Author's Note: WARNING! I wrote this right after 314 came out but before 315 was released, and as implausible as it was then, it's completely beyond salvaging at this point. So sad. So uh, YES, I know that this does not even remotely match what's happening as of now, but I wanted to share it anways because Grimmhime needs fluff

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Being demoted certainly wasn't on his top-ten list of favorite pastimes, if, indeed, he could even think of ten different activities that he enjoyed enough to merit their being listed, but it wasn't as bad the second time. Having his arm still firmly attached to his shoulder, as it should be, and knowing that the little bastard Luppi was no longer around to steal his position definitely eased the blow. Still, his back felt bare without a six firmly ingrained upon it…

At least, he assumed it was no longer there; Aizen-sama had not been very pleased with him. Both for disobeying a large array of orders and for failing to kill Ichigo when he'd had the chance. He should've been grateful, he'd realized, to have been spared, but gratitude wasn't particularly his forte. Grimmjow learned long ago that no one just fuckin' handed out kindness without expecting something in return. Just what it was that the Shinigami-punk, Aizen-sama and even Orihime wanted from him was still uncertain.

For the time being he was left to wallow in that uncertainty, along with the human girl who had healed his wounds without being asked, in her lonely prison. When he'd grown tired of pacing he'd turned to staring at her as she gazed up through the barred window at the thumbnail-moon. That activity proved to be far more boring than pacing which led to the order, "just sit down dammit!" which he growled in frustration.

For whatever reason, she complied, sliding her back down the wall as she gracefully fell into a seated position.

Truthfully, he had not cared an ounce for her comfort, rather his own, as he flopped listlessly down beside her and pillowed his head in her lap. Like hell he was going to curl up on the hard floor without a cushion, imprisoned or not. He could feel her stiffen, then eventually relax as they wallowed there in silence, both lost in thoughts of the same man, though the feelings behind said thoughts were entirely different.

At some point he'd begun noticing strands of her auburn hair in the corner of his vision. The way they blew, almost imperceptibly, in the tiny breeze that drafted through their cell was incredibly distracting. Idly, he reached his hand to bat at the silky follicles, not quite twisting them around his fingers. His hand followed the locks left to right, their movements fascinating him till a small giggle broke him free of his hypnosis.

The girl'd been purposefully moving her hair, starting a game without him even realizing he'd been playing. The fierce look he presented her with was cold as ice, but she merely grinned at the expression. "Just like a real kitty, Grimmjow-san." It was the first time he'd seen her smile. The Espada didn't quite know what to think of a smile that held no malice.

Using the grip he still had upon her hair, Grimmjow roughly pulled her forward till their eyes were inches apart, hiding embarrassment with anger he glared with all the venom he could muster. "Cats have fangs and claws so I'd shut the fuck up if I were you." Releasing her he readjusted himself into a more comfortable position, she was bonier than he'd expected. The broad failed at being a pillow, he mentally muttered though he did not bother to move his head from her thigh.

"I know a shinigami who can-, well actually I don't think she's a shinigami anymore, but she used to be a shinigami, anyways she can turn into a cat too… but she turns into a boy cat. Wouldn't it be weird if you turned into a girl kitty? You could have kittens! Little blue kittens!… with holes in them."

Abruptly the Espada sat up, unable to hide his horrified expression as he desperately searched her face for a sign that she was not serious. He couldn't find one.

"What the fucking hell is wrong with you?!" No one had ever been dumb enough to suggest he get into the whole parenthood gig, much less the motherhood one.

Unfazed by his outburst, her happy expression softened into a serious look. "Don't worry, your hollow-hole isn't low enough to effect pregnancy, the kittens wouldn't fall out. I'm a girl, I know these things." He was too disturbed by the idea to pull his hand away before she could pat it sympathetically.

"I'm NOT having any fucking kittens woman, get that through your thick head!"

"Alright… I'm sorry."

The silence that they fell into after her surprisingly sincere apology was far too short lived for his tastes.

"Grimmjow-san?"

"What?"

"How do you eat with a hole through your stomach?"

It took everything in his being to keep his mouth set in a frown and to turn the noise that threatened to leave his throat into a cough as she poked at his stomach. Though he'd never felt the sensation of being tickled before, he quickly decided it was far worse than being stabbed. He slapped her discourteous fingers away as she continued on: "And how does Ulquiorra-san do it with a hole through his throat?"

"I manage, and that fucker can starve for all I care."

"I think it'd be kinda nice to be able to eat everything I wanted all the time and never get full… Five lifetimes worth of food even… Ice cream and pastries, and sushi with spaghetti and chocolate onigiri and-"

He interrupted her ode to food by taking her wrists and slamming her back against the wall, a gesture which would have been far more intimidating had she not been leaning against the surface to begin with. It still sent a painful shock up her spine and jolt of confusion that was clear in her eyes as she looked up at him. The fear that was once in her gaze whenever their eyes met was no longer there.

"Grimmjow… san."

"You have no fuckin' idea what it's like to be hungry all the goddamn time, no fuckin' clue so just shut up," he growled at her. Hunger was a defining trait of being a hollow. An inescapable pain. His lifelong enemy. She had no idea what he'd give to feel one lifetime of full. And it had nothing to do with the hole in his torso.

"Why are you acting this way, Grimmjow-san?" He couldn't take the way her gray eyes looked directly into his own, trembling with an emotion that should've been fear but wasn't. He refused to acknowledge pity, but her distress was apparent. Life in her eyes as he'd never seen before was definitely… he searched his mind for a term to describe the way her eyes looked but could find none to his liking so he settled upon pathetic.

"Me?" He scoffed. "You're the one whose changed woman. Lost whatever brain you had, acting like we're fuckin' friends or something now?… If Aizen-sama doesn't want me anymore, then I have no reason not to tear you apart."

"We're not-"

"No of course not! I don't need any fuckin' friends, especially not one like you!"

"But… But Kurosaki-kun spared you."

"Bastard."

"No," she said, her determination to bring him back into the loop, and gently educate him as to how these things were supposed to work was apparent through her animated face and lively hand gestures she made, despite her wrists still being in his grasp.

"That's how Kurosaki-kun makes friends!" she insisted. "They start out as enemies, they fight, Kurosaki-kun wins without killing the other and then they work together and understand each other… It's how he became friends with Ishida-kun, Renji-san, Zaraki-Taichou… Kon." She was sure there had to be others she was leaving out. "Oh, and Ikkaku-san, and-"

"Enough already!"

Orihime ceased her talking, but did not tear her gaze away from his. He'd figured she was one of those kind, sweet girls who was a fuckin' doormat, but he hadn't realized she was nuts too. "Are you really that stupid," his voice was low as he pressed her harder to the wall. "If that's how he makes friends, why don't you fight him? Fucker seemed more concerned with saving me than you, you could be back home safe 'n sound right now if he'd really given a shit about you. You realize that?"

His words had hit home, he could tell by her trembling, but she wasn't defeated. "Kurosaki-kun has to stop Aizen-sama, defeating him is more important than saving me. He tried-"

"No he didn't. I got you out of here, hell I even fuckin' took you to him, you have any clue how goddamn easy it would've been for him to save the princess?" His mouth widened into a malicious grin as he lowered he face even closer to hers. His words were almost whispered as he hissed: "You're just an excuse to fight, you don't mean shit to him."

"You think…" Her gaze had lowered, but she brought her eyes back up to meet his as she swallowed roughly. "I don't know that?"

That was not a response he'd been expecting. He pulled away a little, and let go of her hands. She wasn't quite the mouse he thought he'd been playing with, though truth be told he had no clue what sort of creature the weird, weak, strong, hopeful and hopeless being next to him was.

"Kurosaki-kun does care," she said softly, rubbing her wrists though they didn't really hurt. "He cares about everyone though, even his enemies. He's very kind like that… But no, I'm not special to him."

"He's an idiot then."

"Grimmjow-san-" He cut her off just as a sweet smile was beginning to form on her face.

"Coming all the way to Hueco Mundo, completely unprepared, looking to battle a buncha people who're way stronger than him, draggin' all his so-called friends to certain death, for a fight? What a dip-shit… Definitely a fuckin' idiot."

He didn't say it to make her laugh, or to cheer her up, not even a little. It did not bother him, though, when she laughed lightly at his words, the soft, feminine sound not being half as irritating as he'd assumed it would be.

"Everyone has strengths and weaknesses," she sighed, though her lips were still in an upward incline. "Even Kurosaki-kun… And you, Grimmjow-san." He felt like biting her fingers off when they came up to scratch behind his ear. "You're a good kitty, deep down. I know it."

"Was your mind this fucked before you were imprisoned?"

"Hmm… You know, I think it was worse!"

He did not laugh, or smile at her reply, but her fingers were still attached to her hand, which said almost as much as the subtle purr in his throat as he unconsciously leaned into her touch.

Yeah, he conceded to himself, the bitch might be fucking insane, but it was Ichigo who was the stupid one.