Title: Lily and Thistle
Author: paws_bells
Beta-ed by: MelissaRose85
Characters/Pairing: Sarugaki Hiyori and Hirako Shinji
Type: One-shot Collection (InComplete)
Genre: Romance/Humor
Word Count: 3101
Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.
Summary: 'Say Please'-verse. The language of flowers. The devoted and passionate Lily. The brave and loyal Thistle. A bouquet of love. One-shot series.
Created on: 29/08/13
Completed on: 29/08/13
Chapter Last Revised on: 10/11/13
My Lover the Cat – Part III
vii. Cats Love with Playing. Kittens play out of pure enjoyment, and many never outgrow playtime. Some cats may actually control the interaction of petting by moving just out of reach—so YOU must go to THEM. Their most favorite playmate typically is a trusted, beloved companion.
Shinji woke hours later to find himself alone in bed, with no Hiyori anywhere in sight. It was already evening, and the temperature was steadily dropping. The snowstorm was still raging outside and showing no signs of abating – it looked like they would be snowed in for at least another evening. The Fifth Division Captain slowly sat up from his futon and stretched languidly, his rangy limbs loose and his demeanor relaxed, the covers falling low over his lean hips, exposing his bare, sleekly muscular torso at the same time.
The back of his broad shoulders stung mildly as he moved, reminding him of the presence of the lightly reddened scores left there by his lover earlier in her moment of passion. It was a good thing that Hiyori did not have a habit of keeping her nails long, or his back would be a bloody mess of scratches right now. His neck and chest had also been thoroughly marked by her – wild, frantic love bites that proved that he had satisfied her well, and as such, he was happy to bear the results of her pleasure. He rose from the futon with his usual fluid grace and slipped into the adjoining bathroom to quickly refresh himself. Upon reemerging, he picked up his discarded hakama from the bedroom floor, donning it absently before he left in search of his brat, curious to see what she was up to. It was suspiciously silent in his living quarters – that couldn't be good as far as she was concerned.
Somehow, he wasn't very surprised to find her in his kitchen, rummaging for food to fill that bottomless pit she called a stomach. She was fresh from a bath, her light blonde hair still wet and hanging unbound around her shoulders. She was also wearing one of his dress shirts, the long sleeves haphazardly rolled up all the way to her elbows, and the fabric was obviously too big on her small frame – on her, the shirt fell all the way to her knees and kept sliding off of her bare shoulders, lending her a charmingly disheveled appearance that was quite sexy to behold. She hadn't noticed him yet and was intent on raiding his small pantry, getting on her knees on the floor and sticking the upper half of her torso into the modest storage area to investigate for anything remotely edible, and as she strained to reach for something deep within the confines of the cupboard, his shirt rode further up her back and promptly answered an unvoiced question of his – her cute, heart-shaped backside waved about jauntily in the air, seeming to smile back at him and looking quite happy to be free of the restricting constraints of any underwear whatsoever.
Shinji simply paused in the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest and admiring the lovely view, watching her antics with exasperated amusement and no small amount of masculine appreciation.
Hiyori nearly had a heart attack when she finally pulled her head out from the cabinet with her prizes in hand, jumping a good three feet in the air and cursing up a blue streak when she finally noticed the baldy's presence.
"Goddammit, Shinji!" she swore even as she clutched the bottles of peanut butter and strawberry jam to her chest. "How many times must I tell ya?! Don't creep up on me like that!"
He shrugged at her and pushed away from the kitchen entrance, sauntering lazily towards her. "S'not my fault that you weren't paying attention to your surroundings," he remarked, and she scowled at him slightly before turning back to the counter to continue fixing her sandwich. He came up behind her and took advantage of her preoccupation to slip an arm around her middle, lightly tugging her flush against his front. He was obviously in an affectionate mood still, and he could not seem to get enough of her as his hand slipped under the hem of her shirt and lightly caressed her leg. He also bent down slightly to kiss her ear, nibbling the sensitive shell lightly and then nuzzling her lovingly.
"Stop that, dumbass," Hiyori muttered warningly, even as she tried her best to disregard his ministrations and focus on spreading equal amounts of peanut butter and jam on her bread. Ignoring him was more difficult than she thought possible – when Shinji wanted her full attention, he always got it, though she usually gave it to him in ways that were quite painful and weren't particularly healthy to his general wellbeing. His mouth brushed against the side of her sensitive neck then, and the butter knife that she was holding quivered as she bit her lips. His large, elegant hand crept higher up her bare thigh, his long fingers drawing lazy patterns on her soft skin. He had a pretty good hold on her so she was unable to escape his attention – at least not without abandoning her food, and he understood her well enough to know that she would never willingly do that, damn him.
"Hage," she growled halfheartedly again, her grip on the butter knife tightening slightly even as her eyes darkened with desire. He ignored her weakening protest and continued to touch and kiss her amorously, though he was quick to dodge when she suddenly tried to stab him with the dull blade, swift as a striking viper.
In a flash, Hiyori had her sandwich in her mouth and was taking advantage of the opening he gave her. She immediately slipped past him and took off out of the kitchen, munching on her bread with greedy fervor. The stupid baldy – if he thought he could outmaneuver her so easily, then he definitely had another thing coming! She was absolutely ravenous and –
Well, it quickly turned out that he was pretty hungry too, and he was fast enough to catch his dinner before she could run off on him.
The petite blonde screeched when a strong arm snaked around her waist and easily lifted her from the ground mid-Shunpo, and then Shinji simply carried her kicking and squirming back to the kitchen.
"Shinji! Shithead, lemme go right now!" she protested with muffled irritation. Hiyori would have put up a bigger struggle if her hands weren't occupied with her sandwich and she wasn't trying to cram as much of it into her mouth as quickly as she could.
"Such a selfish girl," her lover tut-tutted silkily over her head. "Ya didn't even make one for me."
"Ya have hands!" she retorted, still struggling to be let down. "Make your own damn sandwich!"
"Oh, I intend 'ta do just that."
She was bewildered when he set her back down on the countertop beside the jars of peanut butter and jam that she had left uncapped earlier. Then, he lowered himself onto the floor before her and spread her legs apart, dipping his fingers into the peanut butter and quickly smearing a generous portion of it high up on her inner thigh. She froze and gaped down at him with disbelief when he did the same with her other limb, only with jam this time.
Suddenly, it became apparent to her that Shinji was starving for something else altogether. She gazed dumbly at him as he sat back on his haunches and slowly, sensually, licked his long, narrow fingers clean of the spreads, staring right back at her the entire while, his golden eyes glowing with wicked intent.
Then, he deliberately placed his large hands on her bare legs, gripping her firmly and holding her open before him.
Hiyori quickly forgot about her half eaten sandwich as her heart rate started to speed up, her breathing quickening in response to the naughty, utterly arousing expression on his face.
"Itadakimasu," his voice was low, teasing, and deliciously husky.
"I'll be startin' now."
viii. Cats Love with Grooming. Cats spend an enormous amount of time self-grooming. They also groom each other, but shared grooming behaviors only happen between friendly cats. Kitties that groom their human by licking your skin or hair, or even nibbling or sucking on your clothing, indicate great affection. This also spreads her familiar scent and helps mark you as an important part of her family group.
"Ow! Brat, can ya be a bit gentler?" Shinji complained lightly from the ofuro that he was submerged in, while his equally nude lover perched on the edge of the tub, trying rather clumsily to separate the large clumps of peanut butter from his silky hair with a fine toothed comb, with varying degrees of success.
"Shut up," the petite Vizard muttered back disgruntledly as she fought the urge to just rip the comb through his tangled strands and just be done with the whole situation. "Ya wouldn't have this problem if ya just went bald, baldy. And why do I have 'ta do this for ya?"
"What's it with ya and yer obsession 'ta see me bald?" he shot back at her. "And of course ya have 'ta take responsibility – don't grab my hair like that next time if ya have peanut butter all over your hands, stupid!"
"Well, then don't kiss me down there if you don't want my hands in your hair," she snarked back as she continued to roughly comb through his hair, unimpressed by his grumbling. "What else am I s'posed to hold onto but that silly mop of yours?"
"My hair is not silly – it's called style," he told her with an eye roll. "And if ya put it like that, then ya should be glad that I ain't bald after all. You'll have nothin' 'ta hold onto if I have no hair, brat."
"What style? All ya did was cut your fringe crooked," Hiyori scoffed. "And ya still have a good pair of ears, don't ya? I can always grab the hell outta those instead. I'll start worryin' if ya somehow manage 'ta lose them in a fight or somethin'."
He just gave her an annoyed look then, one that quickly changed into appalled revulsion when she suddenly ducked downwards and ate a clump of peanut butter straight off of his hair.
"Hmm. Still good," she announced her findings after tasting it, much to his shock.
"Hiyori!" he yelled. "Don't eat that! That's utterly disgustin'!"
The pigtailed blonde just leaned in once more and licked off another ball of peanut butter from his hair, this time near his jawline, ignoring his protests while she was at it. She shrugged.
"Why not? Your hair's probably the cleanest surface 'ta eat things off of, what with the way ya fuss over it like it's a baby."
"Exactly! I put chemicals in my hair, ya little idiot! Spit it out right now!"
Hiyori wasn't very perturbed by the information. She just shrugged again, nonchalant as ever. "S'okay. It all tastes the same 'ta me."
"Tastes the same-" he broke off, looking very incredulously at her. His lover frowned slightly at him then.
"Besides, ya have no right 'ta point fingers," she quickly told him. "Ya started it first; ya were eatin' peanut butter right off of my thighs, remember. Isn't that even worse?"
As always, she was utterly frank and unashamed when it came to discussing their sex lives.
"That's entirely different-" he sounded completely exasperated, but then she leaned in and licked him again, this time on the side of his mouth. That shut him up very quickly. Her feline eyes met his, and she cocked her head slightly to the side.
"Different?" she parroted in question, watching him intently. "It's still ya; I'll kiss ya – and lick ya, and touch ya – wherever I please."
She was just being her usual forthright self, but he immediately caught the unspoken nuances of her words – 'Mine,' she seemed to be saying, even though it was purely instinctual on her part and she was likely unaware of her own claim.
Shinji groaned. He was so completely susceptible to her particular brand of charisma that it wasn't even funny. It was a good thing that she was still more or less unaware of the full extent of just how much she affected him, or she would have a field day running circles all around him.
"I give up," he muttered at last, and then he just grabbed her by the nape and caught her mouth with his, kissing her instead. Unsurprisingly, she tasted like peanut butter. After a while, he drew back slightly and looked at her, licking his lips slowly as he did so.
"You're right; it tastes the same," he acknowledged reluctantly at last.
"Told ya," she retorted, and then she darted in and brushed her mouth against his once more, again and again and again, as if she just could not seem to get enough of him all of a sudden.
He was a bit overwhelmed (pleasantly so) by her spontaneous bout of affection, and then, dazedly, he wondered what on earth they were doing – and just what they had been discussing for the last few minutes. Shinji groaned again, and then he leaned his forehead against hers, holding her still. "You're turnin' me into a nutcase, brat."
"You're already nuts – so don't blame me for it," she uttered back in response. Then, she slipped into the ofuro with him, nimble as a sylph, pushing him back slightly and straddling his hips. She pressed up against him and looked right into his eyes.
"Now, shut up and lemme kiss ya all over. I'm 'bout 'ta make ya even crazier."
ix. Cats Love with Bunting. When a cat cheek-rubs you, head-bumps your face, or pushes against you, she leaves her scented signature. These behaviors, termed bunting, are expressions of affection cats display to other cats, dogs-and their most favorite people.
By the time they finally retreated to bed and turned in for the night, Hiyori was curled up against him on his futon in an exhausted heap. Despite being snowed in for the entire day, they had certainly been…busy, and even he, too, was feeling the effects from their vigorous activities.
It had taken a bit longer before they finally got all the peanut butter out of his hair – mostly because they kept getting sidetracked – and then he had made her take a bath with him (resulting in even more distractions), and by the time they finally emerged from the bathroom, they were both ravenously hungry and sorely in need of sustenance. This time, he prepared their dinner – a quick and simple fare of plain, fluffy white rice with soup. Granted, the miso was of the instant variety and even an idiot could cook rice, but the meal was \ filling and warmed their bodies in this winter climate, and Hiyori simply polished off her share without any complaints. His brat was not a very picky eater in the first place, and she also didn't like to waste food.
The pigtailed blonde looked drowsy and she kept nodding off throughout the meal, but despite her apparent sleepiness, she still did her share of the work and helped him clear the table and clean up, and when they were finally done, he took pity on her and herded her off to bed. She didn't protest, and was surprisingly passive and relaxed as she snuggled up to him, happy to steal and luxuriate in his body heat.
Outside, the snowstorm was finally showing signs of letting up, and if it continued to do so, then the Senkaimon would be reopened by tomorrow morning. It meant that his secluded time with his lover would soon be drawing to an end – at least for now. Hiyori was already itching to return to the Living Realm, and he knew that she would probably be jumping right through the dimensional portal the very moment she could do so.
Still, the last couple of days had been nice, and even though he hadn't managed to get a lot of work done, he had thoroughly enjoyed bonding with his brat. He couldn't exactly put his finger on the source of it, but she had been rather affectionate and demonstrative during her entire visit, and therefore the whole thing was pretty wonderful. Shinji certainly wasn't complaining, that was for sure, though it would be great to know what had caused her apparent good mood so that he could do it again – a pleased Hiyori was like the sweetest, tamest little cat, and he loved it when she was happy and content beside him.
As if she could sense his thoughts, the petite woman nuzzled sleepily into his neck, rubbing her cheek against his warm skin with a soft, satisfied croon. Her hands curled lightly over his chest and her ochre eyes were heavy and half lidded as she watched him hazily, and she was so disarmingly charming that he instantly felt a fierce rush of affection for her. If he wasn't already irrevocably in love with her, then surely he would be falling for her all over again right now.
He pulled her close, turning his head slightly and tenderly kissing her cheek. She submitted docilely to his act of endearment, and the sheer amount of trust towards him that was reflected in her unguarded, glowing gaze was both staggering and humbling at the same time. He sucked in a deep breath, and quite suddenly, Shinji was hit by a powerful epiphany.
He knew her like he knew the back of his own hand, understood intrinsically that she was the wild, strong-willed type who would only ever submit and give in to the one who held her trust the most – but now, now, she was submitting to him, giving in to his touch, putting herself completely in his hands.
This was her way of telling him.
She had chosen him just as surely as he had chosen her, and this was what she had been trying to show him the entire time.
Hiyori closed her eyes and nuzzled him again, and then lightly brushed her mouth over his jawline, before settling back down against him to sleep. He swallowed, momentarily overcome by her sweet confession.
Then, he finally saw fit to respond to her silent declaration of love and adoration. His voice was husky, fiercely intimate with a surge of underlying elation.
"I know, brat. Me too."
::owari::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
First of all, apologies for the super late update! Together with my usual real life commitments, I've also been preoccupied with my Shinji RP blogs and trying to catch 'em all in Pokemon X, so I'm guilty of neglecting L&T a bit, hehe.
Speaking of RP blogs, I'd like to give a quick shoutout to my dear friend, PrettyPleaseWithSugarOnTop, for her wonderful rendition of Hiyori to my Shinji. She's also an author on FF Net, so do check out her profile, especially if you're a fellow ByaHisa fan!
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Also, this is the last part of the triple-shot kitty!arc (the entire mini series of which is dedicated to the lovely lady, Lilithkiss), which means we will be moving onto a new arc in the next chapter!
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Last but not least, thanks for reading!
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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!
-paws