The Long Way Home

Part 10

It was late, but both Ukitake and Kyoraku were still awake. Kyoraku had drank a hell of a lot of sake. Unusually, Ukitake wasn't that far behind him.

They were sitting next to each other at the table, leaning against each other. It had grown comfortably silent in the last hour or so.

"Damn that, Byakuya!"

Ukitake's outburst startled Kyoraku, who quickly straightened himself up, only to have Ukitake fall over into his lap. The 11th Squad Captain looked up and smiled apologetically. "Sorry." Not that sorry, he made himself more comfortable, using Kyoraku's leg as a pillow.

"Sorry, huh?" Kyoraku reached over and poured himself another drink. "You're annoyed? Still?" If Ukitake hadn't of said anything, he would probably just fallen asleep like this. Now he wanted more sake.

Ukitake was feeling a little queasy so he decided not to move from where his head was resting in Kyoraku's lap. He closed his eyes though to try and stop the room swimming. "Yes. That obvious?"

"Yeah. Pretty obvious." He sipped at the sake and thought about whether or not he should move Ukitake so he could reach another bottle. Ukitake won and he decided that he was happier this way rather than drinking too much more.

Ukitake looked up at Kyoraku and sighed. "I wish they could trust us with the truth. I would gladly help them. Byakuya deserves to be happy again."

"It would be nice to see him stop frowning so much. The guy always seems miserable."

"You would be too if you were in that much pain."

Kyoruko bowed his head to look straight in to Ukitake's eyes and smiled. "Always thinking of others." He leaned down and kissed Ukitake. "You taste nice."

Chuckling, Ukitake reached his hand up to cup the others face. "I taste of sake."

"Sake's nice." He kissed him again, just a little longer this time, their tongues briefly meeting. "Very nice." He pulled back and grinned. "I wouldn't overly worry. You and I both know Ichigo is out there somewhere. He's not the man for settling for second best or failure. Whatever is happening, they will sort it out."

"That I'm not worried about. It's this whole prostitute business I don't..." Ukitake sighed. "I've been a bit of a fool."

Kyoraku shook his head, hearing those words and coming to the same conclusion. "Nah. I think we both needed to be drunk to understand the finer points of this fiasco. So Kenpachi wasn't toying with Kuchki, he was actually helping him?"

"It would seem so, my love. It would seem so."

Kyoraku reached for the sake again, pouring out the last of it. "It's nice though. Ichigo is a good kid and Byakuya deserves another go at happiness." He sipped the last of the sake, finishing it with a sigh. "Are you fit to get up?"

Ukitake shook his head. "No. I don't think...No. I'm not." He closed his eyes. "You shouldn't let me drink so much."

Kyoraku smirked. "I thought you would have learned that lesson for yourself a long time ago."

"You make me forget." Ukitake opened his eyes and smiled at his lover. "Fancy helping me stand? I'm pretty sure if I can get up on my feet, I can make it to the bed."

"Sure. Hold on a second."

Ukitake groaned a little as he was forced to lift his head to let Kyoraku get up. Once he was up on his feet, Kyoraku reached out his hand. Ukitake took it and was hauled to his feet very quickly. "How's the stomach?"