On The Road To Nowhere, At Least We Have Each Other
Summary:
A war has broken out, causing two individuals to lose their houses, and families. Ichigo and Grimmjow now walk the earth, searching for a place of refuge. All they have is each other and the shirts on their backs. They hunt for their supplies, and they keep each other warm at night. When two unlikely counterparts take a journey together, how can they keep each other safe? How can they push on, march forward and make it to refuge? What will their relationship become of, spent in one another's company practically all the time? Is it inevitable? Have they somehow been brought together by this tragic event? They don't know, but they fight on, power through, and stay alive-hopeful they will one day find peace once again.
Chapter One: When It's Cold, We Keep Each Other Warm.
The rain is heavy tonight. An everlasting sound of droplets roar in their ears. In these weather conditions, they weren't going to be able to move to the next location. They have to wait out the treacherous rain and hope that they don't run in to any trouble.
They're tired—drained. It's been four nights since they got a wink of sleep. Their bodies are ready to give out, their eyes feel like dead weight and the determination they felt several days ago is starting to deteriorate
What do they expect?
They were brought together by unfortunate circumstances. Strangers, is what they are to each other, however they have no other choice but to stick together in these times of destruction.
Everything had been going fine in both their individual lives before this tragic event ripped them from their homes—their families.
He's married! Married. And he has no idea where his wife is. He searched for days after the explosion. Half his street has been wiped out by the catastrophic blast, vaporizing the friends he had come to make during his time there.
His situation is bad, but he can't imagine what his blue-haired companion must be going through. As far as he knows, for the guy didn't talk much—he watched his wife perish, along with his two children.
He's older than Ichigo, and his eyes tell a heartbreaking story.
One the redhead can't even begin to imagine.
Their only source of protection from the harsh weather is a rundown shack that might not even hold for the entire night. Ichigo hopes it will. He hopes the sun will come out in the morning and they can continue on their path to the refugee camp.
"Are you cold?" his companion asks. His voices sounds broken, a sham of what it could have once been.
Ichigo wants to tell him that he's fine, but his skin's currently jumping from the blistering cold creeping in through the many cracks. He's not sure if the shack was in this position before or after the explosion.
Whatever the case may be, it clearly wasn't looked after.
He clears his throat, trying his voice after being a mute for the past few hours. "Yeah, but it's fine. I'll be okay. What about you?" The blunet shakes his head in disbelief, a smile that fails to reach his eyes registering in Ichigo's vision.
Ichigo's eyes shouted what.
The taller man slips his jacket off and throws it on the floor. He reaches his hand out and gestures for Ichigo to do the same. Although skeptical of the guy's actions, the redhead removes his own overcoat, handing it over.
Pleased, he drops it next to his jacket, starting on the rest of his clothes.
Ichigo blanches, unsure how to react, as his companion undoes the button on his jeans, rolling the material down his strong looking legs before he kicks them off, immediately after discarding his jumper and undershirt.
The one thing they don't have is shoes.
Ichigo turns away as the blunet reaches for the waistband of his boxer shorts, pulling them off and standing there fully naked.
"Don't be shy, Ichigo. It's okay. I'm not going to rape you or anything," he utters, not hesitating for a second. When the younger man proceeds to stare prudently at the wall, he rolls his eyes. "What you're doing right now is more awkward than actually turning around and acknowledging that I'm naked," he announces offhandedly, stepping towards the door to the shack.
Not prepared to take that from a stranger, Ichigo turns on his heel, flushing a deep red, as he's never witnessed a man as forward as his blue-haired counterpart, who he has yet to even discover the name of.
They've been travelling together for days, and he hasn't a clue about the others name. And yet this family man is willing to strip in front of a total stranger and waltz around like he isn't currently nude as the day he was born.
Ichigo isn't sure how to comprehend this.
"Instead of standing there slack-jawed, just follow my lead. You stink, Ichigo. Really bad, and I can't stand the smell of myself right now, either. So, let's take advantage of this shower, okay?"
The mysterious man doesn't wait for the redhead to answer. He's already outside of the shack before Ichigo can even string a sentence together.
This is stupid.
Why is he even thinking about joining this stranger outside? The very idea is ludicrous. On the other hand, where logic lies, he has a point. It hasn't showered in days. It has been blisteringly hot, actually.
So, now is their opportunity to get decisively clean.
Done with questioning himself for now, Ichigo hurriedly falls out of his clothes and walks out of the shack, spotting the rather muscular man standing under the rains downpour, letting himself be drenched in its tears.
His head is tilted towards the moonlit sky, several strikes of lightning illuminating his tanned body. Ichigo finds him fascinating in this moment. He can see so much strength in his arms and legs—the defined muscles on his back showcasing years of development and hard work.
Ichigo assumes that the man must have practiced with his hands a lot, lifting things too heavy for a normal build.
"Enjoying the view?" he teases, with no drive to his words, regarding Ichigo's form over his shoulder. His eyes glaze over the younger man, taking in the toned muscles, and sinewy features.
He offers a small grin of appreciation.
"My guess is you were a swimmer when you were in high-school, then swam for your colleges team?" he smirks, for real this time, when he witnesses the look of shock pass over the redheads face.
He clearly hit the nail on the head.
"How did you know that?" he retorts, vaguely shameful he can be read so easily, and by a complete stranger, no less.
The man cocks his head and flexes his muscles. "I was a personal trainer," he mentions on the wind, running his hands down his body, slowly ghosting over his flaccid appendage, focusing on airing out the space between his thighs and testicles.
Ichigo can't understand how the man isn't freezing to death. He feels like he is, but logic dictates that he is still alive.
"Come over here, Ichigo," the blunet mutters, not wasting his time checking to see if he actually follows the request.
Ichigo does so, and he doesn't have a clue why.
The redhead steps up to him, moving to his side. He stares up into controlled blue eyes, wondering why he called him over here.
"It's great that we have some rain to get clean, but the result of this is gonna leave our bodies cold, and possibly give us pneumonia—before you freak, listen to me. We can get through it without a hitch, but we're going to have to make covers out of our clothes and sleep together," he informs, as if he were talking about what he had for lunch a few days ago—so casual and with no fear whatsoever.
It encourages Ichigo to be brave, too.
He ponders if this is the reason he listened to this man when he instructed Ichigo to come with him, as there is no point journeying on his own, when he can have someone looking out for him—they watch each other's backs and make it to the refugee camp.
There's just one problem with what he said. "And what do you mean when you say sleep together, just so we're clear?" he keeps the slight fear out of his tone. This man has a few years and a fair bit of muscle on him, so he'll need a miracle to fight the guy off, if need be.
He runs a hand through Ichigo's hair, smirking at him. "Don't worry, Ichigo. Don't ya' think if I wanted to fuck you, I would have done it weeks ago? Y'know, I have a very large sex drive, but I'm also not a rapist, so ya' have nothing to worry about," the blunet assures, releasing his hand from Ichigo's hair.
The redhead touches where it last was.
"We just have to cuddle or whatever. Two naked bodies against each other is an easy way to keep warm. Moving bodies would be better, but I'm not risking anything here."
Seemingly finished with the shower, the man stalks back toward the shack, gesturing Ichigo to join him with a movement of his hand above his own shoulder.
Ichigo follows after him, ponderous about the upcoming event. What if he wakes up with something else pressed against him? He knows it wouldn't be awkward for the big guy—he doesn't seem to have any shame at all.
He'll feel extremely uncomfortable, though.
The man closes the door after Ichigo enters.
He stops still as he prepares the bed, suddenly aware of the next item on the agenda. "Ichigo, in order for this to work, one of us is going to have to hold the other. It honestly makes no difference to me. I'm fairly confident that if ya' turn out to be a rapist, I can have ya' pinned to the floor before ya' can pretend it was all a misunderstanding," the blunet declares, still not interested in any reaction that Ichigo might have to his words.
Ichigo swallows the lump in his throat as he faces reality. "Well, it would make more sense if you did the, uh, holding, 'coz I'm smaller and a bit slimmer than you, and the better the fit, the better the heat I guess, right?" he rambles, accepting the fact that it does seem more efficient if the blunet holds him.
"What's your name?" Ichigo finally can't hold off anymore.
The man finishes setting up, settling into the makeshift bed. He gestures for Ichigo to get under the covers. Wordlessly, the redhead does so.
He turns over on his side, and tenses up before relaxing, as strong arms circle around him and pull him against a slightly wet body.
"Much easier fit than I thought it would be," the stranger admits, placing one leg over the oranget's. The younger man still wants an answer to his question, and his companion somehow felt the apprehension on Ichigo's back.
"My name's Grimmjow. Now, go to sleep, okay?" he suggests, resting his chin on the top of Ichigo's head for extra warmth and closeness.
Ichigo manages to wriggle back a tad, enjoying the warmth that spreads through him with the motion.
He's glad he finally knows the strangers name.
Grimmjow, huh? That's exotic.
A few minutes later, they pass out, and stay in the same position for the whole night.