Chapter 3: Ice-cream for breakfast
A week had passed since the midnight tea party with Aizen and Leila. Gin had been coming to the garden every night. Little by little the fairy got used to his presence and didn't run away from seeing him anymore. They still didn't talk but the shinigami didn't intend to give up. Besides, on the fourth day, when he came to his usual spot in the field, he found a silver tray served with tea and decorated with a small bouquet of flowers.
"My, my, what do we have here?" he muttered, smiling widely. He started sipping his tea happily and singing to himself that silly song he sang for Leila on the day they met. He sensed her presence but pretended to not notice her. He kept receiving the tray every night. Three days later he decided that it was time to make a move.
After finishing his tea he stood up and looked in Leila's direction. She froze from being noticed but stood her ground. Gin took it as a good sign and in a flash stepped behind Leila. Very slowly he sneaked his right arm around her waist and raised her hand with his left. Slowly, he pressed her against his body leaning toward her ear. He was engulfed by the intoxicating smell of her hair and skin that was better than any flower in the garden. She could feel Gin's breath and it made her heart beat faster.
"Thank ya for the tea, fairy-chan," whispered Gin as his lips were almost brushing against the girl's ear. He grinned wider.
"Good night," he sang and with that disappeared, leaving Leila alone and confused under the moonlight.
Gin made it to his room and went to bed. He was very content with the way it all worked out. He proved one of his theories wrong and felt happy about it. The thought of Aizen and Leila being in that kind of relationship was very disturbing and now he was sure that it wasn't the case. The way she reacted to his advances was full of innocence. She was very inexperienced and wasn't able to hide her emotions well because she did not fully understand them yet. The way her hand trembled after the first touch, the quickening of her heart when he pulled her closer, the way she leaned her head a little against his shoulder after hearing his whisper. She was so sweet. And with those thoughts the shinigami fell asleep.
In the morning Gin decided to go straight to the garden before work. On the way there he stopped by the kitchen. They didn't have much variety of food but he found some strawberry flavored ice-cream that looked somewhat edible. That maybe wasn't the perfect breakfast but no matter.
He stared at the ice-cream box as if trying to hypnotize it. But it didn't even flinch. There was something missing. Yeah, it needed more flavor. A few minutes later the counter top turned into a mess: nuts and chocolate chips were all over the place, caramel and chocolate stains made their way to the floor. In the middle of countertop stood a glass of brown substance which claimed to be a strawberry sundae. It failed miserably at it, unfortunately, to Gin's dismay. But even so, he was very proud of his work. Grimmjow chose that moment to come in.
"Good morning, Gi… What the heck is that thing?!" exclaimed the sixth espada pointing at the weird looking creation.
"How mean, Grimmjow. Just wanted to treat myself with some ice-cream this morning," answered Gin in a happy voice. Grimmjow eyed the object suspiciously and mumbled, raising an eyebrow, "Whatever floats your boat, man," he said and moved to the fridge to get his milk. Gin chuckled, and, after grabbing the sundae, left the kitchen.
"Today he is even creepier than usual," thought Grimmjow drinking his milk, his eyes locked to the doorframe where Gin exited the kitchen. At that moment he saw Ulquiorra passing by in the hallway. The forth espada stopped and looked at Grimmjow who was still sipping on his milk. The green eyes took a critical look at the mess in the room and without even sparing the sixth a glance, ordered, "Clean this mess up before you leave, trash."
"But that wasn't me…" the blue haired espada tried to justify himself but in vain.
"Damn it!"
In the meantime, Gin came all the way to the garden and stood in front of the door with his hand on the handle. He felt a little nervous but he just brushed away the feeling and pushed the door wide open and stepped inside.
"Little Fairy, please, come out. I have something for ya here," he sang. A few moments later Leila appeared in front of him.
"Good morning, Gin," she greeted, still not looking at him.
"Good morning, look what I brought far ya," said Gin placing a glass in front of her eyes.
"What is that?" asked Leila genially curious.
"It's sundae I made for ya as a thank you for tea. Now open your mouth far me," ordered Gin. Leila looked a bit hesitant.
"Don't be afraid. It might look bad but it tastes great. Come on," convinced Gin and placed a spoon with ice-cream in front of her mouth. Leila looked at the spoon, then at Gin and opened her mouth. Something stung in Gin's chest from looking directly in the girl's cherry eyes. He made his arm move and put the spoon in the fairy's mouth. Her eyes went wide.
"It's delicious! But it's cold," she exclaimed very excitably.
"Well of course it's cold. It's ice-cream. Here, you can have it all," said Gin handing her the sundae. "Let's go and find a more comfortable place, shall we?"
"Of course," agreed Leila cheerfully.
She led Gin to the part of the garden he hadn't been to yet. They passed the place where Gin first saw her dancing. They moved deeper through the woods until they reached a small pond. It was about 10 feet long and surrounded by large stones. The moon reflected off the water surface. And the trees surrounded the place giving it a sense of privacy. Gin sat on the ground facing the pond and leaned against the stone.
"Don't be shy. Come, sit on my lap. I promise I won't bite ya," reassured Gin smiling. Leila complied, too busy with her ice-cream at the moment. Gin found it very amusing how she had changed right in front of his eyes. And all it took was the ice-cream. He should have thought of it earlier.
For a few minutes he observed the female arrancar sitting on his lap. He liked how her face grew into a smile each time she put cold substance in her mouth. A few minutes later the ice cream was almost gone and the fairy was ready to put the last spoon in her mouth but hesitated and looked at Gin. He could read her thoughts by the changing expressions on her face which made him smile from amusement.
At first, she realized that it was the last spoonful of ice-cream then she thought that she should have asked Gin if he wanted some a long time ago and that made her blush. She scolded herself for being so absentminded. And when she looked up at the shinigami she finally realized that she had been watched the whole time. That observation made her eyes go wider and deepened the blush that was already spreading on her cheeks. For a moment Leila looked away, unable to look at the man but gathered the courage and brought the spoon to Gin's lips in a silent proposition. Gin thought for a moment deciding whether he should accept or decline the offer, and opened his mouth. The ice-cream was actually not so bad and he made a satisfying sound that made Leila let out a chuckle.
"So ya liked my treat, didn't ya?" asked Gin after taking a glass from fairy's hands and putting it down on the ground.
"Oh, yes, Gin, thank you."
The next move was as unexpected as everything she did. The girl hugged Gin and put her head on his left shoulder and closed her eyes. Gin was taken aback by such expression of affection directed at him. What ingenuousness! He put his arms around the girl and saw her smile. He felt so warm inside and so peaceful having the fairy in his arms. It was a new feeling to him. Her features were so relaxed, long wavy hair was coming down to her face. Gin chuckled at that and whispered,"Fairy-chan."
No response. Could it be she fell asleep so fast? But it was morning. Oh, it made sense. She must be doing all the work during the nighttime because Aizen was busy during the day. So that's how it was. Gin moved his hand and brushed away the hair from Leila's face. Her skin was so smooth and warm that he couldn't help but linger with his touch. He cupped her cheek and rubbed her delicate skin with his thumb lightly. His body seemed to move on its own and he leaned closer. Now their lips were inches apart. Those lips looked so delicious. Just a bit more…
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Gin-san, but Aisen-sama is requesting your presence at the meeting," announced the intruder with a very bored voice, and yet, it was quieter than usual.
"Just like I suspected," thought Gin.
He still couldn't decide whether he was mad or glad about the interruption. What the hell was he thinking?
"Ah, thanks Ulqui-chan. As ya can see I have a sleeping beauty here. Would you be so kind and show me where her room is?" asked Gin trying to keep his voice down.
At that Ulquiorra turned on his heels, putting his hands in the pockets and started walking. Gin took it as espadas's way of saying "Please, follow me," and carefully, so as to not wake Leila, stood up.
To Gin's surprise Leila's "room" turned out to be not a room at all. It was an Arabian looking tent with many semi-transparent colorful fabrics separating the inside and outside. Ulquiorra lifted the green fabric letting Gin and Leila inside. The shinigami put Leila down on many pillows which he figured must be the place where she usually slept. He gave her one last glance and stepped out of the tent.
The way to the meeting was quiet. Neither one talked. Gin was full of thoughts and Ulquiorra just was not much of a talker by his nature. The silence was broken by the not so happy Grimmjow who was just turning the corner on his way to the meeting.
"You, damn fox-faced demon, I had to clean all that mess after you left! Don't you dare do that again, you hear me!" shouted Grimmjow. It made Gin come out of his trance and he chuckled.
"You see, poker face, I told you it wasn't me," continued the sixth espada looking at Ulquiorra and pointing at Gin. He looked rather silly and it made Gin laugh even harder. Ulquiorra just stared at the fuming bleu-eyed man and finally said, "Watch your mouth, trash. Know your place!" With that, he turned around and started walking.
"Oh, come on; don't be so mean to Grimmy. He worked so hard. Give him some credit, will you, big brother?" said Gin making an accent on the last word. It made Ulquiorra stop in his tracks and he slowly turned his head looking at the shinigami. He frowned. It looked like he wanted to say something but remained silent. Gin just ignored the death glare directed at him and started walking.
"Come on, Aizen is going to be cranky if we r late."
Ulquiorra soon joined, leaving Grimmjow behind.
"What the hell was that?" Grimmjow thought. He did not know the answers to those questions but was determined to find out.
A/N: thank you for reading and subscribing to the story. I really appreciate it. Next chapter is going to be with Grimmjow so get ready!
