NejiTen Month 2020. Prompt #1 - favorite tropes
Shades of Konoha: Dragon and Phoenix
Your Place or Mine
It wasn't something Tenten normally did. Hell, she could think of two times she'd left a bar with someone she barely knew – much less thought about inviting them back to her place - and she sure as hell had been more sober when she did it.
But there was something about him – something compelling and irresistible and thrilling and oddly reassuring – that made her want to jump, and not fear the fall.
Or maybe that was the drinks talking.
Or maybe it was the image she was constructing of his body as her brain dizzily processed and mapped each time her fingers glided over the luxurious texture of undoubtedly expensive shirt, or gripped onto the muscled bicep beneath.
Either way, when she broke away to breathlessly mutter "Can we get out of here?" and he responded with a lust laden, "Please," she made her mind up.
"Your place or mine?"
He hesitated.
"Where would you feel safest."
"Depends."
"On?"
"If I'm going to need more than the pepper spray, taser, and other assorted goodies in my bag. Not to mention the one I had to check when I got in here."
"Impressive," he shot a look to the cross-body bag resting against her hip. "I doubt you will need any of those things, but you are welcome to keep them close. You can text a friend my address as well, if that helps."
"I have gps on my phone – I'll send a glimpse to my friend once we get where we are going."
"Clever girl," he said in the kind of voice that made her melt. "Mine it is, then."
She bit the corner of her lip to keep from smiling too broadly.
"Yours, it is."
It wasn't something Neji normally did. In fact, he could think of precisely three times he had left any venue with someone he barely knew, and certainly not with the intentions he currently had – and he definitely had never brought anyone back to his own home, sober or otherwise. He absently wondered as they got into the back of the cab if he should have suggested a hotel – some neutral ground that he would of course pay for – but there was something about her. Something compelling and irresistible and thrilling and oddly reassuring – that made him want to jump, and not fear the fall.
Or maybe that was the bourbon talking.
Or maybe it was the perplexing combination of satin skin and the press of a lithe, well-muscled body, or his curious inability to determine the exact color of her eyes.
Either way, when she broke away to breathlessly mutter "Can we get out of here?" he could only respond with a lust laden, "Please."
Even as they sat together in the cab, and he gave the driver his address while she better situated her bag on her lap (the contents of which should have made him more nervous, yet somehow did not bother him at all) he still couldn't believe what he was doing.
She wound her fingers in his, and they were remarkably controlled in the car, despite how little control they'd exhibited barely fifteen minutes prior. Then again, they'd been in a secluded part of the too-loud club. Neji had come because he had been dragged out by some work associates that wanted to show him a "good time," and she had apparently come because she had just gotten back in from a several-week work trip, and this was the only place she knew that made a great old-fashioned at this hour. "Some major storm messed up all of the connecting flights. I got the last flight out of Suna but we hit heavy turbulence. Let's just say I earned and this drink and whatever comes after it."
Neither of them had considered their leaving together as an option for what followed her drinks, but neither were they complaining.
"Can you take us around back?" Neji asked the driver as they neared the high rise. At Tenten's cocked eyebrow, he explained. "Renovations on the front of the building started last week. The lobby is closed, but they opened up the service elevators for the tenants."
"Mm," she hummed, pulling out her phone. Neji smiled to himself as she shot off a text, but kept the phone in her hand. She offered to split the cab fare, but Neji waved the notion away.
"I probably didn't make it clear earlier," he murmured in her ear as he took her arm. "But I am a gentleman."
"I hope not too much of a gentleman," she said slyly, allowing him to hold open the door for her. "That wouldn't be much fun."
Neji ignored the rush of fire through his veins, and took her elbow, gratified to see she paused to read the notice to the residents about the construction with an approving nod.
It was dark in the apartment, but he took her coat and watched as she slipped off her shoes.
She began to take off her bag, but he stilled her with a touch.
"Hold on to it," he said, stepping closer to her. "If it makes you feel safe."
Her eyes darkened, as she looked up to him. "I'm not sure anything will make me feel completely safe around you," she murmured. "Anyone this beautiful can't be this perfect."
His smile was slow. "Then we are even. I feel the same way about you."
The air between them charged as they grew infinitesimally closer – each giving the other the chance to cry "Uncle" and back away.
Neither did.
The tentative, gentle kisses soon became something far less gentle, and far less tentative until Neji lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around his middle, and they disappeared into his room.
She should have been hung over, really. She was seriously dehydrated from the combination of weeks in Suna, flights, not enough food, and a few drinks too many, but all things considered, she felt fine.
That's not true.
She felt amazing.
She felt sated and rested, and warm and deliciously sore, and like she had just made the best (possibly bad) decision of her life. She sighed contentedly and nuzzled into Neji's side, only to feel his fingers curl over her shoulder. She looked up to see him glancing down at her.
"Good morning," he murmured, his eyes at half mast.
"Good morning yourself," she smiled, leaning up on one elbow. "Sleep alright?"
"Remarkably well," he conceded, tucking his free hand behind his head to better study her as the other traced up and down her spine. "Especially considering the amount of activity managed before going to sleep. And you?"
"Ditto, on all counts," her grin widened, showing her dimples. "I hear a good breakfast is critical for recovering from a night of 'activity.' Can I either make or order one in for you?"
"I'm afraid I have only the staples currently in my refrigerator. I'm not much of a cook, and I only took over the lease about two-and-a-half weeks ago."
"Guess it would have been the same at my place," she chuckled. "I only moved in a week before I had to go on that business trip, and I've been gone almost a month. Other than spices and dried goods, I'm not much better off."
"Spices I have," he toyed with the hair spilling over her shoulders. "I took the lease over from my cousin, and she loves to cook. I also have the odd dry good, but other than eggs, a bit of milk, and some fresh herbs she insisted I buy this week, I'm empty."
"I can make us omelets. I suppose it is too much to hope that you have chopsticks?"
"It is not."
"Wow," her eyes widened. "You really might be perfect."
He laughed at her, and she couldn't help but smile at him.
"So," she cocked her head to the side. "Is that a yes to omelets, or should I order in? Assuming I haven't overstayed my welcome."
"You decidedly have not," his chuckle was low in his chest. "Which is surprising given my low tolerance for others. I suspect, Tenten, that in this, and perhaps many other things, you shall be an exception."
"Oh?"
"Mm. As cliché as it sounds," he raised up to better face her, "I do not normally bring home women from bars. And certainly not to my home. There is something about you, Tenten, that I sense will be different."
"Wait until you've had my cooking," she teased, poking his chest. "Then we shall see."
"Do you have plans for the day?"
"The airline is supposed to deliver my luggage today. Other than that and restocking my refrigerator, I have no real plans. Except… maybe for breakfast?"
"Breakfast it is," he nodded. "The question is," he leaned forward, something sparking in his eyes that might have even been mischief, "Before or after a shower?"
It was after the shower.
Tenten pointed out the omelets were definitely going to be brunch by the time she got them prepared, but Neji didn't mind.
It turned out that bag Tenten mentioned having to check at the club had been her carry-on, so she had more than enough with her to get herself ready. She also hadn't been exaggerating about what was in her cross-body bag. When he asked how she managed to have such an impressive array of self defense mechanisms on her person, she simply smiled and said "That's probably a third date conversation."
"Oh?" he lifted one eyebrow. "Are we already on our second?"
"No," she ran her fingers through her hair and began a loose braid. "The second one will be later tonight or tomorrow, depending on how sick of me you are after brunch. I know a great place not far from my apartment – they have amazing herring soba."
"Then I suppose the third date is up to me," he said casually, pulling on a pair of worn jeans to rest low on his hips.
"I suppose so," she grinned, tucking yesterday's clothes into a compartment of her carry-on and putting back her toiletries. He was impressed that she seemed to have packed everything she might need – including several outfits and her laptop – without making her bag bulky or heavy. "Years of practice," she winked, pulling a thin v-neck sweater to drape loosely over her tank top and leggings. "Also, no reason to wear denim in Suna, ever. Everything I packed can fold up easily, and I never travel with out at least two days worth of extras."
"In case your luggage gets lost," he deadpanned.
"Precisely," she zipped her bag perfunctorily. "I've never considered the advantage should I meet a handsome stranger after a terrible flight, but I do consider it a stroke of luck."
"I'm not sure I am of the same mind," he pulled on his own light sweater, mentally imagining Hanabi's smirk if she could see him wearing her gift right now. "If you didn't have your bag, I might have convinced you to stay longer."
"Why, Neji," she gasped in mock surprise. "That is the first ungentlemanly thing I've heard you say – certain moments of yesterday evening excluded."
"I believe that was technically this morning."
Her phone buzzed on the counter, and she checked it.
"That's my friend, Ino. I had better take this so she doesn't send out a search party, or try to come over here to meet you."
"I'll start the coffee," he reached for the bedroom door. "Join me whenever you are ready."
She shot him a smile of sheer brilliance, and he closed the door on her animated greeting, with something warm in his chest.
It made less than no sense, but he had made this move with the intention of distancing himself from his former life and having every aspect of it planned to the point of being fated.
He filled the kettle and got down his French press, pleased to note it should make just enough for two.
"Ino, I promise, it really is me," Tenten laughed.
"I'm not sure I believe you," Ino narrowed her eyes at her.
"Is the video chat not coming through?"
"It is. But I was so certain you had to have been body-snatched for you to have sent me the text you sent last night. Since when do you take a guy home? Especially one you've known for like, five minutes."
"Technically, he took me home," she pointed out. "And I was armed."
"Yeah, you said you were going to his place, but the GPS you sent me was your building."
"My building?" she frowned, trying to minimize the screen so she could flick through her screens. "You sure?"
"Yeah – I pulled up the address and everything."
"Maybe I sent you my home location instead," she murmured, and pinged Ino from the map. "What does it show now."
"Um, your apartment building."
"That can't be right," Tenten frowned. "Unless.."
"Unless?"
"Well, I've only lived in my building about a week before I left, but I haven't driven around the city much at night – I probably didn't recognize any of the landmarks."
"-And were probably more focused on the sight sitting next to you- "
"And there was construction on the front entrance, so we had to use the back, so that might explain it…" she trailed off, and Ino's laugh bubbled over the line.
"Tenten, only you would hook up with a stranger and wake-up in your own building." She wiped a tear away from her eye. "I can't wait to tell your kids this story."
"Oh, hush," Tenten's cheeks blossomed pink.
"Call me after brunch – I want to hear all about it," Ino sing-songed. "Bye-ee!"
Tenten watched the screen go dark, and had to laugh at herself. Well, at least if she managed to hook up with a guy she'd never met, the walk home wouldn't be so bad.
She tucked her phone in her pocket, with a smile. She had a feeling Neji would laugh about this.
Neji had just poured the hot water into the French press, and was basking in the aroma when his phone buzzed.
"Hinata," he answered. "How are you?"
"Neji!" she answered breathlessly. "I'm well. You?
"Also well."
"That's good. Are you at home?"
"Yes," he lifted his eyebrows. "It is the weekend."
"Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Of course it is. What are you doing this weekend?"
"At the moment, I'm making coffee," he paused. "Are you alright? You sound flustered."
There was some sound on the other side – something like a muffled laugh, and he frowned.
"Is Hanabi there?"
"What? Oh. No. No – I'm home, too. So, um, how do you like the apartment?"
"It's fine," he crossed his arms with a frown. "It is convenient, and the building is quiet, even with the construction. How is your new apartment?"
"Fine, fine," she said dismissively. "I just, well. I have to talk to you about the sublease."
"My lease?" he blinked. "Is there a problem with it?"
"No, the lease itself is fine," she was quick to assure him. "It… It's the other part of the sublease. My..,my roomate's half."
"Roommate? When did you have a roommate?"
Tenten made her way to the kitchen just as Neji was ending a phone call.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Hinata," he sighed, flicking a glance to her, and motioning to the table. "Yes. Yes," he put a mug of fresh coffee in front of her, and handed her a teaspoon before indicating the sugar, powdered creamer, and half-and-half on the table. "It's alright. I have go to, now, Hinata – I will call you back when I hear more. Yes. Yes. Me, too. Goodbye."
He hung up with a sigh and rubbed his forehead before joining Tenten at the table with his own mug of coffee.
"You look like you need that," she nodded to the mug. "I'll start omelets while you think."
Neji nodded his agreement, and soon the kitchen was filled with the sounds and smells of cooking, and Tenten's humming.
In not much time, she put an omelet in front of his and her seats, and topped off their coffee.
"So," she peered at him playfully over her mug. "Girlfriend trouble?"
He gave a small snort. "Cousin trouble," he stabbed at the food with a fork. "Specifically, the cousin whose lease I took over when I moved in here."
"Oh?"
"Yes. It seems there is a possibility her former roommate found someone to sublease the apartment as well, and promised it to them before I was involved. They were not able to move in right away, hence their not being here, but Hinata is understandably upset."
"Mm," she looked around the kitchen. "Do you like it here?"
"I like it well enough," he shrugged. "The location is the most important thing. That and the cleanliness of the unit and the building as a whole."
"Well the good news is that I happen to know that there are other units in this building – and they look a great deal alike."
"Oh?" he cocked an eyebrow at her. "And how do you come by this knowledge?"
She smiled, and started to explain, when the doorbell rang.
Puzzled, they exchanged a glance before Neji rose to answer the door. After a few moments, he returned, his face unreadable.
"Neji?" she paused. "Neji what's wrong."
"The airline just dropped this off for you," he stepped aside, revealing a suitcase.
"My luggage? Did I… I must have told them to bring it here?"
"Tenten, where do you live?"
"In this building," she motioned. "Apartment 436."
"Tenten," he swallowed. "This is apartment 436."
"What? No. You're joking."
Neji stepped back, with a sigh. "I think it is time I check the guest room."
Tenten got up and followed, jerking to a stop when he opened the door.
"This… this is my room," she blanched. "How… How…?"
"Hinata told me the guest room might still have some things in it, so I left it alone. The living room furniture was covered when I got here, but there was nothing on the walls or anywhere else."
"The furniture was from the previous tenant," she said, dazed. "I was told I could keep it, so I thought I'd try it out before deciding. I covered it before I left. My housewares and everything else are still in storage."
Tenten turned and blinked her eyes at him.
"Omigod, Neji, we're roommates."
"It appears so."
"I…" she dropped on the bed, still in shock. "I think I need a minute."
"Well, there is one good thing," Neji leaned in the doorway.
"No awkward walk of shame?"
"That. But also, I shouldn't have any trouble picking you up for our second date."
"There is that," she half laughed, looking up at him. "You still want that second date? Seeing as how we just found out we live together?"
"Depends," he shrugged.
"On?"
His grin was slow. "Whether promise to make me an omelet next time, too."
Tenten's lips twisted into a wry smile. "I think I can manage that." With that she stood up and held out her hand. "Hi. My name is Tenten Nakano. I am a specialist for a security firm, an excel at hand-to-hand combat and mid-range weapons. My hobbies are darts, archery, and cooking."
"Neji Hyūga," he took her hand. "I just moved to town to head up the newest branch of Byakugan Industries. I enjoy martial arts, brewing tea or coffee, meditating, and not cooking."
"And you're my roommate."
"And I'm your roommate."
"Well," she sighed, "since I don't think today can get any weirder, should we go food shopping? I make a great stir fry."
"Yes to shopping," he took both of her hands, "but I think I am feeling herring soba tonight. I hear you know a place."
She smiled in understanding. "Date number two?"
He smiled at her.
"Date number two."