Chapter 6: Delirium and Sake
Renji woke to the sound of howling wind and snow striking the window, a frozen nose, and an odd, seething heat against his chest. He opened his eyes and found his face half buried in silky, sakura scented raven hair and Byakuya's back pressed up against him. His arm had curled around the noble's body and his hand rested on the soft, relaxed abdominals. They tightened suddenly and the noble's body seized as he coughed several times, rolled free of Renji and sat up.
"Captain?" Renji said reaching for his face in the darkness.
He felt the heat of it before his hand reached Byakuya and the noble pushed his hand away.
"I am…" he began, then stopped, caught his breath and sneezed, "I'm fide…fine…I'm fine."
His body quivered and he dropped back down into his pillow, facing away from the redhead.
"You're not fine," Renji said, settling down and moving closer.
"What are you doing?" Byakuya asked, turning to look at him.
"What you asked me to," Renji said, meeting his eyes with sincerity, "I'm keeping you warm…though it seems you're warm enough as it is, Captain. I, uh, think I gave you my cold…from before. Kami, I hope you don't get as sick as I was."
Byakuya stared at him with fevered eyes and said nothing.
"Well," said Renji, "At least I owe it to you to take care of you while you are sick. Even if I wasn't the one who gave it to you…you took care of me."
"You live alone…and you were my guest when you became ill. No one should be ill and alone. Everyone needs someone to look after them. And I hadn't had anyone need me like that since Hisana," Byakuya said, blinking to clear his eyes, "In addition, you're my vice captain. Work will pile up quickly if you are out of commission for a time."
"All right, I wasn't trying to make a big deal out of it," Renji chuckled, "I just mean I'll take care of you."
"I have staff to do that," Byakuya replied quietly.
"Your staff and the rest of the Seireitei are buried under six feet of snow, Captain. The storm is still wrecking everything out there. Don't even think to tell me that you're going to attempt going home."
"I have a personal senkaimon, Abarai. I could have gone home before."
"The precipice world would be freezing too, even without the snow…and don't think I'm letting you out of here sick like this…"
He paused for a moment.
"Captain," he said, his mind churning, "why didn't you just go home after the captain's meeting? You didn't have to come back."
"I had a few tasks to complete, but with the storm being so bad and the generator breaking down, I decided to leave those things for later."
"Oh…well look, getting back to the topic at hand, you're not well enough to go traipsing off through the precipice world, so just rest and I'll get you something for that cold."
"Abarai…"
"Hai, Captain."
"Open the top drawer of the dresser and reach into the back, right side."
Frowning, Renji slipped out of bed, cringing as the cold struck his body and wrapping his yukata more tightly around him. He flash stepped to the dresser, cursing the cold all of the way, and opened the drawer. He reached inside and his searching hand found a bottle. His curiosity piqued, he pulled it out and stared for a moment.
"Wait a minute…Captain…Captain, where did you get this?" Renji asked, sounding impressed, "I knew the guy who made this…in the Rukongai."
"If you will remember, Hisana was from the Rukongai. She was friends with the maker, who was also a very adept healer. I was assigned to Inuzuri and became injured in a battle. Hisana found me and took me to him for healing. When we were married, he gifted us with seven bottles of his finest sake. Hisana and I opened one each year to share as we celebrated our anniversary. We shared five before her death and I opened one in her honor. This is the last."
"But…are you sure you want to open it, Captain? I mean…it's not like you can…"
"In addition to being fine in quality, it also has some healing effects. It should help to shorten the duration of my illness. But get back into bed, Abarai. You are shaking from the cold," the noble said, sneezing and wrapping the blankets more tightly around him.
"All right, Captain," the redhead said, smiling.
He found two clean glasses and returned to the bed, pouring out a small amount of the sake into each. He started to drink, but was stopped by a pale hand that came to rest on the top of his glass.
Byakuya focused for a moment, using kido to heat the liquid.
"This blend is best taken hot," he explained.
Renji started to raise the glass again, and again was stopped.
"Wait. There is something we must do, first. Hisana and I always held in our minds something of personal value, a wish, if you will, for the coming year. Since this is the last of our gift, I think we should honor that."
"Sure thing, Captain. What are you thinking of?"
"You don't divulge it, Abarai," Byakuya said reprovingly, "not if you really desire it to come to fruition. You simply close your eyes and envision it as you take the first swallow."
"Huh…wishing on sake? You, Captain? I wouldn't have thought…"
"I usually would not. This, however, is an exception."
"Huh…" said Renji, frowning at his glass and thinking.
Like it takes much thought. Damn it! I know what I want, not that it could ever happen. He's a Kuchiki…and a clan leader. I mean, maybe someday if I ever reached captaincy, just maybe…but I'm so far away from that. Still…it's the only thing that I can think of right now…and I really do think it's the thing I want the most.
"Are you ready, Renji?"
The redhead nodded and studied Byakuya's illness hazed eyes.
I wonder what a guy like him wishes for. He can pretty much have what he wants…
His thoughts were derailed as their glasses touched lightly, then as the delicious sake slid down his throat and warmed him from the inside out. A feeling of well being swept over him and he crawled back underneath the blankets as Byakuya refilled his glass.
"Once opened, it's best to consume it on the same night," the noble explained.
Laughing softly, Renji took the glass and slowly drained it, looking over the curve of Byakuya's resting body to see out the window. The howling sounded more like a winter song now and the snow flurries had taken on a lovely, surreal quality.
"Would you like a cool cloth for your face, Captain," the redhead asked, "You look kinda flushed."
Byakuya shook his head.
"I feel cold."
"Well, you look hot, Captain," Renji said, then cringed and bit his tongue.
"Thank you for the compliment, Abarai," Byakuya said, his voice betraying a touch of amusement.
Renji sighed.
"Is the sake already going to your head or something? You know what I meant…"
"Of course, Renji," the noble said, turning his head and catching the redhead's gaze out of the corner of one gray eye, "I understand you perfectly."
"Ah…I see," Renji said, reaching over to refill the noble's glass, "Now, help me with this. Despite what you may think, I can't drink a whole bottle on my own, Captain."
"But I usually don't have more than one, myself," Byakuya objected, "and considering my reduced state…"
"What? You think I'll take advantage of you?" Renji chuckled, "I wouldn't want to risk getting cut into little pieces by Senbonzakura!"
"I just think one of us should still have our wits about him, in case of an emergency…"
"Oh…well then, it's a good thing this is a pretty small bottle, though, damn, this stuff is potent. I can barely feel my legs."
"That's because you're not all of the way under the blankets, baka," the noble said, closing his eyes.
"Oi…you're right. I didn't even notice."
He burrowed deeper into the blankets and moved so that his side rested against the noble's back. Byakuya blinked and sighed sleepily, then yawned and closed his eyes again. Renji continued to gaze contentedly out the window, taking short breaks to check the noble's temperature and eventually getting up to prepare a slightly warm, wet cloth to wash his heated face. The noble remained asleep, but groaned and turned fitfully in his sleep, eventually finding his way into Renji's arms. The redhead smiled as Byakuya's hot face and upper body came to rest on him. He curled an arm around the noble and brushed the hair away from his closed eyes.
He heard Byakuya mumbling something in his sleep and leaned closer to hear better. As he did, the noble's head turned toward him and his face burrowed into the redhead's shoulder, near his throat. Hot breath puffed onto his skin, followed by a touch of heated lips that sent a jolt straight to his groin. He held his breath, thanking kami for the fact that Byakuya was drunk and delirious, so he wouldn't wake fully. He did feel the flutter of soft eyelids against his skin and swallowed hard, the ache of arousal returning to his swelling member. He groaned softly, shifting and catching his breath at the sudden touch of friction against Byakuya's thigh.
Oh man…if he knew what was running through my head right now…but he trusts me, so even if I have to force myself to stay awake all night to be sure I don't do something in my sleep, I'm not going to ruin this.
But in the end, he just couldn't help but give his sleeping captain the gentlest of kisses…on the lovely crown of his head. The sweet smell of sakura make him sigh longingly. He grunted in surprise as wide, dizzy eyes opened and found his.
"Wh-what…h-happened?" Byakuya asked softly, "My…head hurts."
Renji smiled and sank his fingers into the silken black lengths and massaged his scalp gently.
"Oh…oh…R-ren…ji…that's…that's…g-good. Ari…gato…" the noble mumbled.
He continued down the back of the noble's neck and onto his shoulders, listening to Byakuya's soft, incoherent sounds of contentment and aching for so much more. But he stopped himself and pulled his hands away, staring as Byakuya whimpered softly and he realized that the yukata had come undone and was falling down off of his shoulders.
Oh fuck…like it wasn't already making me hard as a rock…
He carefully slid a hand down from neck to the small of his back, massaging gently and pushing the yukata down as he went.
"Kami, you're beautiful…" he whispered dizzily.
He was surprised when the noble's head lifted and half-closed eyes regarded him sleepily for a moment.
"You're b-beauti…ful too…" the noble mumbled brokenly.
His head dropped
"And unfortunately," Renji whispered, "you're way too out of it to really mean that. You probably don't even know who you're talking to…"
Byakuya released another bout of unintelligible syllables and his lips brushed Renji's throat again.
"You have to be dreaming about her…probably because of where the sake came from. Good stuff, that…really good hot like that."
"I promise…" Byakuya whispered deliriously.
"Huh?" Renji said, brushing the hair out of the way, "What was that?"
"I'll find…it…"
"Find what?" Renji asked, smiling.
"The…exception…"
You're not making any sense, Captain," the redhead whispered.
Byakuya's eyes opened, but refused to focus.
"I…will try…but I don't believe it exists…"
"What?" Renji asked.
"I don't…didn't believe…it could, but she was…right…"
"Uh…"
Renji looked up in surprise as an electrical buzz sounded and the power came back on. The heater cycled on and within a few minutes the room began to warm.
"Good luck is with us, Captain, ne?" Renji said with a note of gentle sarcasm, "Power's back on."
He sighed and climbed out of Byakuya's bed, tucking the blankets around him and leaving him mumbling incoherently to himself.
"I'd love to spend the rest of the night with you, but I couldn't be sure I'd be able to resist. Damn! You're cute when you're like this!" he laughed.
He turned and forced himself to leave without looking back.
XXXXXXXXXX
Byakuya's eyes opened and a flash of pain shot through his head. He caught sight of the empty bottle on the nightstand and groaned softly. The fact that his exposed arm and face were still warm and that Renji was gone told him the power must be back on.
He thought back to the night before and felt a soft jolt in his stomach as he caught the scent of Renji left behind on the other pillow. A pale hand took hold of the pillow and brought it to his chest. He rested his face against it, enjoying Renji's scent and thinking about what to do next.
He must realize by now it is me. I think I gave everything away last night. I couldn't help it. His reiatsu was so riled, especially when I walked past him in the bathroom, I thought he must know. But if he knows…then why did he leave? If he knows, then why didn't he say anything?
Byakuya sighed and closed his eyes again. He heard the door open and close, then someone set something on the nightstand and a cool hand touched his face.
"Still pretty feverish," Renji said softly, "Well then, no work for you today."
He opened his mouth to object, but was overtaken by the soft release of Renji's reiatsu into his mind. He tried to fight the urge to sleep, but found he couldn't resist as Renji touched his face again and, with another brush of kido, sent his thoughts spinning away.
He still doesn't know?
How can that be?
What do I do to make him understand?
What…
He was too far gone to feel the wet cloth that gently washed his face or the warm lips that brushed lightly against a soft eyebrow.
"Get some rest, Captain. I'll take care of things. Shouldn't be too much to do, considering we're still snowed in and the snow is still coming down. I'll be back in a while with some breakfast…Rest…Get better."
Renji left the door open and went back out to the office. He dropped into his chair and contemplated several hell butterflies that waited. The first two were notifications of closures due to the storm. A third was a confidential message for Byakuya and refused to speak to him. He paused and glared up at the last.
"Are you going to talk to me?" he practically growled.
"Tenant Renji Abarai of the Seventh Street and Main Apartment Complex…This is to inform you of an ownership and management change in your building…"
"Great," Renji muttered, "Well, it couldn't be worse than the last…"
"The new owner is The KP Group, and they have made preparations to renovate your building immediately…"
"Great…out on the streets again, eh?"
"The new owners have arranged for all of the building's tenants to be housed…"
"In the nearest slum?" Renji chuckled.
"…in the Skye Lakeview Towers. Meals are included in your reservation. If you have any questions…"
But Renji had stopped listening.
The Skye Lakeview Towers? Wha…? That's pretty pricey…wow. Who are those guys?