Late one night in the third division barracks, the silver-haired captain felt restless.

He had laid awake in bed for the past several hours, tossing and turning, everything seeming to bother him. The seams of his short cotton yukata felt like mountains digging against his skin, it felt like all the hair on his head had crawled its way down to nestle right at his hairline for the sole purpose of clinging to his forehead, and his futon was hot, making the delicate pads of his feet sweat. The captain closed his eyes and counted to a hundred, willing himself to sleep, to no avail.

Employing his choicest of swearwords, he violently threw back his covers and rose from bed. He walked not-so-silently to the sliding door that partitioned his sleeping quarters from the rest the area set aside for the captain, as well as the rest of the third squad.
Stepping outside into the long, wooden-floored corridor that was raised off the ground by an entire floor, he looked around thoughtfully. The third division barracks had never quite suited his taste, as he much preferred the sprawling, single-level style barracks similar to those of fifth division he had spent most of his time in soul society living in.

Brushing that thought out of his mind like an irksome fly, however, he walked towards the smaller living quarters the belonged to his assistant captain. Gin stood outside for a moment, listening intently to what sort of noise may be coming from the inside of said room. He imagined that perhaps he might have heard low breathing, snuffling, or maybe snoring, but in reality, he knew that Izuru made no noise while he slept, expect sometimes murmuring quiet words if he was dreaming particularly vividly.
Gin rapped his bony knuckles against the hard wooden door frame and called semi-quietly, with his head tilted towards the sliding door, "Naa, Izuru. Wake up. C'mon, wake up you sleepy head." Izuru was a relatively light sleeper, this would definitely be enough to wake him.

And indeed this time, Gin did indeed hear snuffling and a quiet moan from inside, as Izuru no doubt roused himself to get up and greet his captain. Gin listened happily as he waited, hearing sounds of rustling covers, then quiet padding footsteps coming towards the door, stopping just inside.

It slid open right next to Gin's ear, making a familiar sound, and was pulled back to reveal Gin's blond assistant captain looking bleary and rubbing sleep from his light colored eyes, wearing a yukata similar to Gin's own.

"Um. Excuse me, Taichou, what is the matter?" He said in a voice thick with sleep.

Gin frowned at him and said with a serious face, "I've got a serious problem, Izuru. It's urgent."

As the words reached Izuru's brain, he automatically straightened up slightly and said, the sleepiness from his voice fading with every word, "What is it, sir? What happened?"
Gin laughed on the inside for a moment, taking the time to just indulge in ho adorable his assistant captain looked at that very moment. Then he smirked and said, " 'S horrible. Terrible, and I don't know what to do..." He stood silently for a moment, relishing the concerned look on Izuru's face. "... I can't sleep a wink."

Izuru stared at his captain for a moment before hitching his face into a look of slight exasperation. "Sir, you felt the need to wake me in the middle of the night to tell me this?" He sighed. "I'm sorry, Taichou. I don't thin I can help much with that. Might I recommend a calming cup of tea? Or… something of the sort." He slumped and started to turn back towards his bed, his eyes already drooping shut again.

"Wait," Gin said, his fingers reaching out to clutch at the fabric of Izuru's sleeve. "Come with me, Izuru. Just fer a minute?" Izuru looked into his captain's face and gave him a slightly wry look. "Please?" Gin made his best face to convince his little toy. It always worked.

Izuru considered for a moment and then sagged his shoulders in a defeated way. "Fine. I mean, of course, Taichou. But then afterwards I am going back to bed."

Victoriously, Gin lead Izuru towards the end of the hall, back towards his room, and opened the door for them. He strode with Izuru at his side, through the main area and then opened a second door that lead out onto a private patio with a wooden railing which overlooked a small expanse of trees, and below, a koi pond. The whole scene was completed by the full moon, shining brightly on such a cloudless night, and a light breeze the ruffled the nearest trees, creating a shushing noise reminiscent of whispering, almost like the two shinigami being there alone was a sort of secret.

Closing the door behind them again, Gin walked more slowly over to the rail, and smiled at Izuru. "What d'ya think, Izuru? Nice, isn't it?"

Izuru didn't respond for a moment; he opened his mouth and left it like that for a couple seconds before saying quietly, "I never even knew this was here!" with an edge of surprise to his voice. "It's very... pretty." A small hint of blush graced his cheek for a moment.

"Bein' a captain does have its perks," Gin agreed, his perpetual grin in place on his face, as he studied the shorter man's face out of the corner of his mostly-closed eyes. "I normally just come here by myself when I can't sleep, but t'night I wanted some company. I was lonely." He continued smiling.

Izuru cast his river-colored eyes down and looked away slightly, and his light blond, practically see-through eyebrows were so long that they touched his cheek.

There was silence for a moment and then Izuru murmured. "I don't really mind, taichou."

"Tha's great. Then, would ya mind staying fer a little bit more?" Gin stepped closer to Izuru and gently placed his left arm over Izuru's shoulder. The blond's eyes closed entirely, and he leaned automatically into the embrace.

This was where things were right, Izuru thought; and at that moment it felt as if nothing could change the serenity of the scene, nothing could interrupt the smooth touch of silk against silk masking the skin beneath it, willing to escape and come into contact with one another.

Izuru's slim and trim body was pressing lightly against Gin's more solid, muscular one, and Izuru could feel Gin's index finger oh-so gently tracing small circles on his shoulder with the arm wrapped around it. It felt very nice, he thought, and was entirely content to just stay like that for quite some time. He was glad Gin had woken him up, if this was what it was for.

"Of course I'll stay, taichou."