The arrival of three drunk captains overshadowed most of the rest of the evening. Kyoraku and Ukitake were singing an old, rather rude song with Gin trying to join in although he clearly didn't know the words as they all three staggered into the party late.

"Oh, look," Gin said a bit loudly as they came to a stop before the assembled guests. "Aren't all the little lieutenants adorable? I really do love all of them, did you know that?"

Ukitake nodded in agreement. "They are all very good children. They work so very hard. We must be grateful."

"I don't know," Kyoraku said, looking over the group suspiciously. "You lot save us anything to drink?"

"Yes, sir, of course," Kira responded immediately.

"Good lad," Kyoraku answered.

"That's my lieutenant for you," Gin said, patting Kira on the head as he staggered by. "Don't you love him? He's always terribly helpful."

"Thank you, sir," Kira said, looking very embarrassed.

"And Lieutenant Abarai," Gin said, moving on to the next lieutenant. "I'm sure you'll be worth something someday. You've got guts, and that's something, not like Omaeda over there," he turned to frown at Omaeda sitting across the room, munching on a skewer of beef. "I don't love you, just so you know," he told him. "Just the other lieutenants, you know, the good ones."

He came to a stop between Ikkaku and Yumichika, patting them both on the head and ignoring their obvious annoyance. "And these two, Yu-yu and Pachinko Head, aren't they just the best? They've provided me with literally years of entertainment, and they always look after Ran--hello, Ran, think we could leave now? We've got a perfectly good bedroom down the hall, and all these lovely people to watch the kids."

"How much did you drink?" Rangiku asked, staring at him in a mixture of amused disbelief and real concern.

"Not more than a bottle," Kyoraku said. "Ukitake had quite a bit more." He looked over at Ukitake who had been cornered by Isana, who was quickly checking his vitals. "And he's fine. I'm afraid Gin-kun is quite the light-weight."

"That's only because I haven't drunk anything since before Shiro was born--oh, hello, Shiro, didn't expect to see you here."

Toshiro, who was sitting across from Kira and had been talking to him before the captains' arrival put a stop to everything, glared back at his father. "You're acting like an idiot."

"Oh, I know," Gin agreed. "But I can't seem to stop. Do you think you could tell your mother to put me to bed?"

"How about you just sit down and shut up?" Toshiro suggested.

"That does sound like a nice solution," Gin agreed. "But where would I sit? And if I'm not talking what shall I do instead? Maybe I should try eating because if my mouth's not otherwise occupied every thought that pops into my head seems to escape out of my mouth without any sort of filter at all. I've heard of this before but I'm not sure I've ever--"

Rangiku hopped up and took hold of his hand, which silenced him abruptly. He turned to look at her and smiled a real smile, unlike anything any of their visitors had ever seen on his face before, filled with absolute adoration. "You are so beautiful," he said softly.

Rangiku blushed the same shade as her kimono. "Come sit beside me," she told him with an embarrassed glance at their guests.

Gin nodded in agreement. He made it to his seat without saying anything more, and if it was not really appropriate for him to put an arm around Rangiku's waist and pull her over so she was lounging against him, no one complained.

He scanned the assembled guests who were once again talking now that the captains had been settled among them. They all looked very happy, surrounded by their friends. Even Ise and Hisagi, who he really hadn't been sure would come after the ordeal of the day before, were sitting and talking and even smiling. And Kenpachi, the only not intoxicated captain present, looked as close to happy as he ever did off the battlefield.

Only Ukitake looked at all like Gin, himself, felt, not quite sure if he belonged in this crowd of young people, but, again like Gin, he was willing to try for his wife's sake. Said wife was speaking very seriously to Shiba Miyako, who Gin could only assume was here on behalf of her absent husband. Gin blinked. He'd only had eyes for Rangiku when he'd come in, but it was honestly a wonder he had missed Nemu. The woman was not in the odd dress that was her uniform and practically the only thing Gin had ever seen her wear, but instead she wore a colorful silk kimono decorated with fuchsia carnations, and in her hair was a gold comb that glittered with emeralds the exact same shade as her eyes. The kimono fit her much like they always fit Ran, displaying a generous amount of cleavage, but unlike Rangiku, somehow managing to stop short of looking tacky. She looked both stunningly beautiful and exceedingly wealthy. In short, she looked like the beloved wife of a wealthy nobleman.

It was exactly how Gin would have liked Rangiku to be able to dress. He never dreamed he would ever have been jealous of Ukitake Jushiro. The man spent his life in more pain than Gin liked to think about, but to be able to give so much to his wife would probably be worth a little pain.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the night wore on and everybody was getting pretty thoroughly intoxicated Gin found himself sobering up a bit. Beside him Rangiku was explaining the biggest problems of the Fifth Division as she saw them to Ayasegawa; mostly she seemed to think they were snobby and worked too hard, and Ikkaku, a little further down the table was arguing with Yachiru over acceptable nicknames. Then there was Kyoraku waxing poetic to Hisagi, Omaeda, and Iba about various alcoholic drinks of the World of the Living. Kira and Ukitake were both looking more than a little confused as Ukitake tried to explain the theory behind an extremely complicated high-level kido that he couldn't quite remember. Miyako kept trying to help him only she wasn't seeming too sure either and Nanao, at her side, looked somewhere between amused and annoyed. The poor thing had stayed sober so she could walk her husband and her captain back to the Eighth. Isana had scooted back against a wall behind them and fallen asleep and was snoring lightly. Nemu, who never got drunk even if she did drink, was politely listening to Kenpachi tell her all the people he really wanted the chance to fight, and Shiro, who had grown more and more bored as the adults around him grew more intoxicated, had also managed to fall asleep, laying across the table with his hair trailing into a dipping bowl of soy sauce and wasabi Gin might have moved after Shiro fell asleep--it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

It seemed to have turned out to be a very nice party, and Gin was feeling oddly proud of himself for managing it. Of course it had been for Rangiku, but, still, it was nice to see that everyone was having such a good time. Strangest of all was that he had not once been tempted to mess with anyone, well, Shiro's hair was soaking up the soy sauce nicely, but, other than that, he'd been perfectly nice, and he'd enjoyed himself, how odd. He was just thinking about how pleasant it all was when over a dozen black hell's butterflies flew in the open doors, one to every captain and every lieutenant except Rangiku.

Gin sighed as he stretched out a hand, and he heard Kyoraku echo his sigh and add, "Well, that was inevitable."