tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; July 3rd, evening
Rating; Er... PG?
Characters; Rangiku and Gin
Summary; Rangiku takes a walk and someone wants to find out just how sweet she tastes.
Log;

The evening air was refreshing so, instead of her usual perch on the rooftop, she decided to take a walk among the blooms of Xanadu. Haineko rest in her customary place low on Rangiku's back, a comforting weight as well as company.

The sun was below the horizon when Rangiku passed the infamous sakura tree, but she didn't stop. No, she was busy; thinking on many things. Aizen's departure, Ingram's offer, the attention of her two most persistent boys... many things.

Normally, she would've drank her thoughts away, but she wasn't in the mood for that tonight.

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"I was thinkin' 'bout waitin' t'see just how long it'd take fer ya t'notice me," Gin called out, smirking, "but I think if I waited much longer ya would've simply passed me by."

Gin had been perched on that very sakura tree, enjoying the pink petals falling to the ground around him. At least there was some semblance of normalcy when he was here, away from everyone else. Didn't have to think about Sousuke leaving the City, although it wasn't something Gin planned on doing much with anyway. Didn't have to think about Rangiku.

Or, well, not until she had passed right in front of him.

"Or were ya not plannin' on sayin' hi?"

Her steps faltered, then stilled when she heard his voice. Slowly, she turned to look towards the sound, eyes a little wider when she finally caught sight of him. She made no move to draw Haineko, knowing that he was still quicker than she was.

"..... I didn't see you there. Wasn't paying attention..."

"Aw, well then," Gin drawled, waving his hand dismissively. "Carry on. Wouldn't want t'interrupt ya durin' important business or th'like."

Yawning, Gin settled further into the branches of the tree, one leg draping off the side as he snapped a twig off with his hand, examining the blossoms as though with great interest.

Her lips pulled down into a slight frown at the dismissal. The first time she'd seen him since that fateful night and he'd just told her to carry on? "... I was just taking a walk. Nothing important or anything... "

The urge to yank on his leg crossed her mind, and before she knew it, her hands had moved to do just that.

Gin had readied himself long before Rangiku tugged on the fabric of his pants, and when she did, he easily slid down, immediately wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his frame.

"Good. I'd like t'book the next couple of hours, then," Gin murmured, leaning in further to trace the shell of her ear with his tongue and smirking. "Mmm, butter pecan..."

He was almost tempted to mention that she seemed a lot thinner now. Probably had to do with losing the baby and all.

But for once, he showed a little restraint.

The reaction wasn't the one she was expecting. In a flash, she was held close to him, arms between them and a flick of dampness along her ear make her wiggle to free herself. "What the..... crap! Gin!"

"Mm~? Should I let go?" Gin chuckled, pulling her yet closer and trying to close off any wiggle room. "You should know that I've missed ya, Ran."

The wiggling got harder as the space between then narrowed even more. "What the fuck are you doin'?" She should know to stop trying to get free, but instinct is a strong thing. Besides, the last time she'd seen him, he'd hurt her pretty badly.

"Missed me," she breathed out, trying to still her speeding heart.

"Mmhmm," Gin whispered, running his fingers through her locks. "Missed ya."

Sensing that her struggle was probably a bit out of panic more than anything else, Gin loosens his hold slightly to give her more room.

"Sorry. Old habits."

Now that she's able to mover her arms, one hand slid up to rest against his chest, ready to push him away, but it doesn't. It just lay there, palm flat and hand still. The fingers in her hair threatened to make her eyes sag closed, as it was a comforting thing, but she didn't allow the sign of weakness.

".... yeah. Seems like we both got 'em still..."

"That such a bad thing? Just means that we miss th'old times, right?"

He continued to run his hand through her wavy locks, enjoying the way they felt, practically feather light and somehow managing not to snag. Gin knew that the air was tense, could sense it in the way Rangiku kept him at a distance, but there were ways to slowly work past that, and with the arrancar keeping less of an eye on him than usual...

"And if we try 'nough..."

"And if we try enough, what, Gin?"

The words are soft as she tried to keep from tilting into his touch. It wasn't easy. She felt herself relaxing a little at the gentle touches.

"..... why do you do this to me?"

"Fill in th'blank. With Sousuke gone... things're pretty open fer me. For once."

One hand still entangled in her tresses, Gin slid his other down the side of Rangiku's neck, settling on her shoulder as he tried to release the stress there.

"And I'm not really sure why I do this. Ain't easy fer me to flit from side t'side, but... can't help myself, I suppose."

"... never could stay in one place, could you?"

She gave up the fight and let her eyes slide closed under his ministrations. Part of her screamed internally that she couldn't trust him, but too many years of it; the past made listening to that so hard.

"You're not gonna take charge of the pets while Aizen's gone?"

"Well," Gin began, smile widening as he watched Rangiku's eyelids slide shut, "Y'know me, Ran. I got a bad case of wanderlust. In the locational sense."

He hadn't chosen to word it that way to poke at anything in particular, although he might as well could have, mind immediately going back to Rangiku's own little bout of 'wanderlust,' as he had just put it. Certainly, Rangiku wasn't the only one with trust issues at the moment.

"But no, I ain't gonna bother with that lot. I mean, I'm pretty fond of some of them, but what's the point? They ain't got any affection fer me, bein' a shinigami and all, and Alturo seems more willin' t'shoulder all the work. So why bother?"

He leaned forward again, burying his nose in her hair.

"'Sides, at this rate, they'll end up turnin' on one another eventually."

If she noticed it, she didn't say anything about it. "You seem so sure of that, Gin... We've just got to keep everyone safe..."

She knew that wouldn't be a concern of his, but it was a foremost one of hers.

Without thinking, she finally leaned into his touch, a tiny sound rolling in her throat.

"Y'know," Gin murmured, resting his cheek on top of her head and closing his eyes, "I ain't so sure they'd appreciate that, comin' from me. Seems pretty standard that the lot sees me as a traitor."

Rangiku was right. It wasn't something Gin particularly cared about, especially given the way that the City helped revive them all in the end anyway. In a world where death usually meant coming back in the end, did the pain matter all that much? Did losing some power matter all that much?

As long as Gin could keep himself from that pain, he was satisfied. When in a good mood, he'd probably make a move or two to protect her as well. If he so chose.

"'Sides, the arrancar've suffered too, y'know. And I ain't eager t'get on their bad side at this point in time."

"Both sides see you like that... they did before, even after we got married." It was all too easy to fall back to this closeness and temporairily forget all that stood between them.

"How've they suffered, Gin? It would be different if they actually evne cared about how they treat others..."

She tensed a little against him, but didn't move away.

"Yep~!" Gin agreed, almost sounding proud of himself. "Ya know that I've never really fit anywhere, even before I left with Sousuke. Yer little captain showed that. And I ain't ever tried t'hide it, have I? People'll look at ya weirdly if ya stand next t'me. Just how it works."

Bitter? Oh no, not at all.

"And don't belittle th'sufferin' they've gone through," Gin chided, running a hand up and down her spine. "They're fairly cohesive as a group, at least fer now. So clearly, they care to a certain extent.

"'Sides, some of 'em really ain't that bad. You ever meet Tesla?"

She arched at the pressure on her spine. He was playing her weak spots too well. "I still stood by you back then, even if they all asked me why. Even if taichou asked me why."

A frown crossed her face at the mention of the arrancars so called suffering.

"No, ain't never met him. I try and stay away from them since they seem to like to kill me and cut me open."

"Oh, I know that, Ran. Meant more t'me than ya probably realized."

Knowing that she probably wasn't going to like what he was about to say, Gin relaxed his hold on her slightly, giving her room to move and push him away if need be.

"Well... Tesla's one that decided t'follow me rather than th'rest. Int'restin' choice, doncha think? 'Specially since I ain't the one tryin' t'gather the arrancar together for a full-scale attack." Gin grinned. "If ya don't wanna meet 'im, ya don't hafta, but he's one that won't be killin' ya fer sure. And somehow, I doubt that the rest'll be gettin' that chance anytime soon either."

Her eyes cracked open to look up at him. "... a pet arrancar. And what makes you think the rest won't have the chance to go after us?"

"Pet?" Gin asked, blinking--although with his eyes, it was almost imperceptible. "Callin' 'im a pet sounds so... crude. I'd say that he's more along the lines of... well."

A child. Probably not the most appropriate thing to say, however.

"More than just a pet. I've taken a likin' t'the kid."

He traced the line of her jaw with a finger, stopping at her chin to lift it slightly.

"And havin' him is one of th'things that keeps me believin' that the others won't come after us. Well, us if ya stay with me, 'course. But even without Tesla, the arrancar don't have much beef with me, unlike Kaname if he were here, and they know that I was Sousuke's second hand for a reason." Gin chuckled. "Namely that I ain't overcompensatin' or puttin' on shows."

Us.

Her head followed his direction, settling her gaze evenly on his face. "... us? Gin... I... "

She swallowed slowly, unable to look away from him. There was no way she could go with him, but she wanted to. Gods help her, she wanted to so badly. She'd missed so much him when he left after their disastrous attempt at a family.

Oops. He'd crossed the line. Maybe he meant to. Gin wasn't entirely sure.

"You..." he trailed, gauging her reaction, "...can't, huh?"

Gin nodded, reminding himself that it probably was too early after what he had done, that the fact that Rangiku wasn't shying away from him entirely was progress enough.

Besides, he didn't want to appear all too eager to lay himself at her feet. Because he wasn't. Not by any means.

"Fair 'nough."

He let his hands trail down before falling at his sides.

It didn't come as much of a surprise for him. For all of her talk of not wanting him to leave, Rangiku had grown too soft, too dependent on others.

And she wasn't useful to him that way.

She didn't stumble when he let her go. Instead, her arms moved to rest at her sides, mirroring him. "What did you expect, Gin? Did you think I'd fall to the ground with my legs spread for you?" Her tone was soft, but not hesitant.

"Did you think I'd melt at your feet, or cry to you? I'm done crying over what happened... You took something from me and I'll admit that I wanted to kill you afterwards, but I know you had your reasons, just like you did when you left Seireitei, and each time you left me. No matter what those reasons are, I still love you."

Her feet never moved, and her gaze never faltered from his hidden one.

"You find me here, and grab me and hold me like you still care and it makes me think back to being your wife. I missed you.. and I miss having you with me, but I know we can't go back. I wish to all the gods we could.... "

Before he could move, she leaned in close and brushed her lips across his, her tongue peeking out to slick along his lower lip.

"... dark chocolate can be bittersweet sometimes," she whispered, breath ghosting over his mouth.

He simply stared, not even moving as Rangiku moved to brush her lips against his, not because he was surprised by her move--he wasn't--but because he wasn't very impressed by her words, to put it briefly. Quirking an eyebrow, Gin continued to stare, unmoving, piecing together words to reply to this sudden confession of hers.

"Ain't lookin' fer a quick fuck, Ran, and ya should know that," Gin murmured quietly. "Quick fucks are easier t'come by with women who I haven't wronged, who haven't wronged me, and I ain't in th'mood fer that anyway. Haven't been."

If nothing else, Gin was a master of his body, of his desires; holding off was no large feat.

"Ya cross my path, I grab ya and hold ya because s'what I felt like doin'. I ain't expectin' ya t'cry, ain't expectin' ya t'fall right back in my arms, 'cause after the sorta thing I did, well. Can't come t'expect that, right?"

Gin inhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair.

"S'a funny thing, this concept of 'goin' back' that ya like t'talk about. Ain't impossible unless ya make it so, Ran. If ya can't go back the way ya came, ya make a new path. But hey, takes two people t'make it work, I've had enough reservations already, and if ya don't wanna, then whatever."

He steeled his gaze, examining her closely.

"Don't get th'impression that I'm beggin' ya t'go back. I miss it, sure, but ya know me. I deal with what I'm dealt."

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