A/N: Oh, this is fun! Fun, fun, fun :3 I like writing Ilforte. He's my favorite character in this series. On another note, does anyone have an idea about Renji? Renji will be pushed into a yaoi pairing, poor him, but will it be with Izuru or Byakuya? I have more material for Byakuya, because Renji used to have a crush on Rukia in the earlier bits, so that could be fun psychologically, and maybe have a 'oh noes, Rukia just walked in on her brother and her friend. Goodness!' thing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, by Tite Kubo.

Ilforte was a morning person. He wasn't always, mind you, but lately, he'd been finding the mornings more and more enjoyable. Ever since he discovered Ishida had taken up residence in the household, he felt like it was his responsibility to take care of Szayel and his prince Charming, which made him feel loved and motherly. Thus, the morning was a good time for Ilforte, because he could make breakfast and flitter around the house before Ishida and Szayel woke up. He felt ecstatic waking up in the morning, wiggling out of Tesla's grasp and throwing on a robe to perform his duties. He would often hum a merry tune. It was the best spring break ever.

Szayel wished Ilforte would just go back to bed and wake up again like the rest of the world, groggy and irritable. But no, he couldn't even be that normal anymore. He had to go the extra mile for faggotry and make breakfast, do the laundry, and sing while he put his soft blond hair into a loose bun. The only thing Szayel could be thankful for was the lack of a frilly apron, but you never know with his older brother. Tesla seemed uncaring about it; Szayel figured as long as Ilforte was feeding Tesla and not donning ridiculous outfits around the house, it was good with him. After all, the ridiculous outfits were saved for Thursday nights. Szayel had become all-too-familiar with Ilforte's weekly routine from his high school years. At least Ilforte wasn't a terrible cook. He could make breakfast. Granted, that was about it. Ishida usually made any meals Ilforte didn't want to make, or buy. It wasn't too embarrassing for a spring break, until Ishida and Szayel happened to be reading, or in Ishida's case, reading and sewing, when Ilforte…came home from work.

Szayel had immediately tensed when he heard the door unlock, but made no move to leave the room, only expecting his brother to have an armful of groceries or something. No, Ilforte wasn't holding groceries. But he was holding his shirt, shoes, and a pair of baggy pants he wore out. Now, in their place, was a catastrophe of an outfit that could be described in words like 'tight', 'leather', 'lacking subtlety', and if you weren't one of Ilforte's customers, 'disturbing'. Szayel, on subconscious instinct, glued his eyes to Ilforte's face, where there was a smaller chance to see something unsettling. Ishida tried to evaluate the situation with as much grace and nonchalance possible. Failing miserably, he felt his face turn red as Ilforte stood in the doorway, not sure what to do. Sensing something amiss, Tesla came downstairs and sighed.

'Ilforte…' Ilforte turned to Tesla, trying to explain.

'Come on,' Tesla said, ushering Ilforte to the bedroom. After a few moments, Szayel and Ishida realized that they were alone again, and relaxed.

'Ishida, I apologi—'

'Er…It's not your fault.'

'No. It's not, you're right.'

'We should thank Tesla,' Ishida concluded.

'Later, we should thank Tesla. Now… now would be a bad time.'

'Wh-Why?'

'Someone needed to get Ilforte out of his work attire, and I think Tesla just assigned himself to the task.' Ishida blinked.

After that particular incident, Ishida no longer doubted Szayel's reasoning involving the household. Reasons why they shouldn't go into the basement, why they shouldn't study in the kitchen, or why they shouldn't leave books out were never needed. Somehow, Ishida just trusted Szayel. But he was still irked about Szayel's lack of commitment. He'd let it slide for a while, thinking maybe he just needed time to sort out his feelings, but nothing had been said in the direction of 'I love you', which worried Ishida. He didn't think Szayel was using him, but he wasn't sure he was thinking about their relationship in the same way as Ishida was. Ishida had been trying to read his signals since Szayel had let him stay, but he only picked up on a feeling of tenseness during one evening when Ilforte made them all watch 'The Notebook'. He was ever so thankful Szayel kept his homosexuality under control, despite his pink hair.

However, Szayel was experiencing far more turmoil than the role of calculating observer, which was usually his favourite place to be in any situation. Still struggling with his feelings, he was beginning to see perks in just telling Ishida he loved him. Perhaps, by saying something, his feelings would respond accordingly and all would be fine. It wasn't likely, but cunning had always been a strong suit of his, so Szayel was accustomed to lying. He thought about it again, and decided to set up something nice and romantic and not at home, as far away from Ilforte as possible. He would tell him then.

As far as Ishida was concerned, Szayel had acted normally for the past three days. When he went to sleep, however, Szayel was making reservations and looking at different types of flowers (granted, that was mixing business with his curious pleasure, considering the unimportance of flowers overall) and planning a quiet dinner. Alone. Ishida would love it, and of course, Szayel enjoyed the planning process. He had a flair for such things, after all.

A/N: You don't know how much I want to apologise. How many readers have I lost? TONS, I SUPPOSE. Ah, well, my apologies again. Also for such a crappy filler piece. I MUST WORK HARDER.

For now…can I blame the lack of Szayelness in the anime recently? All that filler wears heavy on the writing soul.

…debating writing some crazyass IlfortexTesla smut stuff as filler next time. I want to exercise my lemon-wiring abilities.