I Can't Get Enough of You Baby [Active, Open]

[leekspin]

Who: Orihime, Leechigo, OPEN!
Where: Dirt Hallway, then the library, AND BEYOND (just pick a room and put it in the subject line, and that's where she will conveniently wander)
When: Day 004
What: Orihime awakens, free of the laboratory...or so she thinks. A horrible creature is bound to her, that seems to be Ichigo to Orihime's eyes. To everyone

Comments

[allthekeys]

Though Orihime wouldn't see it, the being that wore Ichigo's face seemed to glow with the light of her magic for a moment, eyes cracked open to study the girl. Affection permeated the connection as the creature let its illusion be repaired and slowly pushed himself up."

"Thank you, Inoue." It had tasted her magic before, but not in such a pure form. She was even more exciting than its masters had allowed her to seem. "Where are we? Did they knock us out again?"

[leekspin]

"The basement, I think..."

Orihime hadn't really been in the basement to her knowledge, but she couldn't think of any other place that would have a dirt floor like this, and there weren't any windows either. So logic dictated that they were on the lowest level of the mansion.

She got to her feet, ignoring the stains on her skirt as well as the status of her torn shirt. It would be nice to shower and change her clothes admittedly, but she wasn't really sure that was an option. Where did they find new changes of clothing anyway? Or even a safe place to bathe?

Her hand stretched out to Ichigo to help him to his feet. "Let's get out of here. I'm kind of hungry anyway," she said with a wry grin.

[allthekeys]

"Yeah. Me too." He accepted the hand, letting her help him to his feet. He was carefully avoiding looking at the torn v of her shirt. "I guess we'll need to find clothes, they took my shirt."

The monster beneath the illusion couldn't help the excitement it felt, it could feel the sunlight brightening the house. Could feel the living energy of the inhabitants brightening under the sun.

It wanted to see.

[leekspin]

Ichigo had been shirtless so often before her, that it hardly phased her at all unless she was right up close against him. He wasn't. Orihime was safe from blushing like an idiot.

"Ha ha, you read my mind! I was hoping to get cleaned up too. I feel pretty gross," she admitted with a sheepish smile. And if he'd smeared blood on her clothing when he'd fed on her, she never saw a speck of red. Her neck ached a little, but otherwise she was pretty sure she felt fine.

"I think the cord is long enough that we at least have some privacy in using the bathroom, ne?" she pondered aloud, feeling for the end of it until she could give the length a light flip. It wasn't swinging, and seemed to be coiled in the dirt. They probably had to worry more about tripping over it rather than being tied too close together. "Where do we get new clothes, anyway? Does the house just give them to us?"

[allthekeys]

He hadn't wasted any of the blood he had taken, her throat would only show a faint ring of markings where he had bitten.

Ichigo flushed, hand automatically reaching for the loop of rope around his throat. "Yeah, it'd be nice to get cleaned up and into something else." He didn't comment on the chill of the basement tunnels. "We might have to test to see how far we can get from each other? It doesn't seem like a physical cord." There was a brief flush of embarrassment through the connection between them, as though Ichigo was thinking of what cleaning up might entail.

He shrugged. "I guess we could check a few of the rooms? There might be something."

[leekspin]

She nodded. "That's a good idea, Kurosaki-kun. Let's go slowly." She wasn't about to go sprinting the other way until one of them got whip-choked, after all. Holding loosely to her end and facing Ichigo, Orihime stepped back, one foot at a time, waiting until she could feel the cord start to grow taut.

As she moved further back, she noticed that in doing so, she began to feel a growing discomfort, as if she couldn't bear to be so far apart from him. She knew it was strange, for as much as she loved him, she wasn't so codependent that she would actually feel anxious like this. She grimaced, but made herself keep going. The more they knew about their predicament, the better.

[allthekeys]

He shifted on his feet, echoing her unease through the connection. "Does it feel...strange to you too? Or is that just me?" It was difficult not to simply step forward, to close the distance between them again.

The monster watched, concerned by the distance. If the connection broke, would it be returned to its cell or would it be left lose in the house?

[leekspin]

Orihime had little doubts as to the strength of the cord itself. If it could be broken easily, those creatures wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to tie them together. She was certain it would hold fast. But if it did break, that would save her the trouble of finding out how she was supposed to sever it.

At his question, she looked up, meeting his eyes solemnly. "I feel it too. Kind of like...a desperate loneliness." One that could only be erased by his presence. It was easier as long as she was looking at him, and hearing his voice, and she could feel the cord lift slightly. They were probably reaching its full length by now.

"Let's see if we can break it. Grab hold tight, I'll do the same, and on three we'll both pull as hard as we can."

[allthekeys]

"Yeah..." Ichigo met her eyes for a long moment before looking away; a pulse of longing ran through the cord.

The monster hesitated, alarmed at the thought; breaking the connection was the last thing it wanted to do. It didn't even know if the cord could be broken at all, but it wanted to stay with Orihime, very much, and see the house in the daytime. But Orihime had been so nice to it--had fed it, kept it close, shown it kindness and concern... If that was really what she wanted, it would try. For her.

Ichigo was silent, expression obviously worried as he looked at her, but finally tightened his hold on the cord and nodded decisively. "Alright. Let's do it."

[leekspin]

She felt the emotions as they trickled through to her -- shock, reluctance, love... They touched her deeply. But it was then that it occurred to her that maybe he was only feeling this way because the experiments had forced him to. It was entirely possible that he still only saw her as a friend, and once the cord broke, things would return to the way they'd always been.

She knew it was better that way. Orihime didn't want to love someone who loved her artificially in return. But it was hard for her to keep those thoughts at bay, that they could stay like this for just a little while longer so she could bask in the feeling of being loved by the person she'd cared for all these years.

It was just too selfish to keep wanting that, for the price of Ichigo's free will, and that caused her to tighten her grip on the rope. "On the count of three."

She wet her lips, then dug her heels into the ground, bracing herself.

"One...two... three."

[allthekeys]

It hurt, like a physical jerk on his soul that left him breathless.

Or maybe that was just the cord tightening around his throat, somehow, despite a secure grip on it. He panicked, taking a few steps forward until the cord relaxed enough for him to breath again. He couldn't stop the surge of relief for it not breaking, though he hoped that was disguised under the relief of being able to breathe again.

"Did you--?" Stupid question, if he felt it obviously she had as well. The unnerving sensation had only grown now that they had tried to break it, and he took a few more steps closer until the feeling faded. "I had a grip on it, there was still slack. No reason for it to tighten like that."

[leekspin]

Orihime nodded wordlessly, leaning on her knees and wheezing slightly. She'd taken several steps forward subconsciously as well when she'd been running on instinct to prevent being choked. She'd felt it too. After that, she was reluctant to test what they could and couldn't do any further. Her follow-up test, to see if someone else could sever the bond with a knife from the kitchen, was discarded. Just the intent alone to be separated seemed enough to result in being half-strangled.

"Well...at least we know there's enough room so we can shower and dress privately," she said with a wry smile. "Sorry, Kurosaki-kun. I didn't think it would end up hurting you like that."

[allthekeys]

"It hurt you too, Inoue." He mirrored her earlier gesture, offering her a hand up, still rubbing his throat with his free hand to brush away the lingering discomfort. "It was a good idea, and worth the try."

He nodded, trying to reassure her. "Yeah. That'll be better. You alright now?"

The monster watched her, peering at her in concern. She shouldn't be hurt, it didn't like the nasty feeling of the bond stretching painfully thin between them. It was better to touch her, to be near her, to feel her upsetaffectionlonging up close like this. It liked the feel of her skin, warm and smooth and of full of magic.

It could pretend to be her boy for as long as she wanted.

[leekspin]

She still felt a thrill when her palm was laid against his. Ichigo always did have the best hands, and the touch was awfully soothing to her. She'd needed that. And even though he'd been hurt, he was still so kind to her. Was it any wonder that she was so in love with him?

"I'm okay," Orihime smiled reassuringly. "Just hungry. I don't know about you, but none of us got fed, I could probably eat three breakfasts!"

You think she's exaggerating? She's not. If anything, it might prove to be an understatement.

"Then we should clean up, get a fresh change of clothes, and probably get a little rest if we can. We'll need to be wide awake and alert when night comes, and if we have any time before that, I'd like to do a little more exploring." She lowered her voice to a hushed, excited whisper. "I found a diary. I think it might help us!"

[allthekeys]

Ichigo laughed at her declaration, and the smile he offered Orihime in return came more easily now, quietly warm and familiar. "They didn't give me anything, either. That sounds like a good plan."

The Phantasms, after all, hadn't given him anything. He'd taken the meal he'd gotten--and it had barely even been a snack, really. All it had done was whet his appetite, but he had to be careful. He couldn't hurt Orihime too much, not when they were connected like this--not that he would have wanted to, anyway. She was so nice to him, and so pretty, and felt so good to be with..... He would be her boy. He would take care of her. And if that meant he only got tastes, instead of the real feast he wanted, then he would just have to deal with it as best he could.

The tingle of excitement rushing through the bond made him lean closer to her; he didn't understand what she was talking about, but if it made her happy like that, then he liked it, too. "What do you mean?"

[leekspin]

"It was hidden. And I don't think the owner is able to come back for it; her picture was inside, and when everyone woke up in the attic together, she wasn't there. I haven't read the entire thing, but the last entry was 'The phantoms took him.' I think she was talking about the things that grabbed us, Kurosaki-kun!"

Orihime glanced around, leery of being anywhere close to the cells where they'd been held. While she didn't know the exact location, she knew it was 'down', so the higher they went, the safer she'd feel.

Still holding to Ichigo's hand, she started forward, searching for some sign of stairs or other means of ascension. Besides, she really was hungry. "We have to get back to it. Maybe there's some sort of clue that tells when or why a phantom will go after someone."