Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters.
Seven
Nanao had fallen asleep. Shunsui didn't know if he was amused that she had or delight that she had chosen to do so while leaning against his shoulder. Nanao hadn't allowed herself to fall asleep in his presence since she was a child, so it could be considered a step forward on his subtle path of courting her that Jyuu had suggested. Of course, she was missing out on the dinner party.
He couldn't really blame her for falling asleep though. Nanao had run herself ragged over the past few weeks, only taking a break on her birthday. The Eighth had received an influx of new members, and unfortunately, it had not exactly been a smooth transition. There had been any number of small hiccups that had eaten up Nanao's time, and it didn't help that quarterly reports were coming up once again. Shunsui had done his best to lighten her workload, but Nanao had the bad habit of taking things on without letting anyone else know. Half the time he only found out about an issue after she had taken care of it.
Still the fact that Nanao had allowed herself to fall asleep beside him was good news. Jyuushiro had advised him to take things slowly with Nanao and to keep doing the things he always did around her, like tease and flirt. Most of the time Shunsui wasn't sure if it was having any impact whatsoever. But with Nanao curled up beside him, her head resting on his shoulder and on of her hands loosely holding the edge of his haori, Shunsui couldn't help but think that they were moving forward.