AN: This came from my sisters "OMG Cloud and Ichigo would be soooo hot!" a few years ago. Mainly because she has a big thing for both of them and her key rings of each were on top of each other. I loved the idea though, this is what followed: a totally AU story where Ichigo is an architect and interior designer and Cloud is the owner of a club in the city. Ichigo is a regular at the club and his frowning face has left Cloud intrigued. The world I have created parallels the actually stories that all the characters come from, down to Aizen's betrayal.
The story switches between each of their points of view; so each chapter will be made up of small snippets. It is rated M for some of the later chapters, but at the start everything is very tame. Please enjoy xx.
He was there again Cloud noticed. He always sat at the end of the bar his orange hair at violent odds with his dark black silk shirt. He always sat still with his warm chocolate brown eyes staring at the bottle racks behind the bar. No matter who he met the frown that furrowed his features never moved and Cloud couldn't imagine it ever leaving his face.
If he had wanted to Cloud could have him thrown out of his club since he had heard from more than one customer that this man's face scared them and Cloud knew that kind of gossip was bad for business. However no matter what; Cloud couldn't do it. He didn't find this guy's face scary he only thought the stranger looked sad and maybe a little lonely and for that Cloud had no reason to throw him out. A bar was a place to heal the soul no matter how long it took he promised himself that he would make this person happy.
Every night the stranger ordered a whiskey sour and let the ice melt before he drank it straight down. After he finished his drink he would get up and leave. He hardly ever spoke except to order his drink and he rarely ever made eye contact or met anyone.
His isolation confused Cloud and also fascinated him. Each night he would find his eyes drawn to the shock of orange hair and moody disposition at the furthest bar stool. Cloud watched again as the stranger threw back his drink, hopped off the barstool and then cut through the crowd easily leaving the club again for another night.
The bartender had been watching him again Ichigo could feel it. It had been the same now for what seemed countless evenings. Every night the bartender would stand at the opposite side of the bar and watch him subtly. Ichigo didn't mind it wasn't the first time that his looks had attracted attention and he knew it wouldn't be the last time either.
However the intensity of the stare from the bartender made Ichigo almost unconsciously pay attention to him. Tonight he'd been dressing up for the clients with a crisp white shirt that he matched with a black tight fitted waist coat and a thin black tie. Both of these items made Ichigo notice how slim his hips and waist were. He was also wearing straight leg black trousers that showed off his long legs to perfection. It made Ichigo uncomfortable that the bartender was so perfect, with his crystal clear blue eyes and light blonde hair that seemed to fall just so across his white skin.
It was the bartenders light sapphire eyes that affected him the most though; it seemed as if the bartenders' eyes were stripping him bare. He'd heard of being mentally undressed, but he had never been on the receiving end of a look like that until tonight. Ichigo had to admit that the looks he had been getting were steadily becoming more intense each night. Up until tonight he hadn't been scared, but the intensity of the start had made Ichigo check he was actually still wearing clothes.
Ichigo was confused and impressed in equal measures that the bartender could still make the drinks that were ordered perfectly even though his attention was elsewhere in the club. After he finished his drink he left the club, but he still felt the presence of the bartenders' piercing blue eyes on his skin.