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“Your boyfriend has blue hair.”
“Actually, the internet says it is atomic turquoise.”
Getting Grimmjow to do things he was not comfortable with was easier than you had first thought, at least in the early stages of your relationship.
All it would take was some prodding, some nice words and he would be sold; because he liked you too much to say no, because he felt obligated to do certain things.
“Isn’t that kind of exhilarating? Knowing he would do anything?”
“If this is supposed to work, there are some things we need to clear up first,” you said, on the verge of panicking, locked in a situation that scared you.
Grimmjow looked at you like he was dying, like the entirety of Hueco Mundo was out for his head and he just lost the power to move.
“I-” he said and tried to regain his composure, “Sure.”
You took a deep breath.
“I am gonna put my shirt back on now and then we are gonna talk. Stay right there.”
“Can I kiss you?” was what you asked him as you finished the hunt you were on together. A stray Hollow here, another a bit farther out.
His eyes were beautiful to you and widened in surprise that was no different.
“Uh,” Grimmjow said and looked to the side, at you, to the other side.
“Hey, no pressure,” you said and tried not to blush bright red, “I mean, only if you wanna, it isn’t like-”
“Yeah,” he blurted out and interrupted you, “Yeah. You can. So, uh. Do that?”
His hair felt nice against your fingertips, soft and smooth. Grimmjow watched you closely as you caressed the back of his neck, urged him closer just by adding pressure.
You closed your eyes before your lips met and it made you laugh, that nervousness that bubbled up inside of you.
Grimmjow leaned into you fully as you kissed him. His small noises of approval made you smile as you angled your head to avoid his mask and kiss him deeper. Your nose bumped into the bone sticking out of his cheek and you winced.
“Be careful,” he murmured and leaned his forehead against yours, breathing against your lips, “’s kinda sharp. Can’t help it.”
You laughed.
“Should have known, you brute.”
Grimmjow blinked his eyes open and looked at you, up close and intimate.
“You suck,” he said and leaned even closer.
You kissed him again until you were breathless and giddier than ever before.
You put your shirt back on and turned to face him where he sat hunched over on your bed.
“Hey,” you called out to him, “Don’t look like you’re about to be killed, okay? We’re fine. This is fine.”
Grimmjow nodded but still didn’t look convinced.
“Look,” you said, walked closer until you could plop down right next to him, “I don’t know what kind of experiences you had, but-”
“This is just embarrassing,” Grimmjow muttered and looked away.
You sighed and let your body drop to the side against his shoulder, cuddled up against him. He always radiated warmth and you knew that closeness reassured him.
“I’m not gonna have sex with you if you’re not sure about it,” you said, “Nothing embarrassing about that.”
“But you want to-”
“And you don’t. Unless we are both okay with it at the same time this isn’t happening.”
Grimmjow huffed out a laugh and rested his chin on your head. His mask did not hurt you, he took care not to let it dig into your scalp.
“You looked so freaked out,” you said and poked his side, “Wanna talk about it?”
Grimmjow only produced a disgruntled noise and buried his face in your hair. It was a step-up from the times he left whenever something was difficult for him to handle. It used to be either that or anger; so him sticking close to you felt like an improvement.
“Okay,” you told him and allowed him to hug you tighter, “The offer still stands.”
It was easy to get him to do what he was not comfortable with; but you worked out so well because you knew when to pressure him and when not to.
So when you tried to take a photo with him and he squirmed in your half-hug, half restricting hold you were sure it was just part of his usual grumpy self.
“Why do you hate my phone so much?”
“Why do you want to take a picture so badly?” Grimmjow growled and attempted to wiggle out of your grasp, “I’m not about to drop dead, y’know?”
“You’re already dead,” you answered and grinned, “Just one picture?”
Karin walked in on you fighting for the phone later. She just looked at the two of you frozen in place decidedly unimpressed.
“Were you trying to take a selfie again?” she asked.
“It’s not like it’s a big deal!” you sputtered and turned bright red, “Tell him to hold still!”
However, you knew by now that Grimmjow had formed some sort of evil, unspoken pact with your sisters and so it didn’t come as a surprise as Karin completely ignored your request.
“Yuzu demands you come down for dinner,” she said and turned to leave, “Oh, just by the way. Ichi-nii is really ticklish.”
You barely had time to look down and catch a glimpse of Grimmjow’s suspiciously serene grin.
His fingers dug into your sides and you twitched and dropped your phone.
It took a few hours for you to see it again.
Gigais were not for Grimmjow; you figured that out early on. He pretended to be fine but you knew he wasn’t okay in the slightest.
“Does it hurt you?” you asked as you saw him take a little too long to get up to his feet.
“I’m fine,” he answered and staggered until you grasped his shoulder, “Fuck.”
“Oy, didn’t you say this worked fine on Nel?” you shouted over your shoulder, wrapping your arms around Grimmjow’s waist to support him.
Urahara cocked his head and seemed to be caught between laughing at the two of you and being concerned.
“I hate it,” Grimmjow mumbled against your neck, “Wouldn’t recommend.”
“You don’t even need my help standing, do you?”
“Nah,” he admitted, “Don’t stop though.”
One day in the summer you took Grimmjow to the aquarium.
By then Urahara had found a way around the gigai and given Grimmjow a ring to wear that allowed him to be seen by humans while keeping his powers.
“They’re staring at me again,” he said and for a second you thought he was not happy with that; then you saw he was grinning and just rolled your eyes.
”When you are done being admired, can we go?” you asked and sighed as he only grinned wider, “Take your time then, I’ll be going on ahead-”
Grimmjow grasped your hand and tugged you along.
“Don’t be damn jealous,” he muttered and your heart seized in your chest as his thumb stroked over your palm, “Now let’s go look at fish, you idiot.”
After spending so much time in a world that was essentially dead and thus dead silent Grimmjow needed a while to adjust to the constant noise of the human world.
His boundaries were just as important here; but you also knew you had to encourage him more and more, drag him out for a walk at night so he wasn’t faced with the full intensity of it all.
“Don’t treat me like I am made out of fucking glass,” he told you once, “I can endure this just fine, save your breath.”
“You shouldn’t have to endure it,” you responded, “Literally, that’s the whole fucking idea. I want you to be happy.”
“What about you then?” Grimmjow countered and scoffed, “You can’t be fucking happy like this.”
And that was always the root of the problem.
“Like what?” you asked and he was quiet.
“Yes, you can pet the tiny manta rays.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t have to. I can see you stare. C’mon. We’ll go there.”
“Are you-”
“Yes I am sure, Grimm. We are gonna go pet some damn manta rays even if it’s the last thing we do.”
In the winter your favourite thing was hugging him when he was wearing your jackets. It was just something he did; grab the ones that were too big for you.
So when it was cold you liked to slide your hands underneath the lapels until you practically shared the jacket; the palms of your hand pressed against his skin.
Grimmjow liked being warm and you teased him whenever he started to purr.
“It’s not purring,” he complained even as he continued doing it, “Shut up.”
“It is and you know it.” you told him and rubbed your palms across his flanks, “It’s adorable.”
Grimmjow kept complaining but he never moved away, just mumbled curses into the space between the shell of your ear and your hair.
“Isn’t that kind of exhilarating? Knowing he would do anything?”
“Nah,” you said, “It’s scary. Which is exactly why I’m making sure we’re getting past that.”
One day you went to the beach.
You should have realized he would want to fight you even in the ocean so fight you did; by splashing water and tackling each other to make sure you were both drenched. Grimmjow knew how to swim even though he had not learned it again as a Hollow; muscle memory, he told you and shrugged before he jumped on top of you again.
By the time you were both exhausted it was late afternoon and still just as hot as before.
“My back hurts,” you moaned and flopped down face first on the sand, “Save me.”
Grimmjow looked at you with curious eyes and you couldn’t hide your smile.
“Stop being cute,” you complained, “Give me a massage or something.
You yelped as he unceremoniosly dropped down on your butt, settling on top of you to get access to your back. You hadn’t exactly expected him to follow your demand.
“I have no idea how to do this,” Grimmjow said and prodded the flesh between your shoulder blades as if he wanted to poke a lifeless animal found at the roadside.
“Be nice,” you whined and blew some of the wet strands of hair out of your face, “I am in pain.”
“I’m always nice,” Grimmjow replied and stroked his hands down your back once, “Remember when I helped you with the homework?”
“You disintegrated the paper.”
“I am floored by my own generosity even now.”
You laughed and closed your eyes as he kept going, careful and unsure at first but growing bolder as you indicated you approved.
“I love you without all of this,” you murmured and the sun warmed your body, the sand molded against your stomach, “But it is a nice bonus.”
Grimmjow leaned down, pressed a kiss against the side of your head.
Sometimes words were still difficult to find.