tampered | Order

Order

When; Morning after Ran's fight
Rating; PG13
Characters; Sands (

10thdiv_haineko)
Summary; Sands is watching over his hurt body guard pretending she needs it.
Log; just don't know when to lay down and give it a rest. Two of these people are in Ran's apartment.
Sands comes in from his smoke break, walking into the living room and cocking an ear for the woman he had been guarding over all night. She seems more tired then injured to him but still he refused to sleep in case she woke up needing him.
Except for maybe a few moments when he crawled into bed with her. Not holding her too close in case it would have woken her up, instead he lay down with one hand resting on her side.
He might have slept then some but it's so hard to tell when you're always in the dark.

He makes his way back to the bedroom to scold her for getting up.
"Rangiku, bed! Now. That's an order." He tries.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Haineko's ears perk as the man enters the room, and Ran feels a touch of amusement from her partner. She gives the cat a tug on the ear for her impertinance and stretches, wincing slighly as abused muscles complain about the movement.

"I'm sitting on my bed. Is that good enough?"

She knows she sounds tired, but there's no way around that really.

"Sitting is a compromise. I hear those are lovely." Sands strains his ears. Wanting to smoke and play music were not the only reasons he wanted out of the apartment. Human logic tells him the giant cat will eat him. He has to fight the urge to throw a steak across the room and haul ass out of there. Slowly he's becoming used to it.
Sheldon goes into the bathroom and starts to fill the tub for her.

Her eyes follow him as he moves into the bathroom, one slim eyebrow rising when she hears the water running. Satisfied, Haineko pads away a few steps before she fades into ash, finally settling down as the blade everyone else knows her as.

Ran climbs to her feet and goes to follow Sands. She's careful to make some noise as she walks, knowing it's rude to sneak up on someone.

Gingerly, she leans against the doorframe and crosses her arms over her chest. "How long were you outside?"

Sands sits on the side of the tub with his hand under the facet. Unfortuately his own preference towards bath water is always just on the wrong side of too hot. Steam starts to rise as cool air hits the water.
The sound keeps him from hearing both Haineko and her footsteps but her sudden voice doesn't startle him.
Shoving his hair behind one ear he shrugs.

"Maybe a few hours. I have a morning ritual that involves loud music, coffee, smoking, and taking a walk. Preferably at the same time."

Her head tips over to rest against the doorframe as she watches him. "It's too cold for you to be out that long." It isn't a question. It's a simple statement. With a soft, hopefully unheard groan, she pushes away from the door and settles herself on the small counter next to the sink.

She didn't want to admit it to herself, but her legs were still tired from all the work they'd done the night before. "You really didn't have to come over... it was horribly rude of me to just pass out last night. I don't even think I said hello."

He smiles turning off the water. Her scolding is not only cute but it's nice to have someone taking care of him. Even when he's trying to do the same for her.
"I like extreme weather. I can feel it. And most of that walking was done up and down the hall. I just took a quick run around the building for surveillance."

He stands holding his hand out to her. "I don't mind. Haineko ate your part of dinner though. Are you hungry? I make a mean can of soup."

She takes an instant to mutter about the 'stupid fat cat', followed by 'not even supposed to eat, anyway', while she just looks at his hand. With a graceful (but slower than usual) motion, she hops down from the counter, her hand finding his.

"'M not really hungry. I might not be for a few days, after last night. Did you find anything of interest on your 'walk'?"

Sands grins at that. "You can't trust a cat to do anything you tell it. Just look at El. Filthy little asshole."

He brings her closer tilting his head to kiss her cheek. He's near enough that a deep breath would be enough to brush clothing. He has every intention to take advantage of the fact he can be this close without feeling as if he's chickening out of sex. She's obviously not in the mood for it.
"No. The wind was too loud."

The kiss on her cheek startles her, but she doesn't say anything. It isn't like him, this voluntary 'nice', but it isn't something she's planning on questioning. In all honesty, she's too tired to.

When the shock clears, she finds herself lightly leaning against him. Clearing her throat, she straightens and brushes her free hand down the soft robe she was able to toss on before she fell asleep.

"It wasn't nice weather to fight in, either."

Though he's sorry she's stopped leaning on him he was less then an inch away from smelling her hair and possibly nuzzling so it's just as well.
Taking the cloth belt of her robe he raises his eyebrows.
"You bath is getting cold. You're not getting shy on me now are you?"
His voice is quiet. The tone he uses when he's attempting to talk someone into a thing they don't want to do. Except that's not his motive this time. He's trying to take care of her. Being totally new at the concept it does seem awfully unnatural.
It's hard to tell where the lies begin and end even for him. When he really does care he doesn't know how to show it. So he mirrors the tone and expressions he thinks he should do. He is essentially lying in order to show her the truth.

"You never said who won."

Anytime someone has called her shy in the past, she's made a point to make sure they know she's not. This time, she remains silent and still as her robe slips open. The stillness lasts until he asks who won.

With a sigh, she lets go of his hand and drops the robe to the floor, not caring about leaving it in a pile as she stepped into the bath.

With a loud groan, she sank down into the still hot water, leaning her head back on the edge of the tub.

"I didn't, did I?

He picks the robe up and hangs it on the back of the door before sitting back down on the edge of the tub.

"Okay. I get the hint."
Sands is quiet for a long time. Then he starts to hum a sea shanty. He's hoping she starts talking just to shut him up.

It doesn't take much time before she's halfway dozing in the warm water. Even though her eyes are closed, she can tell he's there, near her. When he starts to hum, blue eyes crack open just enough to let her know that she really is almost asleep in the water.

"Lost... I lost."

His finger tips are dipped into the bath water above her legs and skim the surface. Little things like water and texture grab his attention now. When she admits to losing he nods softly letting the water drip off his hand.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sugar. What will happen now?"
He seems very calm. This means he's half way to freaking out. Sands has no idea what was at stake, if she had died once again, if she's in even more danger now... but he's guessing yes to all those things.

The muscle soreness is fading in the heat, and she can feel the gentle currents his fingers swirl in the water. Her legs shift enough that her knees rise over the water, not an inch from his fingers.

"There are several more shinigami that have entered the City, including my Captain. If Aizen and Gin cause problems here, I'll fight them again."

She sighs and sits up in the water, the fuzz of sleep gone from her mind.

"I was lucky he didn't kill me. I still can't figure out why he didn't."

"He wants you to think about him. You'll go about your day. Cooking food and eating it. Drilling and sleeping. And the whole time you wonder why he spared you. It's power."
The back of his fingers brush against her leg. He pauses, forgetting what he was talking about for a moment.

"..What kind of problems would they cause? Perhaps- Ran, we could use fighters."

There's truth in his words, but she doesn't want to admit it. The admission doesn't matter, though. It's already on her mind and it will be for some time. The muscles of her leg flexes unconsciously under his fingers, bringing her back to the moment.

"I'm not sure why they're here. I didn't really have time to ask much... they came close to killing several people that are special to me. I won't allow them to do the same here, no matter the cost... and I don't think I can convince any of the shinigami to join the fight, if that's what you're thinking."

Making his voice as casual as possible might not help but he's willing to risk a punch in the face for suggesting. "Aizen and Gin would never consider joining us against the Gods of this city? It seems to me they would aim for early parole. If they are as strong as you are we could use them. And it would force a truce until we get control."

This isn't a conversation she's wanting to have. Normally, she's the kind to argue, but she just hauls herself out of the tub and grabs a towel as she walks back into the bedroom.

"No... just... no. Aizen won't care about the issues in this city, and Gin... is just Gin. Life is a source of amusement to him, and everyone around him are playthings. I will not ask them."

ands makes a face and mourns the loss of bath time as she leaves then follows her.
"Alright. I was just trying to scratch both our backs here. Wait-"

Stepping in front of her he takes her arms.
"I mean it. No Gin or Aizen. I just thought it would help us. If it doesn't then I don't ned them."

She stands there in silence, his hands locked around her arms, for several moments. "You just asked me to ally myself with the man that tried to destroy my world. That isn't 'scratching our backs', it would be suicide. He'd play with us as long as we amused him, then he'd kill us."

Her voice is rising with each word, so she decides it's best to stop. Instead, she just shakes her head mutely, muscles tense again. Finally, she takes a deep breath and forces herself to relax.

"His power could be useful, but I'm unsure if the risk would be worth it." Her words then are colored and shaped by years of soldiering and leading.

Sands speaks very clearly. She has every right to be angry at him and he wants her to hear what he's saying.
"Don't think that before asking you that I hadn't thought long and hard about what I would do if Aljerez was here."

Nodding he loosens his hold, now rubbing her arms in comfort.
"That's all I need to hear."

"Is it?"

The instant he releases her, she heads to the bed and flops gracelessly on it, not caring that her hair was wet, or that she still had her towel wrapped around her. As tired as she is, she knows sleep won't come anytime soon.

"His power is dangerous... it can't be trusted. It held everyone in Seireitei under his thrall for years. Years."

He doesn't follow again. Even he can get that hint.
"I wont go near him. I wont send my people near him. I understand. No touchy Gin. I had to ask."

Her arms tuck up under her head as she glances at him. When it's apparent he isn't going anywhere near her, she sighs softly and closes her eyes.

"'M sorry. Fighting with Aizen wasn't pleasant. It took more out of me then I'd like to admit. That's no reason for me to be a bitch to you."

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