Disclaimer: I make no claim to ownership of Bleach beyond my manga, DVDs, and artbooks. No monetary profits are being made and no disrespect is intended. No characters were harmed in the making of this fic.
LUCKY DRAW DRABBLE CHALLENGE
1. Write down the names of 10 characters.
2. Write a quick drabble/ficlet for every prompt, using the characters determined by the numbers. DO NOT read the prompts before you do step 1.
1) Renji
2) Rose
3) Shuuhei
4) Rangiku
5) Kensei
6) Byakuya
7) Grimmjow
8) Starrk
9) Harribel
10) Gin
Characters/Pairing: listed above
Content: some language, some gore, references to slash and het... a little bit of a lot of things, really.
Summary: An exercise in genre, character, and — most definitely — brevity.
Notes:
1) Found this particular drabble challenge while perusing Transformers fic, thought I'd give it a shot.
2) I'm pretty old school on the term drabble so I went for the 100 words — no more, no less — meaning. It's more of challenge, I think, anyway. :D
3) Real life has gotten jumbled and busy again, but I am hoping to have something meatier to post next time.
.:.
1. First Time, 4 (Rangiku) and 6 (Byakuya)
That someone his age had never once experienced the decadent, sensual pleasure of ice cream flabbergasted her. Rangiku stared openly at the man in blatant surprise. He returned that look with a narrow-eyed contempt. "You have something to say, lieutenant?"
"Captain Kuchiki," she began, slim fingers fiddling with the edge of her pink scarf to avoid grabbing at him instead, "are you sure you've never tried this before?"
The dark-haired captain's answer consisted of a finely shaped brow quirking upward.
"What flavor, then?" Rangiku asked with a rakish grin, dragging him toward the dessert bar. "I'd suggest the cinnamon spice."
.:.
2. Angst, 7 (Grimmjow)
He lay staring at the unending sky that curved over the barren land of Hueco Mundo, uncomprehending of the fact that he still lived. Grimmjow didn't even particularly feel dead, not that he knew precisely what that felt like. What plagued him was the peculiar absence of Ulquiorra's presence.
No love play trouble between himself and his forced comrades, but still the lack of that one soul in his awareness bothered him.
"C'mon, you bastard," Grimmjow muttered, trying to ignore the aching tug located somewhere deep in his chest. His fingers curled into the sand beneath him. "This fucking sucks!"
.:.
3. Alternate Universe, 1 (Renji) and 8 (Starrk)
The shuttle bay doors opened with a whoosh as Renji gazed befuddlement on his partner. Renji was not the most skilled of hunters and Coyote Starrk made slacking an art form. Their joint assignment to a retrieval mission this big scanned like someone hoped for disastrous failure.
"Are they outta their damn minds?" Renji asked, directing the question at Starrk only by happenstance of shared location. "Sending you and me of all people to find an artifact?"
Starrk eventually shrugged, broad shoulders shifting under the neat fit of his long coat. "Maybe they're hoping we'll prove them wrong about us."
.:.
4. Threesome, 3 (Shuuhei), 6 (Byakuya), and 9 (Harribel)
Shuuhei groaned and lifted a hand, rubbing his face and smacking his lips against the dryness left by a night of excess. Much as he disliked it, morning called.
Rolling left, Shuuhei found his way blocked by a trim, athletic figure. He frowned, cautiously cracking open his eyes against the glare of morning sun to observe his unexpected bedmate. Captain Kuchiki? His shock was compounded by the press of large, soft breasts against his back.
"Sleep, Hisagi," Tia Harribel, known Espada, murmured into his nape, her hand sliding across his belly.
Wide awake now, Shuuhei struggled to recall last night.
.:.
5. Hurt/Comfort, 5 (Kensei) and 10 (Gin)
Nearly bled out, barely clinging to life, Ichimaru stirred Kensei's normally dormant inner nurturer. It didn't come out often and never sweetly, but the silver-haired fox was about to deal with it, anyway.
"For some reason, blondie still likes you," Kensei told the motionless figure. Matsumoto had spilled the story over several bottles of sake shared with himself and Hisagi. No one expected Ichimaru to show up again.
Kensei sighed and scooped the bloodied Ichimaru over a shoulder. A pained groan said Ichimaru wasn't entirely out of it and earned him an awkward pat on the thigh. "Hang on, kid."
.:.
6. Crack, 1 (Renji)
Left alone in the main hall of Kuchiki manor, Renji waited for Rukia. The gang was having a big shindig to celebrate... something — Renji couldn't remember what — and Rukia was running late.
On the opposite wall hung a large mirror. He smirked and strutted across the room, posturing like a proud peacock.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," Renji asked the oval, "who's the fairest of them all...?"
Over his shoulder appeared a lovely pale face framed by dark hair. Cold grey eyes met his in the reflection. "Abarai, what are you doing?"
Renji clutched at his chest, wide-eyed with shock.
.:.
7. Horror, 10 (Gin)
The light slid from the woman's eyes, the once stunning blue gaze going blank and dull as death stole upon her. Gin loosed his fingers from around the now still lump of her heart, pulling his hand from her butterflied chest with a sickly, liquid squelch. Blood and gore dripped from the clawed shape of his fingers as he rose again to his feet.
He chuckled and nudged the cooling body with the toe of one sleek boot. "Heh, guess you won't be telling anybody about me now, will you?"
A trail of red droplets followed him down the hall.
.:.
8. Baby Fic, 5 (Kensei) and 9 (Harribel)
The Espada woman and Vizard man gazed down on the contents of the strange basket, then slowly lifted their eyes to meet those of the other. Neither looked entirely pleased with this new turn of events.
"Well," Kensei began, "what are we supposed to do with it?" He waved a hand at the basket, looking as if he'd rather be disemboweled than saddled with this new, unwanted task.
Tia sighed and refrained from beaning the man with the nearest blunt object — the basket, in this case. "I imagine the parents of the child would appreciate having it returned to them."
.:.
9. Dark, 2 (Rose) and 8 (Starrk)
Flaking and itchy along the side of his face, Rose ignored the dried blood that painted a wide swath down one temple toward his chin. His hands were bound tight behind his back, his legs useless in the aftermath of the beating taken a few days previous.
This wasn't how things were supposed to be, the rush to take down Aizen. They weren't supposed to fail. The others were gone now.
"Funny how things change, huh?" asked his jailor, a lanky brunet called Starrk. He was mostly hands-off, leaving Rose in the hands of more vicious underlings. "Give up yet?"
.:.
10. Romance, 4 (Rangiku) and 7 (Grimmjow)
A half-used box of tissues thumped against Grimmjow's chest. He clutched it close without thought. Beside him, his favorite buxom blonde sniffled and blew her nose on an appropriated tissue, dabbing at the tears blossoming in her eyes. She snuggled closer against his side on their shared couch, resting her head on his shoulder.
Taking the chance, he slipped his arm around her waist and curled his hand along the sweet curve of her hip. The guys never understood why he'd stay home and watch a chick flick with his girl rather than hit the bar.
Their loss, he figured.
.:.
11. Death Fic, 2 (Rose) and 3 (Shuuhei)
He dropped the small bouquet of wildflowers down atop the headstone, feeling nothing more than an empty ache hollowing out his chest. His heart hid somewhere in the dark recesses of his being, seeking to avoid the oncoming breakdown in so public a place.
"Who was she?" asked Shuuhei, standing to his right. He kept his voice respectfully lowered, but the curiosity was plain.
Rose had never spoken of the woman to anyone, friends and strangers alike. Now that she was gone to another realm, he wasn't sure where to start. Perhaps the beginning? "We first met many years ago..."