Title: Gift of Reverie
Characters: Ishida/Orihime
Rating: G
Summary: Ishida hopes she doesn’t hear his heartbeat
Genre: Romance
AN: For
afteriwake her prompt was "In a land far away."
“What about Paris?”
“Hm. That would be nice, but expensive.”
Orihime pouts. “Let’s just ignore the cost! It doesn’t matter, because we’re only imagining it, right?”
She tucks her chin into the jut of his collarbone, tracing her fingertips along his arm. Early twilight gleams in her eyes. Her ginger hair flows all around them, and she brushes strands of it away from her lips every so often. Ishida hopes she doesn’t hear his heartbeat when she does.
They lay together on her bed, blankets kicked to the floor. She rests her head against his chest, legs tangled with his own. For now, they can ignore the tragedy of the Winter War and the empty spaces Rukia has left behind.
Ishida runs his palm down her back, creating more wrinkles in her school uniform. She doesn’t seem to mind. He nods, “Of course. What about Italy?”
The girl coos. “I’ve always wanted to try Italian cuisine! I wonder what their pizza tastes like.”
Ishida laughs, glasses tipping down the bridge of his nose. “Of all the Italian cuisine you want to try, you say pizza?”
She whacks him on the head. “Yes! Their pizza is different!”
Birds sing from outside the window. A car blares its horn some distance away. Ishida’s chuckles die down, and he looks at the girl in his arms, silent. Orihime blushes, and she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
“What?” Orihime peeps, wringing his shirt in her hands.
Ishida grins and kisses her forehead. “Nothing. I think Italy would be wonderful.”
She buries her face into his neck. Her voice is quiet when she speaks. “Ishida?”
“Hm?”
The warmth of her lips on his cheek makes him glow, from the inside-out. They look at one another through the sunset.
“I think Italy would be wonderful, too, even if it’s just a daydream.”
Ishida feels his throat begin to knot. “Yes,” he says, “even if it’s just a daydream.”