All Falls Away [Igen, Rangiku]

Igen blinked a few times as that question hit him. At first he was just surprised, after all Rangiku was such a willful woman and frankly he had expected that she would have an idea of where this all was going. But thankfully, as addled as his mind was, his instincts were happy to kick in. As dull as he was when it came to ..... women or romance, or any number of more normal social things that his past in the gutters had worked so diligently to undermine. He still could tell that she was looking for direction.

She'd followed him here hadn't she?

She hadn't provided a concrete answer the entire time since he'd run into her. He'd decided they would grab a drink. He'd decided they'd to go his place. And he was the one who had said that once they had some rest, that he had a plan. Looking down at Rangiku, he realized she didn't have a plan. She was just looking to see where this went.

He had no idea how to say what it was he wanted, not in the state he was in. And so instead of trying to explain, he simply slid closer to her and gently pulled her into his arms. Gently lifting her a bit off the couch as he wrapped his arms around her. for just a moment he held her close, before finally he spoke up again.

"I kinda wanna carry you to my room." He confessed with a sheepish smile.

Igen didn't even realize how big he was smiling when she responded. Gently scooping his hands beneath her frame, perhaps by sheer luck he managed to lift her clean off of the couch without instantly falling over with her in his arms. Making sure his grip was stable, he glanced her way and gave a wink right back. "Hahah, yea me either." He responded in a moment of sheer honesty. But he cared way less about that now. With Rangiku in his arms, he promptly carried her to his room and settled her down onto the bed.

He paused for just a moment, as if realizing where they were, and he finally asked the question that had been burning in his head the last couple minutes.

"It alright if I keep being brave?"

The gentle slip of Rangiku's arms around his shoulders sent a chill up his spine as she gave her answer. Even in his current state, his heart was practically pounding out of his chest, and when she leaned in to kiss his cheek, he turned to meet her midway. And rather than some glancing brush, he fully found her lips, as his hands slipped around her waist, pulling her flush to his frame as that kiss deepened slowly. The slow mesh of lips soon found subtle a whisper of tongue as his hands found her thighs.

Leaving nothing to the imagination as his palms slowly slid up and into the sash around her waist to peel it free and slowly undo her uniform.

-

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There was more than the warmth of the sun in the morning to wake him up. Having always been something of an early riser, he usually was out of bed by the time the sun started spilling through his window. But the warmth of another body had certainly made it so very hard to fully wake, and even as the sun found his face, he let out a heavy sigh as he opened his eyes in a squint.

Well rested didn't begin to cover how he felt, whatever he'd been drinking, he'd had better dreams than he'd had in ages. and it wasn't until the sunlight caught on strawberry blonde hair that the fragmented memories of the previous night sank into his brain. And simulatniously, panic and sheer glee poured into his veins all at once.

Holy shit... He'd slept with Rangiku.
Oh fuck He's slept with Rangiku.
Holy SHIT Rangiku'd slept with him!

Slowly, he turned towards her, curious to see if she was still asleep, not making any sudden moves just yet. As if afraid that the reality of the situation might shatter like a glass knocked off the counter.

Igen smiled right back as he promptly felt a rush of euphoria and relief when he saw her smiling at him. No regret, no confusion.

WELL, at least uh, that was one of them. And he was actually a bit ... pleasantly confused. Pleasantly pleased. Holy fuck was he happy. SHE was happy. SHE was waking up with HIM and she was HAPPY!

Okay but this was like, an insane rebound. Did this make him a bad person?
And all of this OTHER stuff. He had JUST broken up with Rio..
But was that really a breakup?

Also the gotei was gone.

Also so many people were dead.
Holy fuck there was so much to do.

"Hey..uh... you... don't seem dissappointed." He could barely keep how happy he was out of his voice, even as he struggled to try and be responsible, god he was over the moon.

He looked at the window and sighed steadily. "Holy Crackers its all coming back." Yea, he had been borderline insane. He had not slept well, he had been thinking of trying to start a new gotei all himself. Naming them the balancers. Yea, that was the fatigue. The Nobles were trying to regain control via Byakuya, but like... hm. What to think about Byakuya. It also seemed like a lot of people had been going to the Koizumi lately. Right...Komamura had been around. Right? Unless he was hallucinating that with how tired he was.

He glanced back to Rangiku. And got all giddy again. Which worried him, holy shit he'd never felt like this, was this normal?

"But uh... more than ... all that stuff. Rangiku. Do .... do you ... find me attractive?" If felt so incredibly juvenile. IT felt so incredibly STUPID to ask. But it just... fell out of his mouth.

He needed a cold shower stat. Igen's lips thinned as the sarcasm actually registered and he gave a sheepish smile. Oh... how it felt to hear her say that. And then promptly hearing Rangiku's voice of reason mesh with the one that had been trying to grab a hold of his thoughts for the last forty seconds.

Boy did he wish he didn't have to get up, but they both really had to. Painful and twisting as it was to leave the other questions in his head unanswered.... yea she was right. Boy was she incredibly right. His head raced as he considered his own situation. Okay, he had finally managed to rest after the healing binge. He needed...

"Right, I need to head out to the rukongai..." He murmured. He'd personally saw to a lot of people in the Sereitei, and the majority of critical patients had been made stable. But the Rukongai wouldn't have gotten any such aide. If he knew the people in the Sereitei, he would bet that most of the healers were still working round the clock in the Second Division hospital. Right... he remembered the reports, some of the outter districts had been hit real bad, where Retsu and Mirakawa had fought a hollow. He'd head there, help out with healing the wounded... and then... Well... no, one thing at a time Igen.

"Bigger fish. Right.And once things settle down uh.. yea." He glanced at her and smiled nervously. Swallowing more questions threatening to pop up. And so he got up, and then started getting his things together to head out.