"Grimmjow, stop sulking!" A female voice came from the doorway.
He sat up and looked over. Standing in the doorway was a friend of his, Inara. She was leaning up against the doorframe, a big grin slapped on her face. She walked over to him.
"What's the matter, now? Still sulking over you-know-who?"
He blushed and looked down. "N-n-no, I'm not sulking at all!" He exclaimed, even though she knew he was.
"Just tell him! He'll understand," she said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You forget, nobody knows Ulquiorra like I do!"
"I wish it was that easy, just telling him," he said looking away.
"Come on, I thought panthers were courageous daredevils!" She teased. "Live up to your name, Panther boy!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" He yelled. He didn't like that name, but she just gave a good-natured laugh. She went and sat beside him. "
Just tell Ulquiorra, I'm pretty sure he'll understand. Hey, he might even feel the same way back, you never know until you try!"
"Tell me what?" Ulquiorra said, appearing in the doorway. Grimmjow blushed and turned his head away.
"Go on," Inara said, giving him a bit of a push, but Grimmjow just shook his head no.
"Nothing, U-Ulquiorra," he said, attempting not to stutter. She slapped her forehead, pretty disappointed. Ulquiorra shrugged, walking off and disappearing down the hallway.
"Grimmjow…" She said, sighing. You'll never be-"
"Don't! Start with the 'my happiness' speech. I've heard it enough to have it memorized," he said, flopping back onto the couch. She laughed and ran her finger down the scar he had received from Ichigo.
"If you have it memorized, then why haven't you told Ulqui yet?"
"Because I'm too damn nervous, that's why!!" He yelled, surprised at his outburst of his feelings just as she was.
"Ok, then if you won't tell him I will!" She said, standing up. He reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"You do and I'll kill you," he threatened.
"Well, he's gonna find out from someone, might as well be either me or you," she said, turning towards the door. "Gin, get out of here. Tell anyone and you're dead. That's a promise!!" She said calmly as footsteps quickly retreated down the hall. She rolled her eyes.
"Damn that Gin…. Well, gotta go Grimm. I've got work to do, so tell him and everybody will be happy. Well, at least us three," she said, waving goodbye.
'Us THREE?' He thought, shrugging. He laid back on the couch, knowing it was rather late (kinda hard to tell in Hueco Mundo), but he didn't care. He looked out to the always visible moon, then scanning the snow-white sandy horizon.
He let out an audible sigh, turning over to where he was laying on his stomach. He laid like that for a while, then decided to get up and take a walk. He was nowhere near sleepy, so he was kind of jittery. He jumped off of the windowsill, and began to walk towards the outskirts of Las Noches. He stood for a moment, just staring at the sand. It reminded him of Ulquiorra's skin…. He shook his head vigorously, attempting to clear his head of those thoughts without luck.
"Hey Grimmjow!" Came the annoying voice of Szayel running up beside him. He knew if he was here, Nnoitra wasn't far behind him. "Watcha doin so far out here this late?"
"Taking a walk, ALONE," he said, putting emphasis on the word "alone" to try to get his point across. Szayel didn't get it.
"Thinkin bout your lover?" He asked suddenly. Grimmjow widened his eyes and felt his cheeks become hot.
"I-I don't have a lover," he said, fighting to remain calm. "Hyahaha!" Came Nnoitra's signature laugh. Grimmjow rolled his eyes.
"Sure you're not, Grimm. No, you're not thinking about Ulquiorra!" Szayel teased, and again Nnoitra joined him with that annoying laugh.
Grimmjow stopped dead, whipping around to face them. "He's not my lover," he said, giving them a death stare. "Now leave me alone, will ya?!"
"Sure, Grimmy, he's not your lover. But you wished he was!!" That infuriated Grimmjow. He whipped around, punching Szayel straight in the face and causing him to knock back into Nnoitra. He gave a pissed off snort, then jumped off, as far away as he could get from those two. He stopped on a rooftop a good distance from them. He gave a long sigh and sat down, staring out at the horizon.
He heard the footsteps approaching, and he believed it was Szayel or even Gin. "Will you l-" He cut himself short when he saw Ulquiorra.
"Ulquiorra, what are you doing here?" He asked, a little surprised.
"I came out here to watch the moon," he said, his gaze drifting upwards.
"Beautiful, isn't it," Grimmjow asked nervously, feeling himself begin to blush. Ulquiorra didn't answer. Grimmjow shut up for a minute, hoping he would answer. He didn't. "Ulquiorra…." Grimmjow whispered, more to himself than to Ulquiorra. He turned and looked at Grimmjow, whom he saw was blushing severely and looked as if he wanted to die. 'What is wrong with him?' Ulquiorra thought. 'Maybe what Gin said is true. Only one way to find out.' He walked over to Grimmjow and put a hand on his head. Grimm looked up at Ulquiorra, who was in the process of sitting down. Grimmjow, not thinking, leaned in and put his head on Ulquiorra's shoulder. Surprised by this sudden action, Ulquiorra hesitantly put his arm around Grimmjow's shoulders. It wasn't weird to him for some reason. Ulquiorra didn't know why, but he kind of liked it.
"Ha! You still gonna deny it, Grimmy?" He whipped around, looking into Szayel's eyes.
"WILL YOU LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE??" Grimmjow exploded at the pink haired Arrancar.
"Nope," he said simply, holding up a red digital camera.
"Where did you get that?" He asked, becoming nervous. "I 'borrowed' it off Inara. And, it takes great pics!" He said, holding the camera so that Grimmjow and Ulquiorra could se three different pictures of them sitting there together.
Grimmjow scrambled up and chased after Szayel. Nnoitra stuck his foot out, tripping up Grimmjow, then followed Szayel back into one of Las Noches' buildings. Grimmjow let out a pissed off sigh, while Ulquiorra only sat there looking at him.
"Ugh, I hate those two little fucking bastards!!" Grimmjow said, moving back to sit beside Ulquiorra. He leaned forward and put his head down, his face hidden by shadows. Ulquiorra watched him for a minute, then went to stand up. Grimmjow reached out and grabbed his hand as he went to leave.
"Ulquiorra, please…. Don't leave me," Grimmjow said.
"It's cold out here," Ulqui said. "Let's go inside," Ulquiorra said, softening his voice. Grimmjow got up, following Ulquiorra. Then he noticed something: Ulquiorra never let his hand go. They were walking side-by-side, actually holding hands. Grimm blushed, hoping this moment was real and not a dream. Ulqui wasn't even sending him any glares. As they walked by the Espadas' Meeting Room, they both heard a commotion inside. They opened the two large doors, followed by Inara who had been napping, and walked inside. In the room everyone was circled around Szayel, fighting to see something.
'The camera,' Grimmjow thought, becoming angry. They all turned and looked at the two. A few came up and congratulated the two, some stayed in their own groups and talked about it, so Szayel and Nnoitra were the only ones laughing. Wonderweiss stood by Inara, looking clueless.
"So, Grimmy, you two gonna have a little rendezvous tonight?" Szayel teased. "Hyahaha!" Nnoitra laughed, egging him on.
"Mommy, what does he a mean a rondizveoos?" Wonderweiss asked, looking up at Inara. "Nothing, just a little grown-up talk," she said nervously, covering his ears.
Grimmjow looked at Inara suddenly. "Did he just call you 'Mommy'?"
"Yeah, it's kinda his pet name for me," she laughed.
"Oh, ok. Got scared for a moment."
"Wonderweiss, you stay here and just ignore Mr. Pinky, ok?" Inara said, walking over to Szayel. She snatched her digital camera and literally left an imprint of her boot on his face. "Asswhole," she said, walking back over to Grimm and Ulqui. "Here guys, look," she said and deleted two of the three pictures.
"Wait, keep the last one, Ina," Grimmjow said blushing.
She looked at him and nodded, not asking why. 'He has his reason,' she thought, a small smile gracing her lips. She gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Oh Grimmy!" Szayel yelled, making a heart with his fingers, Grimm and Ulqui inside of it. Grimmjow shot him a bird and Ulquiorra just rolled his eyes.
"Hey, Szayel!" Inara spoke up. "Why don't you leave them alone and go love up to your girlfriend over there!" She said, motioning to Nnoitra. Szayel got mad, and started ranting and raving, yelling louder and louder at Inara. After he calmed a bit, she quickly took his "designer" glasses and jumped onto a rafter, dangling them haphazardly over the ground.
"Move and they go bye-bye," she threatened teasingly.
"Inara." Aizen's voice boomed from his throne. "Return his glasses."
"Yes, Aizen-sama," she said, jumping down and handing Szayel his glasses.
"Hmf." He said, putting his glasses back on. She slapped him hard with her tail, causing him to sneeze. At the same time, his glasses fell and landed on the floor, shattering. Everyone laughed, and he was literally about to strangle Inara.
He stormed out of the room, Nnoitra following, but not before Inara called him. This time, SHE made a heart with her fingers and inside it were Nnoitra and Szayel. He got mad and they could hear his door slam all the way at the end of the hall. Everyone just laughed harder. Inara grinned, moving over to stand by Halibel whom she had become good friends with.
"Uh, Halibel? I can see your breasts, hun," Inara said, and Halibel pulled down her shirt. "Thanks," Halibel said.
"So what, do you think of those two?" Inara asked and Halli just shrugged.
"Personally, I'm more of a GinXAizen fan," she said.
"What?!" Inara looked shocked.
"What?" Halli said.
"You have weird preferences," Ina teased.
"I know," Halli said.
"I think they make a cute couple. One is more calm and collected, and the other is more of an outgoing rebel. They compliment each other!" Inara said, watching the two standing side-by-side talking to some of the other Espada. Then she noticed their hands. She smiled and pointed it out to Halli, and Halli smiled as well.
LATER THAT NIGHT (YES, IT IS THE NIGHT WITHIN THE NIGHT O.o)
Ulquiorra had walked out of the room that had, for some unknown reason, turned into a full-fledged party. He had walked out onto the rooftop to get some fresh air. He breathed deeply, relaxing as the night's silence overtook the loud music of the party. He heard the tmp-tmp-tmp of footsteps behind him, and turned to see Grimmjow coming up behind him.
"You ok, Ulqui?"
"Yea, just had to get some air," he said. Grimmjow walked up beside him and took Ulqui's hand in his.
"Still think I'm trash?" Grimmy teased. Ulquiorra looked over at the blue-haired Espada, then looked back out.
"No, I don't think of you as trash anymore. I think more of you as a…….. a treasure," Ulquiorra said, looking up at Grimmjow and smiling.
"Good," he said. "Because I think of you the same way." Then, on the spur of the moment, Grimmjow turned Ulquiorra towards him and pressed his lip against the Cuatro Espada's.
Inara had been looking at them through one of the windows. She turned on her camera, and with her last bit of battery took a picture of their silhouettes in front of the full moon. She smiled, then spotted Gin. She walked up to him and cuffed him as hard as she could on the back of his head. "I told you not to tell. Be happy I'm feeling merciful tonight," she warned, smiling in spite of herself.