Chapter 23: Dinner at Home

Despite good intentions and bold declarations along the lines of, "Okay, it's time for me to go!" Orihime eventually fell asleep on Ulquiorra's couch.

Orihime woke up shortly after dawn, confused about where she was. Then she rolled over and smelled it. Cloves.

Oh, that's right, she thought as she stretched and sat up. She had crashed here, but she was sure she had fallen asleep in the living room. Had he carried her in here?

As quietly as she could, she snuck out of Ulquiorra's bedroom and into the living space. She shouldn't have been surprised that he was already gone. He ran a coffee shop. Of course he'd be working at seven in the morning. She was disappointed that she couldn't see his face first thing, though.

Sheesh, what was with her? What was with her overwhelming attraction to him? She hadn't had a lot of crushes in her lifetime, but she was quickly learning that when they happened, they were intense. And this one was the most intense by far.

This was more than just a crush, though.

She walked past the kitchen and saw the bird logo on a cup on the counter. Right. Time to get ready for work. Glad that she had the forethought to pack the bare minimum in her purse, she went to the bathroom. Her clothes from the night before were not of the wrinkly variety and suitable for work. She could get ready here, go to the coffee shop, and go straight to work, she thought, stepping into the bathroom and turning on the shower.

Ulquiorra walked into the door after telling Rangiku he'd be back. He already told her that he had a guest and needed to check on them. She just flashed her eyebrows at him and laughed. Ugh.

Then he heard it. The shower was running.

He had to swallow. The thought of what lay under her clothes… Ulquiorra shook his head. He was a gentleman. He slept on the couch the night before, letting Orihime have his bed. He was going to take his time with this. He knocked on the bathroom door. "Orihime, is that you?"

"No, it's a robber!" she called through the door, laughing. "Yeah, sorry about using the bathroom. I'll be done soon."

He smiled at this statement. "Take your time. I actually came up to wake you. Do you want a coffee and a muffin? I also have donuts and bagels downstairs."

She turned off the water and reached for the towel she had found and set out for herself, dabbing her face before answering him. "Yeah, I was planning on coming downstairs and getting breakfast at the shop before going to work. Did you need me to lock any doors or anything?" she asked as she worked the towel down her body.

"No," he replied. "The door automatically locks when it's closed. It's a perk."

"Nice," she said. "Better make sure I have everything with me, then."

He leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door and chuckled. "It's not like you won't be back, right?"

She was toweling off her hair when he made that statement. She nodded, not that he could see her. "That's true, but it would suck if I had to pull you off of the morning shift to let me back in because I forgot my RBM employee lanyard or something like that." She had put her clean underwear and pants on, then lowered the towel to cover her chest and opened the door a crack. "Don't be scared of my unmade face, I promise I'll only subject you to it for a minute," she said, sticking her head out the door. "I wanted to see your face before you left, though."

Ulquiorra glanced down at what he could see and swallowed again. He pressed his palm against the door and opened it wider. His gaze was on fire as he looked at Orihime. He took a step towards her and backed her into the bathroom counter. "Do not put yourself down," he murmured, letting his hands slide up and down her bare arms. He was trying to resist kissing her, but he knew as soon as his finger touched her neck that was going to happen. This was dangerous, though. She only had that towel covering what would be only the first stepping stone to a physical relationship.

"Ulquiorra," she said, her voice low and vibrating, at least for her. "You don't think I look like a plain jane?"

"No," he said. His green eyes watched as his index finger slid down the front of her throat and down her chest until he hit the towel. A soft growl went through him.

Her breath caught in her throat. Perhaps she had put too much faith in his powers of self control, or she underestimated his attraction to her, which was more likely. Still, she didn't hate this. Truth be told, she wanted to know how far he was going to let this go. She kept one arm down to hold the towel in place; she wasn't going to just let it fall on its own, but the other ghosted up the side of his arm. "This is an interesting development," she whispered, unsure if it was going to amuse him or offend him.

Ulquiorra smirked. "If I didn't care about you, I'd send you across the street looking ravaged. You know what I mean. You'd have two sets of swollen lips and a just fucked glint in your eyes." His voice was deeper than its normal silky baritone. "It wouldn't be proper, though."

She shivered, despite the heat in the room, and her core throbbed. She exhaled involuntarily and looked directly into his eyes. Her voice sounded high, faint, and feminine when she replied, "Right. Improper."

He was fast when he kissed her. Ulquiorra's mouth met Orihime's with hard pressure and his hand dropped to her waist, under the towel. When he pulled away he was panting. "We're not ready for that. Almost, but not quite. Maybe in a few weeks." Ulquiorra wasn't aware that his hand was drifting higher until his fingertips brushed the underside of her breast.

A peep came out of her throat at the contact. "No, we're not," she whispered, her cheeks brightening and her eyes lowering to his mouth. "Besides, I don't want to…" She couldn't tell him this, it was too embarrassing. She grinned and looked down at his chest. "I'm silly."

"You will tell me. You don't want what?"

She brought her eyes back up to his and there was a deeper vulnerability there than usual. "I don't want to get "just fucked". I want it to be special."

Exactly. She understood. He gave a nod. "How bold of me to assume I would let you leave afterwards," Ulquiorra said, his thumb tracing the curve of her chest. She was so soft and warm. He took a step back. "I will see you in a moment, then."

"I'm going to have to take another shower, cold this time, but yeah," she mumbled.

Ulquiorra backed out of the bathroom and went to his bedroom, quickly adjusting the erection in his work pants. He was so hard he was aching. If he did decide to sleep with Orihime, she was right. It did have to be special. It had to be perfect. He let out a hissing breath and wondered if he should take a cold shower or quickly jerk off. "Ugh."

"What?" Orihime said, standing in the living room fully dressed and grabbing her bag. "Everything alright? Also, do you have a spare hair tie? I didn't bring a blow dryer or anything; I wasn't exactly planning on a sleepover. I just brought the barest essentials."

"I'm turned on," he replied, standing with his back to her. He walked over to his nightstand and fished around in the drawer, pulling out a black hair tie. He didn't need them anymore, but he had spares laying around. He walked out to the living room with it between his fingers.

"Heh," she said, taking a look at him and glancing toward his groin briefly. "You're not the only one." She spied the hair tie and smiled. "Oh, you're a lifesaver," she said, her tone clearing up slightly from the dazy, lusty one it had been.

"Hnnngh." He cleared his throat and then nodded. "I want to spend more time with you, Orihime."

"I told you that I was free every night from now until the end of time," she smiled at him and approached, holding her hair up for the tie, "All you have to do is ask. I'm not-so-subtly hovering around you all the time, anyway."

An eyebrow rose and he looked down at her. "Good. As long as I'm not being annoying with my attention..." he trailed off.

"I only found you annoying before you noticed me."

"That's the thing, Orihime. I always notice the quiet ones; the wallflowers." Ulquiorra closed the distance between them and grabbed her around the waist. His head dipped down and he kissed her again. Instead of just letting his tongue flick against her lips, Ulquiorra used the muscle to pry her mouth open.

Oh, this was a welcome move, she thought, parting her lips at his insistence and breathing into his mouth, letting his tongue inside and sealing her lips to his again. She had to fight not to squirm as the movement heated her blood. She let his hands support her, leaning into them a bit as she raised a knee, hooking her heel around the back of his calf.

Of course, just as he was getting into this, his phone chimed. He broke the kiss and looked up at the ceiling and muttered obscenities under his breath. He dug his phone out of the back pocket of the pants and glared at the screen. "I am needed downstairs. Fucking Rangiku," he scoffed. Ulquiorra gave her a lust-filled gaze before he kissed her again. It was tender and soft this time. "Are you ready?"

"No," she said, smiling at him and then tucking her head under his chin a bit for a hug. She sighed, then said, "Okay, I guess I can go now," grumbling at the idea.

She sat around his place for a bit, trying to calm down before going down there. That was another thing they would need to talk about eventually. "Fucking Rangiku," she echoed his words aloud without any ill intent.

It was probably nothing, right? They'd been working together for years, he'd said. Still… She had to be sure. She didn't want another Grimmjow and Lucy situation on her hands. And as much as that had hurt her, if Ulquiorra did something like that to her… She shivered. She knew it would be so, so much worse.

She got up and went downstairs then. It was no use sitting there worrying about it. When she got to the shop from the back door, she nearly ran right into a pair of tits.

"Whoa! Excuse me," the redhead said breathlessly, taking a quick step back.

"Oh, sorry!" Rangiku was leaving the shop office when she almost barreled Orihime down. She gave the woman a smile. A look of understanding came over Rangiku's face. Of course that's who it was. "Ohhh. Oh. Okay."

"Okay?" Orihime looked up into the taller woman's face, her own slightly guarded.

Rangiku gave a nod. "Okay. Ulq said he had a guest. He was pretty happy when he came in this morning. I'm glad it's you, Orihime," she said with a pleased expression.

"Uh, okay," she replied with a small smile. She decided to withhold judgment on this situation for now. She walked around and got into line at the register, fixing her purse strap on her shoulder. When she got to the register, she had a big smile on her face.

He saw her. He knew she was there. Rangiku had patted him on the back when she had walked past him. That was the only thing that seemed out of place. Why was his ex patting him on the back? Was it because of Orihime? Ulquiorra smiled at the redhead before he reached under the counter for a Coffee & Sadness gift card and swiped it before swiping his bank card. After the transaction went through, he handed her the card. "One Coffee & Sadness gift card," he said to the redhead. "What can I get for you?"

Her wide smile was replaced by something much more curious. "Oh? What is this? And chef's choice."

"It's called a perks card and my choice? Hmmm, We have fruit smoothies or S'mores latte?" Ulquiorra tapped a finger on his lip before he started putting an order in on the screen. He didn't bother with having her pay for it. It was just a S'mores flavored coffee with a splash of skim milk. "How did you sleep?" he asked, writing her name on her cup.

"I must have slept great, because when I woke up I had no idea where I was or how I got there. How did I get there?" she asked with a lopsided grin.

He grinned for a second. "I carried you into my room and I tucked you in," Ulquiorra explained.

"Aww," she cooed. "That's sweet. So, for tonight, did you still want to cook and bring it over? Or should we order something?"

"Up to you. If you want to take a break from me, it's okay. I know… I'm being greedy with your time," he replied. Ulquiorra turned around and got her coffee for her before he pulled out a bagel with cream cheese for her. "Come down to the pickup area."

She nodded, and her eyes caught Rangiku's as she turned briefly. Shit, this was kind of awkward. She took a cleansing breath and went over to the pick up counter. "No, I think I'll have you over tonight. You have to see my new place!" she said, acting excited to show it off.

New place? Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. Of course, she wasn't merely a college student. Orihime probably had a comfortable nest egg due to her book. He didn't know. He had never asked her about it. Giving her a smile and leaning on the counter after he set her items down, Ulquiorra asked, "Is it bigger and nicer than your other apartment?"

Orihime shrugged, falling into his smile a bit. "Not much, but a bit. It's closer to here by a couple of blocks. Farther from Star-" she cut off her own words. She hadn't talked about Starrk's since the incident with Nnoitra, and she was hit with a wave of conflicting feelings. She missed the place, but she didn't think she'd ever be able to go back. Not with her attacker working there. She shook it off and shook her head. "Oh well, I don't need to be close to Starrk's anymore, do I?" she said with a smile.

"I hope you don't go in there anymore. Nnoitra's still there. I occasionally see him." Ulquiorra's expression was one of concern. He hoped Orihime wouldn't put herself in danger.

Her smile fell and she sucked her lips into her mouth for a minute, then nodded and looked up at him. "Yeah. I didn't know. I hoped he'd be gone, but… It doesn't matter. I don't need to go there anymore." She smiled again. "So, you said you were going to bring something over. Do I need to prepare anything?"

"I was going to order a pizza and have them deliver it to your place," Ulquiorra said, giving her a slight smile. "Unless you want something home cooked… Is your kitchen usable this time?"

"Hmm," she hummed, looking away and thinking for a moment. "Let's save pizza for another day. I tell you what, I have a better kitchen now. Let me fix something for you. No promises on quality, but I do guarantee that it's edible. Do you have any dietary restrictions I should be aware of?"

The man shook his head. "I won't eat things like liver or anything too fancy. I'm open to trying out some new things."

She grinned. This was going to be fun. "Okay. Can you be there by six-thirty? I'll text you the address."

Ulquiorra nodded this time. "I get off work at five so I can definitely be there by six-thirty. Do you want me to bring a bottle of wine or I can get a bottle of absinthe for you."

She took a slow breath through her nose and raised her brows. "No more absinthe on work nights for me," she said, blushing a bit. "But some wine would be great."

Pulling out his phone, Ulquiorra made a note and then slid the device back into his pocket. "Good. Enjoy the coffee, Orihime. I hope you have a great day at work."

"You too," she said in almost a whisper, blushing more intensely. "See you later," she said before turning and walking to the door. It had been months since she had stopped here during her work day for coffee but the ritual seemed ingrained into her mind when she stopped at the exit, turned, and nodded to him, that blush still painted on her cheeks.

As soon as Orihime left, Rangiku came over to where he was standing. Ulquiorra's eyes slid over to her form. He steeled himself for whatever commentary she was about to deliver.

"Finally getting what you want?" the blonde woman asked.

He remained passive but inwardly flinched at her words. It figured that she was still sore about everything. Ulquiorra said nothing as he turned and went back to the register.

Orihime had her hands on her hips and her feet planted shoulder width apart, a light sheen of sweat on her brow, as she stared down her kitchen. She'd done it. She'd made a meal that didn't come out of a freezer box with a black pre-portioned tray inside. She felt like she'd just run a marathon.

The dish she made was one she used to make with leftovers her aunt had made, except this time she had to make the noodles and white sauce herself. She added her special ingredients after that was all done and popped it in the oven. It was currently in there, bubbling away. It smelled awesome.

She turned around and began to put away the dishes she had messed in the process, then heard her phone buzz. He was going to be there in five minutes. She ran to the bathroom and tried to fix her face and hair. She wasn't going to have time to make herself pretty. He was just going to have to deal with reality. "Oh well," she said to her reflection, wincing a bit as she dabbed away the perspiration and sniffed at her pits. She smelled fine.

Ulquiorra had stopped by a bakery and picked up some macarons for dessert. Then he picked up two bottles of wine from the shop near his place. He had chosen a red and a white wine, because he didn't know what Orihime was fixing. This was just their thing now; dinner and hanging out. He was nervous though.

His emotions and feelings were growing for Orihime and he really didn't know how to handle this. He had pushed them to the side when she had rejected him months ago. That hadn't been her fault. He had been impatient and rushed into things without considering her side of things. As he walked, he thought back to a few days ago and their reunion. Ulquiorra had made some bold declarations. He had almost told Orihime that he loved her. It would have been way too soon for that. He knew that given a couple more months, it would be a reality.

A few moments later, he was standing in front of her building. Orihime had been right. Her new place was very close to Coffee & Sadness. He texted her that he was there.

This place was a lot more secure than her old one. She was able to buzz him in. Byakuya Kuchiki had insisted she take this place; he owned the building. He was renting it to her at a discount, saying that this was an RBM employee dorm. She knew there was no such thing. He was doing her a favor.

Still, the place was small. It wasn't like he was doing her a huge favor.

"Come on up," she said through the intercom. "Take the elevator to the fourth floor. I'm in unit C."

Ulquiorra opened the door when it unlocked and he did as she said, taking the elevator to the designated floor. He found her apartment and knocked on the barrier, using two raps of his fist. He waited then, adjusting the bags in his hands.

She opened the door, having forgotten to take the apron she had been wearing off, and grinned at him. "Hi! Welcome to my new place!"

He gave her a smile in return before holding out the box and the paper bag with the wine in it. "I've brought you a housewarming gift… gifts rather."

She took the items and turned around to set them on her little butcher block island in the center of her kitchen. "Look, Ulquiorra, a real live kitchen! With real, functional appliances! Oh, I'm sorry, please come in and make yourself comfortable," she said, looking at him over her shoulder.

A grin came over his face as he walked into the apartment. It was a real kitchen. It had space in it. He took a deep breath and then exhaled. "What is that smell?" he asked.

"It's a secret," she said, smirking as she shrugged out of her apron and hung it up on a cabinet pull. "Want the tour while that is baking?"

"Absolutely," Ulquiorra replied. "Um, shoes on or off? You know what my rule is in my place. I'm not sure if that applies..." He trailed off and felt his face get warm.

She smiled affectionately at his apparent embarrassment. "Whatever makes you comfortable. I'm comfortable," she said, bending her left leg at the knee and showing off her bare foot. "Suit yourself. Make yourself at home," she said, then peered into the bag he brought. "Ooooh, should I open one of these to let it get some air?" she asked, referring to the wine.

Ulquiorra toed off his shoes and left them by the door. "If you want. I didn't know what you were making so I bought two kinds. So open whichever one you think will go with the food."

"Hmm, well, there is beef in it, so I think red will pair better," she said, turning to a drawer to get out a corkscrew. She opened the red and set it on the counter and put the white in the fridge, then turned to the box. "What about this? Should it go in the fridge?"

"It's just some cookies I got for dessert. They can sit out for a bit," he replied. Ulquiorra smiled at her again. "So, how was your day?"

"Pretty good. It's nice getting back to something a bit more productive and less "filing and worrying". The book was a great experience; I definitely want to write another one, but it was kind of nerve-wracking. My boss really helped," she explained as she led the way to the small living room that was furnished with a loveseat, a small coffee table, a side chair, and her desks and art supplies behind it in what would normally be another space. It appeared that she had swapped the dining space for the living space and let her art take over the living room. "How was your day?"

"It was uh," he started off but stopped to look around her place. It was Orihime's style with her art all over the place. "This is a nice place. As for you writing another book, is it going to be about me again?" Ulquiorra asked.

She shrugged as she reached the center of the space and turned to look at him. "Depends. I don't have a story in mind, yet. The Perfect Cup wrote itself. Thank you, for that," she said, smiling and looking down shyly after she said it.

Ulquiorra's face flushed a bit deeper. "Why did you write it?"

"Um, well, because it's a true story. From start to finish, it's what happened in real life, from my perspective. I put it in story format like that because Mr. Kuchiki asked me to. He wanted me to help a publishing company that he had invested in do a test book, and I guess he wanted to keep me occupied while I was recovering," she admitted.

He gave a nod. "You really imagined me to be all those things? Do I need to satisfy your curiosity?"

She snorted a laugh and then covered her mouth. "Would you?"

Raising an eyebrow, Ulquiorra moved over to where Orihime was standing. He put his hands on her hips and stared at her. "It depends on what you want to know," he stated.

She shivered involuntarily. "Eventually I want to know everything," she murmured. "This is the living room."

"More of an art room, right?" he asked, tipping her chin up and placing a kiss at the corner of her mouth. A content sigh left him a moment later.

Her eyes had drifted closed and slowly opened as he lifted his face away from hers. She stared at him with a happy, unfocused, dreamy expression for a minute, and then grinned. "Ahem. Yeah." Her hands traveled up the outsides of his arms up to his shoulders and then back down to his elbows. She looked to the left and said, "The bathroom is over there. Bedroom is behind me. Want to take a peek?"

A small smirk played on his lips before Ulquiorra nodded. "I'm not going to say no," he finally said.

She slipped out of his arms but grabbed one of his hands to lead him to the door at the end of the apartment. Her bedroom was small, and was mostly just a bed and a closet with some floating bookshelves affixed to the wall, but it was cozy. "Here it is."

He looked around the space, noting the plants she had and the free spirited vibe Orihime had going on. It was very different from the minimalist decor he had going through his apartment. Feeling bold, Ulquiorra walked over to her bed and sat on it before looking at Orihime. "I think this place suits you more than the other one."

She leaned against the doorframe and smiled at him. "Yeah… It's a bit surprising, too; Susan insisted on helping me arrange it. These plants are cuttings from her plants," she admitted with a chuckle. "All those people at Rotten that I used to badmouth… They ended up being really great to me in the end. I owe them," she said, blinking some emotion out of her eyes.

"Grimmjow was such an ass to you," Ulquiorra said in a quiet way.

She coughed a laugh. "Yeah. I'm really glad what's-his-name quit. As soon as he left, everybody was super nice to me. For all I know he was badmouthing me to them the way he poisoned me against them. Mr. Kuchiki especially. He's like my fairy godfather now."

Ulquiorra was going to say more about Grimmjow but he didn't. It wasn't fair of him to remind Orihime of her failed relationship with his friend. Grimmjow had wasted Orihime's time and affections. "Mr. Kuchiki is a good man. I've known him for years as a business associate, a mentor, and a somewhat friend. You're in good hands with him." After he said this, Ulquiorra stood up. "I've been a customer of Rotten for years. I asked him to put you on my project."

"You did?" This surprised her. Grimmjow had taken credit for that. She blinked a few times and frowned. "I wonder what else he took credit for."

Grimmjow had taken credit for a lot of stuff Ulquiorra had done. It figured. He looked away from her as his face got red. "Yeah, I wanted to spend time with you. It was the only thing I could think of that would work," he admitted as his face became hotter.

She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, half of her mind fuming at Grimmjow's past actions, the other half melting at how cute Ulquiorra looked right now. "He told me, you know. He told me that the only reason he kept me around was to keep me away from you. I don't know why anyone would do something like that… Why he would tell me the kinds of lies he told me and take credit for-" Her trail of thought halted as she made a connection to something Grimmjow said during their breakup fight. "He took credit for those flowers you sent me" she recalled, her eyes widening, and a small smile drawing her lips up slowly.

His face got redder. Ulquiorra reached up with a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... I stopped sending them after you rejected me," he said before he cleared his throat.

Her chin fell to her chest. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"You were justified with it, Orihime. You were with him. I was the one who was in the wrong that time."

She shook her head. "I should have known. It wouldn't have hurt me so much to end that kiss with you if I was really in love with him. I felt like I owed him my loyalty, though."

"He wasn't being loyal to you, though," Ulquiorra murmured. He put his arms around her for a moment. "It's in the past now."

She smiled at that. "You are correct," she replied, and the smile was in her voice. "I hope you like to be adventurous," she said a moment later.

He smiled too. "Why?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Because what we're eating tonight is not exactly traditional." she said with a small chuckle.

"I wouldn't expect anything traditional or normal from you, Miss Inoue. I like you that way."

"I like you the way you are, too," she said, craning her neck to kiss his cheek and then took a step back. "Kimchi beef gratin will be ready in about ten minutes. Do you want a glass of wine first?"

Ulquiorra gave her a smile then nodded. "I would like that."

A/N: If you're wondering, Orihime is making Kimchi Beef mac & cheese. How do you think things are going with them?