#vankaarten

" -- You're a shortcake because you're short, correct? The accuracy of the results from that survey is rather impressive. "

THE FIRST WAS A SURPRISE: the second? To be expected. In his experience, they usually came in pairs. The third — an anomaly — came with a sheepish, breathless chuckle. Still, that incessant buzz refuses to abate. An attempt is made to take a sip of his tea, but before his fingers had the chance to even reach the porcelain cup, irritation roars to life. "For ffffuck's s—" His torso twists away. Kento promptly lurches into a napkin. He can feel the eyes accumulating from around the café patio.

At this point, things are harder to stifle; harder to mute. A sidelong glance slides along his periphery. Given that his face currently nestled in a napkin that is clearly on its last legs, he hopes the look he offers says enough. My apologies. The fifth and final eludes him, but not for long. Hazel eyes aim ahead, though they appear to stare past the horizon. Twice he comes close. So close that a whine can be heard in his hitching breaths. Heat blooms on his ears; they're practically glowing pink. Just when he thinks he may be in the clear, the fifth sneeze recovers from stage fright. The last, and certainly the loudest, keeps him angled away; buried into the soggy shreds of the napkin.

Narumi vc @ that Hoshina Thirst Trap™: "Has your eyesight really got that bad you misread the performance review date again, or were you just looking for an excuse to take your shirt off? Put the damn thing back on, Genius—or do you need help with that, too?"

Oho~ how curious.

“ Hmmm~ I don't think my vision's the issue. My eyes aren't glued to shirtless men. ” Unlike SOME people. Narumi's not exactly subtle.

Suo vc: It's okay, you get to float on the door, I'll take the cold seawater ^^

HUNGER CLAWS AT HIM as he watches her sleep, snuggled amidst their threadbare blankets—ever her silent, simpering guardian. Rather than take part of their meager dinner, he bade her eat, and full for the first time in ages, she'd fallen asleep before him. He ignores the pangs of his stomach while taking in the delicacy of her slumbering face: plump lips parted for each breath; peace easing the line of her brow; smooth skin begging to be touched...

The wood beneath them is rough; unhewn and sticking him with a splinter as he shifts his palm against its surface. Flinching in response, he frowns as he picks the stray piece of wood from the taut skin.

His gaze returns to her.

Digits seek her strawberry tresses, itching to skim through their silken waves. Her breath hitches. He ceases his perusal and stills; watching her shift in her sleep, he relaxes. Shaking his head at his rotten luck, he glides the pad of his thumb along the curve of her jaw and whispers, ❝ ...I'll always be here, should you ever need me... ❞

With that half-made promise uttered to her unhearing ears, he takes his leave to fight of any that would dare harm her.

❛ let’s just stay here. grow old. ❜

Stirred from his daydream by @vankaarten's quiet declaration, he angles his head to glimpse her through his periphery. His ever-present smile parts as he murmurs in response, voice lacking its usual bite, ❝ Is this an attempt to get out of finishing your paperwork for Jūbantai-san? ❞ An intentional jibe at her upstart captain.

Tipping his head back to shift his slitted eyes to the skies above, his silver strands gleam beneath the hazy sunshine. Reflecting the cool blue of the sky, his eyes descend to regard the persimmon tree in the courtyard near where they first met. He doesn't permit her to see the sad tinge to his grin; it's the slightest change: a downshift as his eyes open just enough to stare longingly at the tree, yearning for days long out of reach. Just like those strawberry blonde tresses... His fingers flex in response to the thought.

How he'd love to grant this offhand request of hers. How he'd do anything for such simplicity.

If Ikkaku still had hair on his head, how would he style it?

What was Ikkaku's hair color before it fell off? Did he like it? Would have he been the type to experiment with hair dyes?

Depending on your answer (AND my mood, ofc), I may or may not make an edit (OR TWO. OR MORE!) based on it (because Rangiku and I are both nosy like that).

P.S.: We do NOT promise it's gonna be a good edit, though. You've been warned.

@vankaarten

Rare instance in which I will answer this directly as an ask.

If Ikkaku still had hair on his head, how would he style it?

While I am definitely having trouble imagining Ikkaku with hair, I would say he'd keep it relatively short. Around the same length as Hisagi, but not dissimilar to his sister. They are blood-related siblings for a reason, and their hairstyles would therefore be very alike. He'd keep it short, but not too short. Just a tad shorter than Ichigo's, in a natural style. His hair would be rather wavy, surprisingly enough; and kept short, it would look rather similar to Ryuken's hairstyle when he was young, minus the bangs.

What was Ikkaku's hair color before it fell off? Did he like it? Would have he been the type to experiment with hair dyes?

Ikkaku's hair color was a strong, somewhat dark-brown. Darker than his sister's color, but not black like Hisagi or Tetsuzaemon. He liked it, but was rather indifferent towards it. Dying his hair, is out of the question. At most, he would do blond edges, but would grow out of it very quickly.

Oh! So that's what it was. Well, it wasn't in hindsight. Not in the slightest. Of course him letting his limitless go without activating it for awhile was a mistake on his part because what would happen if some special grade curse decided to attack them when they were currently doing the deed? Satoru doesn't want to imagine it but with the constant assassination attempts on him every day, it is a possibility. But if he didn't do that, there was no way Shoko could had touched him so it was a good mistake on that part.

"Of course not. We can't have regrets anyways. Unless we want to come back as a curse!~"

Satoru moves away from the hands on his jawline and goes to put on his sweats, fiddling with them for awhile before turning back towards Shoko, who didn't want to get dressed again for some reason or another. Of course, Satoru was in the habit of getting back presentable again after his many one night stands before but this time it wasn't just some random woman that didn't want to see him again. She was a fellow sorcerer and someone he knew from back in high school.

Still, he wants to be a little playful with her for some odd reason and scoops her whole body into his and sits on the bed with her in his lap. Satoru's hands roam Shoko in a flurry before he put his head in between where her face met her shoulders, the nook there being pretty calming as he inhaled her scent which luckily didn't smell like cigarette smoke. His arms pulls her close, liking the feeling and hopes Shoko doesn't get too mad about being scooped up so abruptly.