not taking offense at him laughing at her. Instead she smiled gently, and closed her eyes as he folded her into a hug. She squeezed him softly at his words, her cheeks blushing scarlet, heart feeling like it was on wings, knowing that she made him proud, made her feel better about everything going on. He believed in her and that was the best feeling.
She reluctantly let go so they could stuff their faces and drag their sleepy, sorry asses to bed where she would happily snuggled down against him and go to sleep with a smile on her face. It was funny how the little things made you the happiest.