Prompt: Three little words
Requester: the_arizzle
Pairing: Jiraiya x Tsunade
Rating: T
Word Count: 323
They were just three little words. Three simple little words, not more than a single syllable each, and yet somehow she couldn't bring herself to say them. After all this time, it would be a severe blow to her pride, and Tsunade did not deal well with humiliation.
There was no way to say it without making an admission, no way to remain dignified or keep herself from looking vulnerable and more than a little silly. She was the Hokage, after all, and someone of her status simply did not need to say such things.
She sighed. She was getting old, and even if she didn't look it, she was starting to feel it more and more. But was she really growing so weak that those three little words had somehow become necessary?
No. That was ridiculous. She was perfectly fine just the way she was, and if she acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, hopefully everyone would just go about their business and everything would just go on as usual—
"You planning on staying down there all night?"
She turned her head just slightly and cracked one eye, her alcohol-bleared gaze focusing (with difficulty) on the familiar face above her, smiling down at her with that eternally impish grin. Fighting back a smile of her own, she bit back her pride and finally gave in:
"Help me up," she grumbled.
Jiraiya offered her his hand without even a flicker of hesitation, and she placed her smaller, carefully manicured, but no less-strong hand in his warm, calloused one, allowing him to pull her back up onto the bench she'd somehow slipped off of in the midst of her sake-induced stupor.
And if he held onto her hand for a little longer than necessary, and if the redness across her cheekbones wasn't totally alcohol-related anymore, and if their knees happened to bump under the table, neither seemed to pay it any mind.