The Suit - Chapter 4 (Bleach, Sado/Ishida)
Title: The Suit, Chapter 4/10
Rating: currently R
Pairing: Sado/Ishida
Warnings: Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Alcohol use. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.
Summary: With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.
Chapter 4
You're cinematic razor sharp
A welcome arrow through the heart
It was, Uryuu was sure people would say, a beautiful wedding. All these people looking distinguished and elegant, all these yards and yards of silks, all these flowers... As the bride, Rie, resplendent in layers of almost translucent silk, marched up the aisle, Uryuu wondered how much this all must have cost.
Chad sat to his left, big hands folded loosely in his lap. Uryuu studied the drape of fabric over his knee, the way the vents on the suit jacket parted just so, and he smiled. Then he looked up, and Chad was smiling back.
So with a slightly warm face, he turned his attention out to the rest of the hotel's sumptuously appointed chapel, to the expensively-bedecked members of the audience. He began counting heads-much better than darting glances at Chad's hands, looking at the way his legs folded up, nearly too big for the narrow aisle, knees almost touching the silk-upholstered chair in front of him. Much better than remembering, very clearly, how big Chad really was, all folded around him in the hotel bed.
Uryuu cleared his throat and concentrated on the priest, and somehow he made it through the rest of the ceremony.
***
The reception was much easier. Without being squeezed into a narrow chair in close proximity to Chad, with nothing to do but listen to a ceremony celebrating love and togetherness, Uryuu was able to relax. He smiled and accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and he sipped on it as Chad and Ichigo swept him along, milling around the ballroom until the crowd around the bride and groom thinned.
Other well-wishers drifted away to get their own drinks, to greet relatives, to step outside, and Uryuu found himself bracketed by Chad and Ichigo as they approached the happy couple. Even as unsentimental as Uryuu imagined himself to be, he had to admit that they did look happy.
"This is the guy we told you about," Ichigo said as an introduction. Uryuu suppressed an eyeroll and took over.
"Ishida Uryuu. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a short bow. "Congratulations on your marriage."
His cheeks heated when Rie's glowing face sharpened in amusement. "Aren't you adorable."
"No need to be so formal," Ichigo said with a chuckle, elbowing Uryuu in the side. The bride's face softened in a laugh, and Uryuu forgave her... it was her wedding day, after all.
"Congratulations on your marriage," Chad said beside him.
"Thank you for coming," Harutoki said to Chad, just as formally. And then he turned to Uryuu and thanked him as well, and introduced himself and his new wife. Already, the momentary awkwardness had evaporated.
Though now, Uryuu struggled to find the correct thing to say next. Chad was being characteristically quiet, and Ichigo seemed distracted, his eyes scanning the crowd. Uryuu cleared his throat.
"Oh, you made this yourself?" Rie said, and she stepped inside of Chad's reach and stroked the lapel of his jacket, picked off a tiny piece of lint. "It's gorgeous! And here, I bet Harutoki that Chad would show up in his school uniform."
Rie's teeth flashed when she laughed, and her eyes darted to her husband and then back to Chad, but Chad's smile at the dig convinced Uryuu that there was no malice intended in her teasing. In fact, there was something there that reminded him of Tatsuki, some toughness underneath the lace and the silk, and that realization eased him considerably.
He caught some sort of silent communication between Chad and Harutoki over the top of Rie's head, solemn and a little sad, and he went quiet and still inside. This was Chad's friend, this was an important person to him, and he was easing his way out of Chad's life. Uryuu felt something fall into place, felt that this went a little ways toward explaining Chad's quiet insistence that Uryuu come with them to this wedding. Uryuu breathed out and gracefully accepted Rie's compliments, and he smiled up at Chad, who was beginning to squirm under the scrutiny.
Finally, Ichigo broke it up. "Don't you two have a dance, or something?"
"Go get yourself a drink," Harutoki said, smiling. "We'll see you around." With that, the bride and groom strode away.
The open bar was well-stocked, and after his second glass of champagne, Uryuu switched to wine. He floated around the ballroom, watching Chad and Ichigo interact with their friends, and it felt about right to be on the periphery of the party. It didn't bother him; for a long while, he was grateful for the bit of private space they gave him, in this room full of strangers. He didn't realize he felt a bit left out until Chad caught him by the arm and gently steered him toward the small pack of young men gathered around a table in the corner.
"Everyone, this is Ishida Uryuu," Chad announced, his low voice cutting an effortless, mellow swath through the house music. "Uryuu, this is everyone."
"Nice to meet you," Uryuu greeted, swaying slightly when Chad's hand left his arm. Ichigo raised his glass in a lazy toast to Uryuu, and Uryuu grinned, pleased and embarrassed, and drank down the rest of his glass. Chad's arm was warm when Uryuu swayed into it, and he made no attempt to move out of Uryuu's way.
***
The band took the stage around eleven o'clock, and Uryuu settled into a hard-backed chair on the edge of the ballroom with a half-empty glass of wine in his hand to watch. He smiled when Chad appeared. A handsome man his size, in an equally handsome suit, with a bass guitar strapped around his shoulders was a stunning sight.
The band launched immediately into a song. It was something Uryuu had never heard before, but there was a certain appeal to it, especially seeing it up-close and feeling the thrum of the bass and the thunder of the drums vibrating under his feet. The champagne and three glasses of wine didn't hurt, either. Still smiling, he watched Chad on the little stage, watched the way he leaned back, hips cocked forward, with one foot planted out front to support the low-slung bass, watched his long, dexterous fingers slide up and down the fret-board. His face was unreadable as always as he laid down a deep and steady rhythm-nothing flashy, nothing fancy, but pervasive and powerful.
Vaguely, Uryuu was aware of couples in the middle of the ballroom, dancing in their finery, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the stage, from Chad. When Uryuu settled against the metal backrest of his chair, the vibrations traveled inside him, rhythmically thudding in his spine, his chest, his stomach. He took a drink of his wine and watched the confident movements of Chad's fingers as the band launched into another song, this one with a bass-driven beat that Uryuu could only describe as raunchy.
This is not helping, not one bit, Uryuu thought.
Uryuu licked his lips and sat upright, and he tried to keep his mind on the straight and narrow through the rest of the set.
He was mostly successful.
***
The three-man-band finished in a climax of crashing cymbals. They held their positions for almost a minute, grinning at each other, faces flushed and victorious, and Uryuu was suddenly proud of them, proud that he knew them, proud that they could go up on the stage and do that.
Then the lights came up. The musicians packed away their instruments carefully, slowly, and said a few words to each other, inaudible above the rising house music. The cheerful tune sounded hollow and tinny after what Uryuu had just heard.
Chad turned away from his friends, and for a moment Uryuu saw that soft, sad thing in his eyes again, a look so foreign on Chad's normally placid face that it made his chest ache. The moment passed, and when Chad's head swiveled in his direction, his shaggy hair fell back into his eyes, and his expression was as calm as ever.
This is the last time, Uryuu thought, and he swallowed. They won't ever play together again. Part of him wanted to go to Chad and tell him that things would be okay, that Chad would make more friends, put together another band, that Uryuu would be his friend.
But Uryuu didn't believe in platitudes like everything will be okay, and he had very little experience with reassuring others. So instead, he brought Chad a fresh glass of wine and stuck with Chad and Ichigo, their own little band of three, until the reception wound down and they went home.
Back to their hotel room, in any case. They swayed through the halls, even big, solid Chad unsteady on his feet, and Ichigo dropped their keycard before he successfully swiped it. They tumbled into the room.
Uryuu stopped to get his bearings, to stare around the room. The two beds, the pile of extra blankets on the floor to his left. Some wild emotion swirled in him, making him feel reckless and light-headed.
Or maybe that was the wine talking. Either way, he turned to Chad-Chad with his messy hair, and his huge shoulders in the suit that Uryuu had made for him, and his tie loose and crooked-and opened his mouth to say whatever wanted to come out.
Chad's big hand descended onto the top of his head, and Uryuu's mouth slammed shut. The hand gently mussed his hair before it withdrew.
"You're so cute," Chad said solemnly.
Uryuu blinked, then jumped as Ichigo barked a laugh from behind him.
"You're in trouble now, Ishida," Ichigo said.
"What?" Uryuu whirled to face Ichigo, flustered and irritated, unsure if he was being made fun of.
"Oh yeah." Ichigo grinned, sinking back into his pillows and lacing his fingers behind his head. "Chad looooves cute things. He's pretty much adopted you, now. Better watch out-he'll pet you if you're not careful."
Mouth hanging open, Uryuu did another whirl that left him dizzy, and then he came face-to-face with Chad, the big man simply shrugged.
"Is that-" Uryuu clamped his mouth shut before he could finish the thought.
Is that really all that's going on?
There were implications to this, Uryuu knew, but ones that were impossible to puzzle out at three in the morning with a bellyful of wine and champagne. The corners of Chad's mouth started turning up, but Uryuu didn't know if he wanted to see Chad smile at him while all these connections were trying to form inside his head. So, trying not to seem aggravated, Uryuu strode into the bathroom, grabbing his suitcase on the way.
Five minutes later, dressed in a fresh t-shirt and cotton pajama pants, Uryuu splashed a handful of water onto his face and looked at himself in the mirror. With a little distance from the situation (which really wasn't much of a situation, he realized) some of that buzzy, warm feeling of general well-being had returned, and he admitted to himself that with his cheeks flushed from overindulgence and his eyes big and hazy like they were, maybe he was kind of cute. And that being petted by Chad might not be the worst fate. Everything else, he'd put on his mental shelf until tomorrow.
The lamp above Chad's bed was the only light in the room when Uryuu exited the bathroom, and it lent a mellow glow to Chad's hair and the one muscular shoulder visible above the blanket. Uryuu closed the bathroom door and dropped his suitcase beside it and, swaying on his feet, he began to make his way toward the spare blanket and pillow on the other side of the room.
He jumped and nearly lost his balance when long fingers caught him gently around the wrist. Without a word, Chad tugged him toward the bed. After a brief mental struggle, Uryuu let him.
He was halfway under the covers when he heard Ichigo snort. "Told you," Ichigo said.
"Shut up, Kurosaki," Uryuu hissed, laying his head on the pillow. He tugged the blankets up to his chin and slid his glasses off, and as soon as they touched the side-table, Chad flicked off the lamp.
In the dark, with the only sound the metallic hum of the air-conditioner, the room seemed to tilt and sway around him. It was pleasant, like Uryuu imagined being on a ship would be pleasant. Chad's weight shifted beside him and then stilled. Uryuu relaxed into the sensation of being rocked.
He didn't realize he was asleep until a loud noise jerked him awake. His eyes flew open in the dark, and when Ichigo made a noise like canvas ripping, Uryuu sighed in irritation. Another snore, this one punctuated with loud lip-smacking, tempted Uryuu to throw something across the room. He'd actually rolled over onto his side to feel around on the side-table for a suitable projectile before he realized that Ichigo had quieted down. Now he could hear the thrum of the air-conditioner and Chad's slow, steady breath beside him.
With clumsy fingers, he fished in the drawer until he found a small pamphlet, which he placed on the floor beside him in anticipation of another snoring jag, and then he settled down on his side and relaxed again.
Chad moved behind him.
Uryuu froze, trying to breathe silently, and he barely kept himself from jumping when he felt Chad's fingers brush his shoulder.
"Are you awake?" Chad whispered, his breath stirring the short hair at the back of Uryuu's head.
Uryuu nodded, and then realizing that it was dark, whispered, "Yes."
Chad's hand flattened, slid down to settle over Uryuu's bicep. "Thank you for coming with us," Chad said softly, and he started to stroke Uryuu's arm. Gently, barely brushing the skin, with only the tips of his fingers.
Uryuu swallowed and closed his eyes in the dark. "You're welcome." Then he didn't say anything else, just breathed, and felt Chad's touch travel down his arm to the wrist, and then back up again. It slipped under the edge of Uryuu's sleeve and lingered at his shoulder, squeezing and massaging until Uryuu relaxed. Chad said nothing behind him. Uryuu could smell the wine on his breath, could still smell it on his own as well, even underneath the toothpaste.
Chad's big hand glided down his arm, the broad palm warm on his biceps, blunt fingertips gently skimming over the sensitive skin on the inside of the elbow.
His breath was warm and steady against the back of Uryuu's neck and his touch was soft, his motions painstakingly slow, and by the sixth or seventh time he made the whole, slow circuit of shoulder to wrist and then back again, the hair on the back of Uryuu's neck and all the little hairs on his forearms were standing straight out. Just like another part of him; the way his pajama pants dragged against him when he shivered at a light scrape of fingernails along his inner elbow made it clear that he was hard as a rock.
The hand kept moving, and Uryuu wouldn't have stopped it for the world. It was only his arm, for god's sake, yet his whole body felt on fire from it. The sensation of the whole room swaying came again and Uryuu welcomed it, opening his mouth to take in a deep breath. Fingers squeezed and stroked the long muscles of Uryuu's forearm and Chad was warm behind him, and this whole thing felt good; being touched, being this close to someone he liked, feeling drunk and reckless but safe. Uryuu breathed deeply, trying to stay quiet when the slightly calloused fingers sliding over his biceps made him ache with arousal that he was too intoxicated and tired to even consider doing anything about.
Relief and disappointment crowded up in him when Chad's motions slowed, and then stopped, and Chad's arm curled over him. He tried to control his breathing, tried to match it to Chad's, slow and even behind him. Before his heart even stopped racing, he was asleep.
TBC...
___________________________
A/N: I really don't mean to make these cliffhangers, though I heard from a few people that the last one was a pretty bad one. If so, then this one's even worse, maybe! My apologies XD I'll post up more pretty soon! Though not as soon as this - I don't mean to post every day :) Posting too close together is like flooding, posting too far apart is drawing it out unnecessarily; I'm trying to find the happy medium where there are decent periods between chapters + I'll have the last chapter finished by the time it's ready to post it.
BUT I LOVE THIS CHAPTER, lol. I got too excited waiting to post it, so I use the excuse that the last one was a cliffhanger to post it early XD
And, here is a place I came up a little short as a storyteller: I never meant for Ichigo to be like, actively trying to be a romantic-type matchmaker. What was in my head was that he was trying to nudge them closer to being actual friends... and in the last chapter, he was just cranky and wanted sleep, so he was like SHUT UP ALREADY D:<. But I'll also say this: a huge percentage of this story basically played like a movie in my head, and it was one of those cool things where I felt like I didn't even need to steer the characters, they did things on their own. Ichigo acted almost entirely on his own XD So maybe he actually is trying to make a match, and I don't even know it! XD
A ha ha, maybe I need to not write A/Ns when I've been up this long, lol?
I'm glad to know people are enjoying this, anyway :)
Lyrics (c) Snow Patrol - You're All I Have
Previous chapter | Next chapter
Rating: currently R
Pairing: Sado/Ishida
Warnings: Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Alcohol use. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.
Summary: With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.
Chapter 4
You're cinematic razor sharp
A welcome arrow through the heart
It was, Uryuu was sure people would say, a beautiful wedding. All these people looking distinguished and elegant, all these yards and yards of silks, all these flowers... As the bride, Rie, resplendent in layers of almost translucent silk, marched up the aisle, Uryuu wondered how much this all must have cost.
Chad sat to his left, big hands folded loosely in his lap. Uryuu studied the drape of fabric over his knee, the way the vents on the suit jacket parted just so, and he smiled. Then he looked up, and Chad was smiling back.
So with a slightly warm face, he turned his attention out to the rest of the hotel's sumptuously appointed chapel, to the expensively-bedecked members of the audience. He began counting heads-much better than darting glances at Chad's hands, looking at the way his legs folded up, nearly too big for the narrow aisle, knees almost touching the silk-upholstered chair in front of him. Much better than remembering, very clearly, how big Chad really was, all folded around him in the hotel bed.
Uryuu cleared his throat and concentrated on the priest, and somehow he made it through the rest of the ceremony.
***
The reception was much easier. Without being squeezed into a narrow chair in close proximity to Chad, with nothing to do but listen to a ceremony celebrating love and togetherness, Uryuu was able to relax. He smiled and accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and he sipped on it as Chad and Ichigo swept him along, milling around the ballroom until the crowd around the bride and groom thinned.
Other well-wishers drifted away to get their own drinks, to greet relatives, to step outside, and Uryuu found himself bracketed by Chad and Ichigo as they approached the happy couple. Even as unsentimental as Uryuu imagined himself to be, he had to admit that they did look happy.
"This is the guy we told you about," Ichigo said as an introduction. Uryuu suppressed an eyeroll and took over.
"Ishida Uryuu. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a short bow. "Congratulations on your marriage."
His cheeks heated when Rie's glowing face sharpened in amusement. "Aren't you adorable."
"No need to be so formal," Ichigo said with a chuckle, elbowing Uryuu in the side. The bride's face softened in a laugh, and Uryuu forgave her... it was her wedding day, after all.
"Congratulations on your marriage," Chad said beside him.
"Thank you for coming," Harutoki said to Chad, just as formally. And then he turned to Uryuu and thanked him as well, and introduced himself and his new wife. Already, the momentary awkwardness had evaporated.
Though now, Uryuu struggled to find the correct thing to say next. Chad was being characteristically quiet, and Ichigo seemed distracted, his eyes scanning the crowd. Uryuu cleared his throat.
"Oh, you made this yourself?" Rie said, and she stepped inside of Chad's reach and stroked the lapel of his jacket, picked off a tiny piece of lint. "It's gorgeous! And here, I bet Harutoki that Chad would show up in his school uniform."
Rie's teeth flashed when she laughed, and her eyes darted to her husband and then back to Chad, but Chad's smile at the dig convinced Uryuu that there was no malice intended in her teasing. In fact, there was something there that reminded him of Tatsuki, some toughness underneath the lace and the silk, and that realization eased him considerably.
He caught some sort of silent communication between Chad and Harutoki over the top of Rie's head, solemn and a little sad, and he went quiet and still inside. This was Chad's friend, this was an important person to him, and he was easing his way out of Chad's life. Uryuu felt something fall into place, felt that this went a little ways toward explaining Chad's quiet insistence that Uryuu come with them to this wedding. Uryuu breathed out and gracefully accepted Rie's compliments, and he smiled up at Chad, who was beginning to squirm under the scrutiny.
Finally, Ichigo broke it up. "Don't you two have a dance, or something?"
"Go get yourself a drink," Harutoki said, smiling. "We'll see you around." With that, the bride and groom strode away.
The open bar was well-stocked, and after his second glass of champagne, Uryuu switched to wine. He floated around the ballroom, watching Chad and Ichigo interact with their friends, and it felt about right to be on the periphery of the party. It didn't bother him; for a long while, he was grateful for the bit of private space they gave him, in this room full of strangers. He didn't realize he felt a bit left out until Chad caught him by the arm and gently steered him toward the small pack of young men gathered around a table in the corner.
"Everyone, this is Ishida Uryuu," Chad announced, his low voice cutting an effortless, mellow swath through the house music. "Uryuu, this is everyone."
"Nice to meet you," Uryuu greeted, swaying slightly when Chad's hand left his arm. Ichigo raised his glass in a lazy toast to Uryuu, and Uryuu grinned, pleased and embarrassed, and drank down the rest of his glass. Chad's arm was warm when Uryuu swayed into it, and he made no attempt to move out of Uryuu's way.
***
The band took the stage around eleven o'clock, and Uryuu settled into a hard-backed chair on the edge of the ballroom with a half-empty glass of wine in his hand to watch. He smiled when Chad appeared. A handsome man his size, in an equally handsome suit, with a bass guitar strapped around his shoulders was a stunning sight.
The band launched immediately into a song. It was something Uryuu had never heard before, but there was a certain appeal to it, especially seeing it up-close and feeling the thrum of the bass and the thunder of the drums vibrating under his feet. The champagne and three glasses of wine didn't hurt, either. Still smiling, he watched Chad on the little stage, watched the way he leaned back, hips cocked forward, with one foot planted out front to support the low-slung bass, watched his long, dexterous fingers slide up and down the fret-board. His face was unreadable as always as he laid down a deep and steady rhythm-nothing flashy, nothing fancy, but pervasive and powerful.
Vaguely, Uryuu was aware of couples in the middle of the ballroom, dancing in their finery, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the stage, from Chad. When Uryuu settled against the metal backrest of his chair, the vibrations traveled inside him, rhythmically thudding in his spine, his chest, his stomach. He took a drink of his wine and watched the confident movements of Chad's fingers as the band launched into another song, this one with a bass-driven beat that Uryuu could only describe as raunchy.
This is not helping, not one bit, Uryuu thought.
Uryuu licked his lips and sat upright, and he tried to keep his mind on the straight and narrow through the rest of the set.
He was mostly successful.
***
The three-man-band finished in a climax of crashing cymbals. They held their positions for almost a minute, grinning at each other, faces flushed and victorious, and Uryuu was suddenly proud of them, proud that he knew them, proud that they could go up on the stage and do that.
Then the lights came up. The musicians packed away their instruments carefully, slowly, and said a few words to each other, inaudible above the rising house music. The cheerful tune sounded hollow and tinny after what Uryuu had just heard.
Chad turned away from his friends, and for a moment Uryuu saw that soft, sad thing in his eyes again, a look so foreign on Chad's normally placid face that it made his chest ache. The moment passed, and when Chad's head swiveled in his direction, his shaggy hair fell back into his eyes, and his expression was as calm as ever.
This is the last time, Uryuu thought, and he swallowed. They won't ever play together again. Part of him wanted to go to Chad and tell him that things would be okay, that Chad would make more friends, put together another band, that Uryuu would be his friend.
But Uryuu didn't believe in platitudes like everything will be okay, and he had very little experience with reassuring others. So instead, he brought Chad a fresh glass of wine and stuck with Chad and Ichigo, their own little band of three, until the reception wound down and they went home.
Back to their hotel room, in any case. They swayed through the halls, even big, solid Chad unsteady on his feet, and Ichigo dropped their keycard before he successfully swiped it. They tumbled into the room.
Uryuu stopped to get his bearings, to stare around the room. The two beds, the pile of extra blankets on the floor to his left. Some wild emotion swirled in him, making him feel reckless and light-headed.
Or maybe that was the wine talking. Either way, he turned to Chad-Chad with his messy hair, and his huge shoulders in the suit that Uryuu had made for him, and his tie loose and crooked-and opened his mouth to say whatever wanted to come out.
Chad's big hand descended onto the top of his head, and Uryuu's mouth slammed shut. The hand gently mussed his hair before it withdrew.
"You're so cute," Chad said solemnly.
Uryuu blinked, then jumped as Ichigo barked a laugh from behind him.
"You're in trouble now, Ishida," Ichigo said.
"What?" Uryuu whirled to face Ichigo, flustered and irritated, unsure if he was being made fun of.
"Oh yeah." Ichigo grinned, sinking back into his pillows and lacing his fingers behind his head. "Chad looooves cute things. He's pretty much adopted you, now. Better watch out-he'll pet you if you're not careful."
Mouth hanging open, Uryuu did another whirl that left him dizzy, and then he came face-to-face with Chad, the big man simply shrugged.
"Is that-" Uryuu clamped his mouth shut before he could finish the thought.
Is that really all that's going on?
There were implications to this, Uryuu knew, but ones that were impossible to puzzle out at three in the morning with a bellyful of wine and champagne. The corners of Chad's mouth started turning up, but Uryuu didn't know if he wanted to see Chad smile at him while all these connections were trying to form inside his head. So, trying not to seem aggravated, Uryuu strode into the bathroom, grabbing his suitcase on the way.
Five minutes later, dressed in a fresh t-shirt and cotton pajama pants, Uryuu splashed a handful of water onto his face and looked at himself in the mirror. With a little distance from the situation (which really wasn't much of a situation, he realized) some of that buzzy, warm feeling of general well-being had returned, and he admitted to himself that with his cheeks flushed from overindulgence and his eyes big and hazy like they were, maybe he was kind of cute. And that being petted by Chad might not be the worst fate. Everything else, he'd put on his mental shelf until tomorrow.
The lamp above Chad's bed was the only light in the room when Uryuu exited the bathroom, and it lent a mellow glow to Chad's hair and the one muscular shoulder visible above the blanket. Uryuu closed the bathroom door and dropped his suitcase beside it and, swaying on his feet, he began to make his way toward the spare blanket and pillow on the other side of the room.
He jumped and nearly lost his balance when long fingers caught him gently around the wrist. Without a word, Chad tugged him toward the bed. After a brief mental struggle, Uryuu let him.
He was halfway under the covers when he heard Ichigo snort. "Told you," Ichigo said.
"Shut up, Kurosaki," Uryuu hissed, laying his head on the pillow. He tugged the blankets up to his chin and slid his glasses off, and as soon as they touched the side-table, Chad flicked off the lamp.
In the dark, with the only sound the metallic hum of the air-conditioner, the room seemed to tilt and sway around him. It was pleasant, like Uryuu imagined being on a ship would be pleasant. Chad's weight shifted beside him and then stilled. Uryuu relaxed into the sensation of being rocked.
He didn't realize he was asleep until a loud noise jerked him awake. His eyes flew open in the dark, and when Ichigo made a noise like canvas ripping, Uryuu sighed in irritation. Another snore, this one punctuated with loud lip-smacking, tempted Uryuu to throw something across the room. He'd actually rolled over onto his side to feel around on the side-table for a suitable projectile before he realized that Ichigo had quieted down. Now he could hear the thrum of the air-conditioner and Chad's slow, steady breath beside him.
With clumsy fingers, he fished in the drawer until he found a small pamphlet, which he placed on the floor beside him in anticipation of another snoring jag, and then he settled down on his side and relaxed again.
Chad moved behind him.
Uryuu froze, trying to breathe silently, and he barely kept himself from jumping when he felt Chad's fingers brush his shoulder.
"Are you awake?" Chad whispered, his breath stirring the short hair at the back of Uryuu's head.
Uryuu nodded, and then realizing that it was dark, whispered, "Yes."
Chad's hand flattened, slid down to settle over Uryuu's bicep. "Thank you for coming with us," Chad said softly, and he started to stroke Uryuu's arm. Gently, barely brushing the skin, with only the tips of his fingers.
Uryuu swallowed and closed his eyes in the dark. "You're welcome." Then he didn't say anything else, just breathed, and felt Chad's touch travel down his arm to the wrist, and then back up again. It slipped under the edge of Uryuu's sleeve and lingered at his shoulder, squeezing and massaging until Uryuu relaxed. Chad said nothing behind him. Uryuu could smell the wine on his breath, could still smell it on his own as well, even underneath the toothpaste.
Chad's big hand glided down his arm, the broad palm warm on his biceps, blunt fingertips gently skimming over the sensitive skin on the inside of the elbow.
His breath was warm and steady against the back of Uryuu's neck and his touch was soft, his motions painstakingly slow, and by the sixth or seventh time he made the whole, slow circuit of shoulder to wrist and then back again, the hair on the back of Uryuu's neck and all the little hairs on his forearms were standing straight out. Just like another part of him; the way his pajama pants dragged against him when he shivered at a light scrape of fingernails along his inner elbow made it clear that he was hard as a rock.
The hand kept moving, and Uryuu wouldn't have stopped it for the world. It was only his arm, for god's sake, yet his whole body felt on fire from it. The sensation of the whole room swaying came again and Uryuu welcomed it, opening his mouth to take in a deep breath. Fingers squeezed and stroked the long muscles of Uryuu's forearm and Chad was warm behind him, and this whole thing felt good; being touched, being this close to someone he liked, feeling drunk and reckless but safe. Uryuu breathed deeply, trying to stay quiet when the slightly calloused fingers sliding over his biceps made him ache with arousal that he was too intoxicated and tired to even consider doing anything about.
Relief and disappointment crowded up in him when Chad's motions slowed, and then stopped, and Chad's arm curled over him. He tried to control his breathing, tried to match it to Chad's, slow and even behind him. Before his heart even stopped racing, he was asleep.
TBC...
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A/N: I really don't mean to make these cliffhangers, though I heard from a few people that the last one was a pretty bad one. If so, then this one's even worse, maybe! My apologies XD I'll post up more pretty soon! Though not as soon as this - I don't mean to post every day :) Posting too close together is like flooding, posting too far apart is drawing it out unnecessarily; I'm trying to find the happy medium where there are decent periods between chapters + I'll have the last chapter finished by the time it's ready to post it.
BUT I LOVE THIS CHAPTER, lol. I got too excited waiting to post it, so I use the excuse that the last one was a cliffhanger to post it early XD
And, here is a place I came up a little short as a storyteller: I never meant for Ichigo to be like, actively trying to be a romantic-type matchmaker. What was in my head was that he was trying to nudge them closer to being actual friends... and in the last chapter, he was just cranky and wanted sleep, so he was like SHUT UP ALREADY D:<. But I'll also say this: a huge percentage of this story basically played like a movie in my head, and it was one of those cool things where I felt like I didn't even need to steer the characters, they did things on their own. Ichigo acted almost entirely on his own XD So maybe he actually is trying to make a match, and I don't even know it! XD
A ha ha, maybe I need to not write A/Ns when I've been up this long, lol?
I'm glad to know people are enjoying this, anyway :)
Lyrics (c) Snow Patrol - You're All I Have
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