#🐉 ; a battlefield bore your love to me ; kotobancmori ; kenpachi

[draconicfool]

it is... 5 in the morning and god decided i needed another new ship tag dump

[draconicfool]

     Perhaps that in itself was one hint that the healer was less unassuming than he played to be. Though, ‘hints’ were far more than Kenpachi had ended up getting before they got to this point. It was almost funny, really, how the two had come together. An odd couple, surely, but one that worked quite well.

     Suppose, too, that love between them meant getting away with quite a few things others wouldn't. For nobody else could touch the Captain in the way that Eros did, in more than just this. Nobody could toy and play with him. And likewise, nobody else could get away with something that the little healer deemed very stupid the way that Kenpachi could.

     They were both rather lucky in that way, weren't they? 

     “ Good! I don't like seein' ya cut up. ” A soft sigh before he was smiling up at the other in turn. Leaning absently into the hand that had brushed aside his hair. “ ‘m always gonna worry about ya, y’know? S'part of th' job at this point, pumpkin. So long as we're figurin' stuff out t'gether. ”

That Eros could stand up to the shift in his reiatsu was one more reason Kenpachi loved him. Maybe even one of the first reasons he'd started to fall, that and seeing how well the other could hold up in a fight. Kind of wild, to think how just noticing those things had led to so many other feelings.

Any more mulling was cut off when Eros pressed on and pulled at his cheeks. The surprise eased the furrow between his brows, eye narrowing a little in bemusement rather than any irritation. Yeah, only Eros could get away with something like this.

And Kenpachi couldn't deny a hint of relief in his gut when his partner's glare melted into laughter and a smile, with a gentler touch to his face.

"Alright, I'll let 'em heal next time. Promise," he assured as his own, more angled smile surfaced. One hand lifted out of his pooled haori to brush one pink lock aside with curled fingers. "Didn't mean to make you worry like that, cherry. Guess I'm still figuring this stuff out too, huh?"

[draconicfool]

     Perhaps he had been lucky in a myriad of ways since he came here. Not everyone got to experience things the same way he had, but given the life he'd lived before… well, at the very least could understand hardships like that. Show the empathy that was deserved in the situation. And though he'd never gone through the same things, he understood how they made Kenpachi into the man that he was.

     The fact that he could show even a bit of that vulnerability to Eros, well it was certainly appreciated. To know that he trusted them with things most others didn't get.

     Those words bring a soft laugh from the small as they roll their eyes. “ Well s' a good thing I don't intend on doin' anythin' with natto. ” He hummed, pressing a kiss under the other's jaw. “ Even if ya'd pick around it. ”

He figured Eros wouldn't be able to imagine it, and didn't hold a grudge. It seemed stupid to demand other people go through all of what he had, as if that was the only way to understand him. Expecting that was the easiest way to end up alone, without Eros or Ikkaku or Yumichika or even Yachiru. Besides, you didn't have to imagine to understand.

Even so, Kenpachi appreciated when Eros moved to a bit of a lighter topic. He wasn't really cagey about it, so much as still getting used to showing his metaphorical belly around even someone as close as Eros.

His smirk tilted broader and lasted longer than before, his eye meeting theirs. "Pretty much. Natto would be the only time I won't eat your cookin'." A beat. "Well... maybe I'd pick around it."

[draconicfool]

     It is, perhaps, only Kenpachi who can find himself getting away with something like that. To have figured out more ways to control such a thing and get himself hurt. And to have held it on even longer as an excuse to get his little wife to tend to him.

     While most others would buckle with the release of his reiatsu, Eros sits just as straight as he had been beforehand. His hand moving away from his beloved's chest as both come up to hold his cheeks. Squishing and pinching at them.      For it is only this man who can sit there like that beneath his touch and get scolded this way. And it is only this man who can take it in turn.

     “ And here I was actually worried f'er a minute! Oh, y'er such a lucky man, I swear! ” But that momentary glare dissolves and his shoulders are rolling with laughter now.      Those gentle hands releasing his cheeks to instead caress his face. Running a thumb over his cheek as a smile spreads across his lips.

     “ ‘m proud of ya, m’love. Figurin' out new things every day… thinkin' of ways that I didn't have t' see ya get hurt. M'sweet man… jus' don't go makin' a habit of makin' me fix up things that c'n heal themselves, hm? ”

Kenpachi huffed into Eros' hair at being called a 'terror'. Even if the other hadn't meant it playfully, he wouldn't have taken it as an insult. Though he couldn't deny, he never wanted to make his love directly afraid of him. Proof enough that Eros was special.

When the moment suddenly broke with Eros straightening up to accuse him, so did Kenpachi's restraining hold on his reiatsu. It unfurled around him like usual, only kept in check by his eyepatch. The cuts that his love had been tending, meanwhile, already started to knit closed. Meanwhile, heavy brows rose, jade-green eyes meeting that glare in brief surprise, then bemusement tinged with defensiveness.

"Been a while since I figured out somethin' new. I never learned reiatsu control, remember? Shit's hard and too damn annoying, but I did it. Just... wanted to show you." Weird how, after a life of being shouted at and called way worse things, it was Eros' tone that twisted a hint of nerves in his gut. "All the other ways I thought of were you watching me get cut, or doin' it yourself."

[draconicfool]

     He'd never really considered himself the parent type, of that Eros knew well enough. It was very obvious if one were to simply look at Kenpachi, really. For he was a massive man in both stature and the pure pressure he exuded from just being around him. Most people still found it surprising that they were even together.      Yet the smaller was content to be with him, to see these softer moments as well as the usual battle hungry ones. 

     For as much as he seemed to play that unassuming healer, he was just as ready to jump in beside the other if ever needed. To protect him or Yachiru. To take care of those that he did so adore. Suppose there was something to be said there about a mother's instincts, really.

     He's quiet as he sits in the other's arms. Listening as he takes one of the captain's much larger hands in his own.      “ I really c'n't imagine what that must've been like… ” Eros brought that hand up to kiss the back gently, looking up at his beloved from where he was sat. “ I guess livin' that way y'learn a lot of things most people don't? And – pfft, I s'ppose in y'er case it makes it so y'er set t' eat anythin' at least once. Maybe twice, who knows? ”

     He's all too happy to be brought closer, too.      “ S' that why y'never give me a straight answer when I ask what I should make f'er us t' eat? ”

A father? The idea would've made Kenpachi snort, before he'd known why his partner treasured it. He personally didn't get the whole thing about family roles, beyond the 'older teaching younger' part. But it mattered to Eros, and that mattered to him. Besides, he supposed he had looked after Yachiru, made sure they both had food, kept her alive and mostly happy.

It was Eros, though, that he could really see as the parent type. Not just because of all the caring and healing and shit, but also because of how protective they were. Kenpachi had only caught it in flashes, but knew it was part of that fire which had first gotten his attention.

A flicker of a smirk at the kiss under his chin, before he rested it atop Eros' head. "After I found Yachiru, there were moments like that. Sometimes. But before..." A quiet sigh through his nose. "Had to get real good at fires, or twistin' up to keep warm. Good luck keepin' any shoes or blankets. Had to get splinters outta my mouth a few times too; got so hungry I chewed wood, when I got sick of tasting fabric."

Kenpachi's draped arm pulled Eros just a bit closer against him. "One more reason I'm not picky about food, I guess."

[draconicfool]

     Perhaps that was one of the qualities that drove him impossibly closer to the Division Captain. Something that had enticed him from the very moment they met. No matter what, Kenpachi was looking for ways that he could improve.      Ways that could drag fights out longer. Make them more fun for him. For when was Kenpachi having fun other than when he was locking blades with someone? Suppose Eros knew one such time- not that he'd mention it right now.

     Not when there was work to be done. And work to be done on the man that he loved, no less. That was far more important.

     It is perhaps a blessing and a curse, to love and be loved by Zaraki Kenpachi. That for all he adores the man, he will always come to Eros covered in cuts and bruises that need tending to. And the smaller male will always have to patch up the man he loves more than words.

     But at least, in that, there is the knowledge that both would move the very sky if the other were hurt in any meaningful way, and not just a spar.

     “ Y'er a terror t' have around here sometimes. ” He admits with a playful sign. Resting his forehead against the other's chest for just a moment. Holding a hand and a cloth over one of his cuts. That gentle kiss enough to calm him for now. Soothe any possible anger. “ Always… tha's what ‘m here f’er. ”

     But then…there comes a realization and he's sitting up a bit straighter, those amethyst eyes all but glaring. “ Oh y'rotten – y'did this all on fuckin' purpose didn't ya?! ”

He appreciated the quiet of understanding. Much as he liked the sound of Eros' voice, he knew that they both knew he wouldn't change. He couldn't imagine changing, not so much that he'd ever stop looking for even little ways to improve. And if he wasn't allowed to continue with 'proper' kendo forms, for some reason he hadn't been told, Kenpachi would just have to find other creative methods.

In a way, even this was good practice, seeing how long he could keep up his restraint and whether Eros would notice.

All that aside, Kenpachi knew just seeing him injured always grated on Eros - just like he himself had felt his bankai itching to come out and wreck everything in his way the couple times he'd seen his love get hurt.

"Damn right. I wouldn't even have to try, just breathe at 'em. And the ones who wouldn't, they'd just lecture my ears off." Kenpachi kissed the top of Eros' head, letting his nose stay buried among soft pink hair for a moment or two more while he closed his eyes in focus. Still, his tone didn't give his effort away. Not yet. "Besides, you always fix me up right."

[draconicfool]

     The smaller of the pair is quiet as they relaxed against his chest. His own gaze running over to watch how the snow falls. It feels surreal, if he's to be honest. To think that such a phenomena happens here, too, and not just in the world of the living. One hand gently rubbing Kenpachi's thigh as the other holds the newly given sake cup close.

     “ Y'er a very sweet father, I think. ” he hums before taking a drink. Regardless of the way the pair saw themselves, Eros would always see them as a family in a way.

     It made him feel warm to think of such a thing. And to be trusted with words he knows nobody else will ever hear. Things nobody could possible get him to admit again.       “ Mm, fair. I remember back when I was with m'baby… oh, he used t' love playin' in th' snow. Rollin' li'l balls barely bigger th'n his hand. I c'n't imagine…what it must've been like f'er ya. ”

     A soft sigh escapes the smaller as they reach up just enough to kiss under his chin. “ I wouldn't either, not a chance. ”

That was another point of contrast; Kenpachi enjoyed easy days more, while Eros preferred to be working. The latter made a kind of sense, he guessed, at least for someone who liked it. And besides, when they had time together, there was a good middle ground - focused attentions given enough ease that they'd never become 'work'.

Another quiet, humored hum, and Kenpachi looked out at the courtyards and tiled roofs blanketed with white. "I'd always give her that chance."

Some of his smile faded into thoughtfulness, while he poured another cup of gently steaming sake and handed it to Eros. He could count on one hand the number of people he'd be willing to let hear his next words. "...Still kinda weird, seein' snow as fun. Growing up, winter was somethin' you survived. Had to find those farms or river-harbors that sent everything here, take what we could and fight to keep it."

Kenpachi wrapped an arm round his love's waist, a wordless addition: 'So I wouldn't trade this, now, for anything.'

[draconicfool]

     To love someone like Kenpachi Zaraki means resigning yourself to knowing you'll need to patch him up time and again. That's only the natural state of a man who loves to fight as much as he does. That there is, sadly, no way to keep him from harm's way. And as much as people intentionally getting themselves hurt frustrates the tiny healer – when it's Kenpachi it's a bit different. 

     If only because Eros knows that it isn't a fun or ‘fair’ fight otherwise. That he is constantly searching for ways to make these fights last longer. Searching for ways to make it more exhilarating for him. So how on earth could they ever be upset with him? It's in his very nature at this point, it seems. Yet, shallow cuts or not, there is still an upset at seeing one's beloved hurt in any capacity. Regardless of if he was actually in pain or not. Regardless of if it had just been some spar.       It's the principle of the matter.

     “ Oh, I know. Ya'd scare anyone else off. ”      Not that they'd actually let anyone else work on him anyway. 

Despite the fussing sound, Kenpachi was familiar enough with Eros' tells by now to know he hadn't seriously pissed the other off. They could probably tell the cuts were shallow too, just by looking, with all that healer's knowledge. But he guessed it was more about seeing him bleeding at all. Honestly, Kenpachi hadn't fully gotten used to that yet.

He tipped his head instead of his shoulder for a shrug. It was a pretty clever idea, in his opinion. Sure, he'd learned his zanpakutō's name by now so he wouldn't be fucking up the blade edge any further, but it was more about another way to prolong future fights. He could get a better taste of his opponents' abilities if he could rein in his reiatsu far enough to let himself be cut easier. He hadn't planned to hold it this long, but... Kenpachi's free hand curled in his shed haori with the effort.

"As if I'd let any other 4th Division keep me still for that long. You're the only one strong enough." Strong because Kenpachi had trusted Eros with that particular power over him, because it mattered that they cared.

[draconicfool]

     It was perhaps, a bit ironic the pair that the two made. Someone seen as a very pinnacle of violence and someone seen as the picture of gentle kindness. Most would call them an odd couple, right? A surprise to others to see Kenpachi so easily leaning into a gentle touch. To see a softness in him.

     Pink lashes flutter shut for just a moment as he stays where he is against the other's hand. Listening as his beloved speaks.

     “ ‘m almost jealous, ” Eros hummed, “ S’ppose I'd rather be busy th'n not, though. Dunno what I'd do otherwise. Aw – I wish I could've seen her out playin' in th' snow, sweet girl. If y'give her th' chance I bet she'll make a snowman bigger th'n ya, baby. ”      A small tilt of the head, as if he were thinking it over.      “ I might jus' like that. ”

His head tipped a little, a casual press into Eros' touch. The gentility had long since stopped feeling weird, stopped setting his teeth on edge as reflex braced for a violence that never came. Now it was just... Eros. It was who they were, it was comfort, it was something he never wanted to lose.

Now, that kiss to his hand made his heart skip, right in the soft spot where Eros was neighbors with Yachiru.

"Prob'ly even lighter than yours," Kenpachi chuckled. "Ikkaku handled most of the training, like usual. Where else was Yumichika but right there with 'im. Yachiru's already played herself out, when the snow was still fallin'. Said she's hopin' for more, to make a snowman as big as me." He laughed again, low and soft. "Still got some hot sake left, if you wanna share."