Kisuke woke abruptly, body held carefully still as his mind scrambled to catch up. He wasn’t in his own bedroom but he was in a bed, so he hadn’t fallen asleep in the lab—

Someone yawned against his neck and Kisuke’s breath caught in his throat as his mind finally produced an answer.

Griffin mumbled and twitched, the wing draped across Kisuke’s body rising to cover their faces, blocking out the late afternoon sunlight.

Kisuke grimaced and turned his head to the side, trying not to inhale the small, soft feathers that covered the inner edge of Griffin’s wing. The dry scent of cinnamon-spice was almost overwhelming like this, still pleasant but definitely bordering on too much.

It made him want to sneeze.

“Mmph, sorry,” Griffin mumbled into Kisuke’s neck, wing folding just so—

Kisuke took a deep breath of fresh air and huffed a laugh at the absurdity of his life. “Not a morning person, I take it?” he asked in amusement, waiting for the inevitable reaction to his presence. Griffin hadn’t exactly been coherent when he’d dragged Kisuke to bed with him, so Kisuke fully expected him to be… displeased by the discovery.

Griffin grunted and tucked his wing a bit more comfortably over the two of them. “No.”

“I thought you military types were all about early mornings,” Kisuke couldn’t help but tease. He’d known more than one person who despised the enforced early mornings during his stint in the army, but to find that Griffin was one as well…!

(He felt almost giddy from the discovery.)

“Ne—” Griffin broke off with a huge yawn, then shook his head and finished, “Never. Hate mornings.”

“Then you will be glad to know that it’s definitely not morning,” Kisuke said dryly as he fought back a yawn himself. “Seeing as it was almost morning when you fell into bed.”

Griffin huffed, feathers ruffling in minor agitation as he said, “Still tired.”

“If you go back to sleep, your sleep schedule is going to be screwed up for days,” Kisuke tried, wondering how the man still hadn’t caught on to who he was clinging to.

“Fuck schedules,” Griffin said with a sigh, hand braced on Kisuke’s chest as he reluctantly pushed himself up. Bright golden eyes blinked down at Kisuke, trailing over his face and then down his clothed body and to the blanket still clinging to them. He blinked again, confusion filtering in, and Kisuke braced himself for the inevitable anger—

“Damnit,” Griffin mumbled, hand raising to scrub at his face. “Sorry, Fox.”

“Sorry?” Kisuke repeated in confusion, carefully sitting up when Griffin moved back a bit more. This was… not going how he expected.

A wry smile pulled at one corner of Griffin’s mouth. “I try not to fall asleep around people,” he explained with a shrug. “I get cold easily, so I tend to… cling… if there’s someone nearby. It can get awkward.”

“Ah, well, I didn’t mind. I hadn’t slept either, so it was probably a good thing you pinned me down like that,” Kisuke admitted with a laugh. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed at one of his fox-ears, trying to come up with something to say that would make Griffin relax. “I’ll remember to have Tessai bring you more blankets—ah, if you’re staying? Sorry, I shouldn’t presume…”

Griffin’s lips thinned and he sat back, wings tucking against his body and head tilting away. The sudden withdrawal froze Kisuke in place and he wracked his mind for whatever he’d said that had caused it. He didn’t think he’d been rude or out of line; he’d just offered the man more bedding and then realized he hadn’t even asked if Griffin was actually staying or not.

(What had he said wrong?)

“If your offer remains, I will stay,” Griffin said after a moment, dragging his attention back to Kisuke. “I… was hoping we could work together. General Rudersdorf and General Zettour have agreed to investigate what they can and Fairy is prepared to assist us in taking Aizen down when the time comes. But until then we need to keep him occupied and distracted.”

“I—yes, of course the offer’s still open,” Kisuke said immediately, startled by Griffin’s words but so, so pleased that the man’s gamble had paid off. He grinned and leaned in a bit, amusement sparking at the hint of wariness that bloomed in Griffin’s eyes at his proximity. “Does this mean you’ll reconsider my other offer?” he asked teasingly.

Griffin ruffled his wings and gave Kisuke a flat look. “No.”

Kisuke chuckled and raised his hands in surrender, straightening up so he was no longer leaning into Griffin’s space. “A man can dream,” he said with a smirk, then barked a laugh at the look that earned him.

“I am going to come to regret this agreement,” Griffin rumbled in exasperation as he climbed to his feet and stretched, feet planted and arms over his head, back a bit arched and wings spreading wide—

Kisuke’s mouth went dry as Griffin’s shirt rode up, exposing a strip of pale skin. He tore his gaze away and took in the spread of Griffin’s wings, fingers itching to touch the golden-brown feathers. To trace the play of muscles under skin. To find out whether those feathers covered more than just his wings, whether the man’s hair was as soft as it looked, whether he had fur—

He swallowed. Forced his mind away from dangerous ground. Rose to his feet with a yawn and a grin, hoping the expression masked how unbalanced he felt.

(He was doomed.)

(He was doomed and Tessai was going to laugh at him forever.)

(Fuck.)

“Ah, there’s a bathroom just down the hall if you want to bathe,” Kisuke offered as Griffin gave himself a shake and settled his wings against his back with a graceful movement. “The door locks so uh… you… don’t have to stay like that if you don’t want? I… I imagine feathers aren’t… the easiest to wash?” He laughed awkwardly and looked away, rubbing the back of his head as he mentally kicked himself for stumbling over his words. “I’ll have Tessai make some food for us and we can plan over a meal?”

Griffin stared at him for a long, unblinking moment, then hummed and looked away, the little feathered ears on his head twitching and his lion’s tail swaying lazily as he paced past Kisuke towards the door. “Very well. I didn’t make any detailed plans for our part because I wasn’t certain what your plans were.” He paused at the door and cast a thoughtful look over his shoulder. “Thank you for going along with this.”

“Maa, anything for you, Griffin-san,” Kisuke said before he could think better of it, earning himself a narrow-eyed look before Griffin stalked out of the room and down the hall.

He bit his lip and waited for the count of fifty, then groaned in despair and let Crimson Fox fade the moment he was certain Griffin wasn’t going to return. He’d made… such a mess of that and he didn’t even know what his first mistake had been!

Their partnership was going to be slow torture, Kisuke just knew it.

(Now if only he could figure out how to avoid sticking his foot in his mouth…!)

(Oh he was so doomed…)