Okay, a quick thanks to everyone who gave me the reviews and ideas that help me continue this ridiculous story. A special thanks to Kera-Izaki, crazy madness, and Morena Evensong.
Very early one morning, Grimmjaw awoke to an irritatingly polite knock on his door. He grumbled and rolled over. This happened two more times before he decided that whoever was outside his chamber was not going to leave. So, he rolled out of bed and shuffled toward his door. He rubbed his eyes, feeling slightly disoriented as he made his way. Reluctantly, he opened the door to find Szayel standing there with a smile.
"What the hell do you want?" he snapped.
"Aw, that's not a proper greeting for someone who's here to help you out," the pink-haired espada chided playfully as he slipped past Grimmjaw and into the room.
As his sleepy haze began to fade, he took a moment to wordlessly take in his visitor. He couldn't help noticing that Szayel looked surprisingly good today, not that he ever really looked bad. He slowly closed his door. "So, why are you here?"
"I wanted to let you know that you will suffer the fever some time in the next couple of days," he informed while adjusting his glasses.
Grimmjaw started back to his bed, "Okay."
"Humph! Okay? That's it? I don't get a thank you?" he teased, slowly approaching the sixth.
"Whatever," he grumbled. "Do you need anything else?" His head felt foggy and the way the eighth was practically strutting toward him wasn't helping.
Szayel gave his comrade a pout before nearly closing the gap between their bodies to lean up and give him a quick peck on the lips before pulling back. He took a moment to look at the slightly stunned expression on Grimmjaw's face. Damn, he looked hot like that. That's why Szayel made a habit of going to see Grimmjaw when he knew he would be sleeping, he liked the way the sixth looked when he was all groggy and sluggish. It didn't hurt that that's when he was the also most lethargic this way, extending his normally short fuse.
The teal-haired espada could feel his body temperature rising as he stared at the arancar that'd just kissed him.
"You're welcome," Szayel said with an impish tone before heading to the door.
It took only a split second after the kiss for Grimmjaw to realize what was happening, why he felt so strange this morning, and when his guest tried to leave he had to stop him.
Szayel didn't get more than two steps past the larger arancar before he felt a strong hand on his arm. He tried to pull away only to find it grow stronger. "What…" was as far as he got before he looked back to see the look in Grimmjaw's eyes. "No," he shook his head in denial.
"I'm afraid you miscalculated…" he informed, roughly pulling the pink-haired espada toward him.
Szayel renewed his struggle. "M-mis-miscalculated?" he barely muttered as he felt those strong arms wrap around him. When he was pulled close in a crushing embrace he could feel that Grimmjaw was already partially erect. "Grimmjaw," he pleaded in a breathy voice.
Grimmjaw smirked as he nuzzled the slender neck before him. "Mmmm…you smell very pretty, did you do that for me?" he half teased in a husky voice.
Actually, he had but he wasn't going to say that. Instead, he tried again to push away. It wasn't that he didn't find his strong comrade with piercing teal eyes attractive. However, Ulquiorra had relayed a few of the details of his initial encounter with the feverish espada and he wasn't sure he really wanted to bleed down there today. Ulquiorra may not mind that kind of pain but it was not something Szayel could consider himself a fan of. Perhaps, under different circumstances, like if Grimmjaw was strapped to his dissection table, he would be more eager but as it were, he was less than enthusiastic.
"Oh, come now, don't be like that," Grimmjaw cooed into the smaller arancar's ear.
The breath on his ear was tickling and he shuddered. Damn it! How could he let this happen? He never miscalculated…at least not to this degree. He had to think fast. After an agonizing moment of indecision, he acted. He grabbed the collar of Grimmjaw's jacket and pulled him closer for another kiss, this one much deeper.
"Mmmm, that's more like it," Grimmjaw kissed back with renewed fervor.
Once distracted as such, Szayel slowly steered them toward the bed. When he felt Grimmjaw's knees make contact with the edge of the bed, he violently pushed him down. The larger espada didn't even bounce once before Szayel was out the door and on an urgent path of retreat.
Grimmjaw growled and slammed his fists into the mattress. "Damnit! Why do I always have to chase them?" he demanded of no one as he quickly began his pursuit.
Szayel knew that running was a risky move on his part. Running from Grimmjaw only delayed the inevitable and aggravate the sixth further. There was a chance that if he'd just given in, he could get his newfound admirer to go easy on him. However, that chance was so small that it could hardly be counted. His only option at that point would be to get back to his lab where they would have access to the lubricant he'd created was stored. He ran as fast as he could but was quickly reminded how much faster the sixth was. At the rate they were going, he wouldn't make it back to his domain before he was caught. Again, he had to think fast. The device used to rearrange the corridors was nearby. Perhaps he could use that to buy himself some time.
Szayel burst into the room, slamming the door behind him, and rushed toward the controls. When he turned the chair around, he eyes grew wide. There was already someone seated there. "I-Ichimaru-sama…"
"Szayel. How nice of you to come visit me. You look a little…frazzled. Is there something I can do for you?" he asked, not really looking at the espada.
"I-I need the controls for a moment…if you're not too busy. I won't be long," he pleadingly requested.
"Oh?" he eyed Szayel suspiciously. "What for?"
"I need to get back to my lab…quickly." He sat down when the former captain finally relinquished the chair.
"I can see that you're in quite a hurry…would it have anything to do with the hollow that's chasing you?"
"It's Grimmjaw. I just need to stall him for another couple of minutes," he babbled as he quickly maneuvered the controls, praying that he could outwit the sixth espada as he had so many times before.
Gin could feel the frantic espada draw closer only to end up further away. This happened several times before Szayel stood.
"Thank you, Ichimaru-sama," he quickly bowed and exited before he was provided with a dismissal.
The fox-faced man grinned as he sat back down. At least now his boredom was elevated.
Grimmjaw was only a few seconds away from throwing open the control room door before Szayel made the necessary adjustments. The sixth triumphantly threw open the door only to find himself back in his own chamber.
"That sneaky fucker!" It only took a moment for Grimmjaw to realized what happened. He punched the wall before reevaluating his prey's raietsu and taking off in that direction. Since the corridors were moved, he had no other tactic at his disposal other than heading as directly toward the eighth espada as possible. This meant putting holes in some walls that were previously unscathed in order to work around the labyrinth that Szayel was no doubt creating.
The sixth espada was nothing if not relentless and Szayel would readily admit that he was not much of a fighter. So, he knew he had to use what little time he had very wisely and, after a few minutes worth of adjustments, he was on the run once again. Since he was the one who knew where he was going, he felt that he had a distinct advantage over Grimmjaw but that would quickly become a disadvantage
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Ulquiorra smirked to himself as he made his way to Grimmjaw's quarters. Whenever he felt another draw near to him, he flared his raietsu just enough to frighten them away. It seemed to be working since no one risked bothering him.
He was three turns away and he thought he was home free until he felt a strange sort of shifting sensation before falling down a ridiculously long flight of stairs. Once prone at the bottom of the stairs he grumbled and rubbed his head, gathering his bearings. Without thinking, he opened his eyes to look around. He knew where he was going and there had never been stairs there. He found himself on a small landing with a single door. He looked over his shoulder, up the stairs, and then back at the door. Something was wrong, very wrong. Cautiously, he opened the door. It led to Szayel's laboratory…for some reason and the espada appeared to be looking for something.
The dark-haired man sighed and silently swore to himself.
The other figure in the overly lit room laughed at Ulquiorra's apparent confusion but seemed unaware of his condition. "So sorry," he was obviously not sorry, "I've been experimenting with the capacity of the corridor arrangement capabilities." He sounded distracted but did take a moment at the end of his explanation to look at the bewildered espada.
Ulquiorra closed the door, and started to slowly make his way toward the other arancar. "When I'm done with you…you'll have to apologize to Grimmjaw," he growled as he approached the pink-haired espada. "You're experimenting seems to have led me to you instead of him. Really, I would have expected you to be more careful than that."
"Grimmjaw?" Szayel repeated as though he'd never heard the name before. "Wait. What are you saying?" he stalled, making his way over to a small locked cabinet. He'd only arrived seconds before the fourth and with those last statements, he knew that he was not only fucked but now, he was double fucked. He silently cursed himself the entire time for even making a break for it. Ulquiorra was right, he really should have known that something like this would happen.
Ulquiorra was suddenly behind Szayel, who was still trying to unlock his cabinet, and wrapped his arms around the taller espada. He raised himself up onto his toes so that he could pull at the other's collar with his teeth. "I think you know what I'm saying. Or are you just trying to play hard-to-get? I think you're the last one around here who could get away with that," he teased. He slid back down to his heals and wrapped his arms around the eighth's waist, pressing him against the counter with his body.
Szayel gasped at the sudden harsh contact but finally managed to get what he was after. He breathed a sigh of relief until he felt the raitsu of his original assailant enter the room.
"Ulquiorra, step away from him," Grimmjaw's voice demanded, confirming Szayel's suspicion.
"I'm afraid that whatever business you have with him will have to wait. I need him rather urgently," the fourth replied while starting to grind his hips into Szayel's.
"Not as urgently as I do," Grimmjaw growled, grabbing Ulquiorra and throwing him off.
Szayel took that short moment of freedom to turn around, finally able to face both of his assailants. Suddenly, he began to fear for his life.