Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Chapter 25
When they awoke, the whole week was laid out for them to do whatever they wanted. Itachi tried to make a schedule so they wouldn't miss anything, but each time he tried, Deidara tore it up. Literally. Each time, he gave him that wide, playful grin that always kept the brunette from getting too annoyed at him. After the first two days of this, they ended up doing things Deidara's way: spontaneously. Most of their time was spent outside in the snow. Itachi had intended to spend the first day walking around to get a feel for the place, but he suddenly felt like the parent of a hyperactive child who just ate an entire cake after chugging a pot of coffee. Anything interesting Itachi saw was filed into his mental notes of things they should check out later. Anything interesting Deidara saw had to be investigated or tried right away, even if it meant stopping something he was in the middle of trying out.
The first thing that caught Deidara's attention was the snow tubing hills that were directly behind the building. They grabbed the giant tubes and let themselves be hooked onto the train that slowly dragged them up the hill.
"I bet I can beat you down, un," Deidara called down to Itachi.
"Maybe," Itachi called back. "But I weigh more than you so I might go faster."
He hadn't taken into account that Deidara was a cheater who rushed to throw himself down the tunnel, riding his tube on his stomach before Itachi had even gotten to his line. He sighed irritably as he watched the blond flying over the mounds of snow before coming to a crashing halt at the bottom. Itachi watched the distant form get up and cheer for himself with a shake of his head. He changed lanes and went down sitting, taking out Deidara's legs as he went by. He laughed as the blond pushed himself back up and told him to watch out for other tubers and the game was on. They spent two hours racing each other down the slopes and then trying to knock the other off the pulley on their way back up. The downside was when Deidara finally managed to knock Itachi's tube off the pulley, he also knocked someone else's and they were scolded by the staff and they decided to leave.
"That was fun," Deidara stated, his big blue eyes staring around for something else. "Look snowboarding lessons. Let's go."
"Uh—" Itachi started, but the blond was already halfway there so he followed anyway. He preferred skis, but had a feeling that Deidara wouldn't appreciate this beginner's class which consisted mostly of young people and their parents. Indeed, Deidara lasted about twenty minutes before he gave it up. The same thing happened with skiing, though Deidara only had to try the skis on before he decided he didn't like them and dragged them over to ice skate.
"I have an idea," Deidara said, spinning in a wide circle circle.
"Should I be worried?" Itachi asked with a grin.
Deidara ignored the comment. "I work best under pressure," he informed him. "Let's go up to those big hills, un." He pointed a ways away, passed the bunny hills for beginners learning to snowboard and ski to the bigger hills.
"I think we should start with the smaller hills," Itachi said, a little worried. "It's been a while since I skied anyway."
"Trial by fire," Deidara insisted, grabbing onto him as he passed.
"Maybe later," Itachi said, gripping his sleeve so they wouldn't fall. "Are you getting hungry?"
"I'm starving!" Deidara cried, as though he'd been complaining of it all day. They returned their skates and made their way through the snow back to the main building, Deidara jumping on top of Itachi's back to be carried inside. When they sat down for their hot pot, the blond chatted endlessly about what he wanted to do in the afternoon ranging from building a snow city and sledding into it to riding the tubes again to see how high he could get to having an intense snowball battle with any lucky stranger who he fancied clobbering with snow. Playing in the snow, however, is much more work than it seems and after filling themselves with warm soup, they couldn't bring themselves to pull their outside gear back on and went back to their room to pass out on the huge bed.
The following days were similar, playing out in the snow until they were hungry and took a long nap in the afternoon. Later, they wandered into the spa for a massage, or a soak in the hot springs, or some of the other services the resort offered. Deidara often commented when Itachi suggested they go that the spa was the most ridiculous thing ever invented and totally unnecessary, but Itachi knew he was enjoying himself because it didn't take much to convince him to go. The blond was always happy about being pampered so much, trying something new every day, followed by a massage before dinner. As he insisted he would, Deidara had mastered the snowboard in trial-by-fire manner, taking on a difficult slope while Itachi followed behind him worriedly on his skis. Deidara commented disappointedly that the resort didn't have a place to practice tricks and flips on a snowboard, to which Itachi silently thanked the resort for. He didn't want to have to take the blond home with crutches, or worse. Itachi favorite part of the whole resort was the hot springs and went after dinner to soak in the steaming water. Deidara also enjoyed it, but grew bored quickly and made the other patrons angry while he played in the water to entertain himself until Itachi got out.
Friday night, Itachi opened his eyes and stared at the shadows of the dresser and large mirror. He wasn't sure what woke him at first. His internal clock told him it was still both very early and very late. A no-time where only a few functioned and most slept soundly. The room was almost in total darkness save for a tiny haze of light that forced its way around the drawn thick curtains. The sound of movement next to him made him realize it had been Deidara who woke him up, however accidentally. He was shifting restlessly, though sluggishly, but Itachi had gotten used to the blond's increase in activity since his return. Withdrawal had left the blond with restless shakes, but they had been slowly decreasing. In fact, he hadn't had any problems all week, but Itachi felt that was partially due to exhaustion from their play in the snow and in their room.
Shifting, Itachi rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around Deidara's waist, pulling him close against him. He must be at least half asleep, since the blond didn't react to the movement. Itachi pressed his nose against the curve of his neck. "What's wrong, Dei?" he whispered to him, relaxing into the new position.
The blonds shifting stilled a little at his voice and he gave a long, sleepy sigh. He mumbled sleepily, "I wanna stay here, un…"
Ah… tomorrow was the day they were going home. He gave Deidara's stomach a soft pat. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. "You were shaking."
"I'm cold," came the sleepy reply, which was a lie and made Itachi frown a little. The blond was always warm, radiating his own heat in a way that Itachi, who was always cold, never could. Deidara was still half asleep and he wondered if he was so use to lying about his withdrawal that he could do it in his sleep.
"I had fun this week with you," Itachi murmured, hugging him tighter.
"Me too.."
"Next week is Christmas."
"I still wanna stay here… I think… we shouldn't go back," Deidara murmured. "Bad feeling…" He rolled around and slid his arms out from under the blankets to wrap around him, tangling their legs together.
"What about?" he asked, but Deidara had fallen back into a deeper sleep, finally still and breathing deep again. Curiosity ignited, Itachi was tempted to wake the blond up for an answer, but knew it would be pointless. He wondered if he was sleepily making excuses to stay here and smiled, happy with the thought that the blond had enjoyed himself as much as he had. He didn't really want to go home either.
When they returned home, Christmas holiday season had sprung up. He was sure it had done so earlier, but he hadn't spent much time around the city so he hadn't noticed the decorations. Deidara enjoyed decorating for Christmas, almost more than he enjoyed Halloween. Despite all his grumbling and feet dragging the whole way home, the blond had jumped right into making and putting up decorations at the garage and his mother's house. Daichi had a real tree in his garage which added an interesting, but rather nice scent to mix with the familiar car scents that drifted out into the streets. String lights hung in the bunks and eating area where Daichi had set up a huge tiny town with a train that moved along the tracks. Itachi was impressed to find out that the blue haired man had built the whole thing himself, including the train and the little figures that danced mechanically across the ice rink. It had been a present for Rin a few years ago and meant a lot to her, something that was obvious as she helped Daichi bring it out of storage and set it up.
The two of them spent as little time in the garage as possible, both still feeling a little awkward and Deidara, a bit unwanted. Someone had asked for their help and the blond agreed. Snowflakes were cut out of paper and old decorations hauled out of the closets to decorate their work and home. Several times, Itachi caught Daichi looking as if he were debating saying something to the blond, but with so many people there, never got to it. Itachi hmphed a little to himself, feeling that Daichi's pride was what was preventing him from talking to the blond and was quite unsympathetic.
Mikoto let Deidara help plan for the decorations of the Uchiha house, something Sasuke had always wanted to do, but Fugaku had thought they were a waste of time and only let Mikoto set up a tree and wreath on the door. Now the dark red oak stained rails of the stairs that matched the floors of the house had twists of evergreen garlands and red ribbons, with tiny silver bells. The impressive fireplace mantle in the living room had more garlands and candles. Tall holders with thin candles or flat bowls with fat ones. The chandelier in the living room and dining room had glass icicles and white pearl trains on them. The tree that stood in the space between the living room, dining room, and kitchen was a beautiful array of lights, more pearls, and ornaments. Itachi had never seen his house so beautiful. He had never cared much for holidays, but seeing how happy his brother was putting up lights and hanging popped corn and cranberry strings that stained his hands in the garden out front made his heart swell with warm fondness for his brother. Deidara had spent an entire day building an impressive gingerbread house made entirely out of candy, chocolate and graham crackers. He had never thought of Deidara as being one of great patience, but there was painstaking detail over the entire house as well as small features like a bridge over an iced over river and freakishly realistic looking car made from marzipan throwing up snow as it drove towards the house. His mother deemed it too beautiful to eat, but Deidara and Sasuke had shared a skeptical look and Itachi was certain that it would definitely get eaten eventually.
"And then destroyed," Deidara added gleefully.
On Christmas Eve, the two of them had returned to Deidara's apartment for some alone time, wrapped up together in Deidara's blankets on the mattress. In front of them on the floor was a makeshift fire made from candles of all shapes and sizes. It was simple, they had agreed that they didn't want to do anything special. Everywhere would be crowded with couples anyway. Itachi was sure Deidara had fallen asleep against his shoulder, the warm light from the flickering candles and the sight of the sleeping kitten at their feet made the messy, frugal room Deidara lived in feel homely and comfortable.
Itachi smiled, feeling as though this particular Christmas was almost like a movie. He had the urge to kiss the blond but didn't want to wake him.
"Itachi?" Apparently, he wasn't asleep, so Itachi leaned down and give him a soft kiss on the fore head while making a quiet noise of inquiry. "Sorry… I didn't get you a present…"
"I told you not to get me anything," Itachi reminded him, stretching his legs out from the cramped position.
"Yeah, but people never mean that, un."
"I know you would never meant it," Itachi commented. "But I did mean it. You don't have to waste your money on me."
"Can I do something for you instead?" he was asked.
He wondered slightly if it was a sly invitation, but his question made him think instead. "Promise me something?" he said. "Next time you run into problems… money, or anything, call me and let me know? I don't want anything to happen to you because you couldn't get something you need, or… anything."
Deidara shifted so he could look up at him, eyes sparkling in amusement. "Only if you promise not to worry so much."
"I will always worry too much," Itachi told him. "But I will try not to."
"Fine, I guess I promise," Deidara replied, grinning as he slid onto Itachi's lap and kissed him. The soft touches of his mouth brought back memories of their vacation. Itachi silently lamented that Deidara didn't have a decent sized bathtub. They definitely needed to reenact their hot spring experience, especially the one night they had found themselves alone and the two of them discovered that hot springs were not a good place for foreplay when the two of them became woozy and Itachi had fainted from the heat. He would absolutely not faint in a normal bath tub and need to be carried back to bed by his hysterically laughing boyfriend. How embarrassing.
Deidara's fingers slide up into his hair, giving his whole scalp a shiver or relief as their kiss deepened and his finger slid under the blond's shirt, feeling up his sides as he slowly pushed his shirt up.
And his phone rang with his mother's ring tone.
"Fuck!"
Deidara burst out laughing at Itachi's reaction to the interruption, turning his head to kiss into his neck, hips moving in slow circles. "Who is it?" he asked.
"Mom," Itachi replied with a soft groan. He ignored the ring as it finally died, hands moving to grip onto the blond's moving hips. He stopped the blond when his phone rang again, frowning a little. Usually if he didn't answer, his mother just left a message instead of calling again. He leaned across the mattress, holding Deidara in place so he could pick his phone out of his coat pocket. "Hello?" he said into it, giving Deidara's hair a reproachful tug when he kept kissing into his neck.
"Hi, sweetheart," came his mother's voice. There was a forced smile in her voice that made him pause, waving his hand in front of Deidara to get him to stop. "Where are you?"
"At Deidara's," Itachi replied, feeling slightly wary at her tone. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing," she said in a falsely airily tone. He could hear two car doors shut and it sounded like she was walking. He could hear Sasuke's mumble in the background, but couldn't make out what he said. "Why don't you two come over here and spend the night? I've barely gotten to see you since you went on break."
"You've seen me every day, how come I can't stay at my friends," came Sasuke's clearer grumble.
"It would be nice to have a family night," she added, ignoring him.
"Alright mom," he said, wondering what was the matter. "We'll be there soon." He hung up and frowned at his phone a little. "Mom wants us to come home and stay there tonight."
"Family Christmas?" Deidara asked, rolling off his lap to stretch his legs out. "You sure I'm invited?"
"Of course you are, don't be stupid," Itachi said, pulling his coat on while Deidara blew the candles out. He watched an apprehensive expression cross his face and smiled. "I figured we could say the presents are from both of us," Itachi told him. "Remember when you helped me pick out that present for my mom last year? I never got to give it to her, so you did help with it."
The blond flashed him a bright smile, relieved that he didn't have to look bad for not getting them any presents after all their generosity to him. Itachi knew his mother wouldn't care. He certainly didn't. All he wanted was a fun holiday with Deidara and with his family and he was getting that. "Guess I should bring PJs to wear, huh?" Deidara was asking, poking through some of his clothes.
Itachi glanced back at him and cleared his throat a little. "…I have stuff you can wear," he said, face as neutral as he could make it.
"Still like seeing me in your clothes?" Deidara smirked deviously at him.
Itachi turned and headed towards the door, trying to push the images of Deidara wearing his clothes when he visited him at school out of his mind. They'd never back to his house. "Don't be obscure," he told him, ignoring the blonds snickering as he shut and locked his door.
Most of the doors in the apartments they went down were shut, but a few were open, letting Christmas music and chatter spill out into the hallways. When asked, Deidara explained that on holidays most people left their doors open so everyone could wander into each other's parties because there wasn't really a room big enough for all of them. A few people waved to them as they passed and they turned down their invitations to join them. At the door, Deidara handed Itachi Milkshake so he could pull on the coat Itachi had bought for him making him grin a little and they went out to Itachi's car.
They were nearly in Itachi's neighborhood when lights flashed behind them. Itachi frowned, checking his speed, but he was going the speed limit and hadn't broken any driving laws, but pulled over obediently. He exchanged confused looks with Deidara, who subtly put his seatbelt on, and they waited for the officer to approach the vehicle.
"Mr. Nakaguchi," Itachi said in surprise when he rolled down his window for him. A sudden wave of relief and apprehension clashed together in his stomach.
"Hello, Itachi," the man said, leaning down to look in at him. His eyes passed over him to Deidara with a dark look of recognition as the blond looked back at him with a blank expression and mouth clamped shut for once. "Where you boys headed?"
"Home," Itachi answered.
The man made a thoughtful noise, almost as if he was uncertain if he believed him or not, still staring at Deidara. "You," he finally asserted, "step out of the car."
Itachi turned to look at Deidara, who scowled at the man, but obeyed, placing Milkshake on the back seat. He started to get out too, but the officer instructed him to stay put. Instead, he watched with growing worry as Deidara was searched none too gently. He wanted to know what the man was saying, but wasn't sure he could open the passenger side window without being obvious about it. Deidara's body language was defensive, but after the search nothing seemed to happen except the officer questioned him and the blond seemed to answer, holding his phone out, but the officer shook his head and said something else before finally making a note on his pad and walking back to Itachi's side of the car.
"You should choose your friends more carefully, Itachi," the man said before returning to his patrol car.
The blond glared back at his back as he went before getting back into Itachi's car, hissing scathingly.
"Are you alright?" Itachi asked quickly, looking back at the police car as it pulled away from him.
"Yeah," the blond answered, sticking his arm into the back seat so Milkshake could sink his claws into his sleeve and haul him back. "He said was looking for drugs, asked if you paid me to entertain you tonight."
"What?" Itachi stared. "On what grounds?"
"On grounds that he wanted to, un," Deidara grumbled, rolling Milkshakes ear around his finger gently.
"They can't search you with—"
Deidara's expression made him clamp his mouth shut. "Itachi, sometimes you say the most sheltered things, un," he told him, though it wasn't an aggressive comment.
"Nakaguchi was my—"
"I know," Deidara said, slouching down in his seat.
"Did he say anything else?"
"Nope," the blond told him.
Itachi wondered if that was a lie, but didn't comment and pulled back out into the street, driving the rest of the way to his mother's house. Mikoto was standing by the door when they arrived. Perhaps it was the presence of his father's old partner coupled with his mother's phone call, but he thought she looked a little off. Even so, she ushered them in as usual, giving them both a warm hug. She waved off his question of what was wrong as she hung their coats up in the closet. There was a movie playing on the television and the fireplace in the living room was crackling merrily with Sasuke sitting in front of it roasting a marshmallow. He glanced back at them, looking thoroughly annoyed at their presence, clamping his crackers and chocolate over the blackened marshmallow.
"Ugh, you two are going to be gross all night," he complained.
"You just keep your pants on. That's pretty gross too you know, un," Deidara said, dropping down next to him and snatching his s'more away from him.
"I don't listen," Sasuke growled, trying to snatch the snack back, but Deidara had popped it into his mouth. "It's just gross to think about family members…" he gave a little shudder as if to clear his mind of the thought.
Deidara gave an evil smirk. "How do you think you came into being, un?" he asked.
Itachi rolled his eyes as the two of them began bickering, though it was more the blond egging Sasuke on as his brother became more embarrassed. Turning to his mother, he caught her before she could join them in the living space. "Are you sure everything's fine?" he asked her, concerned. "You look worried…"
"No, sweetheart, everything is fine," she assured him, patting his arm.
"Mr. Nakaguchi pulled me over on the way here," he said, lowering his voice a little though it was unnecessary since Deidara was laughing at his brother after stealing another one of his sandwiches. "He searched Deidara."
Her eyes widened slightly and she looked over at the blond as he had as if reassessing his condition. "Why?" she asked.
"He said he was looking for drugs, and asked if I had paid him," Itachi told him, jaw clenched. "Deidara said it was cause he wanted to. Last year, he got harassed by a lot of officers because of father..."
"That is troubling," she murmured, brows creased. "Did anything else happen?"
Itachi shook his head. "He just made a comment that I should choose my friends better and left, Deidara didn't tell me if he said anything else," he told her.
She let out a slow exhale and closed her eyes wearily. "Well, he should be fine here," she said, folding her arms loosely as she looked on at the two younger boys. "I'd like to just forget about that for now," her smile returned and she placed her hand on his back to turn him towards the living room. "I hung your stockings up for tomorrow, and remember," she added, addressing all three of them, "no one comes down after eleven, alright?"
"Yes, mom," Sasuke said, burning another marshmallow.
"How come?" Deidara asked, waiting until Sasuke finished making his new sandwich before stealing it for a third time. Sasuke retaliated angrily by tackling him over to try and retrieve it.
"Santa, of course," Mikoto said jokingly serious. "Tomorrow when we – don't roll in the fire you two. Tomorrow when we come down is when you put your presents under the tree and then we open them together."
"Oh," Deidara said around the mouthful he shoved inside to claim for himself, smirking at the brunette on top of him. Sasuke glared and got off him, giving him another shove.
"Tell your idiot to lay off my food," Sasuke growled at his brother.
Itachi smiled a little and reached down to drag Deidara by his arms away from his brother and up into his favorite armchair with him. "Be nice," he chided, teasingly.
"I am," Deidara insisted. "I'm saving him from getting any fatter and losing all his teeth, un."
"I'm not fat," Sasuke grumbled, making another sandwich and hurriedly moving away to sit next to his mother on the sofa to make sure Diedara wouldn't steal his snack again. The blond just snickered and wedged himself into the stuffed chair next to Itachi, his leg draped over Itachi's.
"You know, in Germany, we open presents on Christmas Eve," Deidara said, quiet seriously. "We should probably do that tonight."
"Not everyone does," Mikoto said, smiling over at him with a small grin. "I already looked it up. Don't make me set a trap to catch you and Sasuke sneaking down tonight."
"I don't sneak down," Sasuke insisted.
"Mhmm," she commented in disbelief, putting her arm around her youngest.
Itachi watched his mother for a moment as she looked at the fire. Something didn't seem right to him, but knew if she didn't want to tell him it didn't concern him as much. Then again, perhaps it was something bad and she didn't want to ruin the comfortable feeling in the room. The blond stretched next to him, yawning as he slumped awkwardly against Itachi and Milkshake, hopped down to stretch in front of the fire, purring loudly as Sasuke reached over to scratch his head. Forgetting his worries for his mother, he turned his head to smile at the blond.
Deidara felt his brain begin to slow down. He had never lived in a place with a fire and stuffed onto the chair with Itachi, the flames warming the room and the movie playing softly was slowly putting him to sleep. He watched Milkshakes body rise and fall in sleep and found his own breathing slowing into that space beyond wakefulness, Itachi's fingers raked gently through his hair. He was so comfortable it was disconcerting to be jolted back into awareness by a log cracking loudly in the fire. He stared at it and he suddenly had a vivid memory come to him of another fire he had stared at several weeks ago, brain languid with alcohol, hands – more than one person – reaching down to touch him, pushing something in his mouth and holding it closed until his brain turning dizzy with drugs rushing through his system, those hands coaxing him up to play.
He sat up right suddenly, startling Itachi. He shook his own head, trying to expel the memory, not answering Itachi who asked what was wrong. He could see a concerned look crossing Itachi's face, but he turned to look at Milkshake again. A solid, nonjudgmental object.
"We're going to bed," the brunette said, shifting them so he could stand up again, dragging Deidara up with him.
"Alright, dear," Mikoto said, setting her mug of tea down and rising to give him a hug and a soft kiss on his cheek. Deidara started to follow Itachi, but was stopped by Mikoto sweeping him into the same warm and affectionate hug. "Sweet dreams," she told him, kissing his forehead.
Wiggling out of her arms, he hurried after Itachi feeling his face heating up in embarrassment. "I'm never going to get used to that, un," he mumbled as he and Itachi mounted the stairs, leaving Sasuke arguing that he didn't need to go to bed yet when Mikoto suggested he go too.
Itachi smiled back at him and opened his bedroom door for him. They both waited a moment and sure enough, after a moment, there came a worried mewing from the living room and Milkshake came leaping up the stairs and into Itachi's bedroom after Deidara. "I told you," the brunette told him, shutting the door and locking it. "My mom practically wants to adopt you."
"Yeah, that's alright," he shrugged.
"What was wrong downstairs?" Itachi asked. Deidara could hear him trying to sound gentle without being patronizing.
"Nothing," Deidara lied, shrugging it off. He dropped his bag on the floor by the bed and rummaged in it, but Itachi gave him a prod in the back. "I just remembered something not great," he told him, elbowing him away. "I'm fine."
"Are you?"
Deidara shot him a glare. "I said I was fine, un," he insisted, going to climb up into the bed. Itachi followed looking like he was trying not to look eager as he did so, crawling over top of him and kissed into his neck. The blond gave a half grin at his eagerness, feeling his hands sliding under his shirt to touch his warm skin. The ghost of his unwanted memory haunted him for a moment, but he forced the unwanted hands to turn into Itachi's. Compartmentalizing memories was a trick he learned years ago. There were some memories that were best recorded over with lies. Itachi wouldn't take advantage of him when he was drunk, he had tried to stop Deidara's advances many times when he felt he was too inhibited to make a real decision.
A second pair of hands—
He sat up suddenly, startling Itachi again as the brunette slipped on the comforter and fell sideways. Deidara shook his head again as Itachi started to sit up again, concern etched on his face. When he was sure his face was in place he turned to look at him, hitching a smirk on his face. "Let's do something different," he said, cutting Itachi off before he could ask him what was wrong again.
"What?" Itachi asked him, still looking concerned.
Deidara grinned and swung his leg over Itachi's lap, nudging him with his hips until Itachi was in the center of the bed, head on the pillows. There was a smile on his face, though his brows were still knotted slightly, the same way Mikoto's was when the two of them had been talking quietly when they arrived earlier. The blond reached down and started pulling Itachi's shirt up and over his face, but didn't pull them all the way off. He snickered at the brunette's muffled noise of confusion as he left him trapped in his shirt. While Itachi shifted, trying to free himself, Deidara reached into his pocket and pulled out the handcuffs he had tucked inside. Before Itachi had successfully freed himself, Deidara had his wrists locked around the headboard.
Itachi froze.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded, wriggling more violently to get out of his shirt.
"Shh," Deidara said quickly, crawling up and pulling his shirt the rest of the way off Itachi's head, using it to put a barrier between the chain and the headboard to silence them. "Don't make so much noise, un."
"Let me go," Itachi growled at him. The room was dark, but the light from the window allowed Deidara to see the glaring look on Itachi's face. "If someone's going to be tied up, it's going to be you."
"Too late," Deidara informed him with a smirk. He leaned down to kiss him, but Itachi jerked his head away from him, insisting on being released. Shaking his head, Deidara made his way slowly down Itachi's torso, sliding his fingers and lips over his skin, warmed from his shirt and sweater. When he reached Itachi's pants the brunette stopped squirming and let him remove his pants, which made the blond think that he wasn't as resistant to this as he was acting. Of course, he didn't know his true intentions.
Dropping his pants over the side of the bed, Deidara sat up and began to slowly take his own shirt off, dropping it on the ground too then undid his belt and jeans, slowly pushing them down, but stopped before anything important showed. Itachi was watching him, despite himself.
"Keep going," he growled, prodding him with his knee. Deidara laughed and shimmied out of his pants and crawled on top of him again, and Itachi permitted him to kiss him this time, groaning softly as their bodies pressed up against each other. He stopped kissing him back when Deidara wedged his legs between Itachi's. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
"Something different, un."
Itachi tried to sit up, but the cuffs kept him down. "Untie me, Deidara. I don't," he stopped talking when Deidara stopped moving, staring down at him concealing his amusement.
When he didn't continue, Deidara continued to slide his fingers down his torso, making Itachi shiver a little and bite his lip. "I wont hurt you," he murmured softly, the corners of his mouth curving a little.
"I am not a bottom," Itachi hissed forcefully, as though he was worried about being overheard.
Deidara snorted. "Relationships aren't defined by who is fucking who, Itachi," he said, sitting up a little and sliding his hands down the inside of Itachi's thigh, Itachi made a noise somewhere between a groan and a whine. He waited, watching Itachi squirm uncomfortably, giving him side eyed looks with his face turned away from him.
"It's embarrassing," Itachi finally grunted, glaring at him miserably.
"Oh, yes, I'm always so embarrassed," Deidara joked, placing the back of his hand against his forehead dramatically. "A whole year and my secret's revealed, un."
"Shut the fuck up," Itachi grumbled at him.
"You can roll over if you want," Deidara told him. "I wont laugh at you, you know."
"You laugh at everything," the brunette grunted.
That was perfectly true. "I wont laugh at you," he repeated, in emphasis. "I'm a trained professional, un."
Itachi made a face at the opposite wall. Deidara gave a short sigh that was half of a chuckle. "If you want," he continued, prodding Itachi's stomach to get his attention. "Next time I'll pretend it's my first time if it makes you so uncomfortable, un," he grinned. "I like playing."
Itachi made a face at him, one that told Deidara he was both considering that proposal, but also knowing he would have to get through this situation first. If he did say no, Deidara would definitely not force him and have a different sort of fun with him tied up, but he was feeling rebellious to norms. To his delight, Itachi finally gave a pained sigh. "Don't look at me," he mumbled, shifting jerkily around so he could bury his face into his pillow.
Deidara bit into his lip hard to keep himself from laughing since he promised he wouldn't. Itachi was so dramatic sometimes. Leaning over the side of the bed, he pulled out a bottle of lube and dumped some into his hand, sliding his fingers down between Itachi's legs coaxing a soft groan out of him as he stroked him. He smirked happily to himself as Itachi shifted and squirmed in pleasure, even as his fingers made their way up to his entrance, ensuring he was relaxed enough to push his finger inside him. Itachi made a noise into the pillow, his body instantly locking up again. Deidara slid his free hand down Itachi's back then around to stroke him
"Breathe," he instructed, watching Itachi shift uncomfortably. He blinked as he suddenly realized he hadn't seen Itachi from this angle before except when he was changing clothes and he certainly couldn't see the way his muscles moved when he was changing like he could right now. Deidara bit his lip to hold back a grin and a curse. He had never really been interested in people's bodies before and now he was catching himself ogling at Itachi's. It was nice to look at though. "You sure you're alright?" he asked, keeping his voice low so the other house occupants wouldn't be alerted to their activities.
"Just get it over with," Itachi grumbled into the pillow.
He frowned and slid his hand down the back he had been admiring and pushed Itachi's hair away so he could see him, giving his hair a little tug so his head turned. "Hey," he scolded. "I'm not forcing you, so tell me if you don't want to, un."
Itachi took a moment to breathe as he'd been instructed before and glanced back at him. "I… I kinda want to," he said. "I mean… I'm just not used to it. Feels…demeaning. And weird."
"It feels good if you relax, un," Deidara assured him. "If you want me to stop just tell me." Itachi gave a nod and the blond grinned down at him. As he finally pushed into him, his hand reached down to clamp over Itachi's mouth and nose to stifle the moan that was forced out of him, pausing to let him get used to the feeling. He made a soft shushing noise as footsteps came from out in the hallway as Sasuke and Mikoto came upstairs.
When the doors shut, he pulled his hand away a little and felt Itachi swallow. "You must hate me," he groaned. "I never do this for you. Doesn't it hurt?"
He opened his mouth to say his usual line that he had had much worse than this, in fact, Itachi was usually much gentler than nearly all of the people who paid him money for sex, but decided against it because Itachi always flinched unhappily when he did. "Not really," he murmured. "It feels good." Sure that the others had shut their doors and gone to bed, he began moving inside him, closing his eyes slightly at the heat and tightness that came every time Itachi tensed up again. The soft groans from Itachi made him want to move faster and harder, but he resisted, not wanting to hurt him. A wave of pleasure rushed over him and he gasped out a moan himself.
"W-wait," Itachi stammered. Deidara cringed a little, but did so even though every part of him wanted to keep going. "Untie me," the brunette gasped out. "Please."
Holding back a disappointed groan at Itachi's lack of interest in playing, Deidara moved to disengage the cuffs. He started to sit back to see what Itachi wanted to do when the brunette grabbed him and pulled him down to kiss him roughly, groaning deeply. "I just," he gasped between his kiss, "want to touch you. Don't stop."
Deidara beamed happily and leaned down to kiss him again then moved to his neck, tasting the salt from his sweat as they shifted their bodies to adjust to the new position. Itachi stifled his groan as he pushed into him again by biting down on the meat of his neck. "You don't have to be so gentle," he gasped in a harsh whisper. "I know you're trying to not hurt me, but you don't have to be so gentle."
The blond lifted his head to smirk down at him, licking his lips deviously at him. "Don't be mad at me tomorrow, un," he crooned at him.
"You're not getting away with this," Itachi grumbled, but it was with a bemused expression as his arms wrapped around to hold him as he began moving harder and faster, though still gentler than Itachi may have done to him. He was a bit more experienced than Itachi. A bit more than most people. They silenced their moans with kisses and bites, tangling arms and legs together until they were both exhausted and spent. Itachi gave the blond a playful shove off the bed, but chuckled as the blond crawled back up, laughing, to slide under the covers with him and hide from the world in a warm, comfortable cocoon of heavy blankets.
When morning came, Deidara blindly rolled away from the light streaming from the window, snuggling closer to the warmth on the bed next to him. His eyes cracked open, smiling happily at the dark eyes tinted with red watching him sleep. They stared at each other for quite a while, but Deidara didn't feel the need to fidget. He wondered how long Itachi had been awake and watching him. He usually didn't like waking up to someone staring at him, but the way Itachi was looking at him, eyes soft and content, made him feel comfortable and happy.
There was a creak outside the door that distracted Deidara entirely, breaking the moment between them. "It's Sasuke," Itachi said softly, stretching slightly and propped his head up on his elbow. "He's been pacing for about thirty minutes now."
"He's probably wondering if it's safe to come in, un," Deidara replied, chuckling. "I left the door unlocked when I went to the bathroom."
"Did you sleep well?" Itachi asked him as the blond shifted closer to tuck himself against the warm body.
"Mhmm," he murmured. "Are you sore?"
"Just a little," Itachi admitted, smiling a little.
"Not pissed?"
"No," Itachi assured him, leaning down to nuzzle his nose against Deidara's cheek. "Probably never letting you do that again, though."
Deidara laughed aloud. "No worries," he told him, turning slightly so he could swing his leg over Itachi's body. Itachi automatically drew his legs up into their usual sleeping position. "I think it's too much work and prefer to bottom, to be honest, un."
"You're such a lazy ass," Itachi scolded, but he was grinning at him. "We should probably put clothes on soon. Sasuke'll run out of patience soon."
"Let's leave the condom on nightstand, un," Deidara said eagerly, but Itachi shook his head and pulled him back down before he could sit up all the way. He pouted at Itachi, who shook his head again, though he was grinning a little himself. With a disappointed sigh, he slid out from the blankets and stretched. Even though he wanted to cuddle in bed with Itachi some more, he also wanted to go downstairs for breakfast and, hopefully, Mikoto had gotten him some presents too. Ignoring the pathetic grunt that came from Itachi, he slipped into his big closet and began shifting through his clothes. Selecting a dark red plaid pajama set, he pulled them on, not bothering to adjust the size and shuffled out into the room again. "Help me," he begged with his cutest pout.
He watched Itachi peer over at him through the tent the arm over his eyes made and saw him freeze with a sharp intake of breath. Satisfied with the reaction, he shuffled closer to the bed and held his arms out. Itachi reached out, grabbing his arms and yanking him back over the bed, tangling the two of them in the blankets. The brunette kissed him, fingers sliding down to his backside. Itachi's love of seeing him in his own clothes was something Deidara found highly amusing. His kisses were starting to become a little less playful when Sasuke finally burst into the room.
"Will you two get out of bed already," he demanded, throwing his slipper at the mound on the bed.
"We're awake," Itachi told him, lifting his head up from under the blankets.
"Awake and doing gross things to each other, un," Deidara said, laughing.
"You two are always doing gross things," Sasuke accused. "Have some decency!"
"Is mom awake?" Itachi asked, sitting up a little, but made sure the blankets covered his lower half. Deidara sat back up and crawled onto Itachi's lap, throwing Sasuke's shoe back at him.
"Sort of," Sasuke grumbled, dodging the slipper. "She won't let me get her coffee."
"You do have a reputation," Itachi said, reaching out to roll Deidara's sleeves up so he could use his hands.
"Sneaker," Deidara questioned, grinning deviously at Sasuke who gave a guilty grin back and raised one shoulder.
"Oh, yes," Mikoto said, coming into the room too wearing her own pajamas and a warm blue dressing gown with white birds on the sleeves. She wrapped her arm around Sasuke and planted a kiss on his temple, carefully holding her coffee mug as she did. "Get dressed Itachi so you two can come down. We'll make breakfast and open presents."
It was a wonderful day and it showed in his step as he walked home from Itachi's house the next afternoon. The winter air bit at his cheeks, but it barely affected him. He was too full of homemade hot chocolate, pancakes, sausages, ham, eggs, cranberry scones from yesterday's breakfast and even bigger dinner of chicken, ham, potatoes, glazed carrots and more. In his pockets, he carried a bag of sausages for Milkshake and other collection of left overs for himself. Slung over his arm was a large bag of presents from the Uchihas. He had been sitting on the sofa with Itachi when he noticed that there was a fourth set of colored packages under the tree. Mikoto color coded the gifts to keep any confusion aside – Itachi's was red plaid, Sasuke's was blue, her own red with white stars. And next to them was a pile wrapped in green and gold, just as big as the two Uchiha boys'. Deidara was speechless and a little ashamed of his own lack of presents to give to them, but Itachi shared the presents he had bought and Deidara had helped pick out, announcing that they were from both of them.
He now carried a new mp3 player and headphones, a DS with several different games, a cheki camera with extra film, new clothes and toys for Milkshake. Around his neck was a new necklace – a long, simple chain with a small pendant hanging from it. Itachi had presented it to him after everyone had finished opening their presents before going to breakfast. It was the type of pendant he could fidget with without damaging it. Itachi had picked it out especially for him. Deidara thought his face might break from smiling too much.
He hadn't really wanted to go home, but he had received a text from Daichi requesting his presence at the garage. It had been so long since he had received a text from Daichi that he felt he had to go, but told Itachi he didn't need to drive him. He was so happy, he thought a walk might not be so bad. The bags were heavy though and he began to regret the decision when the sidewalks became more cracked and the buildings less cared for.
"Merry Christmas!" he shouted unnecessarily into the garage as he entered, smirking at the eyes that stared jealously at his big bags. Milkshake chirped happily as he crawled out of Deidara's hoodie to stare around his favorite play area. Deidara placed him down on the ground and went to the bunk area to climb up and hide his presents in his bed. When he was satisfied, he climbed back down to look for Daichi, but the mechanic had come to find him.
"Merry Christmas," Daichi said. "Get me anything?"
"No," Deidara said, he never got Daichi anything. "I got Suki something though, un. Get me anything?"
He said it jokingly, but was surprised when Daichi smirked and dropped an envelope in his hand. It was one of the envelopes Daichi gave out their pay in, something he hadn't seen in a long time because he wasn't working. It was heavier than Deidara had ever felt and he stared in shock and alarm at Daichi, but the mechanic narrowed his eyes at him, silently telling him to keep his mouth shut about it. "I'm sorry about the last few months," he told him.
"What?" Deidara demanded suspiciously, feeling the same confusion he had the last time Daichi had apologized.
"Good deeds count for double on Christmas. I'm making up for the year," he told him, clapping a hand on Deidara's shoulder. "I am sorry. Itachi was right."
"He never told me what he said," Deidara said a little apprehensively.
"Just knocked some sense into me," Daichi told him with a half grin. "I am proud of you for all you're doing. I saw your midterm report card, too."
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the uncharacteristic words from Daichi, he gave a one shouldered shrug and stuffed the envelope with what felt like several months' worth of pay inside into his pocket. "Yeah, well," he mumbled. "What did you need me for, un?"
"I needed to talk to you," he told him, the light expression slipping from his face. He motioned for him to follow him into his office, closing the door behind the two of them as Deidara dropped into one of the chairs. Daichi stood by his desk a moment, looking as serious as the day he had told Deidara that Rin was pregnant again. "You need to lay low, Dei."
"Uh, what?" Deidara asked, confused. He hadn't been around anyone in months, hadn't that been laying low?
"I found out yesterday that Uchiha might get reconsidered for an early release," Daichi told him, finally sitting down on his desk. "Possibly as early as January."
"Mikoto's got a restraining order on him," Deidara informed him brushing off his concern with a wave of his hand.
"Not for you," Daichi reminded him, leaning forward to rest his arms on the desk. "You're the one that got him locked up in the first place."
Deidara smirked. "I'm not scared of Uchiha."
"You should be," Daichi said darkly. "He hated you before, but he just wanted you locked up. He wants you dead now."
Snorting softly in amusement, Deidara leaned back against the seat and let his eyes travel around the room for something he didn't know what. His eyes alighted on a picture of Suki and Rin on the desk. Nothing Daichi could say would make him worry. Mikoto's lawyer must have told her and that's why they'd been called back to the house in such a hurry. Itachi was safe, so was Sasuke. Uchiha wasn't allowed to come anywhere near either of them. Wasn't allowed to contact them either. If Uchiha did come after him… well he'd been trying to do that for years and never succeeded, hadn't he? He thought about Uchiha's old partner pulling them over the night before. 'You'll get what you deserve soon enough', the man had threatened when he was patting him down. He had scoffed at the thought, but hadn't told Itachi because he'd worry. It made sense.
Daichi's cellphone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. The mechanic answered it, speaking quietly to the caller before nodding to no one and hanging up. "He's paying off the judge and jury," he told Deidara. "He's getting out the first week of January."