Soo much to do, sooo little time. And so many drabbles to write! Ack. As a reminder, tomorrow may be my last drabble until May 1st, as I will be in Europe with extremely limited net and even more limited time. I apologize for the break in the drabbles (I am very pleased that I have written and posted 64 in a row so far, which is amaaazing for me.) Ireland on Wednesday!! Or, well, Thursday, because of time changes and flight times and such.
Thanks to: MissTeak, blackteaplease, Blueberry Absinth, Akane Higabana, Beautiful Nightmare07, Care Bear on Fire, and LilyGirl101. You guys are so regular and amazing, I love you guys for being nice enough to review nearly every day, thanks so much!!
64. Cold Embrace
Rangiku looked outside. The world was an icy wonderland. Sunlight sparkled rainbow yellow across smooth white expanses and long icicles glinted blue and white in mottled edges. When she looked through a window, where it was toasty warm inside, it was a winter fairyland. The trouble was, Rangiku was outside on patrol.
The wind was nasty and bitter. A gust flared up and slide between her scarf and coat, hurling tiny white crystals at her neck. The wind was fierce enough the tiny pellets stung like small barbs just before they burst into tiny white fires of frigid cold.
Rangiku's boots may have been weatherproof, but there was only so much they could do against a constant onslaught of cold white. Fingers had long ago gone numb inside gloves that were not nearly as thick as she would like, but thick gloves made it hard to handle a zanpakuto, which was even worse, but only if she met up with a hollow.
Rocking on her toes helped a tiny bit, but mostly she watched and listened for the next person to come to take her watch. All she wanted to do was curl up under a mountain of blankets until summertime.
Eventually, she saw her replacement, she hurried towards her room as fast as her stiff, cold feet would let her. Little ice pellets blew into her face even as it blew her hair away from her, halo of small warmth that it was.
By the time Rangiku turned her key in the door, she felt stripped and frigid. She opened the door and was hit by a blast of heat, a burst of light, and the waft of chocolate.
"Close th' door," Gin said. "Get outta yer things, I got hot chocolate fer ya."
Rangiku was a bit hesitant to unwrap herself. Each layer brought a new chill to her. Finally, the last layer lay on Rangiku's floor. Gin came up to her from behind and wrapped his arms close around her, hot cocoa in one hand.
She leaned back, trying to steal as much of his warmth as she could marveling that he did not pull away despite how cold she was. Rangiku took the hot cocoa and took a sip. It was just short of scalding and sent a warm, billowing feeling throughout her stomach. Rangiku could taste the butterscotch schnapps now.
Sometimes Gin made her crazy, but right now she knew he was perfect, the one for her. He led her to the couch and covered her with a pile of blankets, curling up beside her so that they were cocooned in a tight bundle of warmth. Rangiku laid her head on Gin's shoulder and murmured a thank you to him as he warmed her up.
More fluff 3
