it's time for another installment of the photographer story! ;) (To those who aren't aware of it yet, I've begun posting a new series (Elf Prince, Digivolve!) - check it out if you haven't already.
Have written 175,000 words of NejiTen this year, wow. :o About 120k of those are posted so far.
Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.
f/2.8, ISO 100
Chapter 11: Eyes wide open (Part I)
When the doorbell rings, half an hour early, Tenten wonders if she should swap the pre-recorded chime for something that doesn't make her pulse race at eighty miles an hour. Something like, I am Neji the lion, hear me roar, in squeaky tones. That would help ease her anxiety-aged heart.
The thought of Neji-the-lion puts a grin on her face, however, and she's feeling a little too excited to bother wiping it off when she answers the door.
"Hey," she tells Neji-the-man, who is standing in her doorway with a bouquet of lilies. He doesn't respond for a moment, instead looking over the black dress she has on, that clings to her every curve. (It's a date, after all, and she's allowed to dress pretty for once. Never mind that it's the only dress she owns.)
"Good afternoon," he greets, extending the flowers to her. Tenten stares at the wrapped, delicate plant material. "I didn't know which variety you preferred, though I hope you like them anyway."
"I prefer carnations," she blurts, and immediately wishes to take that back, or introduce her head to the wall, for how callous she sounds. "I mean, these are very lovely flowers, thank you."
Neji looks the tiniest bit hurt, a slight pulling at the corner of his lips, and Tenten hastens to invite him in, cringing at her own behavior.
"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, they're gorgeous and would probably look good in a photo of some sort," she blathers, moving to the kitchen to grab an empty glass. The glass is filled to half-full, and she sets the flowers in them, before placing the arrangement by the window. "I'll find some time to take a picture with them for you tomorrow - how about that?" she suggests, and is relieved when Neji's expression brightens, by the tiny increment that she's come to expect of him.
"I would like that," he cedes, and Tenten feels his gaze follow her when she returns to the living area, grabbing a paper bag by her desk.
"The prints you requested," she tells him, and watches with bated breath when he draws the framed pictures out. He's requested three of them to be framed - one of them on the couch, and two from the studio, with the silhouettes of their lips almost touching being the last of the lot. Tenten feels the familiar heat creeping up her cheeks when he pauses at that image, and she wonders if he, too, is remembering the intimacy that followed that instance in time.
Neji glances at her, smirks, and slides all three pictures back into the bag. "Thank you for these," he murmurs.
"My pleasure," Tenten replies, and winces at the connotations her words carry. She looks towards the door as a distraction, grabbing her purse (that has been modified for DSLR storage) from the desk. "Shall we head out?"
At Neji's nodded agreement, they take the elevator down; Tenten turns to him when the chime indicates that they've reached the ground level. "What's on your set list for tonight?" she asks, curious. "I've been listening to your CDs."
He looks at her intently for a moment as they walk towards the parking lot, his gaze almost measuring. Tenten feels her confidence skitter (showing interest in his music is a good thing, right?), and it isn't until they've stopped by a sleek, black sports car that her thoughts have a chance to refocus. Neji opens the passenger door for her, and Tenten slips in, admiring the newness of the dashboard and the leather of the bucket seats.
"Don't get used to that," she tells him, when he seats himself behind the steering wheel. Neji's brows lift in question. "I'm not a fan of being waited on."
"You may want to start getting used to it," he smirks, stashing the bag of prints in the backseat, and she stares awkwardly at him.
"You can't mean..." Tenten begins, hesitant.
"Do you want to attend the rest of my concerts, or not?" Neji asks, loftily, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street.
She gapes at him. "You're... such a... presumptuous jerk," Tenten bristles, lightly punching the side of his arm. Sure, she knew he could be aloof, but he could stand to be a little nicer for once! Like all the other times in her apartment.
"Only if the situation calls for it," Neji returns smoothly. She stares grouchily at him from the corner of her eye.
For a long while, there is only silence between them, save for the low purr of the engine, until Neji speaks, "Today's set list is a mix of old compositions, and new ones."
"Unpublished ones?" she asks, her interest perked. "Have you written any more since the previous concert?"
Neji flicks his gaze briefly towards her, and back onto the road. "I've written a couple."
"What inspired them?" Tenten presses, shifting in her seat to get a better view of him.
There is another long pause, before he finally answers, a little guardedly, "People, events that have happened."
"Care to share what those are?" she teases, leaning an inch closer to him. He glances at her again, but does not reply.
"Maybe after you've listened to them," Neji yields, as they pull into the parking lot of an upper-middle class restaurant. Tenten stares at the classy signage and elegant decor (stone fountains and large French windows), and feels like a fish out of water. "They are the first songs after the concert begins, and after the interval, respectively."
"I'll keep that in mind," she tells him.
There are barely any patrons in the restaurant at this non-peak hour, so Neji requests for a table by the window, and Tenten stares at the menu that has more words in French than she can understand. And no listed prices, either. She cringes inwardly.
"There aren't any prices on the menu," she whispers to Neji when the waiter has moved out of earshot.
"Haven't you been to a restaurant like this?" he asks, surprised. Tenten feels a little urge to sock him. "I'm paying, by the way."
"They're usually way out of my price range," she mutters, embarrassed at having to admit it. Not everyone comes from money like he does.
Neji inclines his head, studying her. Tenten keeps her eyes firmly on the menu, and realizes that there are little descriptions beneath the French titles, that she is able to comprehend. At length, she finally decides on a chicken dish, that sounds decent and more affordable than the rest of the listed courses. (No way is she spending more of his money than she should.)
"You've already decided?" she asks in surprise. "I haven't seen you look at your menu at all."
He gives a little shrug, glancing out of the window. "I have the same thing here every time."
Tenten tries not to goggle too much at him. (To be able to afford eating here multiple times, and not experiment with the rest of the menu?) She guesses that the meal probably costs as much as her dress, shoes and bag put together.
"When you're done worrying about the prices," Neji begins, and she tenses (how does he read her so damn easily?), "I'll suggest that we concentrate on more... pleasant matters."
"Right," Tenten answers, and wonders what 'pleasant matters' he has in mind.
"For having a loft apartment and a slew of camera equipment, you don't seem to be well-acquainted with wealth," Neji remarks, and his words are like a well-aimed shot, slow and accurate. He leans forward, folding his arms on the table.
She squirms beneath his gaze. "Well... My mentor, Tsunade, told me she was retiring in Italy, and left quite a lot of that to me."
The news had been shocking to her at first, and nary a day goes by when Tenten doesn't count her blessings, for the relative comfort she's inherited. She has a lot to thank for Tsunade, who has been almost a surrogate parent to her, providing the guidance and strength that Tenten craved.
"And... the rest of your family?" Neji probes, carefully, and Tenten is too late in catching the wince flitting across her face.
"I'd rather not talk about that," she tells him, and is quietly glad when he lays off the subject. "How much do you practice on the piano in a day?"
The waiter arrives to serve glasses of water and take their orders then (Tenten points awkwardly at her menu item, and Neji recites his from memory - she thinks he sounds sexy pronuncing French, even though all she knows is that it's just the name of a dish). Neji turns back to her when the waiter leaves. "I play for two hours a day at the minimum," he tells her.
"Is that enough?" Tenten asks (it sounds like an awfully long time to her, though she can see herself spending an equivalent amount of time on photography).
"Would spending two hours a day with your camera be enough?" he returns, though a tiny smile curves his lips when she frowns in contemplation.
"If I have a constant flow of ideas, perhaps," Tenten replies, discounting the time she spends doing freelance work, "Though photography is different from music in that sense - I don't need to do it everyday."
"What do you do on days when you aren't working on your pictures?" Neji questions suddenly, sipping from his glass of water.
Tenten tips her head to the side in consideration. "I search for more freelance jobs, and sometimes I practice at the shooting range, visit museums, things like that."
"None of those bear any similarity to each other," he observes with a smirk, and she smiles at him. "Do you have a favorite amongst the piano pieces you've listened to so far?"
She scrunches her face up then, deep in recollection. "I like them all - is that good enough an answer?"
"Fair enough," Neji tells her, and draws back a little when the waiter comes by to deposit a plate of appetizers - slices of a French baguette, cheese wedges and a little mound of tapenade.
Tenten stares at the dish, and is immediately reaching for her camera (because natural light from the window makes food look that much better). Neji waits while she pulls the dish towards herself and angles it so that light falls evenly on the critical pieces, and each selection will occupy just the right amount of space in the picture. He's still watching her amusedly when she tucks her camera away, and pushes the plate back between them.
"I should've asked before I did that," she mutters contritely, to which he dismisses the incident with a light shake of his head.
"No offense taken," he replies, and picks a slice of bread up, stacking it with cheese and tapenade. She mimics his actions and bites into the appetizer, eyes widening with delight when rich flavors burst in her mouth.
Tenten barely remembers to swallow, before she comments, "It's delicious!"
Neji merely smiles at her, and takes another bite.
It isn't long before the main dishes make their appearance - Tenten stares at the ridiculously tiny piece of fish on Neji's plate (granted, it looks beautiful, garnished with herbs and accompanied by leafy greens and a couple slices of bread). "Is that all you're having?" she blurts, and looks between him and his dinner.
He shrugs mildly, sparing a glance at his food. "I don't eat that much before a performance."
She's still staring, though her senses tell her to grab her camera and turn his plate towards her, to capture that short-lived beauty. Tenten follows her instincts with a quick "Excuse me," snaps the one perfect shot of his food, and turns his plate back. Her own chicken is similarly prepared, though it is seared to golden-brown, and surrounded with greens. She snaps a picture of this, too, before returning her attention to Neji. "Aren't you hungry though?"
"I had a long nap before picking you up," he answers, reaching for his cutlery. "It's part of my routine before a concert."
She nods. "Are we going to arrive right before the concert starts this time?" Tenten asks, teasingly.
A light frown creases his forehead. "I overslept the last time."
"You overslept?" she echos, and stares at him, slowly starting on her own food. She can't imagine Neji messing up on anything. "Why?"
"I was especially busy with work that week," Neji shrugs, finally slicing into his fish.
"That politician stuff is really draining, huh?" Tenten surmises, to which he nods, but says nothing. "What would you be doing if you were a full-time musician?"
"Play for orchestras, events, fill in for people, and the like," he tells her solemnly. "It's the path I would take if I weren't tied to everything else."
She acknowledges his words with a quiet nod, and for minutes, they make their way slowly through the food, with only background music and the light clinking of cutlery resounding around them.
"About the other day," Neji begins, when he's done with his fish and picked through the greens, "Were you on a date with Lee?"
Neji is so fun to write when he's jealous or awkward LOL ;)
