Sparks by: Rose
He smelled like carbon and metal. The scent of smoke was a part of him, just like his long blond hair. He was sleeping on the couch his back facing the young woman who stepped into the garage. There was a time when she hated coming in here. The smells of all the materials he used for his art would leave a bitter taste in her mouth. Now it just reminds her of him. His work bench was a mess, which means he probably was up all night again. Whatever he was working on was covered in a sheet. She was tempted to take a peak but knew better.
She walk over and started to shake him. "You're gonna be late if you don't get up." He rolls onto his back and blinks up at her. "You have to finish the prep for AE today, remember?" He sighed and sat up.
"Yeah, I remember, un." he looked lost in thought, it was like he still wasn't fully awake. He has had that look in his eyes for a few days now and to be honest she was beginning to worry. It must have shown on her face because he smiled at her. "Everything's fine so don't worry, yeah?"
She smiled brightly at him, "Yeah." He licked his lips and quickly stood up; Giving her a quick kiss on her forehead before going into the house to get ready. Giving the sheet one last glance she followed him into the house. "Might as well grab something to eat while I wait."
Singing echoed down the hallway as Julia made her way to the kitchen. As she set some eggs boiling she listened to Deidara sing in the shower. He was singing one of the theme songs from the ninja anime they started watching a few months ago. She couldn't help but smile. With the eggs set to boil she looked around for the brownies; he always had some in the cabinet for when she came over.
"Found them! I don't know why he doesn't keep them in the same spot." a feeling a bliss spread over her when she saw that they were chocolate chip. "Just what I was craving." Happily munching on the brownies, she didn't notice when Deidara stepped into the room until she heard him chuckle.
She stuffed the rest of the brownie she was holding in her mouth and put the rest away before looking at him. He looked so sexy standing there in only a towel, his hair down, bangs dripping slightly. Her eyes followed some drops of water as they rolled down the tattoo on his chest and to the towel that was low on his waist.
"Like what you see, yeah?" she felt incredibly embarrassed but that didn't stop her from nodding her head. With a smirk on his face he walked over and gave her a kiss on the lips before walking out the kitchen to put some clothes on. She felt a bit disappointed because she wanted to check him out some more. She also wanted a longer kiss.
They'd been dating for almost a year now and she still wasn't used to his random acts of affection. The eggs where done cooking so she put them under some cold water and carefully peeled them. Once done she put them in a bowl.
Before she could put the bowl down Deidara came back and took the bowl from her. He ate each one in two bites. "Time to go." he said happily as he grabbed Julia's hand and they left. His hand was warm, the skin felt rough and was covered with various burns.
At some point this routine had become normal. Every weekend she would walk to his house to wake him up and make him breakfast. Then he'd take her hand and bring her to the 'AE' gallery where she'd watch him work. Sometimes he would even let her help mold the clay that he would later fill with explosives for the 'Sunday Explosion'.
Julia was in love with 'Sunday Explosion'. It was a special art show Dei would have on the last Sunday of the month. The gallery had an outdoor stage especially made to withstand his exploding art. Every performance was unique.
Last month's show was beautiful. He made small clay balls filled with paint that he threw at a huge canvas on stage. Each ball exploded just seconds before hitting the canvas covering it in streaks of paint. The canvas was covered in different splatters of color. Once he used up all his clay bombs he set the corner of the canvas on fire. The flame spread across the canvas in the shape of a flock of birds that appeared to fly across the canvas and into the sky before the whole piece was swallowed up by the flames and became a pile of ash.
"Art is an explosion! It's true beauty only lasts for a moment." was how he always described his work. She loved how passionate he was when he went on his art rants and thoroughly enjoyed listening to them.
When they reached 'AE' Julia was surprised to see Ino waiting outside. Deidara and Ino shared a weird look for moment but before she could question it, Ino pulled the young woman into a hug. "I've missed you! We should hang out today." Okay, something was off because they'd just spent yesterday watching a swimming anime together. "Please… I'm sure nii-san won't mind."
With some reluctance she agreed because it was obvious Deidara was hiding something and asked for his sister to provide a distraction. She didn't let herself worry too much because if it was something bad he would be avoiding her. He only asked Ino to distract her for surprises. Maybe it had something to do with her birthday; it was tomorrow and now that she was thinking about it, she remembered it was also their anniversary.
"We should go to the mall!" oh my god I can't believe I forgot our anniversary. After giving Dei a kiss on the cheek she quickly dragged Ino away. What was she supposed to get for him? On his birthday she tried to bake him a cake but it somehow exploded in his oven. Not surprisingly he enjoyed watching it explode; he even said she had made a good piece of art. She still felt all giddy about it.
"Ino… what should I buy for Dei?" Ino Gave her a devious smile. Seeing the blond get all excited filled her with anxiety. Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut. Ino took out her phone and started to text someone. "Who are you texting?"
"You'll see when we get there. We are gonna have so much fun." Ino linked their arms together and guided Julia down a street she didn't recognize. With a sigh she gave into Ino's whims, after all how could she resist when the blond looked so happy.
After walking a few blocks she saw Hinata standing outside of a store called 'MoonLit Goodies' the store windows had red and black striped curtains that hid the interior from view.
"I'm so glad you could come Hina. It'll be way more fun with the three of us." Julia took a moment to study Hinata's face, she was redder than a tomato. Maybe that's what attracted Sasuke, she did remember Sakura saying he liked tomatoes.
Once they stepped into the store she knew why Hinata was red and speechless. It was a lingerie store, there was sexy clothes everywhere. Ino walked straight to the store clerk while Hinata partly hid herself behind Julia.
"Hey Rose, are we allowed to try on the clothes here?"
"Not the panties but everything else is fine. If you want I can help you pick out stuff." Rose gave them a bright smile. "I know which ones are the most comfortable."
After getting over the initial shock Julia quickly pulled Rose into a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever. How have you been?"
Rose giggled "I'm doing well. Are you here to buy something to wear for your boyfriend?"
"Yes she is. Tomorrow's their anniversary and a cute nightgown would be good to show him some love."
"I wanna buy something n-nice as well." Ino's eyes sparkled in excitement she hugged the shy girl.
"So lets get somethings for you girls to try on."
At first Julia felt nervous but after trying various things on with the girls she began to feel more confident. She wasn't sure if she'd be showing her new sets to Deidara but she liked the idea of wearing them under her clothes. They made her feel sexy and confident and she liked the way it felt.
"Jewels, come here! look they have fuzzy handcuffs." Ino excitedly dangeled the handcuffs in front of Julia. "These could be fun to play with."
"I don't think that a good idea Ino." she wouldn't admit it out load but she did kind of agree.
"Do the have purple ones?" The two women stared at Hinata in shock. "I like to experiment sometimes." the pale eyed girl mumbled with pink cheeks.
"We have them in several different colors, I'll go get them from the back for you." Rose happily replied. The girls payed for their things and left.
"You girls should sleep over at my place, we can watch movies and eat some snacks." Ino was already planning the event in her head.
"uuummmm…. I'm sorry but I can't, Sasuke and I have plans for tonight." Hinata waved goodbye and started to head home.
"I guess that leaves me and you, Jewels." Julia was about to decline when Ino's phone began to ring. "One Minute." It was a text and as soon as Ino read it, her face lit up. "How about we hang out tomorrow instead?"
"Let me guess, Kiba wants to hang out?"
"Yeah but I can turn him down if you want."
"No it's fine. I wanted to go home and work on a drawing for Dei anyway."
"That's a good idea. Nii-san probably doesn't say it but I know he likes you art. Let's meet up in the afternoon to hang out and then we can go to the show together."
"Sounds like a plan I'll see you tomorrow." the girls hugged each other and went their separate ways.
The next day Julia was tired. She spent the whole night on her drawing of Deidara with mouths on his palms. She wanted to make it look like the tongues could come out and lick you. She had gotten the idea when she thought about the mouth tattoos on his hands. He told her he got them because he felt like they were real in a past life. Unfortunately the tattoos didn't come out as life like as he wanted. That was why she wanted his portrait to look as if it was alive. In the end she was pretty satisfied with it.
Her afternoon was spent with Ino trying to find something cute to wear for the show. Surprisingly she felt beautiful in the outfit Ino put her in.
On their way to 'AE' they met up with Hinata and Sasuke. Both Ino and Julia noticed something purple around his wrists. He tried to hide it by keeping his hands in his pockes. Hinata noticed them staring and whispered "I lost the key."
The girls started giggling and Sasuke walked ahead of them. His ears were red and they noticed a few kiss marks peaking out from under the collar of his shirt.
"So is that Dei's present Julia?" Julia gave Hinata a big smile. she framed the picture and used Akasuki wrapping paper.
"I spent all night working on it." the smile Hinata gave her caused her to feel excited about the gift for him.
The group made their way to the stage. There was two long, tall poles on each side of the stage with wires all way on top. They resembled telephone poles. Each wire had different colored orbs evenly spaced apart going across them.
Around them some people had some fold out chairs but most sat on blankets layed out around the field. The shows tended to play out in the sky so most people brought blankets to they lay down comfortably and watch.
While she admired the set up she had gotten separated from her group. She didn't feel herself panic like usual instead she looked around for the spot Deidara usually reserved for her. She wasn't worried about Ino since the girl probably wondered off in search of Kiba and Hinata was fine with Sasuke. She found the Akasuki blanket on the left side of the field and a safe distance away from the stage. Getting herself comfortable she waited patiently for the show to begin.
"Ready for the show, un?" He looked handsome dressed up in the ninja getup that he'd become obsessed with. The crowd cheered and his smile grew with all the attention. "Let's get this stared already." He walked over to one of the poles, made his signature hand signs then flipped a switch. After that he disappeared.
Before anyone could look around a loud pop noise echoed throughout the field. Red sparks began to rain down from one of the orbs on the wire. Then another one popped this time they were black sparks. The black mixed with the red. Every few seconds another orb popped each one a different color. The spark's all blended together making it appear to be a waterfall of sparks. the whole area smelled like metal and carbon but no one seemed to mind. Occasionally one of the orbs would throw sparks into the air that formed words.
"I - Love - You - Julia." She felt her self tear up as she read the words out loud. Arms wrapped around her from behind and Deidara slowly pulled her on to his lap.
He whispered in her ear, "Happy anniversary, Jewels, and a Happy Birthday too." the tears rolled down her cheek and she was grinning like an idiot. "You like your present, yeah?"
"I love it. I got one for you too." the spark's where starting to stop and the waterfall was shrinking so she turned around and buried her face in his chest the smell of smoke was comforting. He kissed her head with a goofy smile on his face.
"Can I have it now,hm?" She just nodded and picked up the gift and handed it to him. He ripped the wrapping paper off and stared at the picture. She began to fidget worried that he didn't like it. "This is a good looking guy. His hands feel like they'll bite me if I get to close. hm"
They both started laughing. Thinking about the sparks she said "I Love You Too, Deidara" then gave him a kiss; the one she craved since the previous morning. Deidara was happy to participate.
"You should come to my place tonight, yeah?"
"I should" she agreed.
The waterfall died out and everyone began to leave. Soon the couple was left alone under the moonlight, looking forward to many more anniversaries.