Thought I'd have a go at turning the invalid/carer role between Ukitake and Kyouraku on its head ^_^. Hopefully you will all find it mildly amusing...
Kyouraku heard the gentle sliding of the door rather than saw it open, felt instead of watched the slow sure footsteps as they came across the floor towards him. The thick rough linen of the bandages across his eyes would have obstructed his vision, even if he had had any.
Who would have imagined that the things could spit poison? Certainly his fourth seat hadn't. It had been more instinct than anything else, seeing a subordinate in danger, he hadn't thought twice about jumping in front on them, and thus getting an eyeful of corrosive poison.
Unohana had of course worked her magic, and he had been told his sight would return, but for the time being he was blind. Not that he needed his sight to tell who was making their way towards him; he could sense that reiatsu a mile away, as familiar as his own, a gentle and comforting presence.
"Kyouraku. How are you feeling?" He could hear the smile behind the words and couldn't help but feel better.
"I'll survive" He said lightly. "Have you come to look after me, Ukitake?"
A small chuckle told him that the irony in the situation hadn't been missed. "We can see if I'm as good as you."
As Ukitake bent over him Kyouraku's nose was filled with the man's familiar scent, of medicine and water and ink and something else distinctly Ukitake which he couldn't place but could recognise instantly. It was funny, he contemplated, how short a time it takes the other senses to become sharper to compensate for the loss of one. He started slightly as something soft and feather light fell onto his cheek, and he hurriedly grabbed onto it, eliciting a noise of protestation from Ukitake.
For a while he rubbed it between his fingers, trying to think what it was. "You've let your hair out" He commented finally, releasing the silky strands.
He heard a small grunt and the clink of what might have been plates. "It seemed like time for a change"
He felt the other man settle across from him and laughed. "Of course, after five hundred years or so, change is necessary. Although," he added slyly "You're being rather conservative aren't you? Only letting it out, why not chop it off?"
"I like it long" came the curt reply and Kyouraku could almost see his old friend's face, the slightest hint of a frown and lips thin and curved up slightly, trying to suppress a smile.
"Ehh well, you'll end up like Yama-ji then, won't you?"
"He has no hair." Ukitake pointed out, sounding a little confused.
"No, but he's conservative and bor-" Kyouraku choked and spluttered as something crumbly was forced into his mouth and he accidentally inhaled it.
"If I was you" Ukitake's voice was bright and reminded him worryingly of Unohana's when she was irritated "I wouldn't insult the person in control of your current wellbeing"
Once he had regained his breath Kyouraku muttered "You've been spending too much time in the Fourth" and was rewarded with another morsel of food, this time less forcefully.
They continued like that in silence for a while, Ukitake touching the food to Kyouraku's lips so that he knew to open his mouth until the lack of food told him that he had probably finished. After a few moments of comfortable silence he spoke up.
"You know, you're the only person who has visited me! Except for some medics, but I don't think they chose to do so to keep me company." His question turned to a whine at the end and he heard quiet laughter.
"You've only been in here for a few hours. Anyway, I believe your squad is using your absence to sort out paperwork. Your third seat…Ise-san? She looked very busy when I called in, scribbling away."
Kyouraku sighed sadly. "I suppose I'll have lots of work when I get back."
"Has the amount of work you have ever had an effect on you?" Ukitake sounded like he was trying very hard not to laugh.
Kyouraku leaned back in his bed comfortably. "Not really. But Nanao-chan, she's a bright girl, very promising. It's a shame she's so serious."
He heard a small choking noise from where Ukitake was sitting and a few wheezing noises. "From what she said when I talked with her I think she would argue that you're the problem, not her" he said when he had recovered from whatever he had choked on.
Hearing the wheeze in his friend's voice, Kyouraku reached out blindly to the direction of Ukitake's voice, vaguely hoping to help by patting him on the back. Instead his fingers poked into something soft and a yelp followed immediately after. "What was that?" he asked
"My eye." a hand took his and put it back on his lap firmly. "Try to not to wave your hands around, it's dangerous. I don't want to end up blind too."
"You don't want to be! I can't admire any pretty faces that happen to wander by anymore."
Silence greeted that remark, and he could tell what his friend was thinking, probably something along the lines of 'A shame for you, but a relief for everyone else.' A few centuries of friendship can give you wonderful mind reading abilities.
As he thought he heard the door slide open once again and an apologetic voice announced that Ukitake was needed.
Kyouraku felt a movement which was probably Ukitake standing and heard a rustling noise. "I suppose I had better go" his friend murmured. To Kyouraku's surprise, something heavy and jug-like was pressed into his hand "A 'get-well' present. Don't get caught." Ukitake's voice with thick with mischief and Kyouraku assumed the jug contained something that the members of the fourth squad really wouldn't approve of. On the other hand, it could be a trick to get him to take some medicine. Ukitake and Unohana were quite close, and it wasn't improbable that she might ask Ukitake to get him to take medicine.
"I'll be back later. Enjoy yourself" Ukitake said softly before leaving, sliding the door closed quietly behind him.
After waiting a few minutes to make sure the medic wasn't going to come back, Kyouraku tentatively took a sip from the jug, ever wary for Unohana's effective but disgusting medicine.
It was sake. Strong sake.
He smiled to himself and took a deep swig. This was definitely something that wouldn't be approved of, Unohana had a strict policy about alcohol and invalids, which involved the latter getting none of the former, much to Kyouraku's disappointment.
Sake was the best medicine for any aliment and Ukitake understood this wel,l even if no one else seemed to. He would be better in no time now.
Ukitake really was an excellent nurse; he knew just the medicine his patients needed.
Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated *Hint Hint*