Kisuke waits until he hears the door to his lab slide closed, then counts to ten before he finally lets himself roll over onto his stomach with a groan.

(He really— he really did that, huh?)

(He really just clung to Eri— Rerugen all night, didn’t he?)

(Fuck, if Rerugen knows Kisuke woke up both times he did…)

(No, don’t tempt fate.)

(It’s fine, Rerugen doesn’t know.)

(Everything is fine.)

He takes a careful, steadying breath—

And instantly regrets it.

The pillow smells faintly of Rerugen’s shampoo, and his mind is more than happy to remind him of the night before, of helping Rerugen bathe, of the careful, gentle way Rerugen’s fingers brushed across Kisuke’s new scars, worry-concern-care in every line of his exhausted body—

Kisuke frantically shoves the memory aside and rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling in despair. He has to get better control over himself, before Rerugen realizes that Kisuke is interested in him; there’s no indication that Rerugen likes him as anything more than a friend, and Kisuke refuses to lose their hard-won friendship over wanting more.

(It’s fine, he’s used to it, it’s fine.)

(Losing Rerugen’s friendship will hurt more than any amount of pining does.)

(He knows how to control himself.)

Feeling a touch steadier now that he’s reminded himself of the way things are, Kisuke pulls the blanket from around his body — where Rerugen tucked it! — and sits up, then blinks at the sight of socks at the very foot of the bed. They aren’t his, which means—

(Oh.)

(So that’s what Erich was doing the first time he woke.)

(Huh…)

(He’ll have to remember that Erich doesn’t tolerate wearing socks to bed.)

(Not that he’ll ever need that knowledge!)

(It’s just… it’s just good to know, that’s all!)

(Just— just in case.)

(No other reason…)

He grimaces and shakes his scattered thoughts free, carefully tucking every fragment of longing-desire-hope away deep in his soul where it won’t betray him, then takes another moment to breathe, steadying himself for the coming day.

He has no idea how long he’s slept — long, his internal clock tells him, but not how long — but he can’t afford to stay in bed mooning like some… some lovesick girl in a fairytale. For starters, he’d make a terrible damsel, and Rerugen would probably refuse to rescue him on principle, and—

Kisuke hisses in frustration and throws himself down from his hidden bed before his brain can keep twisting itself into knots. He needs to do something, anything, before he winds himself up and ends up babbling his unfiltered thoughts right at Rerugen’s face, because he knows exactly how well that will go.

(Poorly.)

(It will go very poorly.)

Io’s unfinished gigai is right where he left it, stable and unchanged despite however-long he’s been asleep, and he marches right back over to it, kido flaring to life as he hurls himself headfirst into the process of creation. This at least makes sense—

(Even if it really doesn’t because what the hell is she, really?)

—and has the benefit of being truly fascinating—

(Seriously, what is she?!)

—which means it’s easy to lose himself in the process. He builds and tweaks and unmakes over and over and over again, each iteration bringing the gigai closer to what he remembers sensing from Io the night before. It’s a soothing repetition, a safe repetition—

“I see Tsukabishi-san was correct,” a safe-familiar-welcome voice — Erich’s voice — interrupts, snapping Kisuke from his single-minded focus.

He blinks and lifts his head, staring blankly at— at Erich, who’s standing in the door of Kisuke’s lab with a tray in his hands. The sight doesn’t make much sense— why is Erich… bringing him food? Is he bringing him food? Surely the man has better things to do…?

“We slept for about twelve hours, according to Tsukabishi-san,” Erich states as he steps into Kisuke’s lab and heads directly to the spot where he’d sat the night before. He sets the tray down and then turns to fix Kisuke with a look. “Tsukabishi-san asked me to bring you some food, since he didn’t think you’d be coming out of your lab any time soon.”

Kisuke huffs and looks away from Erich’s oddly piercing gaze, trying to focus on the gigai instead. “I would have,” he mutters as he carefully ties off the kido and steps back. “I just wanted to get this done—”

“Which I appreciate,” Erich cuts Kisuke off, his voice warm but firm, and when Kisuke darts a look over at him, he’s standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “I very much do,” Erich repeats a bit softer, “but Io-san isn’t in danger yet, so you don’t need to push yourself.”

Kisuke frowns down at the gigai, trying to weigh Erich’s request the night before against today’s insistence that it isn’t critical yet. Though, last night Erich had likely been fresh from a nightmare and had just learned of Io’s trouble, so… it’s understandable, really. Still, he’d like to get it done before it becomes a critical issue, and they’re in entirely uncharted territory; there’s no guarantee that they’ll get any warning of trouble before it happens.

Erich hums a bit and moves closer, expression a touch uncomfortable as he looks over the gigai on the table and then back up at Kisuke. “Will it suffer for waiting a bit more?”

“Well, no,” Kisuke admits with a small shake of his head. “An unfinished gigai won’t last more than a few days before it destabilizes, but until that point they’re relatively stable.”

“Then come eat,” Erich tells him firmly, then hesitates a moment before adding, “And… I can’t promise to know enough to help, but if you’re having issues with something, you could try to explain it to me? Maybe it will help.”

Kisuke swallows and ignores the way his heart flutters at the suggestion, forcing himself not to smile like a lovestruck fool at Erich in the process. There’s no deeper meaning to Erich’s offer — the man has offered before and will likely offer again during other projects — and Kisuke needs to remember that before he missteps and makes the man uncomfortable.

It’s an offer made out of friendship and nothing else. He knows that. He knows that.

(And yet…)

(No, enough!)

(Friends help each other, and that’s all they are!)

“Urahara-san…?” Erich prompts, a touch of concern in his voice.

“Ah, nothing, nothing, just thinking about what to try next,” Kisuke deflects as he moves around his work table and heads towards the food Erich brought. “I’ve never come across a being like Io-san before. It’s quite an interesting challenge,” he explains further, hoping to keep Erich distracted from anything that might have slipped through his control earlier.

Erich makes an interested noise as he drags another stool over and settles down next to Kisuke. “I suspected you’d say that,” he says with a small, wry smile. “I learned a bit more about them myself. How about you eat while I tell you about it, then you can walk me through your thoughts.”

“Y-yeah, that sounds good,” Kisuke says as he forces himself to focus on the food in front of him instead of staring at Erich like he wants to.

Apparently pleased by the agreement, Erich leans against the table and begins to talk, his voice washing over Kisuke as he lays out what he’d learned.

It’s… nice. Peaceful, really, despite the subject matter.

(Kisuke wishes he could hold onto this moment forever.)

(He can’t, he knows he can’t, and yet…)

(He’s so doomed.)