Aracelis pulled at the hem of her dress absentmindedly as she stared at her bored reflection on the off tv. Earlier she at least had Orihime to distract her. Static items like books were a lost cause to her recently shortened attention span, and Orihime had been the one thing keeping her from snapping this fine morning. Next to her on the couch, as he had been for hours, Ulquiorra sat silently, completely wrapped up in his own thoughts.
He'd been driving her absolutely insane the last two days. He wouldn't share anything. She had asked him multiple times for an inkling to what sort of plans he was making, only to be brushed off. He ignored her when she told him he needed to go to bed, or take a break, or do some other damn thing than think of thousands of possibilities that Clematis would somehow inevitably do the opposite of. But no. Instead he decided to stress himself out more, subsequently stressing and irritating the hell out of her, in a big annoying circle ending with them sitting in hostile silence. It made her feel like they'd taken several steps backward to when he wouldn't share anything important with her. She didn't like him acting so distant…
She continued pulling at the fabric with increasing frustration. Right now, she wanted to tear something apart, but this human body prevented her from her cathartic destruction sprees. Even plastic-wrap proved too powerful for her to shred effectively…
"Aracelis," Ulquiorra said, truly addressing her for the first time that morning, "if you are so bored, find something to distract yourself with."
Her hand shook as her final string of patience frayed and snapped in two. He was bothered by her fidgeting? Well, Aracelis decided that the only compromise she would be making was if he also became part of the distraction.
After prying her fingers from the hem of her dress before she tore it, she exchanged her death grip there for the collar of Ulquiorra's shirt. His eyes widened as she roughly pulled him closer. She didn't see his reaction as she met her lips to his in a demanding kiss he at first hesitated to return. Within a few moments, he moved his lips against hers, albeit less fervently, more experimentally, unsure how he should react.
When she sat back, he admitted defeat.
"I do not understand," he said, brows slightly pushed together.
Innocent confusion… Aracelis pouted to herself, looking away so her anger didn't ebb too much. She still had a point to make, and couldn't let him win so easily. "I'm frustrated with the situation too," she began, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've been ignoring me, planning everything alone, telling me to just sit back and watch as you exhaust yourself. I understand if you don't want to tell me everything, since Mirro might use it, but something, anything…" Her nails bit into the skin of her arm, a flicker of pain making her glance down. "I feel useless in this thing. I can't just go out and kill something to take the edge off. Sitting here, doing nothing, not being included in plan making, its aggravating."
She trailed off for a moment, letting that much sink in before she whipped around to glare at him. "And you're not helping. Telling me to go find a damn distraction while you're over here making sleep-deprived plans… Weedy probably won't do something we can easily predict anyway. If anyone needs a distraction, it's you. You're running yourself ragged for no reason."
He stared. And stared some more. Eventually he blinked and glanced away briefly, quietly admitting, "I did not consider that."
She let her glare give way to an eyeroll.
"And your actions earlier," he continued, "You meant to distract us both with sex?"
"Yes," she sighed, trying to hide her slight embarrassment at how blunt he was, while also glad he figured it out without more hints. Not that she stayed embarrassed, as they had been together long enough that there was no point in blushing at every little awkward moment he created. It'd be a waste of time.
Instead she went straight to straddling him, a hand on the side of his face as she pressed her lips against his again. It took only a moment for Ulquiorra to get over her boldness, his hands trailing down her sides, feeling over every curve. He nipped her lower lip to convince her to open her mouth for his tongue to slip in to fight against hers. He bit harder to get her to gasp when she refused to cooperate. Quickly, she had her fingers knotted in his silky hair, his hand on the back of her head to keep her mouth to his.
When it came time to breath, she pulled away, his hand slipping to join his other in grabbing her hips to pull her close. They were breathing hard, air filled with soft pants, words dead. Aracelis released his hair, fingers running along his jawline admiringly before meeting the top button of his shirt. A new challenge, she noted through the lustful haze. She fumbled for only a second, much more determined to have his clothes off than doing battle with something silly like buttons. Once the buttons were undone, Ulquiorra quite willingly took it off, tossing it over the back of the unoccupied side of the couch.
Her fingers immediately traced down his neck, to his collarbone, hesitating as she stared somewhat curiously. She felt a heartbeat under flawless skin. No hollow hole morbidly cut through his chest, and he had no tattooed reminder of his rank as a soldier. No scars, either, making her wonder if the same applied to his hollow body. After that battle…
In uncharacteristic impatience, Ulquiorra grabbed her hand, pulling to make her lean forward again to reunite their lips. Even if the warmth and pleasure begged her to stay, her lips gradually left his to trail kisses down his neck to the base of his throat. He relaxed under her, sighing quietly. His hand somehow found its way under her dress to the bare skin of her back, cold fingers shocking against her warm skin. After lightly nipping at his collarbones, she kissed back up to just below his jaw, tongue and lips teasing a sensitive spot. Then, as usual, she bit down. What began as a strangled groan turned into a sharp breath, his nails digging into her skin.
"Stop," he ordered between heavy breathes.
She saw why when she leaned back. Her face flushed at seeing the indents her teeth had left in his skin. With how red it already looked, he would have a horrendous bruise from a very visible bitemark… "I forgot…" Before, when his skin essentially had the give of a rock, she could bite down as hard as she wanted without a second thought; he didn't exactly have sensitive nerves in his hollow form. "That probably hurt, too," she mumbled, eyes still fixed on the damage. Sure, he left bruises on her during sex, but he at least had restraint- in their hollow bodies he could easily snap her in half if he wanted. She just bit into him like she was trying to saw open his neck with her teeth though…
A tug at the hem of her dress returned her attention to Ulquiorra's face… which was as unbothered as ever. "I'm fine, Aracelis" he reassured her, gathering the extra fabric before lifting it up, obviously wanting it off. Now.
Once she had her dress thrown off to the side, she held back a snicker. Ulquiorra stared at her chest, eyes narrowed like he'd been deeply offended. His less guarded reactions showed his focus had already gone to pleasure rather than restraint. The fact a sheer fabric so obviously irritated him seemed to prove that.
"Did you forget about bras?" Aracelis asked, amusement leaking into her voice. He was outright offended he didn't have bare chest in his face. She found it hilarious a bra of all things managed to upset him more than her biting him, leaving a mark that wouldn't be hidden by much of his wardrobe. "You're the one that said I had to wear one," she teased, making no move to take it off.
"It is a human proclivity," he answered, already reaching around her back, fingers unclasping the bra with more expertise than Aracelis could claim. He made disrobing her seem much too easy with his skillful fingers. "However, it is highly inconvenient at the moment."
Despite the 'inconvenience,' she felt the fabric go slack. She slipped out of the bra with the hard work already done. She had no idea where she flung it to other than the side and away. Immediately she felt cold hands trailing down her chest, cupping over her breasts before one hand went to her hip, coaxing her closer. With his lips and tongue moving from her neck downward, she gave a contented sigh. Then a stifled moan as he pinched her nipple, mouth over the other. He growled quietly when her hand managed to find his groin. He growled her name when she began fiddling with another button and a zipper. It encouraged her all the more, hearing him actually say her name.
She finally had his undivided attention…
"We only have to practice our presentation now," Orihime happily declared next to Ichigo, pulling out her apartment's key. "I think we'll do really well tomorrow!"
"Yeah," Ichigo mumbled, shifting his weight as she unlocked the door. He felt bothered by something he couldn't name. He guessed it had to do with the hollows.
Ichigo had been over a few times since Rukia and Rangiku dropped by; Ulquiorra had been more annoying than usual with his standoffish attitude. They had Orihime tell them more about this Clematis, and from her information and how preoccupied Ulquiorra seemed with countering her, Ichigo had a bad feeling. He hated that he couldn't do much to help, seeing as he couldn't even see hollows. It set him on edge. Well, it made him more on edge because he obviously didn't trust Ulquiorra to begin with. No amount of good behavior could change how dangerous him and his allies could be. Ichigo also trusted Ulquiorra to choose Aracelis's safety over Orihime's. He understood Ulquiorra's reasoning, but still, he didn't believe Ulquiorra would even try to protect Orihime if things went wrong.
Orihime swung open the door.
At first, they heard nothing, which was suspicious in itself. The lights were off, curtains drawn, the apartment relatively dark even in the daylight hours. Even if he wanted to believe the hollows had simply left Karakura, Ichigo figured they hadn't. Something else felt amiss with the apartment…
And then he began to notice a select few disturbing things. First, an abandoned shirt clearly belonging to Ulquiorra draped across the back of the couch. That, followed by a bra on an end-table. Then pants on the way to their 'room.' Very, very unwanted thoughts popped into his head. The last thing he'd ever wanted was the mental image of two Arrancar doing things with each other on his friend's floor. The image was gag-inducing…
His face was already beet-red and scrunched up in a horrific combination of disgust and embarrassment when it got worse. Hearing things better left undescribed sent him and Orihime scurrying back out of the apartment, door all but slammed behind them as they escaped from… from some indecent noises and panting. And masculine moaning of a name.
Ichigo wanted to hit his head on a wall until he forgot everything. This was the stuff of nightmares. Awful, terror-inspiring, traumatic nightmares that get turned to repressed memories.
Far away from the apartment with the slimmest possibility of hearing anything gone, they stood, eyes on the ground with boiling-hot faces. Somehow, in the silence, they understood to never bring up what they'd accidently walked in on. Ever.
"D-do you want to go to a café?" Orihime meekly suggested after a long, quiet time recovering from the initial shock. Standing outside her apartment wouldn't help them forget any sooner. "Th-there's a nice one nearby."
"Anywhere but here," Ichigo agreed.
He'd be even more awkward around the hollows now, with that unwanted mental image popping into his mind. Poor Orihime… She had to go back there later.
She pouted, looking over the remnants of her hollows. The soul reapers had killed so many of her dear soldiers in their last strike, but…
Clematis whirled around in a circle, giggling. Ulquiorra was alive! All of her little playthings were alive and well, hiding in the human world. What a cherished memory that hollow had brought her! Their concentrated glares, the absolute hatred in their eyes, Clematis adored it so. And Aracelis looked so cute masquerading as a human!
Although, that also posed a small, teensy problem. These pseudo-bodies, Clematis had only fuzzy details of their functions, and, ultimately, how restrictive they truly were. Ulquiorra, she assumed he still wore the wounds of his battle with the soul reaper boy. How many? How severe? Questions she had no answer for, yet may prove the difference between her death or survival. She had challenged him, sent hollows as irritants begging to be dismissed, but Ulquiorra didn't personally seek them out for destruction. Because he couldn't? Because he knew her goal? She simply didn't have an answer.
Yet.
She wrapped her arms around herself, swaying, trying to stifle her laughter before she scared off her minions again. She would just need to change plans to force her friends from hiding into her waiting arms in Hueco Mundo. The Soul Society hadn't cooperated, so it was left to her to convince them to return to the stage for this final act.
Her skewed sense of justice demanded a finale filled with carnage, with the death of the unworthy, with the redemption of the wrongly damned! To the end with them, the demon unable to protect and the parasite unable to let go.
They sat at the kitchen table, finishing their simple meal of toast and somewhat burnt eggs- Aracelis had tried cooking under his instruction, but made a small timing mistake that could easily be corrected next time. Orihime attempted to enter the house silently, old door hinges making a creak in warning. Aracelis perked up, losing interest in the remains of her food.
Orihime timidly walked into the kitchen, perhaps noticing the mess of clothes had been picked up since the last time she'd been home. She openly stared at his neck, without a doubt noticing the bruising bitemark on his pale skin, it a beacon against the white- not that he was upset, as Aracelis had meant no harm. He returned to eating, content in letting Aracelis talk to the girl.
"Hey," Aracelis greeted, oblivious. Perhaps he should have told her… "You're home sort of late. Working on that project thing with Oranges?"
Orihime let out a string of nervous laughter, face tinged red. "Y-yeah! We finished it all up, and tomorrow we'll be presenting, but I guess we should have practiced more, but the café wasn't really a good place to do that, and then Ichigo's house was a bit noisy too, so…" She thankfully cut herself off with more embarrassed laughter.
"Okay?" Aracelis mumbled, raising an eyebrow at the rambling response.
He should have told her, it seemed. Orihime, as well as Kurosaki, had almost interrupted them earlier. If Aracelis had noticed them, she may have become highly embarrassed, her improving mood ruined. He hadn't wanted that. He had been enjoying himself, and had been close to making her orgasm. So, he had deliberately made a point of calling her name while getting a bit rougher with her until the humans had the sense to leave. Of course, now, outside of the moment, she may be a bit upset that someone heard them.
Admittedly, he had enjoyed her suggestion of having sex as a momentary distraction. It was easier to debate her annoyance at an interruption than devise battle plans against the irrational. She was likely correct about Clematis not following a singular strategy as well. The weed would leave herself plenty of escape routes, per usual. Waiting may inevitably, irritatingly be what this stalemate lead to. Aracelis's anger made sense, given that his preoccupation with his thoughts would get him nowhere and only serve to stress Aracelis more. She did not have many outlets for her anger not involving physical activity of some sort, be it killing, sparring, or intercourse. Him ignoring her hadn't been helping matters.
If something did happen, if all his plans fell apart, he wouldn't forgive himself for squandering their time together again. Because not only was he desperately making guesses at what Clematis would do, he was worried about Aracelis's safety, reliving every moment he had failed to protect her thus far. It weighed on him more than he cared to admit. Considering their enemy used his doubts against him before, this time, with his attachment to Aracelis stronger than ever, he feared it would be easy for her to manipulate him and distract him under the weight of the past.
Aracelis as well… If Clematis grabbed either of them, she would know everything. Even if she merely read their memories and then retreated, she would know too much about the gigai, about how weak Aracelis was in it, about how desperate Mirro would become if given the opportunity to escape.
"Ulquiorra?"
He glanced up from his plate where his eyes had drifted. Aracelis titled her head to the side, eyebrows pushed together in concern. She noticed, then. He wondered how much control he lost for her to notice when he began thinking of unpleasant matters.
"You think it's too early for bed? I'm kind of tired." She finished her thought, hiding it from Orihime, by mouthing, "And I want you to come with."
She truly felt concerned with his lack of sleep… He had been restless recently, unable to relax with the hollows lurking outside of his pesquisa. With the gigai, even he felt exhausted by sleep deprivation. And now, after some rather intense physical exertion, his body felt the strain. Perhaps an attempt at sleeping was warranted.
He pushed back his chair, prepared to pick up the dishes and give into Aracelis's will a second time today.
"I'll handle that," Orihime said as she swooped in, grabbing the plates without allowing for complaint. Either she didn't want to deal with them after being privy to a rather private moment, or she also noticed he needed to sleep. Perhaps both. The woman had her moments of perceptiveness.
He brushed it off, not caring what the woman did. Instead he stood, Aracelis copying his actions with a hint of enthusiasm. How sad that she grew excited by him responding to such a simple show of concern… As she joined him at his side, he gave into a whim, placing his hand on the small of her back. For such a small action, she gave a subtle smile immediately. That smile…
That smile, he wished he saw it more often. For it meant she was happy, and, selfishly, the flicker of warmth he felt at seeing it, he wished to feel it more often as well.
"I love you, Ulquiorra," she whispered, words for him alone. Sincere and tender, he wondered if he could repeat those words to her with such feeling. He considered trying, but kept silent, unsure if he was capable of returning such emotion with as much sincerity. He didn't want to lie to her, even accidentally, with such heavy words. Although he knew…
He knew losing her now, it would be his end, because that was the only word he could find to label the persistent emotion he had for her.
What is that? Is that the plot returning? Yes. Yes, it is. A few more chapters to the end. How terrifying is that?
Thank you for reading!
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