I'm a slacker, I know. I also get into a lot of trouble pretty often, so there's that lol. Anyway, I'm workin' on gettin' everything done. I've got hella free time but I can't sit still and write. It's alright though, I can do this.

Special thanks to my bae-ta, Patd06, I luhh yhu. Thank you so much! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Wish I did, but I don't.

They had fallen asleep on the couch together again after the small food fight they had in the living room. This was completely normal for the flamboyant haired duo. Ichigo yawned and rubbed the rheum from his eyes, cringing at the gross substance that formed in the corners of his eyes while he slept. He groaned and turned over, burying his face in his friend's broad chest. A small blush spread over the freckled bridge of Ichigo's nose. Being so close to his best friend never failed to fluster the young man. Ichigo inhaled deeply, willing away his nerves. Or at least he tried. When he took that deep breath, his nose was filled with Grimmjow's natural baby powdery scent, making him feel all light-headed and giddy.

Grimm smells like a baby. Ichigo thought with a sweet smile. A quiet groan slipped from the younger mans lips, startling the latter. Ichigo stayed still as he watched Grimmjow struggle to wake up, blue eyes blinking furiously before staying closed. Even though Grimmjow had often worked late, he never failed to wake up at the crack of dawn, even on days that he didn't work at all. A wide smile spread across the redhead's face as he thought about how hard his best friend worked. He often thought that Grimmjow should take some time off. Knowing Grimmjow as well as he did, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, if at all.

"Ichi, make coffee." The man yawned, covering his mouth so as not to breathe his flaming hot, dragon like morning breath on his friend. Ichigo raised an orange eyebrow as he poked the sleeping man on the couch.

"Nuh-uh. I cooked dinner for your ass last night," he stated, repeatedly poking Grimmjow until he sat up. His powder blue hair was tangled and unruly, there were imprints on his face, and his deep blue eyes were so wide, Ichigo thought they might have popped out of the man's head. Ah yes, his best friend was so cute when he woke up in the morning. With a quick lick of his thumb, Ichigo sat up and wiped away the drool in the corner of Grimmjow's mouth, somehow missing the blush that spread across the man's face. Grimmjow poked his lips out in a small pout before gently swatting Ichigo's hand away.

"Ya can't clean drool with saliva. It ain't sanitary," he grumbled, begrudgingly dragging himself to the kitchen with Ichigo on his heels. Ichigo hopped up in one of the chairs behind the counter and watched his roommate root around the pantry for the coffee grounds, laughing when the sleepy man nearly tripped over his own feet.

"So?" Ichigo grinned. "It's not on your face anymore, is it?" Grimmjow shook his head as he scooped coffee grounds into the machine. "Then as far as I'm concerned, it's clean." Grimmjow chuckled lightly, as he set two mugs on the counter before grabbing a rather large cereal bowl from the cabinet.

"You want some cereal?" He asked as he padded into the pantry again, scanning their selection. His eyes lit up as he pulled a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch from the top shelf. It was, and always will be, Grimmjow's favorite breakfast cereal. Ichigo frowned when he set the box on the counter.

"Yeah, but I'm not eating that Cardboard Toast Crunch," he quipped, getting up from the chair and fetching a box of Honey Nut Cheerios for himself. When he came back, Grimmjow had his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised.

"Did you just diss my cereal?" He asked, turning away from his friend as he prepared his bowl. Ichigo smirked as he grabbed himself a bowl.

"I did, I did." Ichigo grinned, waiting for Grimmjow to finish up with the milk. Normally, Grimmjow would just hand the milk right over to his friend after using it, but since he decided to insult his favorite cereal, he wasn't giving it up.

"Looks like there's no milk left for you then," Grimmjow stated, shaking the half full container before darting out of the kitchen. Ichigo tried to be upset with the man, he really did. But when he acted so cute and childish, he couldn't help but smile as he chased after him.

"Gimme the damn milk, Grimm!" Ichigo called from the other side of the couch with little heat. The grin that stretched Grimmjow's lips nearly took up the whole lower half of the man's face. He shook the milk container, agitating Ichigo 'cause no one wants to eat cereal with milk that's been shaken up. It's all bubbles.

"Take back what you said about the cereal," he haggled, grinning like a maniac.

"Why would I take back the truth? That cereal is gross, Grimm." Grimmjow frowned deeply, hanging his head in defeat as he rounded the couch and walked back into the kitchen, Ichigo tailing after him, grinning in triumph.

"You're so mean sometimes." Grimmjow pouted, reluctantly handing the milk to his best friend. Ichigo frowned deeply at the milk container like it had personally wronged him. This made Grimmjow smile. Ichigo was so cute sometimes.

"It's all bubbles now, Grimm." The redhead pouted as he poured the frothy liquid into his cereal. The younger man laughed loudly as he turned to face the coffee maker, pouring some into their respective mugs. For Christmas, Grimmjow's aunt had gotten them Cookie Monster and Elmo mugs. They had done the opposite of what she wanted and swapped the colors.

"Serves you right for insulting the greatest cereal known to man." Ichigo rolled his big brown eyes and scooped up a big spoonful of Honey Nut Cheerios. Though he tried to look defeated, his wide grin betrayed him.

XXXX

"Grimm, can you come in here please?" Ichigo wailed from upstairs. Grimmjow cocked a blue brow, looking up from the book he had been reading. If Ichigo hadn't called for him he wouldn't have torn his eyes away from the words on page 150 of Zane's The Heat Seekers. Erotic novels - tasteful erotic novels - had been one of Grimmjow's guilty pleasures, despite his sheepish demeanor. None of that 50 Shades of Bullshit...er Grey crap. With a heavy sigh, he slipped his bookmark between the pages and set it aside as he got up from the couch.

"Yeah, whatcha need?" The younger man inquired as he popped his head into the redhead's room. Clad in nothing but tight green boxer briefs and a white towel draped over his shoulders, Ichigo stood in front of his closet with a frown marring his youthful face. Though Grimmjow had seen the other man naked on a near daily basis, Ichigo's nudity never failed to bring heat to the blue eyed man's face and butterflies to his stomach.

"Help me pick out my clothes?" Ichigo asked with pleading chocolate eyes. "Please?" He added, lifting the towel from his shoulders to his head as he dried his hair. Ichigo knew good and well that whenever he begged the younger man for anything and batted those pretty little orange lashes that he would comply, and he used it to his full advantage every time. The little punk. Chuckling softly the whole way to the closet, Grimmjow peered inside the closet, frowning immediately. He could not believe his eyes. His eyebrow twitched.

"Ichigo Jin Kurosaki, what the hell is this?" The man asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyed his best friend in disappointment. Clothes practically spewed from the closet in a mountainous pile of pilfered chaos. Utterly confused, Ichigo arched a brow.

"What's what?" He asked quizzically, unsure of what his friend was getting at. As far as Ichigo could tell, nothing was wrong. The azure eyed man sighed.

"When's the last time you cleaned out your closet?" Grimmjow questioned, squatting down to heft a pile of clothes out of the closet and toss them on the bed behind them. How could his friend live like this? Ichigo laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"I dunno. . .the last time we went shopping. . .a month or two ago." He mumbled the last part in hopes that the other man didn't hear him. Too bad for Ichigo, though, because Grimmjow had perfect hearing.

"Two. . .two months. Man, that's nasty." Grimmjow sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. What was he going to do with him? "How do you even know what's clean and what's dirty?"

"Wel-"

"If you tell me you do a sniff test, I'm gonna drown you in the air." Ichigo erupted into a fit of laughter lighthearted laughed, causing Grimmjow to dissolve into laughter as well.

"I'll clean it when I get home." Ichigo declared after their bout of laughter.

"You and I both know you won't. You hate folding clothes." Grimmjow teased, earning a shirt to the face. Thank the stars it was clean. He rose from the bed and padded back to the closet to flip through the clothes on the hangers. Grimmjow did not feel comfortable with choosing clothes from that pile of who-knows-what's-clean. Ichigo hoarded clothing and although he had a wide array of things to choose from, he always opted to wear jeans and t-shirts. Grimmjow tsked in disappointment. The other man had no idea how attractive he could be if he'd just put some effort into himself. Not that he wasn't stunning already but still. "When'd you get this sweater?" He asked as he pulled the garment from the closet. Ichigo eyed the piece.

The aforementioned sweater had been a gift from Ichigo's uncle, Ryūken. Though the high collared, black cashmere sweater was nice, he had never worn it. He hadn't needed to. Ichigo tilted his head slightly.

"Uncle Ryū got it for me a year or two ago, I think." Soft brown eyes watched curiously as his closet was rifled through. His vision suddenly went dark when his clothes were flung at him. With a huff, he pulled them from his face and frowned at his grinning friend. "You're an ass." Ichigo stated, lips pursed in a slight pout.

"And you're messy. Now get dressed." Grimmjow ordered, turning to pull more and more clothes from the shamefully messy closet. It would take him all day to get that mess situated. He would have to wash everything that was on the closet's floor because there was no way in hell he would do a sniff test to see what was clean and what needed to be burned.

Washed.

Washed is what he meant. Color coordinating all of the clothes would be a bitch to do, what with the array of colors in Ichigo's wardrobe. Even though Ichigo hadn't asked him to clean his closet for him, Grimmjow felt compelled to do so. Call it OCD but this much disorder in one small space really got under the man's skin. He just didn't understand how this didn't both-

"Grimm." The soft voice called, pulling the designer from his inner ramblings. The sight he was greeted with made his face heat up and his heart beat more rapidly than usual. There stood his best friend, dressed in that fitted long sleeved sweater that clung to him like a second skin and khaki not-too-skinny skinny jeans and bare feet. "Is it okay?"

He felt ridiculously uncomfortable. He supposed he looked nice, the outfit was great but that's because Grimmjow picked it out. Still though, that didn't quell his discomfort. It was official; he had moved out of his comfort zone. To make matters worse, Grimmjow was staring at him like he had just given birth to baby Jesus and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. The look in his friends eyes was a mix of too many emotions for Ichigo to decipher.

"You look good." Grimmjow finally said after swallowing the thick lump in his throat. Had someone turned on the heat in the apartment?

"Really? 'Cause I feel weird. You know power dressing isn't really my thing." Ichigo stated, pulling at the hem of the sweater before pulling the collar up too far for Grimmjow's liking. With a heavy sigh, the blue haired man stood to his full height and walked over to his friend. Without a word, he reached for Ichigo's collar, knuckles lightly grazing the underside of Ichigo's jaw, and folded it down a bit. He tried his hardest not to read into the slight hitch in Ichigo's breathing when their skin touched. If Ichigo wasn't going to say anything, neither would he.

"Can I wear my Converse?" Ichigo questioned, turning around not only to retrieve his shoes, but to hide the severe blush that crept up his neck and spread to his face and ears. The look that Grimmjow had given him when he was adjusting his collar was far too much for Ichigo to handle so early in the morning. Add the gentle brush of skin that made his insides turn to goo and he was done for.

"No ya can't." Grimmjow answered with a frown. Converse would ruin the whole look.

He searched the floor of the closet for a suitable pair of shoes to complete the ensemble and judging by Ichigo's collection of footwear, that would prove to be difficult.

"I can practically hear you dissing my shoes in your head, you know." Ichigo chided playfully, moving to crouch down beside his friend. He didn't see an issue with wearing Converse with everything; they were stylish and comfortable. "I think there's some shoes in that box way in the back." Ichigo stated, pointing to the far left of the closet. Grimmjow quirked a meditative brow at this and stared into the closet before reaching for the shoebox. The box itself was in great condition considering it had been in Ichigo's war-like closet. A wide grin spread across the younger man's face as he removed the lid. Nice.

Why hadn't he worn these already? When did he even get them?

The pair of black GBX Bowery Boots were perfect. Grimmjow looked over at Ichigo with that silly grin on his youthful face and thrust the box into his hands. Ichigo tried his hardest not to laugh at his friend's expression, he really did. But he failed miserably. With a laugh and a shake of his head, Ichigo stood to grab a pair of socks and sat on the bed's edge to put the shoes on.

"Stand." Grimmjow instructed after Ichigo tied the laces. The older man did as he was told and stood, suddenly feeling self conscious under Grimmjow's blue eyed scrutiny. The blue haired designer circled Ichigo, adjusting the hem of his sweater here and there, fussing with the mop of orange hair atop the man's head. "Where's that watch I got you?" He asked, thin pointer finger on his chin as he studied Ichigo.

"In the box on my dresser." Ichigo stated, pointing towards the white box on the cluttered dresser. Grimmjow nodded and made his way over, noticing the copious amount of clutter. He sighed. He would have to fix that too. The large white box had been pushed aside, away from everything else. Like it had been put in a special place so that it would not get lost amidst the sea of stuff. Grimmjow lifted the box and opened the lid, careful not to let it slip and hit the floor. It would be fine but he didn't think that Ichigo would appreciate him dropping his things. Watch in hand, he padded back over to Ichigo and asked him to extend his preferred-left-wrist. As he fastened the watch, he couldn't help but take notice of Ichigo's silence.

"There, all done." He smiled, looking up to face his friend. Brown eyes stared back at him before a smile spread across the man's face.

"Thanks,Grimm." said Ichigo with a wide, childlike smile. Thin but strong arms wrapped around Grimmjow's mid section and squeezed tightly. Before the younger man had any time to properly reciprocate the embrace, the arms and the warmth that accompanied them was gone.

Darn.

"As much as I don't feel like going to work today, I've gotta get going." Ichigo sighed as he went to retrieve his man bag. At least, that's what he called it. Apparently, according to Grimmjow, it was called a satchel. As if that would stop the oranget from calling it a man bag. He checked the contents of his bag, making sure he had his phone, his keys and headphones. Without his headphones, he'd be so lost and bored throughout the day. Music was the only thing that kept him sane at work. "See ya when I get home." He smiled as he waved goodbye to his friend, earning a bone melting smile. With the door securely closed behind him, Ichigo placed his hand on his chest and sighed heavily. Unrequited love, why art thou so cruel to me?

XXXX

"Kurosaki, how goes it?" His lanky colleague, Nnoitra, greeted as he entered the back of Hōgyoku Electronics after swiping his key card. Ichigo smiled brightly.

He had always been fond of Nnoitra. Despite the man's ever-present, surly, don't-fuck-with-me expression, he was actually a kind person, even with his relentless teasing. Unless of course, he didn't like you in which case you faced the Wrath of Jiruga on a daily basis.

"It goes well, Nnoi." Ichigo replied. "Did Renji debug the program for the Gotei project yet?" Nnoitra shook his head, long ebony hair swaying with the action as they walked down the hall to their designated lab. Nnoitra noted the extra spring in the man's step but said nothing of it.

"Nah, 'member his daughter was born the other day?" He asked. "Boss let him take a week off to be with his family." Ah yes, he remembered now. Renji had talked nonstop about the birth of his first child. It was endearing. Apparently, the man had always wanted a family since he had been orphaned at the age of six. He thought it would be impossible to start a family since he was homosexual and as we all know, men can't have babies. He and his husband had strongly considered adoption but the universe had been on his side when his husband's sister had offered to be a surrogate for the couple. The redhead had been so ecstatic he had cried. Like Ichigo said before, it was endearing.

"Good for Renji." Ichigo beamed as he set his bag down upon entering the lab. A blond head perked up at their arrival.

"What's got you smiling so hard, GoGo?" The blond asked, honey eyes raking over the oranget's lithe form. He was looking especially nice today, and not just in the clothes sense. He was practically glowing. The oranget tilted his head slightly. Nnoitra snickered from the other side of the lab as he ran over the list of modifications that needed to be made to their latest program.

"I was wonderin' the same thing." He commented, not taking his eye off of the paper. Even though he only had one eye and his job required great attention to detail, that never stopped the tall man from doing exceptional work.

"Did you get some ass?" Shinji asked teasingly, grinning like the fool that he was. Ichigo's face burned bright. The answer to that question was no, but whenever the brown eyed man was faced with a question like that, he couldn't help but be embarrassed. He supposed his reason for being overly happy was Grimmjow. Like hell he'd tell these two that. Nnoitra barked out a laugh and slapped his knee.

"I knew it! Kurosaki's a regular ass pirate, plunderin' booty all over the island." Both he and Shinji didn't contain their laughter and couldn't even if they wanted to. He should have been used to their teasing by now, he really should have. But he wasn't.

"Who was she?" Shinji questioned after he had seized his laughter. Teasing the young man was so much fun. Especially when those doe eyes grew larger and his faced lived up to his name.

"No one." Ichigo stated calmly as he typed in his log in information. What makes him so sure it's a girl? He wondered. Couldn't he just be happy without it being the result of sex?

"Okay then who was he?" The one eyed engineer asked. The had known early on that Ichigo was bisexual and they used every chance they got to exploit that knowledge. Fuckers. "I bet it's that blue haired bestie of yours, huh?"

"It is not!" Ichigo screeched, eyes wide and embarrassed. He couldn't catch a break, could he?

"Totally is." The blonde teased.

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