unrelenting_rhapsody | Sometimes when you live oddly enough

Entry tags:

chiaki au,
rp

Sometimes when you live oddly enough

Who: Gokudera, Uri, and Yamamoto. Hibari guest star.
When: Just after the TYL arc
What: Everyone needs a little quiet time to internalize and comprehend all that happened in the future. Taking the time to do so is another thing all together though.

She sat atop the kitchen counter, staring down at the belligerent little cat that had come back with her from the future. "Look, I'm fucking sorry you're named melon alright? I froze and asked Tsuna!" SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!

Anyway. "Seriously, I'm not into sticking semi-living shit in boxes so you can stop glaring at me alright?" At least she assumed it was a glare, she wasn't exactly conversant with feline facial expressions. Who the fuck made a cat with scaled portions as a weapon? CATS DIDN'T LISTEN FOR SHIT.

Granted, she kinda liked that about the mostly-fuzzy thing. Fucked up huh?

Granted, Uri could also want some of the food sitting on the bowl on her knee. She'd only been picking at her meal, brain still churning a mile a minute from their trip. "Do you even need to eat?" Eh, what the fuck, it wasn't like she was going to finish it. She slid from the counter and set the bowl on the floor, hissing at the pull of cuts and bruises.

Proof they hadn't all been hallucinating right? Wounds didn't disappear just because they came home. Also? The future sucked and she didn't want to hear the people she cared about scream like that ever again.

Fuck. Torture. It was almost enough to make her regret being a delinquent Guardian. Almost. Fucked if she'd admit that though.

She didn't want to dream; that was probably why she hadn't slept. She hadn't slept for most the time they'd been in the future admittedly. Pushing past limits had been necessary; exhaustion also ensured a few hours of dreamless sleep. She'd learned that trick long ago.

"YOU LOOK LIKE SHIT!" Shamal yelped as he came in the door to see her spacing out in the short hallway. "Hold still!" His fingers were steady as they reached for dirt smudged bandages, it was a weird contrast to the worried expression he wore. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing much," she admitted in a slow drawl. "Just...been gone a while."

"All night," Shamal agreed. "I was checking alleys." And hospitals.

Oh, yeah. Time travel. "You know what..OUCH FUCK STOP THAT IT'S ATTACHED! Take it up with Reborn okay? He can fucking explain. Just give me the damn cream and stop poking my ribs!" They hurt like no one's business when he did that! Seriously, as long as no one was touching her injuries they could be ignored? Just...fuck. Ow. If Uri was a REAL weapon the damn cat would have been chewing on the doctor by now.

Instead the damn cat was still in the kitchen, polishing off rice and fish. Feh. Pets.

"These are burns, Chiaki," Shamal noted seriously as he peeled one of her sleeves back. "When did you get electrocuted? Take it all off, now, you need better tending than whatever you decided was 'fine'." Burns and breaks and bruises? Yeah. A lot better tending.

"You fuss too much," she growled, fingers spasming as leather peeled away from what had been salved burns. When the fuck had they dried out? Oh, right, probably some time in the week of training and advanced FUCKING WAR GAMES. "And it's GOKUDERA."

"Someone has to," Shamal pushed two fingers firmly against her collarbone and watched as she wavered on her feet, only the knowledge that leaning back against the wall would hurt worse kept her on her feet. "Don't move." He needed a better kit for this.

Don't move...like she had much choice at the moment with her jacket mostly off and her head swimming from his poking. Cruel, twisted fucker. Had he ever bullied Bianchi like this? She'd have to remember to ask some time, though based on how the pair acted around each other she was guessing he hadn't been a frequent visitor in the family home.

If Shamal was related at all. She was starting to have her suspicions. Fucked if she'd kick the old man out though, he did alright for an Uncle. Fuck, she was more tired than she thought if she was thinking that! "There's a cat in the kitchen," Shamal noted when he got back.

"Her name is Uri," Dera allowed, closing her eyes so she wouldn't wince away from the care Shamal had to do. She hated wincing. "She's mine."

"....ooookay then." that was new and unexpected from his voice.

"What?"

"It just seems..."

"I can have normal shit you know. A pet is fucking normal, even if Uri's not." She cracked an eye open to glare at him, not amused with where she assumed this was going. "She's a fucking construct. Don't try to mess with her too much it could damage her." Or something.

"Of course you can," Shamal agreed instead. "I think a pet is a good step, makes you more approachable you know?" His hands were working steadily but she had the sneaking suspicion he was grinning at her.

"Right...getting rid of the cat."

"No no no! C'mon, you can do SO MUCH BETTER than the baseball player! A kitten, learning to cuddle, maybe dress a little cuter..."

Yes, this was going EXACTLY where she thought it was. At least he was acting normal? She'd start to worry if he kept acting all worried and concerned and shit. That would mean she'd have to accept the injuries were worse than she was trying to play off. "That bullshit is a waste of time. Plus, really, do you want to be blamed if Yama ever gets jealous?" A natural born assassin? That would just be dumb.

Shamal snorted and taped a new bandage along an arm, amused at the thought, "It'd do him good, set him in his place if he suddenly he had to work for things."

"You're an idiot."

"And you should sleep. Want a pill?"

Shit, he was back to serious. "No. I'll figure it out." The only thing worse than sleeping and dreaming right now? Would be sleeping, dreaming, and not being able to wake up. "I know some tricks."

"Be careful, I only have one niece and no one wants to see the things I'd do if she died on me."

"It'd do you good," she snorted, pushing past him carefully so she could drop her jacket in the sink. It needed to soak and then get re-oiled...later. When she was back. She knew some tricks for bad nights, sure.

Her mom had shown her.

Fucked if she'd build a pillow fort here for him to laugh at though. It wasn't an uncle thing...it was a her thing. And her mother's thing. She had a couple of blankets in her closet that she didn't pull out often. One was a dark blue with holes neatly punched in it. Drape that over a lamp and suddenly there were stars...her mom's idea again. Another few were small, soft things left over.

Making a bundle of them was easy. Remembering not to toss it over a shoulder? That was hard. And she failed at it of course, "URI C'MON WE'RE LEAVING." she shouted instead of screaming. Ouch. For once the new cat listened, bounding out of the kitchen and hopping up to sink claws into the top of the blanket pack. Lazy little bitch.

Right.

She didn't look at Shamal as she headed out the door, she didn't want to see the look on his face or the calculation. She knew one of his bag of tricks was a sleeping sickness. She'd kill him if he sent a bug chasing her. Yes, anyway, where to?

The only place that made sense these days. The school was closed, naturally, but it was never hard to get over the fence and inside when someone really wanted to...and she wanted to. The Drama Club always had spare props she could dig through, and it only took a few trips to drag the cushions up to the roof.

There, a damn fort. The star blanket looked just as good with sun shining through it from above as with lamplight, and the softer pieces were nice on her stomach where she wasn't bandaged. The only problem was going to be getting a crick in her neck because damned if she'd lay on her back. Uri sprawled out in a patch of sunlight past the blankets and cushions, acting for all the world like a real cat.

Well then.

Sure, it wasn't sleeping? But it was relaxing wasn't it? It was closer than most would expect from her.

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She'd have smacked the back of his head if he did laugh! HONEST! "I've got a fucking fort. It's a thing that's suppose to help me rest without Shamal drugging me alright? School can deal. Or I'll finally manage to nap and then Hibari will come around..." It was kind of like setting an alarm!

"I'm using your shirts as a towel, it's not like you fucking need them." And washing his back with her bottle of peroxide would drip!

"I'm gonna need them eventually." But he didn't say anything else to stop her, too busy taking her up on the offer to use the blanket fort. Inside, it was a lot cooler than it looked from the outside. "Huh."

"For what?" she laughed, settling in behind him and getting a good long look at his back. Oh. Fucker. She wasn't sure who to be more angry at, Yama or Gamma. Not like being angry would HELP right now but fuck. "Did you have anyone help you with these in the week before we got back?" During any of that training?!

Maybe she should be pissed at his basketcase of a tutor in the Varia?

HOW ABOUT ALL THREE?!

"To wear?" Somebody would probably notice him walking around town without a shirt, even on a Sunday.

He didn't flinch away from her question, but he did look properly chastened. "We were sort of busy?" It had hurt, but everything had hurt by the time he was done with Squalo, so he hadn't really thought about it.

"Heh," she noted. "You're fine without." HE WAS OKAY?! Besides they'd just assume she was rubbing on him or something.

...

...

SHIT. "This'll really hurt you idiot." She should strangle Squalo with his own hair for this. She really should. Well, no reason to hesitate, the sooner she got his back cleaned the sooner she could get salve on his back.

At least it wasn't rubbing alcohol?

That was neither a stupid grin not a slight blush to his cheeks from that comment. Nope. No such thing.

She wasn't lying, though. It hurt, and he hissed through clenched teeth when she started. Just the once, though. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it had when the scars got put there, after all.

At least she was efficient? She didn't rush, but she didn't have to go back and reclean any wounds before she switched over to the salve and bandaging. Granted, the muttered swear words had started about the third or fourth dab because...it was just easier to be angry about the marks on him than on her?

"Burns scar like a bitch," she noted finally. "It'll fuck over your batting if not taken care of alright?" Because maybe then he'd listen?

His laugh was strained but there. "That's why I've gotta keep in practice, you know? Need to keep them from tightening up."

"No," she snorted, smacking the back of his head lightly, "you need to fucking keep them from being bad scars." A bit of prevention went miles alright?

She wove her fingers into his hair and pulled his head back so she could look at him, more worried than angry now honestly, "the fuck are you seriously thinking Takeshi?"

That he kind of wanted her to keep doing that? Not admitting it, not even a little bit, but he was definitely thinking it. "Don't you ever worry about being ready?"

"We are ready. We run every night and we train like fucking machines," she noted. They were ready, and when they ran into things beyond them? They worked harder. "But I kinda want you to fucking live past the age of eighteen." JUST SAYING.

And hey, his hair was a part of him she could touch without hurting him right now! "Sure there'll be surprise shit but we'll manage even if we take a few fucking hours now and then to catch our breath. Just...every now and then."

She was talking to the kid who tried to kill himself over baseball. This was a million times more important. He was never going to think he was really ready, even if he put a good face on it and said otherwise. He'd keep training and pushing himself because there was too much they needed to protect.

So he went with the safest part to answer and grinned at her. "You want me to live past eighteen?"

Yeah, well, repetition could sink in eventually? And yes, this was important, this life needed him and shit, but HE WAS IMPORTANT TOO. She rested her forehead against his head gently and scowled. "Of course. And nineteen and twenty and certainly past fucking twenty four..." Longer than they'd caught glimpses of ten years later.

It was a terrible idea and he had no idea why he'd even thought it, let alone why he was going through with it, but she was right there, and she was honestly worried about him, and he just sort of wanted her to stop being so upset.

And he could only really think of one good way to manage that at the moment.

So he tilted his head the rest of the way and kissed her.

Kissing as a way to mollify her? Huh, yeah, that was a new tactic. She froze for a moment trying to figure out if this was somehow an acceptable turn of events because what the fuck?

Just...what the fuck?

It was kinda nice though. Her fingers slipped from his hair to tease gently along his ear because, well, this was a kiss. It was...kinda nice.

"Doesn't mean I'm done worrying about you," she growled softly.

Well, now that he knew that it worked, he was going to try to take advantage of it more often. At least, whenever he felt safe getting this close to her in the middle of an argument. So maybe half the time.

She could growl all she wanted right now, though, because he was grinning like a complete idiot. He couldn't imagine ever being upset again. "Of course not."

She'd be angry (and kinda hurt) if she learned this new development was just used to defuse tense situations! Granted, she was likely to already be angry so, yeah, recursive logic there!

"What are you grinning about idiot?" she asked at last. "It looks weird from this close up." not that she was backing away or anything.

It wasn't JUST to defuse tense situations... but hey, if that ended up being a good use for it, who was he to argue?

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to make him stop grinning. "I could kiss you again, then you wouldn't have to look at it?"

"You're quite the negotiator Guardian," she laughed, not really minding that offer in the least oddly enough! "I may have to say yes." And hey, she had known he wouldn't need those shirts back!

And hey, kissing was more restful than baseball in this instance? "I did promise Shamal I'd try to fucking rest at some point...but after this."

Edited 2014-01-06 00:07 (UTC)

A laugh! Success! "Guess I'm learning something, then."

The mention of Shamal did dim things a bit, but only a very small bit. "He's really gonna kill me now. At least it's for a good reason."

It was hard not to laugh with him sometimes okay?! "Never what people expect you to learn though. You're a twisty bastard you know..." and that was a compliment coming from her?

Hmmm. "Are you going to tell him we've been kissing?" she teased, kissing the corner of his mouth before finally letting her hand drop to her side. "I don't intend to, he'll want to rant at me and tell me about all the reasons not to kiss people..."

"I learn plenty that people expect me to learn!" When he felt like it, anyway. "Like that last homework. I learned that!"

For some definition of 'learn' that leaned more toward 'copied enough to make do.'

"Who's telling him anything?" He shifted away, trying to make it look casual. "He's scarier than you about just knowing things. Probably has one of his mosquitoes tracking us right now, huh?" He mostly just wanted to get a reaction out of her, but now that he'd said it... actually...

"You pretend when it suits you," she countered cheerfully, tracing fingers over his fresh bandaging to make sure it was secure before leaning sideways on her blankets.

"Likely he does, but it's weird. He can't rant at me without verbal confirmation or he'll have to deal with how miserable I can make his life." She assumed he tracked her nine days out of ten honestly, and she was willing to bet it gave him more heart attacks than relief each day! "I'll tell him eventually, if it's a recurring thing."

He laughed, both happy to see her more relaxed and embarrassed that she called him out so easily. It hadn't been that easy before getting sent to the future. They'd been friends, sort of, the way any people who weren't good at having real friends could be, and they'd trusted each other more than just about anyone, but something had changed in the future. He wasn't entirely sure what, but he liked it.

"If?" He glanced at her, eyebrows raised. "Just if?"

"I"m scientifically minded," she noted, almost amused. She...couldn't pinpoint what changed either really? Except...she hadn't liked what she'd seen of the future and he'd had the gall to stand up to her and demand she rely on someone besides herself.

That was new. She liked that honestly and she was betting it was one in many small things that made them different from the future versions. "That means I have to achieve the same results under a variety of conditions before I can consider it proven fact in my life." Teasing? Maybe a little.

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