"This is amazing material Ichigo." Urahara complimented him and Ichigo felt warmed at the praise. He grinned when he saw Renji giving him a thumbs up over Urahara's left shoulder.
His triumphs had managed to wash away any stain from his disobedience. He'd managed to save the life of the sentient they had injured and also had been at least provisionally accepted by the same sentients. He'd made records of their den that included well fashioned spears, bows and arrows as well as things like the stone urn. He had records of their voices and patterns that were almost certainly a language. But there was still more to be done.
"I'm requesting permission to do a full immersion, sir." Ichigo said politely. The truth was, he was demanding it. This was the normal protocol for when friendly relations were achieved with an alien race. Urahara looked a bit pensive for a moment.
"I can see the blue alien, Grimmjow, seems quite taken with you. But the white one definitely isn't. Are you sure you'll be safe?" He asked and Ichigo thought about it hard for a moment. Shiro was very standoffish, most of the time, but the dynamics between him and Grimmjow were interesting. He thought the blue alien had the white one wrapped neatly around his little finger.
"I don't think it will be a problem. I doubt Shiro would want to anger Grimmjow by hurting me." He said, then smiled. "And Shiro doesn't really dislike me. He was just afraid for his mate." The bit of observation at the end had led him to conclude they were likely lovers, not friends or family. He could be wrong, of course – they were extraterrestrials – but what Grimmjow had done to Shiro had looked sexual. Immersion would clear up any misconceptions.
"Very well, you're the xenosociologist of the group. Make sure you get all the gear you need together and you can begin tomorrow." That was a dismissal and Ichigo bowed slightly before leaving. He was taking care to be very respectful at the moment, a silent apology for his earlier disobedience. Renji caught up with him when he was heading for the mess hall to get some properly cooked food.
"A full immersion? Do you think you're ready for that?" He questioned and Ichigo glanced at him, a touch surprised. "I've heard it can be difficult."
"It's what I've been training for." He replied as he opened the dark green tent flap, going into the mess hall. It was a very spartan place, just a bunch of cafeteria tables and chairs, but the food was good and hot. Meant to keep well for all the people keeping irregular hours, it was a simple stew with packaged loaves of the kelp bread they made on Hallelujah. Ichigo wasn't too fond of it but it stored well. Taking a bowl he quickly found a spot at one of the tables. Renji grabbed a loaf of the bread and followed him.
"Usually there's more than one person doing it, though." He pointed out and Ichigo frowned.
"Usually there's a larger group of aliens. I don't think these two would want to be outnumbered." He pointed out and Renji frowned before nodding. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." And he did. This really was what he'd been training to do for years.
Full immersion was the simplest way to learn an alien language and culture. It involved befriending a group of natives and then living with them, learning their language and culture by experiencing it directly. Even very difficult languages could be learned that way, as one of the previous teams had demonstrated. One of the alien species they'd met had a very abstract tonal language. Without a full immersion it was hard to say if they would ever have been able to comprehend it.
Ichigo didn't think his task would be that hard though. That species had been hard to understand in general. It might be wishful thinking, but Ichigo thought that Grimmjow and Shiro had very human like emotions and reactions. There would certainly be differences but he doubted they would be as alien to him as that other race.
After he was done his food, Ichigo began putting together everything he would need for an extended field trip. That included a sleeping bag, a pack with changes of clothing, an entire crate of food… he was just glad the den was large. He wondered what the two aliens would make of his return with so much stuff. Hopefully they wouldn't run him off. Then Ichigo grinned to himself.
He had a few bribes, just in case.
Grimmjow was slowly and carefully moving around when Orange came back.
He lifted his tail and flicked his ears in pleasure as he entered the den. Then he blinked at the amount of stuff Orange… Ichigo had with him. He had a huge bag on his back and there was a little thing rolling behind him with a box on top. He was pulling it with a rope, and Grimmjow made note of that idea. Although he wasn't sure where he would ever want to use it.
"You planning to stay?" He asked, wondering how irritated Shiro would be. Ichigo just gave him a smile before saying something incomprehensible. "Well, it's okay by me." He liked the stranger and thought he was fascinating. The coverings he wore, for instance. Grimmjow had never seen anything like them. His people did some crude weaving of plant fibers but how could anyone manage something so fine?
So Grimmjow just sat back and watched as Ichigo put his box in a corner of the den, then began putting away his other things. One of the things he pulled out was the familiar kit, the one that contained the needle that Grimmjow was growing to hate. Putting his ears back he started to edge away. Then Orange took a step towards him and he bolted for the exit. He didn't want to be stuck with that thing again!
Unfortunately, Shiro chose that moment to make an appearance. Caught by surprise, Grimmjow ran right into his pale mate and they went down in a tangle of limbs, landing on the kill Shiro had been dragging home. Grimmjow tried to get free but a confused Shiro held onto him and he yelped as a hand grabbed his buttock before jabbing it with a needle. There was a wavering laugh from his white mate and Grimmjow hissed, squirming as the needle was withdrawn.
"Oi, take it like a man." Shiro teased as Grimmjow got off him and bent himself around, trying to reach his butt to lick the small wound. "I really don't think even you can reach that far."
"Shut up." Grimmjow muttered as he contorted his spine, finally managing to lick his minor injury. Shiro just shook his head and gripped the leg of his kill, dragging it into the cave and ignoring Ichigo. Then he pulled up short as he saw the stuff Orange had brought with him.
"What's all this then? Does he think he's staying?" Shiro said, hissing slightly with displeasure. That made Grimmjow grin.
"I think he does." He said playfully and Shiro gave him a hard look before transferring it to Ichigo. The stranger began rooting through his bag, looking for something. "Why not?" Although there were plenty of reasons why not. Their people rarely accepted strangers readily. Grimmjow was an exception in that, enjoying meeting new people. His family had been more social than most, too, numbering almost fifty at their height. "He brings his own food, so it's not like we'll have to feed him."
"I don' like it. What's he want with us? Why'd his people try to trap me?" Shiro muttered and Grimmjow shrugged. "Why'd… what's this?" He said, flicking his ears in surprise as Ichigo offered him something. Shiro gave him a suspicious look before accepting the little package. The contents were held in an odd, strangely textured pouch. It didn't take him long to figure out how to open it though and when he did, beautiful things spilled into his hands. "Oh!" White ears went forward and Shiro's tail flicked up as he realized what he was holding. "Beads! Grimmjow, look!"
"Oh, joy. Hair ornaments for you." Grimmjow said, bored, and Shiro aimed a kick at him. His blue mate avoided it easily and grinned. "He knows how to suck up to you, hey?"
"Oh shut it." Shiro grumbled, but he knew Grimmjow was right. He liked to look good. "Will you wear one for me?" He asked, a bit wistfully. He liked making things to wear, jewelry and such, but Grimmjow usually wouldn't touch his creations.
"Ah… okay. You can make me a bracelet. Aren't you gonna say thank you to him?" Grimmjow pointed out and Shiro growled before looking at Ichigo. The stranger was watching them with a worried expression.
"Thank you." He said as nicely as he could. The beads really were lovely, all colors of the rainbow and very shiny. Ichigo smiled at him, understanding the sentiment if not the words. He pointed at the beads in Shiro's hands and said a few words. That puzzled the two aliens for a moment, but as he pointed again Grimmjow figured it out.
"He wants to know what we call 'em." He said to Shiro, then pointed at the beads himself. "Beads." Ichigo smiled and repeated the word. Then he picked up a rock and looked quizzically at Grimmjow. "Rock."
"Oi, you two can play around. I'm gonna skin this thing and get it in the fire." Shiro said and Grimmjow nodded. While they could eat their food raw and often did, they also liked it cooked, especially the tougher bits. Shiro pushed a bit of fresh liver into his hands and Grimmjow ate it raw as he continued tutoring Ichigo on their language. If they could eventually talk to the stranger, really talk, he might find out what they were doing here.
He was really quite curious about that.
Ichigo examined the blade Grimmjow had given him, fascinated.
It was an obsidian knife and cruelly sharp. The workmanship was very fine and it had been carefully attached to a handle of carved horn. The carvings were crude representations of birds taking flight. They had been burned into the horn, probably with a piece of hot obsidian. It was really a beautiful piece of primitive craftsmanship.
Something about it bothered him, though. It took him a long moment to figure out what, but then he blinked. Obsidian was a volcanic rock, and while he was no geologist he didn't think there was a source nearby. Reaching for his earbug he gave the signal that meant he wanted attention.
Hey Ichigo! What is it? Ichigo smiled at the sound of Renji's voice. His friend must have pulled monitoring duty.
"Could you find out for me where the nearest source of obsidian is?" This could be a sign of trading or… it could be a sign that Grimmjow and Shiro had come from somewhere else. Ichigo was betting on the latter. He'd been going through the midden and he'd noticed it wasn't too deep, not like he would expect with long term occupancy. Although he tried not to sort through the garbage while Shiro and Grimmjow were around. His rudimentary vocabulary wasn't up to explaining why he was fascinated by trash.
He'd been living with the aliens for only a month, and he'd actually made very good progress with the language. It was relatively straightforward with simple rules, but it was also flexible enough to allow for abstract concepts. Ichigo was rather pleased with it. The other Stone Age culture they'd encountered had only had a rudimentary language, nothing like the tongue these aliens had.
He was also learning a bit about them. The two aliens were quite different. Shiro was dead white everywhere except his hands, feet and his ears. His hands and feet were shaded the same way Grimmjow's were, and he had similar black facial markings that led to black ears. The fluff inside them was a beautiful golden color that matched his eyes. Shiro always wore clothing and seemed to love adorning himself, something Grimmjow disdained. Shiro was far more introverted than Grimmjow, speaking freely to his mate but hardly saying two words to Ichigo.
There were some very interesting personal dynamics going on, and Ichigo suspected he was the cause of them. Shiro sometimes wanted to be alone and Grimmjow would cheerfully go to spend time with the orange haired xenosociologist, telling him the names of things and letting him try out his fledgling language skills. However, whenever they were doing that Shiro seemed to lose interest in being alone and kept shooting them sharp glances until he couldn't stand it anymore. Then the white alien would come join them, bringing whatever he was working on with him. Grimmjow didn't say anything when that happened but Ichigo had caught him smirking once or twice.
Hey Ichigo! Ichigo blinked, coming out of his reverie as Renji came back on the line. I checked with the geological team and they think the nearest source of obsidian would be in the rainforest. It's damn near uninhabitable, though. Other than that would be nearly a thousand miles away. Why?
"They have obsidian knives and spearheads. I'm wondering where they came from." Ichigo said thoughtfully. "This could be evidence of trading between groups." If so, that indicated they were more advanced than had been suspected. "Or they might have travelled here recently from the rainforest." That made him wonder. The initial survey had said the tropical storms weren't too bad, which had influenced the first team's decision to land in the rainforest. Were these fierce storms a recent thing?
Really? That would be interesting. You'll have to ask them when you can. Renji said and Ichigo nodded ruefully. It was time to go back to working on the language.
When he could ask them more complicated questions, he might get some interesting answers.
Several months later.
"Stupid Grimmjow." Shiro muttered as he worked at setting up the wood and leather contraption he and Grimmjow used to smoke meat with. They'd figured out how to do that several years ago, when they were struggling to survive the hard winters. "He could be helping me but noooo, too busy flirting with stupid Orange…" Shiro knew he was being grossly unfair. He hadn't told Grimmjow he was setting up the tent and his mate was hardly sitting around idle. He was busy turning a hide into buckskin and demonstrating the process to Ichigo.
But he couldn't help but be angry. He felt like he was losing his mate bit by bit. He might have liked Ichigo, if it hadn't been for that.
He was pounding the last piece of wood in place when he heard soft footsteps behind him. Shiro whirled around with a snarl that quickly tapered off as he saw a startled Orange. Huffing indignantly, he turned back to his work. Once the wooden frame was in he would layer the animal hides over it. Inside, he would light a fire, a very smoky fire, and use it to preserve thin strips of meat.
"What is it?" Came a question and Shiro looked up to see Ichigo tapping the framework.
"No name." Shiro said shortly, as he began putting on the leather. Ichigo gave him a puzzled look and he grimaced, realizing more was required. "Our idea. Trying to make meat last all winter." In the rainforest, preservation hadn't been an issue. There had always been plentiful fruits to eat. Orange fell silent then, just watching him work. Then he lightly touched Shiro on the shoulder, making him look up with a frown.
"It is a teepee." Ichigo said and Shiro blinked, his ears tilting back.
"Your people have them?" He questioned and the other nodded. "Okay. Teepee." That word sounded kind of nice. They could steal it, since they hadn't come up with anything.
"Shiro? When you… when did you come here?" Ichigo asked, brown eyes curious, and Shiro tried to think. How long ago had it been when he met Grimmjow?
"Six years ago." He finally said. It hadn't really been very long. His people could live to over a hundred if they survived infancy and didn't do anything stupid. "Grimmjow had been here three years before that." He added because he was sure that would be Orange's next question. "Go get me some fire." He pointed to the cave. If Ichigo was going to bother him, he could be useful. He and Grimmjow kept the fire in the cave constantly going because starting a new one was a pain. Ichigo blinked and nodded as Shiro began laying out the thinly sliced meat on the wooden frame inside.
By the time Orange came back with a flaming brand, he was ready for it. Shiro made sure the fire was well and truly caught before flipping the hides shut, trapping the smoke in. It drifted out of the top of the teepee, but that was fine. If it didn't have some escape it tended to set the whole thing on fire, something they'd figured out the hard way.
"Where were you before? Why did you come here?" Ichigo asked and Shiro winced, his ears tilting back. It wasn't really the stranger's fault but he was touching a painful wound.
"The rainforest. It was like the gods went crazy." Shiro said, deciding it was best that he explain. Grimmjow would probably cry if he had to. His family had been large and loving, while Shiro's had been more distant despite being smaller. "The rain came down so hard. Th' first year Grimmjow's family made it but the second the rain was even worse and they was washed away. Grimmjow might be the only one t' make it." He said emotionlessly as Ichigo swallowed. "He left, trying t' get away from the storms. My family was different… we had some high ground, it seemed safer from the storms. An' we'd lived in the rainforest forever, we didn' wanna leave. But finally the ground gave way and buried us. I was the only one t' live." He knew that for a fact. He'd gotten lucky and managed to cling to a tree that remained standing, watching as his relatives were swept away in the torrent of mud. "So I left too. Everyone's like that. This is new land for us." As far as Shiro knew, no one had ever left the rainforest until now. Why would they have? The rainforest had been glorious, full of everything they needed for an easy life. Living up here meant adjusting themselves, thinking of new ways to do things, but they were clever. They would survive.
"Oh, I see." Ichigo's voice sounded muted but Shiro ignored it, heading back to the cave.
"I've got the teepee up." He said without thinking and Grimmjow gave him a puzzled look. He was still scraping the hair and flesh off the hide, a process that always took a while. "The smoke thing. That's what Orange calls it."
"Really?" Grimmjow's ears flicked forward in interest as he looked at Ichigo. Shiro couldn't help the sharp pain he felt at the bright interest in those blue eyes. "Hey Ichigo, could you teach us things?" He said and Shiro felt his jealousy flair. He choked on bitter words, holding them back with all his will. But he couldn't help but shoot Ichigo a venomous glance before storming out of the den. He was aware of two sets of eyes following him, but right now he didn't care.
He hated them both.
"Is he okay?" Ichigo asked, watching Shiro go with worried eyes. Grimmjow frowned, setting aside the bone he'd been using the scrape the hide and standing up.
"No. I'll go talk to him." Grimmjow wasn't entirely sure what he would say, though.
He knew what Shiro's problem was, sort of. Shiro had always had a rather hard life in many ways. His family hadn't been cruel to him but they hadn't particularly liked him either. He'd even overheard some of them talking about driving him off. But his parents had cared and the pale man hadn't actually been a drain on the families' resources, so he'd been allowed to stay.
Until they all died. Then Shiro had been cast adrift in an uncaring world and he'd found that indifference was much better than harsh rejection. The female refugees had no use for a mate that could not sire cubs, and the male ones had no use for him at all. If any of the groups had been settled, it might have been different. A settled family might take a chance on a stranger, even one who couldn't reproduce. But with everything unsettled other instincts came to the fore and Shiro had been driven away again and again. The Green one had given him the harshest rejection, an arrow in the gut, but he hadn't been the first to use violence.
Grimmjow had had it much easier. He'd gone out pretty much on the first wave of refugees, and no one had established territories. So the others he'd passed had simply avoided him, rather than defending their land from the intruder. He'd settled here before the Green one had come, and had actually established a friendly relationship with him. They'd even mated a few times. The Green one already had a mate, but it was possible to have two or even three if a male could provide for them. If Grimmjow had been lucky enough to have a cub, they probably would have combined dens and Green's other mate, a proper female, could have helped nurse his child.
Shiro knew all about that hopeful dream, and now Ichigo was on the scene. Grimmjow sighed to himself as he searched for his mate. Then his ears went back as he finally spotted him. Shiro was sitting on a rock, his legs pulled tightly to his chest as he rocked back and forth. His mate could be prickly as a pinfruit but it still hurt Grimmjow to see him like this.
"Shiro." He said softly, kneeling beside his mate. Shiro didn't seem to realize he was there. "Shiro." He gently put an arm around the other and Shiro's head jerked up, eyes wide and startled before he tried to pull away with a snarl.
"I don't need yer pity – uff!" Shiro gasped as he was punched in the ribs, hard. Then Grimmjow pulled him close, forcing the white man against his chest. "Leggo! Ow! Grimm!"
"No." He said calmly, just holding Shiro until his curses turned into soft, pained whimpers. "What's wrong, Shiro? Tell me what's wrong." He said softly, resting a kiss on that ashen brow. His mate's beautiful face was pinched with pain.
"Yer… yer gonna leave me." He said hoarsely, tears building in those black and gold eyes. "Ya like him Grimm, don't lie t'me I know ya do. An' he can give ya… what I can't…" The tears fell then and Grimmjow licked then away, rumbling softly in his chest. "I'm losin' ya bit by bit an' I can't stop it…"
"Shiro." Grimmjow covered his face in kisses, soothing his mate. "You're not going to lose me. I love you." Shiro's breath caught and Grimmjow nuzzled him. He hadn't said that much to his mate, because it made Shiro react so strongly. But now was a good time.
"H-How can you love me? I'm cold an' prickly an' – " Grimmjow silenced his white mate with another kiss. But Shiro was still stiff and resisting, unable to believe him completely.
"Are you forgetting how kind you are? How you took care of me when I was sick?" He murmured into a white, flicking ear. "I love you Shiro. I love all of you." He loved everything about him, even the more difficult parts. This time when he kissed Shiro his lips were warm and accepting, slightly salty from the tears. Their tongues dueled with each other, sliding over each other in an intimate dance.
"G-Grimm… take me…" Shiro moaned, lifting his chin and baring his throat to his mate. That shocked his blue mate, but only for a moment. Then he took the invitation, nibbling that soft, silky white skin ever so gently. "Nnn… ah…" Shiro moaned and twitched. Grimmjow sniffed and grinned as the sweet, musky scent of his mate perfumed the air. Lifting his tail he let his own scent fly free as he undid the straps of Shiro's body covering, pulling the piece of leather away. Then he reached behind the albino, gathering a bit of his mating mark.
The white, creamy liquid made a perfect lubrication, so soon after it was released. Grimmjow smeared it over his fingers before gliding them over Shiro's cock. The taunt white flesh reacted well to his touch, standing proud and upright in its nest of white curls. Grimmjow paused for a moment to gaze over the body of his mate and wondered how Shiro thought he could ever leave him. Couldn't he see how beautiful he was? Well, if he couldn't see it then Grimmjow would just have to tell him.
"You're beautiful Shiro." He said as he went down on his mate, catching their cocks together in his fist. "You're the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." That was nothing but the truth. Green was handsome enough and there had been a few cousins in his family who had attracted him, but no one was as beautiful as his Shiro. Ichigo… Ichigo attracted him in a very different way. He was strange and exotic, but Grimmjow would not let that destroy what lay between him and Shiro.
He stroked their cocks together, feeling the slick, hot flesh rubbing so nicely against his own as he watched his mate with lust filled eyes. When Shiro was moaning, his ears turned back and his face adorably flushed, Grimmjow suddenly let go and pulled away. His mate blinked and whined, wanting the friction back, but Grimmjow had other plans for him. Reaching behind himself he deliberately released a bit more mating scent. The blue gel coated his fingers and he used it, carefully retracting his claws before he began stretching Shiro's anal cavity. This was not a normal method of having sex, but the two of them were far from normal.
"Ooo Grimm!" Shiro moaned, whimpering in an odd combination of pain and pleasure. He was a true male, not the oddity Grimmjow was, so this would always hurt a bit. But his pale mate seemed to get off on the pain. When he thought that Shiro was stretched enough to tolerate it Grimmjow guided his member to that puckered entrance.
"Shiro." He whispered heavily, his voice deep and thick with need as he began to sink into the other male. "Shiro…" The white male was breathing heavily, his eyes tightly closed and his ears pinned back. "Look at me Shiro." He demanded and those beautiful black and gold eyes opened just as he fully seated himself in that hot, clutching heat.
"Nnngh god Grimm!" Shiro said, his body trembling with need. "Oh I can't wait, please Grimm, please…" He moaned, then followed it with a dark, primitive sound that hit Grimmjow right in the libido. He pulled his cock almost all the way free then slammed it back home, taking his mate roughly. "Grimmjow!" Grimmjow lapped at his mate's sweet skin, tasting the sweat on that burning white flesh.
"You're just as hot inside…" He groaned as he thrust in harder, faster, taking his mate with a deep and primitive passion. Shiro's abnormal body heat was just as strong within him and it was a truly unique experience, so intense it almost hurt. "Gods!" Grimmjow didn't really believe in their deities but he called out to them anyway when he felt Shiro's body tighten around him. "Stop that… you'll make me come…" He groaned out before biting Shiro on the shoulder. The white man yelped at the mild pain before nipping his ear. "Ow!"
"F-Faster fucker… faster!" He gasped out and Grimmjow grinned wickedly before he obeyed, riding his lover as fast as he could, rocking him against the sandy stone so hard he might end up with welts. "Oh my god Grimm so good." Shiro whimpered, wrapping his tail around his mate's waist. Grimmjow's tail slid around his, trying to entwine with the other's appendage.
"So fucking good Shiro." Grimmjow agreed, sliding a hand through damp white hair, his fingers finding one of Shiro's new hair ornaments. It glittered in the light of the moon like a bloody star, silver and bright red. "Ahn!" Grimmjow gasped as Shiro tightened around him again. His mate was getting close. Deciding it was time, Grimmjow gripped his cock with one large, callused hand, stroking Shiro in time with his thrusts. The albino's mouth opened in surprise and pleasure at the new level of stimulation. "Cum for me Shiro." Grimmjow purred in his black and gold, furry ear.
That was all it took to bring Shiro over the edge. His white mate spasmed, creamy white cum painting his chest and belly. Grimmjow growled deep in his throat as his cock was almost smothered by clutching walls. The incredible pressure and heat brought him over the edge and he followed Shiro's lead, releasing inside his mate with a cry of ecstasy. Shiro made a soft, fluting sound as he felt the hot cum spilling into him, filling him to overflowing.
They lay together for a long moment, just looking at each other and panting. Then Grimmjow gently, slowly pulled away. Shiro opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance. Grimmjow gripped that pretty little hair ornament and pulled it out of his long white hair.
"Ow!" Shiro reached for his head, wincing as several hairs were pulled out along with the adornment. "Grimmjow, what the hell?" He asked as his mate grinned.
"I've changed my mind. I want this. Put it in my hair." He demanded and Shiro looked shocked. Hesitantly, he took the silver and red ornament and began weaving it into Grimmjow's hair.
"Why d'you want this one? It's not your colors." Shiro asked. Really, the silver and red would go oddly against the beautiful blue. Grimmjow laughed softly and caught his chin, pulling him close for a gentle kiss.
"That's the point. I want it because it's you." He explained and Shiro swallowed, hard. He finished fixing the little bangle in Grimmjow's hair and then his mate turned, hugging him tightly. "I love you Shiro. I love you and I want you. I swear I will never, ever leave you." Grimmjow gently caressed his mate, stroking sculpted muscles. "If we ever mate Ichigo, we'll do it together. You can make the decision on if we will or we won't. Good?"
"…Good." Shiro whispered, letting himself melt into Grimmjow's embrace. His family background made him doubt, but he couldn't deny the sincerity in Grimmjow's words. "C'mon, let's get back to the den." He said, standing up and brushing off the hardened mating marks. White and blue stones scattered into the grass, completely ignored by the two aliens. Grimmjow got to his feet, brushing himself off as well. Then he offered Shiro a hand with a smile and they returned to the den, walking quite close together.
They loved each other. Everything would be fine.
