"Everyone ready?" Nel asked as everyone gathered together to go on a short tour of important locations in Las Noches.
"I think so," Ichigo answered, and jumped a little as Rukia took his hand. He smiled at her and nodded, squeezing her hand.
Nel led them first to the engineer's quarter. Nel stopped outside a door covered with a curtain.
"Now, they might be asleep. There isn't anything new to work on right now. Our engineers, though, make things work in Hueco Mundo. They're the ones who figured out how to modify the sun lamps to run on ambient reishi. It really was an amazing development, and they've modified several other electrical items to use reishi," Nel explained, pulling the curtain back.
In the room, two figures were piled up in two cots on either side of the room. At the sound of someone entering, one of them lifted their head.
"Hey Jessup! Electra!" Ichigo called, waving.
Slowly, one of them crawled out of bed, and everyone could see that they had a box on their back. They had a mask fragment that looked like a snail's eyestalks on top of their head. "Hey," they said lazily.
"That's Jessup," Nel said, indicating the one that looked like a snail. "And that's Electra getting out of her cot now."
The other one stood up and stretched, and they could all see she had what looked like bone whiskers on her face. She came over too, smiling a wide smile. "Hey there, we have new people?" she asked.
"Yeah, this is the group from Soul Society. I was just showing them around Las Noches and what we've built." Nel nodded toward the group.
"Oh, nice to meet you all," Electra said and continued to smile.
As they were close now, it was obvious they were both wearing pajamas. Ichigo liked Jessup and Electra quite a bit, and they were really intelligent to do what they did with World of the Living technology like they did.
"Welcome to our home," Jessup said, finally coming up beside Electra.
The whole room was filled with various items and tables where things were set out, obviously having been worked on. It didn't look like they had any current projects, though, because none of the tables were full in the middle where someone would work.
"What kind of things are you working on?" Ukitake asked as he glanced about the room.
"Well, we're resting right now. We just finished tweaking some water pumps for the canal system, so now we're taking a break," Electra explained, nodding.
"That's impressive," Kyōraku said and looked around.
"We're going back to sleep," Jessup said and blinked sleepily before he turned and began to slowly make their way back to the cot they had come from.
"Yeah, not much going on right now," Electra said. "Was nice to meet you all!" she said and turned to go back to her own cot.
Renji and Rukia waved at them as they snuggled back into their beds. Ichigo smiled, thinking that this was a good way to show how much like human society they were. He hoped that it showed Soul Society that they were worth letting be, because he knew no matter how much he wished it, taking on the entirety of Soul Society would be impossible for them, even with as many Arrancar as there were.
They left the engineering room and came to the dining room and kitchen area. There were several Arrancar milling around. Ichigo smiled. "Here, I'll introduce them to our cooks!"
"Cooks?" Renji said. "Arrancar eat?"
"Well, yeah, just like Shinigami, they can consume food for the pleasure of it and to help supplement their soul hunger," Nel explained as they headed toward a pair of doors in the back of the dining area.
"Essex!" Ichigo called out.
The doors opened and a small Arrancar came out. He was maybe five feet tall, but his most distinguishing feature was the fact he had a very round, full looking belly. He smiled, bright yellow eyes and hair the color of spun straw pulled back in a long ponytail. His mask fragment was a smooth jaw on the side of his face, almost like the jaw of a frog.
"Ichigo!" he said and came over to hug him awkwardly. "You brought friends?"
"Yeah, this is Essex. Essex is a beta, like me, and he's going to have babies soon!" Ichigo said, smiling at him.
"Wow, congratulations," Rukia said, smiling at him.
"Essex is the head cook around here," Ichigo said. "He puts together some interesting dishes…"
"Some things work, others don't," Essex said, smiling. "But it is fun trying!"
Ichigo looked around. "Where's Danise?"
"Oh, she's in the kitchen working on something that fell through the other day. It was a recipe book, but we can't read it. So, we're using the pictures to figure it out," Essex said, straightening his apron.
"You know, you can ask me, if it's Japanese or English I can read it to you," Ichigo said gently.
"I know, but we didn't want to bother you too much," Essex said.
"I think I've got it, Essex!" came a feminine voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned to see a very female looking Arrancar. She had to be at least six and a half feet tall, with large breasts and curvy hips. Her mask fragment could be seen as a covering over her left eye, smooth and mottled with a patch of snakeskin. Her cheeks also were covered in other patches of snakeskin. Her hollow hole was visible in her right shoulder, where she wore a shirt that slipped off the shoulder.
"Everyone, this is Danise, she's Essex's alpha," Ichigo said as she approached.
Kyōraku and Ukitake glanced at each other as she approached, towering over either of them. "Hi, Ichigo's friends," she said.
She leaned over and pulled Essex close to her and gave a slight suspicious glance around at those present. Ichigo chuckled. "Don't worry, Danise. No alphas are going to bother Essex here."
"Well, that's good," she said, and it was obvious this was a real worry to the Arrancar.
Ichigo turned to the others. "Betas are rare, so alphas sometimes fight over them. Most the Arrancar in Las Noches are courteous enough, but Las Noches is open to the rest of Hueco Mundo so sometimes strangers come in and attempt to move in on the local betas."
"How many betas are there in Las Noches?" Rukia asked, frowning a bit at Ichigo.
Ichigo thought about it a moment. "I'm not sure, but less than twenty for sure. All the Arrancar that Aizen created were alphas, so that was a lot because he made many, many Arrancar in his time here. I know most the betas already, though. We can sense when another beta is near, and we have a sense about alphas too. Pheromones I think, something like that, you know," Ichigo shrugged.
"Well, back to it," Essex said. "See you later, Ichigo, and Ichigo's friends!" the small Arrancar said and turned back to the kitchens.
"Excuse me," another voice said.
Everyone looked over to see an Arrancar mopping the floor. He had wild looking dark hair and wide, unblinking eyes. He was average height and dressed in black- and yellow-colored clothes. On his head, sat two antenna looking bone fragments, like that of a wasp.
"Oh, sorry, Atata," Ichigo said, moving out of his way.
"Gotta get the floors clean before lunch," he said, mopping past them.
After he'd left, Ichigo looked at the others. "That's Atata. He's a little obsessed with cleanliness and purification. He makes a good janitor, though, he keeps Las Noches spotless, that's for sure! He also fixes broken stuff in Las Noches, too."
Nel nodded. "Let's see, where should we show them next?"
Ichigo looked thoughtful. "How about the farms?"
"Alright," Nel said. "Come this way!"
They led everyone to a special room that had been set up specifically for farming. There were sun lamps set up around the room, covering the place in ambient light. As they came out, there was a large Arrancar working on the fields. He stood tall and broad, wearing a set of overalls and a plaid shirt underneath it. He looked up, and his eyes were very squinty. He waved as they approached.
"This is Trovim," Ichigo introduced. "He's a bit different than the others, he's a farmer and a strict vegetarian, something that continually confuses Grimmjow," Ichigo chuckled, shaking his head.
"Vegetarian?" Rukia asked as they came up to him.
"Yes, he doesn't eat any of the creatures that we ranch," Nel explained. "We'll show you those next," she said.
In a very soft voice, Trovim said "Hi there. You're new to Las Noches."
"Trovim, these are some friends from Soul Society. I was showing them around Las Noches," Ichigo said, smiling at him.
The large Arrancar nodded. "Welcome to the farms. As you see, we use sun lamps that the engineers modified to work in Hueco Mundo. We also built a canal system to divert water from the few sources in our world. There isn't a lot to be had but we managed to figure out ways to utilize what we could find. It's better than just eating mushrooms," he said, a soft grin on his face.
"They grow all kinds of stuff here, vegetables, mostly, but we have some fruit trees as well," Ichigo told them, gesturing toward one end of the room where there were trees in the distance. "Considering the harsh environment, they do very well."
"I have to get back to work, but it was nice meeting you," Trovim said, turning back to the hoe he was using.
"Next, let's meet some of the ranchers," Nel said and led them out of the farming room toward another room.
This one was set up with fences separating different areas of the place from each other. Gates between the pens allowed access to them.
"Oh, look, there's Twilon. She's the head rancher," Ichigo said as they saw an Arrancar wearing boots, jeans, and a t-shirt. She looked up as they came near.
"Welcome to the ranch!" she said, smiling broadly.
Her mask fragment looked like some sort of helm on the top of her head, and her hollow hole was right in her left cheek underneath the edge of it. Her brown hair stuck out at odd angles from under the bone fragment, and her eyes were a vivid aqua color. She had a stocky body with thick arms and legs. She had dark brown skin that seemed to only amplify the color of her eyes.
"Hi Twilon. These are friends from Soul Society," Ichigo said, gesturing to the group.
"Nice to meetcha," she said, smiling. "Welcome, again. This is where we do the ranching. There's a few of us that run the place, but I kinda head 'em up."
"What kind of animals do you ranch?" asked Kyōraku. "I thought only hollows were in Hueco Mundo."
"Well, they're hollow animals, like these here," she said, indicating a group that was nearby. "I believe they're called cows in the World of the Living. But we find and collect them, then breed them when we find betas, making a nice little herd," Twilon explained. "We also have some of what you call 'goats' and 'chickens'. They look a little different from each other, but we keep the same type together as much as we can, then sometimes we find some that just are weird and we can't really put them in a pen together as long as they aren't predators."
"What do you do with the predators?" Ukitake asked, frowning a bit.
"Well, some of them we herd in a different area for help hunting. Luci takes care of the cat beasts, and then Verta takes care of the dog hollows. They're used for help culling threatening predators, and other things that might harm Las Noches," Twilon said.
"Thanks, Twilon. We're going to go back to the observation room now, I think I've shown them the major points in Las Noches, now," Ichigo said.
"Alright, was good to meet you," she nodded and headed back to a structure that looked like a barn of some sort.
"Let's go back to where Coyote is," Ichigo said, turning and leading them out of the ranching room back to the interior of Las Noches.
Before long, they ended up at the observation room, and Ichigo led them into the room where the one wall was lined with monitors that showed various parts of Las Noches and the exterior. Starrk was sitting watching the feeds as they came into the room. Ichigo came over and Starrk immediately grasped him and pulled him onto his lap, causing Ichigo to blush hard. Rukia giggled a little, but otherwise no one said anything about the possessive act.
"Did you enjoy your tour?" Starrk asked, looking around, arms locked around Ichigo's waist.
"Yes, it was very informative," Kyōraku said with a nod. "I appreciate you taking the time to show us what you've built here. It's impressive, I have to admit."
"We've worked hard to build a home here," Starrk said, leaning forward and resting his chin on Ichigo's shoulder. "We have a lot to go, as well."
"I never imagined Arrancar to build a society," Ukitake said. "I guess we assumed Arrancar could never work together enough to create anything like this. But I'm pleased to see that I'm wrong."
Starrk smiled a little. "We have what every society has. People who care and who want to see it succeed. What we've built is significant, and it has taken us seven years to get this far. Who knows how far we will come given more time?"
Ukitake and Kyōraku nodded together. Renji was looking at the monitors to see what he could see on them, and Rukia was focused on Starrk and Ichigo.
"We should return and report to the Sou-Taichou and see if we can't draft a trade agreement," Kyōraku said. "I would also like to contact Urahara and have him come to Hueco Mundo to begin research into these things."
"Of course. Nel will show you out," Starrk said with a nod.
Rukia smiled and came over and hugged him. "I'll see you soon. Next time, I'll bring Ichika with me," she said.
"Alright, I should be growing by then," Ichigo said, putting his hands on his stomach, only to have Starrk cover them immediately and squeeze him.
"This is still so weird," Renji said. "But I'll get used to it. Though, having my best friend come up pregnant as a guy is kinda strange."
"Well, just remember, that doesn't matter anymore," Ichigo said. "It's taken some getting used to it for me, but I think I've come to accept it, especially with Coyote here to help me."
"As long as you're happy, that's what matters," Rukia said, nodding.
The group was led out by Nel, leaving Ichigo with Starrk in the observation room. Starrk held him from behind for a while until Ichigo turned on his lap a little to face him.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Of course, I missed you, though, especially with that group. I may have been jealous," Starrk admitted.
"Jealous? Of who?" Ichigo arched a brow and looked at him curiously.
"I could tell there was a connection between you and the redhead. There was a closeness there, and it sparked a little jealousy on my part," Starrk said, kissing him gently above the bone fragment. "And seeing you interact with them was difficult."
"Renji is nothing to be jealous of," Ichigo scoffed. "He's married to Rukia and they have a baby," he explained. "I never really thought of him like that, well, at least not that I ever admitted…" he muttered.
"Oh, you perhaps have had feelings toward other men?" Starrk teased.
"Just a little bit," Ichigo could feel the heat on his face just from discussing this. "I mean, I never thought anything would come of it, but I did have thoughts now and then about all kinds of people."
"It is the beta in you," Starrk said, licking gently at the incredibly sensitive claiming bite on Ichigo's neck. "Even before you transformed into an Arrancar completely, you were a beta down deep, evaluating potential mates on their alpha status even though they were not really alphas or betas. It is why you were never satisfied with the woman," Starrk explained.
"But I thought I was satisfied, because it was what was expected of me," Ichigo said, sighing deeply as Starrk's hands slipped between his legs and began rub him.
"Ah, but now, you know what it is like to truly be satisfied," Starrk said, moving his hand to slide the hakama down off of his ass.
"What are you doing?" Ichigo muttered.
"I cannot wait any longer. Your wound should be healed enough if we're careful," he said, biting at Ichigo's neck.
Ichigo could feel him as he wriggled out of his hakama, as he'd already pulled himself free of his own pants. He moaned low in his throat, wanting him to continue where they were even though anyone could walk in at any moment.
"Why is it so good?" Ichigo muttered, feeling his fingers slide inside him. "I mean, I never imagined…"
"It's good because it's right," Starrk said, moving his hips to line himself up and thrusting upward in one single motion.
Ichigo came down on him with a moan, feeling his cock filling him up and sliding against everything that felt amazing. Even the slight discomfort at being penetrated faded and turned into something different. Starrk hardly had to move as Ichigo began to push up and down, finding a comfortable rhythm that didn't bother his wound. He'd never imagined such bliss as this feeling and moaned again as Starrk reached around and began stroking him in the front.
"You're so big!" Ichigo gasped, feeling like he was almost too full.
"You can feel in here," Starrk said, taking one hand and rubbing it across his belly.
Ichigo glanced down, and he could indeed see the bulge in his stomach that Starrk made, but it surprisingly didn't hurt, despite how deep his was. It was such a strange sensation as he moved on his lap, feeling his hand slip up and down his arousal. It didn't take long but soon he moaned and came in Starrk's hand, feeling him tense inside him, and then the throbbing as Starrk followed him.
Starrk spun him around, so they were facing each other and latched his mouth on Ichigo's, kissing him thoroughly and exploring his mouth thoughtfully with his tongue. Ichigo responded, feeling him hardening again inside him. His eyes went a bit wide as Starrk began thrusting up into him again.
"You're already hard again?" Ichigo gasped, throwing his head back as his legs locked around Starrk's waist.
"I cannot resist my beta," Starrk said, sliding a hand between them and stroking Ichigo back to full arousal again.
This time, he did most the work, thrusting up into Ichigo, setting him into a series of moans and gasps as he did so. The room was otherwise quiet except for the sounds they made, skin slipping and slapping against each other, and their breaths mixing as they frequently kissed. Starrk nuzzled into Ichigo's neck and nibbled on the claiming bite, making Ichigo moan and leak profusely at the simple touch. After a few more minutes, without touching Ichigo again, Ichigo felt himself cresting again, digging both sets of nails into Starrk's back this time, as Starrk thrust through it and then slammed up to release his own into him. Ichigo sighed, laying his head on Starrk's shoulder.
"I can't do that again, not right now," he gasped.
"I know, I won't exhaust you," Starrk said, moving his hips to slide out of him.
Ichigo felt the dripping sensation and knew that he had released a lot inside him, something that he never imagined he would enjoy, but there was something alluring to being filled with his essence. It was like he was left with something of him when he pulled out of him.
"Here, we should dress you again," Starrk said, as though just realizing they were in the middle of the observation room.
Ichigo slid off his lap and replaced his hakama, still feeling empty at the fact they were disconnected from each other. He slipped back between his legs and grabbed his face, kissing him, tongue searching every corner of Starrk's mouth. After a second, Starrk responded, sliding his tongue against Ichigo's and twisting with him in a delicate dance of moments. Finally, they pulled apart and Ichigo blushed, realizing what they just did in a completely public space.
"Don't worry, Arrancar aren't hung up on sex like Shinigami and humans," Starrk said, smiling slightly at him. "They will have sensed the reiatsu and left us alone."
"But still, we can't just go at it anywhere we want!" Ichigo was little shocked at himself.
"And why not? I am Primera, remember?" Starrk's lazy smile was something that Ichigo couldn't get enough of, he was finding.
"I guess," Ichigo said, looking away.
"And how can I resist such an amazing beta, strong, willful, and everything that I could want in a beta," Starrk said. "I never wanted a submissive beta that wouldn't challenge me, and that you are not. You may offer your submission to me, but I am the only one who has it."