Of Candy, Picnics and Dates

[mere_shopkeeper]

Characters: taichou_tb & mere_shopkeeper
When: Forwardated to Sunday, May 15th
Where: Ukitake's house, then the lake
Rating: PG-13 automatically required because of Urahara's presence
Summary: Ukitake and Urahara go out on their 'date'.

Comments

[taichou_tb]

Despite trying not to think about this...date or whatever it was in too much detail, Ukitake did remember that it was today. The only problem was that he may have been overthinking it in his efforts not to worry.

Which left him in the kitchen, frowning into a nearly empty cup of tea as he contemplated just how he had gotten himself into this situation. Besides the Animus' toying, of course; he couldn't change that detail. But at the same time, it struck Ukitake that if this did turn into a date, he very well could be the woman in the equation. And, in various manners of speaking, that would make this the third time he had been a woman in Adstringendum. The Shinigami really didn't know what to make of that.

Except that he was clearly overthinking it, how absurd. Ukitake was a man, through and through. And they were friends...of some sort. Right?

He had just finished his tea when the knocking came. Ukitake stared at the door for a moment before shaking his head and getting up to answer it, offering the man on the other side a smile. "Ah, Kisuke-san."

[mere_shopkeeper]

"Jyuushirou-san~!"

Grey eyes quickly flicked over Ukitake from under the brim of the hat, assessing. As he thought, the other man was worried and perhaps a little uncomfortable. Well, maybe a bit of candy would help cheer him up! He pulled the bouquet out from behind his back with a flourish and presented it to Ukitake with a grin.

"I brought this for you!"

[taichou_tb]

That flourish took him by surprise for a moment before it registered just what was in Urahara's hand. And goodness, there was no way Ukitake could refuse that. Slowly, he reached out toward it, his smile softening. It wasn't hard to make him happy, but when people went that extra bit to make him smile...well. Urahara was doing a very good job.

"Thank you, Kisuke-san."

[mere_shopkeeper]

Smiling widely at Ukitake's reaction, Urahara chuckled quietly at the thanks. "You're always welcome, Jyuushirou-san~! It's not often that someone shares my love of sweets."

Gesturing towards the lake, he tilted his head at Ukitake.

"If you're ready, shall we~?"

[taichou_tb]

Ukitake nodded and chuckled. "You found my weakness, it's true." He had half a mind to point out that it was Urahara who shared his own love, seeing as he was the elder of the two, but he said nothing. The gesture was sweet and his teasing might ruin it, or at least take away from it.

"We shall."

[mere_shopkeeper]

Striding down the pathway besides Ukitake, Urahara seems to have nothing else planned between now and wherever they were heading. Except that he soon stops.

"Ah, I almost forgot something!" And with a quick step, he was behind Ukitake, leaning in to whisper into his ear. "Do you trust me, Jyuushirou-san~?"

So you read my mind because I was thinking how neat it would be if Ura asked him that.

[taichou_tb]

It seemed silly as they walked that Ukitake had been nervous about today. It was only Urahara, and even before everything that had happened between them the past few months, Ukitake had always liked the ex-captain. Granted, he was a little strange, but no moreso than everyone else (and even less than some). And while things had changed since those days, the elder Shinigami never really felt threatened.

So when Urahara was suddenly behind him, Ukitake wasn't as shocked as anyone else might have been. He did, however, have to suppress a shudder as the other man's breath ghosted over his ear. The answer took a few moments in arriving to his lips, though. Liking someone and trusting them were similar in some situations, but still not the same.

Did he trust Urahara Kisuke? Ukitake was sure they didn't see eye-to-eye on some subjects, mostly because he was concerned with his subordinates and friends while Urahara had always been focused on his research and work. But at the same time, they had been married for a week. Urahara was one of the people who knew the most about Ukitake now. If he wished, he could humiliate the older man, and yet...

And yet, Ukitake didn't think he ever would. There was something unspoken between them that made Ukitake sure. They had a bond that was strangely strong and even now Ukitake felt not frightened or worried, but curious.

So when he answered, he felt certain that Urahara would take care of him, whatever he had in mind. "Yes."

[mere_shopkeeper]

The smile that spread on Urahara's was one of pure happiness. Perhaps it was because somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure if Ukitake did trust him. After all, he had set himself up to appear as the lazy, irresponsible, fun-loving, unreliable, morally questionable scientist and exile. Well, perhaps the morally questionable scientist and exile part wasn't so much of a set-up, but despite his... greyness, despite his oftentimes one-track focus on science, the people in his life were still more important. People like Yoruichi and Tessai, people who had been with him since the beginning, who were the reason why he was where he was today.

And now, more recently, Ukitake had joined those ranks. He was yet another important person who drove Urahara to do the right thing, to sometimes make those hard, coldly logical choices that kept everyone safe. To know, for sure, that Ukitake trusted him as opposed to viewing him with grudging belief and support... Well, it was nice.

That, or he was just grinning so widely because he was now slipping a blindfold across the other man's eyes and tying it securely before he gently took Ukitake's hand and started to guide him towards the lake, making sure to stay close to him. "This way~"

[taichou_tb]

Trust. Ukitake repeated that word to himself as soon as he felt the blindfold wrap around his eyes. He couldn't freak out or even look uncomfortable now, not after having just told Urahara that he trusted him. Even so, his breathing increased just a little bit as his remaining senses heightened to compensate for the loss of sight.

It was funny. In a way, this wasn't new to Ukitake. Having lost his hearing on two separate occasions, he knew what it was like to have a sudden awareness once one sense was gone. This time, however, his hearing was even sharper, his sense of smell almost awakened to a new level, and touch became even more sensitive.

Touch. While Urahara's grip was gentle, Ukitake tightened the hold just a bit, both to keep himself from losing that support and to maintain a connection with the other man.

[mere_shopkeeper]

Urahara couldn't help the slight grin when he felt Ukitake's grip on his hand tighten that tiny bit. In fact, one had to wonder if that was the point of the blindfold all along. Not that Urahara would ever admit to it if it were. All too soon though, they were at the lake, standing at the edge of the picnic blanket that he had laid out. Letting go of Ukitake's hand, he quietly stepped behind the other man and set his hands on his shoulders, caressing them gently before he reached up and undid the blindfold.

"You can open your eyes now, Jyuushirou-san."

[taichou_tb]

As soon as they stopped, Ukitake's other senses went on alert again, just in case something were up. He also kept his hand held out even after Urahara let go of it, also in case they needed to move again.

Of course, when the other man stood behind him again, those thoughts left his mind and he hummed in appreciation for the caress. Touch was always nice, but so was sight, so when the blindfold came off, he had to blink a few times from the sudden brightness, getting used to sunlight again.

When he saw the sight before them, Ukitake smiled and reached up, hoping to seek out one of Urahara's hands with his own.

[mere_shopkeeper]

Urahara more than happily met Ukitake's touch, a gentle brush of fingers against the back of his hand before he entwined their fingers together as he rested his chin on one of Ukitake's shoulder.

"Do you like it?"

[taichou_tb]

He squeezed Urahara's hand gently and chuckled quietly, happily. It was good to have this chance, honestly, even if it turned out to be nothing but an outing for an ex-couple...or whatever they were.

"I do, very much." And to prove this, Ukitake moved to kneel on the blanket, though he still held Urahara's hand, and laid down the candy bouquet beside him.

[mere_shopkeeper]

Following Ukitake (not that he had much of a choice, though no one would ever find him complaining), Urahara took a seat next to him, crossing his legs and smiling over at Ukitake.

"Then I am glad."

Reaching across Ukitake (and flashing the other man a slight grin as he did so), Urahara picked up the teapot that had been kept warm with kidou and poured each of them a cup of fragrant jasmine tea.

"Here."

[taichou_tb]

"Thank you," Ukitake said, accepting his own cup and wrapping his hands around it, soaking up the warmth. He could tell by the smell alone that it was jasmine, one of his favorite flavors of tea. Then again, that was probably one of the first things Urahara had really learned about him, at least concerning his likes.

As he brought the cup to his lips for a sip, he wondered just how much more Urahara knew now, before and after all of the knowledge gained during their week-long marriage.

[mere_shopkeeper]

Urahara let the steam rise up from his cup, slowly breathing in the scent of the tea before taking a careful sip and tilting his head at Ukitake as he leaned forward and lifted the cover off of two bowls which turned out to be ochazuke.

"You have questions," he stated, rather than asked as he placed a spoon in each bowl and pushed one towards Ukitake.