Over the course of the next 2 weeks, Deidara learns when it's best to ask questions and when not to. He spends most of the day cleaning, cooking, and washing various items throughout this large castle. Although dirty work is never fun, exploring the vast castle is always entertaining. In his free time, he curls up on his bed with his art book, perusing through the pictures and reading up on different forms of art.
Sasori yells at him sometimes, and other times, he speaks in a gentler, more calm tone. There's often a hint of strain or tension in his voice, even when he is calm however. When Sasori isn't away from the castle, he busies himself with creating weapons that he keeps in his armory or carving structures from wood. He's actually quite skilled at woodcarving, which is something that caught Deidara's immediate attention and interest.
Deidara decided to ask Sasori about it one day, when he seemed to not be in such an angry mood. "What are you making master?"
"Oh this?" Sasori lifts up an intricate wooden arm from his crafting table, inspecting it and allowing Deidara to get a closer look, "I like to construct puppets and mannequins. Haven't you seen some of my art in the armory?"
"Yes master. I saw a few puppets there, I never knew you handcrafted them," Deidara admits.
"It's my favorite form of art," Sasori admits. Deidara feels special, knowing this piece of information – it's like Sasori is slowly giving out parts of himself to Deidara, but the puzzle is still out of focus, Deidara still needs more pieces. "It helps me forget."
"Forget what?" Deidara inquires.
Sasori gives him a quirky sort of smile, and something stirs inside of Deidara – he's never seen Sasori smile like that before, it's quite nice. "I guess it worked," Sasori jokes. It takes Deidara a minute to remember what they were talking about, that smile of his left Deidara's mind blank for a moment.
Deidara chuckles a little and Sasori smiles to himself before turning back to his work. Deidara also goes back to mopping the floor, but in the back of his mind, he wonders what it is Sasori is trying to forget.
Did something tragic happen in his past? Is that why he lives alone, up in the mountain, far from civilization? Is that why he's carefully locked his heart away, and protected it with anger and coldness towards the world?
Perhaps in time, Deidara will slowly find out more about Sasori.
…
Some days are easier than others for Deidara. He gets miserably lonely in the castle when Sasori isn't around, and his mind naturally wanders off towards his village – how is Kuro doing? Is Onoki still the leader? Is his mother still grieving over his absence? These questions swim unpleasantly through his mind and he frequently breaks down in various locations around the castle and sobs until his soul feels clear again.
As time passes, these thoughts come to him less often, and when they do, he doesn't break down in tears as much anymore. His fortitude becomes stronger everyday as he reminds himself that he's cleaning this bathtub for his family, or that he's hanging the laundry for the safety of his village.
By now, he's read his art book several times through, and he wishes he could have grabbed more books to peruse through in his free time. He found some nice earthy clay in Sasori's garden that he often likes to mold into creatures, the way he did when he was a child. He's afraid of what Sasori might say if he finds him 'slacking off' though, so he always destroys his creations, just like he did back home.
The garden is certainly one of his most treasured places to be in Sasori's grand estate. The flowers always smell so wonderful and delicate, and the sunlight hits the trees with such grace, sometimes Deidara wonders if he's died and gone to heaven. He could spend hours perusing through the multitude of flowers and bushes, admiring all of nature's beauty. He rarely sees Sasori go out to the garden, but when he does, Deidara can see the faintest of smiles shadowing across Sasori's face, proving that the power of pure natural beauty has no adversary.
Sasori is a very quiet, diligent man, Deidara has discovered. When he isn't griping and yelling about something, he's usually silent, in a somber, almost glum sort of perpetual state. Deidara often wants to ask him what's wrong, but he holds his tongue, and lets the silence carry on between them.
One morning, about a month and a half after Deidara's initial arrival, Sasori is sitting at the table and looking to be in good spirits. "You look happy today," Deidara notes, watching his master use magic to twirl his fork around in the air.
"Yes, I have a meeting with someone at the port city today," Sasori explains. Deidara is about to ask why this would make someone happy, when Sasori adds, "would you like to tag along with me?"
Deidara can't believe his ears, "You want me to come with you?"
"It's about time you get out of the castle I think. This city has some of the best seafood I've ever tasted, since they live by the ocean. Besides, I require your help," Sasori says, letting his fork glide back to the table gently.
"Sure un! I'd love to come, thank you master," Deidara says gratefully. He's been cooped up in this castle for a while now, so he's eager to stretch out his feet.
….
Sasori uses magic to fly them down the mountain, where a horse and carriage await them. Deidara is shocked to see the wooden carriage tied to the horse, "We aren't going to just ride the horse there?"
"You'll see, impatient brat," Sasori mutters, although not irately.
He opens the carriage door to reveal two seats, one stacked with Sasori's handcrafted weapons. Swords, bows, arrows, axes, and other types of weaponry stack up in the seat. Sasori leads Deidara into the carriage and explains, "this is why I need your help, I'd like you to help carry some of these weapons into the city with me. We're meeting with an elected official, and making a deal with him."
"What are you trading these weapons for?" Deidara asks.
Sasori doesn't answer him, he simply closes the door on Deidara and hops onto the horse, leading the way. Well, at least Sasori didn't yell at Deidara…in some ways, it's quite an improvement.
….
The ride to this port city is long and arduous – the carriage rolls over several bumps and potholes along the way, causing Deidara to jumble around in his seat. He feels somewhat sick of the ride and is about to flag Sasori to slow down or stop for a break, when the carriage suddenly stops moving all together. Deidara peeks out the window to see that they've arrived in a bustling street, filled with people, horses, and lots of tall, lavish buildings.
Sasori ties his horse up and fetches Deidara from within the carriage, "You okay? I know it's a bumpy ride."
"I'm okay," Deidara says, startled that Sasori cares about his well being. "The fresh air will do me some good un."
"Yes," Sasori leads Deidara away from the carriage, "we'll leave it be for now, let's fill our bellies before our meeting with Kisame. I'm starved."
"Kisame?"
"He's the lord who we'll be making our deal with today. Now, do you prefer salmon or cod?" Sasori asks, walking towards a restaurant.
"I've never had either," Deidara admits. Fish was always a difficult commodity to come by where he lived.
"Then let's try both, shall we?" Sasori asks, giving Deidara a rare smile. Deidara nods, feeling his cheeks grow warm. Sasori's smile is like the sun, and it somehow makes Deidara's head spin a little bit.
….
Sasori treats Deidara to dishes he's never even heard of before – rice with raw fish on top that they call 'sushi,' and baked salmon with the most wonderful sauce he's ever tried in his life. Sasori uses his notoriety in his favor to boss the waiters around and to make sure the meal and the overall experience is perfect. Deidara feels a little bad for the waiters he's ordering around, but then he notices the large pile of coins that Sasori leaves behind, and he doesn't quite feel so sorry for them anymore.
After their meal, they walk back to Sasori's carriage and Sasori pulls out a few weapons for himself and Deidara to carry. "Be careful with these brat, the handles on those swords were hand crafted by myself," Sasori commands, a hint of displeasure and distrust in his voice.
Deidara tucks them under his arm safely, "of course master."
Sasori leads them in through the double doors of one of the larger buildings, not even bothering to knock. Apparently Sasori doesn't feel the need to knock to let his presence known. He pushes his hand forward and the door at the end of the hall bursts open, revealing a room with two men sitting at a table.
"Well, hello there Sasori," the taller of the two men speaks first. It seems he's the one in charge, as he sits at the head of the table, and exudes confidence and power. Deidara notes that his teeth are quite pointy, and his eyes are squinty – he almost looks like a fish.
"Kisame," Sasori greets, lying his weapons out on the table. He snaps at Deidara and so Deidara follows suit, laying out his weapons gently on the wooden surface.
"I'll have my servant fetch us some drinks," Kisame indicates the other man sitting next to him, who gets up and rushes to the door. "Who is this young man you've brought along?"
"I got myself a servant boy too," Sasori explains. Deidara is standing behind Sasori, unsure what to do or say. Sasori takes a seat and pulls out a chair for Deidara, and so he sits, still feeling awkward.
"I see," Kisame looks over at Deidara, "does he order you around all day long? Is he ever nice, or does he simply yell at you constantly?"
"Um," Deidara doesn't know what to say to that – it's true that Sasori's temper gets out of control quite often, but he can also be courteous – like with taking Deidara out for seafood that afternoon.
It seems that Kisame already knows the answer though, because he tilts his head back and gives a bark of a laugh, "Oh Sasori, you've got your errand boy flat out scared to the bone!" Kisame's servant returns with their drinks, which he lays out on the table for the three of them. Deidara is surprised to see that he's been given a glass of wine too. Kisame takes a sip and then continues, "do you know why they call him Sasori the Red?"
Deidara perks up slightly, "No sir," he admits.
"Sir!?" Kisame cackles madly again, "oh boy, you do train them well Sasori!"
"Can we get on with this?" Sasori asks, temple starting to pulse.
But Kisame ignores him, "he's known as Sasori the Red because of his anger – he's monstrous when he's mad, and his face can turn as red as his hair, I've seen it before. Most people fear him, and they make up these outrageous stories about him and his powers, but I know the real Sa – "
"Enough already!" Sasori finally snaps, banging his glass on the table, spilling some of his wine. "You know why I've come, and it isn't to talk about this nonsense!"
"Right," Kisame looks back over towards Sasori, "sorry." Deidara notes how Kisame's demeanor changed in the presence of Sasori's anger – he was jovial a minute ago, but now he's serious and business like.
Kisame takes a look at the weapons laid out on the table, "these are nice, they'll definitely be a great addition to our armory."
"Great," Sasori says, allowing his temper to cool down a little, "Now, the spell book." Sasori reaches his hand forth, as if expecting Kisame to hand this book over just like that.
But there's a mischievous look in Kisame's eyes, "Ah yes, that spell book. My men went through quite some strife to get it, you know?"
"I'm sure they did. Do we have a deal? I'm giving you a wonderful gift of weapons here, most of these have magic placed upon them, the wielder will surely thank me for the protection spells." Sasori says, waving his arm over the plethora of weapons. Deidara stifles a gasp – he had no idea they were made with magic.
"Yes, it is a gracious gift, but I'm afraid it's not enough," Kisame says.
"What do you want?" Sasori asks, annoyed.
Kisame looks dead on at Deidara and licks his lips. Deidara feels a shiver run up his spine, and he feels quite uneasy under that stare of Kisame's. "I'd like a night alone with your servant here. You did pick quite a fine looking boy."
Deidara turns red and feels his heartbeat pick up with panic and fear. There's no way! This man is disgusting! Besides, Deidara is still a virgin! Will Sasori really 'trade' him in for this spell book? How important is this book to Sasori?
"No," Sasori states firmly. Deidara turns to look at Sasori, stunned and relieved.
"What do you mean 'no?'" Kisame asks, flabbergasted. "C'mon Sasori, let me have some fun. He's nothing like the common whore you can buy at any brothel."
"He isn't a whore and he isn't for sale," Sasori says, speaking with resolve.
"Bah, why don't we let the boy talk for himself! What do you say blondie? I can make you feel nice and cozy," Kisame says in an attempt at flirtation.
Deidara feels like he might be sick, "No thanks un."
"Hm, what happened to your manners boy? Why didn't you call me sir?" Kisame asks, looking mad. He gets up out of his chair, and reaches for Deidara, pulling him up by his collar.
Before anything else can happen though, they hear a loud 'snap' from Sasori's direction, and Kisame pulls his hand back in alarm. "Argh!" Kisame cries. Deidara looks up to see that Kisame's hand is on fire!
Kisame pats it on the table, trying to put it out, "Stop it Sasori! Put this damn fire out!" His servant frantically grabs a cup of water and pours it on the fire, but it still doesn't go out.
"If you can't keep your hands to yourself, then perhaps you don't deserve hands," Sasori says, calm as a cucumber despite the chaos he's just caused, "Now, I'll ask again, do we have a deal?"
"You slimy cowardly bastard!" Kisame yells, still trying to put out the fire, anguish etched onto every corner of his face.
"I'll put that fire out once you agree to my terms," Sasori says calmly.
"Fine! Dammit!" Kisame yells out in pain. Sasori snaps his fingers again and the fire dissipates instantly, leaving behind a bleeding and burnt hand.
"Now, the book," Sasori reaches his hand out again, and this time, Kisame's servant hands over the book. Kisame huddles over in pain, cradling his hand and weeping.
"Damn you!" Kisame pounds his fist against the table. "Damn you and your dirty deals!"
"I'll take that as my cue to leave. Enjoy the weapons you rotten pervert," Sasori says, getting up.
"I thought we were friends! How dare you!" Kisame cries out as Sasori pushes the doors open again to leave. Deidara follows him closely, eager to get out of Kisame's sight.
"You should've known better," Sasori says, not turning back to look at Kisame, "I don't have friends."
…..
Once back at Sasori's castle, Deidara says, "thank you master."
"Thanks? For what?" Sasori asks, seeming clueless. He hands his coat to Deidara, who takes it, knowing that he'll have to probably spend the rest of the day doing laundry.
"For saving me from Kisame," Deidara explains.
"Listen," Sasori turns around and gets in Deidara's face – a tactic he often uses to intimidate Deidara. "I didn't do that for you. I just can't have my servant sleeping with other people, that will make things messy for me."
"Messy? How so?" Deidara wonders, clearly not seeing the 'big picture' here.
Sasori snarls, "Don't ever thank me again! I'm not here to please you!"
"Okay master," Deidara says, still caught under that insistent glare, but not scared at all of it.
"If you happened to fall for Kisame, then that would be troublesome. I don't want to deal with your broken heart. Besides, I don't sell people off to others, that's just bad business, and a filthy thing to do," Sasori explains before backing off.
"Okay master," Deidara says, trying to wrap his mind around this somewhat lame explanation. If he simply didn't want Deidara to have to deal with Kisame, he could have just said that. Would it kill him to be honest?
"Get going with the laundry, don't just stand there you brat!" Sasori yells.
"Yes, right away master," Deidara says, blinking out of his reverie and scurrying past Sasori.
….
"I'm thirsty, go and get some tea will you?" Sasori is seated at the head of the table in the dining room, nose buried in his new spell book. Deidara prepares the tea and grabs a platter with tea cups from one of the shelves in the room, selecting a few tiny delicate blue cups that he personally finds quite nice.
Deidara sets the tea platter on the table and is about to pour some tea into a cup for Sasori when he hears, "Oh jeez!" from the redhead, who must have read something shocking in his book. The sudden outburst startles Deidara, causing him to drop one of the tea cups to the floor.
Sasori hears the tinkle and looks up from his book, surprised. A flustered Deidara blushes and immediately bends down to pick it up, dreading the furious lecture he's about to receive from Sasori. He's slightly relieved to find that the cup isn't broken, just chipped, so he holds it out to Sasori and says, "I'm sorry un! It's just chipped on the side, you can barely see it."
Sasori stays still for a moment, book still propped open in his lap. He shrugs, and Deidara feels a wave of tension release through his body. "Well, it's just a cup," Sasori says, as if it's no big deal, "place it back on the tray and get another one. I have several of those blue ones."
Deidara almost can't believe that he isn't being yelled at right now. He quickly pours some tea out with shaking fingers and hands the cup to Sasori who takes a sip and says, "Mmm, very good. Now be off, I believe the attic needs tending to, it's filthy with dust up there."
Deidara nods and exits the room, the feeling of fear fading with each step. Is Sasori really a monster? Should people really be so fearful of him, and call him Sasori the Red? From what Deidara's experienced, Sasori has a temper, but he's never actually hurt Deidara in any way…and it seems that his anger lessens over time, as he gets to know someone. Or is Deidara putting too much thought in the matter? Perhaps he's simply getting used to Sasori, or maybe, he's starting to see a different layer of Sasori, something underneath that monstrous mask of his.