Work Text:
Nanao is so busy reviewing the paperwork in front of her that she doesn’t even notice Rukia entering the library, not until she is already standing over her desk. She patiently waits for Nanao to look up, not wanting to interrupt her work.Klee has a crush on Albedo.
“Oh, hello,” Nanao says, when she looks up to see who it is. She had thought it was just another library patron, so she’s a bit relieved to instead see that it’s her girlfriend, coming to check in on her, as she often does whenever she returns from work.
While Rukia is the captain of the Reconnaissance Company, Nanao feels like she essentially has two jobs. Though on paper she is just the librarian, her uncle, who is the current Grand Master, tends to push any extra work onto her, and Nanao finds herself doing much more than her job description. She never turns him down because she cares more about making sure the knights run smoothly than refusing to pick up his slack.
Which means that she is busy most of the time, so she appreciates the little visits that she gets from Rukia at random intervals, looking forward to the surprise, never knowing when it might happen, which only makes it better. The two of them spend as much time together as they can outside of work, but they are both often kept busy enough that this is some of the most quality time they are able to spend together.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Rukia asks.
“Nothing that can’t wait a little bit,” Nanao replies. “It’ll still get done faster than if we left it to him.”
Rukia chuckles at that and smiles. Even after all this time, Nanao still feels like her heart twists up in her chest whenever she sees Rukia smile like that, falling in love with her all over again. She tries to paint herself as the most practical woman in the world, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t spend what little slow time she has in the library flipping through romance novels, and she’d definitely be lying if she said that Rukia doesn’t inspire the sorts of feelings that she reads about there, every time she lays eyes on her.
She hasn’t exactly said that out loud, because it seems a bit embarrassing to admit to something like that, but she gets the feeling that Rukia must have some idea of how happy she always is to see her. Sometimes, she is a bit cold to the touch- a Cryo vision can do that to a girl- but Nanao always warms right up when she has Rukia there to hold her. Rukia has mentioned to her a few times that, when she gets excited, she can feel positively electrifying, and she says it in this breathless sort of way that makes Nanao weak at the knees.
So, yes, she definitely has it bad, and no matter how seriously she may take her work, she looks forward to moments like these, when she can just bask in how much seeing Rukia brightens her day.
“Don’t work too late today, okay? I was stopping by to let you know that I’m going to be able to get off early today, and I was really hoping I could take you out tonight. It’s been too long since we were able to just go out and enjoy ourselves,” Rukia says.
All at once, it’s like the work in front of her doesn’t matter at all. For anyone else, Nanao would not budge from her spot, not until she made sure that everything was just as it should be. Certainly, she would not force Shunsui’s work back on him- even though he deserves it- because she would not want to run the risk of that work never getting done. For Rukia, though, it seems all too worth it to take that risk, to take some time for herself for once, because her girlfriend does have a point.
It really has been a long time since the two of them were able to spend time together outside of their little visits and occasionally sharing a bed at night. It will be nice to be able to go out together, to take that time to enjoy one another, like they would be able to if Nanao weren’t buried in hers and her uncle’s work, and Rukia’s job didn’t often take her a bit too far to be back in time for a date every night.
“How long do I need?” Nanao asks.
“The sooner the better,” Rukia replies. “I have to hand a report in to Kyoraku, but after that, I should be free for the rest of the day.”
“Oh, well, that’s perfect then,” Nanao replies. She pushes her chair back from her desk then, standing up and collecting the papers spread out in front of her. “I don’t think anyone will mind if we close the library a bit early today, and that good for nothing grandmaster of ours can just learn to do his own paperwork for once.”
Rukia smirks at her words, and says, “I like seeing you like this. You should stand up for yourself more often.”
“Oh, you know I don’t really mind the work,” Nanao replies, as the two of them set off. “There’s something a bit relaxing about paperwork, and if I didn’t pick up the slack around here, I know we would just end up buried in his unfinished work eventually. Better to take care of it when I have the chance, and save myself the headache later.”
“Well, as long as you’re happy, I don’t have any complaints. Still, I appreciate you making an exception for me.”
“For you? I’d let the place get buried in any variety of chaos,” Nanao says, before she can catch herself. Immediately, she blushes, realizing just how cheesy that line is, as if ripped straight from one of those damn novels, but Rukia just smiles, and steps a bit closer to her.