Understanding
"Hey Hige." "Yeah?" "What's with you and Tsume?" "What do you mean?" "Well, the two of you don't ignore each other, but you don't pay a whole lot of attention to one another either." "Well Kiba, I guess you could say Tsume and I have something of an understanding. I leave him alone and he leaves me alone." "Makes sense." He drops it. Good thing Kiba doesn't pry very deep.
Tsume and I came to this understanding during a little late night discussion, the very night Toboe brought up my collar. And I know something I don't think Kiba and Toboe know. Tsume won't admit it, but he's fond of Toboe. Watching those two, I see a baby-sitter and a pup. Actually, I'm beginning to think there's a lot more to Tsume than that hardened exterior. And now that Kiba brought it up, I can't help thinking back on that night....
begin flashback
"You should sleep while you can." "Huh? Oh Tsume. You're awake." "Bad subject, I take." I look at him, slightly confused. "Your collar." That again. "Yeah, it is." Toboe whimpers slightly, and Tsume looks down at the smaller wolf curled up to him. With a look I'm sure nobody's ever seen. "You really do care about him, don't you?" He glares at me a moment, then looks away. "Not that it's any of your business." "Right. Sorry."
We're both quiet awhile. Then, "I don't suppose that scar is a bad subject." "It is." "So there we go." "Huh?" I actually caught him off guard. That's a first. "I don't ask you about your scar..." He looks at me, suddenly understanding. "And I don't ask you about your collar, is that it?" "You got it." "Hn. Works for me." "Now about Toboe..." "Leave the small one out of this." He realizes his mistake an instant to late.
"A bit overprotective are we?" "What's it to you?" "Nothing. Just that you seem to be hiding a lot of things from us. I get the feeling Toboe's just the beginning." He looks somewhat sullen all of a sudden. I didn't really want to bring up bad memories. "Never mind. Forget it." I pull him out of his reverie.
A chill wind momentarily passes through the cave. I chuckle softly as Toboe cuddles up against Tsume. "You're stuck." Unfortunately for me, I was up against the cave wall. It was Tsume's turn to laugh when another gust of wind caused Kiba to snuggle up to me in his sleep. "Now who's between a rock and a hard place?" We looked at each other a moment, then both started laughing quietly. "Looks like neither of us is going anywhere tonight." "Doesn't, does it?"
end flashback
I smile to myself as I remember that night. We'd talked and laughed a while longer. I'm sure that that night I saw a side of the grey wolf that few, if any, have ever seen. Our compromise that night has lasted since. Not only have we mentioned neither my collar nor his scar, but we haven't mentioned Toboe either. Sooner or later we'll probably have to broach all three subjects, but I think we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.
Chaos: So what'd ya think? Tsume's kinda OOC, I know, but it was late night. You never know what people will be like if you catch them at a certain time. I'm building this story up, so I can't really tell you how many chapters it'll be complete. Hope ya like it and see ya next chapter. BYE!